A Series Of Unfortunate Circumstances [RWBY SI] [AHOIAC AU]

[shadenight123]

Chapter Fifty-Four

The Gheist was floating. It was looking at me, and I was looking up at it. It wasn't difficult to find; if anything, the creature of Grimm itself had come for me the moment I had been in the general area of its lair. Its crimson eye was blazing as it looked at me.

I flexed my fingers, mockingly inviting him to come down towards me.

The Gheist refused such an enticing offer instead, and simply remained floating out of reach.

"Seriously," I mumbled. "Do you want to play tag or something?"

The Gheist floated right and left, and then attempted to flee. I gave chase, jumping in mid-air to grasp as the hem of its clothes. The creature itself moved to the side instead, deftly avoiding my grip.

I grumbled about the unfair speed of the Grimm. It hadn't merged with the rocks, since it wasn't allowed to hurt me, but at the same time it refused to stay still in order to allow me to hurt it. Seriously, one just wants to attempt subduing a Grimm's will to one's own, and suddenly they act as if you're trying to murder them brutally.

Which was true, but all things considered, the Gheist was quite the rude Grimm.

"Listen here, you can keep on running, but it just means you're going to die tired," I said dryly at the creature of death and destruction, whom I didn't really think could feel tiredness to begin with.

At least it wasn't actually running away. Though it definitely wasn't getting closer.

If I had Magnistipula at my disposal, I'd be able to use the shotgun blast to propel myself up to the Grimm's level, or at least be fast enough to change direction in mid-air. I couldn't do that with only Salvatrix, and anyway, it wasn't like the weapon itself would keep staying alight for longer than a couple of minutes at most.

So there I was, stuck trying to do something very simple like getting a Gheist to come down, refusing to consider the possibility of the Schnee semblance from the get-go.

You have refused it; there is no point in persisting on decaying roots.

My left arm flickered with the white flames of my Aura, my hand extended towards the Gheist. The creature still didn't come down, but it stopped moving, standing eerily still within the mid-air. Quietly, I took a step forward.

The Gheist floated backwards a bit.

I took a step back, and the Gheist moved forward.

Abruptly, I dashed backwards and the Gheist flew to follow. The split-second I reached for the bark of the nearby tree I jumped off it, spun in mid-air and as the Gheist attempted to back-pedal out of the way, my fingers brushed against the creature's mask.

There was a crack noise, the white flames leaving behind a mark on the creature's white bone, and as I landed and grumbled in frustration at having missed, a sharp shriek echoed behind me.

I turned just in time to watch the Gheist clutch its head, shrieking and screaming like a wounded beast. It clawed at the brand seared upon its face, its body twitching and thrashing as it began to lose altitude. Rocks started to gravitate upwards, one of the Grimm's eyes now a blazing white light.

I extended my left hand forward, and this time the white flames flew. Air left my lungs as I watched the fire spread from the tip of my fingertips towards the creature, thin and sinewy strands of pale blue amidst the burning white flames.

This couldn't be my Semblance, because I didn't feel it.

This couldn't be Aura, because it wasn't draining.

The Grimm stopped twitching, its arms hanging limp by its side as it came to a halt right in front of me, a puppet on broken strings.

"What..." I mouthed, the fire and the string within coming less, I stared down at my hand, flexing my fingers, "What am I?"

I didn't understand.

Was this Salem's handiwork? Was this some kind of alteration I wasn't privy to? Was this something possible with the Schnee semblance, and never seen before?

The Gheist wasn't moving.

It wasn't evaporating. It was just floating in front of me. Its eyes were white, and cracks of white spread across its body, the angry crimson veins replaced by cerulean ones.

"What have I done?" I furrowed my brows. "What have I-" I shook my head. Whatever this was, it deserved further experimentation. As things stood, though, the Gheist in front of me had to go. I extended my left hand, and as my fingers gripped the creature's mask, I squeezed.

There was no shrieking. There was just the tiniest of noises, and then the creature of Grimm exploded. Flickers of white fire spread from it, tendrils of blue snapping in all directions, and I stood unscathed in the middle of it, pondering just where I had gone wrong, and why was I being so stupid as to experiment without someone to pull my ass out of the fire.

"That was...that was new," I acquiesced. Something bubbled within my chest, and I felt the bile rise to the top of my throat.

It was similar to a searing stomach burn, and I nearly doubled down in pain, shaking and gasping for air.

"Correction," I hissed out, clutching my stomach. "That was...stupid."

I fell on one knee, the taste of iron on my tongue. I retched the next second, blood mixing with an inky blob of darkness that was slowly, but surely, dissolving. I stared at it, watched the specks of white intermixed with the blackness erode at its skin and flesh, and as it collapsed upon itself to reveal a small, shattered mask, my eyes widened in realization.

Had it always been within me?

Had it always been a part of me?

Had Salem placed a Grimm within me while I was unconscious, or had she used magic to make me forget? Could that even be possible? Had it happened during training? Had it not-was this-thoughts blurred across my mind, but the sinking reality was that the creature of Grimm was now gone.

I could feel my Aura drain, going into overdrive to stop the bleeding the thrashing of the creature had brought to my insides. I gritted my teeth and fell down fully on both of my knees, both of my hands touching the ground, my breath shaky and erratic.

"If this is how we're going to play it," I said with a low growl, "Then we're gonna need to play it extra hard."

I tightened my left hand in a fist, and as rage and wrath consumed my thoughts, so too did the white fire flicker hotter and stronger across it. It blazed. It pulsed.

It angrily came to the front.

With a scream born of frustration, and disbelief at having been played for so long, I pulled the arm back and then slammed it against the ground, the earth shaking under the blow as fissures of light spread across it.

Then the light dimmed, and disappeared, and as I slowly stood back up, I heard growls and threatening noises from the nearest Grimm.

This time, as they drew near, I realized they would not be stopping by an invisible command. As I fool, I had believed Salem capable of commanding them all from afar, but that was a lie. It had always been a lie.

I laughed.

I understood now.

"Come!" I bellowed, arms outstretched, "I will shatter you where you stand, and reforge you anew!"

The first Beowolf charged, howling madly as my left hand slammed into the creature's face, the mask it wore creaking and bending as if made of clay, the creature falling limp and shattering in ashes the next second.

The second met my right fist's knuckles, and flew backwards.

Someone was laughing with sheer hilarity.

Someone was screaming with bile and venom.

It took me a minute to realize it was me.

It took me an hour to calm down, a hand on my face as the last vestiges of my exhilaration left my body.

Around me, the last of the Grimm' bodies twitched as they dispersed. I felt them depart. I felt them disappear.

I felt them leave, and I rejoiced.

I will burn the strings of slavery that bind us all...

...and in the blazing fires of my light, guide us all to freedom everlasting!

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Fifty-Five

The blacksmith had done a good job. Magnistipula was once more completed, and as I checked the mechashifting, the large chunk of iron split in two, giving me two short, stocky swords bound by a rattling chain.

It made the weapon more manageable, and a man with two short ax-like blades was quite different from a man with a large greatsword on its back.

I paid the man his due and then left. As I neared my horse, I looked at the beast with a puzzled look. The horse was one of Salem's. Yet...could it have been infected too? Was there even a way to find out?

My left hand touched its muzzle, and as I patted the poor beast I took a deep breath. The horse neighed softly, its eyes gazing into mine with vivid brightness.

"How would I even know the difference?" I muttered, before stepping on the stirrup and getting on the saddle. "Let's go," I clicked my tongue against my teeth, gently patted the horse's side, and with a slow trot, headed for the repeater tower.

The Gheist was no more, and I had a quick phone call to make to alert Cinder of my estimated day of arrival. With the Grimm-repellent no longer working, I'd need more time to get to my destination.

She wasn't pleased that I needed a bit more time because of potential problems along the way with wild animals, but she accepted it. Emerald was devastated, and I saw the faintest glimmer of misty eyes form before she quickly schooled herself.

Still, I was now on my way along Mistral's road, making good time.

The trip was no longer that boring, Grimm attacking as if I were just a normal traveler, and emerging none the better from it. I had come to an understanding with my altered Semblance, or with whatever it was. It was like fire, only it wasn't simple fire. It was like a whip if I willed it to be a whip, or a gauntlet if I wanted it to be such. It was a stream of white fire, and a beacon of light.

And I still had no idea how it had come to be; or where it was supposed to go, but it definitely didn't belong to Salem, thus, it had to be mine.

But if it didn't drain Aura, then it didn't belong to the Schnee semblance either; perhaps it was a part of my soul? Uh, was that my non-Schnee semblance?

I was chewing on a small chocolate tablet, minding my business and half-lost in thoughts a couple of weeks down the road of my life, when the noise of a motorbike caught my attention. I quietly moved the horse to the side of the road, humming to myself as the bike in question dashed past me.

I dismounted, clapped the horse's flank to let it go on its merry way, and then stepped into the undergrowth. My ears caught the sign of the motorbike's brake engaging.

By the time I heard the telltale sounds of gauntlet-shotgun blasts, I was already wildly off-path.

"Shade! I know you're there!" Yang's voice was familiar to my ears, and also quite rough. "I just want to talk! And maybe cave your face in a bit!"

I shook my head in silence, sighed and then turned thoughtful. Adam hadn't defeated her, but Pyrrha. And I didn't doubt that Yang would have never believed the girl capable of doing that willfully; so she had to know things were off.

But had her loss made her mature, or merely embittered her further?

And how was I even able to change that?

I heard her footsteps crunch the wooden branches. "I just want to know what went on," Yang's voice continued, something akin to a foreign emotion creeping into it. "Beacon fell, and I was out during it. Ruby said you were there, you were by the Grimm's side. For fuck's sake, Shade," Yang snapped, "I know you. Everything you did, being Ruby's and Pyrrha's friend, helping train Jaune, being there for Blake-how can I reconcile the two things? Were you always lying to us?"

I remained quiet.

"I don't think I can ever forgive you," Yang's voice continued, "But at least-at least tell me what happened, so I can forget about you."

I didn't sigh. I didn't move from my hiding spot.

"I know you're listening," Yang stressed, "I don't want to fight, but I will, if it's the only thing that's going to get an answer out of you."

There was silence in the undergrowth. The wind rustled the branches of the trees.

"Coward," Yang spat out. She had bluffed, perhaps. She didn't really know where I was.

"You're a coward!" she screamed louder still, and then exhaled, and moved away.

I said nothing as I heard her footsteps grow fainter, and waited for the sound of the motorbike to lose itself into the distance. When I emerged from the undergrowth again, I glanced at my horse who had returned in the meantime, chewing on the roadside's grass, and then climbed back up.

We resumed our journey, the horse and I.

"I'll call you Choco," I said offhandedly, patting the horse's neck. "How do you feel about that?"

The horse neighed. I didn't know whether it was a neigh of approval, or one of disapproval, but it was a neigh all the same. "Well, if you don't like it, just don't answer when I call you that."

Trotting along, the last few days of trekking into the wilderness of Mistral passed by in a blur. I had words in my head, thoughts I didn't wish to think, and whispers I didn't want to hear. Yet, in the end, the gates of Mistral welcomed me.

The people were nervous, yet tried their best to appear at ease. Haven stood over a cliff, on the outskirts of the city of Mistral itself. There was little I could do but show up at the gates of the academy, and see what had happened during my absence.

