Episode Brooklyn: Chapter 4: Fate

Chapter 4 of Brooklyn's story.

            Brooklyn took up a battle stance and watched as the Lost Master stood up slowly.  Angela seemed to be rooted in place with fear, not able to respond.

            “The Monolith mentions you amongst its records” Angela said, her voice trembling.  “But you aren’t supposed to be here.”

            “Perhaps,” the Lost Master said as a single silver sword appeared out of thin air, “but this is the far past.  Who’s to say those texts talk about a time to be?  Or perhaps a time to come?”

            “But….Mortem wrote himself…..”

            “Enough gawking” Brooklyn said stomping her foot and pointing her blade at the Lost Master.  “What did you do to this town?”

            “Simple sleep spell” the Lost Master said waving his hand.  “I might not be all that compared to the old geezer’s heyday, but I’ve still got more than enough kick in me.”

            “So you didn’t want to kill them?”

            “Goodness, I couldn’t even if I tried.  Or at least I can’t at this particular moment in time.  These glitches are both an exciting new possibility and an absolute pain in my butt.  Either way, they may help ensure my third attempt will begin sooner than the past two attempts.”

            “Okay, I feel like you’re talking about something that neither of us know about.”

            “Oh, that’s right.  You’re from before Zero Year.  Sorry, forgot that not every single memory went back to you after you killed your darling mother over here.”

            “What did he say?” Angela said looking over at Brooklyn.

            “Oh come on,” Brooklyn groaned, “don’t tell me you didn’t at least suspect it.”

            “Well the symbols were a good start, but I figured it was generations later given how the technology has improved.”

            “Have you been living under a rock back in your own time?  This isn’t that different from what cutting edge weapons were during your time.”

            “Ah, family drama” the Lost Master said with a chuckle.  “Really takes me back.”

            “Can we fight now?” Brooklyn groaned.  Angela tried to protest but Brooklyn charged forward and brought her blade down but the Lost Master parried it easily with his staff.  He then channeled energy around his free hand and punched Brooklyn in the gut, sending her flying across the audience chamber.  She struggled to get back up, but Angela responded in kind activating her twin blades and charging at the Lost Master.

            “Man,” the Lost Master mused as he parried a flurry of attacks from Angela, “it’s amazing to see what awakens in a person if you attack somebody related to them.  Especially when you just found out you were related to them!”

            “You’re just an old ghost” Angela yelled as she tried to land a hit.  “Nothing more than a legend, and I refuse to believe the amount of power it is said you possess.”

            “You know that’s the funny thing about the legends about me,” the Lost Master said as he spun away from one of the oncoming attacks, “they tend to be understatements of my abilities.”  As soon as he said that, a seal appeared around his hand and a massive energy beam fired and sent Angela flying into the wall at full force.  Brooklyn started to get back up, and prepared for another round.  Angela still was winded after that last attack, but willed herself back up and stood at the ready alongside Brooklyn.  The two of them charged forward together, trying to break through.  But the Lost Master didn’t even seem to break a sweat.  He parried every last attack that the two warriors threw at him.  He even yawned mockingly as he blocked both of their attacks with one hand holding his staff.

            “Man, I can’t believe that you guys end up going up against my best people and actually end up giving them a run for their money.  Well one of you already did round one but that’s besides the point.”

            “Shut up!” Angela yelled as she pulled one of her blades back and attempted to run him through.  And it actually succeeded.  Her blade ran right through the chest of the Lost Master.  But to her surprise he just laughed.

            “Man I forgot how much that tickles” he said giggling like a child.  He then snapped his fingers and chains magically appeared from the ground and bound both of them from moving.

            “Nice attempt, I think I actually had to speed myself up a bit more than normal this time” the Lost Master said as he waved his hand over his stab wound to close it up.  “But I believe my associates have completed their task.  What say we say hello?”  With that, the doors swung open and Brooklyn looked back to see two people standing there, one of them was holding a small child.  The first person she saw was a man who was also wearing a black coat and hood to hide his face just like the Lost Master.  The other person she recognized immediately; it was Lord Memoriare.  But he seemed younger than the last time she had seen him at Vytal.

            “No….” Angela said as tears formed in her eyes.  “You betrayed me Vinculum?!”

            “I kept my promise Angela” Memoriare said as he stepped into the room.  “I did not inform the Order of your actions.  But I did inform my master.  And so, here I am.  Unfortunately, despite my wishes, you and your daughter here have a pivotal role to play in the future.  And we can’t have you hiding in this time.  Regardless of your intentions.”

            “You can’t……please.  I don’t want to go back.”

            “You have no choice” the Lost Master said as he held the tip of his staff to Angela’s throat.  “Destiny is set in stone and must be followed through to the end.  Especially if I am to be victorious in my endeavors in the future.”

            “Ever cross your mind that we might stop you in the future?” Brooklyn spat back at the Lost Master.  “That we might upend your plans if we keep you alive?”

