Chapter Twenty-One: Four Points of Light
Vault of the Spring Maiden
Neo didn't usually stop to admire her own appearance. When she had Roman in her life she devoted most of her attention to him, and felt a degree of comfort from his presence. When she'd lost him Neo hated the sight of herself, knowing she had diminished without his guiding hand. Seeing another her in the swirling portal before them… seeing another her trying desperately to hold a gate in place even as Grimm bore down on the vault made her contemplate herself, a subject she didn't usually care to dwell on.
Neo thought on the weathered, malnourished look of this other Neo, even as she tried to keep using her Semblance to hold the portal open. Neo had done what she could to take better care of herself once she was in Roman's care, to be healthy and vibrant rather than starving and fearful. This girl had made the same change at one point, only to be beaten down again and to lose what had rebuilt her. Neo strongly suspected they'd had similar stories… a rise and fall all initiated and then divided by the same man.
Her eyes turned to Roman as he fixed on the Neo on the other side. She suspected he'd drawn the same conclusion, and when he looked back at her, she was able to confirm what she already suspected: he recognized the look of one Neo over another.
To the others gathered with them it probably seemed like a strange conclusion to draw. The two Ravens didn't look wildly different from one another –at least not to the extreme of the two Lie Rens- but they had very different words and actions to set them apart. The two Neos couldn't convey their thoughts clearly to anyone else… anyone but Roman Torchwick.
And this Roman Torchwick was not her Roman Torchwick. And she was not his Neo.
Neo had been driven to kill Ruby Rose -and later turned her fury to Cinder Fall- to avenge Roman's death. Then Roman returned and saved her in her time of need, and Neo carried out her planned goal and rid the world of Cinder's cruelty alongside the person dearest to her, avenging his defeat rather than his demise.
But Roman helped because Neo needed him to, not out of any pursuit of vengeance. No doubt he'd have told her revenge wasn't worth pursuing unless there was some clear benefit (such as profit) rather than some vague, nebulous sense of satisfaction. After all, if Roman was still alive, what need was there for revenge?
Neo briefly wondered about Roman still being alive when she clashed with the Fall Knight… if he still existed in the other Remnant Salem's knights had come from. And now that she was not locked in battle, Neo could see her question had been answered.
She never thought she would be sad to have Roman back. But here she was, looking at his fiery orange hair and his beautiful green eyes and knowing what he was about to do… what he had to do.
Ren was crying out to the others fighting the Grimm on the other side of the portal. Raven was trying to find a way to intervene and help them. They were all flashes, unwanted interruptions in Neo's thoughts she was eventually able to push aside as she focused on those green eyes.
Roman knelt down in front of her so they'd be at eye level. He reached up with a gloved hand to her cheek, wiping below her left eye with his thumb to brush away a tear Neo hadn't even realized was welling up. He'd always been good at covering her blind spots… even if this particular Roman hadn't actually been the one to do it.
She reached her hands to his shoulders, firmly planting them there and feeling muscle and bone beneath his handsome white coat. Neo knew she couldn't indulge too long, so she wanted to burn this image into her memory. She wanted to recall this moment whenever she needed to remember to be strong… because she was going to survive tonight, and whatever didn't kill her could only make her stronger.
And there'd be no pain quite like having her heart torn out. Nothing so trying as having Roman back in her life… and knowing he couldn't stay. She wanted him to, she'd probably have begged him to if she could only speak her wish… but if he did he'd condemn another Neo –his Neo- to suffer, possibly even die.
She understood what it was to be Neo without Roman. She didn't wish that on anyone.
How Neo wished she could be selfish and ask him to stay. How she wished he'd never come to save her so she wouldn't have to know there was another world where Roman still lived and still protected Neo and gave her strength and comfort with his very presence.
Roman saw her falter. He pulled her close to him, pressing her close to his neck and shoulder and holding the back of her head, gently caressing her long hair and holding her to him for a long moment.
Only a moment… but it'd have to be enough. It was all she'd know of him again.
Neo had to be strong now. She gently withdrew from him and met his eye. Roman flashed her that winning smile and traced his index finger over her cheek one final time. Neo relaxed her grip on him and did her best to put on a brave face.
Roman stood up and turned his attention to the portal. He tipped his bowler at Ruby, Yang, and Raven and uttered a posh: "Ladies."
And then he thrust himself through the portal to the other side, recklessly –fearlessly- charging into danger to save his Neo just as he always had. He unleashed the fury of Melodic Cudgel, firing bursts into the hordes of Grimm and relieving some of the pressure Raven and Blake were under. He joined the fight alongside them, another Neo looking on from a universe away.