The huntsman academy was deserted, as I suspected it to be. The main entrance held the statue of Djinn before the stairway up, and as I looked at it, I wondered if Cinder had managed to find out who the Spring maiden was, or if she was still looking for her.

"The academy is closed-" a voice began, only to then stop. I glanced towards it, and grinned at Emerald's frame appearing from the darkest corner of the hall. She was pulling guard duty, I guessed, feigning being a student judging by the uniform she was wearing.

"Hey there," I said with a wink, "Missed me?"

The murderer who wouldn't blink an eye at letting one girl chop the arm of another off, who wouldn't be fazed at the death of countless hundreds, who would shrug at a Grimm eating another human being alive, gasped and then rushed to give me a hug, not unlike a child seeing their parent for the first time after months of absence.

"You're back!" she said excitedly, her arms linking around my neck as I chuckled and returned the hug in question, spinning her around a bit. "Why did it take you so long?" she asked as I dropped her back down, her feet touching the ground. "Did you have any problems? Hazel arrived earlier than you by a week, and he's with Cinder and Mercury right now-" Emerald kept updating me, even as I could see her shifting the weight on her body from right to left.

She was shaking from excitement.

"I didn't have any problems," I said amiably, "What about you instead, Emerald? Everything's fine?"

"Y-Yeah," Emerald nodded, "Everything's fine now," she added as my hand gently came down to rub her head a bit. She preened under the attention. "Oh! I need to tell Cinder you're here! I forgot! If she asks, I told you to contact her immediately!" she blurted out, fumbling for her Scroll and then passing it to me unlocked.

The fact her Scroll background was a picture of us reading a book together made me chuckle, but as I quickly went through her contacts to hit Cinder's number, I brought the Scroll to my ear and waited.

At the third ring, Cinder picked up. "Emerald-"

"Love-dove, I'm in Haven," I said. "Both literally and figuratively, I might add, since I'm closer to you now."

There was a brief moment of silence on the other side of the Scroll. "I see," Cinder said, a small sigh leaving her lips. "The sound of your voice cheers me immensely, but I am busy now. We'll talk more later. Tell Emerald to bring you to Lionheart; the man is working with our mistress, and it would be best he knew you arrived too."

"Understood," I said, "See you soon, dear."

"I cannot wait," Cinder whispered back, and then closed the conversation. I passed the Scroll back to Emerald, who was all too happy to show me around Haven.

Lionheart didn't share in her optimism in knowing there was one more servant of Salem around, but then again, it wasn't like he had the courage to say anything about it; not to my face, at the very least.

With a new Scroll and a new identity to go with it, I now was once more part of the system.

Emerald had a skip in her steps as she eagerly agreed to show me around the city of Mistral. The city itself was a crowded affair; there were people selling food, and thugs glaring and then hastily averting their gaze when we glared back at them.

Mistral was class-divided; the richest lived atop the hill, and the poorest down in the slums. For many, the only way to make ends meet was to go into a life of crime, and the few that made it through a combat school in the gutters could attempt a new life as huntsmen, if they made the cut.

But recently, Haven academy had stopped getting new students, and the class divide had grown sharper as many crime families had tightened their holds on the black market following Vale's fall.

Some people still managed to eke by a living, but it was clear by the hunger in other's eyes that things were going downhill. It was just a matter of time before Mistral fell; whether Atlas would move to support them or not, though, that was anyone's guess.

"Oh, this is a local delicacy!" Emerald said suddenly, grabbing hold of my arm and pulling like an eager child in the direction of a stall, "It's fried octopus! You have to try it!"

"Sure," I said with a chuckle.

The man behind the counter was happy to have customers.

He never realized he was paid with illusion-money, nor did I have any intentions on telling him that.

Emerald and I, to the external observer, just looked like a happy father-daughter combo.

And what a combo we were...

...both criminals, with sins crawling on our backs.

 

[shadenight123]

Interlude - Team PBJRNR

"We are not going to call ourselves team Peanut-Butter Junior Ranger," Blake said flatly, even as the long road towards Mistral had pretty much eroded what little desire she had left for complaining about the long-winded name that Ruby was adamant they use.

Pyrrha was unofficially the team leader of their expedition to Mistral; the determination in the champion's eyes was similar to the one that Blake had seen, once, in the eyes of someone she was glad she had never decided to follow.

"We need to get to Mistral as quickly as possible," Pyrrha would say as an excuse whenever it came down to rest. "Ten more minutes on the march each day can mean arriving one day early," she would keep on saying, acting as if she could run forever.

Blake definitely felt like she could, if the fact that she trained harder than all of them combined was any proof of it.

"Shouldn't you pace yourself a bit?" Ren had tried to valiantly ask, only for Pyrrha to shake her head in answer.

"Pacing ourselves won't bring us closer to him," she answered. "We need to go above and beyond; it's the only way to even the odds."

Somehow, Blake felt that Pyrrha was simply putting Shade on a pedestal of sorts, a bad, warped vision of what the man was truly capable of. And if it wasn't, then they probably had little chance to begin with. Hearing Pyrrha's words, they should be prepared for anything and everything; for the strength to crush mountains to the speed to blindside them, to a never-faltering Aura and so forth.

If it was a twisted form of hero-crush, Blake couldn't say.

What she did know was that Pyrrha had taken it badly, even more so than she had.

I'd rather be despised by worthless people, than fake being someone I'm not, just so they'd all be my friends.

The hypocrisy of those words wasn't lost on her. She had to admire his nerve; she wondered if she'd have managed the same calm, if she had ever joined the White Fang and then hidden at Beacon for them.

Jaune was the one who had been the most puzzled. "I still can't believe that when he said he was evil, he meant it."

"He probably was having an incredible amount of jokes at our expenses," Ruby mumbled back. "Laughing at us behind his impenetrable mask-treating us as friends while just fattening us up...it's horrible, really."

"Him and the rest of Cinder's team were probably in it together," Blake agreed. "Salem's their leader-and she can even control the Grimm."

"When we told the professors, they didn't even want to believe us," Ruby said, gloomily. "But Shade told us that, laughing and-"

"He knew we'd be unable to do anything about that," Pyrrha said, angrily. "Arrogant asshole."

"Hey now," Nora said, humming and with a smile on her face, "I know things are bad right now, Red, but we still got each other, and that's gotta count for something! We're all friends here, real friends who totally don't betray you out of the blue like a cheap spy movie!" she then glanced around, "Unless...Jaune! Do you have an evil twin by the name of...Jaune!?"

"N...No?" Jaune replied, furrowing his brows in puzzled perplexity.

"But how could you know! And what if he's already taken your spot over and you're just a spy!?" Nora's hand moved to grab the scruff of Jaune's armor, "Where did you hide our real Jaune, evil-twin Jaune!? Where!?"

"And that's enough for now, Nora," Ren said with a sigh, placing a hand on Nora's neck and starting to drag her away, much to the girl's satisfied grin.

Their trip through Mistral wasn't filled with only good moments, though. They crossed abandoned towns, small villages that yet still thrived due to the kindness of random passerby huntsmen, and came to a halt by a village that had been recently hit by bandits.

"The only good thing is that the Grimm ain't attacking," the wounded, and barely standing, guard of Shion mentioned to them as they stepped inside the place, where burned houses were hastily being repaired.

"I used to camp here with my family," Jaune mentioned, looking around, "These people could use some help."

"We can't hang around here forever," Pyrrha said, impatiently looking at the road ahead. "Isn't there supposed to be an airship?"

"The bandits destroyed it," the guard said glumly. "It was our village's pride. Could have used it to get supplies in from a nearby village, but without it..." he sighed. "We'll have to send people by road, and while the Grimm aren't attacking yet, it doesn't mean they won't."

Pyrrha looked torn. "What's the point in stopping Shade, if we end up leaving innocent people behind to die?" Ruby asked in a hushed whisper, looking at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha hung her head, silently admitting her own defeat.

They were losing time; but if it was meant to aid others, then it wasn't really wasted.

Yet the fact that no Grimm attacked them during the supply run for Shion made her feel toyed with. It was as if the Grimm had suddenly decided to vacate the premises; which was bizarre and nearly impossible, unless they were migrating in mass for elsewhere?

Like with Beacon, perhaps even in Haven there would be a Grimm assault?

But then, wouldn't the huntsmen intervene earlier? Moving so many Grimm, it was bound to catch someone's attention, no?

It was as they made their way back to Shion with the supplies that something caught her attention. It was the typical sound of rustling undergrowth, but the snaps on the branches told her there was weight behind it.

Her senses alert, she glanced towards Ren who was the second person she trusted the most in catching subtle signs up.

He arched an eyebrow in her direction, and then slowly nodded. The moment he did, Nora realized something was going and kept a grin, even as her hands went to her hammer.

"Ruby," she whispered, "There's something following us."

"Where?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha inclined her head slightly to the side, and as one, they moved.

Ruby disappeared in a shower of petals, ready to strike only to them scream and tumble.

"Ruby!" Pyrrha yelled next, "Everything-"

"Kiddo! Is that any way to treat your uncle!?" a ruff voice spoke from the trees.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled back, "what are you doing here!?"

The figure of Qrow Branwen emerged from the undergrowth, grumbling all the while. "Doing a job for Ozpin..." he grumbled, "or at least, hoping to." He shook his head, "but anyway," he glanced at them. "You look like you could use some extra, experienced hand."

"Are you the reason Grimm aren't attacking us?" Pyrrha asked, sheathing her weapons.

"Would want to claim the merit," Qrow grumbled, "But it's like they've gone on vacation around these parts. No idea where they went, but wherever it is, it sure as hell ain't here."

The wariness of having her doubts confirmed didn't make Pyrrha feel better.

If anything, it made her feel even more worried.

Just what kind of monster would stand by the side of the Grimm...

...if not one that believed them better than humans themselves?

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Fifty-Six

Haven's bed was bliss. The warmth by my side was the true heaven, though. More than that, though, was the sensation that things were proceeding well enough. We needed the Spring maiden. I knew where she was, but Cinder didn't. What she did find out, however, was that the village of Shion had been attacked by bandits, and one of those bandits had used lightning to tear in half their prized airship.

It was clearly proof of magic, rather than a Semblance, or so Cinder believed. If nothing else, it was a track we had to follow.

"I missed you," I whispered, hearing a pleasant purring in reply. "What is our next move?"

"We'll head for this Branwen clan once we find where they have their camp," Cinder murmured, her eyes closed and her head resting upon my chest. "Once there, we'll see." A smug smile appeared on her lips. "I'll claim what is mine by right," she whispered, one of her fingers lazily going up and down, "but just follow my lead, dear."

"When have I not?" I mused back with a chuckle.

Cinder sighed, and quietly opened her eyes to gaze into mine. "Would you kill your heart for me?"

I grimaced at that, and that was all that Cinder needed to know, truly. She smiled, but it was a bitter one. "I know you'll stay by my side," she whispered, "No matter what I do, you'll stay. But even so, I am not so cruel, or callous, that I'd willingly make you suffer." Her lips met mine for one final kiss before having to rise and meet the day. "Still, there should be little to worry about. We are here to claim the relic, not actually destroy Mistral. Lionheart did that already."

"He did?" I asked, feigning ignorance as I stood up from the bed in turn, getting dressed as a normal person would, while all Cinder had to do was use magic to materialize her crimson dress on her body.

