As The Crow Flies: Chapter 26...
We're in the home stretch now, the final battle. Hope you guys enjoy it!
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The sound of the gunships firing was the first thing I heard as we headed back out to face the threat. Their concussive blasts sounded over and over, peppered with erratic gunfire from the soldiers on the ground. Ezra roared as we emerged, already back in the fight and tearing Grimm to shreds with his teeth and claws. The soldiers marched forwards in tight formations, sticking to their protocol even as they were cut down. Hunters and Huntresses had pulled back from the city to protect the school after hearing that Salem was here, and all across the campus they bolstered the defences, their extraordinary weapons unleashing black smoke into the air as Grimm died with each blow.
I didn't see her straight away. I was taken aback by the ferocity of the fighting when this area had been so calm just minutes before. And then my eyes fell on the Grimm Queen. She walked serenely through the masses, a smile on her face as she took in the carnage. The tide of Grimm parted around her, and she killed soldiers and Huntsmen with ease as she walked, never breaking stride. My heart hammered in my chest as I remembered the feeling of her crawling around in my head, the sound of her laughing as my child died inside me and my husband bled out before my eyes.
"Brynn." Qrow's voice was soft as he took hold of my wrists. "You're okay. No matter what happens, I'm with you." His red eyes broke through the fog of fear in my mind, clearing my thoughts. "We fight together."
"Together," I nodded, squeezing his hands.
"I'm scared, Uncle Qrow," Ruby said softly. He ruffled her hair gently. "She killed my mother."
"Then we stop her or die trying," he answered simply. "Remnant needs us. We're Hunters, kid. We don't back out of a fight." The words seemed to be exactly what Ruby needed to hear. Her resolve hardened and she unfurled Crescent Rose, ready to go. Qrow did the same, switching straight to his scythe. I pulled the staff from my back as the other Maidens stepped out around us, careful not to touch one another.
"We can do this," I called to them. Each of the Maidens watched me with a knowing look in their eyes, aware of my plan. "Let's go!" We ran, breaking off into separate groups. Arya stayed behind for the first part; she was far too young to be thrust into a battle. Instead she listened to her Relic, feeding Winter information to help guide her in stationing troops.
We reached the first few Grimm just as they had begun to break through the defensive line of Atlesian Knights, cutting through them with ease as we brandished our weapons and headed towards the spectre walking calmly through the violence. The space around her remained empty as the soldiers and Hunters realised she could kill them quickly on their own. They focused instead on the Grimm and left us to our task.
"Qrow Branwen." Her voice reminded me of a snake, hissing before it strikes. "And Brynn Westwood. I am surprised to see you still here after the way your mind cracked last time we met." She gazed at us all. "I see you have the other Maidens with you. I must thank you for bringing me the Relics I so badly want."
Ruby broke first, screaming and spinning her scythe like a dervish. Salem drew her sword of bone and parried the attack with ease, moving like lightning. Ruby barely managed to keep up despite her Semblance. Qrow jumped in to help, and I swung the staff as I joined the fight. The Grimm queen fended the three of us off without issue, her sword opening wounds in all of us as Penny appeared, accompanied by the rest of team RWBY and their three friends. Everyone attacked with all they could, and still Salem danced around our blows and delivered strikes of her own with ease. Her sword raked across Qrow's ribs, slashed Ruby's cheek and pierced Nora's arm in a matter of minutes. It was clear we were heavily outmatched.
Ozpin dropped in front of us and his cane cracked against Salem's wrist. She faltered for the first time, though it was only slight. Ozpin had trained Oscar's body into a fine warrior, and the two of them blurred in streaks of green and black as they battled. Yang fired her knuckle bombs, crashing her fists into Salem. Salem barely flinched, and a wave of black burst from her palm, flinging Yang back several feet.
Our swords couldn't break her skin. Our blows didn't bruise her. Even when she was sliced by the Relic of Destruction after a desperate move from Val she remained standing. The Maiden's magic staggered her but didn't hurt her, and she never seemed to tire. But we were beginning to slow. Before my eyes, she delivered three sharp blows, and Ruby's ribs crunched as she was thrown to the ground. Ren and Nora attacked together, with Jaune close behind, hoping to distract her. Salem responded by sending Ren skidding across the ground, kicking Jaune's legs from beneath him and stamping on his chest. As Jaune's aura broke, Nora screamed and tried to swing her hammer. Salem punched her in the face so hard that Nora faltered, instantly unconscious, her mouth and nose bleeding as she crumpled to the ground.
