RWBY: MRRN
VOLUME 6, CHAPTER 27: The Last Question
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
The next day came by and the effects of yesterday could still be felt. The morale of the group was low after the revelation of everything learned from Jinn. Some people's trust in Yang had been damaged because of her decision to not tell anyone about Raven. Several of the group were ready to leave and abandon the mission to stop Salem; if she couldn't be defeated, then how can they win? That was the answer they desperately needed.
Forest was the first one to get up after Pyrrha and Thetis. Everyone else was still asleep, most likely tired from the events yesterday. They were preparing breakfast, comprised of eggs, bacon, and biscuits that were either in the frying pan or in the oven while coffee and tea were also being brewed.
"Morning," Thetis greeted the eagle swordsman. "How did you sleep?"
"Well enough," Forest responded. "What about you two? Sleep well?"
"Slept better," Pyrrha replied. "Is Math up yet? I'd like to talk to him when I can."
"He was still asleep," Forest answered. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"If you could just grab some more eggs from the fridge, I'd appreciate that," Pyrrha spoke. Forest walked over to the fridge, pulled out the egg carton and placed it on the counter next to the redhead Amazon.
"Morning," another voice greeted. Pyrrha hoped it'd be Math, but instead, it was Oscar, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Are you feeling better?" Pyrrha asked the farmhand. "I heard about what happened between you and Jaune?"
"How?" Oscar asked. "You left before that happened."
"Weiss told me," Pyrrha confirmed. Suddenly, Thetis's scroll went off, indicating that she was receiving a call. She pulled it out of her pocket to see who was calling.
"It's work," Thetis informed. "Excuse me, please." She walked out of the kitchen and answered her Scroll, talking to whoever was on the other line.
"What does your mom work as?" Oscar asked.
"She's a doctor," Pyrrha answered. "She actually met my father after his Aura had been depleted during a mission and he was injured. She tended to his wound and he started asking her out after that."
"That's pretty cool, having a Huntsman for a father and a doctor for a mother," Oscar commented.
"I'm actually glad your mother walked out now," Forest told Pyrrha. "There's something I wish to speak about."
"What is it?" Oscar asked. The pots started to steam, meaning that they were now hot. Pyrrha quickly used her Semblance to take off the lids and lowered the temperatures.
"So what do you wish to say?" Pyrrha asked. Oscar walked up to the counter and started to help Pyrrha with cooking the bacon while she took over frying the eggs. She smiled at the gesture of kindness, which Oscar reciprocated.
"After what happened yesterday, I'm feeling many of us are ready to drop this mission," Forest believed. "I understand them wanting to leave, but I believe Salem has a weakness. She may be immortal, but I do not believe she is invincible."
"So we're doing it?" Math yawned as he walked into sight, messing with his hair. "Are we asking the last question?"
"Morning, Math darling," Pyrrha greeted with a smile. As soon as Math saw the beautiful smile on her face, it made his own light up as he knew that she was in a better mood that the last time they spoke.
"Ask the last question?" Oscar clarified. "Are you serious?"
"We need to know if Salem can be beaten," Forest insisted. "As long as she lives, she will do everything in her power to destroy humanity. We need a solid plan to stop her."
"But what if…" Oscar spoke softly. "What if Salem can't be stopped? What if we end up wasting the last question?"
"We have to try," Math believed. "We've come this far."
"But Ruby has the Relic," Oscar reminded. "She's over at Jaune's sister's house."
"We'd put it to a vote," Forest replied. "Everyone deserves to hear the truth."
"Let's hope so," Math stated. "So, Pyrrha, anything I can do?" Suddenly, the oven timer went off, meaning the biscuits were done. Math walked over, grabbed two oven mitts and pulled the two pans of biscuits out.
"Beautiful golden brown color," Math commented as he placed them on the stove.
"Could you go ahead and butter one of the pans, Math?" Pyrrha asked. "It's in the fridge door."
