Episode Evan: Chapter 3: Reflections

Chapter 3 of Evan's story.

One Year Before Evan’s First Year at Beacon

Signal Academy

Training Grounds

 

 

 

            Evan watched as several different students practiced with their weapons against training dummies strewn across the field.  The Vytal Festival was not far off, and even though the main academies were the ones participating, the Combat Schools would also journey to the host Kingdom and visit those who were also at the same skill level.  Sometimes fights between the Combat Schools would take place as a sort of intermission performance during the main event, but Evan did not really care all that much about the competition.  His skills with his spear as a weapon were powerful enough, but he still was attempting to get a good handle on his Semblance.  As he watched the training continue, he used his Spear to try and create a small illusion wall that perfectly matched the training grounds but without anybody there.  As he waved his spear, the illusion came to fruition.  He studied it carefully, trying to find any particular flaws with his creation.

            “Not bad,” a new voice cut in behind him, “but you made the grass a bit too long.”  Evan turned to see a figure standing behind him.  The sun was in his eyes for a moment, but once he was able to make out who it was, he was elated as it was Jacob.  He quickly dropped the illusion and embraced his friend.

            “I haven’t seen you in years!” Evan exclaimed with excitement.  “How have you been?!”

            “I’ve been good” Jacob said with a smile.  “Heard you were studying here so I figured I’d see if I could say hi.”

            “I’m glad you did!” Evan said patting Jacob’s shoulder.  “I haven’t really seen anybody who used to be from Aequo these days.”

            “What about Nathan?”  Evan fell silent when Jacob brought him up.

            “Our family reached out to them to try and take him and his sister in, but after what happened, they’ve been off the grid.  I haven’t seen either of the Grovers since my last semester before….well you know.”

            “That’s a shame.  But he’s still alive?”

            “He and his younger sister far as I can tell.”

            “Well maybe we’ll see them again.”

            “I hope so.  But for now,” Evan said shaking his head getting out of that sad memory, “let me show you around!  It’s no Sanctum Academy, but I think you’ll find a lot that’s good here!”

            “I better or I’ll never be your friend again!” Jacob said jokingly.  They both laughed and continued into the main building.

 

            As they made their way through the halls, they came across a massive room filled with mirrors.  Jacob looked around and was stunned.  This was not simply just wall to wall mirrors like in a restroom or funny mirrors like at a carnival, these mirrors were almost like tile work, each mirror a different color that at a distance created a unique mural of the farm fields of Patch bordering the mighty ocean that lead to Vale.

            “This is a really great piece” Jacob said taking in the mural.

            “It’s called reflection of self” Evan said with a groan.  “A bit too on the nose in my opinion.  According to the plaques, it’s supposed to allow one to see themselves as a part of this beautiful system and world in whatever way they see fit.  Be it with the greenery of the land, the blue of the ocean, the many colors of the city, so on and so forth.”

            “Very nice” Jacob said as he ran his fingers across the glass being careful not to leave any marks or streaks.  “I wish Sanctum had something this nice.”

            “I read you have a beautiful statue of the greatest warriors to ever graduate, they’re some of the most stunning pieces of work done in recorded history.”

            “Yes, but statues glorify the individual.  This, this invites everybody.  Also, I see those statues every day, so something to refresh the pallet is always welcome.”

            “I guess” Evan said as he looked through the gray mirror shards.  “I’ve never seen how I fit into that artwork myself I guess.”

            “I don’t either yet” Jacob said with a smile.  “But give it time.  The world is a big place.  And we can find out where we fit as we go.  We don’t need to run full speed towards the future.”

            “One of your professor’s inspirational quotes?” Evan said laughing.

            “Hey,” Jacob said jokingly pouting, “I’m serious!”  They both laughed and continued on their way through the school.

 

 

 

 

Present Day

 

 

 

 

