Jaune and the Games we Play

by Catalist223

Ryuugi's the games we play, i didn't write this, just trying to make it easier for me to read on my phone. Check out the rest of Ryuugi's work at spacebattles. This is a story about Jaune living his life as if it were an RPG

6. Chapter 6

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Extraction

I saw her eyes widen in her reflection's face. Her free hand went to her necklace quickly, almost like a reflex, clutching the apple-shaped pendant as she drew away. Something flashed across her face—worry, maybe, or perhaps even panic—before it settled on something resolved and angry.

"You can't have it," She said, voice wavering slightly as she seemed to guess where this was going. "I don't care what you've heard or what you think you know—you can't have it."

"Now, now," I said. "Don't be like that, Ms. Schnee; I just want to talk, for now."

I saw her hands tighten around both her sword and necklace, her teeth gritting as she looked at me with furious eyes, and yet she didn't reply.

"If you're waiting for your guards to arrive, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," I said, still facing away from her. "I've locked this room down quite extensively; they didn't hear a sound. My apologies, but you see…I dislike pointless bloodshed, so I decided it would be best to keep this between ourselves. Well, I say that, but…it would seem my subordinates have taken it upon themselves to assist me, and I fear their enthusiasm may get the better of them when they arrive. While I'd like to have a little more time…well, for the sake of everyone in this building, let's settle this quickly, shall we?"

The words were for Raven's sake as much as Weiss and for a moment I wasn't sure if they'd reached her, but then I saw the approaching White Fang members slow, stopping nearby but not attacking just yet.

I could have sighed in relief but instead I lifted a hand and traced two of my claw along the glass as I slowly turned. I didn't face her fully but turned my face towards her as I took several slow, slow steps, watching her all the while. With the immediate threat of the approaching White Fang out of the way, I focused on Weiss and the portal swirling behind her.

Weiss hadn't changed her stance, but I saw her breath harder as she stared me down, tracking me with the tip of her sword. I thought she might remain silent again, but as I came to a halt near the room's corner, her mouth twitched.

"Do you expect me to believe that you care about any of our lives?" She spat.

I took a moment to visibly contemplate that and then tilted my head.

"Well, at the very least, I expect you to acknowledge that I haven't killed you yet, and that there must be a reason for it. My friends in the White Fang would like to be done with you, I imagine, but I have a different idea," I said. "Or rather, I simply know something they don't. But let's stay on topic, Ms. Schnee. That's a very nice necklace you're wearing. Your mother's, was it?"

Her grip and her jaw, if anything, tightened even further. She seemed to be deciding what to say as she stared at me, weighing her options—whether to believe my words, whether to try something dangerous, everything. I could see her emotions shifting on her profile, the possibilities flashing in her eyes as she reached a decision, and I simply continued my Observation.

Snow's Apple—Rank: Quest Item
An apple-shaped necklace belonging to Weiss Schnee, given to her by her mother before she passed away. A simple silver necklace to all appearances, but inside…

"Yes…" She said at last, apparently deciding to at least buy some time. "She…"

"Gave it to you before her death," I said. "Yes, I know. But do you know why? Do you know what it is you're carrying?"

She said nothing again, but there was a flash of confusion in her eyes that made me shut my own and sigh. That route was a dead-end it seemed.

I changed tracks.

"It seems you don't," I answered my own question. "A pity; it seems there isn't any point in talking to you, then. Give it to me, Ms. Schnee."

"Never," She answered instantly, her voice suddenly fierce. "It's all…but I'd destroy it myself before I let you take it from me!"

I slowly tilted my head the other way.

"I'd be…rather interested in knowing how you intend to accomplish that, Ms. Schnee."

She watched me for a moment, eyes wide and breath quick. Again, I saw her eyes dart around her—from me to the window to the door, gauging something with a quick glance—before making a decision of some kind—

And then she tore the necklace off with a sudden jerk, casting it to the floor before grasping her new sword with both hands. As she flipped the blade and thrust it down at the still falling necklace, I saw her eyes focus on the item, as if readying herself for some great pain, and watched the light gleam from sword and necklace both.

I sighed to myself quietly and then crossed the room in a series of quick steps. Reaching out with one hand, I caught Weiss' blade between two fingers and stopped it cold. I saw her eyes flick up to me, saw her mouth twist, saw her give a scream of frustration as she tried to push down even harder—but it was no use. My tail swept down and curled around the necklace before swinging like a pendulum to toss it up into the air on the other side of me, where it fell into my waiting palm. As my fingers closed around it, I released her sword and lifted my hand to her face, pushing her back gently.

She flew into one of the chairs around the sitting area hard enough to knock it over and send her rolling back. She came up to her feet in an instant, to her credit, and with her blade was pointed my way. Light blue light gathered around its length before a wave of ice flashed across the room's floor and rose to cover me completely—

I took a step forward, shattering it around me. Compared to breaking out of my adamant skin, this was nothing, even before Levant and Xhai conferred a resistance to Ice. Weiss leapt back as the cylinder on her weapon revolved, the dust within glowing white as symbols covered the blade. Landing on a sprawling glyph, it flashed red for a moment and she flew towards me with her sword aimed at my heart and the uncovered portion of my chest.

Unfortunately, it stopped at my skin. Part of it was just my Aura and part of it was my mask and the rest was because of my many defensive skills—because of Adamant Serpent's Skin and the White Tiger's Hide and Unbroken Steel and everything else—but the result was simple. An attack like that…just wasn't enough to really hurt me anymore. In fact, it probably hurt her more.

The moment her blade hit my skin, it stopped, with the results you might imagine for everything behind it. Her body continued to rush forward, clipping the halted blade hard before slamming into me. She spun as it was mostly her left side that hit, but continued past me as she flew towards the window. My tails came up and curled around her ankles before I turned and flung her into the couch, which she also knocked over. This time, however, she didn't roll to her feet, but continued until the wall stopped her and then coughed painfully.

I'm sorry, I wanted to say—but I didn't. And if I had, would it have meant anything? So instead, I just closed my eyes and sighed again.

A sound made me open them and I saw Weiss struggling to her feet, looking like she was barely keeping something down. I didn't move as she stumbled or when had to brace herself against the wall, but after she coughed roughly again and swallowed something down, she focused on me.

"Give it back," She said in what I thought might have been an attempt at a shout that a cough ruined. "Get your hands off of it, you bastard."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Ms. Schnee," I answered, tossing the necklace lightly up and down. "I'd recommend you sit down, however. You don't look well."

She snarled something and pushed away from the wall, falling into a roll to pick up the weapon she'd lost hold of. As she came up again, flames gathered around the blade and she threw them into my face as she leapt at me.

I blinked once and then caught the blade, halting her in place again. She managed to keep from slamming into me again but…it was too late, now. Hands of Aura rose from my limbs, one curling around her own and the other just above the guard of the blade. She tried to pull away, to tear her sword from my grasp, but even beyond my vastly superior strength, Crocea Mors had already made himself at home.

All it took to snap the blade was a turn of my wrist. Our eyes met as the steal broke, hers wide and shocked, mine hidden behind a Goliath's yellow orbs. Aura limbs let go of her broken blade and caught her by the shoulders, holding her still as a tail of light curled loosely around her throat.

"Enough now, Ms. Schnee," I said, forcing her to sit on the raised front of the couch as I turned my attention to the necklace I held between two claws. Already, Crocea Mors was flowing in, telling me everything I needed to know. "You've lost, so please be quiet, okay?"

I tossed the necklace into the air and caught it again as Pathfinder changed once more. As I thought, this should be enough. With this, the White Fang shouldn't care about killing Weiss. It felt…it was cruel, what I was doing now, but…

I'm sorry, but this is for your sake, Weiss. Try to bear with it.

As I was about to turn away, though, she said something that gave me pause.

"Please," She said, quietly pleading. "It's the last thing she was able to give me before she…please don't take it. Please…"

I lowered my head slightly as I turned away, otherworldly limbs still holding her in place. If it was…if this was…

But her mother wouldn't have wanted her to die for something like this. I knew that. So even if it was horrible…

"Then I apologize, Ms. Schnee," I said truthfully, glancing over my shoulder. "But some things are just more important."

She swore at me then, kicking and screaming even as my hands tightened around her, wearing away at her Aura even as they held her still. When it was gone, Xihai appeared as a spirit by my side and lifted a hand as she touched one of mine. All of a sudden, Weiss movement became sluggish, slowing quickly in seconds until she lay still, dragged down into the realm of sleep/

I watched her sadly for a moment, feeling miserable for what I'd done—and feeling more miserablebecause I felt miserable. In the end, I'd been the one who'd done this; what right did I have to feel bad and regretful when I'd gone through with it anyway? Weiss was the victim here, but…

I exhaled slowly.

I could tell she'd trained hard. She'd raised five levels in two months, bringing her up to Blake's level in the eyes of whatever decided such things. She'd done everything she could to get stronger. But it just hadn't been enough. Not to beat me and my power. Not to beat the Raven now prowling on the fringe or the sharks circling now. A part of it was a difference in experience and training; a lot more was because of things that just weren't fair in the slightest. It just wasn't…

I'm sorry, I thought. I'm sorry for all of this.

And then I spoke.

"Raven, fair Raven," I said to the air. "Would you like to join me now?"

I didn't so much as turn my face as swirls of red and black converged around Raven's presence, forming a gateway for her to walk through. She stepped into the room from who knows where, striding with deliberate slowness across the floor as she came to my side. I knew without a word being said that the games had begun once more, but now that I could at least see her I relaxed a touch, letting the White Tiger of the West fade around me.

"You've found what you were looking for, then?" She asked calmly, nothing in her voice giving away the fact that she must have had no idea what I was doing.

I chuckled slightly, tossing the necklace up and down gently as I glanced her way. I wondered what was going through her mind right now. However annoying her portals were to me, from her perspective I must be just as tedious; she'd seen me claw my way back into this reality, at the very least, which to her must be like…what? Perhaps something akin to her own skill. And now here I was, toying with a necklace that no one else in the world could have even suspected was anything special. If not for my power, for my Pathfinder, then this…

This would have gone a lot less well, which said something.

"You could say that, I suppose," I said aloud. "At the very least, I got what I needed."

She didn't react to that, as far as I could tell—though I suppose that was one of the downsides to a conversation between two people with masks that covered their faces completely—neither of us were very emotive. Even so, I knew it was only a matter of time before this conversation went somewhere dangerous.

I wasn't all that surprised when Raven didn't waste any time getting there.

"You left the girl alive," She said, hand going to her sword. She let those words hang in the air for a moment as she drummed her fingers along the hilt before prompting me. "Shall I?"

I chuckled slightly, heart suddenly beating fast. Here was the tricky part—I knew there had to be a way through this that would keep Weiss alive, but I didn't have all the facts or pieces. I was making this up as I went along so how the hell could I plan ahead? But…

"Not just yet," I told her, catching the necklace one last time and holding it up to Raven's eyes. "Even I'm not entirely sure of what's inside this, but given that it was meant for her, there may be security measures on it. Best not to do anything rash until we have everything we need."

Raven was silent for a moment, watching me quietly before nodding slowly.

"Very well," She said. "What is it, then?"

"The most valuable thing in the world," I said. "Information."

"About what?" She asked.

I chuckled again, because I had no idea.

"Best you see for yourself," I said, dearly hoping I was right. Pathfinder implied…but as vague as it was…

Nonetheless, I clenched my fingers around the necklace and let Crocea Mors get to work. Outer layers melted out of the way, revealing what was contained within and light emerged as I opened my hand, rising to form a holographic screen.

Specifically, a password screen.

Damn. I couldn't say I was surprised and I really didn't have any right to complain about people making things difficult for thieves, but I was kind of trying to save someone's life here. A little cooperation would be nice.

I didn't react visibly, though, couldn't risk giving any sign of my sudden uncertainty away. Whatever the hell was in this necklace, it was worthless if we couldn't get to it—and worthless data wouldn't save Weiss' life. Worse, with the impression I'd just given, if they really thought it was valuable, then they might hurt Weiss to get it or threat those she cared about. I couldn't…whatever this was, I had to get to it, no matter what was put in my way.

Yeah, I thought. I just had to guess a who knows how many digit password made by a woman I'd never met on the first try. Should be easy.

I paused.

Or maybe…could it be that easy? Pathfinder had led me here, without sending me to find any passwords first; in quests, the objectives generally didn't tell you how to do something, but they wouldn't tell you to do something impossible, either. If I needed a password to continue the quest, there should have been a way for me to find that password over the course of the quest or finding it would have been an objective itself. I just had to think.

What did I have? The password, presumably, had been made by Weiss' mother, a woman I'd never met and would never meet. The only things I'd interacted with that could lend me a hint as to the password were this necklace and Weiss herself—but Weiss didn't even know there was anything special about the necklace.

I considered that for a moment before observing the necklace again.

Snow's Apple—Rank: Quest Item
An apple-shaped necklace belonging to Weiss Schnee, given to her by her mother before she passed away. A simple silver necklace to all appearances, but inside are contained a mother's last words.

She didn't know there was anything special to it, beyond the fact that it was a gift from her mother. Why then was it named 'Snow's Apple'? Was it common to name a piece of jewelry, even one that held meaning? Had my power provided the name? Or…maybe…

Well, I didn't have any better ideas, now did I?

On the holographic screen, I typed the words 'Snow's Apple.' I don't know what meaning those words held, but I hoped they meant something to a mother and her daughter. I closed my hidden eyes in sheer relief when the screen changed and something began to load.

After a moment, a woman's face—presumable belonging to Weiss' mother—appeared. From the background, I could tell that she was in a bedroom or perhaps a hospital—whatever the case, she was recording the video on a bed of some kind and it was easy to see why. Though her hair and skin were still fair, it looked like something destined to fall to whatever sickness she was fighting. Or perhaps she was wounded? I couldn't see much from the angle of the camera.

"Weiss," The woman said, smiling brightly even though the expression seemed to hurt her somewhat. "I don't know when you'll see this or even if…"

She swallowed once that seemed to provoke a coughing fit until she shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

"But I had to record this while I still could. I know I don't…they don't let you see me much anymore and that…that hurts, but it's probably for the best," She seemed to stumble over the words slightly, but she pushed through as best she could. "Some days I'm not…I'm not myself. I don't always remember everyone…even the people I love the most. Once, the…I was told that the last time I saw her, I couldn't remember Winter's face and I can only imagine how…"

She paused for a moment, eyes blinking shut as tears gathered at the corners. I felt…I felt horrible watching this, like a voyeur peering in on what was supposed to be a private moment between mother and daughter, but I had to keep going. This…as the pieces came together and the picture became clearer, it hurt to watch this, but this still wasn't enough to save Weiss life. I needed something more.

"How horrible it must be to have a mother who can't remember her own daughter," She continued, brushing away tears sloppily with the back of a hand as she opened her eyes. "S-so, maybe it's better this way. But while I still can…while I remember…I wanted to record these messages for you both. I want to tell you, while I still remember, how much I…I-I love you. How much I've always loved you and how much I wanted to be there for you when you grew up and watch you…watch you live your lives and grow up happily. I want to…I wanted to be your mother."

She stopped brushing her cheeks for a moment, but the tears continued to fall unhindered as she took a shaking breath. She wasn't statuesque while she sobbed, either; her eyes and cheeks reddened—they looked like they'd gotten a lot of that lately, too—while her nose became stuffed, altering her voice. It was the type of crying that was hard to look at because it looked real. This was a person crying.

I watched anyway, not averting my eyes. I didn't have any right to complain now.

"But…but it looks like that might not be possible," She said at last. "So I'll record this for you both. There's…there's more I want to say then I ever could, but I don't know how much time I have and…but I want you to have this. It's…I feel horrible, passing this onto you, but I'm sure you've already heard us fighting. Your father and I…we always disagreed on a lot of things, since the day our parents first introduced us. I…heh, it seems silly now, but the first time we met I got so upset over something stupid he said that I threw a punch bowl at him."

A smile flickered across her face, as brilliant as it was fleeting.

"The only thing…the only thing we've never disagreed about is the two of you and how much we love you. I know…he's not very good at showing it, especially since I became like this; he's gotten colder and tries to act like nothing's wrong, even when he…" She swallowed, turning away. "I love him. I have since my sixteenth birthday—did I ever tell you about that? He doesn't look it, but your father can be romantic when he wants to. But after your grandfather and grandmother were…after he took over the business…he can be cold, too. Pragmatic, he says, and maybe that's true—but cold most of all. And we've fought about it; disagreed over so many things…I don't know if I'm right. I've never had all the answers, was always just a…but you deserve to see this, too, to see everything. One day, you two will be grown up and on top of the world, but there are some things you'll need to know. So this…this is for you. I'm not telling you to do anything with it. I'm not even asking. You two have always been my beautiful, intelligent girls, so when you see this, you'll probably know what to do better than I will."

She took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

"The password is 1_w_1_4_s_1_3_y_u," She said. "You know what for and it'll tell you everything. Just remember, no matter what you choose to do with this…I love you. I love you both. And I…I…Braun, if you would? I'm getting—"

The image faded abruptly and I finally closed my eyes.

"Another password?" Raven said after a moment of silence, her voice sounding ever so slightly off.

"Yes," I said.

"To what?"

"What we're looking for," I said. Hoped, really. But as Pathfinder changed, I took a breath. "We'll find it within the Schnee Company servers. Would you like to drive?"

She tilted her head and then nodded slightly before turning to Weiss.

"And the girl?" She asked, her tone still sounding strange. I looked at her for a moment and then walked slowly past her, kneeling by Weiss's side. My fingers curled around the necklace again as Crocea Mors shaped the metal back into its original form. Slowly, I lowered my hand over her neck, letting the two halves of the chain pool on either side before tilting my hand and dropping the pendant on her chest.

"Her mother gave use something valuable," I said. "And so I will repay her words. And perhaps…"

I closed my eyes and chuckled, glancing over my shoulder to look at Raven.

"Perhaps I'm feeling vaguely sentimental," I said, remembering what Adam had told me about his family so long ago. She would know about it, surely, but would it matter to her? "Even you and I can understand the bond between parent and child. Even if it's not the wisest decision, I proved she's no threat, so…I'll allow her to see her mother's face again, at the very least. I've never been much for passing on grudges, either, so…is that okay with you, Raven?"

She looked from me to the girl and for a moment I thought should wouldn't say anything—or, worse, that she would disagree, but when she spoke…

"Very well," She said. "It doesn't matter, so long as it doesn't affect the mission. We got what we came for."

I chuckled and it wasn't entirely faked I felt so relieved.

"Shall we go, then?" I asked before she waved her sword, a portal opening in the space before us. Without a word, she stepped through and I rose to follow before pausing, sighing slightly.
One last thing before I go, I thought.

I reached into my Inventory and drew out the blade I'd taken from her so long ago, placing it by her side. It was…it a meaningless gesture, I knew, and stupid, but…

"I suppose I should give this back to you, as well," I murmured before turning away.

Goodbye, I thought again.

I'm sorry.

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Hacking

Stepping through Raven's portal was an experience. It was like…I wasn't even sure how to describe it, really. Spots of differing temperatures played across my skin in whirling patterns as the world shifted before my eyes. Beneath the lens of my Clairvoyance, it was more than a vortex of red and black, it was…I didn't even know what it was. But space bent and shrank, almost as if being crushed by the fist of some enormous being, and then—

And then it was over. I stepped out on the other side as though I'd just walked through an open doorway.

I took a deep breath, silently bringing up my Map to check where we were. There didn't seem to be any problems on that front, not that I'd really expected any so long as Raven was under the impression that I had a technique similar to her own. If not, I might have been a little worried about being stranded somewhere unpleasant, but…well, it seemed I could rely on Pathfinder in this regard as well.

Good. Its minor hints were pretty much all that was keeping me afloat at this point.

Turning my attention towards Raven, I saw her gazing at a building across the street and opened my mouth to say something before pausing considering. Levant and Vulturnus appeared beside me, invisible to any eyes but my own, and all at once my senses spread through shifting currents and grids of power lines. It only took me a moment to confirm my suspicions.

We weren't in the building we were aiming for. Close to it, enough so that we appeared to be next to the marker on my map, but we weren't there. But I could trace a path across the street in a web of light, through walls and floors and even below the ground—and there it was. As I figured, right below the building Raven was watched were rows and rows of servers, bright to my Lightning Elemental's eyes.

But those weren't the only things he sensed.

"Worried about the cameras, Raven?" I guessed, inserting a slight smile to my voice. Raven's hair swayed as if her face had twitched in my direction, but she didn't look away from her target—presumably she was scanning the interior for the safest way in. "Third floor, second window from the right. It's an empty room; no people, no cameras.

"I take it you know where everything else in the building is?" Raven said neutrally.

I did now, I thought as my Elementals guided their power through it.

"Naturally," I said aloud as if it were nothing. "The cameras are monitored from a room on the third floor as well; once we're inside, I'll disable all the cameras, shut down the communications in that room, and rush to disable the guard inside. Afterwards, we'll access the server from one of the computers, get what we need, and leave. If that's alright with you?"

She said nothing for a moment, turning to face me. Though her mask gave nothing away, I imagined she had an annoyed expression on her face. For my part, I just smiled at her, holding a hand out graciously towards the window.

"I'll take point, I suppose," I said. "No since taking any chances now, is there?"

She was silent for another long moment before a portal began to converge in front of me.

"Watch your step," She said as I walked towards it, and though there was no particular inflection to her tone, I figured it was probably a reminder of all the places she could send me with her creation—but given that Levant sensed the other portal in the room I designated and double checked by sending a current of air though it, I wasn't that worried by it.

"I'll sure to do that," I said as I strolled into the portal, emerging in the building. At once, Vulturnus finished his infestation of their power lines and promptly turned off all the cameras in the building before reaching into the control room and shutting down monitors, a computer, and a scroll. I felt the guard rise suddenly in alarm through Levant, hand going to the computer first in an attempt to restart it before reaching for his scroll. When that turned out to be a dead end, too, however, he turned towards the door, probably going to find someone.

I found him first and with a gentle touch, he stopped in place, fainting swiftly as Xihai got inside his system. I caught him and put him back into his chair, taking a few items off his person before leaving the room as quickly as I'd come.

To be honest, I was glad that Raven was hesitant to go in first. She was…I still didn't know enough about her to really guess what she'd do. She might kill anything that got in her way, paint these halls red in the blood of innocent workers, or…God only knows. Or maybe she'd do nothing and slip in without leaving a trace behind. I had no way of knowing, but with innocent lives on the line, I'd rather handle this myself, even if it meant doing something bad. It was like…it was like the difference between getting your car stolen by a drug addict and a professional, I suppose; a bad thing either way, but one might kill you to take your keys, while the other would be gone before you realized your car was missing.

Well…at least, I hoped that would be what this was like. As long as I didn't screw this up…

I moved through the building silently, Levant guiding me away from anyone she detected as I made my way to the elevator and used the keycard I'd swiped to hitch a ride to one of the basement levels.

"You took your time," Raven said absently, already typing away at a computer hooked up to one of the servers. I'd felt her portal in as soon as I'd disabled the cameras, so I wasn't surprised to see her there. In response to her barb, I merely laughed quietly and gave her a conceding gesture.

"Have you found anything, yet?" I asked.

"Not yet," She answered, sounding somewhat distracted now that she'd returned fire. I couldn't see her eyes, but she was scrolling quickly through pages of files that I watched over her shoulder, taking them in quietly. She reached the bottom of the page without clicking on anything and then scroll back to the top, apparently searching for anything that stood out, first. Nothing really did, at least to me; they all had file names like SDC037 or MC02. But…

"The fourth file," I said. "And the seventeenth, twenty-second, and thirty-ninth. Those are the biggest files by far. Images, perhaps?"

She clicked on the fourth file obligingly, opening 'SDCEMGA01.'

"Schnee Dust Company Estimated Market Growth, Appendix 1," She recited as if it wasn't in bold letters on the screen. As she scrolled down, there were graphs—forecasts in many forms, comparing the business to other dust mining companies and businesses I didn't recognize. Past competitors, maybe? The graphs all trended upwards, though if these were files Weiss' mother had stored, they were probably somewhat out of date. Still, why would she leave such a thing for her daughters? I mean, if this was, as I suspected, some kind of annual report, then they should be able to get them normally as part of the company. Why list it here as well?

It would probably make more sense if we did more than look at the pictures, I thought. But…

"Keep checking through the larger files. Afterwards, we'll scroll back up." I said.

Raven looked at me in what I assumed was annoyance but did as I requested, opening the files one by one. The first was another appendix; a series of maps, marked in various colors. Of the top four pictures, I recognized the areas surrounding Atlas, Mistral, and Vale immediately, which meant the one that wasn't immediately familiar to me was probably Vacuo. But the markings…

I frowned for a moment, eyes tracking up to the one of Vale and then to the North of it; above Forever Fall, there was a massive section of bright colors, like a stripe across the forest. I'd never seen it represented in such a way, but I recognized the location, could all but hear the sound of the train.

Which meant…

"These are Dust deposits," I said. "Around the Kingdoms?"

"Not just the Kingdoms," Raven said scrolling down. The maps changed quickly, colors fading until they were nothing but white on black, but…the meaning was still clear. "These must be suspected deposits. Or perhaps the locations of fallen nations that once used Dust…either way, they're far beyond the reach of the Schnee Dust Company or the Kingdoms—any mining facility set out there would be torn apart by the Grimm."

I hummed slightly in agreement, frowning as something niggled at me. Like…pieces about to come together, but…

Raven reached the bottom of the window and closed it, moving onto the next efficiently. Yet another appendix, this time with sets of pictures. Each set held two identical scans, but one appeared to have been colored after the fact, marking sections in reds, blues, yellows, and greens. Below those two pictures were another set that looked so different that it took me a moment to realize they were of the same place but…later? The colored sections had shrunk greatly, but the surrounding area still looked very similar—

The pieces clicked into place and without thinking I brushed Raven's hand away, ignoring her look as I took over. I scrolled through the file quickly, watching the indicated sections shrink steadily until about a third of the way down the page, the pictures changed to show a new place and the process repeated. It did so again two more times before I reached the bottom of the file and closed it, opening the thirty-ninth file. Yet another Appendix, showing downward trends, estimates…

I closed it and went back to the top, opening the first file and then rolling down the page swiftly as my eyes scanned, relying on my massive Intelligence score to remember. I reached the bottom, closed it, and moved on to the next one.

Too slow, I thought as I read the thirty-four page document in a few seconds. Light rose around me, the White Tiger of the West taking form. I opened another file, hit the bottom in a second flat, and opened the next, again and again and again. With my massively boosted speed and the processing capacity of my Clairvoyance, I could read the words as fast as the computer could render them, taking in everything I saw.

