The Warlock, the Witch, and the Empire

Chapter 9

(Warning: more dark scenes ahead. Not as bad as before, but still: read at your own risk)

Vale, three weeks later

Things had changed very drastically in the next few weeks that came.

Due to the attack that left many dead and more wounded, the Vytal Festival was nearly canceled, had Ozpin not taken a very drastic action: combining the Atlas fleet with more Imperial security forces to oversee the protection of the city. Under normal circumstances, Ozpin wouldn't have approved of such measures. But with the recent attacks that had shaken the people's trust in the Huntsmen greatly, as well as the devastating states that a few of even his best teams were in, even Oz was now getting desperate for any solution to combat the increasing pressure and tension of destruction aimed at Vale. So much so, that when (Y/n) offered to have Imperial Probe droids patrol Vale at all times for any suspicious activity, Ozpin actually agreed since his students had been getting grief about the many fiascos that had been occurring.

Speaking of said students, teams RWBY and JNPR were still in recovering states. Nora had to get cybernetic legs to replace the ones she lost in her charge against the Crysalisk Grimm, though she wasn't her cherry, hyper self anymore. She seemed to be in a depressed state at what had happened to her, affecting her team's mood greatly, Ren most of all. Ironic, that he was always run ragged from her many antics, now he would give anything to see her jump up and down in excitement from anything at all, just to see her old self again.

Team Rwby were even worse.

Weiss and Blake were hospitalized to recover from the intense beatings they took, though they would still recover. The same could not be said for the sisters of their team. Yang had to have surgery to fix the damages she received as well as the stab wound she suffered to her abdomen area. And Ruby? She also had to have surgery done to fix her face, which would have a hideous scar on her left side, unable to use her left eye ever again.

When the girl's father, Taiyang Xiao Long, found out about their state, he immediately rushed to Vale and nearly threatened Ozpin to remove them from Beacon so he could bring them back to Patch for their safety.

Ozpin had somehow managed to alleviate Tai's fear and paranoia of losing his daughters by assuring him that the extra security would make sure nothing of the sort happened again. Though Tai still threatened Ozpin that if anything happened to his girls, he would hold him responsible, which the headmaster accepted.

(Y/n) had introduced himself to Taiyang as well and escorted him, Ozpin, plus Blake and Weiss when they had woken up from the Vale hospital they were in, to where Ruby and Yang were being treated, catching him up on what he and his people were and letting him know the story about what happened. Tai thanked him for treating his daughters and went with him to the ship they were on, showing him the two girls laying on some cots and looking worse for wear.

Giving them a moment to themselves, Ruby was left silent and traumatized by the event, having to cope with the reality that she would be forced to use only one eye from now on, and Yang looked the same, with some elements of PTSD added to what she saw happened to Ruby down at Vale during the Breach.

Filling them in on what they encountered during the event, (Y/n) apologized for not telling them about his 'brother', describing him as a monster that committed genocide against millions of beings with the most heinous ways imaginable, and explained the cover story he made up to divert and suspicion.

The group sans Ozpin were shocked at how he told the story and were sympathetic towards him, overlooking the fact that it was his own brother that he had to kill to stop the senseless death and destruction he wrought upon the galaxy. They accepted his 'apology', and then went on to tell about what he had done to Grimm that were in the vicinity with them and what they were like.