Chapter Text
He had seen much worse. He had experienced far more violent aftermaths, and he had caused far greater destruction. Despite all that, the damage before him right now still irked him to no end.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Ozpin asked over his Scroll. Sapphire would have wanted to use his headset, but he had forgotten to ask Penny to return it after the concert. He doubted he would ever bother anymore with this going on. "I heard that the damage you sustained is quite worrying."
"It'll just make my other arm stronger thanks to my Semblance," Sapphire replied. "That being said, it'll be difficult to do homework, so I'd like an extension on Dr. Oobleck's assignment. A permanent extension would be good."
"Since when did you attend classes?" Ozpin asked, probably out of genuine interest.
"Good point," Sapphire conceded. "Anyway, I take it you've given me the clearance to investigate?"
"The soldiers will know," Ozpin replied. "I do apologize for this; you are a student and yet-"
"Someone's gotta hold down the fort against that woman, right?" Sapphire asked. "It'll just be like old times; I'll serve as your eyes and ears for now."
"Very well," Ozpin said. "Tell me what you see."
"Chaos," Sapphire replied, walking around the lobby and noting the marks on the walls. "Not a lot of blood, but the damage is pretty severe. It's not all done by a single organized group."
"Not bad," Ozpin commented. "I do have reports that tell me that regular civilians were involved in the attack. Both human and Faunus."
"Is that right…" Sapphire trailed off, ascending the stairs as he continued to look around. "So they made use of people who don't like the SDC to add to their forces?"
"What makes you say that?" Ozpin asked. He probably already arrived at the same conclusion, but Sapphire supposed he was a teacher at heart after all. "They could be supporters of the White Fang."
"Then the attack would have been more organized," Sapphire replied. "Most of the security squad is severely injured at worst, not dead. I can only assume that the humans are an external party brought in to cause some trouble."
"Correct," Ozpin said. "You'll find evidence supporting that theory on the upper floors."
"Son of a…" Sapphire cursed, arriving on the fourth floor. The amount of blood and corpses in the lobby was nothing compared to this. Those who made it up here were clearly better armed and more skilled than those who were stalled at the lobby. "They let the civilians take out the guards on the lower floors and saved their combat troops for the stronger security up here. Wait a minute…"
"Yes," Ozpin agreed. "They waited for the concert to be held so that the security at the SDC would be lower. However, they still sent a group to attack the concert hall, and had to rely on civilians to attack the company. This isn't a proper plan; this is just a backup put into action following the failure of the assassination."
"That would make sense, if not for the fact that this is far too desperate," Sapphire reasoned. "They even relied on civilians here. If this was a backup, why isn't it more thought out? Unless… this group took orders from someone else and not from the higher ups directly… No, that doesn't make sense either…"
"Speculation won't get us anywhere," Ozpin prompted. "Head upstairs; I have yet to receive a report on Winter Schnee's office."
"Understood," Sapphire replied. He wanted to get away from having to look at all this anyway. "I'm interested in how they beat her personal guards too."
"Because you've battled them before," Ozpin stated plainly. "How strong would you say they are?"
"They're good," Sapphire replied instantly. "They're very calm and collected, and are very focused on their mission; they know when to attack and when to stick to defense, even if it makes them appear weak or even if they have the advantage. In my case they often just defended to buy some time, so I don't know what it's like when they're fighting to kill, but I can testify that their abilities are the real thing."
"So the White Fang have people who are skilled enough to take them both out," Ozpin mused.
Sapphire said nothing, but it was clear enough who Ozpin was actually referring to. Sapphire had been thinking along those lines as well; he was merely looking for evidence to prove himself wrong.
What remained of Winter's office shocked him beyond words for a few minutes.
The office looked almost untouched. Unlike the lower floors, where countless cracks peppered the walls and objects were crushed and scattered across like the aftermath of a hurricane, the office was largely clean, as though its inhabitant had merely left the room. The only marks of violence that remained to serve as any sort of proof was a long, deep gash on one of the walls – one that was long enough to cover almost the entire wall from one end to another, along with a pool of blood behind the desk that without a doubt belonged to Winter. On closer inspection, a pool of blood was present at the far corner of the room as well.
"Take a look," Sapphire said, taking a picture and sending it to Ozpin.
"What do you make of it?" Ozpin asked after a brief pause. His tone had changed as well, and most certainly not in a good way.
