Truth, Lies, and Silver Eyes (A Sequel to STRQ) [Book 2]

Chapter 67: Raven

The entire city was in chaos. There were still some Grimm roaming the streets. I took my katana and sliced through one of them.

"Ugh... these Grimm just keep coming and coming. I need to find Summer," I said to myself.

"Raven!"

I turned around to see Summer running towards me.
"Summer! I'm relieved to see that you're unharmed. I'm guessing Zinnia is...?"

She nodded slowly and wiped away a few tears.
"Yeah. I tried my best, but I just couldn't save her..."

I wrapped my arms around her.
"It's okay. Wait... if Zinnia is dead, then what happened to the maiden powers?"

Summer lifted her hand. A small flame danced on her palm.

"No way," I said.

Summer nodded. "It's true. I'm the Summer Maiden now."

It made sense. Summer was probably the last thing Zinnia was thinking about.

"Well, this took an interesting turn," I said. "I think we should keep your new powers a secret. At least for now."

Summer nodded. "Okay."

"Now, I could use an extra pair of hands to help me with these Grimm," I said.

Summer nodded and together, we took care of most of the Grimm.
"Excellent work," I told her.

She smiled. "Thanks. You did pretty good too."

"We'll leave the rest of the Grimm to the other huntsmen. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired."

Summer nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty tired too. I'll go back with you."

We walked back to the hotel quietly. As soon as we walked through the door to our room, Summer collapsed onto her bed.

"Man, what a day," she said.

I sat my katana near the door and laid down on my own bed.
"You could say that again. I wasn't expecting that many Grimm."

"Me either. I guess Salem must be more powerful than we thought," Summer said.

I sighed. I dreaded bringing this up, but Summer had the right to know.

"Raven? Are you okay? You've gotten pretty quiet," Summer said, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Actually... there's something I need to talk to you about. It's about Salem."

Summer joined me on my bed.
"What about her?" she asked.

I was silent for a few minutes before I finally answered.
"Salem is... immortal. She can't die."

Summer's eyes widened.
"What?!" she yelled.

"Shh! Keep your voice down," I snapped.

"Wait," she said, "how do you know this? Did Ozpin tell you?"

I put my hand on my hip.
"Ozpin? Please. Do you really think he'd let such a big secret slip? I heard Tyrian talking about it when I was spying on Salem once. I know Tyrian isn't the most sane person around, but I don't think he was lying. And if it really is true... then Salem just got way more threatening."

Summer put her head in her hands.
"Why wouldn't Ozpin tell us she's immortal? I don't understand," she said.

"I don't either. For now, we have other things to worry about. Like your new maiden powers. Do you know how to use them?"

Summer shrugged. "I can summon fire with my hand. But that's pretty much it."

I sighed. "Looks like I have to be your teacher. No worries. Since you tend to pick up on things quickly, this shouldn't be a problem for you. And besides, I've trained you before."

Summer grinned. "Sounds like fun! I'm looking forward to it! When do we start?"

"How about tomorrow? I'm tired from fighting Grimm all day," I said, laying down on my bed.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you in the morning, Raven."

"Goodnight, Summer," I said, closing my eyes.