Here we go
Cover Art: Jack Wayne
Chapter 134
"You know, this is why I like being sent on jobs with you." Qrow said. "There's never a dull day."
"I like to keep you on your toes, Qrow."
"Qrow Branwen and Jaune Ashari-Schnee."
The man who spoke must have been Jax. He had black hair tied into a topknot, an unusual style in Vacuo. The silver diadem, shaped like a crown, made Jaune roll his eyes and sigh. He wore a blue linen duster embroidered with spirals and shapes presumably of some importance to Vacuo or Malik the Sunderer.
"Morning Jax." Qrow said conversationally. "Fancy seeing you out here. I sure hope there's a good explanation for all this."
"Jax!" Gillian shouted, slapping her hand on the table. "What is the meaning of this!? I specifically told you-"
"Malik the Sunderer feared no one. Let alone two pathetic huntsmen."
"Oi!" Qrow grinned and thrust a thumb at his own chest. "I'm one of the best there is. As for Jaune? Well, one pathetic huntsman."
Jaune chuckled. "Cute. So, Jax. A pleasure to meet you at last."
"The pleasure will be all mine, Schnee. Once you're under my sway, I'll use your resources to further my rise to power, then Vacuo's rise on the global stage! With the resources of the SDC behind us and my Semblance, I'll be unstoppable!"
"Wouldn't it be we?" Jaune asked, nodding to Gillian. "Seems you're forgetting your own sister there. Or were you planning on removing her when she became too much of a hassle?"
Jax sneered and refused to take the bait. Or he missed it entirely. It was hard to tell. "I offer you one chance to give yourselves to me freely. I will allow you some limited free will. You can live good, fulfilling lives under my august rule."
"And if we refuse?" Qrow asked.
"Then we shall beat you down and take you."
"Hah! You and what army?"
Jax smirked and swept his arms wide, indicating all the people on the docks surrounding them. There weren't any police or pedestrians acting surprised, so he'd had everyone removed or diverted somehow. There had to be around a hundred in total. Maybe a few more in reserve.
"Again," Qrow said confidently. "You and what army?"
"Cocky, Branwen. Very cocky. I'll enjoy seeing you kneel before me."
"Oh. Kinky." He elbowed Jaune in the ribs. "You take left and I take right?"
"Sure. Leave him for last."
Qrow laughed, planted a foot on the table's edge and toppled it toward him. As glasses and plates fell and shattered on the floor, he kicked at the centre of it, launching the table up and toward Jax. He was quick – huntsman trained – able to dodge and let two of his thralls take it head on. They weren't so lucky or as professional.
Jaune sprinted left and clotheslined a burly man, sweeping his feet out from under him. Kicking up, he placed one foot on the chair of another dining table and used it to jump up and knee another in the chin. He toppled without a cry, falling back with a bloodied jaw.
"Attack!" Jax roared. "Defend your King!"
"For the Crown!" the mass droned as one.
The horde surged in without discipline, fumbling their way through the narrow door of the diner with some clawing at and breaking through the large windows. Those indoors attacked immediately, but they were less in number and the two huntsmen were already upon them.
Jaune lashed out left and right with a sheathed Crocea Mors, using the scabbard to bat away hands that grasped for him. He hopped off another chair onto a table, bracing himself and kicking groping hands, breaking wrists and fingers as the mass tried to drag him down by his ankles. It really was like a zombie apocalypse. Yang would have loved it.
Like the movie zombies, they were also lacking in any real ability. They weren't slow or shambling, but they were clumsy. Wild swings as often hit their allies as him, and they wielded clubs and batons at best. Jax wanted them alive and wasn't afraid to let his minions suffer for it. Jaune kicked a hand away and took a quick run up, leaping over the heads of eight people and landing on another table.
Despite his perfect jump, the table wasn't made for that kind of punishment and buckled under him. He rolled forward off it, ignored the heavy thuds of bats on his arms and rose up fist first, driving it under the chin of a huge woman over six feet tall. Jax had recruited from the fight pits according to Bertilak, but the amateur ones. No huntsmen. That meant his thralls were big and imposing with more brawn than skill.
