A Cheerless Ceremony

[shirii]

Today would be the day they had waited for.

The halls Shia walked were lined with gold, and the walls themselves were purest marble; bone-white. Her metal suit clicked against the stone she walked upon, and the silence in which they resonated was deafening. Shia was alone today. Her teammates had other arrangements to deal with; today, for them, was a joyous day to celebrate the coming of age of a promising new era of huntsman. Yet in the back of their minds would loom the thought that Shia confronted head on, knowing she had them in spirit: it wasn't enough.

The Grimm they taught them to slaughter only grew more twisted and deranged; what they lacked in intelligence was more than made up for in brutal killing instinct, the creations themselves only capable of being described as crimes against creation. Behind it all was she; the she-devil Salem who knocked on their doors. Oz was gone. They would all be next.

Times were growing dire as Salem made more and more moves while keeping her hands close to her chest. Hunters all over the globe were going missing, yet the only people who knew were the families staying awake at night, watching the door. Many were scared, yet most still had no idea of the lion snarling behind the curtain, draped by the devil herself, hidden in plain sight. But what all still had in common, the one thing that all humans could share in was hope. It glimmered in their eyes like the beginnings of starlight. They all shared it, though some had lost it to despair; yet it was still there, just hidden out of sight. Others would shine their lights on that darkness, and those lost to it would find hope again.

Hope was all they had, and there was Shia; three steps away from dashing the hopes of one of the most promising groups of huntsman their collective academies had ever seen. The ones from Atlas were ones that Shia had personally welcomed to her academy and graduated herself. She had grown proud of them. She prayed they would not turn their backs on her for how much was hidden. She prayed the world would not turn their back. For even if it was true they had spun their own tale of deceit, their reasons were fair, their intentions pure - and even if they weren't, what did it matter when their only options were to fight together or die?

She pushed open the door with a swift movement of her palm, entering with all the confidence she always radiated with. Shia Seriz: a household name. She pioneered the technological revolution of Atlas with her Semblance, the ability to Supercharge Dust; also the suspected reason she was able to wield the Seraphim-class battle suit she wielded, and was rarely seen out of. The energy required to fuel the suit was beyond anything Remnant could currently support, yet for her, it functioned. She could do this.

Idly, she noted how lame she felt, giving herself a pep talk and an ego stroke. She stifled her laugh.

"Students. I am glad you made it here today. No -- not students. Huntsman," she began, smiling warmly at them. Despite her serious exterior, the warmth of her smile could not be denied - she remembered faces from the Vytal festival, from her own classes, and even those she did not know still glowed with the energy of youth. She was glad despite all they had seen it still shone from them. It was what they needed more than anything right now.

"I'm sure you will have many questions as to what this place is. Why you are here. What is going on in our world. I beg you - sit tight and listen well, as you have many times before. In time, you will know all I do; know that which we have yet to learn. All I ask is that you listen to the end. And I make a promise to you now."

Shia stopped - her voice had begun to falter on the last sentance. When she spoke again, it had dropped to a barely audible whisper. It was fragmented like glass in a mirror with emotion, something akin to remorse and upset; it overflowed with sincerity, as though she knew what she asked was so much, and lamented it.

"If you decide to leave, nobody will blame you. Nobody will judge you. And there will be nothing more held from you if you decide to stay."

She waited. Let it hang there for a moment. And then she began to speak again.

"Let's begin." She stood below the others; unlike in the past where she had stood on an elevated stage and talked down to others, she now looked up to them. As she clicked her fingers, a projector buzzed to life in the middle of the room, hanging from the roof, and began to display an image on the wall behind her. It was of a heavily stylized painting of two men; one purple, one yellow. She was undoubtedly sure most would recognize them from the horns on their heads not as Faunus, but as the Two Brothers.

"We all know the story of the Two Brothers. It's mandatory for it to be taught in all primary combat schools as an important piece of culture. Two Brothers who are Gods - one who personifies creation and light, the other; destruction and darkness. The two fued, but eventually come to an agreement: to work together on one creation." She clicks her fingers again; the projector now displays a picture of a human, as yellow as they are purple. "Humanity. Capable of light, and of darkness. Of destruction, and of creation. Most importantly, the knowledge to know what is right, and the ability to choose between them."

Sighing, she bowed her head to them, and bit her lip. "I know it is a lot to ask of you with no proof to my name. But I will tell you as honestly as I can, that this tale is not only real, it is incomplete.

"Long ago, a woman named Salem existed. She was a lonely girl who lived alone in a tower, guarded by monsters that prevented entry and prevented escape. She lived and toiled in isolation, begging for a chance to live anew, yet was denied this request until a legendary warrior named Ozma appeared. The purity of his heart allowed him to overcome the monsters, and escape alongside Salem. Together, they travelled the world, and loved each other dearly. Until, one day, Ozma grew fatally ill. Salem begged the Gods to save him, and save him they did. Yet the balance of the world in which we live is delicate, and the world only grew more eager to take Ozma away. No matter how many times the Gods saved his life at Salem's request, they could not stop the natural order of things forever; and so in time, Ozma fell.