Phrases stood out like 'response from the government,' 'the alternatives,' 'long-term effects,' 'market crash,' 'negotiations,' 'more efficient methods,' 'regulations'…

But in the end, it all came back to the same thing.

'Dwindling supply.'

'Estimated decline.'

'Running out.'

This was inevitable, a disturbingly calm part of me thought. Nonrenewable resources, by their very definition, ran out. With the tiny landmass Humanity was forced to inhabit, it was a miracle that we hadn't run out already, that we'd even been located near a large supply in the first place. The Grimm covered the vast majority of the planet; naturally, they cut us off from most of its resources in the process. We all knew this was coming, really, had heard about the idea.

But…

"It's about Dust," I said calmly, still reading rapidly as windows flashed across the screen. I felt the strain of the White Tiger's draw on my power but didn't really care right now; I had enough for a while yet, and, ironic as it was considering what I was reading, I could restore it still. "The deposits the Kingdom's have access to are running out."

Raven went still at those words, mask turning towards me. I only saw her in the periphery of my vision, though, as focused as I was on the steady tide of windows. I took my hand away from the screen, guiding it instead with the fingers of my aura as I shifted through faster and faster.

"When?" Raven asked, her voice different again, quiet—maybe even strained?

I waited a moment before answering, closing windows to open new ones concerning estimates.

Nothing truly immediate, but…relatively soon. A few decades, optimistically."

"And…" Raven paused. I felt her breathing change through Levant and it was the only real method I had to gauge her reaction. "What are they doing to try and fix it?"

I shifted gears again, opening up records of experiments, designs, suggestions…there was even one concerning expansion.

"Attempts to obtain more deposits run into the problems you mentioned. Attempts to synthesize Dust…my, expensive to say the least." I continued, still breathing easily. I was calm and had been from the beginning, without even a blip in the emotional radar; I suspected that meant I'd been in shock before my power took over and now it was keeping anything else from getting to me. It didn't matter. "Alternative fuel sources…not enough land, not enough resources, not a good enough defense against the Grimm. Attempts to recycle…not very effective."

"And the Councils?" Raven said, something in her voice tight. "Do they know?"

I minimized the window I was currently on and searched the list. I'd really gotten the hang of the uninformative naming system, so it wasn't as hard to find what I was looking for.

"It would appear so," I said, pausing to ponder what I was looking at. "It seems they were notified very early on and there was a big meeting to discuss it."

"I…" She paused. "I don't remember anything like that."

"Well, there's a transcript," I said. "And a recording. I suspect…yes, they agreed to keep it quiet to avoid starting a panic. Reducing Dust expenditures…ah, so that's why those laws were made. But they decided not to reduce it below a certain point, citing Graph C…whoever made these Appendixes did a very poor job labeling things, but it must be this one. They believed that if people were aware that Dust supplies were dwindling, the resulting panic might draw the Grimm, who would cause more panic—"

"So instead they do nothing," Raven snarled and I actually turned to her, literally feeling the hostility flowing off of her. "They see our time is running out and they just watch it slip by—and send people to die. Why am I not surprised? "

Using my magical powers and keen sense of observation, I sensed that she was upset. Indeed, that she might even carry some ill will towards the council. Nonetheless, I just turned back to the computer when she didn't attack me, going back to skimming files in silence as if I hadn't interrupted. Even if I hadn't been able to see her emotions flowing into her Aura in a furious, vibrant display, I'd still have hesitated to speak to her right now, seething as she was.

It made me wonder, though. The way she sounded, how she'd reacted to the news…as she said, she didn't sound surprised. As if…

Again, I wondered about Raven—about what could have made an apparently famous Huntress join the White Fang. What she might have seen, what she might know, and now, how it might relate to the Council…I never would have considered any of these things a few months ago, would never even have thought about it, but seeing her and seeing this…I was unsure and yet, intrigued.

Granted, I'd probably have been a lot more intrigued if I wasn't still reeling from the revelation—as much as the Gamer's Mind allowed, at least. Maybe that was why I didn't say anything, I…well, I really wasn't sure what to say, honestly. Not to her, not about…any of this. I mean…Dust was running out.

Dust was running out. In the foreseeable future. In a time frame I would be around for.

That was…it was hard to even truly grasp the immensity of such a thing. We still had some time, but…we used Dust for everything. It was what had allowed us to…well, not thrive perhaps, but grow far beyond what we'd once been limited to. If it ran out, though, that'd mean…God, I didn't even know where to begin. The infrastructure that supported our cities would fail eventually, of course, but what about society? How long until it began to break down under the fact that it couldn't support itself anymore? And when that happened, what…

What were we even going to do? We meaning…damn it, I wasn't even sure who we meant, because this would send things to hell for everyone. The Hunters maybe? The loss of Dust rounds would take a heavy toll on them in the long run, I was sure, as it stripped away both convenience and safety, but when the nations started to fail, too…

There would be fighting, I was sure. Natural resources didn't tend to be distributed evenly and Dust was no different; some Kingdoms would run out faster than others. Would we stand together as we did in times of peace, supporting one another? Or would nations draw away, clinging to their own reserves to try and last a little bit longer? If so, I was certain there'd be a reaction of some kind; it was bizarrely funny to even think about since if ever there was a situation where we couldn't afford to be fighting amongst ourselves, it'd be this one, but…

Would this mean war? As fears rose and things worsened, would the Hunters be called upon to fight each other?

Or maybe I was worrying over nothing. Maybe we'd stand together even in our darkest hour, the terrors at our door binding us even closer as we stood against it. I liked that thought a lot better…but if our defenses failed, if our resources ran out, if fear and panic spread through the kingdoms because we all knew what was coming…would it be enough to make a difference? Or would we just die together instead of dying separately? Or maybe…

So yeah, a part of me was curious now, about what the Council might know and might be keeping from the public. What type of things had been happening while all of us were completely unaware? Did that have something to do with why Raven stopped being a Huntress? All interesting questions.

But it probably wasn't the time to ask and I was struggling to care too much about the answers right now. Maybe later, I'd want to know, but for now I just wanted…needed to think, to take this all in and try to find…something. A way out? A way through? I didn't know, but I had to find it.

And really thinking about it, I didn't even care too much about the fact that I'd been lied to. Maybe it was because of my power, but I didn't feel all that outraged. I could understand Raven's feelings, certainly, understand why countless others would undoubtedly be enraged by the fact and maybe even agree with some of it—but I thought they were probably right about a lot of things. If they'd heard the news, people would panic and that panic would spread until we were a beacon to every Grimm on the continent. All telling everyone would do is make things worse and hasten the fall. No, better to keep things quiet, amongst experts and professionals who could pursue actual solutions without making things worse in the process. That there was the potential for things to go so wrong just made it all the more important that cooler heads prevail.

Granted, I don't know where that put them morally speaking, considering that they were basically keeping it a secret that we were all probably going to die—but I understood it. Even agreed somewhat. The solutions they'd been looking into, on ways to improve efficiency, find alternatives, access new sources, and even attempts to create Dust…they'd made sense, even if they hadn't yielded the results they'd hoped for. I thought they were probably going about this as well as they could, under the circumstances. It was a pity these files were so outdated; perhaps something new had come to light, something I could look into. Or perhaps finding that would be the next step, but how—

"What happens?" Raven asked suddenly, voice cutting through my thoughts. "What happens when it all comes crashing down?"

I blinked beneath my mask, thoughts taking a moment to jump tracks. I very nearly asked what she meant before hesitating; it was obvious enough, I guess.

"I suppose it depends on how it falls," I mused at last, speaking slowly as I continued to sound things out. "If the Kingdoms manage to stay together, there's at least the possibility of prolonging the inevitable. It's possible that we could find other places to settle; somewhere both near great supplies of Dust and shielded from the Grimm by natural barriers, where the cycle could continue. There must be at least a few places like that on Remnant, it's just a matter of finding them and surviving such a massive journey with the amount of fear such a trip would generate among the people. If so, that'd push back the end by a hundred years or so. And who knows, if the Kingdom's support one another, perhaps a solution might be found in that time. It would require a great deal of trust, of people holding it together during emergencies, and would cost countless lives to make such a trip and rebuild, but I wouldn't say it was impossible."

For a moment, she was silent, breath steadying as her earlier outburst faded away completely and the mask came back on. Several seconds after I finished, she nodded once, taking that in.

"And assuming that extremely unlikely scenario doesn't happen?"

I was silent for a moment, mulling the question over before giving my answer.

"It's likely that many Hunters would survive," I said at last. "Travelling individually or in small groups, it shouldn't be difficult to fight off most Grimm and avoid the rest. At the same time, those with power, experience, and training are less likely to react with the type of mindset that would draw in the Grimm. Many would still die, whether because of the resulting dangers or because they lost enough that their grief overcame their training or simply because of the lack of infrastructure, but many would survive. Some of them might even be able to support small groups of people in the aftermath and lead them somewhere relatively safe. Given time, they might find protected places and eventually build civilization anew."

"You think that's possible?" She asked.

"It may well have happened before," I replied. "Many civilizations have fallen throughout history, yet others have grown elsewhere."

She nodded again, taking a deep breath.

"And everyone else?" She asked, apparently under the strange belief that I was an authority on such things. "What will they do?"

"Die, I guess." I said, suppressing a sigh. That answer was obvious enough that I wasn't even sure why she asked. A part of me wanted to hesitate before the delivery, to call it something else, but…we both knew the truth. We both knew what was at stake. There was no point in hiding it.

Her response surprised me, though.

"No," She said. "I won't let that happen. There has to be a way."

I looked at her, eyebrows rising beneath the Goliath's mask. I hadn't expected those words from her and having heard them, I…well, I wasn't sure how to process them. Maybe I shouldn't have been—I suppose we were all the heroes of our own stories, but…it really made me wonder what could possibly be driving her, if that was her mindset. A Huntress, a terrorist, and apparently someone who wanted to be a hero…it seemed contradictory, almost.

Of course, I was all of those things, too. Maybe that's why I considered her quietly for a moment and then…decided to take a chance. Maybe it was foolish, but…

"Perhaps," I said. "You may have heard that my talk with Jeanne Roma and Cynosarges Alexandria went well. What you may not have heard was why. We found something…perhaps something you could help us with."

She looked at me then and I knew I had her attention—but I still needed to do this carefully, juggling my secrets.

"Some information has come to light recently," I continued. "A…manuscript, of sorts, written in Babel."

"Then it's useless to us," She said. "No one can read Babel."

"I wouldn't…quite say that," I replied and from the way she went still, I figured her eyes must have been wide under that mask. "I wouldn't call myself fluent by any means, but I believe I can understand the gist of it. Enough, perhaps, to find some clues."

Or, at least, that was the hope. With my Observe, it should be possible—it had worked with Naraka, at least. Although that had been a skill book, the fact remained that it had told me the basics even though I didn't understand the language. If I could improve my Observe or practice on something…and if, in the long run, I could get a skill from it…

At the very least, it wasn't impossible—not even implausible, really. And if we had Raven's help…

"Already, Jeanne Roma has expressed great interest in unveiling Babel's mysteries," I continued. "As we speak, she is gathering everything she can get her hands on. With your help, however, perhaps we might find something more quickly. At the very least, I'm certain she would be glad to deepen our alliance, in return for your aid—with her ties to the Mistral Council, she must already be aware of what is coming. Perhaps that was even why she took me up on my offer so readily. But with our power and the backing of Mistral's Families…"

I left the thought hanging in the air, smiling at her beneath my mask.

"And what did you find that interested her so?" She asked after a moment of silence.

And here comes the true risk, I thought. But…nothing ventured, nothing gained. With this, I knew she'd be interested; if she felt as strongly about this as she seemed to, I'd make an unspeakable powerful ally out of what had been a deadly threat. And in the face of this problem, of what the whole world was facing…it was worth the risk.

"This," I said, quickly draining several Dust crystals I drew from my Inventory before snapping my fingers once. "It's called 'Naraka.'"

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Friend Request

As the world shifted around us, Raven tensed suddenly. I couldn't blame her, even if I wasn't entirely certain what made her react that way—Naraka was an eerie place. The thousands upon thousands of sounds that people took for granted—distant voices, sounds of motion, all the signs that we weren't alone in an empty world, however fait—just vanished the instant we crossed between worlds, fading in the blink of an eye.

Because we were alone and the world was empty. Or at least, we would be for a few seconds, until those sounds returned—though what that return signified wouldn't be much better, honestly. Then we'd just be surrounded on all sides in an endlessly hostile world, instead.

"Where are we?" She asked, a sudden edge to her tone. It wasn't fear, though; it was almost…

"Didn't I just tell you, Raven?" I replied. "We are in Naraka—a dimensional space crafted by a barrier technique that we believe to have originated in Babel. It's a very interesting technique, layering an empty copy of the world over reality in such a way that they are at once separated and intertwined. But perhaps what is most interesting about it is what occurs within the space created."

Raven's mask turned and I felt her attention leave me like I was shrugging off a great weight. I could imagine what she was doing, using her power to sift through the world around us, to see the empty world as she searched for what I spoke of. It wouldn't take her long to find them, I was sure.

I saw her stiffen again and assume she'd seen it.

"The Grimm," She confirmed. "This place…it's creating Grimm."

"Yes," I replied. "Within this space, they will spawn without end—it's a breeding ground for monsters. At present, it creates only Beowolves, but given time I feel that will change. Already, you can see it somewhat, can you not? They've gotten larger since my first barrier, growing spines of bones and showing other signs of growth. I think they may be getting smarter, as well, since I've seen them work together better than before…I can interfere with the process, keep them weaker, but left alone this skill will make stronger and stronger Grimm as it improves."

"Why would anyone create such a thing?" Raven whispered. "A world that's desolate but for monsters, with enough of civilization left behind to show how empty it truly is. What were they trying to do?"

"Probably not this," I said, drawing her attention back to me. "It's strange and I admit I don't understand most of it—but as someone who learned to use this technique, I'm all but certain this is something they didn't plan for. The manuscript I learned this from painted a very different picture for what this technique would create, something…it's hard to even put into words, truly. I was lucky I understood enough to mimic the procedure, but much of the science behind it is still lost on me. And there was a science to this, I can assure you of that, just as I can tell you that this barrier feelswrong, as though something is making it behave erratically."

"What?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, I'm afraid," I answered. "There's too much I don't understand for me to even begin to say I know what's actually going on. And yet, I'm sure the possibilities are not lost on you."

"They created the Grimm," She replied. "That's what you're saying, isn't it?"

I hummed considering.

"Created," I said. "Summoned. Discovered. Perhaps were even discovered by. There's no way of really knowing and too many possibilities to count. Whatever the case, it's obvious they were tied to them somehow and it's likely they knew a great deal more about the Grimm then we do—possibly even where they came from. But if we can learn what they knew…"

There was the sound of claws scraping away at steel, a ground at the door to the server room that drew both of our attentions. It was soon followed by more noises as the Grimm outside began to mass at our doorstep and try to force their way inside.

I called upon Suryasta's power silently and watched them burn before turning to face Raven once more.

"There's a possibility," I continued. "A chance, even, that this might be what we're looking for—what all of us have been looking for, for as long as we can remember. Even if the odds might seem slim, if we can learn more about what led to the Grimm or figure out what is causing the problem…it's possible we might also be able to find a solution. We might be able to end this conflict, once and for all."

"End it," She said in a tone I recognize and understood completely. She said the words slowly, sounding them out like she could believe they were really, much less that they represented something possible—and yet, as if they were fascinating beyond measure. "Do you honestly believe that's possible?"

"I don't think it's impossible," I said. "In my eyes, that makes it worth trying. For all the people who have died…this world has lost too much for us not to try now. Will you help me?"

She was silent for a long minute, watching silently as more Grimm amassed. Or perhaps she wasn't. Perhaps it was the world she was looking at—a world barren of life, of Humans and Faunus alike, left empty of anything but the hunger of the Grimm. Perhaps she was looking at what awaited if we couldn't stop the Grimm. Not today, perhaps, maybe not even for a hundred or a thousand years, but some day in the future when our last hopes ran out and there was nowhere left to run and the last of us left this World with nothing but desolate ruins as sign of our passing.

"Yes," She finally answered. "I will help you. Even if it's just a tiny hope…"

"The difference between zero and one is as large as between one and infinity," I answered. "So this is far, far better than nothing, yes."

"Then what do we do next, Jian?" She asked, still looking away from me.

"Well, first…" I snapped my fingers and the dimension around us shattered, leaving us back in normal reality. "Let's finish up here, shall we?"

She looked at the computer screen and the information upon it, nodding once.

"I'll get a flash drive—"

I held one up, drawn from my Inventory. She looked at me for a moment, either surprised or annoyed, but nodded as I plugged it in and began copying files.

"Now then," I said, righting myself as the load bar began making progress. "We'll need to contact Mrs. Roma soon. Once we have her on our side, we'll have everything we need to truly begin. I don't foresee any problems on that front except one—her daughter. She seems to have been absent for quite some time. Do you happen to know what she's been up to?"

"Yes," She said. "She has not been harmed, merely…preoccupied. I wouldn't risk relations with the Families at this juncture, but I couldn't risk Ozpin interfering, either."

I chuckled.

"A wise decision. Still, there should be little need to worry about that now, I think," I answered. "Once the Roma family is on our side, the others will follow, so release her once we've finished negotiations. Her business trip will come to an end soon enough; until then we'll simply have her mother keep her out of our hair. We can afford to play nice and lay low until she's gone—though it had its uses, we don't need to rely on the festival any longer."

"Very well," Raven said. "Once our business has been completed, I'll send her back home."

"Wonderful," I replied, removing the flash drive after it finished its work. "We'll look over this, as well, and see what else we can find. With her connections, Mrs. Roma should be able to get us access to more recent files, as well. We'll have access to the copies of Babel within Alexandria's library soon and then it's simply a matter of examining the many ruins until we find something. I have no doubt that there's a record of known sites that Mrs. Roma can get us access to, but if that's not enough, we'll need to do some leg work."

"That's our next stop, then?" She murmured. "The Roma estate?"

"Yes," I said. "Although given your…history with her, it might be best if you allow me to speak to her first, however."

Raven grunted, probably remembering the incidents my grandmother had mentioned.

"Fine," She said, turning as shades of red and black gathered before her. "Let's go, then. It won't be too long before someone notices the guard upstairs. If we have what we need, there's no point in staying her any longer. Unless there's anything else…?"

I cleared the computer and put everything back in order before nodding at her and moving to her side. I raised my hand to stop her when she moved to go, however.

"One last thing," I said. "We should discuss who to tell."

She was silent for a moment, head tilting down.

"You know we can't tell everyone," I added after a moment of silence. "Even with your opinion of the Council, you know they did the right thing on that front; this situation will not be improved by thousands of panicked or outraged people. More than that, I think we of all people know the importance of keeping secrets, don't we?"

"I had no intention of telling anyone," She said after a moment. "The more people who know, the greater the chance that word will get out. Once that happens…I know. It's just that the Council…"

She fell silent for a moment. I couldn't see her expression or where she was looking, but her Aura curled around her as she stood.

"I got so tired of being sent to fight or die just so someone else could say they'd won," She continued after a moment of silence. "Of being lied to and used and watching others fall around me for things it turned out didn't even matter. Of being used so—"

She cut herself off and went quiet. I looked at her for a moment, considering her words. I had no idea what events she was referring to, of course, but…

"And look at me now," She sounded bitter. "At the wonders I left it all behind to create. I saw what they did and I had to correct it—and once I learnt the truth, I could never stop, no matter how much was lost and how many died. And it was all for nothing, in the end. How pitiful; I really am exactly the same as them."

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, lifting a hand to remove my mask after a moment of hesitation. It felt a bit odd to do so, but it wasn't my face beneath it, anymore; I didn't need to hide who I was with masks or makeup or even Lenore's power any longer, thanks to my new title. I wore the mask because of its power, not any actual need. So…this was fine.

"I don't believe that's true," I said, facing her. "All those years of belief, all the lives that flocked to it, all the things we've done…I don't think it meant nothing. I won't allow it to mean nothing. We're going to save the world, Raven."

She took a breath, looking into my eyes. After a moment, she raised her hands to her own mask and slowly lifted it from her face, revealing a surprisingly young looking face and bright red eyes.

"When you say it like that, it sounds even more ridiculous," She said. "Let's just leave."

I chuckled again, brushing my hair from my eyes before nodding to her, replacing my mask and walking through the portal.

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Bargaining

We made a quick stop by the White Fang's base to let make copies of the information we'd gathered and to let things blow over in the city. Given how quickly everything had happened, my grandmother was probably still busy dealing with everything that was happening and there was probably a lot of fuss over what I'd done with Weiss, so we stayed put for a few hours and discussed a few things about our new mission—ways to contact one another, who to trust, what to tell the others, etc. After enough time had gone by to let things calm down a touch, Raven made a door and we went to have a talk.

The portal opened near the Roma estate, just out of sight of the property itself. I strode out of it confidently and let my awareness expand, flooding through the trees and across the carefully trimmed lawn. All around me, I felt life, nearly everywhere in the forest but much rarer in my grandmother's house—which made it easy to find what I was looking for using the largest signs as a reference point. I didn't sense Cynosarges anywhere in the house, but Hugo and Enzo stood watch by the front door of the house. In the southwest corner of the house, I ruffled Gou's ears with a carefully controlled breeze as he perked up in response to my presence, but the majority of my focus went to my grandmother in her office, where she was drumming her fingers quietly on the wood of her desk as she watched something on her scroll.

Without moving my lips, I spoke to her.

"I'm home, Grandmother," I whispered into her ear. She jerked in place once before tilting her head slightly as if to better listen to me, fingers stopping their motions instantly. She opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted her before she could begin. "And Raven's with me."

And just like that, she closed her mouth with a click. I saw her lips twitch once as if to say something anyway, but she understood what I was saying—that Raven could be watching as we spoke and that so long as she was here, we both need to be careful about what came out of our mouths.

Thankfully, I didn't need a mouth to speak. I could use Levant to form words and make sure I wasn't overheard, whispering into ears without so much as twitching. Even when I was walking right next to her, I could speak without giving anything away.

"There's a lot I need to tell you, but we'll have to talk fast; a lot of this probably isn't going to make much sense because of that, but I need you to bear with me. First of all, this is what's happened since we last saw each other—the White Fang found out that Weiss Schnee was being housed in Atlas, probably because some guard didn't understand the gravity of the situation. My power alerted me to what was going on just in time and I managed to reach her before anyone else did, but Raven was already spying on her. You can probably imagine how problematic that made things, but I managed to wing it with some help from Pathfinder and divert her attention. You see, Weiss's mother had given her a necklace before passing on and inside was a recorded message and a password that I managed to access because it turned out to be part of my quest and I convinced Raven it was more valuable than Weiss' life."

Because I was essentially speaking with my thoughts, I didn't have to stop for breath, but I paused for a moment to let that sink in before continuing.

"And, well…maybe it kind of was. You see, Weiss mother had recorded a lot of confidential information for her daughters. I haven't had time to go over it all and see everything inside of it, but…we know about Dust, Grandmother. We saw the Schnee company reports, the Council transcripts, the forecasts, everything. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about already, but just in case you don't…Dust is running out. I read enough to be sure of that, though the reports I saw were pretty old; you might have seen something more recently that said otherwise. As is, though, it was a pretty alarming discovery for both of us, but I like to think I handled it pretty well; I told Raven about what we discovered with Naraka and about our plans to learn as much as we can from Babel. I showed her Naraka to confirm it and she and I agreed to work together to find a solution. Now here's where things get tricky."

My Grandmother looked like she was getting a migraine listening to me talk, but there wasn't time to slow things down.

"She agreed to work with me and she believes I'm working with you, so you and I need to start working together right now. I'm at the edge of your property, disguised as Jian Bing, and as far as Raven is concerned, we're close allies. I'm supposed to go up and make sure there are no problems between you and Raven, but odds are good that she'll be watching us the whole time and we only have a short time to make up…everything. If there's anything you need to tell me or need to know, say so while you have the chance because I need to come up now."

My grandmother took a deep breath.

"We need to stop letting you wander off alone," She said before going silent for a moment before growling something to herself. "Okay. Okay. We don't have a lot of time, but we can handle this. I'm…as ready as I'll ever be; I suppose I'll follow your lead since you know what's happening. Just…"

She exhaled slowly, shaking her head. I understood anyway.

I lifted a hand, back in my body beside Raven.

"Wait here," I said. "It'll only take a minute."

Raven looked up at my grandmother's house, face masked once more. She was silent as I kept walking, not saying a word until I was almost out of sight.

"Be careful with her," She whispered, apparently just taking it for granted that I could here. Which I could, in fairness. "There's a reason so many people are afraid of the big, bad wolf. Watch your back."

"There seems little point in that when I have you to watch it for me," I replied, speaking into her ear. She didn't react, at least not that I could see, but felt the weight of her attention settle about me and left her with a chuckle.

I checked the area quickly to make sure the coast was clear before walking up to the front door like I owned the place. I gave Hugo and Enzo a glance and they open the door without a word, letting me in. Inside…I knew it was just my imagination, but the mansion seemed different now. Maybe it was just that I was usually with others while here, but I don't think that was it. Whatever it was though, walking through it now…there sure were a lot of rooms for a house that was so empty. As I walked, muffling my footsteps with Levant, it was almost like I was inside Naraka again.

And then I reached my grandmother's office.

"Come in," She said as I knocked and I slid the door open silently as I slipped through. My grandmother glanced up from what she was writing, flickering up to my face as she put her pen down. "Jian. I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Neither did I, Jeanne," I replied, leaning against the chair in front of her desk. "But something came up. I take it you're already aware of some of it?"

"Of course," She answered. "There was quite a stir over what you did to the Schnee Heiress and I got drawn into it; it's all over the news now. I assume there was a point to that?"

"Naturally," I said, lifting the flash drive and making a show of looking at it. "Did you know that the late Mrs. Schnee left a message behind for her children?"

She watched me silently for a moment, thumb brushing against the pen that now laid flat on her desk, as if ready to snatch it up and stab somebody at a moment's notice.

"No," She said at last. "What type of message was it, to interest you so much?"

"Oh, it was quite interesting. It was a key, of sorts—to something the Schnee Dust Company has hidden for a long, long time." I tossed the flash drive into the air absently before catching it once more, masked face turning towards my grandmother. "Of course, you probably already know, don't you Jeanne? About Dust."

She watched me warily for a moment, silent and still—until I chuckled quietly.

"It's okay," I smiled. "I'm not mad. I'm surprised you'd keep such a thing hidden from me, but no matter—I have good news!"

"Is that so?" My grandmother murmured, drumming her fingers again.

"It is," I insisted. "A friend has decided to join us in our efforts."

"'A friend,'" She repeated, brow furrowing slightly as if surprised I had any. "Anyone I know?"

