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Chapter 24: Vytal Festival (Part 11) Conspiracy

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Summer looked at Raven and then back at Qrow in disbelief.

“You didn't even tell her who you are?”

“Didn't you just say she's too young to understand? Besides, I figured to let her think about her goals and see how she progressed before making the decision to tell her.”

“Uncle Qrow,” Raven interrupted. “what do you guys mean by regular hunters?”

The one who answered her was not Qrow or Summer, but Ozpin who sat beside her.

“Each kingdom is run by a council. Based on their decisions, expansion and upgrades of the kingdom are decided and executed. Underneath the council are the military and Hunters and Huntresses. They fight to protect and preserve peace and order. However, in the realm of Hunters and Huntresses who fight to protect peace, there is no real killing of people.

Their main job is to exterminate Grimm, protect and maintain the walls, and see that criminals are put away to jail. Underneath the surface, there are the Dark Hunters. Assassins that take jobs to kill people that are considered too dangerous, or tie up loose ends like those of Project A. Spies take jobs to infiltrate other kingdoms to make sure they don't lose out in technology or start a war without them knowing.

The Dark Hunters form factions and perform dirty work that normal Hunters would never do. We kill, torture, act as double agents. Normal people that become Hunters and Huntresses would never even begin to involve themselves with this.

However, all Dark Hunters have a strong sense of justice and understand protecting the peace doesn't always require the nicest ways to do it. Dark Hunters prioritize their justice above the missions given to the kingdom. That's why you see we don't always report everything truthfully. Our trust in the government isn't 100 percent. If anything looks wrong, we will take them down. That's even if the enemy is the council themselves.”

Raven nodded in understanding. It sounded just perfect for her. Peace and order was never simple and innocent. As Reah, she worked hard to get to the top using false relationships. She knew exactly what dirty rumors and lies people told to get by. Rather than being shocked at the dark face of humanity, it was more like a reiteration of the truth she realized long ago.

To the adults however, they were shocked. It wasn't that they thought she was nodding to pretend she understood, but that she genuinely understood what every word meant. What murder was and what kind of job they do. At the sight of her four year old step-daughter understanding what it meant to be a murderer, Summer could not help but sink down into her chair and sob into her hands.

“She's just four.” She cried.

“Four years old and she already cannot look at the world like a child can. She has lost her innocence, never to be the same again. Why, why is it so wrong to let her just enjoy a normal life? It's not right. It's not right..”

Qrow and Raven stood up and walked over to her chair. They gently rubbed her back and patted her shoulder.

“We'll try the best we can to give her everything she needs to live a normal life, but she has decided to become this on her own. Even if we take away and lock her up, she already decided what she wanted to be and what she wanted to do. I've been watching her for three years, Summer. The amount of effort she puts into training is inspiring. I know it's true.”

Summer gradually calmed down. Wiping her tears from her eyes, she looked up and thanked Qrow and Raven. However, Ozpin took this moment to speak up.

“Three years.”

They looked at him.

“Raven had been in his care for three long years. You should've had plenty of time to think about this. Whether to take her into your care or leave it to Qrow to raise her. Why did you suddenly decide to make a big deal out of this now?”

Qrow and Raven's faces blanked out at the realization. They turned to the woman who had an troubled face while looking down at the table.

“Summer, what happened on your mission to make you like this? Tell us.”

Qrow and Raven sat back down in their seats as Summer put on a serious face and began her explanation.

“After Qrow took Raven away and raised her, I went to revisit the hideout he had found. Just like he said, it was completely empty. Upon closer examination, it was as if they left in a hurry. The laboratory showed signs of experimentation with aura and their documents were almost completely wiped out. Almost.

In one of the fireplaces on the surface level, one of the papers weren't completely burnt out. On it was a map to some location. I researched and left to find this location, and when I did I went inside to investigate. Just like before, it was completely empty. Underground was a laboratory just like the other one.

However, I found something that was extremely shocking. In a secret compartment hidden inside of a personal locker was a stack of papers filled with logs of some of their research. One of the researchers had secretly made a copy of the research. I didn't know why, but it gave clues to what was being done there. The documents described investigating the creatures of Grimm and the Dust left behind by their bodies. It described how they used the Dust and tried applying to living creatures and its effects.”

Qrow and Raven had their jaws opened at this point. Only Ozpin sat there with a stern expression. Dust was a very powerful tool for humanity's survival, but nobody ever thought of putting Dust inside of their body for a simple reason. Any known cases have already resulted in death. Using it was fine, creating weapons with it was fine, but combining it with the human body has never worked out.