I tried to get them out of the way while the others continued attacking, moving them to a safe distance as quickly as I could. As I got the last of them to a safe place, I heard Qrow grunt in pain. I turned to see Salem pull her sword out of his shoulder, laughing as though it were the most delightful game. I knew it was only his astonishing speed that had saved him from death. Salem was fighting to kill.
Penny stepped in as Qrow staggered away, flanked by Blake and Weiss. I put my hands on Qrow's shoulder as blood pumped from the wound, closing it up as quickly as I could before rejoining the fight. My staff cracked across Salem's back as Weiss sent shards of ice firing at the Grimm Queen. Blake was dodging blows by creating duplicates of herself, infuriating the woman as much as she could. Each duplicate was smashed a split second after Blake left it behind, and my heart thumped as I saw her getting closer and closer to striking the Faunus girl. I went faster, kicking and swinging at her as hard as I could. I managed to draw her attention away from Blake, and the girl fell back, breathing heavily. I saw she was bleeding from several places where the bone sword had almost killed her.
Val brandished the Relic of Destruction, engaging in a battle of blades with the Salem. Each blow was matched, but the Relic weakened Salem's bone sword and eventually it shattered. I had thought we were gaining ground. I was wrong.
Salem slipped Val's original sword from the sheath on her leather trousers and continued her attack with the new blade, beating Val back with a series of vicious swipes. Val jumped back, exhausted as Yang leapt back in. I sent shot after shot at Salem, alternating between the Maiden's magic and my bow, but nothing seemed to damage her. She sliced deep into Yang's back with the sword and kicked her out of the way. Yang stayed down as Qrow swung Harbinger, smoothly intercepting the swipe aimed at his niece as she tried to fight again.
"Get back Ruby, you're hurt," he said quickly. His distraction was all Salem needed. She sent a barrage of shadow at him, and it soaked into every inch of him. He yelled in pain and crumpled as she withdrew it from him again, dropping his blade. She smiled, and hurled Val's sword at Blake as she leapt back into the battle. It lodged in her thigh, and she screamed as Salem's fingers closed around Qrow's sword. My heart dropped as she brought it down towards his head, and I barrelled forwards, crashing into her hard enough to knock the blade aside. Qrow rolled out of the way and groaned, dragging himself to his feet. The wound on his shoulder was open again, and I realised that she was able to neutralise the healing effects of my Semblance.
"We have to do something or we're going to die," I said to Val even as I was swinging at Salem. I wanted to use the staff but her blows were so fast that I didn't have time to create anything.
"Winter is on her way," Val responded, gathering magic in her palms and unleashing it at the Grimm witch wherever she could. Qrow was unsteady on his feet and still looking like he was considering rejoining the fight. I shook my head, warning him, and he nodded and went to tend to the injured. I looked around when I got a moment and realised that only myself, Ozpin and Val were still capable of fighting, and Ozpin was tiring as I watched.
An airship landed nearby and Winter emerged, followed by Rowena Silverclaw and several soldiers. Arya stepped out of the aircraft behind them and for the first time I saw her semblance. The girl pressed her palms to the floor and a ripple of energy pulsed outwards, streaking towards Salem. The Grimm Queen dove out of the way at the last second as huge spikes of rock impaled the air where she'd been standing, bursting upwards in an attempt to skewer her. Winter and her soldiers dove into battle and Rowena brandished her claws, snarling as she ran after them. Their arrival gave me a moment to fall back, and I braced my hands against my knees, panting heavily.
"If we don't do it now, we'll never get the chance," Val warns. The Destruction Relic was clutched in her hand.
"You're on board?"
"What choice do we have? She's going to kill us all. My Relic does nothing, you don't have time to use yours and the others are non-offensive. Even Ozpin can't land a blow." She gestured at where Ozpin was still trying to hurt the Grimm Queen. Even with reinforcements, Salem still had the upper hand. "Yang is awake. We need to do it now." I turned to see Qrow lifting his blonde niece from the ground, helping her towards the airship. Yang met our gaze and pushed him away, calling to Arya. Before Qrow could stop them, they both ran towards us. Ozpin's head whipped round to watch and Salem struck him down, the hilt of Qrow's sword cracking against his temple.
