Embers of Autumn

Chapter Fifty-One

Everyone in the house felt it as a weird, walking-over-their-grave sort of sensation or a wild shiver up their back. Jaune felt a wave of nausea afterward, strong enough to make him double over and waver on his feet. Thana blacked out in front of her shrine, an armful of offerings scattering across the floor when she crumples and slumps flat on her back. Haeda almost obliterates her desk and trips over the bed trying to reach her. Rhea was out in the stables, tending the horses when all of them became suddenly spooked. Immediately she dropped everything and ran back to the house, knowing in her heart of hearts that something was wrong. Ren and Nora were out on the veranda and saw her sprinting across the yard, following her inside without question.

Once inside Rhea can hear the peacock wailing in Pyrrha's room and immediately makes her way to it, Jaune waiting for her to pass before falling in between her and Ren.

Jaune sees Pyrrha on the floor but can't get to her before Rhea, and he wasn't about to fight her over it, especially when she all but throws the now empty chair between her and her daughter towards the door. Instead he diverts his attention to Tag, the Spring Maiden at the head of the bed with her upper body slumped atop the nightstand. He's calling her name just as carefully as he takes her by the shoulders to lift her up, a shock of fear bolting through him when her head just hangs, limp-necked and unresponsive. But another worried shake makes her body tense in his grip, and when she's upright again her head tips back, showing Jaune the blood from her nose.

"What happened?"

"It th-threw me," she forces out. Everything is a conscious effort because the world is still spinning and her head is throbbing terribly.

Jaune looks up for a moment, eyes somehow drawn to the wall above the bed where he spots a small crimson smudge, and the wood of the head board looks to have an almost invisible split along the top. Carefully he reaches back and touches her head, finding a patch of damp hair and no surprise when he pulls back to find the pads of his fingers reddened with blood.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" he asks gently, not expecting her to laugh before telling him the appropriate number.

"Pyrrha? Pyrrha, answer me!"

Tag watches Jaune cut away, looking towards the foot of the bed where he can see Rhea from the shoulders up, and she pats his shoulder. "Go on, I'm all right." He nods to her and moves away, Ren quickly moving into his now vacant space.

Jaune crawls across the foot of the bed and down onto the floor. "What is it?"

"She's not responding to me," she half sobs. "Pyrrha,"

"Wait, don't shout," he looks a little closer. Pyrrha's body is rigid and trembling with the tension, and her hands are locked in a cruel clutching gesture at the middle of her chest. Her breathing is quick and much too shallow, the tendons in her neck bulge and force her head back. Blood is gushing out of her nose -crimson and black- and her eyelids flutter, revealing only the whites of her eyes. "I think she's having a seizure. We need to roll her over. Someone pass me a pillow,"

Ren is quick to snatch one from the head of the bed and toss it into Jaune's waiting hand. He lifts her head and pushes the pillow underneath, then gently pulls Pyrrha onto her side. He watches her a moment, attempting to swallow the awful helplessness he feels, succeeding when he lifts his head and sees the same thing in equal measure on Rhea's face. The older woman already has tears rolling down her cheeks.

"We can't leave her like this,"

"I know, we won't, but it could pass on its own. If it lasts a couple minutes more we'll call for help."

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Please don't shout." he repeats. "But my sister had a bad fall when she was little and has seizures sometimes. We've done everything we're supposed to, now we just need to see what it does."

"But-,"

"This is what mom taught all of us to do, so if you can't trust me then maybe you could at least trust her."

Rhea's gaping mouth snaps shut, her fear and panic turning into something indignant. She looks down at Pyrrha and then back up to him, her eye thinning like she's fighting not to say something else. "...Very well." her tone is biting, reluctant. "Could I get an explanation at least?"

"Was my fault." Tag slurs. "I didn't know it would do that,"

"It?"

"The Grimm. I tried to...move it," her face scrunches up tight, her face falling in her open hands with Ren stabilizing her through the wave of pain in her head. When it passes she's panting. "Clearly it would not be moved."

"So what about Pyrrha?" Nora squeaks from the doorway. She had been holding her breath this entire time, too scared to move.