But there was another fact in Summer's explanation that caused Ozpin to frown. According to Summer, Project A was receiving help from others to move and hide. Otherwise, how could runaway scientists evade them for so long and still conduct experiments that were supposed to be rejected by the government. Not only that, they seemed to be also involved with Project D and Project G. Things were not looking good.

“As you know, the Grimm dissolve into black dust when they die, and the dust itself completely evaporates given enough time. The researchers mixed some kind of special material to preserve the Dust and apply it with the research of aura.

The effects were violent in their subjects. They started thrashing and screaming, so they started to thin out the dose they would give until it was not ultimately killing their test subjects. One of the features they all observed in their subjects was the turning of their eyes completely red. After finding these documents, I've rushed back to talk with you guys.”

Summer looked at the three of them, and ultimately rested her eyes on Raven. Concern completely filled her eyes. Forget aura, the girl in front of her was probably not even human anymore, and Summer was worried Raven would suddenly experience some kind of pain or condition that could result in her death. She wanted to stay with Raven and let her live a normal life as long as she could before something like that happened-- if it happens. At that moment a window popped up in front of Raven's vision.

Thanks to your knowledge, you now have a better understanding of what you are. Your race has been updated.

Human:As a human you receive no bonuses, but unlike other humans, your abilities have been boosted. Receive rapid Vitality growth.Grimm:As a creature of Grimm you have been given the unique ability to control the Essence of Darkness which when activated, integrates with your aura. When used, it temporarily returns your body to prime condition. If you attempt to spread your aura to other living beings while integrated with Essence of Darkness, it will devour their aura. Using Essence of Darkness rapidly consumes aura.

“..My status says I'm part Grimm.”

The adults turned to her. Shocked showed on Summer's face; pity, worry, and sadness followed after. What cruel person determined it was fair for such a young girl to be cursed with such a fate?

Author's note: What cruel person indeed.

In order to take her mind off of Raven, Ozpin questioned her on the concern he was pondering about.

“Summer, do you know who they're working with?”

She shook her head.

“I don't know their goals or who they are. Whoever they are, they have deep connections. They hide extremely well and seem to have somehow established so many hideouts outside of the kingdoms without us knowing. They are definitely dangerous.”

“Professor Ozpin,” Qrow spoke up, “what do you think is going on?”

“I don't know...Whoever they are, they're plotting something if they're getting involved with all these projects and hiding illegal experimentations. Project D and G still are going on, but none of their research should be anything like what Summer described. We wiped those that did stuff like that along with those of Project A a long time ago...or so we thought. Things are looking very dangerous.”

He looked up to Summer and Qrow after brooding.

“The mission has changed. This is no longer just about exterminating runaways. I think we're facing a criminal organization and they have avoided discovery for a long time. They also seem to have financial support and bases hidden all over the place. Qrow, you should focus on training Raven. If she still wants to continue this path, she needs to get a whole lot stronger. Summer, when you continue researching into this, be very careful. It's possible they have discovered you and will attack you.”

The two adults nodded with nervous expressions on their faces. Raven was just the same. The four them had began to realize the era of peace for the kingdom might end very soon.

........

Meanwhile, in a place far away. A woman sat in a chair looking at the papers on her desks. She was inside of a hideout that was unknown to all four kingdoms. She had evaded discovery for so long and was now a high figure in the Organization. A knock on the door was heard.

“Who is it?"

“It's Adam and Eve, Madam. We have a report you need to hear.”

“Come in.”

In walked two figures, a man and a woman. They looked nothing alike, yet shared the same strange red eyes.

“On our surveillance cameras in one of our old hideouts we have caught someone snooping around.”

“Show me the footage.”

On the display, the woman saw a familiar face. The figure entered the building wearing the same outfit she used to see all the time in their missions together. The woman was seen opening a locker and examining files.

= So I see Summer has gotten a bit too nosy for her own good. She should have just concentrated on her family if she knew what's good for her. =

“What do you want to do Madam?”

“Contact R in Vale. Tell him to keep an eye on her. If he notices her getting close to another one of our hideouts --”

She made a motion with her thumb underneath her chin.

“-- kill her.”

Sigh...now I have to do boring stuff.. like figure out events to pack up Robin's peaceful life. God I wish I could just skip it and get to the action packed events. Oh well, it adds to the impact when everything changes. What do you guys think? Interesting? Cliche? Boring? Rate, comment, etc. Thanks for reading!

Edit: I had revised an earlier chapter that said that Grimm leave Nothing behind. I made an error and made the message unclear. Grimm dissolve into dust and then evaporate into nothing. I had edited this after posting an earlier chapter but forgot to mention this to you guys. Sorry about the confusion.