She did her best not to cry, only reaching her hand into the empty air after him.
She kept telling herself it had all been worth it to see him again.
She did her best to believe it.
Haven Academy, Entrance Hall
Lionheart finished binding Emerald and Mercury before turning his attention outside, to the police ships landing and the citizens from Menagerie helping them collect the White Fang zealots and their leader Adam Taurus. He'd have to deal with facing the authorities soon… no doubt they'd want an explanation for all that happened tonight.
To say nothing of the explanation for what happened to so many of his kingdom's Huntsmen… and all that Lionheart had paid to save his own miserable skin when Salem demanded his compliance.
A problem for a better time, however, as Lionheart turned his attention to the unconscious Fall Knight. He hadn't thought Salem's forces could be bested…
And then he turned his attention to Hazel. He hadn't expected any of her lieutenants to switch sides, either…
Pyrrha Nikos turned to those gathered with her. "If the portal's open below we'll take this other Jaune back through it. But there may still be a battle going on below: is anyone hurt or incapacitated?"
"It won't make a difference," Hazel assured her with a grunt.
"Tell me now, guys," Jaune requested, waving his healing white hands in the air. "Because we're almost done."
No one seemed in need of any serious help. Qrow turned his attention to Pyrrha. "And if Cinder or the Spring Knight won out?"
"Then we throw everyone we can spare at them," Pyrrha answered. She pointedly glanced back at Mercury and Emerald. "Those two…"
"We need at least two," Weiss explained. "Emerald's powers might trick us up otherwise."
"I'll stay," Blake offered. "My parents should be leading the police in at any moment."
"And I've been keeping an eye on her for months; I can do it a few more minutes," Sun added.
Pyrrha nodded. "Everyone else, get ready… it's a long way down."
"You made this trip before?" Qrow asked.
Pyrrha focused her attention on the broken lift. "It's a long story. I hope I'll get a chance to tell you later."
"Yeah, you and me both," Qrow agreed, shifting form and flying down as a corvid. Pyrrha followed after with Jaune hoisting up the Fall Knight at her back, Pyrrha's magnetic fields slowing and guiding their descent. Weiss followed down a steady line of glyphs, while Hazel seemed content to simply scrape along the rock path.
Lionheart watched them descend, having no immediately apparent way to follow down. Instead he took in the devastation of his academy's entrance hall: the destroyed stairs, the scorch marks on the floor, the cracks in the support beams.
And the two Faunus who came to aid them… one of them was a student of his'…
"So," Sun observed. "Still planning on starting classes again next semester?"
A rather notorious student at that. "Would it make a difference, Mr. Wukong?"
Elsewhere
Salem dismounted from the back of the Nevermore, watching from the perspective of her Seers still holding Raven Branwen in place. The Grimm flooding into the garden were meeting surprising amounts of resistance from High Leader Blake Belladonna and an orange-haired man. She had only the smaller specimens of newly-forged Grimm to work with, and so it didn't really surprise her that her forces were having little effect…
Still, with Raven Branwen indisposed, her Grimm would eventually get the better of two adversaries. They only needed to hold out until she arrived.
Salem stepped through the rubble towards the entrance to the vault. Her Grimm continued to pour into it, and Salem allowed the horde to carry her down into that darkness, towards the light waiting at the end of the tunnel.
Vault of the Spring Maiden
Pyrrha arrived first with the Jaunes in tow, followed by Weiss at her back. Hazel crashed hard into the rocks with little difficulty, Qrow flapping in shortly after him. The six already gathered before the gate turned to notice the others, as Pyrrha focused her attention on what awaited them on the other side... and who was left to greet her.
A Ren without a scar stood in Nora's embrace. Ruby, Yang, and Raven gave her space to approach. Jaune set the body of the Fall Knight down on the rocky ground and stepped over to Neo, watching Roman's battle through the portal with a distant, forlorn expression.
"…he had to go back?" Jaune asked, before cursing himself for pointing out the obvious.
Neo nodded, still watching him fight off the Grimm.
Jaune reached a hand towards her shoulder but stopped just short of touching her. His comfort would be of no help now. He wasn't the one on her mind.
Pyrrha stepped towards the portal. "We have to send J- the Fall Knight back through. We need to close the gate here and seal them back in their Remnant."
"Seal them?" Raven repeated. "You're going to cut off the way through?"
"If I can," Pyrrha confirmed. "Professor Ozpin took me to the relic to use its powers to enhance my Semblance: to find gaps in the magnetic field of the planet to move through… and to close."