"She'll be all right, I think." Tag straightens, wiping beneath her nose with her hand and sniffling. "This was just a warning. If I keep at it this will happen again, and there's no way I can know how bad it will be. It won't kill her because it wants to survive, but it could easily hurt her bad enough to...well..."

Rhea gets a flash of Theron at his worst, the week before he died, and feels her heart sink. The thought of Pyrrha ending up like that, of watching her waste away in a bed, guts her. She can't be angry or frustrated at the situation, she can only be terrified. "I...this is my fault, I pushed you."

"I would have had to try it eventually, and I probably would have gotten the same reaction."

"Hey," Jaune speaks up, "it's easing off."

Nora manages to force herself to move, coming just shy of the bed so she can see her friend there on the floor, watching as everyone else does as Pyrrha appears to finally relax. Her hands drop to the floor, her breathing steadily slows and deepens, and her eyelids close completely, giving her the appearance of only sleeping if it weren't for the smeared blood on her face.

"Now what?" Nora croaks, trying not to cry.

"It could be a while before she comes around; we'll wait an hour and call someone if nothing changes. How close is the nearest hospital?"

"Ten minutes on horseback, five if everyone gets the hell out of the way." Rhea says flatly.

Jaune thinks to laugh, maybe attempt to break some of the lead tension in the air, but decides against it on the risk of only upsetting Rhea more. Instead he just gives a quiet shrug, letting himself feel a little relief. "We should clean her up."

"Rhea! Rhea where are you?"

Without a second thought the older huntress turns on her heels and hurries out of the room. She'll meet with her partners in the living room, Haeda helping Thana maneuver around the couch as the human wobbles uneasily. There's blood running down her face too. Rhea takes a moment to look Thana over, offer the comfort of holding her hands. "You felt that too?"

"Just a little faint is all," Thana shakes her head, dismissive, "but that's not what we should be worried about."

"It hit Pyrrha too. She had a seizure."

Thana pauses, startled worry pulling her features. "It came from her, didn't it."

"How did you know?"

"Because I've felt something like that before. You remember when Gypsy and the others came? Remember what they were after?"

"How could I forget?" Considering it crosses her mind every time she looks in a mirror?

"It felt just like that when it called out for others."

The color leaves Rhea's face as her mind fully processes what she said.

Manticore was weak, but in the moment it had been too desperate to spare its power. It had warned the Maiden to stay back, demanded in no uncertain terms that she keep that damnable light away from it, but she just kept pushing. It had no other choice, it had to call for help if it was going to survive. It pushed back with what little strength it had stored up, forcing the Maiden out of its host and releasing a black wave of influence as far as it would go. It was unaware of how it rippled through the house, crippling anyone sensitive enough to the shadowy flux as it went, or how it continued to roll through the district towards the inland sea. Manticore hadn't sensed it, but one of its siblings was sleeping along the rocky sea floor, its coils reaching all around the Rim with silt and seaweed covering its glossy black skin.

The Old One felt the distressing cry from its kin and stirred for the first time in nearly twenty years. In the murky darkness below the surface, below the ferries and fishing boats, two bright bulbs of amber light flicker to life. Then a third beacon begins to shine, seeming to hang in the thready darkness just above what one would think is its head. There's a dull rumble like the groan of tired steel, the vibrations strong enough to travel along the entirety of its prodigious length and shake several years worth of mud and debris from its body. Another rumble and its head lifts, the light of its eyes and that strange third orb waxing brightly, then it begins to draw itself upward and reels in its serpentine frame with a flex of musculature and the ripple of spiny crimson fins along its back and sides.

The inland sea begins to churn as the Progenitor moves beneath the surface, some of the smaller boats pitching off course and others tipping over. Those in the larger ships are wary of something awful about to happen and have begun radioing others, all of them wondering if someone has seen anything. It's quiet on all fronts when the thing lifts its head out of the water, the first visible part being the angler fish lure that springs up between its eyes, and though it rises slowly, the water rushes away from the bony shell of its face in churning white torrents. Its awesome, fixed jaws lift above the waves and water comes rushing out from beneath its rubbery, wriggling tongue. Undeterred the Grimm slithers for the southwestern shore, the direction it felt the call had come from.