They were still innocent. Sort of. Jaune eyed a bottle nearby but refrained from using it as a weapon lest he cut someone's throat open by accident. Instead, he blocked a meaty punch, gripped the arm and twisted it over, driving his elbow down on the back of theirs and forcing it the wrong way. Bone snapped like dry firewood, splintering down as the man grunted but didn't fall. He swung back, hitting someone behind Jaune as he ducked, then crumpled to the floor as Jaune drove a knee into his crotch. In the brief moment where the other attackers surged from the table he'd jumped form toward him, he looked for Qrow.
The man was moving like a lawnmower, Harbinger strapped away but his fists slapping down anyone who tried to get close. He kept moving – the only way to fight when there were so many people. Qrow rolled over the back of the bar counter, grabbed a stool and swept it over the wood, batting down three people. A mind controlled waiter attacked from behind with a bottle of wine, but Qrow caught it and rolled him over the counter, throwing him into the next wave of attackers. He was fine.
The shattering of glass heralded the thralls outside finally breaking the windows down. Those who did paid dearly, falling over and cutting themselves on the shards while those behind pushed and trampled over them. It was a mess and Jaune winced, knowing many would need surgery later.
The fight was taking too long. He looked over them, out the broken window and at the mastermind. Jax Asturias watched with a manic grin. Not even Roman had been so narcissistic. Shaking off someone trying to pull on his arm, he sprinted for the windows.
Most of the assailants were still on the ground and trying to crawl over one another. Jaune jumped and rolled over the top of them, scrambled onto all fours and lunged over the top. Ironically, the thralls at the back helped – reaching out to grab his arms and pull him out the diner because they'd been ordered to capture him. Kicking off the hands of those trying to do the same with his feet and rip him in half, he let the ones outside pull him out, then rewarded them with an aura-enhanced headbutt to break their grip.
Jax stepped back on seeing him, quickly realising the danger. He drew his sword, a surprisingly simple one of silvery steel. "Back!" he shouted. "This is Sunderer, the ancient blade of Malik the Sunderer himself. It has slain thousands of men. You shall be one more-"
Jaune drew and swung Crocea Mors with all his might, stepping into the blow to deliver a staggeringly powerful hit. It struck Jax's sword just above the hilt, ripping it from his grip and sending it spinning end over end into the ocean.
"Sunderer!" Jax screeched. "That blade was worth more-hrk!" His eyes popped as a hand clamped around his throat, lifting the man up off the floor. "Kkk. Hack. Ackkk-"
"If you want your sword so badly, I'm not above throwing you into the ocean to find it." Jaune tightened his grip. "Maybe with a block of concrete tied to your feet." He loosened his grip just a little, yanking Jax down, so he was held against his chest, Crocea Mors over his neck and acting as a human shield against the oncoming thralls. "Call off your victims."
"I am a King!" Jax yelled. "I don't take orders from a peasant!"
"Jax!" Gillian burst from the doorway with Carmine alongside her. Both looked nervous. "Jax, call them off!" she shouted, rushing over. "Don't be an idiot. He'll kill you."
Jax didn't seem to fearful of that, arrogant that he was. He settled his hands on Jaune's arm but didn't fight back. He didn't call off his thralls either. Jaune tightened his grip, choking him a little. "Don't think I won't, your majesty. I'm not sure what you think you know of me but I'm not above killing you here."
"Please, let us all reconsider." Gillian moved up slowly, hands empty and showing that she was unarmed. "This has all gotten out of hand, especially when we had such peaceful agreements prior. My brother can be impulsive at times. Won't you forgive him." Her hands settled on Jaune's bicep. "For me?"
Her hands glowed faintly. Jaune felt a sudden tug deep inside.
Gillian's lips quirked upward.
"Jaune Ashari-Schnee!" Jax bellowed triumphantly. "You are mine to command! You will serve the Crown, serve me, and create a new age for Vacuo. For all of Remnant!"
The impact struck him in the skull like a weight. Like a soft pillow feather weighting several tonnes, smothering him in a soft and warm embrace. A feeling like his mind being swaddled in cotton wool took hold, and he distantly heard Jax laugh.
"Well played, sister. Very well played."
"This shouldn't have been necessary!" Gillian hissed. "If I hadn't been here, you'd be dead. Think next time, Jax. And we still need to deal with Branwen. If he returns to Vale and tells them what happened here-"
Jaune wrapped a metaphorical hand around his aura being drawn away and gripped it tight.
Gillian flinched. "W-What?" Her jaw dropped as the aura being siphoned out of Jaune's body suddenly reversed, streaming back through Gillian's arms and into him. "W-What…!? How?""