"Salem became furious with the Gods, and ungrateful for that which they had done; she rebelled against them, rallying as many humans as she could by swaying the hearts of man with promises of power. She took the powers of humanity for herself, and turned it against the Gods alongside the dreadful power of four items named the Relics. The Relics are physical representations of the four attributes that define humanity. Knowledge; Destruction; Choice; Creation." As she spoke, the outlines of a lamp, a sword, a crown, and a staff appeared on the wall behind her; though they were shrouded in shadow.

"What could defeat a God besides the very power they wield turned against them? She vanquished the Gods, shattering the moon as she drove them back with their own powers. In their last efforts to save and guide humanity, the Gods hid the relics; in vaults where our schools now lie. Ozma, the great warrior, was reincarnated to bring light back to Salem's heart; yet it was not enough. He was gifted with reincarnation to offer his wisdom to coming generations in the battle against Salem. But now, Ozma - the headmaster of Beacon Academy - has gone. We can't find his reincarnation. And Salem is... I'm sure you've seen the news by now.

"Huntsman gone missing on missions far below their level. Grimm becoming more and more ferocious at our walls. New types are being discovered every hour, with designs our nightmares could only hope to compete with. We're forced to assume Ozma has... been taken out of this war. We're left to fend for ourselves. Whereas before we tried to avoid widespread panic by keeping this under wraps, we realize now it isn't possible. That is where you all come in. We invited the top potential candidates from our schools to aid us in the fight and learn of what's going on.

I'm sure you have questions. Concerns. I will... gladly answer them all. In here." She motioned to a door behind her; the ones from which she came, that gave way to the inner workings of Refuge. "Those who wish to leave may leave. All I ask is you keep this close to your chest. If this spreads... we have no idea what Salem will do. She could lash out now that she knows she's lost the element of surprise. The panic it incites could cause a flurry of Grimm. I beg you. Those who wish to stay... please, enter. You will challenge everything you know, risk your life to save others, and save the world. Is that not what a huntsman is all about? I'm sorry. I shouldn't attempt to influence you."

Shia stood to the side, and gave a small bow to thank them for their attention. She clicked her fingers and the projector turned off, leaving the room in deafening silence.

[Doggo]

Doppler, as the young woman Mintha Ichos had been introducing herself to everyone since arriving, stood impatiently with many others gathered around. So far she wasn't getting any of the shady vibes she'd been expecting from this place upon being invited. Her trademark red headphones were over her ears playing a familiar song to pass the time while she observed and waited. Looking around brought several familiar faces into view. Some brief acquaintances from past Vytal Festivals, others fellow graduates of Haven, and even a former teammate. How a do-gooder like Pollux agreed to coming to this shifty place was beyond her. Still it was almost comforting to see him and a smile adorned her face for a moment as her eyes lingered.

Something more important took her attention away soon after however. Among the crowd of young huntsmen there were several people sporting animal traits. They were faunus undoubtedly. Mintha's stomach convulsed at the thought of working with sub-humans here of all places. She'd luckily managed to have an all human team her whole time at Haven. Surely she could go her whole professional career without having to team up with them now that she was a Huntress proper. This alone was enough to get her to consider leaving but thankfully she was spared as the woman of the hour finally arrived.

Doppler removed her headphones as the woman began speaking only to hear her have to correct herself on calling them students. Whether a slip of the tongue or force of habit, the huntress didn't appreciate being mislabeled. Still she stayed put for the moment and heard the beginning of the speech out. A pause came; a window for any who wanted to depart to do so. While there were many elements already tempting her to do as much, Doppler stayed put and let the story continue.

Quickly Mintha wished she'd left. The sensitive information started with nothing more than the two brothers fairy tale the girl had encountered over and over again as a child. She hated this story. People were just clinging to these images of gods to try and explain away the things they didn't like about life. People did bad things because they wanted to not because some God of Darkness made humans together with his brother. Though she had to admit she did always like one idea about the myth. It only specified humans as being the joint creation of the gods. This made them inherently superior to the faunus purely by mythological origin. It was hardly a point to make an argument on but it was appreciated regardless.

The story took an even more ridiculous turn with the introduction of Salem. A woman who apparently could talk to the gods and had her lover brought back to life. The dead didn't come back. This was nothing more than the ravings of a lunatic. Never mind this woman supposedly killing the gods and then controlling the Grimm. If the Grimm were becoming stronger it was just a sign that humanity's corruption was growing stronger. The order of the world of Remnant was logical and straight forward. Humans and faunus create enough negative emotions and eventually the Grimm destroy them. There was no mastermind to all of this.