"Actually, yes," I answered. "I believe you're familiar with Raven Branwen?"

My grandmother went still, eyes intent on my face.

"We've met," She said.

"Good, good," I clapped softly. "Then I take it her involvement won't be an issue? You brought Cynosarges in on this matter, so it seemed only fair."

She continued to watch me for a long moment before giving a slight—microscopic, really—nod.

"Very well," She said. "If you vouch for her."

"I do," I answered with a smile. "Raven?"

A portal swirled to life behind me but I steadfastly refused to turn and look at it. As such, I saw the very real tension go into my grandmother when Raven entered. Everything up until now may have been an act, but the way she reacted to this…there was no doubt about it. She was honestly worried. Maybe even afraid. But was it for herself? Or for me?

"Now, I know you two have had your differences," I continued. "But I'm glad you're both able to put them aside in the face of necessity. Raven here even went out of her way to find your daughter, Jeanne, and volunteered to see her safely home."

"As soon as we're done here," Raven murmured, just a step behind me, eyes focused intently on my grandmother—just as my grandmother's were focused on her.

I spread a hand, smiling beneath my mask as I finally took a seat, relaxed amidst the tension.

"Then let's finish quickly," I said, gesturing graciously. "Since she must be worried. Raven has offered her aid in our search for Babel—and with her help, I foresee us accomplishing a great deal. After we're done searching through the library's records, it may become necessary to search the ruins themselves; if you would be so kind as to compile a list of known locations, that will give us a good starting point. That won't be a problem, will it?"

My grandmother's eyes went from me to Raven and back again before she shook her head slowly.

"No," She said. "It won't be an issue. I take it that what we discussed concerning the White Fang remains true?"

"Of course." I smiled. "I simply wanted to make you aware of recent developments—I believe in the value of communication, you see. I'll be going then—unless you need anything?"

"No," She said quietly. "We can always talk later, after all."

"Until then," I rose, bowing ever so slightly. "Goodbye, Jeanne."

Levant, standing invisibly behind her, leaned forward ever so slightly and whispered into her ear.

"I'll be home soon, Grandmother, and I'll make sure mom gets back safely, too. I'm sorry for all of this." She said in my voice, the words not carrying past my grandmother's ears. She didn't react to them, though, simply watching me as I followed Raven back through her portal.

"Until then," She said as the door closed behind us.

XxXXxX

The rest of the day passed quickly. The simple fact of the matter was that there just wasn't a lot we could do until we had more information. Once my grandmother had finished arranging things, we'd be able to start checking things out, but for now all that was left was to finish sketching out the basics—we'd talked a bit about who else to involve, agreed to keep things quiet for now, and then pretty much decided to go our separate ways after giving each other a few ways to contact one another. Raven left through her portal and I through Naraka and that had pretty much been that. My quest, 'The Dogs of Mistral,' had declared itself complete and I'd received my received my reward, for what little it amounted to after all the levels I'd gained in the course of the mission itself.

That was fine, though. I was pretty used to the fact that doing quests wasn't the best way to grind—and that hadn't been the point to begin with. No, compared to everything else that had happened, to everything I learned, it was almost unimportant. I was…honestly, I still wasn't sure how I felt about everything that had happened, but I supposed I was content enough with the results. Rather than 'grinding,' I felt like I'd made 'progress.'

There was only one thing left to do, which was why I was here. I waited in front of my grandmother's house, sitting on the steps beneath the night sky with Gou and Autumn at my side. Hugo and Enzo stayed nearby, though they went into the house as night began to fall—I wasn't sure if they stayed here full time or if they switched off with someone else eventually, but whenever I checked in on them, they were awake and on guard. My grandmother was still in her office, though I noticed her looking out the window frequently—we'd spoken briefly upon my return, but when I'd asked to delay things for a while, she'd conceded, understanding what I was requesting from her. I wasn't really worried about what she'd say when we finally did talk, given that we'd both had to do our best with what we'd been given, but I'd put her in an awkward position and I understood that. Really, though, I didn't think she was too upset with the results; she might give me a mild scolding over a few things, but all told, it probably wasn't anything to get too worried about.

And even if that wasn't the case, this was more important. I believed Raven, but that didn't change the fact that I needed to be here to see it.

The sun had nearly set when my mother came home. Her clothes were dirty, stained, and torn, as if she'd spent the last few days in the wilderness—and maybe she had. I could see Raven just opening a portal under her while she slept and dumping her off in the woods somewhere; getting rid of her problems by tossing them through a portal or something along those lines. I wasn't sure exactly what happened between them, wasn't sure I even wanted to ask, but…

It didn't really matter as long as she came back.

"Welcome home, Mom," I greeted, elbows on my knees. Gou reacted with enough excitement for the both of us, bouncing in place as internally puppy forces tried to pull him in every direction. I looked her over with quiet concern, checking her HP and MP as I made sure she was okay, but beyond looking roughed up and generally filthy, she seemed pretty much the same as when I'd last seen her—that is, except for one thing.

The Earth, My Anvil
LV89
Isabella Arc

She looked at me silently as she climbed the stairs, the expression on her face tired, but she didn't say a word until she was just a few steps below me.

"I guess I missed your match," She said at last, sighing as she leaned her forehead against the pommel of her sword. "I'm sorry, Jaune."

"It's okay," I shook my head. "In the end, I decided not to compete."

"Oh?" She asked, eyebrows furrowing as she looked me over.

I shrugged a shoulder absently as I rose and went to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. A few quick heals took the bite out of whatever exhaustion she must have felt—enough so that she began brushing herself off and frown at me like her thoughts were coming together.

"Something came up," I said, facing that consideration fully. "I think I've had enough excitement for one trip, anyway."

She raised a hand to my face as she looked me over, her eyes worried.

"What happened?"

I sighed.

"All sorts of things, Mom," I said, scratching my head with a finger. "Enough that…I don't even know, really. Thing were kind of a mess there for a bit and…I don't want to bother you when you just got back and haven't even eaten yet. You'll probably get a headache, like Grandmother did."

"I'm fine," She said, before frowning suddenly. "Where is she, anyway?"

I jerked my head back at one of the windows above us. I could feel her there, through my powers, watching her daughter's return without making a sound. After a moment, she let the curtains fall back into place and returned to her desk silently.

"She wanted to speak to you when you got back," I said. "Said she'd fill you in."

"Did she now?" Mom glanced up at the window and frowned slightly before shaking her head in annoyance. "She can wait. What happened to you, Jaune? Are you okay?"

"I'm the same as always," I smiled, absently checking to make sure there were no unwanted observers. "No need to worry about me. But…it feels mean to pile stuff onto you before you even walk through the door, but I guess its better for you to hear it from me then see it on the news or something. I won't ask you about your mission or what happened, but I take it you're aware that the White Fang's been active in Mistral

She looked at me with a complete and utter lack of surprise which I took as an 'of course.'

"Well…things got a little wild. I'm still not entirely sure about everything that happened and there were a lot of questions left unanswered when all was said and done, but I had to make an appearance when things got…well, when things started to get bad. I'm not sure how much you knew or how much is safe to tell you even now, but the White Fang found out that Weiss Schnee was in Mistral—"

I paused for a minute to look at her but she still didn't look surprised. That…answered a few questions and raised even more.

"—And I had to interfere," I continued. "In the process, though, I…well, we came across some really dangerous information."

My mother frowned at that, the concern in her eyes deepening.

"What kind of information?" She asked. "And what do you mean when you say it might not be safe?"

I looked at her silently for a moment, tilting my head before nodding as I came to a decision.

"I mean that I really don't know what some people might do if they somehow find out you know—but if you really want to, I'll tell you anyway," I said. "It's big, though. 'Internationally kept secret' big. The Councils—all of the Councils, unanimously—agreed to keep it hidden when they found out about it…and so did my partner in the White Fang, the Schnee Dust Company, and God knows who else. I don't know who all is aware of this, but…it's a list of really, really powerful people and with what's at stake, they might be willing to do some extreme things to keep it hidden."

"You're saying you shouldn't tell me," She stated.

I shrugged.

"I don't really know, honestly," I said. "But it's not really my place to decide what's best for you, is it Mom? That's why I'm letting you choose. It's not the type of secret that should be spread around easily, and it's not really a truth you'd be happy knowing, either. Whether you knowing would help matters, though…well, I'm not sure. But I trust you and I respect you, so I'll let you decide for yourself."

She looked me up and down slowly before closing her eyes.

"What did they get you wrapped up in, Jaune?" She murmured before leaning her forehead against mine. I noticed belatedly that I'd gotten taller than her at some point during the last few months. "I didn't mean for you to get involved in all this…"

I shrugged again.

"Its fine," I said, not wanting her to worry but fully aware that she would no matter what I did. "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

"It's not a matter of what you can and cannot handle," She said, opening her eyes to meet mine. "You've gotten even stronger while I was away, haven't you?"

"A little bit, I guess," I replied, smiling slightly. "Like I said, a lot happened."

She nodded slightly, the motion pushing my own head back.

"Did you manage to get your Wisdom over ninety?" She asked.

"Over a hundred," I answered. "I'm level forty-six now, Mom. I can even see your level now."

"Level forty—" She began incredulously before stopping herself. "I assume there's a story there, too, but we'll put there aside for the time being. But since you're so wise now, why don't I ask youfor advice? What do you think, Jaune? Should you tell me?"

I considered that for a moment before smiling at her.

"I don't think it makes a lot of difference either way, honestly," I told her. "I think you'll be worried, but everything will be okay—because I'll make sure of it. I just wanted you to know what's at stake before you got involved in this. If you really want to, though, it might not be a bad idea to speak to Grandmother or Ozpin."

"Or Ozpin," She repeated. "What does he have to do with this?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest, but we figure he probably knows or at least suspects," I snorted. "I talked to Grandmother about it and she said it might be a good idea to bring him in on things even if he doesn't, a least to a degree. So I guess I'll talk to him later? If you're not sure, I guess you could ask him if he thinks you should know."

Mom exhaled slowly, shaking her head as she looking up at the darkening sky.

"What a mess," She said. "This whole damn trip has been…"

She sighed again before looking back at me and giving me a slight smile.

"How about you let me get some sleep first and then decide, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded, returning her smile. "I'm glad you're okay, Mom."

"Me, too," She patted my cheek and let her shoulder's sag. "I should go talk to her now, I suppose. Get this over with."

It wasn't hard to guess what she meant, so I nodded and followed her as she walked back to the house. But…

"What do we do now?" I asked. "What with everything getting…"

I gestured vaguely.

"I'll need to talk to some people," She said. "Just to make sure of some stuff. I assume you'll want to say something to your friends, too, right?"

I nodded and she smiled up at the sky again.

"After we do that, though…these…these last few days in Mistral really helped me remember something. Something I…something I guess I let myself forget. Something simple but so important." She said before turning her head to look my way. "Why I fucking left. Let's go home, Jaune."

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Third Interlude – Blake Belladonna

"Amazing," One of them whispered, gathered around the TV. She didn't need to even look up from her book to know what they were talking about. After all, it was the only thing anyone was talking about lately. In the White Fang, on the news, even when she went into the city, it seemed like the only thing anyone thought worth discussing—the most recent attack by Jian Bing.

And yet, she couldn't help but listen as they continued.

"Coming to you live from the Penstemon where just earlier today, the White Fang terrorist going by the name 'Jian Bing' attacked the SDC heiress Weiss Schnee for the second time. Guards stationed throughout the building claim to have seen and heard nothing during the attack and it is still unknown how he entered or exited the building, as his presence was not noticed until a routine check found the heiress and her bodyguards unconscious in her room. What the White Fang leader intended to accomplish with this attack is unknown, but it is believed to be linked to a nearly assault on the Gaura building, which hosts and maintains servers for many companies, including the local branch of the SDC. It is suspected that the White Fang may have been after something in their files, but what remains a mystery. Heiress Weiss Schnee, now under guard in a local hospital, has refrained from commenting and now awaits the arrival of her father from Atlas. With countless questions and so little in the way of answers, we are left to wonder—what was Jian Bing after? How will the SDC respond to this attack? And, perhaps most frighteningly of all, what do these displays mean for the growing threat of the White Fang?"

"Got in without any of them noticing," One of the masked Faunus watching whispered with a grin. "I heard half the guards got fired, right of the bat."

"How do you think he got in?" Another wondered. "I heard some of the big guys saying they were going to attack the building, but he was already inside when they found out the Schnee were in town."

"I heard the Rats saying he's been working with the boss lady lately," A third mentioned. "And I heard she made some kind of portal a few days ago. Maybe she…?"

"Couldn't be. I was there for that and while she made a portal, I didn't really get the idea that they friend, you know? I thought they were going to fight for a minute there."

"Yeah, but you're stupid," The first speaker snorted. "They're obviously close, given their ranks. Hell, I heard they spent most of the day working together downstairs and no one's seen them leave yet."

"It's been, like, eight hours," The second sound incredulous. "They can't still be down there. What would they even be doing?"

"I know what I would be doing down there—"

"Oh, shut up, Denim," The first rolled his eyes. "Anyway, does it matter how he got in? I mean, this is the guy who stole the White Whale. He wanted in, he got in, the end. What I want to know is what he took from the servers?"

"Do we even know if that was him?"

"No, it just happened to happen at nearly the same time." He snorted. "Come on, guys; there had to be a reason why he left the girl alive. He interrogated her and then broke into the servers to get what he needed."

"Interrogated?" The third speaker sounder skeptical. "And no one noticed? It's hard to interrogate someone quietly."

"She's a Schnee," The second snorted. "I bet all it took was a look and she sang like a songbird. I heard she fainted, too."

There was some snickering at that.

"What I don't get is why he left her alive, though. I mean, he got what he needed, obviously, so why let her go?"

"A message," One of them sounded sure. "He could have killed her any time he wanted and they wouldn't have even noticed until he was gone. Let them sleep on that."

"I guess, but I still say he should have just ended it. Scaring them is great and all, but would they have been less frightened if they walked in to find a corpse?"

"Maybe he was worried about what the SDC would do if their heiress died?"

"Um, hello? This is the guy who stole the White Whale in front of a thousand people, including the head of the SDC and two headmasters. Somehow, I don't think he gives a fuck. And hell, what are they going to do to us? Zack said that the negotiations with the Families went through because of Jian Bing," A Faunus with curling horns said. "Mistral's on our side, now, if not officially. The SDC can go suck a dick."

"Then…I don't know, maybe he was feeling merciful or something?"

"Wasn't the boss lady there, too? I'm pretty sure she was the one who eventually called everyone off, right?"

"Actually…yeah, she was. Then…no, there's definitely a reason they left he alive then. Maybe they still need her for something?"

"What?"

"How the fuck would I know?"

"Well…I guess it depends on what they took from her? So there's no really way to know…"

"…Actually…Doesn't Taurus work for both of them? Jian saved him at the White Whale thing and I thought he had some connection to the boss lady. You think maybe he knows?"

"Adam? Well, yeah, he probably knows—but that guy is, like, super busy. I'm surprised he has time to breath."

"And, um, we're probably talking about top secret information here, guys. Somehow, I don't think anyone who knows is going to go 'Oh, sure, let me tell you everything!'"

"It was just a thought, dude." He said before pausing. "You know, Adam's really busy, but we could always ask Blake. She's his student, right? Maybe she knows what's going on."

"She's probably busy, too. She's always around Adam, isn't she?"

"Um, she's right over there."

They all turned towards her at once.

"…So she is." One of them said. "Hey, Blake! Do you know what's going on?"

She thought about just ignoring them, for all that she'd been listening in up 'til now, but…

The truth was…

"No," She answered honestly. "No idea."

"…Oh," One of them said awkwardly—and it was at times like these that she wished she could just look above people's heads and know their names like Jaune, because she honestly didn't remember any of these people. "We just, uh…"

"I know," She answered, closing her book as she rose. "It's no problem."

"Uh, right." The speaker nodded, bat ears twitching. "You're going now, then? I didn't mean to make you…"

"It's not that," She lied. Though it probably wasn't what he thought, at least. "Things are getting busy again. Adam and I have a mission soon."

"Right," He looked relived. "Good luck on your mission! You two stay safe, okay?"

"We'll try," She shrugged and left, doing her best to ignore their conversation and the TV behind them.

Even though she was new to this base, she's memorized the various pathways quickly and it didn't take long to get where she was going. When she walked in, Adam was going through files again, so odds were they would have another mission soon. A part of her wanted to ask, both about it and what had happened, but for now she just went by him and took a seat, reopening her book.

It was easier that way, if no less worrying.

"Jaune wanted to say goodbye," Adam said after a moment, not looking up from his work. "He came by about an hour ago, but I didn't know where you were. Neither did he, so I take it you were in the city?"

"Yeah," She said quietly. "I…needed to clear my head. Was he okay?"

"Same as always," Adam snorted, but there was a slight smile on his face. "No point worrying about that guy. He's gotten really strong."

She nodded, looking away.

"Did he tell you what happened?"

"Just a little, to clear up some stuff. Mostly, he said to ask my teacher."

"Did you?"

"Not yet," He shrugged. "Those two…I guess they're both busy now."

"Maybe," She nodded before taking a deep, steadying breath. "What now?"

"Hm?" Adam looking at her for a moment before understanding. "Oh, just…the usual. We'll be heading back to Vytal soon—give it a week or two to make sure everything's okay here and we'll leave."

"Vale?" She asked. "Or Vacuo?"

"Either or," He said. "Things have died down some lately, so it shouldn't be an issue either way."

"Of course," She said shutting her eyes slowly as she rested her head against the back of her chair. "What are we going to do now?"

"I just told you—"

"The White Fang, I mean," She corrected. "What are we going to do next, Adam?"

He was silent for a long minute.

"Adam?"

"We'll keep going, Blake," He said, his tone sounding a bit tired for some reason. "Of course, we'll keep going. You know that."

And then it was her turn to be quiet. She considered what he was saying and knew what he meant and just…nodded.

It was true, after all.

"Yeah," She said. "Of course."

"Blake," He began to say before cutting himself off and just…stared at her for a moment. In the end, he left whatever it was unspoken and returned to his reports.

In the end, maybe it didn't matter. She'd already made her decision.

There was only one more thing to do.

XxXXxX

Several weeks passed before they returned to Vale. Maybe Adam had been avoiding it deliberately. Maybe they both had. Deep down, she wondered if he knew what was coming.

He probably did.

But that didn't make it any less inevitable. Eventually, duty called and they both answered, returning to the city of Vale. She didn't ask what the mission was and Adam didn't say, but when she said she was going to Tukson's Book Trade, he'd looked at her and they'd both known it was a lie. But he'd still nodded and she'd still left and soon she'd made her way to her destination.

It was a long time in coming, she thought. She was almost as frightened to end this as she was relieved for it to be over. But there was no turning back now.

She knocked.

"Be right there!" A voice cried from within the house and a moment later the door opened. Jaune Arc blinked at her, looking briefly surprised to see her at her doorstep before smiling. "Oh, hey Blake. Didn't expect to see you here. I tried to say goodbye in Mistral but I guess you were busy."

She nodded once and took a deep breath.

"I've decided to leave the White Fang," She said by way of greeting, making him blink again.

"Uh," He said. "Okay."

"Okay?" She questioned, not sure why she was even surprised by the blasé reaction.

"Well," He scratched his head and shrugged. "If that's what you want, it's your choice. I guess I'm not that surprised, either? I mean, things weren't really going the way you wanted and I…well, I didn't help much. Sorry."

"It's not your fault," She shook her head. "This was…"

She shook her head but smiled slightly. For all that she'd been dreading it, perhaps she'd known that it be like this and to get it over with…for the first time in years, she felt at ease.

Maybe he noticed that, because he smiled, too.

"Does Adam know yet?" He asked.

She took another deep breath and sigh.

"No," She admitted. "I didn't…I didn't know how to tell him."

"Goodbye usually works," He said and shrugged at her look, smile refusing to fade. "Hey, I'm not saying, I'm just saying. Still, that's not really what I meant. Does he know? That you want to leave?"

"He…yeah. I think so." She whispered before nodding. "Yes, he does."

"That's good, then," He mused. "He'll probably come by here soon, too. You want me to tell him anything for you?"

"He…he already knows everything important," She answered.

"Cool," He nodded. "You need me for something?"

"No, I just…I thought you deserved to know that I was leaving," She looked up at the morning sky. "After everything…"

"You didn't have to tell me anything, Blake," He replied, shaking his head. "It's your life, after all. There's no reason for you to do anything you hate."

"I know, it's just…" She trailed off. "I was the one who dragged you into all of this. I got you wrapped up in the White Fang and now it feels like I'm the one giving up after everything, when you…"

"'Dragged me into this,'" He repeated and then laughed a little under his breath. "Blake…you didn't make me do anything. Everything I did, I chose to do myself, so…it's okay, isn't it? Mistakes were made, there were some ups and downs, but…it was okay. You don't need to feel like you owe me anything."

"I never did take you on that hunting trip, actually," She said, smiling a bit herself when it made him chuckle.

"Well…" He glanced above her head contemplatively before shrugging again. "It's nothing that can't wait. How about I give you a rain check?"

"Sure," She said. "Just until everything gets sorted out."

He nodded.

"What are you going to do now, then?" He asked, smiling at me. "You going to go help the protests again or what?"

"I'm…" She paused for a moment before nodding firmly to herself. "I thought about it a lot and it wasn't easy to decide, but…I'm going to become a Huntress."

"Oh?" He said, eyebrows furrowing slightly as he frowned.

"I won't tell anyone about your secrets," She said, seeing his expression. "Just like I won't tell them anything about the White Fang. But I…after all that's happened, I need to…"

"It's not that; I understand completely. I was just thinking about something else, is all," He said, nodding again as his smile returned. "Maybe I'll see you around, then? Have you given any thought to where you want to go?"

"I was thinking here," She said. "In Vale where…well, where everything seemed to start. There are a few things I need to do and it'll take a few months to wrap everything up, but…This seems like a good place."

"Beacon, huh?" He said. "Cool. You know, I'm going to speak to the headmaster soon, anyway. Do you want me to put in a good word for you?"

She smiled at him again but shook her head.

"Thank you for the offer," She answered resolutely. "But no. I…I think I want to do this myself. And for myself."

He looked her over once and then leaned against the doorframe.

"Okay," He said. "If it's you, you shouldn't have any problems. I'll see you around then, Blake?"

"Yeah," She shut her eyes and looked up as the sky continued to lighten and the night truly came to an end. "I'll see you later, Jaune. Stay safe, okay?"

"Yeah. Good luck, Blake," He said as she began to walk away.

"Thank you," She answered back, pausing for a moment to glance over her shoulder. "For everything. Really."

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Practice Mode

I watched Blake go in silence, a little happy, a little worried. She'd seemed uncertain but also…content, maybe. I guess the whole White Fang thing must have been weighing her down for a long time, so leaving…maybe it was a relief for her. Even with everything that was happening with both the White Fang and Dust, I was happy about that, at least. I suppose there was nothing to do but wish her luck. I knew she wanted to help people, so becoming a Hunter was a good choice.

Even if…

I closed my eyes for a moment and sighed before looking down the street.

It had only been a few weeks since we left Mistral but despite the world-altering revelations, things went back to normal pretty easily. Or maybe it was just me; my downtime generally consisted of training around the clock, so there wasn't a lot of room for alteration there, except in what I trained—which, in this case, was mostly my new skills. I just came home and mostly slipped back into things as if nothing had happened and since the rest of the world didn't know about Dust…well, life went on. It was a little odd, actually, but mostly because it didn't bother me.

And it wasn't completely unchanged, of course. My grandmother sent me copies of the Babel texts she obtained and I pursued them as I got them. Most of them seemed to be dead ends, stuff like tomb markings for such and such or a calendar; that type of thing. Maybe if I'd actually been able to read it all, it would have been more useful, but with the small summary my Observe gaze, I didn't get much for it.

Still, it was a place to start and I'd begun to make a map, marking the locations each had been drawn from. Perhaps if I went there in person, I'd see more; if nothing else, the placement and dating of the relics might tell us something. If we could nail down even just when the Grimm began to show up in such markings, it'd be useful.

For now though, my grandmother was still gathering and organizing everything while Raven was doing her own thing. As such, there wasn't much to do but keep living my life, so Gou, Autumn, and I spent a lot of our time together training.

Not today, though. Today, both were out with Mom in the city.

I had something else planned.

"Who was that?" My dad asked, coming up behind me with a cup in his hands. Despite my expectations, he'd kept both the house and himself in order, though he may have just cleaned up after himself. He'd claimed to have had a blast while we were away, whatever that meant—I honestly wasn't sure if he'd give me a straight answer if I asked, which may have been just as well, because I also wasn't sure if I wanted to know.

"Oh, just a friend saying her goodbyes." I answered vaguely, turning to face him.

The Thunder, My Hammer
LV90
Jacques Arc

"Oh," He drew the word out. "Mysterious, aren't we? Might work better if you weren't trying it onme, kid. Let's see…was it Blake? Or was it Adam?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him, a tad surprised.

Then again, I suppose I didn't have many friends on this continent. Probably wasn't too hard to narrow down.

"Yeah," I answered. "It was Blake."

He clicked his tongue.

"I had that one; I shouldn't have hedged," He muttered to himself. "Is she doing okay?"

"Yeah," I mused, casting a glance back at the door. "I think she is. You can probably expect Adam to drop by, too, though…or maybe he'll just send me a message, I don't know. Well, either way is fine, I guess. You ready, Dad?"

He stretched one last time and shrugged.

"Of course," He said easily, lifting his massive hammer to rest it against a shoulder. His armor gleamed, simple steel against brown leather. Besides his armor and weapon, he wore a belt with various pouches and carried a large, sleek looking cylinder over his shoulder. "It's been awhile since you and I got to hang out together, Jaune. Time for some good, old-fashioned male-bonding."

"Whatever, Dad," I said with a smile. "We want to go out into the woods for this?"

"Why bother?" He asked. "We might as well just do it here."

I looked around and shrugged. I guess it really didn't make much difference.

A snap of my fingers and we were in Naraka. Thanks to a few weeks of steady practice and my boosted MP regeneration within my barrier techniques, I'd gotten it to the point that it was a little less merciless, cost-wise, so it only ate about half of my MP instead of nearly all of it. All told, not too bad, in my opinion.

"So, when should we—" I began before a sudden, monstrous impact slammed into my chest and threw me through the door, across the street, and into the Maple house. I knocked over the table and chairs as I flew into the kitchen and then dented the refrigerator before I stopped—a pretty light swing, all told.

"I always wanted to smash someone through that door," I heard my father muse as he casually walked to the doorway, resting an arm against the frame. "Opportunities don't come along as often as you might think."

