Episode 3: Chapter 2: Reaction

Chapter 2 of Episode 3 of War of Seasons

            Ember woke up with a start, sitting up in an instant.  She quickly started looking around trying to get her bearings, but her mind was in a million places at once.  She couldn’t tell where she was.  Suddenly, she felt several hands grabbing her and voices saying something, but she was struggling to make it out.  She finally started getting her bearings back however, and began to realize where she was.  She was in a hospital room, and several nurses were trying to keep her from breaking out of the bed she was resting in.  Once the nurses realized she had calmed down, they released her and let her continue to regain her bearings.

            “What….” Ember said clasping her head in pain.  “What happened?  How….”  As she started to remember what had happened, her eyes widened, and she slumped back into the bed.  Tears rolled down her face as the nurses left her be.

 

 

 

            Ozpin, Yang, Gray, Terra and Arri were sitting out in the waiting room, waiting to hear back on Ember’s condition.  Then, one of the doctors finally emerged from the back, causing everybody to stand up.

            “She’s awake” the doctor said, “but is still recovering.  Her aura is dealing with most of her wounds, but it is taking its time.  Most likely due to an extreme emotional reaction.”

            “Didn’t Professor Curtiss use her Semblance to help heal my sister?” Gray asked with concern in his voice.  “Why didn’t that help?”

            “Ember sustained a great amount of injuries, and Professor Curtiss only had so much aura that she could spare to help keep Ember stable.  It’s up to Ember and her own power to reclaim what was lost.”

            “But she’s awake you said, correct?” Yang said walking towards the doctor.

            “That is correct ma’am.”

            “Good.  I’m going to go see my daughter.”

            “Right this way madam.”  As the doctor lead Yang to where Ember was staying, Gray joined them.  Hera initially started to follow them, but Arri grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

            “Let them be” she said somberly.  “They need time alone.  We should go see how Bovia is doing.”

            “Fair enough” Terra said with a sigh.  They then walked over to the service desk and asked where they could find their team leader.  Ozpin simply watched as they all went their separate ways, and sat back down, burying his face in his hands, tears rolling down his eyes.

 

 

 

            Jacob sat in his bed, reading over the reports from the battle at the mountain.  He kept reading over the last piece of the report, hoping that his eyes were playing a trick on him.  That it was some kind of mistake.  As he tried to convince himself of this, there was a knock on his door.

            “Come in” he said.  The door opened, and Brooklyn walked in along with Ty.  They sat down, none of them saying a word.

            “How you holding up?” Ty asked, finally breaking the silence.

            “It’s definitely getting worse” Jacob said as he ran his hand across his growing scar.  “According to Ozpin, the infection is about to reach my major organs.  At best, we have a week.  At worst, I have until tomorrow morning.”

            “Here’s hoping for the best” Brooklyn said with a weak smile.  They then returned to sitting in silence, with Jacob breaking that silence a few minutes later.

            “Is it true?” he asked, clenching his fist.  “Is it him?”

            “Looks that way” Ty said with a sigh as he slumped in his chair.  “Pretty much everybody on that airship said that it was him.”

            “It has to be some mistake.  We’ve seen that Lord Sangui guy create clones of people in the past.  Maybe this is some kind of advanced clone that he created that shares Nathan’s face, stealing his life and body while killing the real one.  Maybe it’s some kind of mind control.  Maybe….”

            “Maybe Miles was right” Brooklyn said hitting the armrest of her chair.  “Maybe the warning signs were all there, but we just didn’t want to believe it.”

            “But…..why?” Jacob said as tears rolled down his face.  “He would never do anything like this.  Such brutal tactics, such harsh actions.”

            “We saw it firsthand in Vacuo Jacob.  He was always going down this path.  He was becoming what we are fighting now.  We just didn’t see it before.  We didn’t want to see it.”