Sirens have begun to wail from one district to the next, sirens put in place specifically in response to the Progenitor's first appearance, alerting the entire Rim and rallying all the hunters -and likely rousing the Atlesian outpost to the north as well. Yet, even with an alarm this swift to rise, the Grimm would reach the beach long before anyone could move against it. It lifts further out of the water, easily able to stay out of the shallows and just crane its head to reach solid ground. No longer muffled by tons of water, the once steely groan becomes a thick, guttural and watery belch of sorts. Heavy, roiling ichor gathers at the back of its throat and rises to spill around its jagged teeth. It falls in ropes to the water and the sand, spreading like tar and turning it black, bubbling and hissing with corrosion. Withing seconds, half formed things start writhing and crawling out of the slime, others burst free of it to take to the air in dripping masses until their gestation completes to form smaller Nevermores and Lancers. Below them are coalescing Beowolves and Ursa and Creeps, and in the water are countless unseen things with fins and hideous teeth that can't come onto land -instead going for anything foolish enough to stray too close to the water or not pull in their boats fast enough.

The lesser Grimm siege the district, tearing through the streets with uncharacteristic purpose. They seem to ignore the helpless civilians that scatter and run, heading only inland.

Rhea can see the Old One from the front lawn of the house, her jaw clenching at the sight of it that stirs memories and dread. It'll be worse this time, she thinks, worse because it's too sudden and they don't have two Witches to support them and the children -nothing is in their favor and she knows it, hates it. With a firm scowl she sprints back inside, slamming the door shut and bolting it behind her. It wouldn't be much, but it would buy them a few seconds and that would have to be enough.

Rhea strides into the shared bedroom, turning a sharp corner once inside to open a wooden wardrobe. She unwinds her sari and folds it to tuck inside, and when her hands come back she's hefting a round, bronze shield that's been polished to a mirror finish onto her arm. Her sword, the inspiration behind Milo, is then tucked into the tight space between the shield and her forearm, freeing up her other hand.

"Thana," she calls out, not expecting an answer as she shuts the wardrobe, "you and Haeda best arm yourselves."

Her partners come in seconds later, the human all but dragging the Faunus behind her. They see their partner already prepped for combat and move to do the same.

"No time for armor." Rhea adds. "They'll be on us in a few minutes most likely. Thana,"

"Yes?" The Vacuoan woman has her swords on her back and is tying a knot in one side of her dress to make moving easier.

"I want you to take the kids into the hills. Between the lot of you I'm sure you can either slip away or stand your ground until you can get word to Holiday to get you out."

"I'm not leaving you alone here."

"I won't be alone. Haeda will be with me. I built this house, damn it, and I'm not losing it to a bunch of Grimm. And you need to get Pyrrha as far from here as you can. Understand?" she acknowledges the worry on Thana's face, her own expression softening a little. "Don't worry, we'll find each other once it's over, I promise."

Thana just nods and then turns to Haeda to relay the message. The Faunus reciprocates as she straps an enormous steel gauntlet with a bright red chunk of Dust fitted into a dog's jaws to her off hand and grips an incredible maul in the other, the weapon topped with three more snarling canine heads made of solid, unpolished steel. Together the three of them head for Pyrrha's room.

Haeda and Rhea wait in the living room as Thana gathers them all together, insisting they only have time to fetch their weapons. Nora and Ren run off to retrieve them.

"We really shouldn't move Pyrrha yet." Jaune cautions, still kneeling on the floor where Pyrrha lies unconscious.

"We don't have a choice." Thana shakes her head, looking to deflate with frustration at not having a better answer. "Someone will have to carry her."

"I can do it." Jaune nods. "If worse comes to worse, I can at least protect her until Daisy can find us."

"And I'll keep close to you." Tag adds, then looks to Thana. "That leaves you with Nora and Ren to back you up."

"I can work with that. Now let's hurry." The elder huntress lingers in the doorway, her head swiveling back and forth as she keeps a visual on her partners. It feels like they just can't get moving fast enough, the two or three minutes it takes to get moving again tugging on her anxiety like thirty. Finally, with Pyrrha on Jaune's back and her arms and legs around him, they file out of the room. Tag has her scroll and is already trying to reach Daisy.

