Chapter 18 "Freya Queens"
Jaune woke up the next day good as new. However, the information that he received was too much to take in but it was not just that, it was what he received, the future that could happen and the way things were looking, that future was possible and the most likely to happen. Jaune was scared, but he was more determined then he was afraid. He needed to stop not just Salem, but Ozpin as well. Neither could be trusted. He now knew what the voice was, it was the Grimm, it was the dark brother's blood. He was to rather become Human or Grimm. Light or Dark. Life or Death. Day or Night. His fate would lead him to the path, the path to defeat Salem and Ozpin. He would do whatever he needed to do, go through anyone, destroy anything to defeat the two that caused this thousand-year war. WHATEVER IT TAKES, and NOBODY was going to stop him. but first, he needed to remove all of Salem's pawns.
Jaune got out of his room after he finished changing, as soon as he walked out of his room he was face to face with Reese. She was going to check on Jaune and see if he needed any help.
"Reese, did you need something?" Jaune asked
"No, Neo and Arslan just asked me to check on you," She said
"Well, I'm fine, thank you though" Jaune replied
the two walked out to meet with their friends, Bolen and Arslan had gone to see if they were close to the Cult's HQ, while Neo and Nadir were buying food.
"So, how did you get a Semblance like that?" Reese asked "ya know, changing into Grimm and stuff"
"Well, it's an Inherited Semblance, one that's both a blessing and a curse" Jaune replied
"Oh, so you're like the Schnee Family in a way," Reese said
"Yeah, you know a Schnee?" Jaune asked
"Eh, kinda, Weiss Schnee from Beacon academy, she was fighting Bolen during the Vytal Festival. I also fought with her during the Fall" Reese replied
Jaune smiled, He knew Weiss had made it out alive, but he would sometimes sense her sadness whenever she mentioned or talked with her father. So he was a bit concerned about her.
"But her teammate! Blake Belladonna! I just wanna hit her!" Reese pouted
Jaune chuckled, "why's that?"
"She made me look like a fool, I fought her during the festival and she used her ribbon to knock me off my board, not to mention she used her other sword to cut my board in half"
Jaune peaked up and the mention of another sword, was she talking about Gambol Shroud's sheath?
"She had a second sword?" Jaune asked
"Yeah, it looked sorta like yours, I heard it was called Apathy" Reese replied
Jaune stopped at the mention of his old sword, Blake had kept it. He didn't think she would... but he was wrong.
"I also heard that she lost a friend before the Festival began..." Reese told him
After that, they continued to walk... Jaune wanted to see how Blake was doing, but he couldn't, he just couldn't face her yet, not until his task was done. As soon as they got outside, Arslan along with Bolen, Nadir, and Neo arrived.
"Look whos up" Nadir chuckled
Jaune just smiled and rolled his eyes but walked to them and helped them with the food, after getting everything put away Bolen agreed to cook for everyone while they all trained. they all got their gear ready and agreed to not use their semblance as most of them need to focus on combat.
"So who wants to go first?" Jaune asked
"I'll go first," Arslan said
Jaune looked at her, "are you sure? I've got years of training with this stuff" Jaune told her
"and I don't? I've been training physically since I was 7" Arslan replied "let's do this Jaune"
Jaune smiled and nodded. He pulled out his sword and readied himself for an attack. Arslan pulled out her throwing knife which also had a string attached to it, making it so she could maneuver it. Both waited to see who would make the first move, Jaune then felt something whiz by him, causing a shallow cut on his left cheek, he moved out of the way as he saw then Arslan already launched her knife at him, she moved and jumped fast along with pulling and throwing her nife at such rapid speeds that Jaune couldn't keep up. Jaune then decided he needed to get closer to her, she couldn't use her knife at such a short-range. Jaune was now just a few feet away from her, but then he saw he put her knife away, Arslan then threw multiple punches at him, Jaune blocked some, but her punches matched those of Yang's, No, they were stronger than Yang's punches, Jaune had to wonder what Arslan Semblance was, could it be similar to Yang's? Jaune kept getting hit over and over again, he managed to block some but he was still hit. Arslan threw a left hook and he managed to dodge it but then she punched him in the stomach and it sent him flying into three or four trees. Arslan had won the match, Jaune used his aura to heal himself, also it was thanks to the Grimm blood in him that his bones were stronger and sturdier.