            Evan continued to trudge his way through the thick snow towards the caverns that the village scouts had informed the sheriff that Emerald was most likely hiding in given the trajectory of the tracking device.  When he left Nix, the weather was cold but fair with a slight breeze.  Now, a snowstorm had rolled in and it was making travel difficult.  But Evan pressed on, hoping that the cavern itself was deep enough that Emerald would have attempted to hide deeper inside rather than stand by the entrance.  As he got closer, the tracker started to beep. Evan then saw the outlines of the cave entrance and headed straight for it.  After a few more feet of trudging through the snow, he reached the mouth of the cave.  And sitting at the entrance was the decoy crown, smashed to pieces.  Evan’s illusion had worn off, and Emerald clearly was not too keen about having been tricked.  Evan pulled out his spear and slowly made his way deeper into the caverns.  The cave itself was not too deep at first glance nor all that interesting.  Nothing but brown and gray rocks that one would find in just about any cavern.  But as Evan approached what appeared to be a wall, it turned out there was a slope angled no more than forty-five degrees downwards.  Evan took a deep breath and slid down the slope and then rolled back up once he reached the bottom.  At first, it appeared that there was nothing much there.  Just more of the same as above.  But then Evan turned on a flashlight and the light reflected off several crystals sticking out of the walls.  As Evan grew closer to them, he saw even more and more crystals to the point where not only did they cover the cavern from floor to ceiling, but there was enough light coming in from an unknown source deeper with the cave that lit up the entire room with a blue-ish glow.  But this created a problem.  While the crystals provided light, they also gave several reflections of Evan.  Looking to his right, he could see at minimum ten reflections of himself.  And to his left was about another twenty reflections.  There wasn’t any sign of Emerald, or any indication that she had been here.  Regardless, Evan pressed onwards through the crystals.  But the further he went in, the more intense the reflections got.  To the point where it almost felt the reflections were making sounds at him.  Like they were hissing.  Similar to a pressure valve twisted slightly ajar.  Evan tried to ignore it, but the sound grew louder and louder.  To the point where it no longer sounded like a hiss, but a screech.  Nails dragged against glass.  That’s what Evan’s ears felt like they were being subjected to.  He clutched his head in pain, trying to keep moving forward.  But it was too much.  He fell to his knees and grabbed his ears in pain.  There was no telling where he was now.  The reflections and the sounds were overwhelming.  He couldn’t move without hurting his head.  But then, something strange happened.  Amongst the wall of crystals, there was a single crystal sticking out of the ground that was reflecting several lights out in many directions.  There was a beam of light coming from the ceiling that was the cause of the cave’s source of light.  But instead of reflecting the light and Evan’s agonized state, the reflections began showing several different images.  And the noise turned from a screech to several voices saying several different things.  Each one of them different and strange.

 

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the Hunstman turned Artist, Evan Hahn as he will do a talk today explaining why he chose to walk away from fighting and instead pursue the arts by…..”

 

“I just don’t think we work.  Our paths are too different.  I still want to be friends, but I just don’t think that we click that way anymore.  I know we’ve been through a lot together, but it’s because of that I think…..

 

“Your world shall be consumed by darkness.  You have no hope of securing the light of the Seven Pure Hearts.  All you have left is your shame and your broken blade.  You would be better off serving me and the…..”

 

“Congratulations Professor Hahn.  You have passed your entrance exam to be a full-time teacher here at Haven Academy.  Your workload will be as follows: first you will….”

 

The voices grew louder and louder.  They now no longer hurt Evan in terms of just the shrill noise like the screech did, but rather the voices were becoming so loud it felt like his head was being crushed.  He screamed in pain once again, and collapsed on the ground.  He kept fighting for consciousness, but his entire body was completely numb.  He still felt the pain, but any actions he tried to make his body take, it ended up in failure.  His body was completely limp.  The noise and the lights grew even stronger to the point where it looked like Evan was standing in the middle of an empty white void.  The crystals disappeared and the noise finally stopped.  Evan started getting feeling back in his body, and he slowly stood up and tried to see if anything had changed.  But then, like a rolling wave washing over the sand, the white void was being overwritten revealing the town of Nix. The snowstorm was blowing through the town and the sheriff was standing just outside of the town hall watching as the winds howled through the night.  As he stood there, one of his officers ran up to him.

“We can confirm sir, both the Huntsman and the thief went into the caverns.  Shall we pursue?”

“Leave them.  Those caves have left even the strongest-willed amongst our number broken and insane.  If they both die, the better.  Keeps our secret safe.”

            “Very well sir” the officer said.  Evan started walking towards them about to protest and reveal he was still very much alive, but then as reached for the sheriff, he tripped and fell right through the sheriff’s body and into the ground.  Only instead of creating a crude image of himself in the snow, he fell through the ground and landed back upright in the same spot he was before.  Only this time, the village was on fire.  There were people running through the streets in terror, soldiers wearing old armor firing even older guns at giant tanks rolling down the streets.  Evan then turned to see and giant beam of light fly past him and destroy the tanks, resulting in them exploding and the debris crashing into even more buildings.  Evan looked back to see who fired the beam, and saw an older man with white hair and a gray beard holding a cane that looked almost exactly like Ozpin’s.  And atop his head he wore the crown of the King of Vale, the very same crown Evan was trying to help Nix protect.  Evan then recognized him from the old history books.  He was in fact the King of Vale himself.  The king then rushed towards where the debris hit the buildings in horror, trying to fire different forms of energy to quell the flames.  But to no avail.  The king fell to his knees in sadness, as he watched the building burn.