"Corruption is rampant, the huntsmen are dead, or lost in the wilderness on false hunts," Cinder mused. "If Grimm attacked, there would be nothing but apprentice huntsmen to fight them, and they would fall like wheat to a farmer's scythe," she stretched lightly, and as I finished getting dressed, we both walked out of our room.

"But will they attack?" I asked, puzzled.

"That is for our mistress to decide," Cinder said. "Whatever she chooses to do, it is her choice alone, and we will obey her."

"If you say so," I muttered back.

Cinder sighed once more. "You should stop trying to antagonize her, Shade. Our lives hang by a thin thread; one which she can pluck at a whim." Her eyes gazed into mine, "Please, I know you are mine, and by consequence, you will obey her; can you not just attempt to be less antagonizing? Unspoken lies are not so different from assumed truths."

I took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "For you, Cinder, I'd do anything." I shook my head. "I won't do the same for our potential executioner."

"Stupid man," Cinder clicked her tongue, "Fine. Be headstrong and mule-headed. We'll see how that ends."

I grinned, "It's gotten me this far," I sighed. "And I think that's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Cinder retorted, even as we reached Haven's kitchens, where no one remained. Thus, if we wanted breakfast, we had to prepare it by ourselves.

"Will they have powdered chocolate?" I mused, starting to sift through the cupboards. "Or maybe chocolate bars-I can melt those."

"You should try something less childish from time to time," Cinder replied with a dry chuckle, her hands moving to grab a pair of cups.

"And lose all of my internalized sweetness?" I said as I found the prized box near the back of the cupboard. "What would you do if I were any less sweet than I already am?"

"I would probably feel more at ease, knowing you wouldn't be used because of your kindness," Cinder said right back, putting the cups by my side as I finished pouring the chocolate powder in the heating milk.

"Didn't you say hot chocolate was childish?" I remarked, arching an eyebrow.

"We can be childish together," Cinder murmured back, her head coming to a rest against my arm.

"As you wish, love-dove," I said, my free arm engulfing her in a side-hug as we waited for the hot chocolate to reach the appropriate temperature.

Breakfast was over within minutes, but the sound of Cinder blowing on her cup or of the small sips we both made was as intimately familiar to me as were the countless days we spent side by side. It was home; it was the only home I ever needed, and the only home I ever wished to be in.

"I should cut your hair," Cinder mused dryly. "It's getting longer."

"Only if you'll let me cut yours," I answered right back.

"Deal," she giggled.

Our cups were left side by side in the sink, and as we stepped out into the main hall, Emerald and Mercury joined us once more. I delivered a homely fist-bump to Mercury, who returned it with a nod. Emerald grinned, perhaps happy that her family was back together.

Still, we were ready, and as the surly uncle that was Hazel came into view outside the academy's gates, we proceeded with our mission for the day.

Finding the location of the Branwen clan wasn't as difficult as I would have expected. Well, at least, finding someone who knew where they could be wasn't that hard. We knew they had attacked Shion, and we knew they had left it in shambles.

From there, it was a matter of finding where they got supplies they wouldn't normally get from razing villages. Rifles still needed Dust cartridges, after all, and villages didn't have that many to sell.

We found the trail with a few hundred lien bills, and we followed the river bend across Mistral's wilderness, Grimm eyeing us all with hunger, and yet not nearing any of us, perhaps because of Cinder's presence, or Hazel's own.

"They're restless," Cinder muttered. "We're getting closer."

She moved a hand, and the Grimm that had been prowling around us moved away. Half an hour later, we found a large and tall wooden wall that had two guards standing outside, but as much as they looked displeased to see us, they knew better than to start something with the clearly dangerous huntsmen.

Our entrance into Raven's bandit camp went without fanfare, especially after Cinder merely waved a hand to crack open the main door, as if it was made of glass. "Tell your boss we wish to talk with her," Cinder said dryly towards a nearby bandit, who ran off with a yelp in his throat.

We made our way to their chief's tent unchallenged. Raven must have known we were coming, because she emerged with a Grimm mask on her face, and Vernal by her side.

"I don't recall inviting so many guests into our home. Either I'm losing my memory," she glared at her underlings, "or you've all lost your spines!"

"They simply know better than to challenge someone with the powers of a Maiden," Cinder mused, her eyes glowing with fire, "Which is why, we'd like a word with you."

Raven turned towards her bandits, "Leave us. Pack your things and break up camp. We're leaving."

"I would think carefully about doing that," Hazel mused. His voice was low, and gravely. "Nobody needs to die, and if you try to run...we will hunt you."

"I know all about your Master," Raven retorted, "And you are not her."

"You're right," I quipped in. "We're closer than her, we're four people more than her, and we're probably more reasonable than her."

Raven's attention moved towards me. "Is that so? Is it bravery or foolishness that moves your lips?"

"The difference lies on who's walking out alive at the end of the day," I retorted, making a show of slowly stretching. "Those who live write the tale's end. Those who die have no word on the matter."

"Then perhaps we should see who writes the end of this tale," Raven remarked, a hand slowly moving to her blade's hilt.

"The only reason you're still alive is because you have something our master wants," Cinder said, eyes aflame as her left hand burst in flames. "Think carefully before starting a fight you cannot win."

"Is that what you think?" Raven mused, "Vernal!" she barked, eyeing the girl. "Show them what you can do."

As the girl concentrated and closed her eyes, a hand extended in front of her, I smelled ozone in the air. The clear sky darkened within instants. Thunder boomed high up in the air.

Vernal stopped the charade, smiling smugly.

"She has done well under my guidance, I'd take that into consideration before attempting anything," Raven said.

"You're the real Spring maiden, ain't that it?" I said instead, cutting off Cinder. I looked straight into Raven's mask. "I don't know if you've noticed it yet, since I'm wondering if you've got mirrors here, but a maiden's powers make eyes glow, you know," I smiled. "It was a nice attempt at misdirection, but you're gonna need to up the game if you're thinking you can get away with something...so simple."

"Is that what you think?" Raven said, but her voice was tight, now.

"You have no reason to wear a mask. She has no reason to close her eyes," I chuckled, "Two plus two makes four, Branwen," I arched an eyebrow. "Or is it still Xiao-Long, I wonder? Did the divorce ever go through?"

Raven's right hand tightened on her hilt. "You play a dangerous game."

"And you have lost your poker face," I mused right back. "Fold and live, bluff and die." I shrugged. "Those are your two options. Pick wisely."

"I will not fight for Salem, just like I won't fight Oz. I want no part in this," Raven growled.

"That is not why we are here," Hazel said. "The Maiden's powers are a mean to an end," he added. "What we seek are the Relics, locked inside the Huntsmen Academies, unlock the door to the relic within Haven and you'll be allowed to leave unharmed and resume your life."

"And I should trust you, just like that?" Raven mused. "I want Qrow dead. He knows of the Spring maiden, and I cannot allow him to know I aided you."

"Then our interests align," I added offhandedly. "We are hunting him, and he is meant to come to Haven soon enough. Lionheart is our ally, and he won't be telling anything to Ozpin after we're done with your brother, you can rest assured."

"Oh?" Raven mused. "I see." She slowly walked forward, and came to a halt as Cinder took a couple of steps. "Then we have a deal," she said crisply.

"Good," Cinder said, as Raven removed her mask. Her dark hair was now free, and as her crimson eyes gazed at Cinder's face first, and then glanced towards me, she chuckled.

"I know good old Hazel, and can infer the two brats are worthless," she said dryly, as Emerald and Mercury both looked like they had eaten a sour candy, "But you...it seems you know more about me than I know about you. I'll start with your name."

I opened my mouth. "He is Shade," Cinder said, and I closed my mouth. "And that is all you need to know from him."

Both of my eyebrows arched up.

Cinder, I think you're having the wrong impression.

"I see," Raven slowly nodded. "I could always use strong men in my tribe, and you didn't sound too fond of your Master."

"What he likes or doesn't like is inconsequential," Cinder spoke, "he is loyal."

Raven actually chuckled, realizing she had somehow managed to get under Cinder's skin.

"I see," she said, a smug smile on her face. "Then, make way. When Qrow dies, and not earlier, you will have your Relic."

Somehow, I had the deepest sympathies for the man...

...and the greatest of reliefs my Semblance was not as unlucky as his was.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Fifty-Seven

It would be over soon.

It would be over before it truly had a chance to become something more.

The plan was simple, and thus would hopefully be effective. Qrow would come looking for Lionheart, and the headmaster would offer him a drink. The man would accept, and probably fall unconscious from the very powerful sedative in the alcohol. We'd drag him away, bring him to Menagerie, and have the White Fang execute him.

That was the best possible solution to give the man the greatest chance of escape. In the end, it would have been wiser to kill him ourselves; ambush and kill him between Hazel and I, but then we'd need to bring proof to the White Fang, and they might not be amenable to accept a broken weapon, and I didn't think it wise to carry a rotting head back.

Hazel didn't want to kill unless strictly necessary. Raven didn't need to know; she wasn't going to live past the chosen night.

Emerald and Mercury would do whatever we decided to do.

The plan didn't account for Qrow to show up with his niece and her team, and the remains of mine. Yet, there they were. Honestly, I was surprised.

It took me a while to understand that things were different.

Thoughts crossed my mind, pondering over how the pebble cast in the ocean could have changed the butterfly's wings. Yet, I found no possible answer. Or at least, I found none that I could verify.

"Leo," Qrow said, smiling gruffly. We were observing from the academy's cameras. At least, Mercury and I were.

"He doesn't even know he's being led into a trap," Mercury mused, a cruel smirk on his face. "Like a lamb to the slaughter."

"So it would seem," I muttered.

"Qrow! You scruffy old man," Leonardo replied, amiably, but also looking nervous about it. "I thought the worst when I heard of Beacon's fall, but here you are!" he looked around, and then at the students behind him, "is Ozpin with you?"

"No," Qrow shook his head and grimaced. "I know nothing of him yet. We-We made it, it was...strangely smooth riding. Did you send everyone out to kill Grimm or something? We weren't attacked, not once."

It was the middle of the day.

"We should wait until they split," Hazel suggested. "The children have no fault. Not yet."

"We'll see if Leonardo can get Qrow by himself," Cinder replied airily.

"If I know my brother, all that he needs is to hang a bottle of alcohol in front of him," Raven mused, hand on her blade, Vernal by her side. Both were standing at the far end of the room.

"We should catch up in my office," Leonardo said, "We have a lot to discuss."

"I need to get the brats settled," Qrow replied with a faint shrug, I heard an exclamation of disbelief from Nora and Ruby in unison. "I'll come by later."

"I understand-" Leonardo said, "but I can get them settled in some free guest rooms here in the academy."

"Wouldn't want to impose on you, Leonardo," Qrow said, "Academy's running you ragged, isn't it?"

The traitorous headmaster laughed at that, "You wouldn't know half of it! I had to send the staff back home because they were scared we'd be next, and suspend lessons," he added. "I'll just key your Scrolls in to some rooms."

"But if that's the case," Pyrrha spoke, "How are the students going to graduate?"

"We'll resume the lessons once the chaos is over," Leonardo replied, quite quickly, "People right now need to feel they're safe, and there's nothing like having a huntsman, even one in training, nearby to assuage their fears."

"Inexperienced huntsmen are just going to get killed out there, Leonardo," Qrow said.

