The office transforms into some kind of… place that reminds you a bit of the Hunter's Dream. However, there is nothing around as far as the eye can see. The floor stretches infinitely to all sides and said floor seems to be made out of water, yet you are standing on it without sinking like it is a solid surface.
Adam and Blake are together with you: looking just as confused as you are. They quickly disregard that to concentrate on the opposite trio of Micolash, Weiss and Nora.
"Tell us… why do you insist in defying fate?" Micolash starts, motioning your group with his arms. "There is nothing to be gained from opposing us… and all to be gained from becoming one of ours."
"You mean one of your mind-slaves," Blake scowls.
"No thanks. I like being able to decide things on my own," Adam supplements.
"Ah, yes… the illusion of choice… thinking what
your actions… your thoughts matter. What a sweet lie," Micolash chuckles.
You narrow your eyes at that, already able to tell where this is going. Some of those afflicted by Grimm Hysteria often spouted fatalistic lines, doomsaying and even showed suicidal tendencies. However, it seems Micolash is the philosophical type.
Or, maybe you should say Herus is?
"Are you going bore us to death, or fight?" you ask, engaging your bracelets.
"I would very much prefer we exchange information. For example, the fact you can protect your thoughts, even at this distance, is fascinating.
I wonder… is there som-?" you and Blake decide to just cut to the chase and charge Micolash. Nora and Weiss move to intercept.
Do not listen to his words. Do not let him know.
While you clash with the mind-controlled women, Adam attacks Micolash, his blood-coated blade ready and swinging at the man's head… only for him to actually lean back completely, leaving his torso perpendicular to the blade.
The fuck… ?! you think, surprised that the emaciated-looking scholar is flexible enough to pull that off.
Then a blue crystal the size of a child breaks out of the watery floor and slams into Adam`s belly, launching him back.
You're forced to ignore it as Weiss creates glyphs around you, jumping from one to another at speeds that easily rival Ruby. You manage to defect using your bracelets and Aura, but you can't keep up with Weiss' speed and she manages to score some cuts.
Blake isn't faring any better with Nora; the student is just too strong for Blake to defend against. Even when she uses her shadow-arm, the pressure from the hammer strikes seem to make the Faunus' concentration waver as her arm deforms. She also can't simply snare Nora's weapon or arms and legs, due to the sheer strength the girl possess, so Blake can only play a game of "Keep-Away" and try to launch her sword at the juggernaught of a student.
Seeing that playing defensive is only going to have your defenses whittled down, you decide to go on the offensive and grab Weiss' blade when she overexert a thrust. Before you can punch her, a black glyph appears under your feet and then you feel like your entire body suddenly weights a ton. It's as if you're trying to carry a Goliath on your back. Your Aura still works, though, and it blocks Weiss' quick slashes and thrusts.
You see Blake flying back, her defenses finally giving in and her shadow-arm dissipating. Adam is still trying to reach Micolash, who just stands there, making some hand gestures as large, blue crystals shoot out of the lake-floor at the speed of arrows, forcing Adam back. Some crystals even fall down from the sky, further pushing the Cainhurst Knight back.
You activate the secondary trait of your Semblance to temporarily force Weiss back due to the heath, but her Glyph is not dispelling. That is, until Blake comes to your aid and touches the Semblance-construct with her newly reformed shadow-arm. You don't know what it's doing, but the Glyph wavers and loses form, collapsing into red particles and you can finally move again.
Adam jumps back and stand beside you all. He moves to intercept Nora, but she just sidesteps all his attacks with ease. Too much ease in fact.
It's almost like she… you look at the arrogant smirk on Micolash's face.
Of course! "Adam, they're reading your thoughts!"
"Wha-Hurf!" the men gets kicked in his guts for that distraction and is launched back again.
"Blake! Can you use your-"
"I would love to, but there are no shadows here!" the member of Dawn's Song says, prepping your request.
You briefly stop and realize that Blake is right: there is not a single shadow being projected in the water-floor, or anywhere else. It's as if the lake you are standing on has some kind of light emanating from below your feet. Blake's Semblance, outside of restoring the use of her severed arm, is pretty much useless for anything else.
As if we needed any more reminders that this was a trap. you bitterly think.
Before you can form another sentence, Blake reshapes her arm into a thick barrier in time to stop Weiss' rapier from skewering her eye. You look from one Faunus to the other, as Adam is trying to recover his footing while Nora now mixes hammer blows and punches and kicks, battering the swordsman around as if he were a mere squire. Combined with the fact that they apparently can read his mind, it's no wonder Adam is doing so poorly.