She glanced over at Yang, surprised the blonde girl was still alive. From what Ozpin had told her, it was Yang's life that would make all the difference… that she had been the determining factor in dividing one Remnant from another.
Then her eye found Jaune, and the distortion he continued to cause with his extra weight widening the tear. He was supposed to go across, but hopefully… she truly wished sending his counterpart back home would solve the problem and he wouldn't have to make that trip.
If the Fall Knight could even be sent back.
"Let me through, please," Pyrrha requested, reaching out with her Semblance to lift the unconscious Fall Knight, to push him through the portal while it remained open. She wasn't eager to send him back when those across were still in such dire straits, but if she could finally be rid of him…
Blake Belladonna, the High Leader of the White Fang, and Roman Torchwick, the surprising defender of Vale, were fighting to hold the opening. She had to assist them if she could…
She stepped closer to the swirling vortex, only to stop in mid-motion when she saw something gray emerge in the sea of black Grimm. She dropped the unconscious Fall Knight as she observed Salem's approach, her power sapped away by fear.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked her.
All she could do was point.
The others followed her direction to see her approach, walking so slowly her black dress seemed to glide along the floor. The Grimm surrounding her thrashed wildly about in thoughtless frenzy, but their claws never once found her, their master.
The others were similarly taken aback… she wasn't the tallest woman they'd ever seen, easily dwarfed by some of the Grimm accompanying her. Yet her presence paralyzed them with fear, like some unknown instinct they'd never felt before.
Roman Torchwick wasn't disturbed by any such impediment. He fearlessly rushed in to battle this new arrival, recognizing her as somehow able to drive the Grimm. She didn't pay him much heed, waving her arm and sending a legion of Beowolves to attack him, pushing him aside with dismissive ease.
High Leader Blake attempted to attack her with Gambol Shroud, and an Ursa moved before its master, taking every bullet. The Grimm not focused on Roman converged on her attacking, in a disciplined pincer of twin columns, attacking the Faunus from either side.
She continued her steady walk as she easily incapacitated her foes, staring ahead at the portal. She stopped only long enough to look down at the unconscious form of the Spring Knight, leaning down and tracing her fingers over the boy's forehead, her cold expression briefly changing to one of… quiet disappointment.
"Is that…?" Ruby asked.
"Salem," Raven confirmed.
The gray-skinned woman turned back to the portal again, standing back to full height and stepping towards the swirling mass. "Seems you chose both, Raven Branwen. Allies… and death."
The Raven beside her in the garden only glared at the queen as she struggled in the grip of the two Seers. She couldn't reach her blade to close the portal…
Pyrrha looked on as Salem drew closer, trying to summon the strength needed to repel her. She was so struck by fear she couldn't even move.
Raven, Hazel, and Neo moved into the fray, waiting with fists and blades drawn. Salem didn't seem remotely concerned with what stood in her way.
She pressed her hand to the portal… and pushed into the gap between worlds.
Salem's Keep
The queen felt something strike her… something she hadn't experienced in a long time. Her Aura flickered over her body, her soul emerging from the dark sheen she'd buried it beneath.
That would not do. The Grimm might turn on her if they detected the light buried deep within. Or if they sensed weakness in their master's fear returning to her. The negative emotion and the light of her soul both exposed? Their own master would draw the Grimm like a Beacon.
How could this be happening…?
Haven. The knights from the other Remnant. Or Cinder and the relic. Something had happened that now affected her, hundreds of kilometers away…
Salem couldn't sense her Grimm. The Seer sitting before her –the way she'd reach her followers- could see her, and its formless face had turned her way. She was no longer this beast's master; she couldn't tighten her grip on its leash and force it back into line. All it knew was that light had seeped into its master's domain, and fear had arrived with it.
Salem frantically clamored to her feet, Aura continuing to spread out her body. She couldn't lose her focus now, she had to fight whatever this was. If her soul left this vessel then she'd lose the eyes of her host: the power that forced the Grimm to her heel.
She had old magics at her disposal. She would not allow herself to vanish like this…
Vault of the Spring Maiden
Salem's gray fingertips started to find their way in through the portal. Raven and Neo started slashing at them at once, but the black lines encircling her gray flesh moved to intercept the blades, pushing her assailants away.
Ren intervened then, trying to push back Salem with only his hand. "We have to stop her! If she remains on her side she'll lose her control over the Grimm anyway! If she makes it here, Ruby will be right in her sights!"