I snorted as I rose, walking back into the street. My Elementals were already summoned, but they wouldn't participate much for now; they were establishing a perimeter of sorts, keeping the Grimm from getting involved. I'd call them if I needed them, but for now…

"So," I said, brushing myself off as I looked up at my father. "It's like that, is it?"

"Yeah," He replied. "It is like that."

"I see," I nodded. "Well, if that's what you want—"

The White Tiger of the West rose about me in a flash of white light and I Lunged at him from across street, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.

"Tag," I shouted, reaching for him. "You're it!"

"Yeah, no," He said at the same time, leaning his body lightly to the side as he took a step back—just enough so that instead if punching him in the face, my fist went just past his ear. Compared to the hundred meter dash I'd just done, he shifted a matter of centimeters, but it was enough to avoid the first blow and allow my momentum to carry me into his next swing.

I smiled widely, tails lashing out at either side of the doorway. They tore through the walls and doorframe like paper, curling around whatever they could to stop my forward advance, and though the force of my lunge meant they still tore through, it was enough to let me lean back and watch the swing go past my eyes.

The entire right side of the hallway shattered at my father's blow, but I paid it no heed as my tails reached out again, piercing through the floor to gain hold and pull me down. I landed on all fours, aura extending into feline limbs to make it comfortable, and threw myself towards my father again.

"Tag," I snarled, aiming a punch at his center of mass. The block shattered the floor beneath him as I pushed him back, sending us both into—and through—the kitchen wall. "Now you're it—"

His fist slammed into my face with enough force that the nearest window shattered and I was suddenly in the middle of the street again, face sliding across asphalt before I slammed into a tree and knocked it over, tearing roots and dirt alike from the ground. I rolled off the trunk and shook my head once as the pain faded, hearing my father's voice in the distance.

"Back to you, Jaune." I heard through the collapsing rubble and laughed a little before jumping across the street. This time, I took a different approach, tossing myself through the second story window and running as quietly as I could to what used to be Bianca's room, jumping to the ceiling, and then hurling myself through the floor to attack my father from above.

"Tag—" I shouted as I fell amidst the debris, ten limbs reaching—until a hand reached up to grasp my by the scruff of my neck and altered my fall to hurl me down into the basement. I bounced up like it was nothing, ripping through the floor behind my father. "Ta—"

This time it was his hammer that greeted me and I abruptly found myself about ten meters belowthe basement and had to take a moment to heal myself.

"The nail that stands up gets etcetera, etcetera." My dad said, jumping away as the kitchen floor finally gave out completely and fell on me. "You done warming up, Jaune? Getting kind of bored here."

I snorted and climbed out of my hole, shaking myself like a dog to get rid of the dirt.

"Just a sec, Dad!" I called back. "I didn't want to give you any sudden surprises, what with how old you're getting and all!"

"Very considerate, son," My dad answered back and I could hear the smile in his voice. "No need to worry about me. If I fall asleep, just wake me up if something interesting happens."

"Will do!" I smiled fiercely, palming a red crystal before slamming it against my chest. There was a sudden, fleeting feeling like I was burning, so intensely real that it nearly bowed me, but then I was rising into the house within a tiger made of pure flames. Everything I touched—everything I camenear—ignited, such that as I dove down the hall towards my father, the entire corridor was consumed. I saw his eyes widen but it didn't stop him from raising his hammer as I drew near.

Our eyes met and I smiled.

And then I unleashed the full power contained within the crystal and blew the house down.

This time, it was my father who went bouncing across the street, crashing through Mrs. Periwinkle's house and out the other end. I followed just a step behind, staying close as my Aura returned to normal—only to shift again as I drew out a blue crystal. There was a sudden feeling like I was submerged and drowning, but when it faded I was running in a tiger of water. Whatever space I passed through was filled with it in my wake, moving with all the speed I was. And with how fast I moved…that was a lot of water moving very, very fast.

And all of it was bearing down on my father who could do nothing but raise his hand against the oncoming tide.

"T—" I shouted—and abruptly stopped moving in midair as he curled his fingers.

I looked around and saw that the loose water had curled around my tiger form, shaping itself into a massive fist.

"Talk to the hand, son, because the face ain't listening," My dad said, pulling himself to his feet. He lifted his other hand and more water congealed into huge reflection of it. Without hesitating, he swung it at me, intent on smacking me away.

I faced it and snorted before leaning forward and swimming through the water fist holding me. The surface tension my father's will and water's incompressibility made like steel faltered when I set my mind against it, parting under the power of Dust. I didn't even feel the slap of his second hand as I swam through the suspended water and rushed for my father, shaping the water around me with only a little help from Xihai. In moments, I was swimming through a suspended stream, running as easily inside it as I did on the ground.

My father frowned at me and released his second hand, allowing the water composing it to collapse as rubble and shrapnel rose into the air in the shape of—

I frowned at my father, who was smiling brightly as he lifted a giant flyswatter.

Then he knocked me through several buildings again. Two wooden houses, specifically, and then through one of brick. My flight was stopped by a tree again, though this one I snapped in half before rolling to a halt.

I shook my head and brushed the pain away as I heard the sound of rampant destruction in my father's general direction and looked up to find him standing on a platform of broken wood, water, and stone, the pieces coming together in the shape of a misshapen throne as he took a seat. Above and around him, what I was guessing was several houses worth of debris were in the process of reshaping themselves into dozens of different forms.

Putting an elbow on an armrest, my father rested a cheek against his fist and smiled down at me. His other hand was making slight circular motions as a roughly spherical shape composed mostly of metal put itself together above his fingers. And then, something began to rise around my father's throne in carefully controlled streams. It was almost like mist except colored like—

I traced it back to the cylinder my father had removed from his back, which was all but spewing the many-colored mist.

Fuck.

"Just so you know, if you're gonna use Dust, I'm gonna use Dust," My father said as the powder flowed into the sphere and it completed itself before dropping into his hand. He flung it at me like a ball even as I went to dodge, but there was a sudden wave of…something as it abruptly exploded. It wasn't pressure or light or even anything in the way of heat, just an odd sensation like hot water cooling on my skin.

And then, all of a sudden, my dad's production began to accelerate, putting together objects with blinding speed as if time was moving faster around him.

No, I thought. That wasn't right.

It was just that time had been slowed around me.

It was hard to describe how it felt. For me, time didn't appear to be passing any differently within the sphere my father's bomb had created—but I could feel the world outside it, still, thanks to my Elementals. And the sudden flood of information, the hastened motions of the wind, everything…it made me sure that I was the one moving slowly.

I wasn't entirely certain how that worked, exactly. I mean, I knew about my father's Semblance, of course, and how it lent itself well to the construction of complex things—I wasn't sure if that was apart of the Semblance or a natural expression of it, but I'd heard enough stories to be aware either way. I even knew about my father's skill with machinery and explosives and his…well, history using them.

But I'd never considered that he'd be able to make a literal time bomb.

Maybe I should have, in hindsight. My father's ability fell under the broad category of telekinesis, except that it only applied, at its most basic level, to small things—but the limit was 'size' not 'amount,' so it was possible for him to control many, many, many small things, which could add up to something very large that he could control piecemeal. When my sisters and I had been younger, our whole family would take trips to the beach and dad would always build massive and elaborate sand castles for us to play on, which he'd support and rearrange with his Semblance, so I knew how skilled he was in controlling particulate matter, too.

So of course he'd be able to use it to manipulate Dust powder, as well. Given the type of things he needed to fight on a regular basis, what else would he make bombs with? And if he could control the precise quantity and mixture of many different kinds of Dust and arrange it just right—and obviously he could—then the only limits were the amount and type of Dust he had available and his imagination.

And with the powder form being by far the cheapest and easiest to use type of Dust…

I smiled widely. I guess this was to be expected, from my father—he didn't get where he was today because of luck.

I continued my rush towards the wall of the sphere, flying towards it with all my speed—but it flickered out of existence before I even touched it. From my perspective, it had lasted less than a second.

But given that my father had already completed his work, I was guessing at least a minute or two had passed from the perspective of the rest of reality. Using either his Semblance or his sheer raw power, my father had torn apart most of the neighborhood, ripping buildings to shreds to provide himself with more materials. What hadn't already been put to use flew in cloaking clouds around him, hiding whatever else he must have been making. Dust and smoke, splinters and pebbles, all of it was carefully arranged or else being put to use building larger and larger things. Without my mom's support, the creations were rather rough looking and incomplete, but…

Well, the bombs floating around me looked no less dangerous for the fact that they looked like they could go off at any second. In fact, the knowledge that it was only my father's will keeping them from going off made them seem all the more worrisome.

"You want to give up, kid?" My father drawled, playing tick-tack-toe against himself on a board he'd formed out of smoke, still reclining in his seat.

"Why would I do that?" I asked sincerely. "I'm having so much fun."

He smiled at that, tilting his head my way in acknowledgement.

"Don't hurt yourself, now," He told me before the bombs moved, one darting towards me as the others flashed away. I leapt away from it but it swerved in mid-air to keep on my tail—he was probably controlling it with the dust caked on its surface. Or perhaps the Dust within it? Well, whatever he was using, he could make them do what he wanted. Even so, I was still faster, but he had to realize that so—

The bomb chasing me activated and there was a sudden—and somewhat familiar—pull as gravity shifted, dragging me backwards as it didn't so much explode as draw in. For an instant, I was able to see a purple-black sphere about the size of my fist, before it was concealed by the flood of junk towards it. Things too large for my father to control and not useful enough for him to break lifted into the air, flattening and warping around the sphere. Branches and chunks of walls, what was left of cars once my father had taken everything of value, and more flew towards it and were crushed into layers around it.

I planted my hands and feet on the air I stood upon, trying to solidify it into a firmer defense against the suction, but it slipped through my fingers as I was drawn back. I collided with the growing sphere and tried to rise against its pull, only to be smashed flat by about half a truck, followed by most of a roof, and then a brick wall. I pushed against it, resisting the enormous gravity with my massively enhanced strength, but more and more detritus settled into layers upon me—

And then, as suddenly as it had started, the effect came to an end. The gravity vanished and the sphere fell from the sky with an enormous sound as normal gravity resumed and the weight of the massive shape shifted as it crashed to Earth.

I began tearing myself out of with prison the moment I was free to act, shredding the now immobile junk I was trapped under as I crawled out of the sphere—and honestly, I really wasn't all that surprised to find that a bomb was waiting for me when I got there.

I sighed and was then flung high into the air on a sudden wave of heat and light. I tried to gain control of myself, to halt my unwanted flight, but just as I was about to, another bomb found itself beneath me and exploded, ruining my efforts as it tossed me away—right into another bomb. And then another. And then another.

It took me a moment to realize my father was juggling me with explosives.

Screw it, I thought, and reached out with my will as the next bomb approached—and exploded quite a ways away from me. But though the explosion hurled me away again, I stopped in midair almost instantly and then the other bombs began to explode, bursting one by one as flames ignited the Dust within.

I turned towards my father, held in the air by Levant's arms. To either side of me stood Suryasta and Vulturnus, eyes focused on my chosen target as I lifted a hand to eye level and slipped my Goliath mask out of my Inventory. Donning the garment, I felt my power grow—both inside and out.

"Boys," I said. "If you would?"

Lances of fire and lightning flashed across the sky towards my father's throne, enough destructive power in each to erase a house—

And they fizzled out as my father focused on them.

"Having problems there, son?" My father asked, making circling motions with a finger. "It feels like that was supposed to do something."

I frowned beneath my mask, looking at him and the gestures he was making.

Ah, I thought with a bit of chagrin as realization dawned. Of course; he was manipulating air molecules. That was another thing I should have considered, even if I'd never seen him do it before. In the end, it was still just tiny matter, but I hadn't…

"I'm just having an off day," I said at last, glancing at both of my Elementals, who looked somewhat annoyed. "Don't worry about it."

"If you say so, kid," My dad replied, kicking up his feet as a leg rest formed beneath them and looking for all the world like he was relaxing in front of the TV.

I gave him another look.

"You're seriously just gonna sit there, huh?" I noted, trying not to sound amused.

"What, do you expect an old man like me to go chasing after you, son? Because that's just not happening," He shook his head. "Gotta give you a fair chance, anyway, so you can just come at me until you get tired, Jaune."

"I'll do that," I said, shifting in midair as Levant prepared herself in response to my mental command, looking at Vulturnus and Suryasta again. They didn't move or react in the slightest and they didn't have to.

I took a deep breath.

Fire and Lightning in Harmony, I thought to myself, feeling them against my Aura. I could hear two songs, like the one I felt from Crocea Mors so long ago, but it was impossible to sing both with one voice, no matter how hard I tried. But that didn't mean I couldn't make a new song, did it? After all, the basic types of Dust could be combined—why not the Elementals they represented? It was a simple idea I'd had for a long time but had never been able to make work.

Until Harmony had shown the way and opened up the possibilities of 'intermediate' elementals—that is, Elements with two parts. If I thought of it like Dust, then there were many different ways to combine the four basic elements by putting together two, three, or all four types; presumably my power would allow something similar, eventually. I'd experimented with the possibilities of using two Elements and it had opened up a range of possibilities, some more useful than others. Of the ones I'd gotten practice with, though…I think I liked this one the best.

I fired as I exhaled and now that I was looking for it, I felt my dad's reaction, a sudden shift in the air—but this wasn't fire or lightning anymore. I didn't even have a name for it yet, though mostly because I hadn't been able to decide on a good one for the effect yet. But when it hit my father's throne, it made things move, exciting them on a very, very small level as their energy was raised higher and higher. I saw my father rise, perhaps sensing it on some level, but—

The throne exploded, flinging my father away. I was after him the moment I'd seen him move, flying through the air with Levant and Suryasta's aid even as my father stopped his fall abruptly, staggering against empty space. I didn't give a chance to recover, knowing I couldn't afford to, but instead rammed into him with all the force I could muster, hurling us both towards the ground. I grabbed at him with my four arms, trying to get a firm hold, but he grabbed my face in a massive hand and turned at the last moment, driving my face into the broken pavement. I didn't stop, though, tails rising to circle his throat as my soul-self rose from my body, trying to push him away even as it attacked.

It worked for a moment as he let go of my face to defend against Aura claws, but then he turned, hammer flying to his hand, and smashed it hard into the White Tiger. I tried to push myself up, to get away, but he took a step forward and stomped hard on my chest, driving me into the asphalt like it was fresh mud before heaving his hammer high and bringing it down with a mighty roar—only to stop on a dime inches in from of my face. Even so, the already broken road shattered around me, pulverized under the sheer force of the aborted stroke.

Then, he clicked the hammer's head against my adamant forehead.

"Dink," He said. "I win."

I smiled at him and nodded.

"Yeah," I said. "I still got you a few times, though. Got you out of your chair, too."

"You did," He agreed, returning my grin as he stepped away and offered me a hand up.

"So?" I asked, taking it. "Am I ready?"

He put a hand on my head, ruffling my hair hard enough to make my brain shake in its case.

"Yeah, kid; you're more than ready," He answered. "Let's go talk to Oz about you coming along on some missions with me."

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Selection Screen

The trip up to Beacon was an uneventful one, all told. I mean, it was beautiful, I guess, but…well, I'd seen it all already, and from a rather more exciting viewpoint. While I was sure that new students must have found the cliffs, waterfalls, and high rising towers spectacular, there was nothing like getting up close and personal with said landmarks by flying towards then at high speeds to attempt a risky aerial maneuver and escape the pursuing aircrafts. Hitching a ride up on an aircraft with one of my dad's friends was rather boring compared to that, honestly.

But even so, when I landed and looked around, it struck me that this was my first time in Beacon itself—if you didn't count flying at, which I didn't. Just standing there, looking around, I was both amazed and…suddenly unsure. In some ways, it was like I'd imagined, with the massive, shining beacon that was its namesake rising about it all, but in others it seemed very…

Normal, I supposed, watching several students walked past. Well, not really normal, because they were training to become Hunters and some even carried their weapons, but despite the levels above their heads and the titles that made them stand out, they still seemed like regular students going to class. Which was because they were going to class, of course, but still. There was an air of routine and structure that just made me feel a little out of place. Looking around at the almost picturesque scene, I tried to imagine myself as a part of it and wasn't quite sure where I'd fit into it all. It was hard to picture myself just sleeping in and walking to class with my friends and maybe that was weird because that had been my life for years and years and years, but now I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it.

And not just because I didn't sleep, period. All that time wasted, lying in bed with your eyes shut—no thanks. I had better things to do with my nights. But how would I hide the fact that I stayed up around the clock and never stopped working? I didn't know how Beacon handled sleeping arrangements; would I have a roommate I'd have to sneak past? It seemed like a hassle, but maybe I could commute? I could swim across the lake and climb up the cliff every morning, no problem, but I wasn't sure that was allowed.

Beyond that, what would I do around campus? I knew students could choose their fields of study to an extent, but hadn't really considered what I'd want mine to be. Or rather, I wanted every field; it wasn't necessarily unrealistic for me, assuming I developed skills from the instruction—and if I did, I wouldn't care if I had classes every hour of every day with no free time, so long as I was learning stuff. But how long would I be learning stuff? So long as I could get a skill out of it, I could just grind it and grind it until it was strong enough for what I wanted. There wasn't a whole lot of point in courses, really, at least not for me, because if it was something they could really teach me, I should be able to master it in fairly short order. I could get most skills to level fifteen or twenty in a day if I tried; given a month, I could get them a lot higher than that.

And of course, if I didn't get a skill out of it, I could still just memorize the entire book in short order. That probably wouldn't give me a perfect understanding, but with some supplementary materials here, a chance to ask the teacher a few questions there…

I would happily spend all day in class so long as there was a point, but after a few weeks or at most a month, would there be? Or would it just be a huge waste of time? Granted, Beacon was a big school and must have taught a lot of different classes, but assuming it handled class times like a normal school, I'd be able to take at least seven courses a day, probably swapping courses throughout the week in a scheduled manner. Allowed time to train outside of class…that wasn't going to last me very long. Maybe it was a little arrogant of me, but I knew how far I'd come in less than four months and I was pretty certain I'd be one of, if not the, strongest freshmen, even while restraining some of my skills. With a chance to pick things up, I was confident I'd be the top of any class I cared about, too, even if it was something new to me.

Would people get jealous of me for that? It seemed pretty likely. I knew the fact that I picked up things so quickly would probably upset some people, but I…well, maybe it was mean of me, but I just didn't really care. I mean, I understood why it would make people feel bad and it was kind of unfair that I was able to get stronger so much faster than others just because of my Semblance—but I wasn't going to hold myself back if I had the chance to get stronger. I didn't see any point in rubbing stuff like that in or showing off, but thinking about it logically, there wasn't a lot of point in getting worked up over hypothetical teenage drama. If someone got mad because I beat their grade point average, it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, did it? Compared to being able to face whatever horrible thing the living nightmare that was Remnant coughed up, who cared? It's just wasn't worth it to hold myself back.

There wasn't any point in stepping on toes needlessly either, of course, especially among future comrades, so I'd do my best not to—but in the end, everyone who came here did so to get stronger. Doing well on tests and proving my ability in practice exercises would just prove I was ready to go to the next level and let me grow faster; beyond stuff like that, though, there was no point in getting into fights or showing off.

And if someone wanted to punch me or something…honestly, whatever they threw at me, I'd probably taken worse on purpose in my training with Adam and my parents. Given a few more months to enhance that further and whatever skills I might develop in the meantime, I wasn't sure they'd be able to hurt me, even if they tried. If someone got really upset and punched me in the face, I wasn't sure it'd do enough to be worth starting anything over, unless they started interfering with my studies and training, so I'd probably just tell the teacher or something and walk away. There wasn't a point in getting into a fight over things that didn't really matter, was there? If they suddenly attacked me with weapons or something outside of a training exercise, that might be something else, but things shouldn't get that far over school stuff, right? They'd probably be stopped and expelled at least, if it was something serious. So I guess it would be fine to just leave and get a teacher there, too…

It sounded kind of lame, thinking about it like that, but it made sense. That was part of their job, after all. But really…a lot of people probably weren't going to like me a whole lot, huh? I'd probably end up sitting at the front of the class asking questions, but otherwise keeping mostly to myself. Yeah, I guess I'd probably be in the library a lot, too; whenever I wasn't in class or out training. So, really, things would be pretty much the same as they were now, I guess.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that—disappointed or reassured. Being surrounded by other Hunters, by my peers, would be…I don't know. I just…wasn't sure what difference it would make. I mean, I guess there was something to be said for socializing, but even beyond the fact that I couldn't imagine sitting in class for hours on end to learn nothing being remotely fun, it probably wouldn't yield many opportunities to get to know each other, either. And outside of class…well I just had so many interesting things to do—who could sit around and talk when they could be learning to shoot lasers that made things explode instead?

And eve beyond that, I wasn't really sure what to do or say anymore. I doubted I'd have a lot to talk about with most of the people I ran into, except for…

Wow. I guess I'd missed all the games that came out these last few months. And I hadn't seen any movies lately, either, or listened to any music beyond the ones my Elements made. Same with the sports stuff—besides the tournament, I guess. I suddenly wasn't sure what I'd talk about with people my own age, besides miscellaneous Hunter stuff. I trained and occasionally got in over my head on an enormous scale, but if I put all that stuff aside because I couldn't talk about it, there wasn't a lot left to discuss. I guess I could just memorize a book on a topic that someone was interested in, but…that wasn't really the same as being interested in it myself. Ever since I'd realized I had the ability to develop superpowers via training, everything else had just fallen to the wayside.

But…

I'd always wanted to go to Beacon, to one of the academy's that trained Hunters. It had been my dream for as long as I could remember, a goal I'd strived for since I was a child and wanted so badly I'd cry when I failed to live up to it—which had meant a lot of tears on my part, over the years. It…it was still my dream, even though it was starting to feel oddly painful. But standing here, knowing for a fact that it was all but in my grasp, I felt really unsure about it all and that was…

A strange feeling. And an uncomfortable one.

I sighed to myself and looked at the sky.

We'd just landed and already my good mood was in its death throes.

"What's with the long face, son?" My dad asked. "You catch a glance at what this place looks like under UV light?"

I made a face at him and then looked around out of curiosity, vision shifting. Then I made a bigger face at my smiling father.

"No," I answered seriously after a moment. "I just…think too much. It's nothing."

"If it's worth thinking that hard about, it can't be nothing," My dad frowned slightly. "What is it?"

"Just…thinking about the future," I said.

"Ah," He nodded. "I understand. I think about your future a lot, too."

"You do?" I asked, blinking at him. I wasn't sure why that surprised me; I'm sure a lot of people wondered about me.

"Of course," His smile widened. "You are my son, after all."

"Right," I said before hesitating for a moment. "Well…where do you think I'll end up?"

"I dunno," He said, before ruffling my hair. "But I guess it doesn't matter. You're my son, so you'll be amazing when you get there.

"Gee," I said, smiling again despite myself. "Thanks."

"No problem." He shrugged. "Over here."

My father nodded his head towards one of the buildings and led the way. I looked around as I followed after him, glancing from between the many buildings. Even for such a famous school, Beacon was big, with many towers growing high into the sky, but I tried to memorize all of it. My awareness spread outward from my body, through wires and pipes and open air, and I mentally mapped out all of the school that I saw. I wasn't particularly surprised when my father led us to the tower that was Beacon's namesake, either, though as I crossed over the threshold, something prickled my senses. Crocea Mors flowed quickly into the steel of the building and painted an image of moving gears and mechanisms that looked like…

I frowned for a moment, looking around. I actually had no idea what all the things going on in this place were doing, for all that it felt bizarrely familiar. I could feel a thousand clockwork pieces moving within the building, but a quick Observe didn't yield anything informative. Was it something so big I couldn't see enough to use Observe on it? From the feel of it, it went deep underground, maybe even…

The elevator opened, drawing me from my thoughts, though I made a note to ask Ozpin about it later.

Speaking of which…

"Hello Jack," The headmaster greeted, smiling slightly as the elevator reached the top floor and we entered his office. "And Jaune, of course. You said you needed to speak to me about something?"

"Two things, actually," My dad said. "The kid wanted to talk to you about some of what happened in Mistral, too, I guess."

"I see," Ozpin tilted his mug slightly our way. "And you, Jack?"

My father smiled widely.

"I want a bring my son to work day," He answered promptly. "I want to take him on a mission with me."

Ozpin quirked an eyebrow mildly at that.

"Ah, yes," He mused. "You did mention something like that a few weeks ago, didn't you?"

"Yeah, when we talked last," Dad nodded. "Anyway, Isabelle's been training him and he's gotten strong enough that I think he can handle himself."

Ozpin gave a slight smile and inclined his head at my father.

"Did you have anything in mind, Jack?"

"Eh, I was thinking we'd start small, what with this being his first mission and all," My father replied. "Get him into the swing of things without drawing suspicion; that sort of thing. He's a good healer and more than capable of taking care of himself; I was going to bring him along on a short away mission to heal villagers and stuff, first. Is that okay with you, Jaune?"

"Yeah, that's cool," I nodded, shrugging. I didn't mind healing people.

"He doesn't have a healer's license or anything, but I can vouch for his skill—and I doubt that any injured villagers would complain." My dad continued. "No one going against bringing a healer along for…well, anything, either, so getting that out there seemed like a good place to start. After that…well, we'll see, right?"

"Very well, Jack," Ozpin said easily, taking a sip from his mug. "I'll try to arrange something."

"Thanks, Oz; you're the best." My dad said. "I'll get you another World's Best Teacher mug as thanks."

I was surprisingly easy to break the rules at Beacon, I noted, smiling a little.

But…

"Can I talk to him alone now, Dad?" I asked.

He glanced at me and shrugged.

"I'll just go speak to some old friends, then," He said. "That okay, Oz?"

"Please," The headmaster made an allowing gesture. "Peter's teaching a class right now, however, and Glynda is—"

"Probably cleaning up someone's messes," He nodded, interrupting the older man. "You know, GG really doesn't get paid enough for what she puts up with, Oz. But then again, if she got paid that, it'd probably destabilize the economy or something, so I guess there's nothing for it. I'll be seeing you, Oz."

"Indeed," The headmaster replied, gesturing at my father idly with his mug. "Good luck, Jack."

My dad went over to the window, fiddled with something, and then leapt off the top of the tower with a wave. I waved goodbye to him as he fell, but Ozpin barely gave him a glance; I wondered if this happened often. I could see my dad riding the elevator up and jumping out of the tower, just for the fun of it. Maybe I'd ask later.

"Now then, Jaune," The headmaster looked at me, making me focus. "What is it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

I took a moment to choose my words before just shrugging to myself.

Best to be straightforward, I suspected.

"Well, you might already be aware," I began. "But I figure it's best to just come out and say it, anyway. The Kingdom's are running out of Dust, Professor Ozpin."