"No!" Salem screamed, launching herself at us as soon as she realised what we were about to do. I willed the girls to run faster as Val grabbed my hand. Salem leapt through the air, the sword poised to take my head as Yang and Arya linked with us. I closed my eyes, expecting death.
oO0Oo
Death never came. When I opened my eyes, the Relics circled each other above our heads, and our hands were still linked. The landscape around us was calm and still. One one side was a wide pool with yellow grass blowing all around it and a luscious tree at its centre. The other was dark and jagged, with a bubbling black pool and broken rocks everywhere. This was it, our final judgement.
"Maidens." The voice echoed all around us, resonating with power as the God of Light stepped out of his beautiful pool. He was tall, faceless and his body glowed with golden light. A pair of antlers sprouted from his head.
"You have called to us." The second voice held the same power, though it hissed as it rasped from the mouth of the God of Darkness. He crawled from his black pool on bent limbs, the joints clicking and cracking as he rose to his feet. The black liquid of the pool sluiced off him like tar as he raised his head. Unlike the God of Light, this one was lean and lithe, still faceless, but with purple skin and curling horns.
"We did not expect a call from Remnant so soon. You understand what must happen now?"
"The Gods will pass their final judgement on us, and we will all perish, or magic will be restored as it was," Arya said quietly. There were tears in her eyes and her lip trembled, but her voice was steady.
"When we left your world it was a selfish place. Tell us, what has happened since we left?" The dark God tilted his head curiously.
"Salem still walks the planet," Yang replied. "She has armies of Grimm, bent on destroying us."
"We have tried so many times to stop her slaughtering all of us," Val continued.
"We have no more options. So we came to you," I finished.
"And what of Ozma?" The God of Light asked.
"He still searches for a way to destroy Salem. We can't reason with her, we can't stop her, and we can't survive beside her." I bowed my head. "We were in the middle of a war where she killed countless people and injured many others. We would rather die quickly at the hands of the Gods, than allow her to torture us any longer."
"Very well. Tell us why you think we should save you," the God of Darkness demanded. "Your world still does not live in harmony." Anger rose inside me as I thought of all the people working together to save Remnant.
"With respect, we cannot live in harmony until Salem is destroyed. You forced an immortal upon us, knowing she was twisted and evil, and expect us to find a way to stop her when even the Relics you left are useless against her." The God of Darkness bristled, but his brother held up a hand.
"Continue," the golden spectre requested.
"The White Fang have been disbanded. Remnant has restored equal rights to Faunus across the world and given them more than just Menagerie as their home," Arya provided.
"And how do you know this, young one?" She hesitated, then took off her cloak, revealing the tail of a monkey hidden underneath.
"Because I'm a Faunus myself." She smiled sadly. "I used to live in Menagerie. The White Fang converted my parents to their cause and as a result they died. I was taken in by some of the humans that helped to disband the White Fang and raised by them. They showed me everything that was done to make amends to the Faunus after the way we had been treated for so long."
"We've also stopped Salem's followers. The world you left behind is now fighting against her as we speak, trying to win its freedom and its right to life." I dared to take a step forwards, and the golden God watched me even as his brother hissed angrily.
"Be still, brother," he warned.
"We come to you asking you to consider what you tasked us with so many years ago. Please. There are families all over our planet. Humans and Faunus have blossomed and our world is on it's way to prospering. The only thing standing in our way is Salem, the creature you created."
"Do not blame us for your own misgivings, child," the God of Darkness growled. "It was you humans who turned against us to follow her, remember."
"And we were wrong to do so." Yang stepped up beside me. "But that was our past and we made mistakes. We've been paying for them ever since."
"Bandits and thieves still roam your forests. Thugs, murderers, monsters. That is not harmony." The dark God lifted his chin haughtily.
"Where you give free will, there will always be those who make the wrong choices. You allowed us to be selfish. You created us with a choice," I whispered, gesturing to the crown floating above our heads. "If you give us free will and choice, then you cannot expect us to limit the choices of the few who don't align their views with us. Come to our home. Yes, you will see war, but you will see our whole world united to fight one enemy. Don't pass your judgement from here, where you can't see it." The silence that settled when I stopped speaking was heavy and terrifying as the Gods watched the four of us.