"It was the only thing I could do to avoid a revolt in the streets, Qrow," Leonardo replied, appearing affronted. "There was little else-"

"You left the academy unguarded," Qrow said gruffly, he grimaced, "Can't say I like it, but you'd know better why it was necessary. We can meet later tonight. Ozpin said that if things went South, he'd come to Haven and contact you. I'll see if I can find him."

"If Ozpin's coming," Hazel said, pulling his eyes away from the screen, "It would please our Master if we killed him once more."

"If the Grimm didn't eat him during the trip, then we'll make this next life of his even shorter," Cinder agreed.

"This is becoming a waste of time," Raven mused.

"It's the middle of the day," I replied, "Had they come later, or had Qrow come alone..." I grimaced. "No plan survives contact with the enemy."

"We are merely postponing the inevitable by a couple of hours," Cinder said in the end.

"It is a couple of hours I have no intention of wasting," Raven said, growling lightly. "Your plan didn't work out, but there's just a bunch of students there. We can be within striking distance in a matter of seconds." She eyed us all, as if expecting anyone to refuse her plan so that she could call them weaklings and cowards.

"Fine," Cinder said curtly, "But the moment Qrow is incapacitated, you will uphold your part of the deal."

Raven chuckled, "Very well."

Her blade came free and she swung it by her side. A glowing crimson portal opened in the room, as a similar one appeared on screen, by Qrow's side.

Qrow tensed, but even in his wildest dreams, he wouldn't have imagined what would have come out from the portal.

A torrential deluge of fire slammed into his body, even as he brought his blade up to guard and hastily tried to move out of the way. Amidst the slithering, growing sea of flames, Cinder emerged first, body glowing with fire Dust and glass-blades in hand.

"Children," she said amiably, glancing at the assembled huntsmen. "So nice of you to come for the class reunion."

"Hey there," Mercury said by Cinder's side, grinning as he kept his guard up. "Ready for a rematch?"

"Looks like you're not happy to see us," Emerald mused by Cinder's other side, chuckling as she said that. "I wonder why?"

"Enough chattering," Hazel emerged next, rushing for Qrow's frame with his hands clenched into fists. "First the experienced huntsman-"

"Leonardo! Protect the students!" Qrow yelled, hastily bringing his blade to the front as Hazel's fist slammed into it, before both figures began to fight, silently moving away from the rest of the group. Hazel didn't want to harm those in-between if there was no Ozpin involved, none knew of Ruby's silver eyes, or of how Salem would wish for her when she found out.

Qrow wanted to get Hazel away, and believed in Leonardo to be a brave, courageous hero.

"How pitiful, Qrow," Raven said next, appearing from the portal with Vernal by her side. "Thankfully," she added, "Leonardo proved far wiser than you."

"Why am I not surprised to see you over there, mother?" Yang snarled right back, fists clenched.

Qrow ground his teeth as he glanced at Leonardo, watching the man's facial features betray the reality of the situation. "You traitor-Ozpin believed in you! Raven...this is a new low, even for you!"

"Guess now you know how everyone else feels," I mused at last, having stepped out of the portal first, and yet having remained quiet until the very end.

My eyes were on the familiar faces that were now present in front of me. I chuckled as I watched Pyrrha's gaze steel itself, and Jaune's puzzled eyes fixed towards me.

"So..." I said offhandedly, hoisting my blade in front of me, "Who wants to go first?" I patted at my chest. "Have you improved? Because if you haven't, then you know..." I smiled brightly, "The very definition of madness-"

Pyrrha launched herself forward, the tiled floor cracking beneath her feet as she thrust her spear towards me. "Is to do the same thing," I added as I blocked her thrust with the swing of Magnistipula, moving to the side and backwards, readying a second swing as Pyrrha moved beneath it, using her shield to let it slide harmlessly off it. "Again and again," I snickered as I let the blade free, the chain rattling like a coiled snake, "Hoping for something to change."

I pushed my feet against the ground, and jumped for the mid-air where Pyrrha was quick not to follow, but to start peppering me with blows from her gun mode. The chain spun in front of me, the blows glancing off as I landed atop the statue of Jinn.

"Come on, Champion of Mistral," I said with a gleam in my eyes and a wide smile on my face. "Is this truly the extent of what you learned?"

"You talk too much, Shade!" Ruby yelled, a cloud of petals turning into her from my side, scythe swinging at full-force.

"Give me a reason to concentrate, then," I answered right back, laughing as I slammed my free hand straight against her blade, tightening the grip and then pulling my arm across the air, throwing Ruby on the other end of the hall.

"I trusted you!" Pyrrha yelled from the bottom of the stairway. "We were friends!"

My laughter grew in intensity, "Friends? It's over, Pyrrha. I have the high ground," I glanced at Emerald, busy with Nora who was swinging her hammer wildly around her, and at Ren, holding his own against Vernal, and at Mercury, dealing with Jaune.

Yang was courageously, and stupidly, fighting Raven.

I doubted her mother would be merciful with the likes of her.

Cinder was helping Hazel, though Qrow was one tough huntsman, judging by how he was doing his best to avoid blows and return them in spades, while neither Cinder nor Hazel had the intention of actually killing him, yet. Perhaps that was his saving grace.

But through it all, I was missing one last huntsman to the roster.

I spun around, my hand pulling on the chain of Magnistipula and bringing the blade to stand between it and the swing from Blake, who morphed into a statue of explosive dust, her real body flying away as the explosion neatly tore through the statue's head I was standing on, forcing me downwards.

As I fell, I watched Pyrrha ready herself for an upper swing, and realized Ruby was coming back, her own scythe gleaming for the blow. Past the explosive dust cloud, I saw Blake's eyes and readied weapon. She had her legs bent against the ceiling, ready to push her body back down, towards me.

My heart twitched.

Was it pride?

Was it pain?

Was it the fondness of memories, forever lost to the cruelty of time?

My heart twitched, painfully so.

My left hand slammed into the ground as I roared, and the ground itself quaked and pulsed outwardly. The dust from Blake's explosion dissipated, and white flames poured from my left arm to stand across it.

The pulse sent Blake and Ruby backwards, having no grip since they had both been lunging for me, while Pyrrha's footwork was instead excellent, and she shielded herself, holding the line against the pulse.

My eyes narrowed. Droplets of rage began to simmer, pour, grow and stretch across my innards.

"The most dangerous of beasts," I said, in a hush, low whisper. "Is the cornered one." Flames gathered and billowed across my left arm. White as the most blinding of light, shining like the most holy of beacons and wielded by the one with the most sins.

There were still lessons I had to teach them.

"One final lesson, in memory of a past forever lost."

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Fifty-Eight

The flames didn't scare Pyrrha. She rushed through them as her Aura protected her from the heat, and her spear met my blade once more.

Her eyes were glimmers of determination, and as she brought her shield towards my face, attempting to punch with it, I stepped back and then moved to the side, avoiding an incoming shower of bullets from Blake. Ruby's Crescent Rose was in its sniper form, and she was attempting to open fire on the likes of me.

The only problem were the flames, obscuring her vision, and Pyrrha's own shape. The noise of our weapons crossing echoed around us.

"You understand," I spoke as our weapons crossed, "That you should be running."

"And let Haven fall like Beacon did!?" Pyrrha growled back, my blade trembling in my hand as her semblance attempted to wrestle control of its direction.

"Haven has already fallen," I mused, "Leonardo has been killing the experienced huntsmen of Mistral for years," I chuckled as I let go of my weapon, Pyrrha's semblance sending it flying, only for my left fist to slam into her shield and pierce through it with the tip of my fingers.

Pyrrha gasped, and hastily pulled back as the imprint of my hand remained instead on the melted surface of her shield.

"Something to remember me by," I said with a chuckle, extending a hand towards Magnistipula. The winds picked up, and the blade soared back just in time to deflect the sniper rounds from Ruby, having now a clear line of engagement.

She moved next, her body spiraling as she shot behind her, her speed increasing as I simply used my blade as a lever, cartwheeling in mid-air and landing past her lunge. My free hand grabbed her cloak, and I tightened the hold as flames spread across it.

She yelled, hastily detaching it and then glaring in my direction as I simply chuckled.

"No capes," I mused. I chuckled. The flames began to dim. "Am I supposed-" I spun, my free hand slamming into Blake's wrist, the faunus having come from behind, Gambol Shroud in blade form. "To take you seriously," I growled as I pulled, the grip holding Blake tightly to prevent her from escaping with her Semblance. She was thrown straight at Pyrrha, who hastily brought her hands up to dull the girl's throw.

With a wave of my hand, the flames dissipated. "Children," I spat out. "And you'd call yourself huntsmen? Huntresses? Children," I shook my head, "That's all you are, and all you'll ever amount to."

Pyrrha took a deep breath, and her eyes stared straight into mine, then after the briefest of instants, she charged once more.

I did not parry the blow.

I did not use my Aura to block it either.

As Pyrrha's spear sunk into my chest, my left hand grabbed hold of it. She had stopped the plunging motion the moment she saw the tip pierce through. She hadn't expected it. She hadn't known what to do. She hadn't wanted to continue further.

She was too kind.

And her kindness would be her death, if she didn't learn from it.

Pyrrha's eyes widened, staring with her mouth wide open as blood began to drip down from my wound. "You are but children," I whispered, "Attempting to fit the boots of the adults." I tightened the grip on her spear. My Aura blazed back, my will strengthening through the pain, such a familiar feeling, such a deep, forgotten emotion...

"But you lack determination," I added, chuckling as I pulled Pyrrha's spear out, the wound sealed. "You lack the desire to kill," I raised my right hand, Magnistipula firmly in my grip. "And that is why you can be a Champion of the people, but you will never be a soldier."

I pushed with my left using her spear as a lever, and Pyrrha's teeth gritted as she tried to resist, falling down on one knee.

"You should have aimed-" I began, only for a sniper round to slam into my forehead. That one, that one I blocked with my Aura, though I felt it quite vividly. My head rang briefly, and I snarled as I took a step back.

Ruby's Crescent Rose made a 'ping' sound as the cartridge she had exploded in my face fell out, spent.

I snickered.

"That's better!" my heart began to drum. "Come at me with the intent to kill! There is no other way you'll win!"

"Shade! We got Qrow!" Emerald yelled, grinning as Nora's breath was starting to come less. The poor girl having missed every shot at Emerald since the beginning of their match.

"Vernal, to me!" Raven exclaimed, walking away from where the unconscious Yang now remained, her body slammed against a wall.

Vernal moved away from her fight, Ren glancing at her retreating back before heading to Nora's side.

"Emerald, Mercury, go with Cinder!" I snapped in turn, rushing forth as I dodged an incoming barrage from Ruby and Blake, my right foot coming into a roundhouse-kick straight for Ren's sides, sending the boy to fly against the ground and landing right in Emerald's spot, my own blade swinging to slam into Nora's incoming hammer.

I deflected it, letting it crash into the ground before slamming my left fist against the girl's face, sending her to slam into the opposite wall.

Hazel was safeguarding the unconscious Qrow in the meantime, and at my words, Mercury and Emerald both disengaged from their targets.

I chuckled as I watched Ruby hurriedly rush towards Yang's unconscious form, while Blake rushed to Nora and Ren's unconscious forms.

Pyrrha didn't stop hounding me, however. And Jaune moved to be by her side, both standing at the ready, and yet both clearly having different reasons to face me.

"This feels like a class reunion," I remarked. "But you all look a bit tired," I snickered, "Perhaps you should rest?"