He looked at me impassively and then nodded once, showing no signs of surprise. I'd been pretty sure he'd been aware—and if he hadn't been told about it before I took Weiss' necklace, he probably would have gotten some hint of it during whatever investigation was being performed. If nothing else, the general of Atlas was one of his friends.

"I see," He said. "Yes, I figured as much; your mother said you'd found something. I take it you learned this from Ms. Schnee's pendant?"

"Yeah," I said and then paused. "Well, technically no. The pendant just gave a password that I used to hack into the Schnee Company servers after I…you know, the details really aren't important. Yes, I got it from her necklace, along with some other stuff."

"Dangerous information," He noted. "I trust you've been suitably cautious with it?"

"Yes, sir," I answered. "The only person who found out about it was the person who discovered it with me and she can be…well, she isn't going to release it to the masses, I'm sure of that much. My grandmother already knew, though."

Ozpin seemed to hold back a sigh at the mention of my grandmother, but nodded and motioned for me to continue.

"We discussed it a lot, which is actually why I'm here," I said. "Because while I was in Mistral, we also found something…else and Grandmother asked me to tell you about it and ask for your help."

Begrudgingly, I left out—though from his expression, I figured he'd caught it anyway.

"Then this must be serious indeed," He set his mug down and faced me fully. "What did you find, Jaune?"

I took a breath and considered him carefully.

"You're good at keeping secrets, right?" I asked, which actually made his lips twitch.

"I have something of a knack for it, actually," He replied.

"Cool," I said as I shoved us both into Naraka.

Ozpin paused, noticing the change the moment it occurred. With a growing frown, he rose from his chair and walked over to the massive office window before staring down at the now empty courtyard with a frown.

"It's called Naraka," I said. "It's a dimensional barrier, if that means anything to you—it separates everything within it from the normal world. And as long something's inside of it…it creates Grimm, sir. I can mess with the specifics, like which Grimm, but it'll create them endlessly as near as I can tell. But one of most interesting things about it is what learnt it from. It was written in Babel."

Ozpin watched in silence as Grimm slowly began to overrun the empty school. They stalked out of dark places, noses low to the ground as they began to hunt for their prey—us, namely.

"My power let me grasp the basics anyway—and it can do the same with other things written in Babel, too, though it's hard to get more than a rough grasp of the topic, most days. But I've been working on that and if…well, the implications…"

"Yes," Ozpin said quietly, still not facing me.

"My grandmother and I think that Babel might be the key to figuring out the true nature of the Grimm. At the very least, the people of Babel probably had a far greater understanding of the Grimm—and its possible that they were their source. And just look at the things they created, like this barrier! Before Naraka, I'd never seen anything like it," I said. "Have you?"

He was silent for a moment but then surprised me.

"Something similar to it, yes," He said. "Just once."

"Sir?" I blinked at him as he turned back to me at last—and then, with a snap of his fingers, made Naraka shatter, returning us to his office.

I just…stared at him for a moment.

"I suppose one secrets deserves another," He said to me, turning away from the window after watching the people who'd returned to the courtyard for a moment. "A long, long time ago, a group of Hunters found a series of ruins in the Shadowlands during what should have been a routine escort mission—Babel ruins, of course."

"And you were…" I trailed off

"I was not amongst them, no," He said. "In fact, all four members of the team vanished quite abruptly in that area—it was only weeks later that other Hunters were able to track the remains of their equipment to that location. Shortly after, a larger squad composed of three teams was mobilized to examine the ruins. They reported a great deal about the area, from the surprising amount of damage the Grimm had caused to the ruins to the equally strange concentration of powerful Grimm in that area. They observed the area extensively, making brief incursions and reporting back regularly. And then all communications abruptly ceased."

Ozpin paused for a moment to let that sink in before continuing.

"Because of the data they provided, however, the strange behavior of Grimm in that area had become immediately apparent. Coupled with…other irregularities, it was deduced that the Grimm seemed to view that location, for whatever reason, as valuable—and so an even larger team was gathered to find out why. Fourteen teams were gathered in all, my own amongst them, and were sent to seize the ruins equipped with everything they could carry."

He looked at me steadily and drew a slow breath, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I was the only survivor," He said.

I looked at him silently for a moment, not sure what to say to that. But…

"How?" I had to asked. "How did…? What…?"

How did they die? How did you survive? What was so important to the Grimm that they apparently organized to defend it? I wasn't even sure what I was trying to ask.

"I didn't fight my way out, sadly," He said, apparently deciding for me. "I'd found myself quite wounded early on, in fact, and was in no condition to even run—not that I think I would have gotten away had I tried, either. Instead, something strange happened. One moment, I'd been watching everyone die, but the next…they were all gone. Humans and Grimm alike vanished and I was alone in a world much like the one you just created…minus the Grimm, of course."

I perked up at that, despite the grim tale.

"Like Naraka but empty?" I has to ask, mind racing.

"No," Ozpin shook his head slowly. "There were no humans nor any Grimm nor any other life at all that I'd been able to find…but it wasn't quite empty."

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
New Objective

If he hadn't had my full attention before, he'd have had it now.

"What did you see, then?" I asked.

Ozpin took a breath, lifting his eyes to the moving gears on the ceiling.

"Where there had been ruins, towers rose into the sky as if they were new—and around them, an entire city. It was so different that it had taken me some time to realize that they were even connected to the ruins; if you could have seen the difference…" The headmaster shook his head. "When I'd finally understood what I was seeing, I'd thought the old tales had been right after all—that the people of Babel had reached so high and far that God struck them down for their arrogance."

"Well," I mused, trying to imagine it. "Thousands and thousands of years will do that, I guess—and the Grimm can be pretty hard on buildings themselves."

"No," He shook his head. "It was more than that. I…I struggle to even put it into worlds. What I saw was a city that could have housed millions of people and all that had been left of it was the shattered remains of a few buildings. There had been so much gone, an entire city razed to the dirt such that not even its bones remained…I've seen other ruins since then and the remains of Mountain Glenn and there was always something left. But that city had been scoured away. I don't know how and I don't know why, but can you imagine what it would take to make something like that vanish? But it had. Whatever happened there had been more than the hands of time at work—more than even the usual predations of the Grimm. It was something massive but, more than that, deliberate. Perhaps even methodical."

That was a chilling thought—but I put it aside for the moment, letting my thoughts race. First things first, I needed to find out what we knew before getting into what we might know. The city—apparently a huge city—had been basically ground to dust in this world, even though it should have been enormously difficult to completely erase such a thing. And yet…

"And yet for all of that, the city still stands inside the barrier," I muttered aloud. "And presumably has been there since Babel fell, if not longer. That's, what…ten thousand years? Do we know?"

"No one's completely certain as there have been conflicting results," The headmaster answered. "Dating generally places Babel artifacts between seven and twelve thousand years old, but there exists the possibility that the younger artifacts were actually created by cultural holdouts in the aftermath of the fall, or that the older examples are actually from cultures predating even Babel's rise to prominence. But ten thousand years ago would seem like a fair guess under the circumstances."

"So a really long time," I said. "Which means a lot of power to keep it going. But you didn't see any people inside? Or anything else that could support the barrier?"

"I didn't find any people," He answered. "And I looked quite thoroughly, I assure you. After what few supplies I'd had with me ran out, I tried to scrounge something up, but…there was nothing."

Ozpin shook his head slightly.

"However, I did find something," He continued, meeting my eyes. "In the highest tower—the place that mirrored what little is left of the city in our world—I found that there was still power and, even more astonishingly, a computer that appeared to still run."

"A computer," I said, eyebrows rising. "That's…"

"Amazing," Ozpin agreed. "A goldmine, even, but for a few problems?"

Of course there was a catch.

"What's wrong with it?"

"When you turn it on, it asks you for a password." He said before pausing. "Or I assume that's what it asked for—naturally, it did so in Babel. Presumably all the files on it are also in Babel."

I winced.

"Yeah, I could see how that could be problematic," I agreed, frowning to myself as I considered it.

"There's also the matter of getting inside, of course," The headmaster added, taking a slow sip from his mug as I lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Well…what did you do to get inside?"

"Nothing," He answered. "I've reviewed that day in my mind countless times, considering everything that happened and might have happened, but to this day, I am certain I didn't do anything to enter that barrier nor have I ever been able to repeat the feat under any other circumstances. After years of consideration, I began to suspect something had push or pulled me into the barrier, for some reason."

"To save you?" I asked a tad hopefully.

Ozpin looked into his mug as he swirled the contents lightly.

"Perhaps," He mused. "I'd have an easier time believing that if not for everything that followed. You must understand that when I first found myself inside of it, I was already in dire straits—and there was little in the way of supplies to be found. Worse, I did not know how to exit such a barrier, at the time—it was only luck that allowed me to figure out how to escape before I starved to death. While I certainly appreciated not being torn apart and devoured, it was not a pleasant trip. But what has haunted me for years was what happened when I managed to escape."

"What happened, sir?" I asked as he put his mug on the desk and clicked a nail against its surface, still looking at what was within it.

"I developed the ability to leave the barrier completely on accident," He continued after a moment. "After days of fruitless searching, I'd returned to where I'd entered and tried to make peace with my death. But as the hunger and thirst grew worse, I wanted nothing more than to escape, until that single desire consumed me—and suddenly I was outside as my Aura responded to my will."

He paused to make a slight face, as if recalling something unpleasant.

"Which I was surrounded by the Grimm again, of course, which made my elation rather short-lived. I'd thought I'd escaped only to find death, but…they did something odd."

"What'd they do?"

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I wondered how often he'd told this story. I couldn't be the first to hear it, could I? No, but I doubted he spoke of this often.

"Nothing," He said at last. "They did nothing. I started running and didn't stop until exhaustion finally dragged me down. At the time, I'd simply thought I was lucky to have outrun them all even though I was half-starved, dehydrated, and unspeakably tired," He said. "I escaped all of the monsters gathered there, from the mightiest of the Humbaba to the lowliest Beowolf, even though I was scared out of my wits—truly, I must have been lucky indeed that they didn't notice my terror or give pursuit. But as time went by, I realized something else."

"What?" I asked.

"No one's that lucky," He stated flatly. "There's no chance that I escaped the notice of that many Grimm, frightened as I was. There's even less of a chance that I outran them all in such a state. I've tried to find an explanation for how I might have gotten away and could only think of one—that they let me go. It may sound strange, but if you truly intend to look into this, you should know that, on rare occasions, groups of Grimm would display strange behaviors. Over the years, I've heard of others who survived encounters with the Grimm for no logical explanation beyond 'they were allowed to.' It's far from common, but there have been times—"

"Sir," I interrupted and kept talking to moment he glanced my way. "When I was in Mistral…I fought a Goliath. That's how I came across the manuscript I spoke of—the book, really. I'll explain that in a minute, I suppose, but…the Goliath I fought behaved oddly, too. All throughout the fight, it acted patiently, giving me chances and opportunities it didn't need to. And even…even as I was killing it, it had a look in its eyes, like it had somehow won, and I still don't know why."

Ozpin watched me for a minute before nodding slowly with a slight smile.

"I suspected as much, somehow," He said. "Not your experience in Mistral, of course, but somehow I thought that perhaps you would understand. Perhaps it was your masks or perhaps…"

He trailed of thoughtfully, leaving me to wonder about what he would have said—but I pushed that aside, staying focused on the present matter.

"Sir," I asked. "Why did you tell me about the ruins? And about your story?"

The headmaster smiled back at me.

"Several reasons," He mused. "The first, of course, is quite simple—if, as you said, you learnt your new skill from a Babel text, it stands to reason you had some way of reading Babel."

"It's not quite that simple, sadly," I said, holding back a wince. "But I can understand the basics, at least."

He nodded at me, gesturing slightly.

"I also assume that after you told your Grandmother this, the two of you gained an interest in investigating this matter—a suspicion supported by the fact that a close friend of mine received a request that led back to one Jeanne Roma, concerning Babel texts in his possession. It stands to reason, then, that should you not find what you're looking for in those texts, you might turn an eye towards investigating ruins, instead. So on one level, I wish it as a warning; I mean no offense to skill, but I feel that if you were to somehow walk into such a place unknowingly, you may not have the chance to walk back out. Consider this a cautionary tale about wandering into ancient ruins."

"Yeah, thanks for that," I said honestly. I would not want to walk blindly into a place that had chewed up fifty hunters.

"But on another level," The headmaster continued. "I am intrigued and…curious. Well you opened your barrier and I recognized the similarities…"

He shook his head slightly.

"That was the place where my first team died," He said. "And so many friends alongside them. And surrounding it all were unanswered questions—questions I'd given up on ever answering. But perhaps now I have begun to wonder again. There must be a reason that place is so fiercely guarded by Grimm and there must be a reason behind that barrier. And the computer…my, but you must understand, when I'd first understood what I was looking at and realized that all that stood between me and the answers to a thousand questions was a password…well. You can imagine, I'm sure. The idea that it might be possible to learn such a thing…"

I was silent for a moment, considering his words carefully.

"I might be able to get us close using Naraka," I said slowly, thinking things through. "Without disturbing the Grimm, I mean. I'm not sure how an area with multiple barriers in it would work or how such powerful Grimm might respond, but…it's possible. I might be able to handle the password, too. If you could tell me everything you saw inside, then maybe…"

I trailed off as he lifted a hand.

"Now, now," He said. "I wanted you to be aware of the place so that I might ask for your assistance at a later date, but there is still time to prepare. Admittedly, perhaps not as much time as might be ideal, due to the matter of Dust, but time nonetheless. Should we wish to undertake such a venture, a great deal would need to be done."

I nodded, looking at my hands for a moment before glancing back up at him.

"Yes, sir," I said, nodding. "But can I take it that you'd be willing to assist my grandmother and I in researching Babel?"

"Of course," He smiled again. "I have, perhaps, more reason than most, but who wouldn't want to assist in this matter? I will do what I can."

I bowed my head in thanks.

"And concerning Dust—and now this as well, I suppose—I offered to tell my mother, but she chose to let you decide whether she needed to know or not. I think she spoke to my dad about it and he chose the same thing. So…well, I just wanted you to know."

"I see," He appeared to consider that. "I've actually considered informing them of the issue with Dust several times; though their powers would not be able to address the matter, there have been several contingencies that they might be of assistance with. Perhaps this is a good time to speak to them about it. As for the matter of old ruins…I think they might be of assistance there as well, when the time is right, don't you? And in this matter, we could use all the help we can get."

"Yes, sir," I agreed before looking down in consideration. There was one other thing I wanted to speak to him about, but I wasn't sure if I should. Terrorist mastermind or not, she was an ally now—and a maybe, sort of friend. But at the same time, for something like this…well, this was why we were allies in the first place. But should…

I sighed and shook my head before meeting Ozpin's eyes.

"There's one other thing…but can you keep it a secret for me, sir?" I asked. "I think you should now, maybe even need to know, but it's still not really my secret to tell and I really can't say I know anything about what happened. I know it's a big secret, too, but…could you keep quiet about it, at least for now?"

"I suppose it depends on the nature of the secret," Ozpin mused. "But I will do my utmost to keep anything you say to me in confidence—especially something that might endanger you or your family."

I nodded and took a deep breath.

"Grandmother and I actually have another ally," I said. "Or rather, I have another ally, as Jian Bing. Officially—if that applies to things we don't want anyone to know about—Jian Bing brokered that agreement and…maybe that should be the story behind this, too? We can figure that out later. The point is, there's another person involved and you should probably know about her, especially in regards to something like this."

"Who is she?" The headmaster asked, leaning forward slightly.

"You know her, I hear," I replied. "Her name's Raven Branwen."

Ozpin paused.

I could all but see gears turning in his head at the mention of her name, as if the pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place and questions had suddenly received answers. Raven had apparently vanished around the time I was born, which would have put her as leaving not too long before the Faunus Rights Revolution, and from some of the things she'd said, I assumed she'd had some bad experiences when it can to authority figures like the Council—and maybe even Ozpin himself. Bad enough to apparently leave behind her brother and team to go do…something. The way my grandmother had spoken, I assumed she'd gotten involved with the Rights Revolution in an active capacity, though what that meant I couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, it had apparently been enough to cause a few things to make sense to my grandmother when her presence was revealed.

I didn't have any illusions of knowing Raven's story and for all that she'd fought her a few times in the past, it had been pretty obvious my grandmother didn't either. But Ozpin…he must have known a lot more, having known her personally. If Raven was from around here and the sister of one of his friends…

I saw him look down at his cup again, saw him nod to himself slowly, but for a long minute he was silently. Finally, he took a breath and looked at the window, giving a quiet sigh.

"So," He said, nodding in acceptance. "That's what she's been doing. I suppose that makes sense, considering. Thank you for informing me, Jaune."

I looked at him carefully for a moment before nodding and continuing.

"Like I said, she and I have an arrangement of sorts," I continued. "We found out about the issue of Dust together and I told her a modified version of my findings with Babel and Naraka. It's a bit tense, because before that…well, I was pretty nervous about what Raven might do to me and my family if I got found out. You know about her Semblance, right?"

"Yes," He said simply.

"Do you also know that she can use it to spy on people?" I asked. "I'm not sure if it's some kind of really tiny portal or something like an aiming part of her Semblance, but my grandmother had no idea she could do that."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Few do," He said after a moment. "Outside her team, I was one of the few people she told about it, though she passed that information up the line when she felt it became necessary."

He didn't need to spell out the implications. I could imagine why just as I could imagine what they'd probably had her do. I wondered again if her departure from her previous life had been the result of a single thing or something long in coming.

And yet, even though I was standing in front of one of the few people who probably knew…I hesitated to ask. It didn't seem like I had the right or perhaps…

"I'm a bit surprised you know about that, though, Jaune," Ozpin continued, interrupting my thoughts. "Those who know like to keep it a secret. How did you happen to find out about it?"

"I can sense them," I said and at that I got a look from him. "Its…well, it's one of the things about my power that I'll explain later. As far as I could tell, though, nobody else could."

"Very few have ever been able to," He nodded slightly. "There have been several Semblances that have allowed people to respond to a sudden attack, such as those that sense danger or allow forms of precognition, but few can notice her when she merely decides to watch. And of course, awareness rarely enables one to actually prevent her actions; if anything it tends to just draw her attention. I would be careful if I were you, Jaune."

"Luckily for me, I don't need to sleep, anymore," I said. "There just aren't enough hours in the day to waste on stuff like that. But yes, I'm well aware of the dangers; I assume some of these people got their throats slit in their sleep for being overly observant? Well, even beyond that, she seems like a pretty terrifying combatant. But she doesn't know about me—by which I mean, Jaune Arc—and has, at least for now, made peace with Jian Bing. We've agreed to work together when it comes to this and if needed, we can contact one another. With her help…"

I saw him consider it as he leaned back slightly in his chair, and pressed on.

"She could use her portals to survey the area, as well as get us near," I said. "We'd have to test how it interacts with an area that already has a barrier over it, but I could use Naraka to shift us out of any danger, too. My senses are no joke—I'll let you test them later, if you want—so I'm pretty sure that if I got close enough, I could sense anything that was there."

He seemed to ponder that, nodding slowly.

"Yes, in that case, it might be possible—but there's a chance that we may need to do something inthis world to enter the Babel city," He said. "If that were the case…"

"I can draw power from Dust," I replied. "A lot of power, too. If I have enough of it, I could drop and recreate Naraka a number of times, especially if I have a while to keep training it. Considering what happened to you, it's obviously possible to get into barriers as well as out of them; if we could figure out how, I should be able to get in. If it was something we could teach to others, too, I could set Naraka over the entire area and everyone who managed to learn could move in and out of it to enter and exit key points. We could find what we need and then go with minimal fuss. I can carry a lot of supplies, too; I'll show you how in a bit."

Ozpin took a breath and then a sip from his mug.

"It could work," He said again. "If we could get enough information, if we could figure out how to do all of that…it could work. If that was the case, we'd be able to walk right past most of the dangers, but there is one that remains, and it is both enormous and impossible to predict. There issomething there that can push things across barriers. We don't know how and we don't know why, but it can, and with no way of knowing what it seeks to accomplish, there's also no way of knowing how it might get involved. If it began to push Grimm into your barriers, it could tear this plan apart in short order—and who knows what else it is capable of."

I bobbed my head to the side, conceding that point. That was a pretty big wild card in all of this, because we had no idea what it might be capable of. But…

"There's a lot of risks," I said aloud, as much to myself as to him. "We have no real way of knowing what might happen, much less what we might find. There are a lot of bases we'd need to cover, a lot of things we'd need to prepare for, and even then there's no way to be sure of anything. But…it's still possible. With all of our powers, with enough time, I think we might be able to do it. It's something to keep in mind, I think."

Then I smiled.

"But who knows if it'll even be necessary. There's a chance we'll get lucky and find what we need elsewhere. That computer may be our best bet, but we might be able to do without, right?" I said, even though I wasn't sure I actually believed that. Hell, I wasn't sure Ozpin believed that, either, given how he frowned slightly and turned towards the window. Was he looking at the school outside, though? Or something farther away?

"Perhaps," He said quietly. "At the very least, we should explore our other options while we prepare. We still have some time; we should take advantage of it."

"Yes, sir," I said. "I'll tell you what we find in the ruins and texts, then?"

"Please," He nodded. "Now then, I believe you wished to tell me something about your power?"

I smiled at that, cracking my neck once.

"My Semblance," I said. "It's called 'The Gamer.' To put it simply, it allows me to live as if I were a character in a video game, but what that means is a little more complicated…"

I laid it out for him. I'd done this several times already, so I'd gotten fairly good at covering the important bits of my power and Ozpin listened without interrupting, so it went pretty smoothly. I told him about the Gamers Body and Mind, how I could gain and grind skills, and about my stats. The headmaster nodded occasionally, seeming to file that information away, but otherwise seemed to just accept it even though he looked fairly impressed as he considered it. I assumed he'd just developed a high tolerance for weirdness as the headmaster of a school for Hunters; there had probably been some pretty weird powers over the years.

"That does explain a great deal. I must admit, I have been quite surprised by how much you've grown over these last few months," He said after I had finished. "But it seems the very purpose of your Semblance is to allow you to grow quickly, no? I've seen a number of Semblances that may have had more initial power, but I've never seen any with as much potential as yours. Given time, you will go very far, Jaune Arc."

"Thank you, sir," I answered, smiling at the complement. "My power is part of why I think this may be possible; if I have a few months, I can get much stronger than I am now and I can learn whatever skills we need. Just tell me if you find something we need and I'll start working on it."

"Indeed," He looked at me considering. "It's an invaluable ability, in that regard; I've never seen anything so broadly useful. In a supporting role especially…yes, it's certainly possible. What is it that you intend to do now, though, Jaune?"

"For now, mainly just training," I said with a shrug. "I'll go on missions with my dad, too, and go hunting whenever I can, but otherwise I'll keep focusing on improving my stats and skills. If I keep working at it, I might be able to get all my physical stats to a hundred before the year's out—maybe even in as little as six months, if I'm lucky. I can train a lot of my skills even while doing that, so I'll do that as well. Otherwise, I'll mainly keep looking into Babel and such, try and improve Observe, maybe see what else I can figure out. Try to think of some solutions to our problems, help some people, that sort of thing."

"I see," Ozpin said, furrowing his brow as he looked at me for a minute. He tapped a finger on his desk before nodding. "Very well, then. We'll likely see a lot of one another in the coming days, if you'll be going on missions with Jack, so we should be able to keep one another informed. I will see you soon, then, Jaune?"

"Yes, sir," I nodded. "Have a nice day, sir."

As I turned to walk away, though, he stopped me.

"Jaune," He said and I glanced back. "Be careful."

I nodded, wondering which particular dangerous aspect of my life he was referring to. It wasn't immediately obvious, which was probably something to worry about in and of itself.

"I'll try my best, sir," I replied.

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Landing Party

"Come on, Gou," I cheered as the panting dog ran beside me. We dashed through the woods, leaping over roots and dodging out of the way of trees, moving with no more difficulty then had we been running across an open plain. I reached out with my sense to find what I was looking for and we turned on a dime, Gou following me without me needing to say a word. He understood what I intended on such an instinctive level that, really, I didn't need to speak with him at all, but that didn't mean his actions weren't worthy of praise.

We bound up and off a tree, leapt over some bushes, and saw the Ursa. It turned towards us as we did, but by the time it faced us fully, it was already far, far too late. We closed the distance in a second, Gou sinking his teeth into a leg as I grabbed an arm, and then he went one way while I went the other tearing the limbs off with a disgusting ripping sound. We dropped our prizes as the Ursa collapsed with a screaming roar, lunging at the prone target, and Gou ripped out its throat as I tore out its spine. We each danced a step back to be sure it was dead, waiting until the smoke began to rise from the corpse.

The I smiled and stepped over it, reaching down to scratch his ears.

"Who's a good boy?" I cooed. "Who's a good hunting dog?"

Gou gave me a panting grin as he looked up at me with eyes that could have been pondering what constituted as being good or which could have been attached to a brain that was currently flat-lining. After a moment, though, he sneezed and barked, lowering his nose to the ground as he began to sniff for something.

"Hey, Dad," I said, looking over my shoulder. "Finished already?"

My father watched, standing on one of Autumn's branches—or rather, on a tree that was swiftly becoming a part of Autumn, shape twisting as colors exploded across its leaves and trunk as it was assimilated. Since I'd been letting my parent's look after her while Gou and I trained, I'd explained the concepts of 'grandparents' to her, which had taken some time as she'd lacked any context and was unable to communicate with them in anything but the most basic sense. Well, that wasn't quite true; she'd connected with her great-grandmother, who'd taught her how to eat meat in a series of events I still wasn't sure I wanted to know about, but explaining the true value of family was a bit harder. In the end, it was easier to just show her what family meant then explain it.

Which, in the case of my father, apparently meant 'someone who would feed her trees like they were popcorn.' Needless to say, they'd bonded, which had led to the sudden disappearance of at least a hundred trees in the last week or so alone. I was a bit worried about that, if mainly because it feared she might draw unwanted attention that way, but…well, I guess we all spoiled Autumn rotten.

"Just about," He said. "We'll leave before too long, I think; a few of the others need to get some things in order. But you and Gou have started fighting pretty well together, huh?"

"We've been working hard," I said proudly. "He still has a ways to go, but he's strong enough to beat these guys now, even without me. And if I use my skills, well…"

Gou's ears perked up as he looked at me and I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Not right now, boy." I said. "Let's take a break while Dad and I talk, though. You want to go play with Autumn?"

He panted harder and bounce on his front paws in excitement before prancing over to his friend, placing his paws on her bark to communicate whatever doggy thoughts he had to her. A semifluid-looking branch in the process of becoming some type of limb reached down and scooped Gou up casually, placing him amidst the changing canopy. Flowers began to sprout around him, giving him something to sniff, and it was almost enough to distract from the mouths and body parts growing from the tree just a short ways away. Some of them looked almost human. The vast majority did not. I'll leave it at that.