"Sure," Math replied. He walked over to the fridge, opened the door and pulled out a container of low fat butter. When he turned around, Pyrrha reached out and put her hand on his.
"Math," she spoke. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to…to go off on you like that. You were just trying to help."
"It's okay," Math assured, holding her hand tenderly. "Are you feeling better?"
"I am," Pyrrha confirmed. "After talking with my mother and sister, I…I feel better." She took the pan off the fryer and placed the rest of the eggs on a plate, then placed it on the counter to cool off.
"I do not like how my ideals were exploited and used. Even if…Ozpin created with the intent of using everyone's ideals, that won't stop me. I will choose what I fight for, not him." Math smiled after hearing that, happy that his beloved was no longer suffering a personal crisis. He pecked her lips and then started walking towards the biscuits to butter them, but stopped when he was close to Oscar.
"Hey, Oscar," Math addressed, gaining the farmhand's attention. "When we first met, I…I punched you pretty hard. I'm sorry for that. You're not the one who did those things to us and we've been treating you like crap. I want you to know-"
"Thanks," Oscar responded kindly before turning his attention back to cooking the bacon.
"So…we okay?" Math asked.
"Yeah," Oscar responded.
-0-
"Morning," Luna greeted Qrow after he woke up from his hangover. He was in bed in a place unfamiliar to him, looking like a hotel room while Luna had just walked in, carrying some food and what appeared to be medicine.
"Huh?" he groaned, having a bad headache from his hangover.
"We're at a hotel that's letting the militia stay here," Luna answered. "I already called your nieces; they know you're here. Ruby's on her way."
"Oh, thanks," Qrow spoke before groggily moving his feet off his bed. Luna placed the tray down on a dresser and handed Qrow a cup of sparkling water. The scythe user hesitantly took the cup and drank it all, hoping to help with his hangover.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that," Qrow apologized, feeling regret for the way he was last night. "I…is it really true? Stella and I…we had you?"
"Yep," Luna replied as she handed over a burrito wrapped in foil to her father, then sat next to him. "A lot to take in, huh?"
"Yeah," Qrow chuckled. "I mean…well…"
"Did you really love her?" Luna asked Qrow. "Did you really love my mother?" Qrow sighed.
"Yeah, what we had was serious," he confirmed, thinking back to the Wolf Faunus he met years ago. "I was in a bit of a bad spot after a mission went south. I stayed in that village for the night…that's when I met Stella. She was…she was kind, caring, a bit stubborn…she was great to be around. I fell for her pretty fast."
"Yeah," Luna chuckled. "Every guy was always hitting on her, trying to be a 'fill in' of sorts. Did she know about your Semblance?"
"Yeah," Qrow answered, looking down and haven't opened his burrito yet. "Even though she knew, she still insisted that she wanted to be with me. Then…I got her pregnant without realizing it." He groaned loudly, his eyes closed tightly shut.
"I threw it away because I was too scared," he spoke with self-loathing. "If I hadn't left-"
"Well, you did," Luna interrupted as she rose to her feet, getting fed up with Qrow's self-loathing. "You did leave because you were scared of your Semblance hurting Mom. You can't change the past, Dad!"
Qrow was shocked by Luna's outburst. She stood up, her eyes glaring at the man who had unknowingly left her. All Qrow could feel was guilt for leaving Stella and Luna behind; all he could do was hate himself. Luna's expression softened up and she put her hand on Qrow's shoulder.
"When are you going to stop hating yourself? When are you going to stop thinking people stay with you out of pity? There are many people in the world who have to struggle with things they didn't ask for. Math, Oscar, Oren, Aria…we all struggle; but that doesn't mean we just hate ourselves."
"You don't get it, do you?" Qrow responded. "I-"
"Have a misfortune Semblance," Luna interrupted. "I know. I know you're scared of hurting those close to you, but that doesn't mean you should just push everyone away and treat alcohol as a reliable friend because it's not. All you'll do is end up destroying yourself because you're too scared to be close to anyone. I've seen it before in the world; people who feel sorry for themselves to the point that they push everyone away and are ultimate left all alone. Do you really want to do that to yourself?"
