The Idea

Shauskha floated across the Northern Ocean, scanning the waters closely, until she caught sight of what she was looking for: a large, but lone rock in the middle of the ocean. Glaring at it, she floated down to it.

"I know you're here," she called, "Don't bother with hiding." Initially, she received no response, until white mist gathered around, and manifested before her as a white figure like her, only masculine, and his dark hair in a mohawk. He had on golden long pants without a shirt, and was wearing a necklace with a simple golden disc on the end.

"Long time no see sister," the Spirit said, smiling at her.

"Dagon," Shauskha greeted, folding her arms.

"So what brings you to my little rock in the sea?" Dagon inquired, as he kickback on his rock.

"I need Nun," Shauskha said.

"Do you now?" Dagon responded, "Something happen to Juracan?" Shauskha averted her eyes, as she glared at the rocks, to which her brother laughed.

"Well, that answered that," he said, "You really let some mortals get the better of you?"

"They have a Silver Eyes in their ranks," Shauskha said, "If not for her…" She growled, before shaking her head slightly.

"A Silver Eyes is with them?" Dagon said, arching an eyebrow, "Hmm, not many of them left."

"Well, there's one with them," Shauskha answered.

"Not sure why that makes you at all interested in Nun," Dagon said.

"Nun is a mighty creature," Shauskha explained, "Not even a Silver Eyes would be able to defeat it."

"Mhmm," Dagon answered, rolling his eyes slightly, "Not really sure what any of this matters to me, though. Why should I send Nun to hunt down some mortals I don't even know?" Shauskha looked towards the water, noticing a large, dark shape moving through the water around the rock.

"These mortals might yet prove an issue," Shauskha said, "Have you heard of what happened to Viridios and Vritra in the South?"

"I have," Dagon answered, as he leaned up, and folded his arms, "That doesn't answer my question, though."

"If these are the same mortals who defeated him…"

"Defeating you and him is not a good gauge of the power of mortals."

"Brother…"

"The fact that you were beaten by mortals says more about you than me," he continued, "Now how about you…"

"They have the Lamp of Knowledge." That quickly silenced Dagon's taunts, as he narrowed his eyes. There was a period of silence, before the male floated up to face his sister.

"Are you certain?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Completely."

"Well then," Dagon said, after a moment, as he glanced at the water, "Just where are these mortals?" A massive red fin briefly peaked atop the surface.

(in downtown Argus)

"You sure, you want us here?" Jaune asked.

"Well, yeah," Ruby said.

"It's just I thought you'd rather have this conversation one on one," Jaune answered. He and his girlfriends were gathered in a small cafe near the park, while waiting for Maria to order their food, which she was doing on her own insistence. "You think I'm some feeble old woman?" had been her words, and seeing as neither Jaune nor Ruby had the hear to say otherwise, and Ruby silenced Weiss when she tried to say so, they didn't protest.

"Yes," Weiss agreed, "I don't know if this is something that we can take much from."

"Well…," Ruby said, trying to think of a reason, "I guess I just wanted you here." Not much of a reason, true, but the only one she could think of.

"Well, I guess, it would be good to learn about a new power, after…" Jaune trailed off, as his mind went to the power they had all lost. The girls also were drawn to the thoughts.

"Do you two also have this… emptiness inside you?" he asked. Both just nodded. Ruby rubbed her stomach.

"I don't know if it'll every go away," she said softly. Weiss just stared at the table, as if her dragon powers were hiding somewhere in the boards.

"Sorry it took so long," Maria said, breaking them out of their thoughts, "These gods damned lines…"

"It's okay," Ruby said, trying not to pay attention about the mention of the gods,"So, where do you think the Silver Eyes came from?"

"That's a question I don't think anyone can answer," Maria answered with a slight smile, "According to the legends, they just sort of appeared. But I have my own idea that my father passed onto me."

"You do?" Ruby asked.

"Well, they have the powers to destroy the Creatures of Grimm," Maria explained, "They were created by the God of Darkness so long ago. Perhaps the light within your eyes came from the God of Light." A shiver went up and down the spines of all three teens at the mention of the gods. Was that really what the Silver Eyes were? They were the creations of the God of Light? It would certainly be quite ironic.

"The best advice I suppose I can offer you right now is to think of your light as something to protect, or maybe preserve, but not to destroy," Maria explained, "Look at the people around you, and think about how you want to protect them, and I don't doubt you'll be able to eventually use them." Ruby looked down at the table, trying to think, before Jaune put a hand over her, squeezing it slightly. That made Ruby smile.

"Well, if there's some magic power that can help us get to Atlas, I'll be a bit more excited," Weiss mused.

"You said you're trying to get into Atlas?" Maria said, as she suddenly looked at her.

"Yeah," Jaune said, "It's… kind of a long story."

"It seems all stories are long ones these days," the elderly woman said, as she smiled, "I wish you'd told me that earlier."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"You're not the only one who needs to get to Atlas," Maria said, before she tapped her artificial eyes, "These eyes need the occasional tune up, and unfortunately the one guy who can do it right is in Mantle."

"Geez, what're we supposed to do?" Jaune grumbled.

"Well, I wish I could help," Maria said, "Nothing short of stealing an Atlesian airship would get the job done." Suddenly, Jaune perked up, which was not unnoticed by his girlfriends.

"Jaune…," Weiss said slowly, "Please don't…"

(in the Cotta-Arc household)

"You want to steal an airship from the base?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Jaune answered. RYPJ and BRWN were assembled in the guest room of the house, while the family was out seeing a movie. Jaune really hated hiding this sort of stuff from his family, but it was only necessary at this point. Though considering how their plan would need some outside help… Well, he couldn't think about that now.

