The Knights of Grimm - Act 4 - Whispers of Arkhonex

Chapter 82 - Dark Secrets

Jaune

"This place just keeps getting weirder." Jaune wisely said as they followed the voice of Sylens Emerais through the new hallway that they were shown. They kept their weapons close, tightly gripped as they walked down the hallway. Unlike the one that Kassius found, this one felt... realer than the others. It truly did feel like they were inside of a laboratory now, instead of an endless maze of catacombs. Jaune walked up the steps with Crocea Mors pointed forward, cautiously checking his corners with Pyrrha by his side, aiming Milo in its rifle form. They stayed close together whilst Ozpin walked with them, they split apart and let the Professor advance.

He approached a large window, the chamber beneath them was dark until the lights came on. None of them expected what was down there – they were expecting something horrifying. Skeletons of Sylens' test subjects or some messed up experiments – but it was nothing more than a basketball court. But the dust that scattered the ground... it was almost completely clean. As if someone had just swept it recently.

The same could be said of this room that they were inside of. "A Basketball Court?" Jaune softly said with confusion.

"Hmm... this definitely looks like someone's working quarters. You've got your main desk here, holographic terminals and countless filing cabinets." Ozpin said as he looked around. Pyrrha on the other hand shuddered as she looked around, seeing the old faded drawings pinned to the wall.

"Or a school... this place just reeks of wrongdoings." Pyrrha said as she looked around, and that was when the mysterious voice of Sylens Emerais returned once more. Every time he spoke there was a musical cue, like a signal every single time.

"I assure you that the good workers of Northern Star Labs hold personal and environmental hygiene as high as we hold our work. Which is very high... I assure you." He cryptically said as they stood there.

Jaune scoffed. "I'm sure you do." All three of them hated it, every time that he spoke it sent shivers down their spines.

How the hell could he possibly be speaking to us? Even if he lived past Vyrryk and the others when they came here to save him... that was over two thousand years ago. He's gotta be a skeleton by now, maybe even dust.

What the hell is going on here?

"Professor... please tell me you know some things about Sylens. Did you meet him?" Pyrrha asked him with concern in her voice.

"A very long time ago, back when I was a Vanguard, still a human and when this place was still standing. I did not speak to him very long, but he was nothing like this." Ozpin explained.

"How do you mean?" Jaune inquired.

"Well he wasn't crazy. But then again, I guess being locked away in a subterranean laboratory with nobody to talk to... I guess you would go a little nuts." Ozpin admitted with the shrug of his shoulders.

"Guess he took social distancing a little too literally." Jaune joked. "Come on, let's see if we can find anything out about this place." Jaune said.

"I can assist you on that front." Sylens promised, making him jolt from his voice that would appear from thin air. "Northern Star Laboratory – we are the wise men and women that the people of Arkhonex could look to as their ancestors gazed upon the Northern Star whilst sailing the oceans of Remnants in wooden boats. We are the light, that guides us all to a brighter future. Almost poetic... wouldn't you say?" Sylens asked him.

Jaune scoffed. "Yeah and look how well that turned out for Arkhonex." He said – being at the epicentre of what triggered the collapse of the greatest Civilisation that had ever existed, it was crazy for them to comprehend.