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Chapter 40: Musings of Madness

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Far outside of the frozen kingdom of Atlas, back in Mistral, a dark-haired woman paced around her quarters restlessly. A stag Faunus beside her rambled incoherently.

"Bastards of bastards and a king of bastards in the north. A battle between bastards perhaps. The snow knows nothing when it comes to the changing winds…", the Faunus muttered.

The front door of the rather secure abode suddenly burst open, the dark-haired woman jumping backwards for a moment.

"Oh, great. What do you want this time? I already did what we agreed upon, Arden."

"Oh my dear, queen. It seems that your brother has gotten himself in deep. Deep in the cold. I'd suggest you packed something warm. Atlas holds the pillar of the world as we know it. It cannot fall. The winds of change are blowing strong. Lucky or unlucky, they are the first to drown in blood.", Arden Greyblood noted.

"Aw crap.", Raven cursed.

Scarlet David, still in the happy little bandit town that Raven owned took note as two birds of prey soared out of the city center. One appeared to be a black vulture, the other a graceful black bird. Scarlet thought nothing of it until Vernal, who had been largely oblivious, announced over the broadcast system that she was again, regretfully, in charge of Sanctuary. Scarlet sighed and went back to manning the lookout tower.

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Back in Atlas, in a large and crisply clean office, Team RWBY and JNPR along with their friends stood in front of General James Ironwood. The imposing man just stood silently in front of them. Qrow broke the silence.

"James, what's going on here? Why all the troops and airships?"

"I had some fears, Qrow. There has been some unsettling news lately. Attacks on academies, rampant terrorism throughout Mistral. Ozpin's death. The world has gotten a lot scarier and Atlas musn't fall. I withdrew all of our forces back to the capital city. I had a plan, but it seems that is not the best one as of right now.", Ironwood mused.

"What plan was that?", Qrow asked.

"Up until recently. Very recently, I had planned to use the Amity arena as a low-orbit satellite. I was going to use it to extend the broadcast area of the CCT network. I was going to tell the world about… Salem. I felt that it was the right time, perhaps not. As of right now, I have no plan other than to ensure the safety of my Kingdom.", Ironwood noted.

"Well, you're right, Jimmy. That's a terrible idea. Do you know what kind of panic that would've caused? We'd be waging war against the Grimm, they'd flood into the cities around the world. It'd be mass hysteria!", Qrow exclaimed, he wasn't wrong.

"Exactly. I received some questionable messages. I have reconsidered the usage of the Amity Arena. I need to know what you know, Qrow.", Ironwood stated. "I also assume that the rest of you know of our situation with the Relics and Maidens. Our battle with Salem. You already carry one of the relics, I can see it in Rhames' hands."

Rhames seemed to hesitate for a moment. "This? This is just a bong. It makes you so high that you see things. Relic? Haha…"

"Funny, but you're within the walls of the safest Kingdom. You needn't hide the truth.", Ironwood mused.

"Ahh… Right. Well, let me introduce myself, then. I am Rhames Greyblood, heir to the Violet Crown and son of Arden Greyblood, the Mad King. A Bastard's bastard son and son of thieves and Vagrants. A Branwen and a Greyblood.", Rhames announced.

General Ironwood was shocked, but didn't show it. Arden Greyblood had a son? Branwen was Qrow's surname and Qrow had a twin sister. Rhames was playing both sides whether he knew it or not. Arden sent messages, cryptic and hidden messages. Raven hadn't been seen in Atlas in decades. Raven had abandoned the cause years ago, but somehow their son had made it here, with the Huntsmen that Ozpin had chosen. Ironwood sighed mentally, Greyblood was worried about his offspring, it made sense now. Still, he couldn't let his guard down.

"Ah, I see. Your father and I have had some history. Nothing to be worried about, simply adults being adults and agreeing to disagree on certain things.", Ironwood reassured.

"Well, you're right. Everyone here knows about Salem and the Relics and the Maidens and all of that. What else do you want to know, Jim?", Qrow asked. The rest of the group shuffled awkwardly.

"First. Pyrrha Nikos is a Maiden. How?", Ironwood asked.

"I took the powers that Ozpin's inner council offered. I only received half. During the battle of Haven, I was able to defeat the one who stole the other half of her powers and absorb them. The one who stole them, Cinder Fall was presumed dead until recently.", Pyrrha noted.

"Great. I know you will use them wisely. Second, what happened in Argus?"

"There was an attack by Grimm forces. Cinder Fall survived through some kind of dark gift that Salem cursed upon her. She lived through the Grimm virus coursing through her veins. We managed to defeat her and she is now presumed dead.", Pyrrha noted.

"Hm. That's unfortunate. Is there any possibility that Cinder is still alive?"