            “No stupid,” the Lost Master said getting down on one knee to stare Brooklyn in the eyes (despite the fact that Brooklyn still couldn’t see his face), “you and your stupid friends need to be alive to thwart my first two plans.  And now I need to keep you alive just so it can set up for my third attempt.  I really should thank all of you for helping me reach this point of no return.”

            “What are you…..”

            “Enough of this” the other hooded figure said stepping forward holding the unconscious body of who Brooklyn could now see was her younger self.   “Master, we are not going to gain anything from all this talking.  They are going to forget everything anyways.”

            “Very true.  Good point Aterna.  We should just get this over with.  The mother can keep some of the memories, but lose these last few moments.  As for the daughter, the older one here can forget everything since she arrived.  As for the younger one, erase everything you possibly can.”  Aterna and Memoriare nodded their heads in understanding, and placed their hands on both Angela’s and Brooklyn’s foreheads.  Angela looked over at Brooklyn with tears in her eyes and said,

            “I’m glad I got to meet you.”  Brooklyn teared up as well and looked back at her and said,

            “Me too.”

 

 

 

Two Days After Ozpin Woke Up After the Battle of Aequo

The Town of Karejji
The Cavern of Memory

 

 

 

            Brooklyn dropped the memory crystal, tears in her eyes as she reeled back after experiencing everything that had happened.  Ozpin helped catch her as she almost fell to the ground.

            “I can’t believe it…..” Brooklyn said as tears rolled down her face.

            “No rush in telling us what happened” Ozpin said as he motioned for one of the attendants to bring over water.  “Just whenever you’re ready.”

 

            “….and I can remember it a lot clearer now.”  Brooklyn said as she sipped the water just outside the entrance to the cavern.  “The Lost Master guy had his flunkies toss me into a time portal, and I woke up next to the mountain, dazed and confused.   The storm had dissipated when Penny and the Atlas soldiers found me, so I thought I would find answers at the peak like I had originally intended when I arrived in Mantle.  But all that was there was a bunch of rocks and ruins of what was once that village, although I didn’t know it at the time.”

            “I must have forgotten that day.  Having heard this story, I do remember you and your mother being there on that mountain all those years ago.  What time does to the mind I suppose.”

            “So why just take my memory then?  Why didn’t they get rid of yours and your sister’s as well?”

            “Perhaps the Lost Master knew full well what would transpire up until this point.  Or maybe he knew we would forget and it would not impact the future until this moment.  Or maybe he was just careless, hoping you would never remember.”

            “Given how he talked to us, I don’t think that’s the case.”

            “Fair enough.  We should get back to the others.  With Anima Imperia having escaped, I fear things are about to become worse before they get better.”

            “Wait, Professor.  I have a question?”

            “Of course.”

            “How did you know to bring me here?”

            “While I was asleep, I had a conversation with two interesting people.  An old friend, and a young man who while I recognized his face, he came from a world I can’t possibly begin to comprehend.

 

 

 

Retribution.

SAGA OF SEASONS

 

 

 

 

Author’s Note: 

 

            Much like Jacob, I created Brooklyn’s family drama out of thin air for the sake of story.  And most of that was due to the fact that when I was originally writing “Order”, I didn’t know what to do with Brooklyn’s character.  Some members of the group have been very active and vocal about their opinions and suggestions for their characters in the story, and as a result that gave me ideas that I came up with off the top of my head to work with.  Others didn’t have as much of a vested interest, but still supported the project.  And it was difficult to come up with a general story idea that I wanted to do for Brooklyn’s character.  Part of me wanted to dive more into Brooklyn as a character.  Explore more into Brooklyn’s character, perhaps create more lore, and things of that nature.  But for just getting a general idea of “what is going to happen” down I was drawing a blank.  However, I finally realized that I had a new villain I had been playing with and hadn’t done that much with.  So I decided to give the Lost Master some more time to shine.  I might try to play with this idea in future stories.  But for now, I wanted to get an idea on paper and build a story that I felt would allow Brooklyn’s character to shine and prove her abilities despite the fact that I have mostly left her character on the sidelines across both books.  Brooklyn as a person is an interesting person to know.  On the one hand, she can be very quiet and reserved if need be.  But put something that she truly wants to achieve in front of her, she then is one of the most dedicated people I know.  It was the reasoning that she gave for her Semblance.  An unstoppable force of will.  And like I said before, I haven’t had a good chance to showcase that ability in the books.  But back to Brooklyn as a person.  She is somebody who will keep moving forward even if there seems to be a wall in her way.  Her determination is admirable to say the least.  And not just to life, but her passions.  She is an artist by trade, and enjoys creating different drawings, but is also a passionate fan of the character Nightwing from the Batman comics.  She isn’t somebody who will just jump from one thing to the next and ignore those around her, she will be a dedicated worker to a project or cause she believes in and has been and will be a dedicated friend.

Author's Note

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