            “That doesn’t make it seem any less confusing” Ty said running his hand through his hair.  “The Order is directly responsible for the destruction of his home and the murder of his mentor.  Why would he turn to their side?”
            “Maybe somebody got in his head and feed him some lies and half-truths?”  Brooklyn said cracking her knuckles.  “Or maybe they used that old Lord Memoriare guy?  He had a Semblance related to memories.  Maybe they re-wrote his memories of what happened?”

            “Possible.  But if that were the case, why would they take Nathan and let Natalie go?”

            “It doesn’t matter how” Jacob said as he continued to go over the report.  “What matters now is what we are going to do next and how we are going to bring him back.”

            “He blew up a mountain to keep Miles from escaping and stabbed you with an ancient magical relic that is literally killing you as we speak” Brooklyn said growing more and more upset.  “I think bringing him back is a bit out of the question at this point.”

            “He’s still our friend!”
            “Then why did he stab you without any hesitation?  Doesn’t sound like somebody who still sees us as his friends in my opinion!”  They all fell silent once again, not sure how to respond.  Nobody really did anything to break the silence. They just continued to sit there, not sure how to respond to what they had just learned.

 

 

 

            Aurora was sitting on top of Beacon tower, looking out over the campus.  Some tears rolled down her face.  The wind continued to flow through her hair.  As she sat there, she heard a noise behind her.  She turned around to see Blake leaping up to where she was sitting.  Aurora dried her tears and looked back out at the view.  Blake didn’t say a word, and sat down next to her daughter.

            “You know this is the first place your father took me after we first officially started dating?” Blake said with a soft smile.

            “He told me” Aurora said, still not looking at her mother.  “When I was ten, he brought me here and told me all about it.  He told me lots of stories about what he did up here with you and everybody else.”

            “Like what?”

            “Like how everybody came up here for ice cream instead of the dance during his first year, how you two have had picnics up here from time to time, how he and the rest of his team would do study sessions up here, just about everything major.”

            “I’m surprised you remember so much for it having been so long ago now.”

            “It’s all I’ve been able to think about.  Every little detail that dad said to me.  From fighting tips to random tidbits about life and just odds and ends.”

            “Any in particular that you’re thinking back to?”

            “I keep thinking back to his advice that he gave me about friends.  How important it is to always be there for your friends no matter what.  And how important family is.  He constantly talked about the fact that he didn’t have a family to help him during his teenage years.

            “Yeah.  When I first introduced your father to your grandparents, they weren’t super thrilled about me dating him.”

            “Really?  The way grandpa acted around him when we visited him it seemed like he was always a part of the family.”
            “Well, he did have to warm up to the idea of me dating a human first.  Your grandfather doesn’t exactly have a great track record with other humans.  But your father was one of the first to really surprise him.  And from there, I believe your father found something that he had long since forgotten.  When you were first born, I remember one night when you were sleeping in your little crib back on Menagerie, I had woken up for some reason.  You weren’t crying, just the opposite.  For a change, you were sound asleep.”

            “Was I that bad as a baby?”

            “I honestly can’t think of a single parent who doesn’t have stories about their baby keeping them up at night in the early years.”  They both chuckled as Blake continued on.  “I saw your father standing next to your crib, and he had a soft smile on his face.  I will never forget what he said to you that night:

 

 

            I have seen and carried so much pain for one lifetime that I would not wish what I have experienced upon my worst enemy.  And compared to others that I know, I’m one of the lucky ones.  For a time, I thought that the best path to walk would be the path where I walk alone.  Away from all others so that they would not have to share in my pain.  But your mother found me and knew that path would do nothing but cause more pain.  And she showed me a better path.  One that has led me to so many amazing people and friendships that will last a lifetime.  And most recently, it has led me to you, my child.  I may stumble and struggle from time to time, but I hope that I can instill in you what is most important in life.  To always be there for your friends, to help carry their burdens, and most importantly, stand by your family.  Never give in to fear and anger.  Never turn your back on what is important.  And I know, that one day you will surpass me.