"Probably. She's like the goddamned Terminator. I put like eight bullets into her head and I can almost bet you she's going to come back to bite us in the arse.", Handsome Jaune announced.

Ironwood sighed. He really need Ozpin right now. He'd know what to do. "Right. We'll reinforce our guard. If Cinder cannot be killed, then… Then how strong is Salem?"

"Ah… Haha… Yeah. That's the kicker, isn't it? Oh, Irondaddy, you have no idea what you've gotten into right now. What if I told you what Ozpin doesn't want you to know?", Jaune mused mockingly.

"And how would you know what Ozpin doesn't want me to know? Do you have some kind of Semblance that lets you travel through time?", Ironwood mocked back.

"I do, actually, but that doesn't really matter. Why don't we let Ozpin himself explain what's going on? Little Boy Ozzy! It's your time to shine, my dear boy! C'mon, tell Irondaddy what he wants to hear…", Handsome Jaune mocked.

"Little Boy… Ozzy?", Ironwood asked inredulously. His eyes shot to the shorter and much younger boy in the room. Someone who didn't really fit in with the group of now licensed Huntsmen. Qrow had plenty of friends and family to stick his 'nephew' with. Why did he bring the child to Atlas?

"Hello again, old friend. This is not how I expected to greet you after these stressful times. It is I, Ozpin.", Ozcar Pin announced.

Something seemed to short-circuit inside General Ironwood's skull. He seemed to stumble backwards and clutch his chest.

"Oz…"

And then the imposing man collapsed face-first onto the ground unconscious. A combination of stress, insomnia, and the shock of seeing your best friend after his apparent death was too much for the Iron Man to handle. His mind shut off and rebooted.

"General Ironwood isn't here right now, please leave a message after the beep. Beep."

X

"Oh my god! You killed him!", Nora exclaimed as Ironwood faceplanted into his office rug.

Qrow just knelt down next to Ironwood. "He's alive. I think he's just in shock. This went a lot better than I thought. We're not in jail and we're not dead."

Ironwood suddenly shot upwards, his robotic mind now rebooted. He launched Qrow several feet onto his own face as he stood up abruptly.

"Right. Back to business. Ozpin, you've regenerated as you've said you are able to. If you're here now… Then that means the rumors I've heard are true…", Ironwood mused coldly.

"You're right again, Irondaddy! That's two strikes, Ozzy. Three and you're out! Guess what? Ozpin can't die either, do you know what that means about Salem?", Jaune goaded.

"Then… No… It's not possible. Can Salem even be killed?", Ironwood asked hesitantly.

"Err… No. I'm afraid not, James. Salem and I have been locked in combat for thousands of years. It's only been in the recent few decades that she has stopped attacking directly. I still do not know why.", Ozcar noted.

"Hrrm. Then I was right. My plan would've lead to the deaths of millions, perhaps the entire world. If Salem cannot be killed either, then what kind of plan did you have?", Ironwood stated.

"I proposed collecting the Relics themselves. As per the legends of course, they were gifts from the Gods themselves. When collected, they will allow us to finally defeat Salem for good.", Ozcar noted. "I had them safely secured beneath the Academies and kept from her hands. It is now, in our darkest times, that we will need to collect the rest of them and use their intended purpose."

"I don't see any other choice, Oz. I have the Relic of Creation here. We only need the one that was within Beacon, if it hasn't already been taken.", Ironwood concluded.

"I see another choice, Irondaddy. Why can't we talk to Salem? Convice her fighting us is a terrible choice. Why have Ozzy and Sally been fighting for so long? If only there was a Relic that could tell us!", Handsome Jaune mocked. Ironwood turned to him.

"You know something.", Ironwood noted.

"I do! I know what he's not telling you. It's his fault. He did it. He did it with her and she's angry at him for doing it and not being satisfying. It's a rage-sex orgy that's fucked the entire world, Ironman. All you have to do is ask the Gin.", Jaune mocked.

"Ask the gin? Are you drunk, Arc?", Ironwood noted.

"Ask the gin! Ask it what Ozpin doesn't want you to know!", Jaune mocked.

"Gin? What doesn't Ozpin want me to know….", Ironwood asked incredulously.

Ozcar Pin attempted to stop the vision from happening again, but was forcibly stopped from doing so by the handsome masked millionaire.

"No!"

The room began to fade into a blue haze as the being within the Relic of Knowledge began to awaken. Time froze as Handsome Jaune grinned like a madman. General James Ironwood was going to learn what he should never have learned as the winds of change blew his kingdom down. The iron giant's mind would rust away. The Lucky would follow the unlucky. The caution taken with men masquerading as children should've been held. General Ironwood would soon see the mouth of the beast as it swallowed him whole.

Chapter End. Ha. A Short one. Expect more.