Mystic Dog
LV 24
Tiangou

Who Would Inhabit This Bleak World Alone?
LV 27
Autumn Rose

My father leapt down to me absently, unbothered or just used to Autumn's transformations, and looked me over absently.

"You still remember how to use that, Jaune?" He asked, looking down at the blade at my side.

"Of course," I said, putting a hand on it absently. "My skills don't degrade from lack of use, nor does my body. I can use it as well as ever."

"Just wondering," He drawled. "It's been a while since you used it seriously, hasn't it? You even played with Gou using your bare hands."

He nodded to the Ursa slightly to emphasize his point and I just shrugged.

"Just showing Gou how it's done," I said. "Besides, there's no point dirtying Crocea Mors on Grimm like this. My bare hands are enough for a hundred of these guys."

"If you say so," He chuckled. "Just wanted to make sure there's not gonna be any problems because you're out of practice."

"Nah," I drew my blade and tossed it absently from hand to hand. At some point, I'd gotten strong enough to make the blade feel almost weightless and it was as easy to swing as the imaginary swords my sister's and I had pretended to fight with all those years ago. "Haven't really gotten a chance to make any sword specific stuff lately, but that's mainly because pretty much everything I have can be used regardless of what weapon I'm using. I lose a few passive bonuses here and there, but just a few small ones because I haven't practiced as much with my sword lately. Nothing to be too worried about given that just about everything else stays."

"Oh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Even the White Tiger stuff?"

I shrugged again.

"Bai Hu's techniques aren't designed around a specific style or weapon," I said. "The fact that it was used unarmed is more because they didn't have access to weapons than anything else. I mean, several of the skills were built around specific actions, but it's not the motions themselves that have power—it's all about how you use your Aura to move faster or how you sharpen it to do more damage or that type of thing. That's why the INT and WIS requirements were higher than the ones for my physical stats. It's more about controlling ones Aura and guiding it properly to bring out one's full power then just being able to hit really hard…even if the end result is that you hit really hard. The physical prerequisites are more about not getting instantly torn apart by the forces involved then they are about actually using the technique."

"So you can use it even with Crocea Mors?" My dad asked.

"Sure," I said, activating Five Hundred Years absently and swinging the blade absently. "Or anything else that would benefit from greater strength and speed. Different styles, different weapons, it doesn't matter; it's not like your soul will stop working because you're not using a specific attack, right? Well, some things are more effective than others, of course, but as long as it's applicable, I can use my skills however I want."

I paused for a moment, considering.

"The White Tiger of the West is the best example of that, really," I mused. "It's about understanding, refining, and controlling ones Aura to such an extent that one can project their verysoul into the world. I don't know exactly how Bai Hu did it, but…I think it was basically a form of enlightenment, reached through endless, relentless practice…"

"Like the guy who practices one kick a thousand times or whatever?" My dad asked.

"Pretty much," I agreed. "But yeah, I can use all the skills with a blade just fine," I said. "The only down side is that I can't use the Jaws of the White Tiger with something in my hands, but even that's not an issue with White Tiger of the West, since then I have four hands and two tails. I just can't use that one in public, because the giant, glowing white tiger-man would probably give me away. Still…Five Hundred Years should be enough for most emergencies, I think, and I always have Naraka if I really need to run away. I do need to work on some new stuff for when I'm, well, me—but most of my subtle stuff works regardless, and that's still enough to put me pretty damn up there for someone my age, right? I don't have a replacement for the White Tiger of the West, but if I find myself really needing one, I'll just hide behind you, I guess."

Dad snorted and ruffled my hair.

"You do that, kid," He said. "You done here, then?"

"I think so," I nodded. "Just wanted to get in a little more training with Gou before we left, since I played with Autumn earlier. Mom will take care of them, but…well, you know?"

"Of course," He bumped his shoulder against my own. "Ready now, though?"

"Yeah, let's take them home and we'll head out," I smiled. "We get the mission you wanted?"

"Pretty much, I suppose," He shrugged. "A village has been having some problems recently; we're going to go out and nip the problem in the bud. You'll stay back to heal the townsfolk and serve as an extra line of protection for them."

"Will do," I nodded. "What do you think the odds are of something going wrong?"

He laughed.

"Something always goes wrong, Jaune," He said. "It's just a question of how badly."

"That's been my experience, too," I nodded again. "But when things go wrong around me, they tend to go pretty damn wrong."

"You get that from every Hunter you've ever met," He ruffled my hair. "Downside of living on a world that hates us, I suppose. But hey, we have some pretty good support along for the ride this time, at least. Do me a favor and make sure nothing happens to my beautiful face, okay?"

I stopped him with a hand and looked him over carefully before shaking my head.

"I don't know what happened, Dad," I said grimly. "But it's too late for your face."

"Hah," He replied, rolling his eyes. "Remind me to throw you out of the airship, wise guy. Hurry up so I can introduce you to the rest of our team."

I chuckled and nodded.

"Gou, tell Autumn we're about to leave," I said, receiving a bark in reply as the ground rumbled slightly. I frowned slightly as I looked down to see…nothing. Then I reached out my senses and felt Autumn's roots growing, spreading out to tangle with—and flow into—the roots of other, nearby trees.

I sighed slightly and walked over to her truck, knocking on the wood.

"Autumn, you can't eat the forest," I said firmly. "We still need that."

The tree's branches shook slightly, and I looked to my dad as I sighed again.

He chuckled and nodded.

"One more tree, then," I said. "Then I need to take you back to grandma, okay?"

I shook my head as her for began to shift, mass flowing down into her root network.

"Were my sisters like this?" I asked my father.

"Uh, not really, no," He snickered, clapping me on the back. "But children are all different, son, and that's fine. You just have to raise them right."

XxXXxX

"So you're our medic, huh?" A greying man named Onyx asked me when we were on the airship, fiddling idly with something on his belt. I didn't recognize him which wasn't necessarily surprising—after graduation, Hunters didn't necessarily stay together on the same team. Most did, of course; after years in school they tended to be close and skilled at working together. But even then, it wasn't uncommon for individual members to go their separate ways after a while, pursuing a specific field, settling down, or even going into teaching, so teams tended to shift periodically out of necessity or simply to address a specific mission. Of course, there was another reason why teams changed so often, one that everyone knew.

Hunters died.

A lot.

Looking around, I recognized Keppel and Carmine, a couple about my dad's age who wore blue and red respectively. Keppel was tanned enough that I'd always wondered if he might have come from Vacuo, but he'd cut off his black hair since I'd last seen him—or had it cut off for him, maybe, given the scar across his scalp. Carmine looked older then I remembered, but it had been over a year since we'd really seen one another. I didn't see Slate anywhere.

It was possible he was just in the hospital. Hunters got injured a lot, too, though they rarely stayed that way long thanks to their Aura. When necessary, Healers would also be called in to help as well, because keeping Hunters in fighting shape was something of a priority. My dad hadn't mentioned anything, but…

I held back a sigh, blinking my eyes closed for a moment. A bit morbidly, I wondered if there'd been a funeral, maybe while Mom and I were away. I also wondered if it had been open casket or if there'd even been a body—the Grimm weren't known for their respect for the dead. The fact that he'd probably been torn apart and devoured left me feeling a bit sad; Slate had been the oldest member of my father's most recent team and though I'd never been close to him, he'd been kind to my sisters and I when we'd seen him. Not really an uncle figure, but…I remembered him. That was more than I could say for some of my father's past teammates, sadly.

"That's me," I said to Onyx's question, looking up at him. He was a large man, maybe four inches taller than me and half again as broad along the shoulders.

The Seventh Spire
LV73
Onyx Athelstan

"You're pretty young for a healer," He noted. "It must have been pretty hard to get this far."

"Maybe a little?" I mused. "But I don't mind working hard if it means I can help people."

Onyx smiled and clapped my shoulder.

"That's the spirit," He said. "Always good to have a healer along to keep us in one piece, too."

I tilted my head at those last words, keeping the frown off my face. The way he said that…well, if he had been brought in to replace a member of my father's team, that didn't bode well for his own. He had several faded scars across his face, particularly around his eyes and lips—on someone else, I'd have thought them something from years ago, but…

"I'll do my best, sir," I replied. "If you need any help, I'll be in the village, healing the civilians; just stop by and I'll do whatever I can."

"If I get used as a chew toy again, I'll take you up on that," He nodded, rubbing his chin as he looked at me. "Really though, you're what? Seventeen?"

"Sixteen, sir," I corrected, making him whistle.

"Sixteen years old and a good enough healer that Ozpin's letting you go into the field?" He shook his head, smiling at me. "Jack must be very proud."

"Thank you, sir," I accepted. "I like to think so, too."

"If anything happens, don't worry, okay?" He jerked his head at Mr. and Mrs. Cordelia. "Standard procedure is to do everything we possibly can to protect the medic. Moment something happens, you'll have four Hunters at your back—should be enough to keep you safe, right?"

"Yes, sir," I replied. "Unless something goes very, very wrong."

He laughed deeply, smile widening as he nodded.

"Unless that," He agreed, touching his face. "You'll be a good Hunter one day, Jaune. Is it okay if I call you Jaune?"

"Yes, sir," I nodded, glancing out the window before leaning forward. "We're almost there, Dad."

Sitting to my right, my father opened his eyes and nodded, turning his face to watch the window as well. I'd rarely seen him this quiet, but we were on a mission—even if it was hopefully routine, it was a matter of life and death for the people we were going to save.

"Time to go, then," He said after a moment, rising to grasp one of the bars above him. As one, the rest of his team rose as well and I followed just a moment after. There was a slow change as the Bullhead began its vertical landing, but the doors opened and we leapt out before it was halfway down, landing in the middle of the town. As was becoming second nature to me, I reached out with my enhanced senses and made sure I knew where everything around me was. Houses, stores, inventories—and there were the wounded. I glanced towards the unassuming building that either served as a hospital or had been adapted to that purpose because of the amount of wounded. I could hear them breathing, sense them even across the street and through the walls, but though I moved to my father's side, I didn't leave until he could dismiss me.

Naturally, people took notice quickly and whispered murmurs began to spread through the town square. An elderly looking man, maybe in his sixties or seventies, quickly stepped from the gathering crowd of observers, drawing my attention swiftly for the words above his head.

What Falls, What Scatters
LV57
Lie Hui

"Are you Mr. Jacques Arc?" He asked with an accent I didn't recognize. His demeanor gave the impression that he was used to Hunters, but also seemed respectful.

"I am," My father replied. "And you're Lie Hui, right? I understand you knew Layla well."

Hui tilted his head slightly, seeming surprised by the name, but nodded.

"I did indeed," He said. "She protected this village for many years after she came here. I take it that you knew her when she was a Huntress, then?"

My father chuckled a bit sadly and nodded.

"A long time ago," He said before clapping me on the back. "But we have work to do, eh? This is my son, Jaune; he's a healer who volunteered to come along, with Professor Ozpin's permission. If you could have someone escort him to your wounded while you tell us more about what's happening, he should be able to help."

Immediately, Hui's eyes focused on me, almost to the dismissal of my father. He looked me up and down for a moment, and then bowed his head in thanks.

"I thank you, then," He said and sounded like he truly meant it. "It has been quite some time since a village such as ours has been able to afford a Healer and we would be grateful for whatever help you could provide."

"I will do everything I can, sir," I replied, bowing my head in turn as I stepped past my father. "Just show me where you need me."

Elder Hui turned his head and lifted his voice.

"Ren?" He called. "If you would?"

"Of course, Grandfather," A voice replied as a boy about my age moved through the crowd. His hair was black but for a pinkish looking streak on the left side. Wearing a green and black tailcoat, he gave me a nod and I moved to his side.

The Flowers Blossom, the Fallen Wither
LV38
Lie Ren

"This way, please," He said, gesturing in the direction I already knew to go. "Your father said your name was Jaune, right?"

"Yeah," I answered, Observing him for a moment. "And you're Ren? One sec."

I put a hand on his shoulder and quickly healed the minor damage I saw in his profile. He glanced at me sharply before flexing his fully healed arm.

"Impressive," He said. "I've never seen a healer before. My mother used to speak of them, but…"

He trailed off and fell silent, but I chose not to pry.

"Did you get hurt in the fighting?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Yes," He said. "It was just a glancing blow, but I was still careless to get hit."

"Are you training to become a Hunter as well, then?" I continued. "My mother and father have been training me."

"Yes," He answered, going silent for a moment before elaborating. "I used to train with my parents, too. These days, Grandfather does what he can."

"Ah…" I trailed off as we reached our destination. Ren opened the door for me and I gave him a nod as I passed, flicking my gaze over the wounded, measuring their health bars quickly before going to the most wounded and kneeling beside them.

Ren followed.

"As I said, I've never seen a healer before," He said as I rose and moved to the next patient. "About how long does something like this take?"

I glanced around at the people in the room. Most of them were asleep though some just looked glassy-eyed. Painkillers of some kind? I'd check when I got to them. Still, there only seemed to be about sixty, seventy people here. About…

"Five minutes, maybe?" I mused. "I'll need to make sure I fixed everything."

"That's all?" He sounded surprised, following my gaze to the many injured. "That's…that's amazing."

"I suppose it is," I said a bit distractedly, focused on how my Aura flowed through the patient's body and what areas it marked. "If you don't need them for anything urgent, you may want to let them finish sleeping, though. They should be fine physically, but considering what happened…what did happen, anyway?"

"The Grimm," He answered, giving a true yet useless answer. When I paused in my work to shoot him a look, he smiled briefly before looking down at the person I was healing. "We really don't know beyond that, they just suddenly attacked. As far as I could tell, nothing major happened to provoke them; I just suddenly heard shouting and found about thirty or forty Grimm inside the city. I found a larger gathering of them about ten kilometers west of here that they might have broken off from, but…"

"But that doesn't explain how they got inside," I finished and moved on.

"No, it doesn't," He said quietly.

"You were the one that called in the Hunters, then?" I asked absently. A compound fracture in the left leg, broken ribs, shredded…

"I told my grandfather when I returned. He said he called one of my mother's old friends for help," Ren replied, watching my work carefully, as if trying to memorize it. Unless he could see Aura, though, I wasn't sure what that would accomplish; all I was doing physically was laying my hands on people. "She told him to, if something like this ever happened."

I wondered if that had anything to do with why this was the mission I was sent along on—if Ozpin, who I was guessing was the friend in question, had wanted a healer to fix things.

It didn't really matter, I suppose. I was here, so I'd help.

"My father and his team are very strong," I said. "They're all Hunters, after all. It should be…"

I shrugged, not sure what to say. My ability to honestly assure people that nothing would go wrong had taken something of a hit recently.

"I know," Ren sighed quietly. "I just…have a bad feeling."

I frowned slightly as I looked up at him and then nodded. Who was I to dismiss feelings of impending doom?

"Let me finish here," I said. "Then I'll look around and see what I can find?"

He lifted an eyebrow and I chuckled.

"Hey, I said I was training to be a Hunter, didn't I?" I asked. "I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve."

He nodded and fell back to let me work. I finished faster than I expected, healing them all in about three and a half minutes, and then rose to face Ren.

"Where'd they attack?" I asked.

"This way," He gestured and walked out with one last glance behind. I followed a step behind and he led me quickly through the small town to a part that was in an obvious state of disrepair—one house had even been demolished. Since we'd finished so quickly, I guess my dad wasn't done talking to Elder Hui yet, or else he'd probably be here as well.

I looked around and let my senses roll out again. Currents of air, patterns of energy, the touch of water and very presence of life—I felt them and I felt through them as my perceptions expanded. And with them, I felt…nothing, really.

And yet, something felt…off.

"They just appeared, you said?" I asked, crouching slightly. My vision flickered through different forms of sight, picking up traces old and new. Separating out the signs of the Grimm from the years of life people had worn into the town was hard, but…

Well, I could follow the bloodstains. That made things easier.

"Yes," Ren knelt beside me, looking as well. "None of the perimeter guards saw anything, they were just suddenly inside."

I frown at a particular stain, as if someone bleeding heavily had been dragged away. It cut off abruptly, fading into smatterings of droplets, but the direction…if the Grimm was taking a snack home with them, why head further into the village?

Assuming that was what happened, of course.

"Was everyone accounted for?" I asked. "After the attack, I mean?"

"No," Ren bowed his head. "Five missing. Mr. Marrowy, his wife and daughter, and Orchid's twins. They were gone by the time I arrived."

I turned towards the demolished house, towards with the streaks pointed.

"And that was…?"

"The Marrowy house," Ren supplied, closing his eyes for a moment. "It…it was destroyed in the fighting. There hasn't been enough time to sort through everything yet."

"I see," I murmured, frown deepening. "Give me just a second."

I closed my eyes and fell immediately into my meditative state. My perceptions expanded even further, the fabric of creation spreading out in marvelous color as the power of the world around me became visible. I saw the majesty of the storm gathering on the horizon, the energy cascading down from the Sun, the constant motions of the planet we clung to—but to pursue my suspicions, I had to go deeper in a literal sense, parting the curtain of veiling light beneath my feet to feel—

"Are you done already, Jaune?" My dad drew me from my thoughts, sounding impressed. "That didn't take long at all. If you want—"

"Dad," I interrupted, opening my eyes but not limiting my head. Now that I knew they were there, I focused my senses, reaching further and further down. "We have a problem. They're underground."

He was silent for a moment, as was Ren and the other people I dimly sensed nearby as I pushed my reach to its limits. They were deep, deep beneath the surface, hidden below a…kilometer of dirt? More? How did they even…the Cruach, maybe? But they shouldn't be this far east, they were…

"How many?" My father finally asked and I switched tracks to try and count.

Then I just gave up.

"A lot," I said, finally looking up at him. The rest of his team was nearby, as was Ren's grandfather, all of them frowning at the ground. "Thousands, tens of thousands, maybe more. There's a network of tunnels that…I can't feel the whole thing, but it's at least as big as this town."

"Well," My father said, sighing. "Fuck."

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Caverns

Credit where credit was due, my father had been a Hunter for decades and, in that time, had seen some shit. As such, he recovered quickly, cracking his neck once before nodding firmly and taking charge.

"Keppel, Carmine, go check what we talked about, just in case," He said. "Onyx, if you would?"

"You got it," He said, kneeling to play a hand on the ground. As he closed his eyes, my father took a step towards me, his eyes serious.

"Are you sure, Jaune?" He asked. I wasn't certain if he was asking about if I sensed the tunnels or if I was sure about the extent of them, but either way, I nodded.

"As sure as I can be without checking it out myself," I said. "You know my senses are good."

He exhaled slowly through his nose.

"I do that," He muttered. "Onyx?"

"The kid's not wrong," Onyx said, opening his eyes. "I can definitely feel tunnels and they extend all the way out of my range. There's motion, too, though I can't tell what from here—but if your son says they're Grimm, I'd believe it. Was this why I was sent along?"

"If it was, Oz forgot to mention it," My father grunted, frowning before nodding to himself. "Nothing for it, though. I trust both of you; you tell me there's Grimm, there's Grimm. The question is 'Why?' And is this recent or has this been going on all along? And if so, what drew the Grimm to attack now of all times?"

"Good questions, Jack," Onyx said. "If you're expecting an answer, though, be advised I've got no fucking clue. Kid?"

I shook my head before tilting it to the side.

"I could figure out some of it," I mused. "I'd need some dirt samples from the tunnels, but if I had that, I could probably determine how recently the tunnels were dug."

"Yeah?" Onyx lifted an eyebrow.

"He's got good eyes," My father answered, crouching. "Okay, that should be doable. The safety of this town comes first, but if there's a massive mobilization of Grimm beneath the surface…we need to know why, what they're doing, where they're going, and if this is a singular thing. You said the tunnel extend beyond either of your ranges? Then it's possible that this is just something small, relatively speaking; a kilometer down, they could escape a lot of notice and if they could do thishere…"

"They came up under Mr. Marrowy's house," Ren interjected, drawing our attention. "Could they have done that elsewhere, too? Under other houses?"

We all exchanged glances.

"Maybe," My father said honestly. "Onyx, Jaune, could you tell?"

"If I look," I nodded. "It could take a while, though; it's possible the Marrowy tunnel was just the first to be completed. To be safe, I'd want to look at least a fourth of a kilometer under each house. Should I get started?"

"In a minute," My father said, looking around. "You and Ren can check the rest of the village to make sure it's safe. Is there anything else you can tell us about the tunnels?"

I considered that for a moment, frowning slightly.

"I could draw you a map, I think," I mused. "At least of what I can sense. There are a few tunnels that stand out because of how big they are and several…chambers, I guess, large enough for a lot of Grimm to gather in. The tunnel that led to the surface was tiny in comparison, an offshoot of one of the higher passages. I can't tell which direction the tunnels are going, but…there are a few that get relatively close to the surface. And some of them are pretty huge."

"Onyx, see what else you can learn from the tunnels nearby," My father said, accepting my words. "Ren, if you could get some paper?"

Both man and boy inclined their heads and were quickly gone, leaving my father and I alone.

After a moment, my dad sighed again, shaking his head.

"What's the plan now?" I asked.

"We try not to fuck this up, mainly," He snorted before looking down at me in concern. "Situations like this are the worst. With the Grimm this close by…"

"We can't evacuate, can we?" I murmured.

"No," He said. "You don't evacuate a town because something good is happening, which means people get worried when it happens and then they start getting scared—especially when Hunters do it. It carries the notion that we can't handle the problem and if we can't, what are they supposed to do? But that fear just makes things worse; a call to evacuate might be enough to provoke the Grimm to attack. We have to make it seem like things are under control."

"Even when they totally aren't."

"Even when they totally aren't," He agreed. "Especially then. You'd be shocked how often something nearly goes catastrophically wrong while we all swear up and down that everything's okay."

"I really wouldn't be," I said, looking down. I considered my words carefully for a moment, pondering an idea before speaking. "If there are no other paths to the surface, I could set Sanctum Sanctorum up over the hole. At the very least, it should give us an edge if we need to stand our ground. I could do it with one of the bigger houses, too, but…if we herded all the civilians in and locked them up, they'd probably end up drawing more and more Grimm until it was too much to handle. Might work as a last resort if we had to try and wait until help arrived, but…"

He nodded.

"Don't want to do that unless we really have to," He said. "And if we have to…"

He sighed slowly, looking up at the sky.

"We should call for reinforcements anyway, though," He murmured. "Something on this scale…the mere implications are terrifying. We need to make such Ozpin knows what's going on, get people on standby if things go as badly as they could, and get some help out here. If it was your mother and I…"

"Yeah," I said. "You want me to make the call or…?"

"No, I'll do it," He said. "Besides Ozpin, there are a few people who need to be told of something like this and they…well, they wouldn't recognize you. It's best they see my face to make sure there are no unnecessary delays—with something like this, we have to move fast and act intelligently."

"Okay," I nodded. "What should I do, then?"

He eyed me again and pursed his lips.

"Can you get an Earth Elemental?" He finally asked. "You have all of the basic four, but you also have Metal, so…"

I understood and waggled a hand.

"It should definitely be possible," I said. "Shouldn't even be a problem for an Element like that, but…every time I get an Elemental, it knocks me out for about six hours for this whole dream vision thing. At first I thought it was just because the ritual was exhausting, but it happened three times and I made some pretty huge improvements in-between the first and second. Instead…I think it's really more of a part of the ritual itself then just a side effect. I can go do it right now, but I'd be worried…"

I shrugged.

"I get it," He grunted. "No way of knowing what might happen in six hours when you have an army of Grimm at your doorstep—or under your ass, as the case may be. I suppose it doesn't matter, since we have Onyx, it's just…well, I wouldn't mind having the earth on my side if it came to a fight underground."

"Having the forces of nature back you up is pretty awesome," I agreed, smiling when he rolled his eyes. "I can send my other Elementals down, if you need them. Maintaining them is pretty trivial now, though they'll be pushing my range; they could cause their fair share of havoc. It's just…"

I looked down at the ground.

"I don't know how many are down there," I admitted quietly. "The tunnels go in every direction—including down. I told you about the chambers? Well, there are some that are big enough and deep enough, I can't feel the bottom. If a sudden attack provokes a response…"

"You think they'll strike at the surface?" He asked. "That they'd recognize there was a human somewhere behind your Elementals?"

"I don't know," I half-shrugged, smiling bleakly. "That's more intelligence then I'd expect from most of the Grimm, but…"

I thought of the Goliath and of Ozpin's story.

"…That's been going around lately," I finished, looking away. "And these tunnels…if they are new, if they aren't some massive work in progress—and I honestly don't know which I think is worse—then I can't help but think that I know of a few Grimm that could do something like this. Like the Cruach."

My father sighed deeply.

"The thought occurred to me, as well," He said. "But those Grimm shouldn't be here."

"Yeah," I bobbed my head to the side. "But then, that's been going around, too."

He huffed out a slight laugh, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I suppose it has," He acknowledged. "I'm going to take Onyx and go check out the tunnels. We need more information before we do anything else."

"Should I come along?" I asked. "My senses are the best out of all of us; whatever's there, I'm most likely to find it."

"You are," He nodded, sighing again. "Unfortunately, you're so useful I need you doing other stuff. If there's another attack, you're the most likely to notice and be able to respond. If anyone's injured, you're the only healer. If the worst happens, you're the only one with a chance of actually evacuating the town. Your eyes, your elementals, your barriers, your…everything; this village is still our priority for the moment and you're the one best equipped to defend it. I could use you down there—but I need you up here."

"Yes, sir," I nodded, a bit disappointed and just a tad worried. "I'll keep it safe."

"I'll have Keppel and Carmine stay back, too," My father continued. "Both of their powers…well, they wouldn't enjoy using them in the tunnels and neither would I. I'll tell them to trust your senses."

"Got it," I said and peered at him carefully. "You're not just doing this to keep me safe, are you?"

He ruffled my hair, laughing.

"Are you kidding?" He said with a wide grin. "I just know that if your mother gets here and finds out I brought you down into the tunnels with me, I wouldn't come back up."

"What a selfish motivation," I sighed, shaking my head ruefully. "I was really touched for a minute there, but then you had to go and ruin it."

"It's what I do, kid," He put his other hand in my hair and made a complete and utter me of it with a laugh. I waited patiently for him to stop and then used a basic application of my Disguise ability to smooth it in a few second, casting him a superior look when he frowned. "Anyway, you handle things up here until your mother arrives, okay? I have to go make that call and then I'll go."

"Wait," I stopped him, catching his wrist. "Before you leave, let me do something; I'll find Onyx in a minute, too. This'll only last half an hour, but…it should help some. Find me again before you go and I'll freshen it up, too."