Moving his aura through another person when they were trying to withhold it was difficult. It took more concentration than he expected. His hand lashed out, catching her wrist before she could pull away. Stolen aura flooded back into his body, and then, because it was there, he decided to see if he couldn't return the favour. Her aura had mingled with his when she tried to drain him dry. Maybe he could pull on that, too.
"I-Impossible!" Gillian gasped, weakly trying to pull away. "N-No!"
The weight pressing down on his skull lessened. Jaune blinked his eyes open, shaking his head like he'd awoken from a nap. He looked down, past Jax's topknot to the pale and struggling woman caught in his grip. His hand was glowing, though for once not because of the sigil on the back.
"A-Aura manipulation!?" Gillian cried. "That's not possible! Only the royal blood has that Semblance."
"Drain him, Gillian! Drain him!"
"She can't." Jaune said, releasing her. The woman fell to the floor, robbed of her own aura. He wasn't sure he could do that to just anyone, but she'd hooked her aura into his like a fishing line to a shark. All he had to do was pull her into the water. "Last chance, Jax. Release your thralls or I'll risk seeing what happens to them if you die."
"Do you think I'll bow to you!?" Jax spat. "I don't care what blood runs in your veins. Vacuo is mine! I'll never give it up, not to you, the Council or to anyone! You hear me!? IT'S MINE!"
Low skill. Low aura. High arrogance. That was how Bertilak described him. It seemed to be apt, because Jax wasn't even able to stop Jaune taking his head in hand and twisting his other arm sharply against his jaw. Snapping someone's neck wasn't as simple as people believed. It was the first time he'd ever done it. The resistance was great, the noise deafening. Jax Asturias slumped in his arms, then to the floor as Jaune released him.
Gillian cried out shrilly. A grief-fuelled sound. All across the docks, people stopped fighting. Qrow, a bar stool raised over his head, stepped away from the woman he'd been about to bring it down on. Pained moans sounded, along with cries for help from those trapped under bodies or bleeding from shattered glass.
"P-Please wait!" Gillian rasped, climbing to her feet and staggering back. "I didn't plan this. I promise. Jax – He did all of this on his own. I met you in good faith. This was done without my knowledge!"
"You still tried to drain me in the end. Hand me over to Jax."
"He was my brother! How could I not? You understand, don't you? If you'd ever had a sibling you loved-" She cut off as Crocea Mors swung down, the tip tickling her neck. A skilled huntress she may have been, but she was without aura and hadn't come with a weapon.
"I'd have stopped any of my sisters before they threw away their lives like he did. I wouldn't have let them believe some nonsense about royal bloodlines and destinies."
"Your blood is the same! We share the same Semblance. Or similar. D-Don't you see? That means we're related. Our bloodlines come from the same source. You're of royal stock, too!"
Jaune snarled and cut her off, sending her stumbling back.
"We swore to meet on peaceful terms," she tried.
"You broke that by attacking me." Jaune kept his sword at her neck, then looked past her and sighed. He brought it down. "But it's not my place to judge you." He watched her smile return. "I'll leave that to them."
Without giving her time to recover, he planted a foot in her stomach and kicked her back. Gillian's dress fluttered as she flew back into the waiting hands of the people once robbed of their minds and free will. Judging by the furious expressions, they had been as aware of what was happening to them as he had been when Jax took hold of his mind.
It didn't look like the mob was going to forgive her. Gillian screamed as she was drawn back into it, pulled back into a furious horde of men and women who had been made to bleed and die for her and her brother's twisted ideals.
"Queenie!"
Jaune caught Carmine's shoulder and pulled her back. "Bertilak is right now raiding your base with authorities from Shade," he whispered into her ear. "They're busting the trafficking rings, arresting the other members of Crown, and I don't think he's going to stop to hear your excuses."
The girl paled.
"I'd get a move on if I were you." With a laugh, he slapped her back, releasing her. Carmine Esclados took one look at her friend and leader crying out for her help, bit her lip.
And ran.
Qrow joined him a moment later, mouth open to ask a question – likely on whether they should intervene to prevent what was about to be a public execution. Jaune shook his head and the huntsman paused, looked back to those once thralls who were badly hurt, and nodded. They turned away from the docks, moving swiftly through the alleys as Gillian's screams echoed behind them.