But still she couldn't dismiss the nonsense. Why she thought. She knew why. Despite everything Doppler had done to study the Grimm she still couldn't answer one key question: how did the Grimm come to be? Until she could find an answer of her own the only one that existed lay with the tale of the brothers. She hated that fact but if this woman had any proof that the myth was true she had to know. Even if it was just bad evidence it would just further her need to search for the real reason. And so the young huntress followed those others brave enough to continue after all of that through the door Shia motioned to.

"Sure, I'll waste some more time here." Mintha muttered to herself.

[Jello]

Two very different figures stood leagues across in the room, listening to a very similar message only to hear different things.

One was a man dressed in garb of white and blue, with blonde hair tied delicately into a ponytail. He was among a crowd of other figures, though despite this he was rather easy to pick out of a crowd. Bright colors and eager disposition, he hung onto every word that Shia spoke to them all. His eyes rarely strayed, only occasionally out of interest to see who else had joined together at Refuge for a chance to make a difference.

At first, no faces the lightclad boy named Pollux was particularly accustomed to seemed to be visible. Perhaps some he recognized as mildly older versions of figures from Haven Academy and not much else, until he eyes fell upon Mintha Ichos, his teammates affectionately dubbed Doppler. His face felt warm and his heart warmer as a friend and comrade was present here. Whatever shaky resolve he might have harbored was easily hardened as Shia concluded her speech and story. He was one of, if not, the first of the crowd to approach forward, pushing past with a hand over his heart. He gave a nod to Shia, even moving toward a bow. "I am honored to stand by the side of these Huntsmen and Huntresses today." He spoke quickly as to not hold up the line of people who did want to join, as he pressed forward into the next room.

---

The other figure in the room was a pink-haired brawler. Figures moved out of their way to give her and her gigantic gauntlets space. It was a miracle, many would have thought, that she could so easily carry them around without any kind of assistance. Little did they know she did in fact have assistance. Internalized gravity dust actually helped put the gauntlets weight at equilibrium, making them weigh about 30% less than they actually did. Still, even at that rate they were heavy as balls.

The girl stood at the back of the room, partly to keep herself out of the view of others, and partly because moving ahead would mean squeezing through a crapload of people and that would only be a pain in the arse. Instead she crossed her arms, the metal digits of her gauntlets clasping her forearms and impatiently tapping as she waited for the little fairy tale brewed up by the metallic angel to finish. Granted, the girl had to admit; that was a sick piece of tech she was wearing. She made a mental note to ask how she got that functional.

She watched and listened and when the crowd started piling in, her eyes narrowed in skepticism.

What the hell?

She wondered. Was this really all it was? A meeting of Huntsmen to beat down Grimm and what, fulfill some kinda prophecy? Is that what it was? Was it a scam? Amaranta huffed out of her nose, rolling her eyes as she pushed passed the weaklings who trailed out of the back. "If I get to beat down some of those shadowy-shite-stains, I'm in!" She said exuberantly at Shia, as if it was a measure of permission rather than an exclamation of excitement. She too, continued forward into the inner workings of Refuge.

[Dementuo]

Catherine remained silent throughout the entire speech, though her eyes constantly darted about. She could point out a handful of faces among the crowd that she recognized; students from Atlas who had made it to this stage alongside her, as well as Silva- her old teammate and only friend. To Catherine's relief, it seemed that many of the faces she recognized were more focused on their former headmistress' words than Catherine herself, sparing her the countless disgusted gazes she had anticipated seeing on this day.

In truth, she hadn't wanted to be here at all. She'd have much rather gone home and left all the fighting behind her, but just as she always was, she was contractually bound to be here- She had signed off on this assignment, after all. But even with that fact in mind, she couldn't sit still. Her old headmistress being here doubtless meant other Atlas staff might come and go, and that would inevitably mean meeting with her handler during her time here. Part of her was comforted knowing that, but part of her was unnerved as well. She'd been told that she'd be free from now on, but there was always a chance of them pulling her back in. That's how it always was.

Catherine shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be worrying about those things, she thought- She was having the fate of the world explained to her and she ought to listen closely, she thought to herself. Taking in the armor-clad woman's words, she pondered over them for seconds after they'd been spoken. Fairy tales that were real and ancient evils that were beginning to stir, it was a lot for her to take in, but she knew the headmistress well enough, she felt. She knew this woman wouldn't lie about something so serious. No, they wouldn't- Atlas was supposed to be on her side, supporting her. She had faith that this story was real, even if it was a bit difficult to swallow all at once.

When the speech ended and the prospective students began stepping forward, Catherine stepped forward with them. She said nothing, she had a job to do. To join Refuge, and to rediscover herself, free from the confines of Atlas' academy. That had been her role here from the beginning. A role she would play faithfully until the day her condition could be properly sorted out. Thus did she step forward into the next room, fingers clutching the special sunglasses she'd brought with her.

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