You curse and charge at the red head, who sees you arriving and changes targets, trying to punch you. You take the blow (noticing how it seems even stronger than before) and use the power you've absorbed from it against Nora to send
her flying back with a punch to her face.
"Thanks…" Adam breathes in relief and the two of you turn to see Blake doing a great job of avoiding Weiss' attacks, but not being able to do much else as she needs to alternate between dodging and using her shadow arm as a counter to any of Weiss' glyphs that try to trap her. "How about we switch dance partners?"
You glance at Adam and back at Blake and Weiss, knowing what the man is suggesting. The concern in your eyes must have shown, as Adam says:
"I might not be that good at disarming somebody without cutting some limbs, but, compared to how useless I have been, I don't see this being an issue in this case. Besides, I was one of Weiss' instructors. Baring her sister, I'm one of the people that knows the most about how she fights."
This doesn't alleviate your concerns. Even if Adam can play a good defensive game, he is still at a fundamental disadvantage.
"Guess we'll just have to make this quick then," Blake mutters as she turns to eye the still smirking Micolash.
"Squirm and crawl as much as you want. Close your eyes and deny all… reality cares not whether your will is strong or weak.
All beings will end up the same!" Herus' mouthpiece says.
You all ignore that as his two mind-controlled fighters charge again. This time, you and Adam meet Nora and Weiss, respectively, as Blake advances on her former friend and colleague. You meet Nora's brute force with your own, knowing the girl can take a lot of punishment just like you. Adam keeps Weiss occupied, who, despite being able to read all of his movements, can't seem to actually hit him either.
"You're being too predictable, Weiss," the bull Faunus chastises the mind controlled swordswoman as he parries thrust after thrust. When Weiss attempts to use her Semblance, Adam cuts at the glyphs around him, channeling his blood to extend his blade and his Aura and breaking the constructs before they can activate. "And it seems you've forgotten how to fight someone who can counter your Semblance…"
You would whistle if you actually had the time for it, but you were too busy tanking Nora's heavy blows. Appearently, Adam wasn't kidding when he said he knew how to fight Weiss, despite her being able to read his mind.
Also, you never knew there was a way to counteract the Cainhurst family's Glyphs.
Your musings come to an end when Nora runs past you to get to Adam, seeming to realize that he was resisting in what should have been an easy win for the brainwashed duo.
"Oh no, you don't!" you use your Semblance to reinforce you legs and, with a leap, tackle Nora to the watery ground and quickly pin her in a submission choke. The juggernaught of a student still manages to struggle and almost manages to break your hold, but you flare the flames of your Semblance to warn her not to try anything.
She does either way and it forces you to apply more force, even using the power you had accumulated.
Damn! Does she have some kind of Semblance that allows her to completely ignore any kind of pain and discomfort, or is she going the way of those walking corpses outside? you really hope it's the former, rather than the later.
While the Cainhurst Knight and you buy time, Blake uses all of her agility and the new capabilities of her shadow-arm to wave through the rain of crystals that Micolash seems to be able to summon at will.
"How… intriguing," the Headmaster says as he avoids and leans his entire body back, as though he were in a limbo competition. Blake just keeps attacking, either using her shadow arm like a whip, or a substitute for her ribbon. Yet her blade never manages to touch the strangely flexible Micolash. "To fight so desperately, even though you can see the futility…"
Blake avoids another shower of crystals and sees Micolash point his hand at her. An explosion of… some kind of blue energy happens right at her feet, launching Blake back and completely bypassing her Aura, leaving her with burns.
Adam and you see that, but can't do anything for your companion as you too are busy fending off Weiss and Nora. You silently send a prayer that Blake can find a way to actually defeat Micolash.
"Why not let yourself just
accept our offer? We can help you
achieve that which you desire."
Blake grunts and kneels, glaring at the person who was once her colleague.
"Would you give Micolash back? Can you restore the souls of all students you've consumed?" the cat Faunus queries.
Micolash/Herus just keeps that insufferable smirk and doesn't respond.
"Of course you can't," Blake spits at them. "In that case…" she gets up. "My answer-" without warning, she launches her shadow arm at the man again. Micolash easily sidesteps the attack… and the limb suddenly splits into multiple tendrils at his direction.
For the first time in the fight, it seems Blake surprised their adversary as Micolash has no way to avoid that many limbs coming at him from all directions and-
The shadow tendrils phase through the Headmaster as if he is just an illusion.
"Wha-?!" a poison-green, Weiss Glyph appears at Blake's feet and tentacles come out ready to grab her. It says a lot about Blake's instincts and reflexes that she manages avoid that in the time it took Adam to slug Weiss across the face to stop her from trying this again.