The answer was no. For years, Qrow felt that he couldn't be around those he cared for out of fear of his Semblance. It drove him to leave Stella behind, unknowingly leaving a child without a father. It drove him to blame himself for Summer's death. It drove him to alcoholism, depression and once…even suicide.
A younger Qrow stood on the railing of the bridge overlooking the water in Vale. He could hear his heart beat fast from the height he was at, making him second guess if he could actually do this. Was this bravery or stupidity? He honestly had trouble telling.
He couldn't live with his Semblance. He couldn't live with the fact that he'd only ever cause pain and suffering to those around him, even his own friends and teammates. What if he wanted to have a family one day? A wife, children, a pet or two? Would he be able to do anything but endanger them with his Semblance?
In the end, his Semblance was nothing but a hindrance. He couldn't control it, so it'd always be active wherever he went. Friend or foe, it didn't matter; no one was safe from this curse he had been given, one that affected everyone but him.
His breathing became heavy and his eyes started to water, trying to push himself to take the leap. He lifted one foot off the railing and was about to let himself fall.
He stopped. He felt something grab his cloak and pull him away from the edge. To his shock, Taiyang had grabbed and kept him pinned to the ground.
"What are you doing, you idiot!?" he shouted. "Were you seriously going to kill yourself?"
"Tai…" Qrow spoke weakly. "I can't live with this. I…"
"That's the coward's way out," Tai stated. "Don't throw your life away like that! Don't you ever do that again!"
If Tai hadn't stopped him, Qrow's life would've ended that day. Despite counseling and therapy sessions, nothing seemed to help him overcome the difficulty of living with his Semblance. All he wanted was to live a life where he didn't hurt those who were around him.
"They're not around you because they feel bad for you or anything like that," Luna stated. "It's because they love you and you would be wrong to push that love away. I'm here to help you and I'm not letting your damn Semblance get in the way of that."
All Qrow could do was stare dumbfounded at her, no mistaking her determination to help her father. He had no words to describe what he felt right now; he wasn't sure to feel happy, sad, overjoyed, angry; he was completely unsure.
Luna then reached over and hugged her father, hoping he'd feel better. In a few moments, Qrow hesitantly returned the gesture and hugged his daughter.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby called out from the other side of the door and then knocked. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, squirt," Qrow replied, breaking away from her daughter. He stood up and walked over to the door, immediately being bear hugged by his niece.
"I was so worried about you," Ruby spoke. "After you flew off-"
"I'm sorry, Ruby," Qrow apologized as he pat Ruby's head. "What happened yesterday?"
Ruby closed the door behind her and informed Qrow of everything that happened: the group's reaction to what they learned from Jinn, Yang revealed to have kept Raven a secret from everyone, and how some of the group were ready to leave since they felt their mission was now impossible.
"Raven…was the Spring Maiden?" Qrow gasped. "She killed her?"
"I'm afraid so," Ruby confirmed. "Please don't be mad at Yang when you see her; everyone's already been pretty mad at her. When Ruo and I found her, she was already close to breaking down in tears."
"Sorry to sound insensitive, but Yang brought that on herself," Luna replied. "She knew what she was doing."
"Luna," Qrow addressed. "Please don't." Luna sighed; she knew it was insensitive, but Yang only had herself to blame. What she did was selfish and wrong and she knew it, but from what Ruby said, everyone had already scorned her enough.
"So, what about you, Ruby?" Qrow asked his niece. "Do you want to leave? Go home?"
"No," Ruby responded firmly. "There's too much at stake here. We can't just walk away."
"That's possibly our only choice if we don't have a solid plan to defeat Salem," Luna pointed out. "Otherwise we'd just be throwing our lives away."
"Well, I'm not leaving," Ruby firmly declared. "Just because Salem is immortal doesn't mean she's invincible. She has to have a weakness. That's why I'm on board with Forest's idea."