I took a deep breath, guiding my Aura.

"Haste," I said. "Regeneration, Feather Fall, Firepower, Mountain's Strength, Unbroken Steel. There, that should be enough."

"Oh?" My dad said, lifting his hand as I let go of his wrist. "You told me about these, yeah, but…this is kind of neat. It's not gonna cost you, is it?"

"Please," I snorted. "It only costs thirty MP. Even if I buff both of you, I regenerate more MP than that in half a minute. I guess I'll buff everyone else, too; there's no reason not to. Keppel, Carmine, Ren, and Hui…that's nothing."

"It is nice having someone like you along for these missions," My dad smiled, flexing his fingers. "Half an hour, you said? After we finish up here, we'll see what ground we can cover before these wear off, then; just top me off before I head down."

"Okay," I shrugged. "Just let me find Ren and I'll make you that map. If you move quickly, you should be able to get through a lot of it."

XxXXxX

Finding Ren wasn't a problem and he'd gotten a pen and paper as requested. I sat down and drew out the parts of the tunnel system I'd seen, drawing the map on several different pages to indicate the deeper levels. I marked the different tunnels to show approximately how long they were and sized them as accurately as I could. I also circled the ones where I'd sensed high Grimm activity and then outlined in blue all of the tunnels that connected to the one that led to the surface, drawing a series of paths across all the pages. With that, as long as they could figure out the right tunnels, they should be able to get back to the surface.

My dad ruffled my hair again as I handed him the pages, flipping through them quickly with a smile and a nod.

"You and Ren make sure the rest of the town is clear," He said. "Onyx and I will see what we can do. As big as this all looks, we'll need to be careful, but we should be able to get some idea of what's going on. You just hold down the fort and wait for your mother, okay?"

"Okay," I said, by head slightly bowed as his hand pushed it down. "Good hunting."

"You, too," He smiled, traces of worry in his face. "Top us off before we go?"

I reached up to grab his wrist and reapplied all my buffs as I removed his hand from my head. Reaching over, I set them all on Onyx, as well.

"Not gonna lie, kid," Onyx cracked his neck to the side as he flexed his massively armored right hand. The black armor made him look odd, making it seem as through his arms were several times too big for his body, but I was sure the size of his weapons gave him plenty of room to stash all sorts of tricks. "I could get used to having you around. Don't suppose you could boost my own power?"

I shook my head slightly.

"I haven't figured out how to do that, yet, sadly," I answered with a slightly regretful sigh. That between the White Whale thing, the attack on the Dust mine, and the whole fuss with Ziz, people had gotten a little worried about the future and there'd been a bit of a Dust run. Nothing major—at least, not after a few months—but it was still enough to jack up prices and make the rarer types a bit harder to come by, and I'd decided to just wait for them to come back down and build up my wallet before just buying a bunch of everything. But now…in many ways, I suppose I reap what I sow.

"A shame," He shrugged. "But I guess I'm just getting spoiled, now. A healer and long-range sensor who can also strengthen me? Well, why can't you do everything else, too, huh?"

He smirked down at me and then looked at my father.

"We better go, though; make the most of the time we've got," He said. "Any luck and we'll be back before it even wears off. If not…"

"I'll be able to sense that you're alive," I said.

Onyx laughed a little bit, glancing my way again.

"I am gonna get spoiled." He smirked. "Keep an eye on us, then, kid. I'll go open the way, Jack."

My father gave him a nod and looked at me as silence lingered for a bit.

"If I have to, I'll lead a search party down, when mom arrives," I told him quietly. "She'll be really upset if you make her come rescue you, though."

At those words, he smiled.

"Can't have that, now can we?" He mused. "I'll make sure to come back fine, then. Really, though, who do you think you're talking to, Jaune?"

"The guy I inherited my ability to get into trouble from," I answered swiftly and he put a hand over his heart.

"Ouch," He said. "That hurts, son. What if this is the last thing you ever say to me?"

"Then your eulogy is gonna go something like 'We are gathered here today because this one asshole couldn't stay alive,'" I replied, making sure my face was completely serious.

He turned away slightly, leaning back as he laughed loudly, and then threw an arm over my shoulders and pulled me close.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," My father said. "But I'll still come back, okay?"

"Okay," I answered quietly. "Be safe."

"Mm," He hummed as he let me go and walked away.

I watched him go in silence, Ren by my side. The other boy had been quiet as we said our goodbyes, probably out of respect, but as my father left, he muttered something low enough that only I could here.

"Your father seems like a good man."

"He is," I replied the same way. "Here."

I set a hand on his shoulder and layered all of my buffs over him, shooting his Aura through with curling bands of bright colors. He took a sudden breath and then slowly exhaled, nodding his thanks at me.

"Your mother is coming?" He asked, changing the topic. "You come from a family of Hunters, then?"

"Yup," I answered. "Mom, Dad, seven sisters, and now me. And you? Do you come from a hunting family, as well?"

He tilted his head slightly and nodded.

"I suppose I do," He mused aloud, shaking his head. "It's not something I usually think about."

I nodded, pretty sure I understood but not wanting to pry.

"My dad said Mom would be here soon, along with her team," I said. "That's eight Hunters and when my parents work together, they're a very powerful team. Depending on what my father finds and what Ozpin and the Council decide, even more might be on their way, but…"

I trailed off. I wanted to promise that his village would be safe, but we both knew there was no way of really knowing if that was true. If something happened, if there were enough Grimm down there, if…

But Ren just nodded, accepting the words despite how bad I was with reassurances.

"We should check the rest of the village, then," He said. "If it's just a matter of defending against single point of attack, we'd be vastly better off, but if they've been tunneling up under houses…"

Then this town way well already be lost.

I didn't say that out loud, but I didn't have to.

"Yeah," I said. "Better to find out now, right?"

XxXXxX

The good news was that our search didn't turn up anything huge. A few tunnels extended high enough to make we wary, but even the nearest was a good two hundred meters below the surface. All told, it could have been a lot worse, even though it was definitely something we needed to keep an eye on—but for now, at least, it didn't seem like anything would spring up underneath one of the houses and murder everyone inside. How long it would take to change that if they had Cruach down there was anyone's guess, but there was not an immediate danger. Once this was all over, though, those tunnels…something would need to be done about them. They led right under the village, out to some place where Grimm could obviously get into them, and there were a bunch of people on top of it all just waiting to have a bad day. Once I had more time and an Earth Elemental…

But anyway, nothing was currently in the process of tearing off our faces and eating them. That was the good news.

The bad news was, Onyx and my father hadn't come back. As I said before, I could sense them and knew they were alive, but though it had taken several hours to check the whole town, they hadn't returned. Which meant they'd either found something or, worse case scenario, something had found them.

I wasn't too worried, because I knew my father's strength and could roughly keep an eye on him thanks to my ability to sense life. The way I saw it, if something was trying to kill him, he'd probably be running a hell of a lot fast then he was right now, so I chose to take his delay as good news.

But I set a Safe Haven over the hole, just in case things went wrong, and sat down to wait for their return. Ren left to check on the villagers one last time, as well as to speak to a friend, but then came to join me, bringing a pair of lawn chairs and some water bottles to make it a tad more comfortable. Then we just sat down to wait and see what crawled out.

For several hours. It wasn't very exciting but we both made do—and at least it gave me a chance to keep track of my father's progress through the tunnels. Still, I was left wondering when—

"Ren!" A voice suddenly called, making my attention shift. The voice was bright, energetic, lively and…well, it stood out, given the atmosphere. "There's another airship coming!"

In the Wake of the Storm
LV40
Nora Valkyrie

I looked her over once—orange hair, pale complexion, clothes that would have made her stand out even if her level hadn't, and a weapon that my Observe said would transform into either a Warhammer or grenade launcher—and then looked up at the sky. Sure enough, there was an airship a ways off and quick shift in perception was all it took to know that my mother was on it.

"Nora," Ren replied, glancing at me. I gave him a small nod as I returned to watching the tunnel. "Those must be the other Hunters I told you about. Could you bring them here when they arrive?"

"Okay, Ren!" She nearly sang, looking at me with interest. "And you're the healer, right?"

"That's me," I said. "You need something healed?"

"Nope," She shook her head with a smile. "I just heard about you from Ren. Whatcha doing?"

"Waiting for my parents," I said honestly. "Dad's down in the tunnels. Mom's up on that airship. Not much to do but wait right now. You?"

"Just guarding the wall while Ren's busy," She said before pausing. "Well, not right now. But I saw the airship and wanted to tell you. Anything interesting? Watching the wall's pretty boring."

"Can't say watching a hole in the ground is much better, but someone's gotta make sure the forces of darkness stay put, right?" I answered before poking her shoulder. "Here, just in case."

She oohed as I settled my power over her, giving her strength. With a gesture, she drew and unfolded her Warhammer and then twirled it like a baton excitedly.

"Magnhild's so light," She said, pleased. "How'd you do that?"

"I'm pretty good at making people stronger," I shrugged and she tilted her head, catching her hammer and resting it against her shoulder.

"Well," She said. "I'm pretty good at being strong."

I had to smile at that answer.

"We should get along well, then," I said before glancing past her. "And it looks like my mom and her team have landed. Could you—"

I paused, looking down. As all four members of my mother's team landed, I felt something shift beneath me, like a stone had been tossed into a still pond. All at once, things began to move, too sudden to have been anything but a reaction. But how? How could they possibly…and what did this mean? Had they been waiting for this, somehow? But why? What could possibly make them wantthis?

There was no way of knowing—but I did know what I had to do.

"Nora," I whispered. "I need you to get my mother, right now. My father's coming."

I looked up at both of them and took a breath.

"And so are all the Grimm."

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Fortress Defense

Thankfully, Nora didn't question me, she just gave me a quick nod and hurried off to get my mother. That was good, because with the amount of Grimm now rushing towards the surface, I just didn't have time to waste. A response that large…

We had to get ready to welcome them.

"Ren, tell your grandfather to handle the civilians," I turned towards the other boy, expression focused. "Tell him to do whatever he can, but focus on keeping them calm. When the Grimm reach the surface, we're going to have to keep them focused on us, but if they start to scatter…there's enough of them that a lot of people are going to die. I'll do everything I can to keep things quiet over here, but he needs to keep the people busy and away from here. And if you find the rest of my father's team, send them this way."

"This isn't really something we can keep quiet," Ren answered, a sudden tension in his body.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," I answered, cracking my neck as Levant manifested invisibly behind me. "I can do all sorts of things. Now go."

He hesitated for a moment before nodding as well. I knelt the moment he was gone, reaching my senses deep into the ground.

"Dad," I whispered, Levant carrying my voice to his ear. "The way you're running, I take it you've noticed the Grimm are moving. I know why—I mean, I'm not sure about the reason behind it, but I know why. Mom's team just landed and they started moving the moment they did. Somehow, for some reason, they're reacting to us, to Hunters. I don't know if this was a trap meant to draw us out somehow or what, but I'm all but sure that it's us they're after. But with the village behind us…"

I let that sink in before continuing.

"I've set up a Safe Haven at the entrance to the tunnel, but I'm waiting for everyone else to arrive to do more. Mom and her team are almost here and I have Elder Hui handling the civilians. As is, I think I can silence the area with Levant and keep the villagers from hearing what's happening which should keep them from drawing even more Grimm, but if we fail…Get up here soon, Dad."

I finished as I sensed my mom approaching and turned before I even heard her call out to me.

"Jaune!" She shouted before muttering something to her team, telling them to give her a moment. Then she ran ahead of them to reach my side, eyes focused on the cleared away hole in the ground. "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad," I answered quietly, my voice barely more than a whisper. "A lot of Grimm are coming up. At least five digits worth."

She nodded tightly.

"And your father?" She asked.

"On his way. He went into the tunnels a few hours ago to check things out, but something delayed him. I contacted him just now, told him what was happening, and he'll be here in just a minute. Right now, I'm just working on setting up barriers; Safe Haven's already up."

"I noticed," She said quietly. "How much room can you give us?"

"A fair bit," I shrugged. "I could cover a sports field, maybe. I can't shield the ground because the Grimm could just dig around and pop out somewhere else, though. If you think it's safe, I might be able to ditch the roof, too. If I'm just making four walls, I could make it a little larger. I should be able to clip the wings of any airborne Grimm that try to fly out, so…"

She squinted, looking around the area with a furrowed brow before nodding.

"Do it," She said. "We'll need room to fight if we're going to keep them contained. Do everything you can to give us that without risking the Grimm running free. Besides, there's a storm coming. Not having a ceiling can only help."

I nodded, knowing what she meant.

"I could make two halves of a barrier using Sanctum and Sanctum Sanctorum, if you think the size is worth the weaker prison," I suggested.

"How much of a difference will it make?"

I could only shrug in response.

"Depends on what's hitting it and how often," I said. "The whole thing would be about half as strong in theory, but…to be honest, I wouldn't want to let an army of Grimm start wailing on it either way. The way Grandmother described it in her story, they used it to fend off the small Grimm while Hunters dealt with the larger ones. I can probably withstand the attacks of any small fry, but if something big gets at it…I don't know. How well it can hold back an army isn't really the type of thing I've gotten a chance to test. Until now, I guess."

She took a slow breath and shook her head.

"Do what you think is best," She said at last. "You'd know better than I would. We'll try to keep the Grimm off the walls in any case, but…just in case, how long will it take you to put it back up if it falls?"

"Not too long," I said, calculating. "Depends on which barriers I put up."

I looked around, considering possible setups.

"I could split it," I mused aloud. "Like a sports field, again. Have the hole on that side, with Sanctum and Safe Haven to lock them in and wear them down faster. Have Sanctum Sanctorum and Temple on this side giving us a benefit, healing, and helping me regain MP. If I set up now…"

"Please," Isabelle said and I around to make sure everyone who was supposed to be here was. Ren had returned with Keppel and Carmine and Nora had come back with my mother's group. With my father and Onyx coming up from the hole soon…I focused and felt invisible barriers rise into place around us.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one.

"Isabelle, what's going on?" A red-haired man I vaguely remembered asked, squinting around us.

The Four Gates on the Crimson River
LV 71
Tyrian Sour

"Jaune's setting up a perimeter to keep any Grimm from escaping," My mother said. "It should hold so long as we don't let them test it too much. Familiarize yourself with the boundaries and Jaune will show you the important areas established within."

"Not much to say," I shrugged when eyes turned my way. "I have it set up so that the Grimm are weaker over here and we're stronger over there."

"You can do that?" Tyrian asked, eyebrows lifting slowly.

"My barrier, my rules," I said. "Also, one sec."

I put a hand on my mother's shoulder and layered my buffs on her quickly before going to the others one by one, laying hands on them for a second which got me a few odd looks, except from those who'd already seen it.

"Well," A brunette about my mother's age murmured, tilting her head at me. She was wearing armor almost the exact color as her hair and layered in heavy, heavy plates—as in, the whole thing probably weighed nearly as much as she did. "Aren't you full of surprises?"

The Four Walls and the Iron Ring
LV 68
Castanea Beech

"I try," I answered after a moment as I finished layering buffs on all of the Hunters.

"Castanea, Tyrian," My mother said to her teammates. "My son will be serving as support. Should the barriers fall, he can put them back up. Should one of us get hurt, he can get us back together. Pretty much anything we need to do our jobs, he can probably provide—so make sure he stays in one piece, will you?"

"Got it," Tyrian grunted.

"As for you…" My mother paused, squinting at the two locals.

"Ren and Nora," I said quietly and she nodded at once.

"Ren, Nora, you'll be doing the same," She said. "Your job is to protect Jaune. Should the situation change, I'll tell you where you're needed. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ren replied, nodding once while Nora merely tilted her head, both hands on her hammer.

"Tenne, you're with me in front," My mother continued. "We'll play offense. Keppel, Carmine, you too."

Tenne stepped up to my mother's side without a word, hands resting near the five thousand or so dust rounds at his belt. He didn't have a gun anywhere I could see—but even if I hadn't seen his title, I'd have remembered why. He was pretty famous for it and he was one of my mom's teammates I did remember well.

The Silent Shot
LV 72
Tenne Coup

The Cordelia's took up position just as quickly, armor of ice forming over Keppel's arms, leading down to claws nearly twenty centimeters on each finger and seemingly razor sharp.

"You know," He mused to his wife as the armor began to grow over his chest and down his legs. "The upside of this whole barrier thing is that they won't be able to run away like cowards. But thedownside is that we won't be able to run away like cowards, either."

Carmine, for her part, merely smiled and tapped a finger on her sheathed blade, which brought a smirk to Keppel's face as well. I figured it was an inside joke of some kind, especially when he leaned over and kissed her quickly on the lips.

"No helping it, I guess," He said. "I suppose we'll just have to kill them all so we can go home, won't we, my love?"

The Blood-Stained Snow
LV 66
Keppel Cordelia

The Blade That Boils Flesh
LV 71
Carmine Cordelia

Moving with clockwork precision, the Hunter's got into their positions and I moved to take mine, back within the Temple and Sanctum Sanctorum. As I passed her, my mother stopped me with a touch.

"In an emergency, could you get the townsfolk out with Naraka?" She asked quietly.

I was quiet for a moment before answering.

"Some of them, maybe," I said. "But that many people and with such a long way to safety…even against just Beowolves…"

She nodded acceptingly.

"And the Grimm?"

I didn't need to ask what she meant, so I answered honestly.

"I don't know," I shook my head. "They're acting strange again. If I try…I can be sure nothing will intervene or that they might not have measures. Take a lot of power, too, and add more Grimm."

I exhaled slowly, glancing down.

"Not that it'd matter if we couldn't handle them in the first place. They'll just reappear after they kill us."

She was silent for a moment, long enough to make me wonder what she was thinking, before patting me on the shoulder and sending me to my position.

Then we waited. The earth began to rumble slightly after a minute or so passed, my senses reminding me constantly of what was drawing near her, but as my father's signal came closer, I reached out to my mother, giving her a silent signal. She raised a hand as motion appeared in the tunnel and a hand grasped the edge.

"Everybody relax," My dad said, pulling himself out of the hole. Dirt clung to his arms, pants, face—but his smile was as bright and confident as he reached down to pull Onyx up as well. "The cool kids have arrived."

"He's not wrong," Onyx nodded, lifting his hand with a shrug.

"We really should shoot everything that crawls out of that hole," Tenne murmured quietly to my mother. "Just to be safe."

"Tempting, but he's grown on me," She answered back.

"Tumors do that sometimes," Her teammate answered, which made her chuckle slightly before lifting her voice.

"Jack, get out of the way," She called. "That's where things stand when they want to die."

He snorted but went to my mother's side while Onyx glanced over the crowd and moved back near me. I reached over and healed him as he came close, erasing whatever exhaustion he felt and then reapplying his buffs. He nodded in thanks as he knelt and sunk the fingers of his massive, armored arms into the dirt like it was cotton, eyes focused ahead.

"Jaune said you took your time," My mother whispered.

"They were hiding something," My father answered. "I was trying to get to it without setting them off, but Jaune said you blew that plan right to hell."

"Whine, bitch, moan, repeat," Mom shook her head, eyes trained forward. "How bad do you think it is?"

"Can't rightly say," He took a slow breath and then exhaled. "But I guess we'll find out."

The rumbling intensified and then the earth broke open, releasing a tide of darkness—who found two teams of hunters waiting for them when they arrived.

That first wave of Grimm practically evaporated.

My mother opened affairs by stomping hard on the ground, turning everything between her and the hole into lava. The Grimm sank into the molten earth, burning and even melting, and yet struggling forward even as they screamed. More viscous then water, they managed to crawl across it somewhat before they gave in at last and collapsed. More lava began to flow down the tunnel, angled to flow right into the rising tide, and I heard other screams come from the muffling depths of the earth.

But death and pain weren't enough to stop the Grimm. More climbed from the depths, striding over the bodies of their follows when necessary and pushing on even as mere proximity to the lava made them burn. The heat was so intense that even from the back row I could feel its harsh touch upon my face, but even as the Grimm collapsed and crawled and died, those behind them did not stop. Larger species rose as the first waves fell, the fields of boney spikes upon their backs a sign of their age and experience, and it was they who ran across the melting, smoking remains of the first wave of Grimm.

Tenne shot them down without a sound. A bullet floated from his side to hover above his open hand and then flashing across the open ground. He was a telekinetic specializing in small objects like my father, but the difference lied in the specifics as it tended to with Semblances. In Tenne's case, he couldn't control anywhere near as many objects as my father, nor could he manipulate them as finely.

But what he did control, he could move very, very quickly.

Little more than a blur even to my Clairvoyance, the bullet flashed across the open space, tracing in and out of the bodies of Grimm—through limbs, through heads, through everything in its path. Its course seemed erratic, shifting darting zigzags to graceful loops, but it slaughtered everything it came near regardless. I saw my mother taking slow, deep breaths as stood at the very edge of the lava, drops of sweat making trails down her face; whether it was because of the heat or if it was simply tiring to keep the lava from cooling, I wasn't sure. Still, for nearly two minutes she and Tenne slaughtered every Grimm brave enough to show their face, creating a pile of bodies high enough to hide the hole from sight. Looking at it, seeing the power of just two Hunters working together…it was amazing to watch.

And yet, though they'd killed perhaps three hundred Grimm in less than two minutes, it wasn't enough. I doubted Ren and Nora noticed, wondered if even the other Hunters could truly saw it, but after a while, Tenne's bullet stopped passing through the Grimm and started leaving pockmarks and cracks. Whereas before, it would pass through one skull on the way to the next, it soon began to bounce off, needed a second hit to the same location to truly penetrate, then three, four, or more. Soon, the tide they'd stemmed continued forth as more armored monstrosities rose from the earth, creatures durable enough to shrug off bullets and wade through lava.

"Carmine," My father said quietly and the married Huntress stepped forward, drawing her sword with a crack of her neck and a small smile. With the flick of a wrist, the broadsword sagged, breaking into a dozen sections connected by metal cords as it curled into a pile as her feet. Her aura crawled over the blade more slowly than I would have expected, the very faint red rising from the blade like a heat shimmer. Once it had fully encompassed the blade, she tilted her head and looked at my father.

He merely stared forward for a minute, watching the tide of Grimm advance further with each reiteration until they'd reached half way and kept going.

"Kill them," He said at last and Carmine swung her whip-sword in a single, wide sweep that cut through the approaching Grimm as easily as it did the air. Their flesh turned to smoke at the touch of the blade and they fell in pieces as the vaporizing blade tore through their ranks. The blade retracted and the process repeated, Carmine waiting for the Grimm to close in each time, for my father's command to strike, and then slaughtering wave after wave.

My mother let loose a breath and took a step away from the field of lava, drawing her sword instead.

"No point," She said at my father's glance and he nodded once before turning his attention back to the battle. Despite the Grimm's roars, the sound of tearing earth, and everything else, our side was quiet and focus, ready for anything they could throw at us.

Or at least, that's what I thought before a field of spikes erupted from the ground, forcing us all to dodge swiftly.

"Holy shit," Onyx swore. "Where the fuck did you come from!?"

It took me a moment to understand what he meant—for me to understand what I was sensing. When I did, I stared down at the spear I'd reflexively dodged in mild disbelief and looked over the hundreds just like it that covered perhaps two-thirds of the battlefield. They rose from the lava as easily as the dirt, each as long as the fin of a shark—fitting as they quickly began to move and we were all forced to dodge as they tore circular tracks in the earth, leaping between the spikes to try and reach safety.

But there wasn't any safety to be found because they weren't spikes. They were…

"They're teeth," I shouted, raising my voice with Levant to make sure I was heard. "There's something beneath us!"

"Say what!?" Tyrian shouted even as he clapped his hands and a circular plane of energy appeared, floating in the air above the center of the field. We all leapt for it as tilled dirt and lava flowed towards the center of the spikes and down a massive gullet.

And then we saw what it belonged to.

Tyrian's barrier shattered as it rose into the air with an earth-splitting shriek, teeth punching through it like paper and sending us flying. It rose high in the air, far above the top of my barrier, and shrieked again as if to remind all of mankind who owned this world—and destroying any chance we had of keeping the civilians from panicking in the process, I imagined. It was white, mostly, it's massive hide layered in scales of Grimm bone marked in red. As its neck curved, I got to see its teeth once more, lining the inside of its mouth in countless, wicked rows.

And as it looked at us—if something with neither eyes nor a true head could look at us—it made a strange sound. Scales and teeth rubbed together with a rasp that should have had no meaning, and yet…I couldn't help but think it was laughing. It bent its neck once more, tore through my Sanctums like they'd been made of spider webs, and dove back into the earth.

"Shit," I heard someone shout and it wasn't hard to see why. It wasn't even aiming at us, not really, but if something that large hit us on its way down…

I grit my teeth and reached out a hand to grab Ren and Nora, the pair closest to me, calling upon Levant to help me throw them far away. They flew into a nearby building, Ren landing graceful as Nora smashed down a wall, and both hit the ground running. Tyrian and Castanea leapt from platform to platform, using their powers to make footholds and escape, but I saw Onyx falling towards the ground, helpless in the air.

With a grunt, I thrust out a palm, a blast of air sending both of us flying. He smashed a massive arm into the side of a building and threw himself up onto the roof while I landed opposite him, eyes on the creature. I thought I heard him shout something at me, but if so I lost it as the colossal beast came down and ate half the street before vanishing into the bowels of the earth.

For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of falling rubble and debris as loose earth and broken buildings came crumbling down. I reached out with my senses to locate all the others and leapt toward my parents, landing beside them on a floating platform of ice shards—a collaboration between Keppel and my father, I imagined. After a few seconds, Tyrian, Castanea, and Onyx found us as well, followed shortly by Ren and Nora, each panting slightly with dust on their faces.

"What the fuck was that?" Onyx snarled, peering over the edge to look down at the former street.

"Crom Cruach," I heard my mother whisper. "It's Crom Cruach."

"No," Onyx said, looking at her in disbelief. "What? No. God damn it, no. Fucking fuck, no."

Nobody replied for a moment, probably just understanding the feeling, but then my father placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Jaune?" He asked and I closed my eyes.

"I don't sense it," I replied after a moment. "But I didn't sense it before, until it was right below us. It moved fast. I wasn't looking, but…"

"I was looking," Onyx said. "Hand my hands in the dirt to make sure nothing popped up and gave us a nasty surprise, but…fuck, I'm with the kid; it was just suddenly there. I moves through the ground as fast as anything I've ever seen on land."

"Jack," Keppel said quietly.

"I know," He answered. "Isabelle, call Ozpin and tell him to upgrade our status from 'Fucked' to 'Really, Really Fucked.' If that thing is involved…"

She already had her scroll out and was typing away at it. Far beneath us, I heard the Grimm follow in Crom Cruach's wake, a huge mass of the crawling from the enormous pit that it had left behind. In the distance, villagers began to scream, making my father curse.