"Why are you doing this, Shade?" Jaune found his voice, "You can't possibly believe this is right!"

"Right or wrong, does it matter?" I mused back. "Mine is the power to do as I wish; mine is the strength to determine right from wrong. Against absolute power, there can be no doubt, no justice or injustice." I sighed. "You do not ask a volcano why it kills the people near it. You do not ask a hurricane, or a tsunami. You suffer them; you accept them."

I gently placed the tip of my blade against the ground, "But let me give you a choice, Jaune. Your family will die because the earthquake said so. You can stop that, of course, by killing everyone else in your village instead; the earthquake will be appeased, and your sisters will live."

I smiled at him. "Do you do that, I wonder? Do you grab your blade, and sink it into the necks and body of the men, the women, the elderly and the young? Do you kill the innocents, just to save your family, or do you let them die because in the end...they're not worth the lives of the whole village?"

"Shade-That's not a choice-" Jaune stammered out, "That's just-that's madness, or cruelty but it's not a choice, it's-"

"That's life, Jaune," I said right back at him. "I value one person's life above the lives of everyone else; if you must die for her to live, then you will." I shook my head. "That is all there is. So find your resolve, Jaune, find your determination, Pyrrha," I added, looking at the girl in question who was eyeing me with wide, shocked eyes, "And if you cannot..." I shrugged and hoisted the blade once more up, "Then you will die."

I placed my left hand against the side of my weapon, and with a click it came apart. In both of my hands now stood stockier blades, the chain rattling between them.

"You could have killed us at any moment, Shade," Pyrrha whispered, but then shook her head, and tightened the grip on her weapons. "I understand now." She grimaced. "But I would still fight the earthquake and die to it, rather than live to see the monster I'd become by following its whims."

I smiled at that, and gave her a gentle nod. "Good." Jaune grimaced.

"There's no way things can go back to the way they were," he shook his head, "But even so...I will stop you, Shade. I promise-You once told me I owed Remnant a huntsmen-and I'm going to deliver them one!"

I chuckled, and then I rushed forth. I spun midway through, my weapons slamming into their shields, bouncing off and as I reclaimed them I parried the two incoming attacks. A thrust and a swing, both missing as I slammed the pommel into Jaune's side, using the flat of the weapon to deflect the shield-swing from Pyrrha.

I bent down as Jaune's blade came for where my head had been a second before. My left weapon thrust into Pyrrha's side, her shield coming to block the blow.

Sparks sailed in the air where iron met iron. It was a thresher of blades, and through it, I realized that Blake and Ruby were aiming for Hazel to try to help Qrow.

Hazel, who hunted silver eyes.

Hazel, who would not keep the information quiet from Salem.

In one second, my body lunged away so abruptly that I actually felt the surprise emanate from both Jaune and Pyrrha.

They lunged for me, but I was faster than them. My blades spun behind me, and the shotgun blasts echoing, I rushed ahead quickly enough that my swing actually shattered the ground of the hallway halting the two foolish huntresses' advance.

"Take Branwen away!" I yelled at Hazel, "I'll deal with the students!"

My left arm washed in flames as a wall of fire spread from it to separate us.

"Get out of the way!" Blake snarled, attempting to move past only for my chain to slam like a whip against the spot she had aimed on jumping from, trying to reach past the wall of fire.

"Can't do that," I growled, Magnistipula's blades slamming into Ruby's scythe to deflect her swing, and keep her from attempting to fly past.

I felt something burn within me. I needed the flames higher.

I needed the flames high enough, that they'd block their attempts at running away.

I needed stronger, more powerful flames.

It was abrupt. It was as abrupt as the realization that I wasn't consuming aura for it. The white flames reached the ceiling suddenly, as if somebody had poured gasoline upon them. My hands tightened the grip on Magnistipula's two halves, even as the flames were now spreading across them.

It was four against one.

My Aura was still there, whatever magic was going on didn't appear to have an end -though I couldn't be sure about it- and Cinder had yet to return. The deep feeling within me was bubbling, the seeping sensation rushing and pouring across my skin, my veins, with every beating of my heart.

Oh ye of so little faith, you who are my flesh and blood...

Then, I took a deep breath.

...you are unbound by the decrees of the wicked Gods...

The flames across my body disappeared.

...thus, what I had is now yours. What you achieve with it...

The ground below the four huntsmen's feet quaked.

...may it be in your name, and thus by my desire...

Wind spun around my frame.

...I free you from a duty you did not ask for...

Water materialized from the tip of my fingers.

...and grant you fangs to strike at your enemies...

Lightning crackled across my skin.

...may you forgive me for the burden I placed upon you...

Gravity itself obeyed my commands, as I slowly began to float.

...and with this tearful goodbye, I melt away.

With but a flick of my hand, the four huntsmen flew back.

Ruby's scythe slammed on the ground. Pyrrha's spear imitated her. Blake was grasped by Jaune, even as both of them flew backwards.

My feet touched the ground and as if it were water, the ground itself rippled.

My Aura flickered, and then grew.

One Aura's color was unique to them; everyone had different colors. Mine had always been the color of steel. Yet, now, I watched it glimmer like a rainbow of colors.

"I had strings, but now I'm free..." I hummed.

My smile was wide. "There are no strings on me."

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Fifty-Nine

It was no longer a battle.

A battle was one where hopes and dreams crashed against one another; where the glimmer of victory or defeat hung over the heads of both sides.

This was merely a distraction, a hurdle that wasn't even all that high to overcome.

"Thousands of years ago," I mused as the ground below my feet rippled again, pushing Ruby and Pyrrha back as their weapons dug scars on the ground. "Magic existed, and the Gods lived upon Remnant."

I walked forward. "It was a different time. It was a horrible time of slavery, and submission to the power of the two wicked gods." I began to hum as I walked forward. "In those times, a man by the name of Ozma freed a woman by the name of Salem from a tower, and the two eloped, and had great adventures together until the final day where the man died of sickness."

I sighed as my steps brought me closer to Pyrrha first, the gravity around her condensing and forcing her to let out a yell as her legs buckled under her, bringing her on the ground, the spear left beyond her reach though close to her.

"Salem did not accept that, and tricked the Gods into bringing him back to life. For that, she was punished with eternal life to learn from her mistake and the Gods left Remnant. She never did learn," I chuckled, "And with time, she became the leader of the Grimm. She is a monster of hatred, of evil, and the final enemy that no one can truly ever defeat."

I placed Magnistipula on my back, and walked past Pyrrha.

"Ozma was resurrected and given four relics; when all four would be brought together again, the Gods would be called back to judge Remnant. If united, then they would bless mankind, and if divided, then they would destroy it. Truly, what a cruel fate," I came to a halt by Ruby's side, she was looking at me, and I simply grinned. "Sleep."

I poked the side of her head, and her eyes fluttered to a close as she slumped down. "W..." Pyrrha groaned, attempting to stand back up, "Who are...you?"

"I don't know," I acquiesced, cocking my head to the side. "Perhaps I'm human. Perhaps I'm something more." I chuckled. "But does it matter what I am, if you don't have the strength to fight me?"

I moved past Ruby's unconscious form, humming all the while. "And after Mistral, it will be Atlas' turn," I sighed. "Kingdom after kingdom, all will fall."

My steps brought me to where Blake and Jaune had barely gotten back on their feet, but just as they did, gravity pulsed over them and they collapsed on the ground.

Cracks spread across the floor, and water seeped out from the tip of my fingers to form a rope of sorts. It slithered like a snake to bind the two, and push them towards the wall next to Yang's knocked-out form.

They slammed into it, and as water seeped into their mouths, the water-snake just as easily rushed away after they both lost consciousness.

"Nifty," I mused as the water fell like droplets on the ground.

The humming didn't abate, even as I reached for the open elevator shaft that led down into the chamber where the Relic of Knowledge rested.

Now that the battle above was done with, I could hear the sound of another fight down below. Raven had no intention of giving the Relic of Knowledge without a fight.

I grabbed hold of Magnistipula's hilt and jumped down, landing on the cavern's bridge as I watched broken pieces of rock sail in the air as Cinder and Raven fought one another fiercely, while Emerald's body was slumped against the wall nearby, holding on to her stomach. Blood was seeping out from a blade wound.

I neared her and she gasped as I knelt by her side, "S-Sorry," she croaked, "Raven...caught me by...surprise."

Mercury was fighting Vernal off. It was an evenly matched fight, though both were getting tired.

"It's all right," I said. I placed a hand on her forehead, "Just rest now, I'll deal with it."

Emerald bit her lower lip, and then closed her eyes, exhaling softly. My hand moved to where her wound was, and I watched with a mixture of fascination as it knitted to a close, the flesh once more whole and healthy.

Magic truly was wonderful.

What were its limits, and what were its heights?

I didn't feel like trying my luck in a fully blown battle, not until I helped Mercury out of its pickle. I paid attention to the moving pieces of rock, and then jumped across the vast chasm, landing on the opposite side and in front of the golden door that apparently remained vibrantly closed.

"Yoh Shade!" Mercury gasped, catching his breath as Magnistipula blocked the crescent blade of Vernal's weapon. "Took your sweet time!"

"I was busy catching up with old friends," I mused right back, swinging Magnistipula to force Vernal back. Vernal's eyes narrowed. She had probably realized things weren't going to get any better for her. "You can always run away," I added, glancing at her. "If you do, I promise I won't hurt you."

"As if," Vernal growled. She jumped slightly back, brought both of her weapons together, and then a beam emerged from the pistol-like muzzle between the crescent blades, forcing Mercury and I to hastily dodge it.

I swung my blade to the side, flat side up, "Merc!"

He hopped on it as I swung, sending him forward like a projectile of spinning metallic legs. I rushed right behind me, and as his kicks were parried in mid-air, the edge of my blade sunk deep into the girl's stomach, slamming her into the golden door.

Before she could react, Magnistipula sunk into her chest and pierced straight through.

Her eyes widened in disbelief, blood splattered from her mouth.

"Should have just run," I muttered, pulling the blade free.

I turned my gaze up, to where Cinder and Raven were still fighting. That was their battle, but even so, I glanced at Mercury. "Do we need to intervene?"

"Cinder wanted her immobilized to take her power," Mercury answered. He grimaced. "We thought we had Vernal knocked and her stopped by Emerald's illusion, but she knew something was off and turned into a fucking bird. Broke Emerald's semblance."

"I see," I muttered, before crossing my arms in front of my chest. "Find the right moment and then go by Emerald's side. I'll handle it from here on out."

"The brats upstairs are all dead?" Mercury asked.

"No, and it doesn't concern us that they aren't," I answered back, glancing at him. "Let them be, Mercury."

"If you say so," Mercury muttered, before taking his cue to dash for the other end of the bridge, jumping and then igniting some kind of double-jump feature from his robotic legs to make the crossing.

I would have whistled in approval, but I had bigger fish to fry, or more likely, bigger birds to roast.

The floating wasn't that difficult to use, but using it and directing myself through the air was a different concept. Also, if whatever invisible and unknown reservoir I had collapsed while mid-air, I'd be in for a painful fall down into the depths of Mistral's caverns.

I needed the right moment in time to intervene. The perfect instant where Raven would ignore my presence due to concentrating on Cinder long enough to forget I was a part of the battle. Perhaps to her it was the truth; I had no magic that she knew of, just a fire-semblance of sorts. She was flying in the air, using electricity across her blade and the winds, doing her very best to...