That was all the inspiration Yang needed: she leapt into the fight and fired concussive bursts from Ember Celica at Salem's emerging hand. The darkness continued to extend from her hand like spiky tendrils, taking the hits and striking the assailants away. Salem's entire right arm pushed through, more darkness following with her, rising off her body and pushing against the edges of the portal.
Nora moved to help Ren, striking repeatedly with Magnhild. Her first three hits struck and actually pushed Salem's arm back for a moment… before four of those dark lines extended and took hold of Nora's hammer, swinging her around and flinging her back, crashing into Neo and sending them both tumbling.
Hazel moved to intercede, placing his big fist in Salem's path and clenching his fingers against hers'. Salem repeatedly struck at his arm, cutting deep into his flesh with her dark tendrils. Jaune moved behind him to enhance the big man's Aura, trying to help his protective barrier regenerate… but Salem's hand continued to shattered each new shield of Aura constructed in her path,
"Pyrrha," Jaune whispered, trying to coax her out from her state of fear. "Come on, Pyr, we need you…"
Pyrrha knew she should've been able to respond. Her friends were in danger and she had the power to intervene… to make a difference even if it wasn't enough to stop their foe. She had come to this world to stop Salem, to keep another Ruby Rose from ever falling into the queen's hands.
She'd seen such terrible things… her best friends corrupted by this witch's touch and Ozpin's machinations. This world wasn't so far gone… Salem hadn't amassed such terrifying power, and Ren and Jaune became the better people she'd always thought they would.
Pyrrha tried to reach for the swords on her back. She tried to reach out with her Semblance and push Salem's black tendrils away so Hazel could overpower her. Neither action ever managed to leave her, the sight of darkness drawing closer only making her feet of clay that much heavier.
She glanced back at the Fall Knight, unconscious on the ground. She had meant to return him to the world he belonged in…
"Jaune, Hazel, move!" Pyrrha instructed. It would be risky to move them out of Salem's path when they were the ones holding the witch at bay, but…
Jaune looked back at her as Pyrrha finally managed to use her Semblance, hoisting the unconscious Fall Knight up by his armor. He tugged Hazel back, and eventually the hulking man complied and released his grip on Salem's hand, rescinding exactly as the queen expected him to.
Pyrrha knew where the metal had to go: right into the gap. She didn't need to look at the darkness pouring out if she could bottle it back up.
She pushed with both hands, flinging the Fall Knight's body head first into Salem's hand. Pyrrha continued to concentrate, pushing him forward by the breastplate of his family's armor, driving him right into the queen's arm like a battering ram to force her hand back to the other side.
It worked for a few moments, Salem held at bay… until the black tendrils rising from her arm moved to push the other Jaune aside, allowing him to pass through the portal rather than impede Salem further. Pyrrha was so concentrated on pushing the Fall Knight forward he sailed right past the queen and crashed into the rock wall beside the lift.
Salem refocused her attention on breaking through, and Yang and Ren rejoined the fray, trying to punch and cut her arm back. Yang was already exhausted from her fight with Mercury and Ren's Aura was still rebuilding itself from his own trip through the portal and they were easily batted away by Salem's black tendrils.
Ruby readied her scythe and tried to chop off Salem's hand at the wrist. Crescent Rose was caught just short of its target when Salem turned her hand, catching the heavy blade between her long fingers and holding it back, now pushing her arm through all the way up to Salem's shoulder.
Weiss pressed her Glyphs against Salem's fingers, trying to pull them back inside the portal... trying to push the queen's hand away from her partner's scythe.
Hazel pushed his fists to gray flesh, driving Salem's arm away. On the other side of the portal, Roman broke through the Beowolves surrounding him and fired repeatedly at Salem's back with Melodic Cudgel, trying to refocus her Aura away from the arm poking through to the other world.
Salem visibly sneered with annoyance and reached back with her left arm. Her Grimm did not visibly respond, their disciplined attack splintering as they swarmed around the battlefield in the garden, finally freeing Blake from the coordinated attack she'd been trapped within.
Jaune abandoned his plan to replenish Hazel's Aura and joined the brutish man in pushing at Salem's arm. Ren moved in alongside them, trying to overpower the queen of the Grimm with all of them driving her back.
Salem's black tendrils moved to attack them. Nora moved in, catching hold of two of the black masses and keeping them away from Ren. Yang followed suit when a pair went after Jaune, the five working together to push the arm back, while Ruby kept Salem's fingers at bay with Crescent Rose. Pyrrha gave the scythe an additional push against the metal, finally making noticeable progress in moving Salem backwards.