 

 

            Aurora wiped away a few tears as Blake finished recounting her father’s words.

            “Dad could be really sappy at times, couldn’t he?  I mean, I was a baby.  How was I supposed to remember that?”

            “Your father was a strange person” Blake said wiping a few of her own tears as well.  “But he loved you more than anything.  I know that if he was faced with what he had to do back there a million times over, he wouldn’t change a thing so long as you were safe.”  They both smiled, and hugged each other tightly as tears rolled down their faces.

 

 

 

            Ember sat there in the bed, looking at the cast that bound her broken arm.  Yang and Gray were sitting there, not sure how to respond.  The machines chirped and beeped on, not missing a beat.  Still nobody said a word.  Gray then walked over to Ember and placed his hand on the cast.

            “Does it hurt?” he asked running his hand along the mold.

            “It does a bit” Ember said raising it up as best she could.  “Professor Curtiss did as much heavy lifting as possible to help, but this is going to take a while to heal I think.  Even with the healing properties, this isn’t as simple as a little scratch.”

            “Your aura should still be doing a lot of the hard work” Yang said as she walked over as well.  “More often than not, an Aura can still help heal substantial wounds overtime.  Heck, I’ve seen people with injuries like this walk out of here the very next day.  But you don’t seem like you’re going to be combat ready for months.  What’s wrong?”
            “Are you going to make me say it mom?”  They all fell silent once again.  Everybody not wanting to talk about what they had witnessed back at the mountain.  However, Ember couldn’t hold it back any longer as tears started to run down her face.

            “It’s all my fault” she said as tears dripped down onto her cast.

            “Never say that” Yang said as she grabbed her daughter’s shoulders as she struggled to keep tears back as well.  “None of this is your fault.  You didn’t even know.  If nothing else, it’s my fault.  If I had just stepped up and had been a better wife….”

            “Don’t do this mom” Gray said grabbing Yang’s hand.  “Don’t do this to yourself.  We can toss blame around all we want.  We can say we should have done this or that.  Heck, I feel like I could have done more as his son to try and help him.  But all we can do now is look forward.”

            “Gray’s right” Yang said wiping away her tears.  “We know your father is alive.  All we have to do is bring him home.  If we can just beat the Order, it might snap him out of whatever’s controlling or manipulating him, and we can all be together again!”

            “How can you be sure of that?” Ember said, staring at the sheets.  “Look what he did to me.  Look what he did to Aurora’s dad!  How can you be sure he’s still in there, and hasn’t been replaced by somebody else?”  Yang and Gray both looked at Ember, who still kept her gaze on the sheets of her own bed.  “Dad may have died the day that Ferish Tenebris slashed his body in two on the world stage.”

            “I refuse to believe that” Yang said clenching her fist.  “Your father is strong.  He’s just been consumed by some other entity.  We have to believe in your father.  We have to believe that he can come home.”

            “Chin up sis” Gray said with some tears in his eyes.  “We’ll all be back together before we know it.  We just have to believe in dad.”  Gray and Yang embraced Ember, who while returning the hug, still felt a sense of despair in the pit of her stomach.

 

 

 

            Lord Imepria stepped up to the command deck, and watched as all the Order’s airships began to take off and head to their designated coordinates.

            “Are we prepared?” She asked with an evil smile on her face.

            “The airships are running, the troops are prepared, and the priority is prepped” Lord Sangui said over the communicator.

            “Lord Tenebris, are you prepared on your end?”

            “I am my lord.  Once we are in range, I will activate the signal and we will have complete control.”

            “Excellent.  Engage the Final Gambit.”  With that, the airships fully powered up, and took off in their respective directions, ready to do as they were instructed.

Author's Note

Please read/review/enjoy!

Reviews

[Shep]

you almost brought a tear to my eye as the group decides its next move and rehash what happened on the mountain. Awesome chapter I just going to move on to the next page to see what surprises you have for me. Please be kind and return the love.