"Considering the damage downstairs and the considerable security at the SDC, it's unlikely that a large group made it up here," Sapphire summarized reluctantly. "If it's a small group, then at least there would be signs of a scuffle. Even though the guards are skilled, given the state of the office they were taken out swiftly. Odds are that only one or two White Fangs made it up here, and they were skilled enough to be able to take out both guards in a few hits, resulting in the lack of damage to the room."
"I suppose I should tell you," Ozpin sighed. "Only one of the guards was sent to the hospital along with Winter Schnee, and the other is currently missing. From the first guard's mumblings before he lost consciousness, his partner… 'Dissolved' into thin air after being struck by the intruder."
"So the blood in the corner belongs to the survivor," Sapphire muttered. "But who on Remnant…?"
"I was under the impression that you would say it's Adam Taurus," Ozpin commented.
"I did," Sapphire admitted. "But if it's really him, why is Winter still alive?"
Ozpin said nothing, waiting for Sapphire to continue.
"There's no way he'll leave Winter alive," he said. "If it really is him, then he's not worth paying attention to in this matter; if there's someone who can make him hold back on killing a Schnee, that person is definitely far more dangerous."
"Sapphire," Ozpin said seriously. "How likely is it that a third party is involved?"
Sapphire did not reply. Exiting the building in silence, he held back on telling Ozpin what the latter surely would know. After all, Ozpin should have arrived at the same conclusion; they both knew very well that only Adam Taurus could have left pulled off an attack like that.
"Hey, headmaster," Sapphire said, somewhat reluctantly. "You can expel me as and when you want, right?"
"I would like to remind you that the assassination attempt on Weiss Schnee was only thwarted because of the presence of assistance," Ozpin replied instead of directly answering him. "Assistance that came in the form of a team of students from Beacon – your peers, I might add."
"And as a result, they're injured as well," Sapphire retorted. "Because I asked them to help-"
"Sapphire," Ozpin cut across him sharply. "I hope you realize that Winter's current predicament is not your fault."
She was on the verge of dying because he failed to plan ahead all the way for something like this. He was wasting his time singing in a concert and having fun like an idiot instead of considering the possibility of revenge; there was no way the White Fang would take the assassination's failure lying down. How was it not his fault?
"They're your students, you know," Sapphire snapped, purposely ignoring that last comment.
"And so are you," Ozpin reminded. He waited, but Sapphire did not follow up with another retort. "But we shall discuss this another time. Is there anything else you wish to add?"
Sapphire opened his mouth, only to close it again without saying anything. There were many ideas and problems swimming about in his head, but he was sure that Ozpin had already thought of all of them by himself. There was one theory, however, that he wanted to bring up regardless.
"This might not be related," he said. "But what if that mystery woman is related to this third party, if it even exists?"
"It's hard to say," Ozpin replied. "Why do you think the White Fang wanted to assassinate Weiss Schnee, and attacked the SDC?"
"To boost their image," Sapphire replied. "Dealing damage to the SDC, no matter how they go about it, is the easiest way to do it. However, once they become more notorious and feared, it'll draw a lot of attention to them."
"Therefore?" Ozpin prompted.
"There is a third party involved after all," Sapphire finished. "And they're either cooperating with or are using the White Fang for their own schemes. It wouldn't make sense for the White Fang to let Winter live otherwise. The more people hate the White Fang, the more attention it draws to them and away from this third party. They might even be able to push the blame to the White Fang for some crimes they commit."
"See, was that so hard?" Ozpin asked, mirth creeping out of his voice.
Sapphire, realizing that he had been tricked into speaking his thoughts, cursed in about six different languages before finally returning to the conversation.
"Now that you've acknowledged the existence of a third party," Ozpin said, clearly satisfied with the reaction. "Will you still insist on fighting alone?"
"I get it," Sapphire conceded, heaving an exasperated sigh. "But are you really fine with them missing out on lessons?"
"Unfortunately, I'm too busy defending this office at the moment," Ozpin replied. "Also, I'm the clumsy type, so even if reports of Team RWBY missing classes were to be filed up, I might just end up losing them."
"Is that right," Sapphire said, smirking. Hanging up on the call, he let that smirk fade off his face as he considered their conversation. Regardless of the presence of third party, and regardless of the unknown woman's identity and connection with this, there was one thing he still questioned about the situation:
What did they hope to achieve or convey by leaving Winter alive?