"And you want us to just trust this random lady Ruby met at a coffee shop who says she can fly a ship?" Yang asked.

'Well, it's the only idea we got at this point," Jaune said.

"That doesn't make it any less of a bad idea," Weiss said, and when she saw Ruby looking at her in surprise, continued, "Don't look at me like that Ruby, it's our job as his girlfriends to keep his feet on the ground."

"We do need some way to Atlas," Pyrrha said, "Does anyone have any other idea?"

"That doesn't mean we should try raiding an Atlesian military base," Blake said.

"Haven't you and Ily already done stuff like that a few times already?" Nora asked. Both Faunus exchanged looks, as Ilia turned magenta briefly.

"If we were dragons we could just fly there," Ruby grumbled. She then realized what she just said, as everyone's hearts sank at the mention of that.

"Well we can't become dragons anymore," Yang said bitterly, "Because he took that power from us."

"Well, to be fair, those were gifts," Ruby said, "And we did tell him to go away."

"Yeah, but how can anyone blame us?" Nora said, "He destroyed the world, and then hid it from us."

"Well, to be fair," Pyrrha said, "Would any of us really volunteer that kind of information?"

"I guess that's true," Ren said.

"But even then, what we said to him was wrong," Jaune said, "After all that he did for us, we shouldn't have sent him away the way we did."

"Are you trying to say what he did was right?" Blake asked.

"I'm not trying to justify what he did," Jaune said, as he briefly held up his hands, "But it was so long ago, and he's done so much for us since then. He taught me so much about fighting, he saved Ruby's life at one point, he saved the life of Blake's dad, and on top of all that, he gave us magic for our own use. But even after all that, we sent him away out of something that happened so long ago. I'm not saying what he did was right, but after all he's done of us, maybe it was wrong for us to banish him the way we did." The group listened to Jaune's speech about that, as they all stared silently.

"Well, it really doesn't matter at this point," Weiss said softly, "He's gone now, and if he's coming back, he hasn't done so yet. We can't count on powers we don't have."

"Exactly," Jaune said, "So unless anyone can think of any other ideas…" No one said anything at that, as the necessity began to sink in.

"So, what's the plan?" Ruby finally asked.

The Old Ones: The Guardian

Despite what some might assume, Hong Zanshi never cared about power. He put no stock in power, rather in people. Power was fickle, and could never be counted on; people, if you played your cards right, could be trusted, and you could count on. But in order for people to be at their best, there had to peace, there had to be unity, and that was why he sought to unite Anima, that was why he was at war.

The young Emperor was currently in his war room, leaning on his map table, surrounded by his generals, as he tried to figure out his next move. He had dark red hair, and was wearing bright red robes with a sword on his hip. Ringing the room were the imperial guards dressed in black..

"Our forces need to keep advancing North," Hong said, as he moved a piece across the map, "We have to keep up the pressure against the enemies."

"Your Majesty, if we overextend our lines…," one of the generals began.

"If we don't take the initiative, we'll lose it quickly," Hong interrupted, before shaking his head, "We have to move now."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And remember," Hong said, holding up his hand, "If they surrender…" Everyone nodded in understanding; if the leader surrendered, he was to be spared, and become governor of the new province.

"Now, if there are no other matters," Hong said, as he waved over a couple of servants over, each of them with some drinks, "I'd say we deserve a break for the night." No one could protest that, as they all started taking drinks. While each staff member took their drinks from the tray, the Emperor's personal servant was slow to arrive.

"Hurry!" one of the ministers shouted, "Bring the Emperor his drink!" The servant then hurried over, bowing his head as he held up the tray.

"Thank you," the Emperor said, "Now…." He couldn't finish, as the servant suddenly grabbed a knife from under the tray, and thrust it forward. Hong just managed to avoid the knife, as the tip of it grazed his cheek, and he was sent stumbling away.

"Assassin!" another minister cried, "Assassin!" Immediately the guards leapt into action, but another one of the servants suddenly drew her own knife, and cut down another guard, and charged at Hong, who drew his sword. However, as the assassin came upon him, a sai whistled through the air, and got stuck in the thug's throat. Hong could only look up one of the guards leapt onto him, and ripped their sai out of their throat. One of the other assassins turned his attention to the guard, only for the guard to quickly be upon him, and with a single slash, cut his throat. And just like that, it was over, as quick as it had begun. Everyone stared at the bodies of the assassins, and the guard who slew them all so easily.

"Are you well, Your Majesty?" the guard asked, in a feminine voice, as she fell to one knee.

"I am, thanks to you," Hong said, as he came up to her. The Emperor gestured for her to rise, which she did.

"Please, remove your mask." The guard did as she was told, revealing a bob of black hair with green eyes. Hong's eyes widened at the sight of how beautiful she was.

"I owe you my life, Ma'am," Hong said, "What is your name?"

"My name's Ama Terasu," the woman answered, keeping her face on the ground.

"Well, Ms. Terasu," Hong said, "Perhaps you're deserving of a promotion."

Note: We've got another Spirit in Dagon, and apparent Grimm partner named Nun. Dagon was the name of a Canaanite fertility deity, and Nun was a name for the primordial waters that creation sprung from in Egyptian mythology.

Some I bet are thinking why Jaune seems to be forgiving Darkness. Well, bare with me on this, and if you can't, repeat the MST3K Mantra: "It's just a show, I should really just relax". So they're going to be moving to steal an airship, so I imagine there's going to be trouble. I don't think there are going to be many more chapters in Vol. 6, since the only thing left really is the climax.

We got a new segment for the Old Ones, and probably the longest one yet. We'll have two more after this.

Be sure to review.