"Huh… so you actually have the capacity of thinking beyond the obvious lines. How…
troublesome," Micolash' tone is now devoid of humor.
Blake ignores him, knowing the man is probably not even there. Instead she is frantically analyzes the situation and thinks on what may be causing this. If the Micolash fighting them is not real, then he has to be some sort of projection. The question is "who is manifesting it"?
She briefly closes her eyes to try and detect the Auras surrounding her. It is a technique all prospective Hunters are taught as it is the basis for them to analyze their own Aura. You would do it, if it weren't for the fact that Nora has managed to get one arm out and is trying to awkwardly punch her way out of your hold.
"Blake! Don't just stand there!" Adam warns her as he sees several crystals coming down from the skies at the cat Faunus.
Blake opens her eyes and sees the projectiles coming at her just in time to dodge. As she does so, she suddenly throws her weapon at Micolash's general direction. A crystal rises from the watery floor, knocking the weapon away… until Blake's shadowy limb stretches to grab it and launches it again.
The blade seems to stop inches from the floor near Micolash's feet, though you all can hear the sound of metal cutting flesh and a… screech? Chirp? Either way, the strange pill-bug-spider-thing that is Romy appears with Blake's sword impaling its cylindrical body as it writhes in pain.
Micolash seems to flicker out of existence briefly and throws a glare at Blake. The Faunus, once more, ignores the illusion, practically blurring as she quickly approaches the small abomination and grabs her weapon's handle.
In a single movement, the dark-haired Intelligence Agent bisects the alien-looking insect, blueish blood flying around as the entire lake starts to blur and slowly disappears, giving way to Micolash's office.
You and Adam are surprised to have reappeared in what looks like the same spots you were before being… transported?
Then dark tentacles snare the both of you, coming from what looks like two shadowy portals at Micolash's (the true one, still sitting on his chair) hands. It seems the man finally got tired of playing with the both of you as you can feel the appendages squeezing your limbs and eating away at the protection of your Aura, as they suspend you both in the air, freeing Weiss and Nora.
"No more. This experiment was intended to see the extend of your protection against our influence, but your rebellious attitude has gone too far!" Micolash's voice acquires a strange reverb to it, almost like it's overlapping with another, inhuman one.
You try to fight and free yourself as you see Nora and Weiss getting closer with their weapons poised to finish Adam and you. The Cainhurst Knight just smirks at the mouthpiece, chuckling at what appears to be his final moments:
"So this was all some experiment to you? And here I was, thinking
whatever was controlling this was smart."
"Is that so? Pray t-"
You soon realize what Adam meant when a sword comes out of Micolash's chest. Then shadow-spikes do the same, turning the mind-controlled puppet into a reverse-pincushion.
Micolash lets out what has to be the mother of all death wails. You're pretty sure the guys out in the campus' gardens could hear it.
Then several things happen at once:
The shadowy portals abruptly close, severing the tentacles holding Adam and you, the appendages flopping to the ground lifelessly.
Weiss and Nora immediately faint, but you and Adam manage to react quick enough to catch them before they hit the floor.
Finally, you hear can hear Blake's sorrowful voice from behind Micolash' seat as his scream dies out:
"I hope that this frees you… my old friend."
Then the sword and spikes practically disembowel the man as they easily slash out through his body. Black blood flies everywhere, staining the Faunu's blade and herself. The Academy's Headmaster is dead before he even hits the floor.
You hand over Weiss to Adam as you go to Blake, who falls on her knees, looking spent and exhausted. Her shadow-arm dissipates and she seems to be holding back tears as she basically killed what had been left of her friend and, with him, the entirety of the Academy.
"Blake…" you start, looking back at Micolash's body… just to find a skeleton wearing his clothes. "What the-?!"
Blake looks up due to your exclamation and, upon seeing the same as you, let's go of her sword to cover her mouth with her normal hand in shock.
"He… was dead the whole time?!" Adam vocalizes your collective astonishment.
"But… how… ? We were just fighting him… this doesn't-!" you speak, trying to come up with an explanation for what just happened.
"The Blood," Blake, even in the midst of mourning, seems to be on top of things as she supplies you all with the answer.
Still, you and Winter's personal Knight look at her in confusion until Blake points to the pool of blood beneath the clothed skeleton.
A pool of black blood…
Black blood that summons a memory of Iosefka showing you what she found out regarding the composition of the Blood…
[Using your own blood to keep your puppet's form intact, even violating the laws of this world... your impulsivity will only bring you more distress, my child...]