"Forest's idea?" Qrow asked. "What idea?"
"He's suggesting using the last question to find out how Salem can be beaten," Ruby replied. "It's our only option left."
"Use the last question?" Qrow questioned. "What if we end up wasting it? For all we know, we may not be able to stop Salem at all."
"Then you don't have to come any further," Ruby responded. "We won't force you to come with us. But I am support using the last question."
"Well, you're certainly determined," Luna pointed out before looking to Qrow. "Well, Dad?"
"DAD?!" Ruby barked in shock. "Why did she just call you that?"
"Well, Ruby…she's my daughter," Qrow told Ruby. "It's a long story."
"So that technically makes us family," Luna pointed out. Ruby's eyes sparkled at the Wolf Faunus and a huge grin stretched across her face.
"Oh my gosh! I have a cousin and she's a scythe user! Can you help me make a scythe like yours? Can you, can you?" Qrow chuckled at Ruby's reaction to Luna being revealed to be her family. The reaper Huntress was all over the place, excited to have another scythe user in the family.
-0-
Nasser paced the room of the Nikos house after Thetis had left for work. From what he heard from Ruo, his words towards Yang had really hurt her. She may even start believing that she was undeserving of love after everything.
He hated himself for letting his temper and feelings of betrayal get the better of him. He could only shout at himself mentally for doing something so blatantly stupid and hurtful.
Yang wasn't like Raven. Even if she had done something like that, she wasn't her mother nor was she undeserving of love and affection. Yang cared deeply about others while Raven only cared for herself.
His attention was broken when the door opened and the people who stayed over at Saphron and Terra's house walked in, along with Yang holding Ruo's hand. He took a deep breath and walked over to her.
"Yang?" he addressed.
"Yeah?" she responded. Nasser sighed, not bothering to hide his regret for what he did.
"What I said yesterday…I'm sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that no one could ever love you. It was just stupid of me."
"Thanks," Yang replied, a small smile on her face. "I'm sorry too, for lying to everyone. I…the truth was I just wanted to forget about Raven, forget about her after everything I learned."
"I can imagine," Nasser replied. "That was pretty wrong of her to do all that to you." The axe user reached out his hand to Yang, to which she slowly accepted. Nasser then looked over at Ruo, already deducing where he had been the previous night.
"Where's Ruby?" Math asked, noticing her absence.
"She went to go get Qrow," Jaune responded. "Luna took him to the hotel where the militia here in Argus were staying." When the Arc looked over to see Oscar, his expression was much different from yesterday; where before was distrust and anger was now regret and sympathy.
"So, you want to use the last question?" Weiss asked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Forest replied. "What happened yesterday dealt a very big blow to our morale. I know a good number of you are considering leaving, which I don't blame. This last question is our best hope."
"Who has the Relic?" Math asked. "It was left with Ruby."
"I have it," Blake answered, taking the Relic off her belt and handing it over to Forest. "Ruby gave it to me before she left. She said she's for it." Forest took the Relic and placed it on the table.
"I want to hear your thoughts," the eagle swordsman said. "Do you believe we should use the last question?"
"It's risky," Ren brought up. "I'm sure you may've heard this, Forest, but we could end up wasting that question. Perhaps we should consider saving it."
"And keep going on with Ozpin's flimsy plan?" Nasser responded. "I don't think so. We don't know what the Silver Eyes will do to Salem."
"Even I don't know," Grayson responded. "We need a solid plan if we're to keep going."
"So you're tagging along?" Yang asked.
"Yeah," Grayson replied. "If we can defeat Salem, I'd definitely like some payback for killing my parents. I say we use the question. Just then, the door opened up and Ruby and Qrow walked into the house.
"Are you well, Qrow?" Glaucus asked the scythe user.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Qrow answered before leaning against the wall. "Well, Ruby told everything that happened yesterday." He looked over to Yang with a scowl of sympathy and disappointment.
"Yang…I'm sorry Raven hurt you, but what you did was stupid."
"I know," Yang admitted. "I say we use the question."