"Very well," the dark one said, nodding.
"We will come to see it for ourselves," his brother agreed.
The light faded into complete darkness around us, and I stifled a scream as we dropped, the floor disappearing beneath us. I braced myself automatically for a landing, squeezing my eyes shut. A tug on my shoulder had me opening them again, and I found myself looking at Arya.
The battlefield was silent, the Grimm frozen by the Gods. They now appeared as two immense dragons, staring down at the world around them. I saw my friends, locked in battle with Salem. I saw Qrow, his scythe back in his hands, fighting for his life alongside them, bleeding from a myriad of wounds. All of them were frozen, statues, unmoving because of the God's power. Even the fires stopped flickering. Salem was at its centre, her face fixed in a snarl.
"You think this is peace?" The purple dragon scoffed as he looked around.
"This is what peace takes when Salem is on our planet," I responded. "This man is Qrow Branwen. His life and many people that he loved have been taken by her." I pointed to Salem before moving on. "That is Ruby Rose. She was a child when she joined this fight. She has seen friends die and lost her mother, because of Salem. Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie and Jaune Arc. All of them have lost Pyrrha Nikos because of Salem and her followers. Penny Polendina was killed by Cinder Fall, one of Salem's followers, before her father was able to rebuild her. Everyone here is here because Salem is a danger to them. Every soldier, every pilot, every Huntsmen or Huntress. I lost my child and my husband trying to kill her. Yang lost an arm trying to stop Adam Taurus of the White Fang when one of Salem's followers recruited him. Blake Belladona had her home burned down in Adam's bid to control the militia and join with Cinder."
"Every person here has suffered, and fought and bled for this," Valkyrie says quietly. "My mother was slaughtered by Grimm. Arya's family were killed under Adam and Cinder's rule. We may be at war, but is that not what you created?" Valkyrie turns to the God of Darkness, unflinching as he growls at her. "You create death and destruction to keep the balance. War is a part of that." She looks at the God of Light. "And you gave us magic and gave us life and wonder. And in the middle of everything that has pushed us back, we found small moments of peace with the ones we love, even as their lives are under threat. We use the gifts you gave us. Both of you."
"Please," I said as Valkyrie lapsed into silence. "We want to live."
The Gods stayed silent for a very long time, considering everything we had said. The God of Light wandered through the fighting, gazing at each of the people we named before his eyes rested on Ozpin.
"When we brought Ozma back, we punished him when he did not deserve it," he said softly.
"We tasked him with bringing peace to this planet, and he and Salem destroyed it and their own children," the God of Darkness replied bitterly.
"Perhaps we were wrong." The golden God's words made my stomach clench. I had been so certain that we would all die, and yet there glimmered a ray of hope.
"We are Gods, brother. We created this place."
"But we are not infallible. We were wrong to believe that our creations could not be manipulated against us. Perhaps we were wrong also to believe they could not redeem themselves." The golden dragon turned his great head to look at me. "Perhaps we could strike a deal."
"What did you have in mind?" Val asked warily.
"We will not destroy Remnant at this moment," the God of Darkness began, sighing.
"We will stop Salem," the God of light continued.
"I thought Salem couldn't be stopped," Arya responded quietly.
"She cannot be killed as she is, you are correct. But we gave her immortality. We can also take it away. Then she can be stopped," the dark dragon explained.
"We will do that for your planet, but we will not restore magic as it was. We have seen that power like that can corrupt, as it did with Salem." The golden God tilted his head. "We tipped the balance unfairly when we created an immortal creature, and for that we are sorry. We acted out of anger, and did not recognise the magnitude of the damage she would cause to the lives of so many." The Gods share a look. "You will need to rebuild what has been destroyed, but the Grimm will remain. Perhaps in fighting the Grimm without the threat of Salem, your cities will prosper together instead of existing separately. We will leave the Dust for you to protect yourselves."
"We will watch, and we will wait. When we are ready, we will pass judgement again. We will do so in our own time, you will not need to call on us. If we feel Remnant has done well, we will consider restoring magic and removing the Grimm. If we judge Remnant poorly, we will either continue to watch and teach, or we will wipe the world clean as originally intended." The dark dragon lowered its head to look at us all with one hollow eye socket. "We must also ask for the life of Ozma to be returned to us. The boy he bonded with will live, but we must take him. It is time for him to rest as well."