-
The Shopkeep looked up when Sapphire entered the store, looking around as though checking for the presence of other customers.
"Good day," Sapphire greeted, leaning on the glass counter which displayed several kinds of Dust crystals. "Hard to find a proper Dust store around these parts, you know?"
"Yes, I've been told similar things in the past," the shopkeep replied.
"I hear you're a very interesting man," Sapphire said. "You own a noodle shop too, right? I believe I saw you mopping the floor in the concert hall on the day of the Schnee concert as well. Must be tough doing all that."
"Ah, yes," the shopkeep nodded. "I do a lot of part time jobs to earn some money."
"A jack of all trades, huh," Sapphire mused. "Interesting. Can you tell me something, though? How did they permit you to clean the concert halls during such an important event, especially when you're just a part-timer?"
"W-well, I've been working there for a while," Shopkeep replied, chuckling. "You could say I'm a veteran of cleaning dirty floors… haha…"
"I see," Sapphire laughed. "Maybe they'll get you to clean up the mess you helped create in the SDC, then."
"W-what do you mean?" Shopkeep asked nervously.
"I hear Roman Torchwick was first spotted in this area when he tried to rob this Dust store of yours," Sapphire said. "Such great camouflage it must be when everyone thinks you're a victim, no?
"The attack on the SDC wasn't well coordinated, but the people who helped out must have been gathered in some way," Sapphire went on, seemingly talking to himself. "Someone out there relayed information, and you seem to be observant enough to be able to gather said information."
"W-what makes you say that?" Shopkeep asked.
"How did you know I wasn't a customer when I came in?" Sapphire asked back. "You got nervous because you saw me fighting against the White Fang back at the concert hall, and thought I was here because I was on to you, no?"
Shopkeep took a few steps back, and at that moment another man walked in through the door. He cast a passing glance at the shop before sitting down next to Sapphire, seemingly paying no attention to Shopkeep himself.
"You should be cautious about continuing to provide information immediately after something like that," Sapphire advised. "You might be able to tell who's a fighter at first glance, but you don't know who's on your side."
Realizing that he had tricked into exposing himself, Shopkeep retreated a few steps but did not bolt for the exit; there was pretty much no way he could escape in a situation like this.
"I'll be frank with you," Sapphire said as he walked past Patrick and right into Shopkeep's face, his eyes slowly glowing red. "My teammate's sister is dying, and she's so heartbroken she's crying openly despite her pride and image. Her teammates are depressed as heck, so that puts me in a very bad mood. If you have anything to confess, and if you value your own skeletal system, I suggest you come clean right now."
Shopkeep trembled, staring at the human in front of him who strangely resembled a Grimm. Sapphire's eyes, flaring crimson, burned their horrifying fury into his brain. A light poke on his chest prompted him to look down, and at the tip of the blade hovering just above his heart.
"Now, tell me," he whispered. "Is there anything you want to say?"
-
Sapphire and Patrick emerged from the shop minutes later, their expressions much more relaxed than before. Behind them, a small group of soldiers marched through the doors where they had exited from.
"You feeling alright, Pat?" Sapphire asked. In order to deceive the Shopkeep, he had had Patrick use his memory manipulating Semblance to brainwash a few people, all of whom had their faces captured by the security cameras. As a result, he was able to convince Shopkeep that he was a friend of theirs, and confirmed his involvement in the attack when they asked him for more information. He even had to wipe those altered memories afterwards, which was extremely risky given his recent discharge from the hospital.
"Just a little migraine," Patrick admitted. "My memories aren't affected, so don't worry. What about you?"
"Surprisingly well, despite everything," Sapphire replied. "I've already settled things with Mercury, so it wasn't bothering me much to begin with, and now this…"
"I meant your body," Patrick corrected. "I heard it reacted strangely when you released your Semblance against Mercury. You're not going for the surgery, either; are you sure you're up for this?"
"Truthfully, no," Sapphire confessed. "I was perfectly fine with going for the surgery after fighting Mercury, even if it meant I can't walk or fight afterwards. But now that Winter's in this state, I can't just retire can I?"
"For this 'team' of yours?" Patrick asked, smiling. "I guess some things don't change. I won't stop you, Saph, but if a problem comes up, be sure to let me know."
"Well, if you put it that way," Sapphire said. "There is a favor I'd like to ask…"