Opening her eyes, Summer stared at the ceiling of a dull metal room while listening to the hum of industrialized machinery around her. The monotone drawl had become a constant occurrence in her daily routine, and it never got better.
-Steel in place of wood.
-A cold room devoid of character for a warm and inviting home.
It was the end of an era, and a harold of the changing times. The age of hardship was upon Remnant, one denoted by a looming apocalypse that no shadow war had any hope of concealing. One need only look at the revised map of Remnant, and the red flags that surrounded the fallen Kingdom of Vale to understand that the world was approaching an End Game.
A long sigh escaped Summer's mouth, a hand pressed over the bridge of her nose. Gradually, she rubbed her eyes, and then sat up with her legs hanging off the edge of the bed. A feeling of weariness assailed her like no other, causing her to feel weak and lethargic. Regardless, there was no rest to be had.
For a long moment, she stared at her hands, and then to her reflection on a bedside dresser where a mirror revealed her normal complexion. What had one been pale and running with angry red veins had returned to their ordinary hue: Ruddy and supple skin; the kind she had not believed she'd be able to see again.
But at what cost?
It was her fault.
Summer's gut sank, a nauseating pit forming in her stomach as she thought back to the moment she woke up and discovered she'd been cured of her affliction. Tai had been there every step of the way while Qrow leisurely stood with his arms crossed and back pressed to a wall. Then there was Raven who didn't stay behind, but awkwardly left a basket of fruit and flowers at her bedside.
Neither Ruby or Yang were around, but not through any fault of their own. Neither of the girls had been in any state to be present. Rather, if they had come, there would have been no way to handle the delicate issue of 'how' Summer had been cured. Yang was having issues with her fluctuating emotions and the corresponding maiden power that reacted with it, and Ruby would have burst out crying.
Tai wasn't taking any chances. Even though Summer was supposedly cured, no one knew her current mental state until she woke up. It wasn't worth the risk to have Ruby and Yang see their mother in a state outside of her own control.
Yang had still been shaken up about everything, and the gap between relief in saving Summer, and Archer's loss was too much. Resentment had to be directed somewhere, and James ended up on the brunt end of it all. All of it.
A commotion supposedly occurred when the news of Archer's condition reached the other members of the Rose Mercenaries, but even now, no one would elaborate for Summer. All that she knew was that the mercenaries went their separate ways. They didn't disband, but there was no longer a unifying figure to gather them all together.
Summer had already tried.
What a mess.
Everything was a mess even after three years had passed.
Standing up, Summer walked towards an open window and stared at a land covered with freshly fallen snow. The bitter chill of winter could not be easily contained even with heating and insulation.
The skies were a murky grey; dark clouds over the horizon despite the morning hours looming.
Shirou...that guy.
The guilt she knew she'd never get over continued to assail Summer. Were there things she could have done differently, or would things have turned out better if she'd never been selfish? Ultimately, it had been her choice.
YOU ARE READING
The Huntsman of Red V2
AdventureGuardian, Protector, Hero, and perhaps something more, that was what he had always meant to her, but to others he was simply known as the Huntsman of Red, Remnant's final hope. This story is not mine, it belongs to Parcasious