And then I furrowed my brows and extended my left hand upwards.

"...counter-spell?" I hazarded.

Nothing, of course, happened.

With that tentative solution out of the way, I flexed my legs and readied Magnistipula by my side. I had to find the right moment.

I had to find the opening. The perfect instant-

I was on the ground no longer, my blade cleaving upwards as Raven's own slammed into it, her body arching electricity towards me the next. I opened fire, moving away from the electricity, my feet slamming into the side of the cavern and rushing upwards.

I heard a gasp and then pirouetted off the wall, Magnistipula detached in two forms and shotgun blasts propelling me around the shards of ice that were apparently forming to slice me into thin pieces. Cinder's flames rushed for Raven, the woman now stuck in a two against one she was clearly starting to regret.

One of my swings slammed into a crystal of ice, but the other blade opened fire, catching Raven straight in the midriff and sending her to fly backwards. She landed on the solid ground in front of the golden magical door, her eyes narrow and her sword at the ready.

Cinder grabbed hold of my wrist and threw me on the solid ground, where I landed just as she descended by my left side.

Raven barely glanced at Vernal's body, and then bared her teeth ever so slightly, like a cornered animal ready to fight to the death.

I glanced at Cinder, whose right side flickered with dancing flames, and as our gazes met for the briefest of instants, we came to the same conclusion.

I rushed ahead, my blade striking and swinging against Raven's own in a flurry of blows that were as powerful as they were slow enough to be parried. Yet each parry came with less strength than the one before. I wasn't going to kill her. I was going to weaken her further.

Raven knew that. She knew the odds had turned against her, but she was also cornered enough there was little she could do to escape. She could die struck in the back or she could die fighting, and out of the two options, even though she was a coward, she picked the one that would give her the most honor.

There was no attempt at opening a portal. Even if she did try, she would need us to be far enough to give her a chance to use it.

Finally, an upper swing proved to be the last straw, and as Raven's weapon left the woman's grip, the edge of my blade slammed against her neck with enough strength to take her breath away, but not enough to take her life.

"You could have made this so much easier," Cinder mused, closing the distance with her right hand brimming with flames.

"I will be avenged," Raven growled back.

"By who?" I muttered, looking away as Cinder's hand neared. "You cast away your family, calling them weak," I retorted, "You cast away your allies, considering them unworthy. You have no one by your side, and nothing left."

"Time will..." but her next words were drowned in screams as Cinder's hand slammed into the woman's face, the Maiden's power draining as black tentacles left my wife's palm, from the Grimm host within.

Her screams ended soon, silence settling as Cinder removed her hand, and I pulled my blade away. Raven's corpse fell on the ground lifeless, and without a sound.

"It's done," Cinder mused, breathing deeply, her eyes blazing. "I can feel it-her power," she extended a hand towards the golden door, and it answered the call of her magic. It opened slowly, a vast desert expanding beyond sight past it. Upon a white pedestal, the Relic of Knowledge rested.

"We must ask the Relic how to reach the others," Cinder mused. "There should be three questions. Our mistress wants only one answered. The others, she leaves to us."

"Do you have something you wish to ask it?" I mused as I walked forward, Cinder by my side.

"No," Cinder said, shaking her head. Then, she hesitated. "Perhaps."

"Perhaps?" I glanced at her.

She sighed, her hand resting upon the Relic. Mine gently landed atop hers, and I squeezed it tenderly. "Whatever you wish, Cinder," I whispered. "Whatever you desire, I'll be by your side."

"I know," she said, a smile adorning her lips. Her eyes steeled and resolve shone from her face. "Djinn! I have a question for the likes of you!" she called, and the Relic pulsed as the giant genie-like creature appeared, an amused smile on her face.

"Two questions remain for this era," Djinn spoke, "I am Djinn. The Relic of Knowledge. But you know that already," she giggled as she said that, eyeing us both. "Ask your question, but know this; I can only answer that which belongs to the past, or the present. I cannot answer the future."

Cinder nodded, "Show us how we can reach the Relics of the Gods!"

Djinn nodded, and the scenery around us changed.

The Relic of Knowledge was the first, and easiest to show of. She showed nothing but ourselves standing in front of her. Cheeky, perhaps, but part of the answer. The Relic of Creation, she showed as a Staff deep within the belly of Atlas Academy, enshrined in floating crystals around it. The code to access the lift was shown with Ironwood himself typing it.

The Relic of Choice was within a tomb, accessed by pushing a specific tile upon a specific mural at a specific time in the night. Nigh-impossible to find without querying the Relic of Knowledge, or Ozpin himself.

The Relic of Destruction stood within the summit of Vacuo's academy, a door that led to a lush jungle, and to a sword embedded deep within an altar of stone.

"Good," Cinder whispered. Her eyes burned with determination. She had memorized the code for Atlas already.

"One question remains for this era," Djinn said. "Call upon me when you have it."

The genie then disappeared, and we were left standing in front of the relic itself.

"Ozpin still remains a problem," Cinder mused. "We should wait for him."

"I wasn't exactly quiet upstairs," I answered back. "I'm not doubting Mistral's security force might be coming. We can deal with them, but-"

"It would impede our ability to move between kingdoms, or Mistral at least," Cinder muttered, shaking her head. "Let's leave," she grabbed hold of the Relic, and I gentlemanly then took it from her, to carry it in her stead.

Cinder stopped on the way out to grab Raven's sword, dragging it as if it were nothing more than filth picked along the way. I arched an eyebrow at the act, but said nothing.

"Your Semblance," Cinder spoke as we reached for the missing bridge, which rebuilt itself at her command, magic leaving her fingers to reforge the broken pieces of stone. "I...I did not think it would be fire."

I chuckled. "Guess it makes sense," I glanced at her with a cheeky grin, "It just means our souls were meant to find one another."

"You romantic fool," Cinder replied with a click of her tongue, but also an amused smile on her face. "Mercury," she glanced at the young man, standing alert by Emerald's side. "Get a hold of Emerald and let us leave."

"Yes Cinder," Mercury said with a nod, pulling Emerald up and placing her on one of his shoulders, carrying her out.

We began to ascend on the lift. My humming the only pleasant music to go by.

"Where are we going next?" Mercury asked.

"We report to our mistress," Cinder mused.

Once we reached the summit, it was just in time to see Leonardo finish dragging the last of the defeated huntsmen in a corner, and then keep them under aim with his weapon. He looked at our triumphant arrival and smiled.

"I-I think everything went well down there?" he asked, eyeing us.

"It did," Cinder mused with a slow nod. "Better than expected, truly."

Lightning arched from her palm, and with a loud echoing thunderclap, Raven's blade soared through the air and slammed straight through Leonardo's chest. The weapon impaled him through, slammed on the ground till the hilt, and as the man's eyes widened in disbelief, he croaked his last, disbelieving 'why' as life left his eyes.

"There are more loose ends to finish," Cinder mused, glancing at the unconscious huntsmen.

She then looked at me.

"But maybe they will learn not to follow us again," she acquiesced quietly, and I exhaled in relief. "I won't be as merciful next time, Shade," she added as a warning to myself, even as we walked out of the academy's main hall.

"You should meet up with Hazel quickly," Cinder said next, as we stopped in Mistral's courtyard. "You can bring the Relic to our mistress and deliver Branwen to the White Fang. Get their aid."

I grimaced.

"We will see one another again very soon," Cinder whispered, her hand touching my cheek as our lips met. "Until then, my love."

"Until we meet again," I whispered tenderly back.

Loved one's goodbyes were bad enough...

...but not as bad as wrathful reunions.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Sixty

Hazel hadn't gone far.

He couldn't have, since he was carrying Qrow and had to be extra careful not to render the man conscious. Perhaps he didn't know that he could become a bird; perhaps he suspected it. Maybe he even knew about it, but I couldn't know that.

What I did know was that Hazel relaxed imperceptibly at my arrival, even as I held onto the Relic of Knowledge with a free hand. "And with this, Salem will be pleased," I mused. "We have the Relic, Leonardo is no more, and Cinder is headed to give her report."

"Good," Hazel said, slowly nodding.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, glancing at Qrow's unconscious form. "We're going to be carrying him alive across half the continent?"

"Yes," Hazel acquiesced. "If he proves to be too much of a hassle, we will have no choice but to kill him."

"Joy," I muttered under my breath.

Something in the undergrowth moved. My eyes narrowed in its direction, a hand already on Magnistipula. Hazel stood up from the small camp fire he had made in the meantime, and stared in the direction of the noise.

More branches cracked and broke under a heavy weight.

It could be a huntsman. It could be a traveler attracted by our noises. It could be a bandit hoping for an easy kill.

It was a Grimm.

A large, white-furred Ursa with gleaming azure eyes and blue veins. It sniffed the air, and slowly began to walk forward.

"What is this?" Hazel muttered, his guard lowering ever so imperceptibly.

Magnistipula's lunge slammed into the man's spine with enough strength that a lesser man would have been cleaved neatly in half. Yet, Hazel tanked the blow and his eyes widened, the Ursa rushing forth with a bellowing roar the next.

"You can call it," I hissed, "a revolution," the undergrowth swarmed with more white-furred Grimm, encircling us to prevent Hazel's escape.

Hazel's arms swung to slam Magnistipula away, even as the massive body of the Ursa now attempted to overpower him, to throw him on the ground and bite into his neck. He brought his arm back and then forth, slamming a fist into the Grimm's guts.

Another Ursa raked its claws against his back, a King Taijitu hissed with its two heads, standing alert and at the ready.

"You think you can-you can get away with this?" Hazel growled.

"What I think doesn't matter," I said flatly. "All that matters...is the survivor's word."

Hazel roared as he spun, literally lifting the Ursa up in the air and then bending its back against his knee. He huffed, eyes narrow on me as I readied my weapon.

"You signed your death," he whispered.

"Let the strength of our resolves decide," I growled back.

Then, I lunged forward with a right-sided swing. Hazel moved below the swing, and then hastily jumped back as the ground below him shattered, pillars of stone forming deadly spikes by my will, and by my command.

"This isn't-" Hazel's mutters stopped as I rushed upon the spikes, now pillars, and then swung in a downward crescent arc towards him, winds gathering at the edge of my sword. Behind him, Beowolves lunged in a pile.

He screamed as he was piled upon, but as my blade made to connect, the Grimm turned to ashes as a pulse of fire left his entire body, large red crystal now embedded into his stomach.

He snarled in anger, and wrath, and his right fist met the edge of my blade.

The strength he had was overpowering. It had always been that way. When we first headed to kill huntsmen, when he trained the likes of me with unflinching resolve and unquestionable brutality, his strength had always felt beyond my ability to reach, beyond my grasp to obtain, and an unassailable wall of resolve and willpower.

But now it was no longer the case.

I felt the strain in my arms as rather than be thrown away by the ensuing blast, I held my ground. His flaming, hardened knuckles began to tremble as Magnistipula stood where it was, the winds and the very metal answering in a symphony of death to my will.

Yet the contest of strength wasn't meant to remain unchallenged. With his every effort into halting my swing, Hazel was wide open to the fangs of the King Taijitu overlooking the premises, to the claws of the Ursa, the fangs of the Beowolves, and most importantly...to the very nature of the elements I could summon with my will.