"You...you're going to save us?" The words choked their way out of my throat as I dropped to my knees. The other Maidens did the same, tears dripping down their cheeks. "Thank you."
"We accept our mistakes. Do not thank us for doing what we should." The golden dragon heaved a great sigh, his breath misting out around us. As the mist touched each person, they thawed from their frozen states. Some of them staggered, as they had been mid-strike during their fight. All stared open-mouthed when they saw the Gods in the middle of the battle field, the fight forgotten.
The God of Darkness huffed a breath of his own, and again fog crept over the ground from his mouth. This fog thawed each Grimm it touched, including Salem. Under the control of their creator, the creatures fled. Salem looked around, anger still clear on her features until she saw the Gods before her.
"You," she hissed. "You took everything from me!"
"You took it from yourself," the dark dragon snarled. "And now we are here to end it." He belched a streak of shadowy flame at Salem and she shrieked and writhed in pain as her immortality was wrenched from her. The golden God sent his own stream of brilliant fire at her, and the Grimm in her veins leached away. When they were done, a young woman with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes stood in her place. She looked down at her hands, her eyes wide.
"Take in what you once were, Salem. It is over now." The God of Light touched the tip of his tail to her chest and her eyes grew wide. As her body became ash and floated away on the breeze, she turned to give one last look at Ozpin. The battlefield remained silent even after her remains were blown away by the breeze, disturbed only by the crackling of the fires around us.
"Gods," Ozpin stepped forward. "You judged us?"
"Ozma," the golden God greeted him. As he spoke, he turned back into the tall, faceless man with antlers. His brother also changed into the slender, horned figure and they took several steps towards the Headmaster. "We did judge this planet, at a cost." Qrow's eyes found mine across the space as he realised what was happening.
"You have walked this earth for millennia, Ozma. It is time for that to end. This world will continue to live and grow as it is today. Without the threat of Salem, we look forward to seeing what happens next," the dark figure says.
"We judged this world too harshly, naming it a failed experiment in our naivety. In the end it became what it was always meant to be. We wish now to watch it grow. We will return, and in time if the right lessons are learned, we will remove the Grimm and restore magic. But this comes with a cost. Salem is gone. We come now for you as well, as was our promise to you." The God of Light's voice was soft as he addressed Ozpin.
"Will Oscar live?"
"He will. It is only your soul we come for," the other God confirmed.
"May I say goodbye?" The Gods nodded. I watched as Ozpin walked calmly to Qrow and clasped his forearms. "In all the years I have lived I have had many followers and many friends. You have been the greatest of both. Live the rest of your life as you wish, old friend."
"Oz...I'll miss you. You helped me out of the tribe. Without that I don't know where my life might have gone. Thank you. I forgive you for all the other stuff." As he spoke his voice cracked. Ozpin patted his shoulder before turning to Ruby Rose.
"You are truly remarkable, Ruby." He looked down at his cane. "Take this. Oscar will need it when I'm gone. Take care." Ruby's eyes shone with tears as she took the cane in trembling hands. "I'm ready," he said, turning back to the Gods with a smile on his face.
"Very well. You have been given a second chance, people of Remnant. Find your peace. We will be watching." The God of Dark held his hand out to Ozpin, and as Ozpin took it he removed his soul. A wispy cloud of greenish light wafted from the boy's chest and he fell to his knees. The God of Light turned to us as his brother disappeared in a column of dark energy.
"Maidens, I must thank you. You have reminded me that all life is precious, and it should be given the right chance to exist." I felt his smile even though his face had no features. "You have brought Ozma his long awaited rest, and brought a new future to your world. To make sure you are able to live the lives you need, I will take the Maiden power from you, along with the Relics you are linked to." He held out a hand, and one by one each of us took it reverently, feeling the strange pull as he took what he needed. When he took my hand he tilted his head, and pressed his other hand over my fingers as well. I felt a strange warmth in my stomach, and then he released me and straightened up. "What was wronged has now been righted," he said softly, before bursting into the sky in a beam of light.
The silence remained, and then Qrow sprinted across the space, ignoring his many wounds, and pulled me into a tight embrace. My sobs ripped from my chest as he held me and I began to realise that for now Remnant was safe, and we had really, truly won.
oO0 CYANIDE 0Oo