Destiny No More

Chapter 67

There were many things about Beacon Coco loved, and many things she hated. Being called to the Headmasters office had been firmly planted in the latter only a few months ago. Nowadays less so. She knew things most didn't, things about the Grimm and Magic that were kept secret but to those they could trust. With that came a degree of trust and confidence that she should be included in some way, obviously not in everything, but at least something.

This however felt far above her pay-grade.

"S-she can't be killed?" Coco stuttered. "But... the Relic-"

"Jinn had no answer." The Headmaster cut her off with a solemn expression. "The question was outside the bounds of her knowledge... she simply didn't know."

Coco's hand shook in her lap. "So that's it then? We can't beat her."

"That remains to be seen." He stated. "We have kept her at bay for millennia, there is no reason we can not still do the same. Make no mistake, the world is not without hope."

Coco shook her head quickly, desperately wanting to believe what he was saying. "What... what are you going to do now?"

"That has also yet to be decided." Ozpin held up his hand to stop her interrupting him. "We have leads, plans and preparations in place. We are not without course, it simply remains to be seen which we shall choose. The world is not yet lost."

"What can we do to help?" Coco would have to tell her team, but she knew they would want in. After the initial shock wore off of course.

"At this moment we don't have a need for more fighters." The Headmaster sat back in his chair. "With Atlas and Mistral both in the fold, we have more manpower than we have had in centuries. With Qrow, Winter, Ironwood, Pyrrha, and myself, there are few enemies we can not best in combat."

Coco shook her head in annoyance. She was fed up with people saying they weren't needed to fight; that they weren't ready. They had spent their lives training to fight the Grimm, and now the Queen of the Grimm had finally been revealed to them they were being told they had to stay on the sidelines. It wasn't without reason, but it didn't make it any easier. Her team was good but they were far from the best Huntsmen in the world, she knew that. That being said, that was really all they had to offer. "Then why tell me?"

"Because Pyrrha will need you." He sighed. "She has had a difficult life, and her hopes rested on this more than any other. The revelation that there would be no easy victory has been hard on her. The fact that Qrow felt the need to call ahead only helps prove that."

Coco fidgeted in her chair. "Is she okay?"

"There was no combat, she is unharmed physically." Ozpin closed his eyes. "But she's afraid."

As she had a right to be, Coco couldn't help but feel. Salem was immortal, unkillable, and their one hope at beating that had just gone up in smoke. When faced with something so inevitable, she couldn't help but feel some fear was justified.

"Fear... is a dangerous thing." Ozpin stared at her over the rim of his glasses. It wasn't an odd expression, anyone with glasses would do it on occasion when they wished to rest their eyes, but there was something else in the way he looked at her. An odd depth to them that made her shift nervously. "People often underestimate its power, for it is in fear that Humanity can make its greatest achievements... or its most disastrous mistakes. Leo... Former Headmaster Lionheart was once a brave Huntsman prepared to stand against Salem no matter the risk, yet fear turned him against us. It is my fault for not being there when I should have been, for not offering the support when he needed it most. Pyrrha is afraid, and she will need someone to help ground her."