Road To Redemption

General Ironwood

Y/N POV

I awaken to see everyone surrounding me.

Y/N: "What'd I miss?"

Yang: "We're almost to Atlas."

I get to my feet. Ruby then wraps her arms around me.

Ruby: "Thank you. Thank you for saving us."

I smile returning her hug.

Y/N: "You're welcome kid."

Weiss: "We're here guys."

We walk to the front of the airship. Passing through some clouds we see the great kingdom of Atlas.

Jaune: "We finally made it."

Ruby: "What's going on up there?"

We turn our gaze to see airships.

Weiss: "That's strange, I've never seen the Atlas air fleet deployed like this before. It's like they're expecting a war."

Ren: "So what exactly is going on here?"

Weiss: "I don't know."

We fly lower cruising through Mantle's skies.

Ruby: "Everyone looks so depressed."

Weiss: "None of this seems right."

Blake: "What do we do now?"

Weiss: "Winter. If we can just talk to her then-"

The airship is suddenly shot down. 

Y/N: "Brace yourselves!!!"

We all hold on as the airship makes a hard crash landing. We hit the ground sending me sliding across the floor. I stop slamming headfirst into the main console.

Y/N: "Ow."

The side door is ripped off as robots swarm in and aim guns at us.

Robot: "Do not move. You are all under arrest."

We raise our hands getting cuffed. Then after getting flown away we're walked through Atlas academy. A couple more yards we're escorted to Ironwood's office where we're swiftly uncuffed.

Ironwood: "It's good to see all of you."

Y/N: "Our welcoming didn't exactly convey that."

Ironwood: "Apologies. But when rogue airships enter our airspace we automatically assume they're stolen."

Y/N: "It was. Now, we have some things to discuss."

Ironwood: "What is it?"

Y/N: "First, have you received any threats to Atlas Academy?"

He places his hand on his chin.

Ironwood: "None that I can remember. Why?"

Y/N: "Because old Leo said his academy was gonna be attacked. Sure enough it was. So I was just curious if you received any such news."

Ruby: "That's not all. My aunt Raven also said that all academies stood in the way of her master's plan. Do you happen to know what master she could be talking about?"

Ironwood: "Only one comes to mind. Salem."

We become slightly confused.

Jaune: "Who the heck's Salem?"

Ironwood: "She's an ancient evil that has been a blight on mankind for centuries."

Weiss: "How can someone be that old?"

Ironwood: "No one knows exactly. Many believed she sold her soul for immortality. Others say she uses dark arts to prolong her lifespan. But the one fact that is known is that she's a cunning adversary that'll stop at nothing to complete whatever plan she has."

Yang: "How do we stop her?"

Ironwood: "Many legends say that she's always had a knack for working in the shadows. So I propose a plan to expose her. By bringing her into the light we can hopefully rally all of the kingdoms into one giant army and kill Salem once and for all."

Blake: "That'll be a lot of work."

Ironwood: "I know. Which is why my plan is divided into parts. The first of which is gathering the aid of Mantle. I hope to have all of your support."

Ruby: "Tell us how we can help."

Ironwood: "There's a lot of work to be done. But before we can even begin to start we need to give those weapons of yours a much needed upgrade."

That night I sit hunched over the toilet doing my regular thing. In between sessions I see that rash has now spread all the way up my arm, across my chest and to my other arm. It's blackish with some green mixed in. I lightly poke it only to not even feel it. This makes me sigh.

Y/N: "It's definitely necrosis. Meaning I ain't got much longer."

I finish puking and head to bed. Only I don't get much sleep.