"Are we sure about this?" Weiss questioned. "What if Jinn doesn't give us the answer we need? What if we end up wasting this question?"
"We have to try," Saf insisted. "Besides, if we use the last question, that means Salem won't be able to use later. All she'll have is the lamp itself, no Jinn."
"I won't use it unless the majority agrees," Forest stated. "This affects all of us."
"Let's do it," Pyrrha agreed, walking behind Math and putting her hands on his shoulders. "As you said, Salem must have a weakness of some kind. Jinn is sure to know what it is."
"Forest is right," Glaucus agreed too. "Going forward with a flimsy plan leaves us with little room for success. I understand the risks of wasting the last question, but Is strongly believe it is better that we use it now so our enemies cannot use it themselves."
"Sure," Qrow spoke. "We need something good after everything that's happened. I'm just hoping that's what Jinn gives us."
"What if she doesn't?" Ruo responded. "It could go one of two ways: she tells us how to defeat her or she says we cannot stop Salem, we cannot kill her at all."
"Only way to find out," Robin replied. "I say we use the question and find out what we can do."
As the conversation continued, it appeared that the majority supported Forest's decision to use the last question and hopefully find out how Salem can be stopped. The eagle slowly reached over to the lamp and held it in front of him, his heart heavy knowing that this question could end with their hope being reinvigorated or being completely dashed and destroyed.
He breathed several times, feeling the weight of the decision on his heart. He prayed that the last question would not be wasted.
"Jinn." As before, the lamp started to glow as time stopped and it flew away from the group, causing Jinn to appear once more.
"Uh…is she naked?" Nora asked, noticing Jinn's appearance.
"Hello," she greeted. "I take it you've summoned me to ask the last question."
"We have," Forest answered, looking up at her.
"Then choose your question wisely," Jinn warned. "After that, I will not be able to aid you any longer."
"We understand," Forest replied. "You said Salem cannot be killed. If she cannot be killed…" Forest breathed heavily, thinking of his words carefully.
"How can Salem be defeated and humanity saved?" Jinn smirked as she looked down at the group.
"When I answered Ozma's question, I said HE cannot kill Salem," Jinn answered. "She can be defeated." She looked over at Ruby.
"By the power of the Silver Eyes…and the Dark Heralds." She looked over…to Mathdon, Safirlas and Robin, all unsure of what she meant.
"I see you're confused; while I'm unable to answer another question, I'm not forbidden from elaborating." Jinn extended her arms and the whole world became white again.
"Oh, great," Nasser groaned. "This is…wait a minute." He looked over to see someone familiar, someone had seen before.
"William." The Dark Brother stood there in his normal form, looking upon the man many in the group had seen from the last time Jinn spoke to them.
"The God of Darkness," William addressed. "Why have you summoned me?"
"To repay your debt," the God of Darkness answered. "You were the very first human to ever approach me. You asked me for the power to overthrow a king that was destroying your homeland."
"And you gave it to me," William acknowledged. "I am grateful for that."
"After you received it, I told you 'I will call on you to repay your debt when I choose'. Now is that time." William looked confused, unsure of what the Dark Brother meant.
"I've taken back my gift of magic from humanity in punishment for their defiance. My brother has sent a man named Ozma back to your world to recover four Relics and redeem humanity."
"Redeem humanity?" William asked.
"Yes. When the Relics are brought together, we shall return and judge your species. If you are able to redeem yourselves by living together in peace and unity, we shall restore humanity to what it once was. Should we return and see you fighting amongst yourselves, then we shall destroy your world."
"Destroy it?" William gasped.
"Yes, but there is a problem. A woman named Salem bears a grudge against us and will seek to divide humanity, making Ozma's mission impossible."
"Impossible?"
"My brother made Salem immortal as punishment for attempting to break the rules we agreed upon, rules that I admittedly broke myself as I craved attention from the same species we created. My brother left Ozma with no way to destroy Salem, especially since she's now become Grimm."