He realized what was going to happen, and even as he did, he knew there was no escape. Rather, he sacrificed his right arm just so he could lunge with his left at my neck. It was the wise move; snapping my neck would halt the Grimm under my command, and it would definitely stop the magic attacks.

Yet his fingers met an ethereal, white-boned structure that stopped them as spikes of white jutted out to pierce his other hand.

His eyes widened.

The frame of a Gheist appeared ever so slowly superimposed over mine, even as Magnistipula finished cleaving across his right arm, the limb sailing away and blood spraying out on the ground.

"Goodbye," I said. "Go be with your sister now, Hazel."

"Y-You," he choked, blood seeping from his teeth as he collapsed down on his knees. "What...monster..."

"Not a monster," I hummed as I swung again, his head rolling on the ground the next second. "A monster wouldn't know how to lie to people; they're too honest for that."

I sheathed Magnistipula again, and then my right arm burned with white flames as I slammed it into Hazel's headless body. The flames ruptured through him, a sharp scream rising in the air as the Grimm creature within his body died, while the rest of his corpse turned into cinders and ashes, flying off into the air.

"Well done," I said to the white Grimms, watching them lose their physical forms and become nothing more than puddles of white liquid which slithered, as if holding a will of their own, towards my extended fingers.

Whatever liquid they had come from, it answered the will of magic, and thus it answered mine.

"Now, for the last part," I mumbled as I knelt in front of Qrow's slumped form. "Wakey-wakey," I said as I gently slapped the man's face. "Come on, old man, I don't have all day."

It took a bit more convincing, a couple of coaxing words, and a few more slaps, but Qrow's eyes actually opened, and then stared harshly in my direction.

Magnistipula's edge was against his neck, so all things considered, I could excuse his animosity.

"Fuck," he growled.

"Now listen up, and listen well," I said in a low growl. I pressed the Relic of Knowledge against his arms, "I'm going to let you go, and I'm going to let you go with the Relic of Knowledge."

"What," Qrow mouthed, "You shitting-"

"Let me finish talking," I hissed. "You think Salem's the true evil of the story, and you think Ozpin's the true savior, and that's not your fault, because it's everything you've ever been told. Reality, however, is different. The Relic of Knowledge has one question, and one question alone, for this era."

"You can't be serious, brat," Qrow muttered, "Where's Hazel?" he asked next, eyes narrow.

"He's dead," I said flatly. "You won't be. Consider it your lucky day out of a lifetime of bad luck." I took a small breath. "Ozpin should go by the name of Oscar right now. He should still be heading for Haven's academy-"

"My nieces-"

"They're still alive, all of them," I said with a hiss, and the moment I did Qrow visibly calmed down. He was still wary, but at least he appeared more than willing to listen. "But I don't have much time left. So, when you go back to them with the Relic of Knowledge, ask your precious Ozpin how Salem came to be. Ask him about Ozma, about the Gods, and about the death of his daughters," I bared my teeth at him. "Ask him that, and see how he answers. Then, when he inevitably refuses to...use the Relic, ask it to show you what he's been hiding. And then you'll understand."

I pulled the edge of Magnistipula away from his neck, swung it down against his ropes, and then began to walk away.

"You're hiding things too, brat, aren't you?!" Qrow yelled as he stood up, wincing and massaging his wrists while eyeing the Relic of Knowledge, left by his feet. "You think you can lie to Salem and make it out alive? She'll have your life the moment she knows you're lying to her! She's a monster made of nightmares!"

"That's a good thing," I answered back, tightening the grip of my right hand as the white liquid seeped out from it, forming a puddle from which a white horse Grimm appeared with a neigh. "Nightmares is all I have ever dreamed of, since I was nothing but a child," I mounted on the horse, "And that is why, I've learned to turn them into my strength."

I kicked the Grimm horse's flanks, and then dashed off leaving Qrow behind.

Thoughts were twirling into my head. Thoughts which I had to put under control. Bile was at the top of my throat, my heart drummed in my chest, and my fingers tightened the grip on the Grimm's neck.

I could have used the Relic to find a way to defeat Salem, but I didn't think she'd go peacefully, or without harming Cinder. She would be angry at my failure, and probably at Hazel's death.

Yet, if I showed her magic, she'd change her tune. I knew that. I didn't need the Relic to show me that. And if her tune changed, then perhaps I had a chance. I didn't know why I was capable of using magic, what kind of strange thing had gone on to make it possible, but perhaps if I played on my amnesia card, I might wring about some strange tale of being the last survivor of a long lost line of mages.

Or maybe, maybe so, she'd have an answer for it.

I doubted that, but even so, a plan formed in my head.

I repeated it, again and again, because I had to be sure about it. If I feared, she would know. If I doubted, she would understand. If I did anything but show the utmost certainty, and feel the utmost truthfulness of my lies, then she would probably kill me where I stood.

That was why I had to lie to her.

It took weeks to reach the Grimm lands, weeks I spent going over my carefully constructed lies, my prepared lines and my words. The Grimm Horse never tired, and as I trudged upon the path the number of Grimm seeking to kill me increased. They became fodder for my army. Each death of theirs meant one more in my numbers.

It was a strange, exhilarating feeling.

The last days of travel were an unending, unstoppable barrage of Grimm seeking to halt me.

The sands below my feet would have turned red with blood, if only the creatures of darkness could have the ability to bleed.

Yet they collapsed, my own creatures of light standing by my side as I finally saw Salem's castle in sight. She knew I was coming, for she was standing by the main entrance with her hands crossed in front of her lap, a neutral expression on her face.

"I will give you one chance to explain," Salem said, quietly and calmly. "Use it wisely."

I dismounted from the horse Grimm, who disappeared in a puddle of white, the droplets of it quietly floating back up to the tip of my fingers.

I had lines upon lines of lies ready to use.

I had thoughts and ideas that would work the best for any given inquiry.

Yet, in that moment, only one sentence came to the front of my mind.

My right hand extended in front of me, and small spheres of the elements began to float on my open palm. Salem's eyes widened at the sight, her facade of indifference cracking at the sight.

"I'm home," I spoke in a hushed whisper.

It was, apparently, all I needed to say.

 

[shadenight123]

Chapter Sixty-One

I never had Salem's true attention until that moment. The difference was jarring; it was as if a blind and dead man could finally see and hear, and decided to stare and listen very carefully to what another person was saying, taking in every word, welcoming every sight, smiling at every minuscule gesture and feeling blessed by the simple acknowledgement of their presence in a room.

It was also incredibly hard not to shy away from her touch.

She had forcefully, yet gently guided me from the entrance to her castle to a room, one with a small sofa on which I had been guided to sit while she took a seat by my side.

Her hand was gently, and affectionately, caressing my hair like a grandmother would a small child. Though she had the strength to crush my skull with ease, she moved with the tender care of a mother bear knowing that too much strength might indeed spell the cub's doom.

"I was so consumed by wrath and sorrow that I never stopped to think, or even realize," Salem whispered, "That any of my daughters might have survived," she stared into my eyes. "I wonder which one it was." Sadness marred her face, "We could have had much more time together," she whispered. "I could have taught her so much more...guided her descendants, made us rulers, even new gods of Remnant."

"I-I don't know that," I said. "I don't even know how-"

"The how is inconsequential," Salem mused. "It was bound to happen. That it happened later is due, in no small part, to the merging of the bloodline of the true humanity with the inferior copy." Here she sneered, only for the hatred within her eyes to quickly disappear not a second later.

"But you awoke to magic, which means-which means that my blood was stronger. Which means that you were, are, stronger. I should have seen it," she smiled, "Your temperament, your determination-even the strength of your love-" she chuckled, but it was a bitter, angry chuckle. "We should celebrate. A great feast would be the norm, but where to find a good enough chef? You will need better rooms, better clothes-there are so many things you need to be taught, so much potential in you that still remains untapped-"

There was excitement in her voice. Excitement and a hint of happiness.

"There's-" I spoke, interrupting her, and she grew quiet. It was unnerving to watch her entire, fully-focused attention on the likes of me, because it showed just how differently she had been listening before. "Cinder. I-I will do as you wish, but..."

"Of course, of course," Salem said, nodding slowly. "And you do not need to do as I wish anymore. We are family," she said, her arms moving to gently embrace my head, pulling it to rest against her chest like a mother would a tearful kid. "There are many, many things I need to teach you," she whispered, "Many things we need to do, many things-but first, we will stop seeking the relics out."

I blinked at that. "Why? Wasn't that what you wanted?"

"I no longer have a need for them," Salem said. "No, if anything, it would be counter-productive now." Her fingers gently caressed my hair, giving me a slow, but loving head-pat. "Cinder has served me well. No, she has served me admirably, for being...human. Though the power she possesses isn't truly hers, I'll allow her to join my family." Her voice was starting to feel like a lullaby, a gentle, pleasant humming of peace and serenity. It was strange.

It made no sense for me to relax, and yet I was starting to. It was as if a massive weight had just left my shoulders, as if I wasn't a grown man but just a little child, seeking out his grandmother for the daily hug.

"My family," Salem whispered, more to herself than to me. "Ozma tried to take you away from me, he tried, and he failed." Her fingers stopped caressing my hair. "And he will not do so again."

My eyelids felt heavy, and as a yawn escaped my lips, Salem giggled. "It must have been tiring, coming back here while fighting the Grimm. I will make it so it doesn't happen again, but for now rest...and when you wake up tomorrow, I can start teaching you everything you know."

My eyes closed. My body sagged in relief, and palpable tiredness. Sleep welcomed me, and it was a dreamless one. When I woke, I was in a different room from my usual one. It was larger, it was cleaner, and it was apparent that someone had pulled all the stops in order to make it shine as brilliantly as possible.

It was as if some kind of veil had lifted, and I winced as I stepped into the hallways that were apparently spotless now. Someone had cleaned them with the efficient ruthlessness of a serial killer seeking to rout out the dirt; nothing remained but pristine, flawless marbles, carpets that shone as if new, and even the windows had been repaired.

Outside, though the weather was still purplish, the ever-present dark clouds were somewhat tamer.

I carefully crept around the strangely redecorated and renovated castle, and pondered how it had all happened during the night.

"You have your new orders," Salem's voice caught my attention as I actively sought her out for once, and I found her into the meeting room where only a Seer Grimm floated lazily by, Salem staring right into it. "You are to leave Atlas and return. New developments have arisen."

"We understand, goddess," Tyrian's voice came through the Grimm, "We will do as you command."

"As you wish," Watts' voice came next.

Salem's gaze moved from the Seer Grimm towards me, and a smile blossomed on her face. The dark veins that normally marred it were gone, and though her eyes were still bottomless pits of darkness and crimson hatred, there was a certain calmness to her body.

The Seer Grimm floated away, and Salem had an actual skip in her step as she neared me, the smile on her face blossoming fully as she rested a hand on my cheek. "It is time then," she said amiably. "Follow me, and we will see what you can do."

Her face now truthfully radiated a sense of serene contentment, which remained fixed even as I found myself in a circular hall, one which gave me nothing but bad memories.

"I understand," Salem's voice was calm, her eyes finding mine. "This is the room where I had the Grimm train you." Sadness marred her face now. "If I had known back then-nothing of the sort would have happened." Her fists clenched, "But blame Ozma for that. Many things would not have happened if that fool had but listened to me!" she bared her teeth in an angry scowl, small black veins starting to spread from her eyes only to then simmer away.

"I...I understand," I said, "What do you want me to do?"