Haeda is at the door to the veranda, standing just outside and on the lookout for Grimm as she gestures with her free hand for them to come on through. Rhea stands in the middle of the living room, resolute and stock still, bolstering her aura as she hears the punctuated crashing against the closed windows and front door. They're trying to get in. Thana calls after her and she doesn't react.

Wooden shutters blast apart, slivers of shrapnel scattering across the floor as one large Beowulf leaps through the window, quickly followed by two more. The three of them jump the dining table, leaving deep, clawing gouges, and then do the same to the sofa as they tear across the room. With snapping jaws and gripping claws they leap for her, all three at once.

Jaune is the last in line, Thana trying to hurry him along, yet he can't help but pause and look in reaction to the presence of Grimm. He hears them, sees them and it makes his gut twist for all of a second, then everything is washed out by a bright flash of emerald light. He blinks the stars from his eyes when it dissipates, his vision clearing just in time to see all three Beowolves flying through the air -the Grimm now strangely gray. Rhea had crouched to let them pass and crash into the wall, shattering against it as they are now made of stone. As much as he wants an explanation, there simply isn't time. Thana all but shoves him through the door and follows him.

There are more Grimm outside, Ursa and Creeps ripping through the barrier of hedges that separate the front and back of the property. Haeda's ready; a flick of her wrist sets off a mechanism in the massive gauntlet on her arm, making it expand vertically in a series steel bands that eventually form a tower style shield with the chunk of Dust situated at the center. She lifts it with uncanny ease, tucking the shield close as she takes long, powerful strides towards the creatures. A Creep comes in range first and she smacks it with a smooth upward swing of her mace, the little Grimm spiraling through the air with a shrill screech before it detonates in an Ursa's face. The Faunus keeps her arm moving, taking advantage of the momentum to crush another Grimm's jaw and then kick it to the side. Following through she makes a half turn, stopping herself and bracing with her aura as she plants the shield in front of her, taking the the impact and weight of a host of Grimm crashing against it. For a moment she holds fast, claws starting to hook around the shield to try and pull it down, but then she retaliates. Bodies scatter away from a fiery explosion, the Dust crystal flashing wildly.

Many of the Grimm will come surging back once the smoke clears, only to have Haeda lift her shield and send her Semblance familiar to greet them -a three-headed dog made of molten stone and fire that's the size of a truck rips into the first creature it can reach, one head going for the throat while the others trap the Ursa's powerful arms. Together they tear it to the ground.

It goes against everything Thana feels to leave her partners even though she knows she has to. She consciously forces herself to push the others on, letting Ren and Nora take the lead while she keeps pace somewhere between the front and back of the line they've fallen into. They head south into the hills, hoping to reach the trees where Specialist Holiday would be expected to meet them. Glancing back she can make out the clear shape of the Old One by the shore, can see the brood surging inland from the beach and also make out the dark shapes of airborne Grimm. Her attention zeros in on the nimble wing movements of a Daredevil and she groans; they were making great gains, but there's no way they could outrun one of those.

Jaune does his best to pump his legs as hard as he can while Thana urges them on, adjusting his arms so he has a more secure grip on Pyrrha. He can just see the trees ahead and feels that if he can just make it that far, the rest will fall in to place. He just has to give everything he's got for a few more minutes, just has to ignore the way his shoulders have started burning and his thighs ache. The only worry he has at the moment is about the absence of it; he's not afraid of failing or falling, or of the Grimm catching up to him. He's confident, almost calm, and he knows he can handle this. Everything is as simple as following through, and for the first time he actually believes it.

They disappear into the timbers just as the Daredevil's shadow falls over them, the Grimm stopping the makings of a dive with an indignant shriek. It begins to circle, overhead, knowing they have to reappear eventually. Below, in the spotty shadows, the lot of them stop to catch their breath.

"Don't relax too much, there's more coming." Thana cautions as she braces herself against one of the trees, looking back the way they had come for any sign of enclosing Grimm. She draws her swords from their sheathes on her back, the blades shaped like some weird hybrid between a sword and scythe. Ren and Nora fall in around her, to the left and the right, ready. Nora's trigger finger is awful itchy, in fact her whole frame seems to jump like sparks as she waits to tear into something. She's been holding down far too much for far too long to keep completely still.