"You two," He said to Ren and Nora. "Go help Hui keep the villagers safe. We'll do what we can here, but we need to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Just try to…"

He trailed off and shook his head, probably realizing how ridiculous the mere idea of keeping everyone from panicking was now, but Ren swallowed and nodded firmly. Even Nora's bubbly demeanor seemed to fade as she looked out over her village and the Grimm now swarming it.

"Nora," Ren whispered. "It won't happen again."

She nodded once, weighing her hammer in a hand before leaping into the village, Ren following a moment after.

"Everyone else, we've got a job to do," My father said to his fellow Hunters, who had all positioned themselves at the edge of the floating platform except for my mother. "So go do it."

As one, they leapt down into the river of dark bodies and began tearing the Grimm apart. I saw spears of earth and ice stab up at the sky as Onyx and Keppel landed, impaling dozens of Grimm above their teeming ranks. Tyrian and Castanea began raising shields and walls of energy and light as Tenne and Carmina carved a swath through the monsters, but…

"Jaune," My father stopped me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I should stay here," I answered, looking at him. "I can do the most good supporting you."

"That's not what was going to say," He shook his head. "Or not quite. I just you to know, if things get bad here…"

"I'll get us all out," I said. "If I have to, I can do that, at least. Naraka should…"

My father was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Yes," He said. "Just…remember. I…"

He stopped himself as a drop of water hit his face, looking up at the storm that had finally arrived with a bleak smile.

"Fitting," He said before looking down at me with a smug, confident look. "Well, might as well make the most of it, eh? Want to help me with this son?"

I smiled back at him as we both lifted out hands—and greeted the Grimm below with a clap of thunder. With our control of the water and air above, with the shifting of charges, we called to the lightning again and again. I assisted my father's aim, directed it a bit more accurately at the most heavily armored targets below as we pulled all the energy we could from the storm. The clouds turned darker and the storm worsened as we intensified it and feed it with our power and the Dust we had on hand, until the rumble of thunder seemed a constant thing. A dimly felt my mother finish sending her message and join the fray below, but the majority of my focus was on the skies above and my enemies below. We rained a display of nature's power down on the creatures of Grimm, dashed any monsters that drew our attention from the face of the world, and yet…and yet even still…

We couldn't kill them fast enough to stem the tide.

We tried anyway. When thunder and lightning weren't enough, we leapt to the ground and drew steel, my father tearing at the broken earth with his power as I drew my own around my body, raising it to enormous heights.

"Are you ready for this, son?" My dad was smiling fiercely as he lifted his hammer high.

"Of course," I answered, tracing Crocea Mors' blade as I crouched. A massive Ursa leapt at us and my father reduced it to paste. Before his hammer even hit the ground, though, I was off. Surrounded by dark shapes, I swung my sword with all my might, cleaving off heads and limbs without hesitation. I didn't stop except to restore my strength, didn't hesitate except to make sure I wasn't aiming at an ally—I kept moving forward.

At times, I saw the others; Onyx with a crushed Ursa in either hand, Carmine in a circle of corpses, Keppel in the shape of a monster of ice, Tenne switching to Dust rounds that exploded with each hit to take on the tougher specimens. I didn't see my mother at first, but as the bombs began to go off and massive structures formed in the air. Atop his throne, I saw my father laugh as blankets of fire, explosions of ice, areas of altered time, and distortions in gravity ripped through the ranks of our enemies. For just a moment, as the Grimm were pulled away and the field was momentarily cleared, I was able to look around and see that we were all alive—and who knows how many of our enemies weren't.

In that moment, that one moment, I believed we'd be okay. I believed that we'd be able to do it.

And then the moment passed.

Looking up as I was, I saw the smile drain from my father's face as he looked at the hole and turned to see the cause. Something was crawling from the pit, a Deathstalker more massive than any I'd ever seen, even in pictures, but…

That wasn't what had drawn my father's eye and it certainly wasn't what drew mine. Clinging to its back like baby scorpions were shells of pure white bone, jagged and layered but free of any sign of red or black, clean of any dirt. Compared to the creature that was carrying them, barring its tail threateningly, they were unassuming.

I looked back at my dad, something like terror filling me for an instant and I saw its mirror on his face. He drew a breath and almost unconsciously, I amplified the sound with Levant, making it carry through the battlefield and beyond.

"It's carrying a Pandora Shell!" He shouted, voice thunderous.

As one, every Hunter turned, eyes wide and terrified as they saw the Deathstalker and its bounty. I knew what they were all thinking; I was thinking it myself. Why? How? There shouldn't be any point, they shouldn't be able to break the shell—but what if they did?

We had to stop it. I don't think any of us knew what we were doing and we certainly didn't plan for it, but we ran for the monster. Carmine sheathed her sword instantly and my father pulled his bombs far away, both of them probably as afraid of the possibilities as I was, but we still attacked. A new flood of Grimm rose at the Deathstalker's heels, rushing around and over its body—large forms with countless spike-like growths, the older Grimm. With our biggest guns put away in fear, it was enough to stall our advance for a moment, forcing us back with the sheer weight of bodies.

And then I saw light, as if the clouds had cleared away to show the sun but coming from the ground instead of the sky. I looked down, not wanting to believe it, but—

Crom Cruach, I thought. You motherfucker.

I moved to…to run? In that moment, I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. Naraka, I thought. It was our only hope, but the mere thought that we had hope was enough to make my heart rise—and to crush it even more so when I realized I didn't have the power left. I had to—

The Deathstalker clicked its pincers, rustling as if pleased as the light behind it began to grow. With desperate speed, I reached into my Inventory to draw out a crystal and held it tight, draining it for power. A saw a column of light tear through the earth, sheering through a mountainside in the distance—and I saw it fade away as my barrier rose.

I did it, I thought, smile rising to my face. I—

My mother tackled me to the ground, grabbed me, and pulled me tight against her. For a moment, I thought it was a hug, that she was relieved—and then I was abruptly colder than I'd ever been in my entire life as air began to solidify around us. No, it was more than that even; I felt heat as well, the earth liquefying enough for us to sink into, sending a wave of agonizing heat through me even as I froze in place. It hurt, hurt unbelievably, and I didn't understand why she was…

Oh, I thought. She was trying to protect me. But I'd already saved us. I'd already—

And then I felt Naraka shatter, breaking from the outside. As it did, I knew the Pandora Shell had opened.

And I knew I'd failed.

I'd…

XxXXxX

MurazorChief EncyclopedistSuper Awesome Happy Fun Time

The Games We Play
Defeat

The White Tiger of the West rose around me. I didn't have a lot of choice and this wasn't the time to worry about secrets regardless. If the Pandora Shell had been opened, if its contents had been unleashed…

I tried not to think about it. I knew what it meant and couldn't delude myself to the contrary no matter how hard I tried, but that didn't meant I wanted to accept it-and I had something more immediate to worry about, anyway. The physical manifestation of my soul rose around me, breaking through the layers of solidified air with careful motions and sloughing off the shattered pieces like it would have rain. Curling its arms around the frozen forms of my mother and I, it lifted us both and tried to find a safe place to set us down.

It was harder than it sounded. Through the eyes of my soul, I saw dark splotches on everything in sight, as if it had rained mud or oil—and I didn't dare let any of it touch either of us. But in the end, there was no way to truly be sure anywhere was safe, regardless of what may have seemed obvious. Against this threat…

My mother had tried to bury me in lava and freeze me beneath layers of solid air to try and keep me safe from the Pandora Shell's opening. It was a desperate thing, so much so that I could feel her dying in my arms. I felt the agonizing cold myself, but to someone without a body like mine, temperature extremes like this must have been…

The Gamer's Body kept my flesh from breaking down under damage, keeping my wounds from really building upon one another or worsening. I didn't need to worry about blood loss or not being able to use a broken limb or the effects of exposure; I took damage, possibly at regular intervals or as a continuous effect, and that was that. Even having been dipped in lava and frozen to far, far below zero, I'd be fine as soon as I was out, especially once I'd had a chance to heal myself—but my mother's entire body must have been at risk of shutting down, her organs failing in the wake of the absurd changes in temperature. And with the amount of Aura she must have spent doing it, to say nothing of the fight beforehand…

At the moment…it was probably only my hold on her that kept her alive. I healed us both in shifts, trying to mend the damage as it occurred, but I needed to be able to do something. At the same time, though, I couldn't risk discarding the protection my mother had nearly died to give us any more than I could let her actually die. But if there was nowhere safe…

No choice, I thought as the White Tiger lifted a hand, flames gather above us in the form of a massive Flare that it immediately dropped on the street in front of us. It covered the road with a sheet of flames and I called out to Suryasta to stoke them higher and hotter. Levant guided the winds, drawing all the air nearby through the hottest parts of the flames again and again, trying my utmost to purify it all. In the midst of it all, I kept especially tight control over a carefully corralled pocket of air, keeping it from shifting to carbon dioxide in the flames. After a minute of focus, I let the flames die out—and then combined my affinities for fire and lightning to bake the area again. Finally, as my lungs began to burn and I was all but forcing my mother's heart to beat, I combined water and air to cool the pocket I'd formed enough to be breathable and set us down inside.

God, please let this be enough, I prayed as I freed us both from our icy prison and held my mother tight. I looked down at her face as my vision cleared and just the sight of her hurt. Her skin had gone nearly blue, but it went far, far beyond that. Her skin…in places it had cracked open and begun to slowly ooze blood that itself froze in ugly looking clumps. Frozen so harshly, her hair and eyelashes had broken in uneven clumps as we came free, literally snapping off. Bits of her lips had flaked off, revealing cracked and frozen teeth, but her eyes…her eyes were the worst, enough that I wanted to avert my own.

But I didn't. Free of our prison and the source of harm, I focused all my efforts on healing her, restoring the lost HP with Soulforge Restoration, casting Regeneration on her, and even expending a blue Dust crystal to try to mend the horrific damage her own defense had wrought. Only when I was done and she had ceased to look like a frozen statue did I pay attention to anything else.

First things first, I checked her over carefully and then glanced down at myself, exhaling slowly in relief. At first glance, we didn't seem to have been effected, which was good.

On the other hand, we seemed to be alone, which was very, very bad. If the others were gone…

I closed my eyes and let the jolt of sickness and terror fade before looking around and trying to piece together what had happened while I'd been frozen. I could see the odd hole in the ground that the pillar of light had made, as well as the matching wound it had left in a nearby mountain—a casual testament to Crom Cruach's power, that it could sheer a hole so deep with such easy. Beyond the marks, though, it hadn't done much but wipe out a few buildings. If he'd attacked again in the time I'd been preoccupied, I didn't see any signs of it, though he could have just been waiting to screw us over again, the son of a bitch.

Given the circumstances, though, I wasn't making him a priority—and good God did that say everything you needed to know about the current circumstances. But for the moment, he just wasn't the biggest problem and he seemed content to lie in wait, so I took a breath and moved on. The other Grimm had left the vicinity as well, though it was probably too much to hope that they'd run away or been defeated. Odds were better that they'd just continued their advance into the village and had started to slaughter innocent people.

Horrific as that was, it also wasn't my biggest problem. But since nothing appeared to be attacking me at the moment, I focused my attention on what was, spying a dark patch on the ground outside the limits of my safe zone, perhaps five meters away—which was about as close as I had any desire to get regardless.

Thankfully, I didn't need to draw nearer to accomplished what I desired. Focusing, I zeroed in on what I knew would be there, magnifying the dark splotch with my Clairvoyance and paying careful attention as it grew to consume my sight. I focused in until I could see the individual parts that made up the larger mass, magnifying it hundreds and hundreds of times over to see the truth within.

Most Grimm, for whatever reason, bore forms modelled after animals and other creatures. Some of them weren't based on a single creature, but you could often see traces even then. The terror released by the Pandora Shells was no different in that regard—it just modelled itself after something very, very small. Underneath the microscope of my vision, I saw the black forms and their white, protective shells. Flagella twisted and pili clung to one another, allowing the countless creatures to both stand still and move within the dark fluid they seemed to create. I saw several of the bacteria-like Grimm close in on a plant cell, penetrating the cell wall and then darkening it from within. In moments, the green color of the chlorophyll had faded.

Through my other set of eyes, I could see what that meant on a larger scale. The small flower that the Grimm cells had surrounded, a remnant from someone's garden that had miraculously survived the battle, quickly turned black as if rotting—but it didn't die. No, just the opposite; it grew, rising from a tiny blossom to a plant perhaps three feet tall. One by one, its bright yellow petals fell off and a new bud began to grow into place, colored bone white and blood red. In moments, the new flower blossomed, spreading petals of bone as if to remind the world that nothing on this planet was safe from the Grimm.

If that had been Autumn…

I pushed the thought aside with sheer force of will and continued to watch. With amazing speed, the new plant began its work, making what I assumed passed for 'pollen' in its eyes—in truth, densely packed clumps of the Grimm cells sent off to find more hosts. That was this plant's only purpose, I suppose; after all, everyone knew that the Grimm didn't really focus on plants or animals, even though they were living things that had Aura. These cells were probably just taking advantage of an opportunity.

In the end, what they were after was…

I destroyed the corrupted plant with a blast from the White Tiger, burning it and its spreading pollen away with a scorching blast. I watched under my microscope as the Grimm cells stood up to the blast for far longer than they should have been able to before finally beginning to burst and die. I held the blast until I was sure they were gone and let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

I'd heard the stories like everyone else; heard what could happen when these things got going. Durable enough to survive an explosion and light enough to be flung vast distances by it and be carried in countless ways. They could travel on air currents and in water—even hitch a ride into the water table, if they had a chance. They could survive a heavy boiling, literally crawl through conventional filtration, and once they got inside you, they…

"Now why'd you do that, son?" A voice asked. Focused as I'd been on the small scale, I hadn't even noticed anything approaching—but the voice was instantly familiar and for all that I'd known this was coming, it still filled me with dread.

I turned to face my father.

Or, at least, I turned to face the thing that was wearing my father's face. He hadn't changed as fully as some of the pictures I'd seen, but spikes and armor plates rose from the darkening flesh of his arms. A mask had already begun to form on his face, though not enough to truly make out its shape yet—at the moment, it covered only his forehead, the right side of his face, and his right eye, nothing standing out about it except for the crown-like ridges that rose from the top. It didn't cover his mouth in the slightest, though, and his smile was still the same. But…

?
LV92
?

I cast a glance at my mother and rose in front of her protectively, staying within the confines of my safety zone as I met my father's eyes.

"Who are you?" I demanded, even though the words hurt to give voice and he put his hand over his heart as my father had done a million times, feigning hurt.

"How can you even say that, Jaune?" He asked before smirking and letting loose a rolling laugh. "Can't you recognize your old man?"

"I can," I whispered, swallowing slightly. "So I ask again—who are you?"

"Oh? Does it not say?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he waved a hand above his head. "That's interesting…"

I said nothing, watching him carefully.

"I wonder…" He mused aloud. "Is it because I'm still settling in? Well, I don't really get out much, either. I've been given lots and lots of names, but which one's mine? Now that's an interesting question…perhaps I simply don't have a name?"

He tapped a finger against his lips and then his smile widened.

"For a long, long time, I was called 'Pestilence,' but I never really liked that name. If I get to choose, there is one I'm a little more fond of," He said, staring at me with his mismatched eyes. "The first name I was ever given was 'Conquest'—because I take everything you have and I make it mine. Of course, you can always just call me 'Dad,' Jaune."

I took a slow breath, watched him for a moment, and then exhaled.

It was hard to look at this thing wearing my father's flesh, enough to make me want to rage and cry at once—but I calmed down quickly and considered the situation. I was in a dangerous position, I knew that much—my mother unconscious, my father taken, and no real way of knowing when reinforcements would arrive. Hell, if they weren't informed of what was happening, if they made any mistakes, said reinforcements could just make things worse; my mother hadn't known about them when she sent her message, so they'd be flying in blind. Maybe they'd notice what was wrong and react properly, maybe they wouldn't, but it was risky either way. To complicate things further, the others…I had no idea who'd been able to react to the explosion or how well. Until proven otherwise, I had no choice but to assume everyone else had been infected.

I was alone in perhaps the most dangerous position I'd ever been in. Given its failure, I couldn't rely on Naraka to escape and there didn't seem to be anyone around to save me, either. All told, things were looking pretty bleak.

But even so, there was an opportunity here. It sent a spike of nausea through me, but this thing that had infected my father, that was continuing to infect him before my very eyes…it could speak. It was a Grimm that could speak, the only one I'd ever even heard of who could do so. Even in the records of previous outbreaks, there'd never been note of something like this. It was…as horrifying and sickening as it was, this was a chance I couldn't pass up.

"What do you want?" I asked finally.

"Beg pardon?" Conquest asked, blinking my father's eyes.

"You haven't killed me yet," I noted, looking around. "Haven't tried to infect me, either. I assume you aren't just feeling chatty."

"Oho," His smile widened. "You are smart—that's good. It makes this easier for all of us."

I said nothing, watching him carefully.

"Yes," He said after I didn't respond. "I want something from you, Jaune—and it's rare indeed that I want something I can't just take. But with your power, it's likely I wouldn't be able to take you, son. The Gamer's Body and Mind…what do I count as, any? An illness? A status effect? Or just another being? Either way, I hope you realize this is troublesome for me, too."

I relaxed a bit, if not visibly. I'd figured my power would give me some defense from the infection, but it hadn't been something I'd been eager to test. Having a second opinion was nice, even if it came from something like this thing.

"I apologize for the inconvenience," I said with all the civility I could muster. "I take it you have something else in mind, then?"

"Polite, too," He noted. "Yes, I do."

"Then I ask again," I replied. "What do you want?"

He tilted his head, looking contemplative.

"Well if I told you, I somehow suspect that you would never do it," He mused. "The question becomes, then, how do I make you do it without telling you?"

He sighed.

"To be honest, I don't have much experience with this. It's rare that I engage in bargains or negotiations, you see," Conquest said. "I can usually do away with such measures and just kill everything—or I used to be able to, back in the old days. Nowadays, we have to hold back, you know."

He was baiting me, I could tell, trying to get my interest—and it was working. I needed to find out everything I could while I had the chance and if he was willing to talk I had to listen. The more I knew, the better my currently abysmal odds were, and besides…

"In the old days," I repeated. "What constitutes as 'the old days' in your eyes, if I might ask? Am I mistaken in assuming you mean Babel?"

He flexed his fingers as additional spikes grew into place, eying me for a moment before nodding sharply.

"Ah, yes," He said. "Forgive me; it takes a while to go through the brain cells, you see. Yes, you call it Babel. I wasn't always cages up in those shells, you see—I was one of the oldest of us, you see, and there was a time when I was free to run rampant. We all were, really."

"'We'?" I asked.

"The ones who sleep, unless we have reason to wake," H shrugged. "You've met several of us, now. What do you call them…Ah, I see. You've seen Ziz and Crom Cruach—and me, of course. But there are others as well; the one's I told you stories about. Remember that, son? We have to sleep now, but once upon a time…well, needless to say, I remember those days fondly."

I took a breath and ignored the barbs.

"I see," I said calmly. "Why do you sleep then?"

He wagged his finger, chuckling.

"Now that would be telling," He answered. "And you really need to know why, anyway—not for what we need of you. But how do we get what we need from someone like you…I can see why my brother woke me up. I do have more experience dealing with people."

There it was—the possibility I hadn't wanted to face, but hadn't been able to keep from considering.

"It was because of me, then?" I asked. "I'm why you were here?"

He surprised me by simply shrugging again.

"I'm not sure, though I assume it has something to do with it," He told me. "I didn't really have time to speak to Crom before he left, you see; all I know is what I've taken from this man's brain. I'm sure you've noticed by now that you were lured here, no?"

"A Grimm sighting, to draw in the Hunters," I voiced my thoughts. "Further investigation reveals to extent of the problem and reinforcements are called for—and they draw a reaction. It was a trap from the beginning."

"Seems that way," He agreed, looking amused. "I don't know if I'd have been brought in for any sufficiently large group of Hunters or if you're just that special, though. Either way, when my brother woke me up to a whole lot of nothing, I was a bit confused—but then I saw your barrier and got a bit interested. I haven't seen anyone use that old thing in a long, long time."

"You recognized it?" I felt my heart plummet for a moment.

"'Course I recognized it," He chuckled. "I helped destroy the civilization that invented it."

"Then you were the one who broke it," I said.

"Obviously," He cracked his neck. "Not to sound too arrogant, but I developed something of a knack for finding people who think they're safe and proving that they really aren't. A lot of people tried to escape my brothers and I. A lot of people failed."

"You infected someone who knew how to break the barrier," I guessed and then confirmed my worst fears with my Clairvoyance. "You can use Aura. But the Grimm…"

I fell silent for a moment and then made several thought connections that made my heart both rise and fall.

"My father," I asked and was amazed when my voice didn't shake. "Is he alive in there?"

"For several definitions of alive, yes," His smile widened and he stretched a bit. "I admit, I can be a bit hard on bodies, but they're so much more useful if you keep them running right. So many neattricks. But it's all well and good, right? You gonna come over here and save me now or what?"

"How?" I asked, holding myself still until my heart stopped pounding even though I wanted to step forward. "How can you do that?"

"Sorry, kid—trade secret," He gestured flippantly. "But long story short, you'd be surprised what you can live through, especially if you're willing to be flexible with your definition of 'alive.' But you wouldn't know that anymore, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

He chuckled again—and maybe it was a bit hypocritical of me, but God was I starting to hate that laugh.

"'Dust,'" He said after a moment. "'Aura,' 'Semblances'…you really don't know much about them anymore, do you? Partially my fault, I admit, but…you guys have fallen a long ways, haven't you? But that's why you call it Remnant, right? Because that's what you are, isn't it—what's left."

"But you know?" I asked. "You know how they work?"

"For a while, I was most of the guys who wrote the books on them," He smirked. "Of course I know. Funny, isn't it? How I'm pretty much the only one who knows anymore. I find it funny, at least—especially when I look at you, Jaune. When I saw you, I knew why I'd been woken up, but you still have no idea how your power even works. I'm going to have to put down breadcrumbs for you to follow, aren't I? Speaking of which, that's as good a lead in as any. I've got an idea!"

"Is that what you're going to offer me?" I asked, taking a step back at his words. Even so, I had to keep him talking while I could. "Knowledge? Power? Or are you going to say you'll give my father back to me?"

Conquest seemed to consider that for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nah," He said. "Really can't see you working for us out of gratitude, you know? Considering what we are and everything. And if I promised you safety and rewards, well, would you really believe me, anyway? No, I just don't see it working—and I'm really more of a taker then a giver. For what I have in mind, I think that works better anyway. So step aside, kid."

He took a step forward, into my safety zone, drawing closer to me—and to my mother.

Levant, Suryasta, Vulturnus, and Xihai manifested, Crocea Mors filling my sword as I drew it and met his eyes.

"Stop," I said, standing protectively over my mother as Conquest eyed me and laughed again.

"Or what, son?" He asked. "What are you gonna do to stop me? You're gonna try to save me, aren't you? But you've got to be wondering 'what are you gonna do if you can't'? Are you gonna kill me? Can you?"

He lowered his head to take a better look at me and his smile widened as I stood my ground.

"Oh, maybe you can?" He wondered. "The Gamer's Mind keeps you calm and logical, doesn't it? So maybe, if you have to, you can do it. Does that frighten you, Jaune? That you might be able to kill me? That you wouldn't even cry afterwards? What kind of son wouldn't even cry over his father's death?"

He took another step forward and then another, ignoring my Elementals completely even as they gathered their power and the White Tiger of the West loomed over him.

"I'll tell you," He said. "My son. You're a chip off the old block, my boy; a monster just like your old man. And I'm so proud."

I took a steadying breath and then another before meeting his eyes steadily.

"I hope you don't think there's a chance in hell I'll give you what you want," I told him quietly.

He looked at me contemplatively and grinned.

"I think you already have, boy," His smile changed until it was no more than a bearing of teeth. "But let's make sure, eh? It'd be rude to leave your mother out of this."

In that moment, I knew I had to act. I couldn't put it off any longer, so I prepared myself and tried to ignore any doubts his words had planted in me. If I could hit him and hold on for a minute, maybe I'd be able to save him. If not…

I'd save my father then, too.

"You're right. So allow me to interrupt," I heard a voice say and the ground beneath my father's feet abruptly turned to lava. I saw him grimace and Lunged forward with all my speed—but even though there was only a few meters between us, he lifted his hammer with his mostly transformed arm and swung it hard enough to smash me through a house. I didn't care and was back on my feet in a fraction of a second, rushing towards him again—

"Stop, Jaune," My mother said, rising to her feet only a bit shakily. Even so, I stopped.

"Isabelle," Conquest said, smiling at her and seeming unbothered by the lava now that the initial surprise had faded. "My beautiful wife. We were just talking about you."

"I heard," She said coldly. "Jaune, can you do anything to keep me from getting infected?"

I glanced over at Levant who shimmed and then split in two. One moved quickly to hover my mother, gathering a pocket of clean air around her, but…

"I don't know if this will be enough," I admitted, whispering to her through Levant's mouth. "But it should keep the air around you clean, at least."

She nodded once, expression unchanging.

"Jaune, I'll handle this," She said and I masked the words reflexively. "Leave."

"What?" I demanded, startled. "Mom, if we work together, I might be able to—"

"The village, Jaune," She said in the same tone, silencing me. "While we're here, imagine what's happening there. I can stop him for now, but you're the only one who could possibly save them."

I hesitated, looking down.

"Mom," I whispered. "But he's…"

"Go," She said and gave me a slight smile. "I'll handle things here until you return, okay?"

I looked from her to my father and back.

"No matter what he says, Jaune, don't forget the truth," She continued. "You are your father's son, Jaune. So don't give up hope yet. We still aren't beaten."

Watching spikes grow in on my father's flesh and his mask continue to form, I wonder how she could say that—and if she honestly believed it or if she was just trying to get me to leave. Had she given up on my father already? Did she think I didn't have a chance? Or…

But whatever the case, I could hear screaming on the air and knew that the villagers were in danger. They might very well not last much longer without some help.

But…my father was still…if I could save him…

I knew it wasn't very heroic, but if I could just save him…

If, I thought. And I suppose that was the big question. I had to know, so…

I bowed my head and turned away.

"Leaving, son?" Conquest asked. "Are you gonna abandon us both?"

"No," I said. "I'll be back in just a minute."

He chuckled.

"Fine, then. I sent the others into town, anyway. Go play with them while Mommy and Daddy talk."

I swallowed hard, hands clenching into fists.

And then I ran away, leaving everything I cared about behind.

XxXXxX