Roman and Blake attacked at her back when they could manage to keep the Grimm away. Salem was losing ground, more of her shoulder emerging back in the fragment apace, much to her chagrin. "You will not stop this!" she raged at the two behind her. "Nothing can stop this!"
"All of you, get back!" Raven called on the other side, drawing her blade once more and focusing on her Semblance, thinking of who she could reach on the other side…
The others did as Raven asked and reluctantly disengaged as they pushed Salem's arm back through the portal. Salem was undeterred, pushing her hand right back with all the black mass encircling it. Raven cut right into the swirling mass, creating a second gate of red and black right in the path of the first, and then a third right after it, as she thought of Taiyang and Ruby on the other side...
Salem's arm pushed through one gate right into another, never feeling the air of the remnant apart she'd sought to reach. With no resistance to meet her, Salem's own momentum carried her forward into a place of black and red… a place with no apparent floor beneath her feet, just shades of dark bloody red and endless darkness.
Raven cut her portals shut before Salem could realize the deception. Salem reached back for the portal she'd tumbled into, only to find nothing but darkness to meet her hand.
Raven heard the queen cry out in rage. No doubt she'd find her way out if she delayed too long… but for the moment at least, Salem was her prisoner, and outside of either reality, for however long that could last.
The others looked on in surprise, but Raven had little time to humor them. She pointed towards the other Raven still bound by Seers, gesturing for Roman and Blake to intervene in some way. They managed to get the hint, cutting her free before the jellyfish Grimm could strangle her in their tentacles.
"What did you do…?" Pyrrha wondered.
"Held her back for a moment," Raven explained. "She won't be happy when I let her back out… and I'll have to get back to the remnant I know before she finds a way of doing so. So we'd better wrap things up here quickly."
"Right," Pyrrha agreed, turning her attention to Jaune. The gap didn't appear to be widening any, but it was still there, deep below and following his every step…
The Raven on the other side was moving towards the portal. The Raven still gathered with the others raised her palm to try and quell her, and the doppelganger stranded in the fragment apace seemed quelled enough to wait… though the look in her eyes suggested she was quite impatient.
Raven turned her attention to Ruby. "I'm sorry we didn't have time for a proper farewell. I wish we could've-"
Before she had a chance to finish, Ruby rushed over and embraced her, tossing Crescent Rose to the ground. Raven was so taken aback by the sudden display of affection she was the one standing still, caught off guard just as Ruby had been when Raven rushed over to take hold of the girl she thought of as her daughter.
Raven responded just a bit faster... she'd been eagerly awaiting this hug, and reached down to pull Ruby close to her, resting her head atop the shorter girl's black and red locks, taking a precious few seconds to make it last.
Before she could close her eyes, Raven glanced over at Yang, awkwardly shuffling a few feet away and trying not to stare. Raven lifted one arm from Ruby's back and beckoned her forward, inviting the girl who'd embraced Raven at her lowest point to join them in this sweet parting.
Yang quickly took her up on it. Raven took hold of the two sisters and pressed her forehead to either side of theirs', finally closing her eyes and soaking up every second before she'd inevitably have to part from them…
"I love you," Raven whispered.
It wasn't fair of her to say; to put Ruby through it. But she couldn't be too angry with herself for uttering the words… hopefully it'd provide some comfort to the girls to hear the sentiment.
For Yang, it was something she never expected to hear Raven say.
Qrow stepped in to grasp her shoulder for a moment. Raven reluctantly removed her hand from Yang's back to squeeze her twin's fingers.
Finally she released her grip on the sisters and turned her attention back to the portal. There was another daughter waiting for her…
She stepped through. One Raven was slowly replaced by another, as they switched places between two worlds, their Aura flickering along the surface of their bodies. The Raven who'd embraced them gave one final look back as the portal swirled shut, watching another woman stand before Ruby and Yang…
They turned their attention to the Raven standing before them as her Aura slowly rebuilt itself, still flickering on the surface of her body. She glanced around at those assembled, trying to figure out what led to this strange alliance of disparate elements… before her eyes found Yang, seeing her daughter for the first time since Mountain Glenn. She took in the drastically changed appearance, her eyes stopping to stare at the prosthetic right arm mounted in place.
"Yang…" Raven murmured, eventually averting her eyes.
Yang blinked at the sight of this identical –but oddly unfamiliar- woman before her. Her affection for Raven Branwen lingered just enough not to start an interrogation her mother was long overdue for… there'd be a better time. Instead, Yang greeted her with a very stiff, very formal: "Mom."