Jaune and Tag duck further in by only a few yards, not too far that they can't see the others, but far enough that they have a few seconds between them and anything that comes for them. Sweat is rolling down the young man's reddened face and his lungs ache from the cool air, but he fights and wins to stay upright.

"Let's set her down." Tag calls him over with a beckoning hand, showing him a recess in a tree trunk just big enough to hide in. He doesn't run but moves quickly to join her, carefully dropping to one knee before loosening his hold. Tag's ready to take Pyrrha's weight, hands at the young woman's back, but she doesn't move. Even after he's let go completely, she remains atop his back.

Pyrrha's hands suddenly clench in the thick fabric of his hoodie, knuckles white and the tendons popping up in sharp relief. Her grip is tight enough to hurt, her claw-like nails having raked the skin beneath the cloth layers, and the way her thighs cinch around his waist isn't so gentle anymore either. He can feel her shaking against him, her chest fluttering with quick breaths.

"Is it another seizure?" he's twisting his neck to try and look, but can't see anything other than the bright redness of her hair. Her face is pressed into his shoulder with all the tenacity of an ostrich shoving its head in the sand.

"I...I don't," Tag's eyes dart between her and him, uncertain. "Pyrrha? Pyrrha, can you hear me?"

Surprisingly, she nods, her forehead grinding hard into his shoulder.

"Here they come!"

"Shit." the Faunus bites. "It's not a seizure but I don't know what's going on. Just stick with her, I'll do what I can to cover you." The Spring Maiden has her bullwhip in her hands, ready even as she wishes for her knife instead- the close proximity of the trees wouldn't be a problem then. And if she hadn't taken such a blow to the head earlier, she would have greater trust in her magic.

Jaune hates the helplessness that creeps over him as he watches, seeing the hulking black shapes of Grimm flicker in and out of view between the trees along with the forms of his teammates. His instincts are split evenly between helping them and literally getting Pyrrha off his back, and he certainly can't do one without first accomplishing the other. He makes a conscious effort to center his thoughts on Pyrrha, knowing the sooner he can decipher what's wrong, the sooner he can make better use of himself.

"Pyrrha, what's going on? Talk to me," he speaks softly, but not so much that he can't be heard over the commotion echoing through the timbers, and as the words form he molds his hands over hers that still make fists in his clothes. "Please, I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

She doesn't speak and for a split second her grip tightens, even her breath stills as the shaking reaches a fever pitch with one hard shudder. It pushes some of the air out of his lungs and nudges his heart closer to his throat with worry. Then, just like that, she relaxes and lets him go. She slides off his back and to the ground with an unceremonious thump, startling him into snapping around as quick as he's able to make sure she's all right. There's still some blood on her face, long since dried, and her expression is unreadable. What's out of place is the wideness of her eyes, how they have a strangely haunted look and...tears?

He takes her hands in his and cranes his head so their eyes might meet. "Pyrrha?"

That thousand yard stare of hers comes back after a few seconds; she looks at him, appearing indifferent as ever yet panting a little. "I'm sorry." she exhales.

He reacts the only way he knows how. "It's okay, this isn't your fault. Are you all right?"

It takes her a moment, she has to form the answer in her head first and right now it feels like the most hostile environment for words. So she just nods.

"Good." he can't hold back the sigh of relief. "Listen, Daisy's on her way to pick us up, but we've got to hold off some Grimm until she gets here."

"Daredevil! Everybody down!"

Again he's reacting more than thinking, grabbing Pyrrha by the shoulders, wrapping her up in his arms and pulling her to the ground with him. The next three seconds pass in a riot of sound and the roaring of blood through his ears. He feels the air whipping around him, cold and sharp, coupled with the racket of shattering wood. He forces himself to open his eyes and look up, seeing that the thready canopy of bare branches and evergreen boughs have disappeared, the trees broken up and toppled by the Daredevil's pass. The ground shakes for an instant as one tree crashes close by, inches away from falling right on top of them.

Jaune chances to lift his head, the rest of his body following as he props on one elbow. The broken forms of earthbound Grimm are scattered among the fallen trees, some of them already beginning to dissipate. Damn thing took out its own allies. Looking up he can see the sky becoming crowded by others, Lancers and Nevermores that are already looking to start assailing them with a volley of razor sharp pinfeathers. And he's willing to bet that Daredevil will be circling back any second.