/-/
Outside the walls of Vacuo, the noise of panic and sirens finally faded. Qrow had been silent since they left Gillian, and Jaune wondered if the huntsman disapproved. Summer would have, but Qrow came from the Branwen tribe and was no stranger to death or rough justice. Jaune wondered what Pyrrha would have thought. He had a feeling Ren and Nora would have been okay with this – probably Yang, Weiss and Blake as well – but Pyrrha and Ruby might have had different opinions.
"Do you believe what she said?" Qrow finally asked.
"Which part?"
"About your blood."
"Being royal?" Jaune laughed. "Does it matter? I bet if you go back far enough, everyone's blood is similar somewhere. You realise that since the Brother Gods killed most of humanity, there's a good chance you and I are both descended from Salem and Ozpin."
"That's a scary thought…"
The Arc family was said to have created many heroes in its time. It wasn't impossible to imagine one of those had been royalty back in those dark times of history where might made right. Back when people would band under a strong leader and happily crown him King for the sake of his protection.
"It doesn't mean anything, does it? The Kingdoms are run by Councils now. If there is some special royal bloodline then all it means is our Semblances are similar."
"No delusions of grandeur?"
Jaune shot him a scowl. "Do I seem the type?"
"You have that air around you."
"Of royalty!?" Jaune asked, surprised.
"Ha. No. More like… more like a leader. You're used to giving out orders and expecting people to follow. Were you on a team before?"
"I was." Jaune looked ahead. "I was the team leader."
"Are they all gone?"
He nodded. "One died because I was too weak to be of use to her. The other two died on their own terms, but I could have done better. I was a shit leader to them all."
Qrow nudged his arm. "I bet they don't think that."
"I know for a fact they didn't. Doesn't make them right to think it." He let out a long sigh. "I'm not maudlin about it. I was a bad leader because I wasn't ready, then when I was, we were in over our heads. There wasn't much I could have done either way, but that doesn't change the fact I wasn't a great leader. I let other people take over where I should have stepped in. I let thoughts of revenge push me into bad decisions." Jaune shook his head. "Don't worry about it. This was a long time ago. Before you ever met me. It's not like you don't have things in your past you feel bad about."
"Ha. True. I guess we're both messed up."
"Everyone is. The degree differs, but everyone regrets something. Even Salem, I imagine." Jaune tugged his scarf up over his mouth and nose. "You seeing what I see?"
"Sand, sand and more sand?"
"Sand." Jaune nodded. "Airborne sand."
"My favourite kind," Qrow grumbled, pulling up his own headwrap. He caught the hint and changed the subject. "If our maiden likes to hide out in sandstorms, that means we have to walk right into it. Fun times. Think we should have rented a truck?"
It'd only have gotten stuck in the sand. Storms whipped up and deposited the top layers back, forming new dunes and making every step treacherous. They'd discovered that already, having to climb some on all fours as sand streamed down behind them. The air was hot, but the clouds of sand provided some cover from the sun, making it more a dry and stifling heat than baking like before.
The Bone Lands had so far proved an apt name. They'd already passed by numerous skeletons of various animals half-buried in the sand. Some had been entire hers, their ribcages poking upward. There hadn't been any human skeletons yet; most people avoided the region. It was in part due to the inhospitable climate but also the simple fact there wasn't much of value to be had. No towns, villages or landmarks to want to visit.
"You're not angry about what happened?" Jaune asked.
"Oh, I'm angry. Angry at Jax for being such a monstrous twat. Angry I didn't know about this trafficking ring. A little annoyed you didn't fill me in before we got there, but whatever."
"That's it?" He'd expected more. Summer would have been wringing his neck by now.
"You said Ozpin approved it."
Jaune nodded.
"That's enough for me. I trust Oz. If he said it was alright, I know it's for a reason."
No wonder Raven was so annoyed with her brother; she must have chafed at the loyalty to a man who she felt deserved none. Jaune accepted it with a nod, filing away the knowledge that Qrow would always be Ozpin's man. That didn't mean they couldn't be friends or work together. It just meant he couldn't ever tell him the truth.
/-/
They made camp in the shadow of a mesa, finding a small nook at its base that covered them from the wind on three sides. Tents from Vacuo were made differently to ones from the other Kingdoms, more modular to fit the needs and demands of wherever you made camp. They dug the poles into the rock and set up a single wall to act as a barrier from the one uncovered direction, then set a small dust-powered stove to produce heat and fire inside, while Qrow hung little incense burners from hooks in the tent roof that promised to drive away insects, scorpions and other nasty critters that might crawl down the rockface.