Qrow was better at hiding his disappointment, trying to be sincerely appreciative to have his twin return… even if his perception of that was now quite skewed. "Rae: you all right?"
He hoped seeing someone she trusted might be enough to set her mind at least slightly at ease. But Raven took notice of Neo –the same girl she'd saved Yang from- and Hazel –one of Salem's most powerful lieutenants- and Pyrrha –a girl who should've been dead- and started to step backwards.
Raven's eyes briefly took notice of the relic in the sand swept 'untended garden'… and then swiveled back to all those gathered around her. If she ever meant to acquire this thing that Ozpin and Salem fought over, there'd be a better time.
Instead she looked to the nearest unoccupied outcropping of rock and measured her rebuilding Aura… sensing if she had strength enough.
Qrow recognized her calculating look. "Raven, you don't have to-"
He was too late. He was always too late to dissuade her.
Raven cut a gap, thinking of another soul she'd bonded to. Raven stepped through the portal and sealed it before Qrow could get another word in.
"-yeah," Qrow grumbled. "That figures."
Yang sighed right along with him. She had to concede her mom was probably feeling vulnerable and surrounded, and might've understood the instinct to flee and find safety elsewhere. Yang did what she could not to begrudge her, to try and approach her mother with an open mind.
She had a new memory to think on now… something to think of other than unexplained abandonment.
She'd never see that mother again –just as it had been with Summer- but she could now think back on a moment Raven Branwen held her tightly and told Yang she was loved.
Yang turned her attention to Ruby and wrapped an arm over her little sister's shoulder. "We did it," she said, quickly pushing away any conflicting thoughts about her mother and focusing on the girl she'd crossed a continent to see again.
Ruby smiled back, nuzzling against Yang's shoulder. "We did it."
Oscar stepped past the other to the dusty entrance to the desert, the lamp sitting on its pedestal, glowing bright blue.
Nora moved over to hug Ren again, going on at length about how she'd never releasing her grip. Ren was solemn (more than usual anyway) but lightened up a little bit in his partner's embrace. Jaune finally turned his attention to Neo again, watching Oscar step into the desert.
"Are you going to be okay?" Jaune asked her.
Neo had no idea how to answer that question. She just stared ahead at this strange, hidden world.
Jaune had been wary of approaching her before. He thought… it seemed to work for Raven…
He hugged her from behind, approaching slowly so as not to catch her off guard. Neo looked up at the scraggly blonde head above her, and then down to the arm wrapping over her shoulder.
It wasn't the embrace she'd lost, but it was… something.
Damn this boy.
Pyrrha watched Jaune embrace Neo and did her best not to be bothered by it. She tried to focus on her task, searching for the tear created by a portal held open by Raven's Semblance… sewing the gap back together with a practiced hand.
Oscar rejoined the others, carrying the golden lamp in one hand. Weiss glanced down at it, unimpressed. "All that trouble… for this?"
"And a lot more before this is done, kids," Qrow grumbled, before slowly brightening. "But we did it. We got one over on Salem."
Hazel grunted, immediately drawing the others attention. "For now."
He fixed his gaze on Oscar. Oscar did his best to avert his eyes, but he knew it was a futile gesture: Hazel already recognized him as the boy he met at the train station… though if he'd known who else this boy actually was…
"My congratulations to Ozpin's latest recruits," Hazel noted. "How good he inspires such… loyalty."
"You gonna bring this up now?" Jaune asked.
Hazel sighed and shook his head. "Salem wanted that relic. This victory you're so proud of will cost you... and once again Ozpin has sent children to fight for his gains. I hope this is what you want to do with your lives… because they've definitely gotten shorter."
He lumbered back towards the lift shaft, leaving the others to exchange wary looks.
"Really brightens up a room, doesn't he?" Yang dryly observed.
"At least he's not throwing any more punches," Jaune replied.
"Come on," Qrow implored. "Let's let Leo know the good news."
Haven Academy, Entrance Hall
Emerald remained defiant, even as she remained bound before the three Faunus holding her captive. "It's not over! Cinder will come back, she'll have the relic, and she'll stop all of you!"
The sound of scratching drew their attention. Though wary of taking their eyes off their prisoners, Lionheart, Blake, and Sun turned to the entrance to the vault as the broken lift was forced up through the shaft, carrying a heavy load upon it.
They were all cramped together, but they emerged… Hazel, stepping aside to reveal Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Ren, and Nora, then Qrow at his nieces' back with Oscar behind him, holding the lamp in hand. Pyrrha concentrated to dock the lift in place so everyone could safely step off from the surface.