“This is all your fault!” a voice yelled from behind him.  The king looked back and saw several townsfolk walking towards him grabbing anything they could from farming tools to broken pieces of buildings to empty bottles marching towards him.

“Please,” the king said fighting back tears, “I didn’t want this to happen.”

“It’s all your fault!” the townsfolk yelled back.  At that moment, they rushed the king of Vale and started attacking him.  The king did little to defend himself, resulting in his crown falling off his head.  Evan watched as the townsfolk continued on their rage-fueled attack, and reached down to pick up the crown.  But then, as he was reaching for it, he fell forwards into the snow and back up in the middle the same crystal room he was previously suffering in.  Only this time, he saw Emerald on her knees screaming in pain.  But then, a figure in a black coat approached her and placed two earplugs in her ears.

            “Such insolence,” the figure said with a slight cough.  “I told you when I contacted you, wear these when you enter the cave.”

            “I thought it was so you could sneak up and ambush me without me even hearing you coming” Emerald said slowly standing back up.  “You might think I’m paranoid, but if a member of Cinder’s former group suddenly reached out to me asking for a favor in the middle of nowhere, you’d probably find that suspicious as well.  Especially since it was probably you guys who killed her.”

            “Yes, unfortunately Cinder’s role had come to an end.  Her betrayal of Lord Mortem all those years ago to serve Salem almost derailed years of planning.  But with the Battle of Vytal having taken place and the pieces lying where they fell, we can still achieve our final goal.”

            “So what, you dragged me out here to kill me then?  To tie up any loose ends that Cinder might have left behind?”

            “We have had our eyes on you ever since you, your partner Mercury Black, and Roman Torchwick nearly ruined everything with your pathetic attempt to take down Beacon and accomplish Salem’s will.  If we wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have even made it out of Vale alive once Cinder was captured and you realized you were going to lose.  But, now that the paths are coming back together in our favor, we have use for you.”

            “Fine.  I guess I’m somebody else’s tool again.  So long as I’m well paid.”

            “But of course, child.  You have but to secure one thing for me.  And once you do, bring it back to this chamber.  I will be waiting for your return so that I might claim it.”  Evan watched as the cloaked figure walked towards a nearby wall and pushed a boulder off to the side, revealing a room that while still looked to be made of the same material as the crystals in the previous room, instead of random crystals sticking out of the ground and the walls alongside the reflective parts, the entire chamber was perfectly smooth like a mirror.  The room was almost like something out of a fairy tale.  Each corner was immaculate as if it were designed that way by the finest designer in all of Atlas.  Evan watched as the cloaked figure guided Emerald to the center of the room.  But just as he was about to follow them, the voices came back and his body started to hurt all over again.  Evan clasped his ears in pain, but then ripped off parts of his sleeves and made makeshift earplugs and stuffed them inside of his own ears.  As soon as he did that, the voices began to quiet down immensely.  They weren’t completely quiet, but they were quiet enough for Evan to start moving around again without too much pain.  The earplugs were good, but they were likely to easily be ripped or knocked out in a fight.  So he reached inside his winter jacket and found an old scarf that he hadn’t worn at all in his time in the frozen lands and wrapped it around his head like a bandana, keeping the makeshift earplugs in and providing a bit extra noise protection while he was at it.  He then stood up and got his bearings.  He recognized the layout of the room more now after having seen his vision with Emerald and the cloaked figure.  He saw the rock that led to the secret room and made his way towards it.  Opening it up, he saw Emerald pacing back and forth yelling on her Scroll.

            “Look, they tricked me, all right?  I just need a little more time!  Just….” at that very moment, Emerald saw Evan standing by the entrance to the room, and her face dropped in horror.  She quickly hung up and pulled out her weapons and took up a fighting stance.

            “How did you get here?” She asked with a growl.  Evan simply took a deep breath and pulled out his spear.

            “Maybe I’ll tell you once I capture you.  It’ll make great small talk on the way back to the village.”

Author's Note

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