They scanned and cleared the floor either way, dusting rocks aside before laying down a mat on which their rolls could be placed. Taking the extra time to set up a base properly saved time in the long run by letting you sleep easily. Miss Goodwitch had driven that into his head a long time ago.
Once the interior was cleaned and laid, Jaune knelt by the stove to cook. Like everything in huntsman culture, companies had formed to cater to every need of what was a very dangerous but well paying job. As such, there was an abundance of tinned ready meal survival foods that could be cooked simply by peeling off the lid, heating the can and eating out of it with a fork and knife. Some of them were pretty high quality, too. Keeping up morale was important. Since he was essentially loaded thanks to Rashem, he saw no point skimping.
"Oh man." Qrow mumbled around a mouthful of shepherd's pie with gravy, mash and baby carrots. "This is the stuff! Mmmhm. You pick these from the top shelf?"
"Premium," Jaune admitted with a tiny smile. "Ordered straight from Mistral."
"Rich bastard. Hm. I've eaten worse at restaurants. Man, this beats the nasty crap they gave us at Beacon."
Jaune laughed. He'd sampled that himself. Beacon's cafeteria was excellent – but when they bought survival food for training missions and camping, they bought cheap. It was a school after all. They had to cater to well over a thousand students and already shelled out millions in dust, technology and weapons parts. They weren't going to spend five hundred lien per student when they could get away with fifty.
"So, we've left Vacuo in anarchy. Was it wise to let Carmine escape?"
"I'm not sure." From what he'd been told from Bertilak, she was a bad person. Then again, everyone would have said that about Emerald, Raven and Vernal. I was hypocritical to let her go when he'd killed Jax and Gillian, but they were leaders. They could start Crown up again. "I don't think she'll come back with Bertilak after her. Maybe she'll run to Atlas."
"Not looking to adopt her?"
Jaune spared him a grimace. "Emerald and Vernal are different. They grew up in bad situations. Carmine… well, I don't know much about her, but she seemed independent enough to call her own shots. I don't think she took much persuading from those two."
"Takes all sorts." Qrow scooped out the last of the food and slid the metal tin into a waste portion of his backpack, sealing it tight. "I just can't imagine what kind of person you need to be to believe all that nonsense. Even if they were descended from royalty, what makes them think they can just claim it? Did they really think people would let them get away with it?"
"It sounds like everyone did." Jaune said. "Bertilak said they started it up in Shade and recruited their people there. That meant other people heard and saw them talking about restoring the monarchy. You literally had them telling people their plans and no one did a thing. Not even the teachers."
"Maybe they thought it wasn't serious."
"Then they were wrong. Or incompetent."
"You can't fault kids on what they say they want to be," Qrow said. "Trust me, I'm a teacher. Yang wanted to be a pirate once. I wasn't going to clap her in irons and throw her in jail for that."
When she was a child, sure, but Shade had the same age requirements as Beacon, meaning this happened between the ages of 17 and 21. By that point, if people were still talking about overthrowing a country in public, they ought to be challenged.
If the teachers ignored them then it was as good as encouraging it. Telling Jax and Gillian they're free to recruit who they want. Ridiculous. Jax, especially, needed someone to take him aside and sort him out. Someone who wouldn't be afraid to knock some sense into him. Now he was dead, Gillian too, and it had fallen on them to do it.
"When everyone refuses to take responsibility, society falls apart."
"You sure you're not thinking of crowning yourself king?" Qrow joked. "That sounds like something a politician would say."
"It's something you learn when you have kids. Forget it. Vacuo can sort itself out. Let's just focus on finding the Summer Maiden. I want to get back to Vale sooner rather than later."
"Missing your girls?"
"A little," he admitted. "And something about Vacuo just doesn't sit right with me."
/-/
The sandstorm was even harsher come morning. It billowed and buckled at the tent walls, howled down cracks in the mesa and sent rocks tumbling down outside. Qrow suggested they wait it out, and Jaune agreed, but three hours later with no end in sight, it began to dawn on him.
"This isn't natural."
Qrow looked over, squinting against the sand sneaking under the bottom of the tent. "What?" he shouted to be heard over the noise.
"The storm should have ended by now!" Jaune yelled back. "This isn't natural!"
"You think it's her?"