"Nora!"

Jaune's on his feet in record time, his senses wholly jarred by the reality of Ren shouting. He jerks around to see him running in his direction, jumping from one fallen log to the next, his face strangely twisted up in fear like Jaune has never seen. Ren sprints right by, the residue of his aura tangible and hot against his own. But he can only regard it for a moment, remembering the Grimm still coming for them. Now that his hands are free he draws his sword and opens his shield. His aura flares to life, primed to summon his Semblance because he knows he'll need it.

Ren saw it happen, he saw the Daredevil as it ripped through the trees before banking upward after its dive, its bony, gripping claws dangling just low enough to clip Nora as it passed. She went flying, bouncing off the ground and downed timbers until she crashed to a stop somewhere amongst a nest of fractured debris. With most of the Grimm torn down in the process, Ren couldn't stop himself from being swallowed by the gut wrenching panic that surged through him and demanded he go after her. His vision is tunneled; he doesn't care about the Lancers closing in, or the Daredevil doubling back, or the pack of Beowolves coming up over the hill -all he sees is that mound of crisscrossing timbers in his path.

The same pile of debris that suddenly blasts apart just as he comes within steps of reaching it. Ren smoothly somersaults over a log that flies at him, barely stumbling when he lands on uneven footing. He can see her now, standing in the middle of a charred circle of earth, and he can feel all the small hairs across his body standing up with a shiver of static. The odor of ozone prickles in his nose, making him stop as it draws his attention to the bright flickers of turquoise light arcing around Nora's clenched fists. Then her aura hits him in a heavy surge, and his only thought is to stay back and stay low.

The Storm Witch watches the Daredevil as it reaches the top of its renewed ascent, her eyes flashing with arcs of light that snap in and out of sight. She's scraped up from head to toe, her knees and nose and forehead bloody, and her hair is full of wood slivers as it rises with the electric charge she's putting into the air around her. Magic courses through her like barbwire in her veins, but it's a sharp pain that she knows and embraces like the close companion that it is; she lets it grow and pool into her palms as the Daredevil starts its descent with its shadow centered on her. Another surge crackles through the air, pushing smaller debris away from her feet with hot pressure as her magic forms solid orbs of light in her hands. The Grimm screeches overhead, it's big glowing eyes meeting Nora's in the seconds before the young huntress slings both hands upward, hurling a maelstrom of electricity that jumps from her to the Grimm in a second. The monster doesn't stop, instead it appears to light up and shudder, its entire form swelling just before it breaks up in a cloud of smoke and feathers, and then it dissolves with a loud CRACK into a shower of black slime that doesn't even make it to the ground before it evaporates.

Ren steadily lifts his head, surprised at himself when he freezes the instant Nora turns on her heels to face him. He watches her wipe a hand across her head, wincing at the little pain, and then her furious scowl turns into frustrated hurt.

"Asshole tore my skirt." she says, sounding like she's trying to justify herself. Not that she has to. Still Ren drops his gaze a little, and sure enough he can see the pretty pink fabric ripped apart and fluttering against her now half bare thigh.

Maybe that's what convinces him it's okay, enough evidence to assure him that she's still human and that it's safe for him to go to her. And he isn't really thinking as he approaches her in an unstable hurry, his eyes wide and hands reaching for her until she's in his arms and against his chest. Something instinctive and primitive in his brain hates it when she fights him.

"We don't have time for this, we need to-,"

Ren cuts her off with a kiss, because he's too scared and relieved to speak. The world seems to fall away from them, even though the others still fight tooth and nail just over their shoulders. It's too brief and too good, and for a second after they finally part they just stare at each other, looking shocked at themselves. Then Nora's cheeks turn a bright red and she grabs him by the wrist to lead him on, back into the fight only after she has reclaimed Magnhild from the debris.

The Progenitor lingers on the shore, spitting up it's offspring until airships from the Atlesian base to the north arrive. It only takes a single volley of cannon fire to make it recoil with a bird-like shriek and head out of the shallows. The ships will keep the pressure on it regardless, depleting almost their entire ordinance until it disappears beneath the water. Eventually it returns to the deep, undetectable even by boats that remained in the water that were equipped to search the greater fathoms below. However, the few minutes the monster had to unleash its horde was more than enough to nearly overrun the entire Minoan District, so the work was far from done. Once they were sure the massive serpent had ceased its attack, the airships land and release several companies of specialists to help route the remaining Grimm alongside the local hunters that were already neck deep in it.