"Grimm? Her? How is that possible?"
"She jumped into my black pools hoping to end her life, but instead turned her into a monster. My black pools cannot kill her, so only my own power can." He then held out his arm and a cloud of purple smoke flew from it towards William, his body absorbing it when it touched his body.
"What...what is this?"
"The power needed to destroy Salem. Once you have killed her, your descendants must reunite humanity. This power you possess with pass on through your lineage, others if they do not have children of their own. Now...return to your world and save your species. Save our creation from them."
The background changed to William and Salem fighting, something that they didn't see in their previous encounter. When William struck Salem with his sword on her torso, she was shocked to see that the wound was not healing. When she was struck again on her shoulder, it didn't heal either.
"After Salem learned of those who possessed the power to destroy her, she sought to kill them all. After William's death, his young son came to possess this power, but didn't know of the God of Darkness's mission. Salem believed that she had hunted them down to extinction years ago, but despite her efforts, the Dark Heralds continued to live without her or Ozma knowing of it. For thousands of years, many people possessed this power, never knowing of where it came from or why."
Several people appeared before everyone, using abilities similar to the Kendricks. One wielded a double bladed axe that created slashes of purple and black flames that easily cut down anything in its path. Another was a spear user who inflicted wounds on enemies that never healed and couldn't. The last one was a shielded woman who created a great wall that shielded her comrades from the onslaught of the Mantle and Mistral forces.
"So…my flames, Saf's visions, Robin's glowing arrows…," Math spoke softly. "These are the powers of the Dark Heralds."
"The Silver Eyes, if used against Salem, will cleanse her of her Grimm nature, but her immortality will remain; both are needed if you are to destroy Salem once and for all."
"Wait!" Math called out. "What can you tell us about these powers? How can we use them properly?"
"I am sorry, but I cannot answer any more questions," Jinn responded regretfully as the setting returned to the Nikos house living room. "Farewell." The lamp dropped to the floor, the blue light inside fading away until it appeared to be empty inside.
"Salem…can be destroyed," Ren spoke softly.
"So…these abilities…are from the God of Darkness?" Math asked, shocked that he was possessing the power of one of the Brother Gods.
"So we know these abilities can destroy Salem," Robin brought up. "But she didn't tell us how to use them properly."
"So it's up to us to learn ourselves," Math insisted. "Still…we're these…Dark Heralds?"
"People who possess powers from the God of Darkness," Saf spoke, shocked at this revelation. "I…I never would've guessed."
"But Jinn wasn't able to tell you anything," Ruo brought up. "How would you learn to control your powers?"
"As I said, we'll have to pick up the pieces ourselves," Math replied. "But…the very, very good news is that we know Salem can be destroyed."
"And she believes all the Dark Heralds are dead," Glaucus brought up. "So we also have the element of surprise on our side."
"But we need both the Dark Heralds and the Silver Eyes," Pyrrha pointed out. "The Silver Eyes can destroy Salem's control over Grimm and the Dark Heralds can kill her."
"So we have a plan," Forest stated.
"And a solid one," Qrow replied.
The morale soared in the group, their hope reinvigorated by this truth. Ozpin's plan wasn't unreliable after all; it would've destroyed Salem's control over Grimm, but they probably wouldn't stop her from seeking to destroy humanity.
Using the last question was a bittersweet victory: Jinn told them how their enemy can be destroyed, but didn't tell the Kendricks how to control and use their powers effectively. They'd have to learn on their own.
But at least they had a plan to defeat Salem forever and redeem humanity.
Author's Notes: I hope you liked that twist involving the Kendricks! Darth Stigma and I came up with the idea and developed in the early stages of my series!
A big shoutout to both Darth Stigma and Je'daii1298 for helping me with my series so far! Make sure to check stories written by Lorenzo the Maelstrom, Red Eyes Shadow Dragon, and Je'daii1298; they're good writers who deserve recognition.
Make sure to check out the MRRN Tv Tropes page, which Je'daii1298 helped me develop.