Salem smiled, "Show me what you can do."

I gave her a hesitant nod, and lightning arched across my right arm by my will. It sparked into my other hand, fire soon forming and burning off in mid-air amidst the lightning. A gust of wind sent the sphere of fire and lightning to fly up and down in the air, before gravity crushed it downwards. A small column of water spread from the ground, my right hand rising gently upwards as a pillar of earth formed, from which the water source gurgled and formed a basin.

As the tip of my fingers touched the water, it turned to ice.

"I-"

"Marvelous," Salem whispered. "Truly marvelous."

She had not asked, not once, what had happened to Hazel, or to the Relic of Knowledge.

She would remember, perhaps, and ask me later.

But as things were, she did not care.

The radiant smile on her face was something that could be found only on the most flawless of paintings. The joy that radiated from her entire being was palpable, even more so when she clasped both of my hands, forming a cup out of them.

"I will teach you how to control each element more carefully now. There are many things you could improve-after elemental magic, we will move on to more sophisticated forms. There is so much that you can do, so much that you can become," she was far, far more excited than I was, that much was clear. "You will become like a God," she said with a chuckle, "And your children will become Gods of their own right-all of them, all those that know magic-they will..." she turned thoughtful. "You must have had parents. Could they too be awakened to magic?" she looked at me. "I need to find them. Whoever they are-I will have Mistral scoured up and down for them."

She smiled, water forming in the palm of my hands by her magic rather than mine. "But that will come later, for now feel the magic, how I use it to create water..."

Salem was a kind, benevolent teacher.

She would have terrified me to the depths of my soul, if I wasn't so busy trying my hardest to understand and come to terms with her jarring and abrupt change of plans.

Now came the hardest part...

...convincing her I didn't want to rule the world as a God.

 

[shadenight123]

Interlude - What Tangled Webs We Weave

Haven had fallen. They had been defeated. Everything that had made sense now no longer made sense. it was easy to consider an enemy a monster, but harder still to realize they weren't that evil to begin with.

Pyrrha didn't know whether to feel sad or angry, sorrowful or vengeful, and thus she didn't feel. It was the better, easier option. Frustration and doubts, those were the two things she felt plenty however.

"U-Uncle Qrow!" Ruby's voice caught her attention, and she lifted her gaze from the gashes on Haven's floor, and from the body that was covered by a thick white sheet. Mistral's security forces had arrived in the end, and after questioning them and finding the remains both on the ground floor and in the cavern below had come to their own conclusions.

As Ruby's form barreled into her uncle's, she sighed in relief. The man was alive, and he was holding on to the Relic of Knowledge. The Relic that-

"How did you get that?" Pyrrha asked, drawing closer to the man.

"This?" Qrow replied, even as his eyes took the state of everyone else in, and realized something was wrong, deeply wrong, with his other niece. Yang had found her mother's corpse after all, and while there was no love lost, it had affected her too. "Stole it right back from them and then ran as fast as I could. Not my most glorified moment, but life seldom is."

Pyrrha's brows furrowed, "Won't they be coming back for it?"

"Wounded them pretty badly," Qrow said. "Might take them some time. We should scram from here though, go into the city. You all could use some proper rest."

"I don't know what hurts most, my body or my pride," Jaune mumbled, wincing as he massaged the back of his neck.

"Why not both?" Nora replied, held up by Ren. "There's fighting a tough enemy, and then there's being annihilated. And we got annihilated," she sighed.

"That...that thing at the end," Blake muttered, "When he spoke-did you hear what he said?"

"Can you even believe that? I wasn't awake for it, but if you told me magic was real, I'd tell you to go get checked in a mental hospital," Yang replied, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Probably has a very malleable semblance. Like, hallucinations."

"Could be," Pyrrha acquiesced. "Then, you think it was all a lie he told us?"

"Just to get into our heads, and screw with us," Yang acquiesced.

"Let's just get out of here for now, guys," Ruby said, glancing then up at Qrow who was trying his hardest to hide his face from the nearby police officers. "We can think about what to do next together at an inn or something. With food in front of us."

"I am starving," Ren pointed out helpfully, "and we should go."

They did find an inn that would welcome their numbers. A few hours later, they even found out that Ozpin hadn't really died, but was in truth a reincarnating individual which, in the end, put into question everything they had thought about magic being real or not.

"Oz," Qrow said. "There are some things I need to ask."

They were all gathered around a table, the sofa and the armchairs filled, the figure of the young boy that went by the name of Oscar standing with Ozpin's cane in his hands, the posture identical to that of the headmaster.

"I understand," Oscar's voice was different from Ozpin's, but even so, there were similarities. "I will try to answer what I can."

As it turned out, his attempts at trying turned to not even be attempts.

"There are things best left unmentioned," Ozpin said, shaking his head. "I do not know how this Shade came to find out so much about the past, perhaps Salem saw fit to inform him of that much, to try to drive wedges amidst ourselves, but-"

"But what!?" it took a moment for Pyrrha to realize it had been her voice that had come through. She was shocked herself, a hand clasped over her mouth. "I-No," she slowly moved the hand down, away from her lips. "Why is it that we find out more from an enemy than from an ally? Why is it that you refuse to speak, but Shade doesn't? If it's something bad, shouldn't we know it beforehand? Shouldn't you tell us what it is, so that we can prepare for it? Why are you being so difficult!?"

"Because certain aspects of the past are best left buried where they stand!" Ozpin's voice came through clearly, "I am the combination of countless men who spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant. This curse was bestowed upon me by the gods because I failed to stop Salem in the past, but now more than ever she must be stopped, and the doubts that the knowledge you seek would bring-they will not aid us."

"Do you even trust us?" Pyrrha shot back.

"It is not that I expect you to betray me," Ozpin murmured, "It is that my actions are backed by experience, there are reasons for the things I do, the secrets I keep-"

Pyrrha's hands tensed.

But it was Qrow's laughter that shook her. "Oz, you know I've followed you through thick and thin, trusted you and whatnot," he shook his head. "But if I'm alive right now, it's either a sign that my semblance decided to stop being a bitch," he grimaced, "Or that there's something even worst waiting for me because of it."

He glanced at the Relic of Knowledge. "You kids came all this way, and I think you, and I, deserve some answers." He grabbed hold of the Relic and threw it in Pyrrha's hands, much to Oscar's -no, Ozpin's- surprise. "At least someone in this room has both the answers and the desire to answer them-"

"Miss Nikos, do not use the Relic," Ozpin said, alarmed. "If only one question remains in it, it must be used with wisdom, and-"

"I want to know," Pyrrha murmured, clutching the relic with both hands. "I want to know what you're hiding, what Shade's hiding, what our enemies are hiding-how can we know what to do if we don't know what's going on!?"

She tightened the grip on the Relic. "Djinn! I have a question!" she yelled.

"NO!" Ozpin's scream was accompanied by Oscar's body lunging for the relic.

"Show us what they're hiding! Ozpin, Salem, and Shade!"

The room disappeared.

In its place stood a vast field of grain upon which the figure of Djinn, a massive blue woman clad in golden accessories, was with her arms crossed in front of her.

"As you wish," Djinn spoke.

Then the form of Salem, blonde and staring at her reflection in a mirror atop a tall tower, appeared in Pyrrha's sight. She knew she wasn't alone staring at it.

She knew that everyone else was by her side.

She thought she had seen everything, that she could no longer be shocked, but when the creeping realization dawned of what had happened to humanity, of what Ozpin truly was, of how utterly he lacked a plan...that was when she felt that nothing else could ever shock her further.

She was wrong.

Salem's motivations, her plans to destroy mankind, had been just a part of her desire for revenge against Ozma and the Gods. Yet now there was something different.

The form of Shade appeared by her side, spirals of fire leaving the palm of his hand as he transformed the flames into a bird, which flew around the room before exploding in a shower of golden sparks.

And to that show, Salem's pearly laughter echoed. The woman appeared to be in a strange state of serene bliss. It was...utterly different from the past they had witnessed until then.

"That is excellent, Shade," Salem spoke. "Your skill and abilities grow by leaps and bounds-perhaps one day you might even surpass me," she coyly added.

"I doubt that will ever happen," he answered back, shaking his head. "But...I'm glad you changed your mind on Atlas."

"There is no longer a need for it," Salem said easily enough. "More of my descendants might be amidst humanity. I need to find them, try to see how their magic can awaken once more-perhaps proximity to magic would work by itself? I will need to attempt that." The last part wasn't spoken, but yet the thoughts came through clearly.

"And finally," Djinn spoke, "That which the man known as Shade hides."

Reality shifted around them and disappeared.

They weren't on Remnant any longer, judging by the massively armored green hulks snarling and roaring around them. On the opposite side stood battalions of soldiers with strange rifles and armors.

"WAAAGGH!" a figure screamed amidst the sea of green, rushing through them with the familiar face of Shade, and fear on his face even as he literally jumped into the rows of humans.

"Waaaaggh!?" the armored orks screamed in turn, looking at one another with perplexity. "Green humie cannot-"

The reality shifted.

"My darling little Lulu~" an older Shade was hugging the living daylights out of a pink-haired girl.

"B-Big brother! Let me down!" the girl yelled back, embarrassed.

It shifted again.

"Do or do not, there is no try," he was wearing a robe now, a strange, alien creature by his side. "That is what Master Yoda would tell you, but since he's not here, I will."

"If you say so, master," the alien answered back.

Again, reality shifted.

"Shiro!" he was a student at a local school now, grinning and smiling. A hazel-haired girl stood by his side, "Everything all right?"

"Yes, brother," the girl known as Shiro answered. "I have archery lessons-" she hesitated, "Will you come watch?"

"Eh, maybe, depends," he shrugged. "You want me to cheer you on?"

"Please don't," Shiro said hastily.

Shade looked crestfallen, "Umu~"

"Don't make strange sounds!" Shiro snapped back at him, red in the face.

In a second, he was laughing. "It's fine, it's fine. I'll be on my best behavior."

Reality shifted once more as Djinn appeared, arms crossed. "The man you know as Shade is...not a man. He is so much more."

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she saw reality move across countless scenes, and pictures, and words-

"Peace is a lie. There is only passion." "Five rounds per minute, your grace?" "Time is a river. Dam it and alter it." "I will hold the weight! For Helm!" "FULGUR PERCUTIENS!" "Bell, you're just too pure for this world." "KYNARETH! Kyynaareeethhh!" "I have endured torment, to face the end of my journey." "Go, Whiskers!"

Battered and bruised. Weak or strong.

Yet always, he stood.

"The man known as Shade, has had many names. Kagayaku Emiya, Henry Valliere, Shade Umbrus Dumbledore and many, many others," Djinn spoke in the end. "And he hides all that he has been, and all that he is, for no other reason than to stand by the side of the people he loves and cherishes. Always."

"Headpats are justice!" "Friendship is magic. Weaponize it." "Everything's going to be all right, fizzy-hair." "The Emperor protects!"

And then reality came crashing back down upon them.

Silence settled in the room. Not a pin dropped. Not a word, not a breath, nor even a single gasp echoed.

Then the silence was broken by the clearest, ever-audible curse-word ever to be spoken by a human being.

"Fuck."

Everyone's head turned sharply towards the source of the exclamation.

Pyrrha dimly realized it had been her voice.

She realized everyone was staring at her.

She ignored it.

Shade...

...was an alien all along!?