Specialist Holiday had been one of the last ships cleared to leave the base, the traffic controller assuring her it was only so the strike force could take off quicker. Emergency sorties take priority, and he didn't care that she had clearance directly from General Ironwood -"With that thing in the water, the gods themselves couldn't make me delay those fighters." were his exact words. While she could understand the reasoning, she still didn't like it. She was praying there was still time when she was finally cleared to leave along with the drop ships, breaking away from the group almost immediately and crossing the inland sea as quickly as the craft's engines allowed.

Daisy had instructed Tag to leave her scroll active at the end of their short and harried conversation earlier, making them easier to find. Her co-pilot found the signal with expected ease and she followed it without delay, consciously ignoring the chaotic mess of Grimm and hunters below them. She keeps a steady course to the south, distinctly feeling her gut drop when she sees the wrecked trees and traces of Grimm -but no whole ones to speak of. However she's quick to recover once she's able to make out the shapes of people, a quick study reassuring her that everyone was accounted for. With careful quickness she sets the ship down, making sure the co-pilot's still ready for takeoff before leaving the cockpit.

Before she can set her foot on solid ground she can see them heading towards the ship, making an audible, almost cheerful whoo of relief. "Everybody all right?" she calls out.

"A little battered," Thana replies, "you have a medic aboard?"

"I've got a fully stocked first-aid station, that's the best I could do on such short notice. But it should tide you over so long as no one's serious."

The elder huntress pauses beside the specialist, letting the others step aboard and unconsciously counting them as they go.

"Where's Rhea and Haeda?"

"They stayed behind to hold the house." she nods, worry knitting her brow a little. "How bad is it down there?"

"Not as bad as you'd think. That big honking thing birthing all the smaller ones took off according to what I heard over the radio, just disappeared. I think it's just a matter of snuffing out the dredges at this point."

"Good. Let's be on then. And thanks."

"My pleasure, ma'am."

Pyrrha feels physically strange, almost like she's outside of her own body and witnessing everything second hand. Her consciousness feels foreign to her frame and if she was capable of it she would be frightened. Though the flight back to the house is brief, maybe a minute or two, it drags on like a short eternity -an eternity that she spends watching her teammates patch themselves back together and feeling a thousand miles away from them. And in spite of that imaginary distance, something in her -that foreign thing- recoils in tactile disgust at seeing Ren and Nora making eyes at each other. All of a sudden that alienated part of her is familiar; it's Manticore. She partly feels what it's feeling, and it hates that it's sharing space with two people that appear to be in love. At least, that's what she's thinking, thinking that turns into knowing when she shifts her eyes to Jaune, meeting his gentle blue gaze, and the Grimm makes a mental jerk inside her skull.

Somehow she and the Old One are more separate now but still together, just apart enough for her to know.

"You okay?"

Pyrrha blinks at Jaune and his soft question, her face devoid of any trace of everything going through her mind. She doesn't answer, knowing she should be brokenhearted by the worry in his eyes.

The airship lands near the training pitch behind the house, everyone aboard who is able feeling relieved to see it intact and to find Haeda and Rhea waiting on the veranda. The young hunters and the Maiden hurry inside, Thana and her partners almost herding them like sheep. Rhea will stop Tag and Pyrrha in the living room, sitting her daughter down so the Spring Maiden can look her over while the others hurry off the grab their belongings. It's more than clear that they can't stay and needed to leave as soon as possible.

"I'm fine." Pyrrha says softly, not really a protest, more a neutral affirmation. Although her skin crawls when Tag puts her hands on her, but she knows that's just the Grimm reacting.

"I just want to be sure." Rhea replies, hoping her worry isn't showing even though it's all but written on her face. "You sacred me something awful."

"I'm sorry." it's reflexive, almost meaningless.

Tag only has to concentrate for a moment, her magic washing through the young woman easily in spite of a small hiccup. "There's nothing I wasn't aware of before." she sighs.

Rhea nods, looking away for a moment. "I suppose you all will be leaving?"

"It's too risky for us to stay." Tag shakes her head. "There's no knowing if this will happen again, maybe without provocation next time. That's too many innocent people to bet on maybe."

"And there's no telling how long it is before someone discovers that Pyrrha's here to begin with." Thana adds, as if they should have considered this before but didn't. "Never mind what they might think if they see her as she is now."

Rhea takes a deep breath, her brow furrowing hard enough to hurt. She knows they're both right, but she doesn't have to like it. "Thana, could you pack a few of her things? Make sure she has plenty of warm clothes?"

"Of course." Thana's quick to go about her task, taking Haeda with her and partly unaware of Tag following as well. All three of them felt the same thing, that Rhea wanted a few moments, so they would give her that.

When she's confident they're alone, Rhea kneels down in front of the chair and takes Pyrrha's hand in both of hers. For a long moment they just look at each other, faces unreadable.

Then "I'm sorry."

Rhea almost laughs, almost. Because her heart is hurting and anything more than that might break her. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You're always apologizing, even when nothing is wrong. I don't know why I'm just now noticing it, but you've done for...heavens, I can't recall when it started. But why?"

Pyrrha doesn't have an answer, even now when in seems like she would have to most clarity, without pesky emotions like embarrassment to cloud her thoughts.

"I suppose it isn't important, then." Rhea sighs. "In any case, there's nothing for you to be apologizing for now. None of this is your fault." she kisses her daughter's knuckle. "And even if it was, I wouldn't care; you could burn the whole Rim to the ground and I'd still believe that you're the greatest blessing the gods ever gave me."

Pyrrha thinks a part of her would laugh if she could feel the ironic amusement. There was a time where she most certainly could have, and likely would have razed the Rim.

Rhea sniffles against her hand. "I don't want to lose you again."

And Pyrrha wishes she could care enough -at all- to comfort her.

Within the hour the lot of them are packed up and ready to leave, taking only a few lingering moments to suss out where they're headed with Daisy.

"Can that ship reach Vale?" Jaune asks.

"If you ask her nice, she'll take you anywhere you want." The specialist chances a little humor to try and break up the heaviness in the air. When no one laughs, she clears her throat. "Yeah, I can get you there."

"Then we can go to the Warren, it's the safest place I can think of. I can call my mom on the way and let her know we're coming."

Daisy nods. "I'll be sure to tell Ironwood where we're going once we get there, that way he can't tell me no. But that's a hell of a ride so we need to go if we want to keep up with the daylight crossing the pond. Take a minute to bid your farewells and then we've got to jet."

They do just that once Daisy is out of sight, delving out farewells and half familiar handshakes in turn. Haeda grabs up on Nora and just holds her -never mind that they had only known each other for about a week, the little ginger is the Faunus' favorite. Pyrrha accepts affectionate goodbyes from her mothers, reciprocating even though she knows that they know she doesn't feel it like they do.

Jaune will be the last in line to leave, lingering momentarily, patting himself down just to make sure he's got everything he needs.

"Gypsy boy,"

Why he responds to that he'll never know, but he does. His spins around head first at the sound, a little surprised to see Rhea approaching him, her expression firm with sincerity.

"I don't care what you have to do...please help my daughter. I'm begging you."

Her words -and not just that, but the looks from Haeda and Thana as well- settle on him like a millstone around his neck, heavy and oppressively serious. Mentally he flinches, a knee-jerk fear of that kind of responsibility that he's been given before and failed miserably to keep. But he simply can't decline, he just can't, his heart of hearts won't let him.

"I promise. Whatever is takes."

He promises because he's not the same man he was a year ago, and he hoped that would be enough to help him keep his word.

Author's Note: Holy hell, so that was a thing, and it's not likely to slow down for long from here. The kids might get a bit of a breather or two after this, but then the flood gates are going to bust open -so to speak. I previously hinted at a Renora spinoff, which I haven't forgotten, but may have to rewrite a bit as I want it to accommodate the events of this chapter as well as the chapter it was originally going to be based on. It feels better like this seeing as they've actually kissed now. As for next chapter, Tag finally checks her scroll, Jaune phones his mom, and maybe some JNPR brand angst. Questions and comments are always welcome.