Emerald searched for some sign… some hope of…
…she saw Neo step out, Jaune beside her, carrying Cinder's body in his arms…
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she realized what all had happened. She wanted to reach up to her head to try and contain the pain assailing her now, but her hands were still bound… all she could do was sob as Jaune Arc lay the body of her mistress on the wooden floor of Haven…
Lionheart saw the relic in Oscar's hand and moved over to Qrow and Oscar. "It's over, then? Salem's followers have been defeated?"
"For the most part," Qrow confirmed, subtly jerking his head at Hazel.
"I see," Lionheart confirmed. "One of her messengers is still in my office, waiting to hear the results. We should probably leave before she has the Seer force its way out."
"You have a way to talk to Salem?" Ren asked, wrenching himself free of Nora's grip to address the Haven headmaster.
Lionheart was taken aback at first, confused by the boy who looked identical to the knight who'd been serving Salem before, but managed to keep himself composed. "Yes. Though I can't imagine she'll want to hear from me after what befell her tonight…"
"I'd like to speak with her if I can," Ren requested.
Lionheart was confused why anyone would want an audience with her… certainly anyone who'd just opposed her and cost her so much tonight. "I'm not sure that's wise, young man."
"No, probably not," Ren conceded. "But there's something I'd like to try…" He then glanced over at Yang, locking eyes with Blake. "…and my friends may need a moment before we proceed with events anyway."
Qrow followed Ren's gaze between the girls and nodded. "Just be careful in there, kid. Salem's not gonna be happy about this…"
"I will not let her see me," Ren assured them. "But there is something I need her to hear."
Elsewhere
Blake was highly reluctant to allow Raven's help, but did eventually acquiesce to her aiding in their climb back up from the vault. Roman and Neo had no such problem accepting the help, though they quickly got a read on the negative energy between the two. Once they were topside, Roman and Neo observed their niceties and went on their way. Blake herself had opted to remain nearby… there was someone she insisted she was waiting on.
When Raven went to unbind the seal, Blake stopped to ask her retreating back: "…do you regret it?"
Raven had time to think on it. "I regret not trying to find the answer myself. I don't know what kind of man he was… but clearly Ozpin favored you over him. And for that at least, I am sorry."
Blake's only reply was a solemn nod. It wasn't forgiveness… but it was better than hatred enough to accept Salem's promises in pursuit of revenge.
Raven opened the portal somewhere in the rock shaft to the vault. Whatever magics the queen had, she had never once learned to fly.
Salem crashed hard into the rocks below, ignoring the pain of her fall and searching the vault for the portal… instead finding the bright garden and the nearly-empty lamp, only a few trickles of cool blue left within the golden frame.
And lying in the rocks were her two sons, her precious 'knights'… Lie was struggling to drag himself up, reaching towards her. "Mother…" he murmured, quickly averting his eyes when Salem turned to him. "Mother, I'm sorry… I failed you…"
Yes he had.
What few Grimm remained were drawn to Salem's wrath as he looked down at the two who'd failed her… who'd been unable to secure the future she wanted. Ursa and Beowolves moved to surround Lie as Salem thought on all that she had lost.
"Mother, no!" Lie protested. "Mother, please…!"
Ozpin had drained the gods' powers from the relics and shattered her army in Atlas. His students had stolen her silver eyes and then their counterparts in another remnant had prevented her from crossing. Salem's retribution would be terrible… even to those who'd pledged their eternal devotion.
"Mother…" Lie whispered as the Beowolves hoisted him up. "Please…"
It'd be so easy to kill him now. The Grimm were eager to carry out the order, to appease her wrath and feed on the boy's fear and sense of betrayal.
Betrayal…
Salem tried to tighten her grip. She knew she was becoming weaker, barely able to coax even these young ones into stepping away from a fresh meal…
It wouldn't be long until they descended into leaderless chaos again. She wouldn't be able to direct them to mass on Atlas… she wouldn't get the Relic of Creation and build her seat of power at last.
She'd just… die in the dark, once the Grimm knew they were finally free…
"Please!"
Salem tightened her grip and commanded the Grimm to take her back to the surface. They were not pleased to leave the boy behind, but they did as they had been bid… obeying even as they searched for some weakness in their master's leash.
Salem reached down to Lie and ran her fingers over the boy's forehead, thinking on the moments she'd shared with him… envisioned the family she'd once hoped for.
And then she turned from him and left with her Grimm force, leaving Lie alone in the vault, watching the life he'd sought crumble just as his mother's had before him.
Salem's Keep
She kept expecting to hear back from Lionheart or Cinder or the knights. The Seer continuously projected an image back to her of Lionheart's office, and Salem was growing quite impatient waiting for news. Something had affected her –dared reached into her house- and the queen would demand answers. She would know what had occurred and who would suffer her wrath for disrupting her harmony.
When she heard the Seer inform her of a door opening and closing, Salem projected herself on the surface of her Grimm in Haven. "What happened?" she demanded.
Silence met her. There was someone in the room; Salem could hear breathing and the shuffling of footsteps. But her Seer could detect nothing: no Aura for it to strike at, no life for it to extinguish.
Salem had allowed fear to infect her before and destabilize her control of the Grimm. She managed to hold her calm this time, to not be affected by this person invisible before her messenger. "..who are you?"
She saw two points of light in the dark: pink eyes looking back at her. "My name is Lie Ren. I believe you know it."
The Spring Knight. No… he didn't share the servile attitude. He was far more calm, rather than prostrating himself before his queen… this must've been the boy from this remnant; one of Ozpin's students and still fighting his failed crusade. "I see," Salem noted. "And what do you want, Lie Ren?"
"I wanted to tell you to stop this," Ren explained. "To turn back from what you've done and repent your actions. There may be some other way to save you from this… to break you from your curse and help you come back."
Salem scoffed. "And what makes you think I need to be saved?"
Her Grimm was growing fearful. It couldn't see who was addressing its master, and was concerned it couldn't sense anything to hunt.
"Because I saw your defeat," Ren calmly explained. "I've spent the past few days with your counterpart, and I've learned a lot about you. I've learned what you fear. I've learned what you expect and I've learned... well, I don't want you to meet the same end."
Salem was legitimately taken aback by how bold the boy was. "Whatever you think you saw-"
"You see it too," Ren interjected. "You see it every time you close your eyes."
Salem was quiet for a moment. She felt something well within her... an emotion she didn't want the Grimm to sense.
"Darkness," Ren answered. "An endless darkness swallowing you up… a darkness you can't control, a darkness you can't escape… you fear it more and more every time you think about it."
"You think I'm afraid of the dark, boy?" Salem demanded.
"I think you wouldn't spend so much effort chasing after four points of light if you weren't," Ren calmly replied.
Salem ordered her Grimm to attack. The Seer did not see where to strike but swung its tendrils, wildly missing the boy. The messenger suffered a wound, one of its arms cut away by a dagger shining briefly in the dark office.
"I'm trying to tell you it doesn't have to be this way," Ren told her. "There's still time for you. There's something still there in you that doesn't want this. There's something in you that can be better… just like there is for all of us."
Salem ordered the Seer to attack again. Her messenger resisted the command, self-preservation outweighing fear of Salem's wrath.
"If you ask for forgiveness, you may be able to find it," Ren assured her. "I know the best of us can fall… so it stands to reason the worst among us can pick themselves back up, if they try to. So please, Salem… don't disappear in the dark. Be better than you think you have to be."
Salem's wrath poured into her Seer, forcing it to attack. The boy's dagger found it again, cutting her messenger in two.
Salem faintly saw his pink eyes lingering in the darkness… more points of light to mock her… before fading away with the Seer's reflection of Haven far away.
Salem's wrath did not subside as she sat her crystal throne… and her fear slowly crept back in, reminding her that the more darkness she surrounded herself with, the deeper it became.
Salem tried not to close her eyes.
Haven
Nora rushed into the room. Ren was surprised how long it had taken her to intervene -considering how clingy she'd been just a few moments earlier- but had to concede she'd probably had just as long a day as himself. "Are you okay?" she frantically asked.
Ren gestured to the two halves of the Seer on the floor, fading away into nothing. He held up his father's old dagger, reminding her that he could protect himself... not that he objected to her rushing in on his behalf. "Yes, Nora," he assured her, dropping the gray sheen of his Semblance and allowing her to clearly see his soul's light as he stepped over to her.
Ren took the initiative to hug her himself. He didn't take the lead often enough, and wanted her to know how grateful he was to have her back, to return to a world where she was alive and well, and the reason he'd found peace after being haunted for so long by the very worst day of his life... to know that his nightmares had finally left him, and a bright spot followed within him everywhere to ensure it stayed far away.
Ren held her tightly and sincerely stated: "I'm okay."
Nora returned the embrace, squeezing her partner tightly. Ren held her to him and closed his eyes.