Arslan looked to her friends on the porch, "who's next?" She asked with a smile
Neo's eyes were wide, Both Nadir and Reese weren't surprised, as Arslan was the second most talented fighter in Mistral, in fact, she would always place second or third in the Mistral tournaments. She was the closest person to beating Pyrrha Nikos.
Jaune got up and smiled and sat back at the porch as he watched Neo and Arslan go at each other. If Arslan could beat him, someone, who was on par with Neo, then she could possibly beat Neo.
Ruby walked within the forest of Mistral. The sun had just set and she looked from a cliff to see that a town was burning, She heard the caw of a Nevermore and activated crescent rose and jumped on to the Raven Grimm. It flew her to the town and when she was above it, she killed the Nevermore and landed into the town. She looked to see that Grimm was around her, Beowulfs and Ursa's as well as some Borbusks. Ruby readied herself and began to attack the Grimm. Using her semblance she dodged and moved away from the Grimm attacks, She slashed into two Beowulf's with ease and then she jumped away from and Ursa's swing and she spun in the air and crescent rose embedded itself into the Ursa's skull, she looked to see that the Grimm her running away, she thought that she may have killed the Alpha but she was then knocked into a pillar and landed on the stone ground, she looked up only to see a Beringel, a Grimm that resembled a gorilla, it's face mask was cracked. Ruby quickly got up only for it to charge at her, she moved away as the Beringel smashed the pillar she was thrown into. It quickly turned to her and rushed at her, Ruby was about to slash at it until it was pushed back with a pink explosion. Ruby turned to see Nora along with Ren above her on a nearby building, she wondered where blake was until she heard some Grimm being killed to her right to see Blake with both of her swords out and slashing away at the Grimm. they then all turned back to the Beringel as it unleashed a fierce roar. It looked about ready to charge until Ice covered it's feet and then a large pillar of Ice shot into its chest killing it. Everyone was stunned as a Woman with a Grimm mask approached them, her Grimm mask looked like the ones Opera singers would sometimes wear.
"Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie... it seems fate is kind to my sister and me," Freya said
"Who are you?" Ren asked as he and Nora joined Ruby and Blake on the ground
The woman moved closer to them, She smiled under her mask, "My name is Freya Queen, I am the second in command of the Grimm Cult"
the four huntsmen in training readied their weapons, knowing who this was and preparing for a fight.
"please lower your weapons, I've come to talk, not fight" Freya replied
Ruby didn't buy it, however, "yeah right, what is it that you want?" Ruby asked
Freya sighed, "I want what my sister wants. I want to evolve, just like your friend... Jaune Grimm"
At the mention of his name Blake stepped to attack only to have her foot frozen in place,
"Please, I only wish for you to hear me out and to tell you about your friend" Freya began "Jaune Grimm is alive. He lives both through us... and through you" She said looking at Blake
Nora shot a grenade at the woman only for it to freeze in midair. "Make no mistake... your friend is alive... but he and all of your are threats to our goddess"
"and by goddess you mean Cinder?" Ruby asked
"Cinder Fall... as if we would worship some Fall Maiden" Freya replied "I look forward to seeing you again" and with that message, she turned to Ice and shattered.
Blake looked to Ruby, "You think she was telling the truth?" Blake asked
Ruby looked down, "Blake-"
But before Ruby could say anymore, Ren called them over. They followed him and saw what he was looking at. it was a trail of Ice the lead into the forest.
"Should we follow it?" Nora asked
"it could be a trap," Ren told her
"doesn't matter, as long as it will lead us to the cult then it's fine, we'll figure out a plan on the way" Ruby replied
The four then set out on the trail, With the Blake wondering if Freya was telling the truth, or if she was just screwing with her brain, but Blake still wondered what she meant when she said that Jaune lived through her?