He nodded. Easier to do that than shout. "I think she knows we're here!"
The storm intensified and Qrow threw himself back into the rockface, grimacing as one of the poles was yanked loose. The material of the tent spun outward, flapping angrily until the other poles were ripped free. Their wall swam outward and was lost in the howling orange deluge. Their stove was stripped away as well, toppling over and screaming as it vanished.
"You think!?" Qrow yelled. "She's trying to kill us!"
Or to drive them away, but if they got stuck in this for much longer, then yes, they'd possibly be killed. I see Omaira is just as much a bitch as she was the last time. If she wanted to scare us away, she'd leave an easy escape route. This was meant to kill them. How else would she steal their supplies? It wasn't always convenient for her to sneak into Vacuo.
Jaune knelt and stabbed Crocea Mors into the sand, holding onto it and squinting his eyes against the sand. The mesa was a flat-topped mountain in the middle of nowhere, the best cover for miles, but if Omaira could control the wind from any direction, it wouldn't offer any shelter. The open desert would offer even less. Qrow couldn't take to the air as a bird or he'd be killed instantly.
"Dig," Jaune snapped.
"What?"
"Dig into the mountain."
"With my bare hands-?" Even though he said that, Qrow was no idiot. He turned and ripped a shell out of Harbinger, biting the cap off and spitting it out. A thin stream of dust whipped out and into the wind. "Fuck! Give me some cover!"
Jaune planted his hands on the rock and tried to offer his body. Qrow did the same, turning his back to Jaune's chest and cradling the dust like a small ember in a rainstorm. He poured it out into one of the metal food containers, filling it up and sealing the lid again, then pulling out some more rounds and draining those as well. Soon, they had enough dust. Qrow scurried to the deepest part of the crack in the mesa they'd placed themselves in, then buried the container an inch under the sand, right up against the rock.
A single shot detonated the IED. The explosion wasn't as powerful as a grenade and it certainly didn't destroy the rockface, but it did blast downward and clear a trench some two feet deep. Qrow dropped to his knees and used Harbinger sideways like a shovel, scraping sand out to deepen it while Jaune held the wind back. Again and again, he shovelled sand out, until the trench was closer to four feet, and they could prop their packs and heavier equipment up as a barrier.
"Get in!" Qrow shouted.
Jaune dove in, landing on his side next to Qrow. There wasn't room enough for comfort. They were face to face, curled up like lovers, sand blasting overhead and impacting the rockface, sprinkling down like rain. They shimmied over so they were back to back, each taking responsibility for clearing sand out one side so the hole didn't fill up and bury them. The shelter provided was just enough to keep them out the blasting wind, saving their skin from being ripped clean off.
The storm persisted for seven more hours. It ended as suddenly as it had come on, the wind cutting off like someone had flipped a switch.
Panting and gasping, covered in sand, Qrow and Jaune rolled over onto their backs. Their skin was red and raw, lips dry from constantly shovelling out sand faster than it could pile in. Qrow shoved a hand down between them and guzzled greedily at his water flask, then handed it over so Jaune could do the same.
"You think she's worn out?" Qrow panted.
"Or she thinks we're dead by now," Jaune rasped.
"I guess this is the evidence we need she's not going to come peacefully. Do we push out?"
Jaune shook his head. "Let's stay here and catch our breath. With any luck, she'll assume she finished us and go off to get some sleep. That's our chance to move out and see if we can find her."
"Sounds good to me. I've got a bone to pick with her now…" Qrow fished out a sharp bone from an animal that had rolled into their little hole and threw it outside. "Two bones. Hell. And I thought Jax and Gillian were bad."
"Welcome to Vacuo." Jaune said with a loud sigh. "Where happy thoughts come to die."
Most of the Vacuo insults from me are kinda related to how shafted the region is in the show. Like, we know a lot about Vale, and we know about Atlas and we even knew about the school Haven before we got to Mistral, including a little about its culture from Pyrrha and the name of its headmaster and its tournament scene. Even its Signal-equivalent pre-academy.
But nothing about Vacuo. Nothing ever. There wasn't even a minor sub character who came from it since Cinder's team came from Mistral, Sun's team came from Mistral, Penny's team came from Atlas, etc. It's like, nothing of value or importance ever came from Vacuo. We had more characterisation for Menagerie than Vacuo, and it's not even technically one of the four Kingdoms.
Next Chapter: 12th December
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur
