Hey there, everyone. Just wanted to start off by saying thanks for enjoying the last chapter and sticking with me this far. Hard to believe this fic is a whole 10 chapters longer than Don't Fear the Dark. Feels kind of surreal just how much longer my fics tend to get over time.

Additionally and more importantly… how things will go from here on out, hence why I felt it best to actually bold this AN.

Firstly, in light of all that's been happening in my life these past several months, writing had honestly become a serious slog at times, much to my own consternation – writing had always been my way of offloading whatever emotions I'd been feeling at those times, plus it was just something that I genuinely enjoyed. Alas, with the recent deaths in my family plus a sling of continual bad news for other loved ones, I've really been getting weighed down for quite some time. Though I'm doing considerably better than before, I still feel very weary so it's really quite the convenience that this fic is now able to be wrapped up for good.

Now, as I believe I've mentioned before, with this fic now concluding, I will be taking quite some time off from writing fanfiction. Not from this site in general – I'll still be plenty active reading and reviewing fanfics and exchanging PMs, I just won't be writing any more fanfics for a while.

Instead, what I'm going to do is just take some time off from writing in general, probably just a month or two – have to focus on unwinding first and getting myself… centered, I guess is the appropriate word here, yeah.

Then, after my little hiatus, I will begin working on the final novel in my current trilogy of original novels and I intend to work solely on that until it's published. I've spent a fair bit of time planning out the primary plot details for it as well as hashing out a bit more of the world building that my setting needed, so hopefully writing it won't be too difficult to do. Additionally, I don't plan for it to be too long… but I know by now from experience that I always end up making my stories considerably longer than initially foreseen, so who knows; could be longer or shorter than what I'm currently envisioning.

With that in mind, I can't say for certain just how long it'll be before I begin a new fanfiction. With my previous two novels, I finished them within several months up to about a year, but that was while balancing them and fanfiction at the time. For the sake of trying to make an estimate, let's say it'll take a whole year for me to finish my novel. That means I won't be back to writing fanfiction until possibly 2022… wow, and doesn't that feel weird to put out there.

Well, anyways, long story short, I won't be putting out anything new for quite a while, so… yeah. I'll be posting a little note on my profile page too just in case.

Now before finally getting this epilogue officially started, let me just say thank you all for the favs, follows, and reviews. I honestly didn't expect this fic to get the kind of response that it has. Sadly, this may very well be the last RWBY fic that I do for the time being too – whenever I do return to writing fanfiction, I believe I'll be planting my roots in another series instead. Which series that may be is as of yet unknown, but I'm sort of leaning towards Fate/Stay Night, either that or a light novel based series. To any of you who happen to stumble across my future fanfiction, may you find that as entertaining as this one had been.

Now, without further ado, I present to you all the ending of Slave of Light. Please enjoy.

Epilogue

In the time following the assault on Vale, things go by slowly at first. This was due to the natural heavy atmosphere that always accompanies such events. Many had died in the Grimm hordes' attacks, the casualties consisting primarily of civilians, with huntsmen and police officers being the second largest group out of the bunch. Additionally, the Atlas fleet that general Ironwood had brought to Vale had also been devastated in the attack and had effectively been left crippled in the aftermath. Dozens of trainees had also fallen in the line of duty, having fought nobly to the very end in defense of the kingdom, regardless if Vale had been their home or not.

The collateral damage had also been immense as well, with entire streets completely levelled, buildings toppled, highways brought down, and even parts of the sewer systems ruined despite being underground. This wasn't even getting into the ruined sections of the walls that separated Vale from the land outside, with their defenses also crippled as well.

The time for mourning at first had sadly been very brief, for they all had to first make sure that Vale remained at least capable enough of defending itself from any additional waves of Grimm that may be drawn in by the sadness the attack had generated.

Of course, it hadn't taken much time for word of what had happened to spread throughout the world of Remnant, with the news of the hordes and their eventual destruction being the only thing the other kingdoms could focus on in the meanwhile.

And to the amazement of many, the other kingdoms had joined together in providing aid to Vale in an effort to keep them safe whilst they began the slow process of recovering and rebuilding.

And so, over the course of months, Vale went from teetering on the edge of collapse to regaining some semblance of its former self.

But as could be obviously ascertained, things were far from what they were.

And one blond teen was especially privy to such a change.

"…" Jaune let out a quiet sound as he looked over Vale from the docks of Beacon. Thanks to the help from the other kingdoms, reconstruction had really picked up, but even with entire armies worth of relief workers and builders working around the clock to fix up the sewers, construct new buildings and restore whatever could be restored, it would still be many more months, years even, before Vale ever fully recovered, if only from an outwards sense.

He knew all too well that the attack Salem had launched on them was something that would never fade from the minds of anyone here, especially not since general Ironwood and the others who'd been a part of Ozpin's inner circle deemed it fit to slowly release to the world the news of what had really gone on. While the more delicate details such as the Brother Gods, Relics, and the Maidens had been kept secret, the existence of Salem had been released in addition to what she'd been attempting behind the scenes for so many centuries.

Needless to say, that had really only fed the figurative fire that the attack on Vale had started, but so far, things still seemed to be stable enough… for now.

Could that change in the near future? Jaune was certain that it would, but that was how things would sadly have to be.

Slowly, he retreated from the docks towards Beacon. Yet another day of hard work had been completed. Over the months, he and many of the students who'd survived the attack had done their part in helping out, primarily in the form of patrolling the outside of the kingdom in case of any stray Grimm that dared to get too close to the walls which were still be rebuilt and strengthened.

His team had had their own duties to attend to the past several or so weeks, especially Pyrrha, whose semblance of polarity had made her quite handy when it came to construction work. It'd simply been a matter of being provided directions and she could easily maneuver materials that would've required careful and protracted usage of cranes or other machinery to move. Nora's sheer brute strength had also been very beneficial in this regard and Ren, being as attached to Nora as always, had been able to lend his capable hands to the more delicate matters involved.

Thus, it wasn't entirely uncommon for him to not really see his team until it was time to have dinner, which were times of the day he really enjoyed, if only to be able to see them again.

However, despite often being separated from them throughout the days, that wasn't to say he was ever lonely.

"Sup, Jauney boy," called out Cardin Winchester as he and Russel passed by him, the former slapping him lightly on the back. "Still kicking, huh? Make sure you keep it that way."

"I will, I will," Jaune replied with a light smile.

And Cardin wasn't the only one either who called out to him.

"Heya, Jaune!"

"Yo, still going strong? Heh, of course you are."

"Another fun day had, am I right?"

"Make sure not to overwork yourself, Mr. Arc. Remember, we're all in this together still."

"Here, Jaune – take a mango. I've been able to finally get my hands on some ripe ones just an hour ago."

As he headed deeper into Beacon grounds, the students who'd remained along with staff and faculty wasted no time calling out to him as they noticed him passing. He in turn replied to all of them as well, glad to see they were all doing so well.

Of course, he knew why that was too.

Despite the grief that Salem's attack had brought about, absolutely no one within Vale had given into despair – and that was because of him. Or rather, because of his aura which had permeated the entire kingdom at the time to empower them, not simply in body but in spirit too.

Though the effects of his aura had long since faded, it would seem that the experience had really helped people fortify themselves. Incidentally, thanks to the connection that had been formed between him and everyone back then, the end result was that everyone who'd benefitted from his aura now knew who he was.

This was by no means a bad thing, but it had certainly taken him quite some time to adjust to suddenly being so well known. That this 'oddity' hadn't been reported to the other kingdoms in one form or another was odd in and of itself, but he can live with that – even now, he was still trying to get used to being so well known within a single kingdom. Becoming known to the other kingdoms would just make things weirder at this point.

So lost in his thoughts was he that he didn't realize there was yet a few others that were about to call out to him.

"Jaune! Over here!" called out Ruby as he entered the cafeteria for a bit of a late dinner. "Figured you'd be back by now, so Blake and I grabbed you a plate already!"

"Oh, thanks," he replied as he immediately homed in on the table the R and B of RWBY sat at. "How was today for you two? Yang and Weiss still busy out there too?"

"It was about the same as the new usual." Blake was the one to reply as she nibbled away at a grilled tuna sandwich. "Ever since the ending of that attack, Grimm have been rather sparse, all things considered, though you already knew that most likely. And yeah, they're still out there."

Jaune nodded in understanding.

Grimm have still shown up near Vale from time to time, but while this happened just regularly enough to keep them all on their toes, they always showed up in very small groupings and seemed almost hesitant in getting too close.

As for Yang and Weiss, the two of them were also part of the volunteer group for reconstruction as well. Much like Nora, Yang's sheer brute strength made her ideal for moving stuff around and the sheer versatility of Weiss' semblance made her a very busy bee out there too. As for why they were still out there, well, the schedules the volunteers worked were quite brutal out of necessity, needing as many helping hands as possible in speeding up reconstruction even a bit. Jaune knew this personally because there have been times he's aided in this regard and had gone fourteen hours or even longer without rest just helping around.

"Hope they're able to get some rest later," he mumbled. "You two as well – can't be easy constantly doing what you do."

"Pfft, as if you're one to talk," Ruby replied right before chowing down some more on the massive hamburger she'd gotten for herself. But as quickly as she'd grinned at him, she then frowned and looked at him in concern. "But seriously, Jaune, you holding up okay? I mean, you're working just as many hours out there as two or three of us put together!"

Jaune scratched the side of his face, a little sheepish. "I'm hanging in there, same as everyone. And don't worry, I know my limits on that front."

Ever since the end of the battle with Salem, he's really changed. Not in a bad way per say, but rather in… other ways. He hadn't realized it at the time due to the circumstances, but ever since the end of the battle, he's come to realize something deep within him had seriously changed from how it was before. And whatever this change was, it was enough to make him feel almost decidedly inhuman in some respect…

…But that was neither here nor there. All that mattered in the end is that he was still himself, the same stubborn, occasionally clueless guy that he's always been. And that was one thing that would definitely never change.

"If you say so," Blake responded, looking at him sternly. "But on behalf of… well, everyone, make sure to rest up properly." To punctuate this point, she jabbed at the plate set before him.

He chuckled lightly and held up his hands in a placating manner. Much like Ruby, his meal was that of a hamburger… one absolutely monstrously sized hamburger, holy crap. No way he was eating this quickly.

But before he could dig into his well-earned meal…

Slowly, he removed the gauntlets he held and set them to the side. As soon as he did so, Ruby looked at them in deep interest, her interest in all things related to weapons and equipment having remained unaffected by all that they've gone through together.

"I still can't believe you got a whole new outfit out of all this…" she mumbled as she looked over the gauntlets, sleek black ones that were simply meant to provide him some measure of protection – not that he needed that – in addition to being able to interface with certain types of technology.

"Well to be fair, your outfit had been rather plain before," Blake suddenly quipped. "Not that it was a bad thing, of course."

Jaune just chuckled as he bit into his burger.

They did have a point there.

For as long as he's been wandering the land, he's always dressed in very simple but practical clothes. Alas, he had a hell of a habit of getting them ruined in the more destructive battles he was involved in and that had especially been true in this previous tragedy. In hindsight, it was honestly amazing that his modesty had been even remotely protected what with all the attacks he'd taken from the transformed Hazel and later Salem.

He certainly hadn't been the only one to notice this, it seemed like, because just about a week or so ago, general James Ironwood himself had called him up and asked to meet. When the two had done just that, the general of Atlas' military had presented to him a whole new outfit, one tailored to take some serious damage before actually suffering any real wear and tear.

Said new outfit, perhaps due to being designed by the Atlas military, was thus quite militaristic in style, with boots that practically ran all the way just a bit past his calves, military styled pants that were quite stretchy in his opinion and roomy along with a dress shirt, tie, form fitted jacket and even a nifty looking cape thing of sorts that could be easily attached and removed from around his shoulders. Unlike the primarily white and blue and bits of red that comprised Atlas' uniforms, however, his outfit was primarily black with the exceptions of his tie and some portions of his gauntlets and boots, which sported a bit of red and gold.

The new blades that had also been provided to him by general Ironwood had also sported the same color scheme as well.

All in all, compared to before, Jaune was really styling now and not even he, for all his tunnel vision at times, could deny that much.

"…Let's just hope I can make this outfit last though," he mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Knowing the sort of battles you clearly get involved in? You'll be lucky to make that last a month," quipped Blake.

Jaune faked a hurt look. "Hey, come on, have some faith in me here."

Blake chuckled a bit before her expression then grew soft. "Oh, trust me, I've plenty of faith in you… I think just about everyone does."

At that, Jaune fell silent and slowly nodded. Once again, he was reminded of his newfound 'status' around Vale and it left him humbled. To know that so many people legitimately looked up to him now… it was honestly kind of surreal… but also more than a little daunting.

All the more reason to make sure he continues to live up to expectations, though. And he fully intended on doing just that.

From there on out, he made small talk with Blake and Ruby as they ate away at their meals. At some point, Yang and Weiss returned and joined in as well and quite a bit more time was spent chatting them up as well.

Finally, it was time for them all to head back to their rooms, RWBY now full and sleepy from the food they'd downed and the work they'd done today.

He bid them goodnight and did the same to all the others who he passed by on his way back to his own dorm.

Unlike everyone else, though, he was very much still wide awake and lively. Sleep wouldn't be coming to him just yet, especially not when his friends have yet to return. Looks like they'd been doing some overtime.

And so, after setting aside his blades, gauntlets, coat and jacket, Jaune took just a quick second thereafter to kick off his boots before untucking his dress shirt and grabbing his scroll.

Mindlessly, he started to just scroll through all the news he could find. Alas, as had become common now over the past several weeks, there really wasn't much new to report – save for just a thing or two.

Just because Vale had suffered through such a horrid event and was now recovering didn't mean the rest of the world had stopped just for them. True, the other kingdoms were lending aid in rebuilding, but all that meant was that while they did that, the usual forces behind the scenes were even harder at work.

Criminals who'd long since gone into hiding were slowly stepping back out of the shadows within Mistral to wreak some havoc. Meanwhile, the White Fang, which had gone silent ever since the attack on Vale's city hall all that time ago, was now also seemingly stepping back into the light, once again stirring up some trouble out on the frontier by raiding Dust mines and other locations for supplies. Looks like whatever turmoil they'd suffered from back then was settling down if the steadily increasing activity along the border of Vacuo and in several different locations throughout Mistral were anything to go by.

Meanwhile, it seemed like in Atlas, some politicians and other big names were stirring up the pot, trying to stoke the fires of controversy over what's been going on recently, why the Atlas military was so keen on helping out Vale without any real backing from the council, so on and so forth… it just didn't seem to end.

"…"

Jaune could only grunt as he read through it all.

Defeating Salem had certainly been a game changer – with her gone, no more schemes like what she and her forces had been plotting seemed likely to happen again… but that was really it. Sure, Salem had been a powerful immortal with control over the Grimm, but even without her around, the Grimm still went about doing what they've always done. The only real upside was that they could no longer be directed so precisely.

Alas, defeating Salem hadn't brought about world peace or anything of the sort. That was still clearly a long way off. Additionally, for all that he's learned ever since being brought into the fold, there was still so many questions left unanswered.

Just where exactly were the Brother Gods, who were responsible for this entire affair, at? Could they perhaps sense when he'd killed both Ozpin and Salem?

What about the Relics? With Salem dealt with, were they to remain wherever they were at? Well, for sure, the Relic of Creation had to remain where it was as the core of Atlas itself – Ironwood had revealed this to him during their last meeting – and the Relic of Destruction was definitely not something that should ever be brought to light, same goes for the Relic of Choice… but what of the Relic of Knowledge? Given what Ozpin had told them all, it had likely been within Salem's grasp… but now with the woman dead, just where could it be? Back at wherever her base was? Would it be best to go and retrieve it once things settle down some more or should it just be left there?

But more than that…

"The Maidens…" he murmured.

Though he'd known Amber only briefly, her death had hurt him a fair bit. But her death hadn't been in vain for it'd been her willing her magic to him for just the briefest of instances that had allowed him to gain a fundamental understanding of how it works. Alas, the Fall Maiden power was gone now, having likely found a new host. In which case, just what was to be done about that? Was there a way of tracking it? How about the other Maidens? Were they to be left alone now? After all, the only ones that seemed to know of the existence of the Maidens seemed to be only those that had been in the know from the start about all this.

Jaune grunted again. There truly was so many things left unresolved. Alas, with Vale still in much need of all hands available in rebuilding, these were matters that can't just be dealt with right away. He understood this, he really did… but there was still some impulsive part of him that really wanted to cast aside caution for the time being until these major issues were dealt with once and for-.

At that moment, the door to the dorm opened and the sight of Pyrrha, Nora and Ren, all looking absolutely exhausted, was enough to make his thoughts halt suddenly.

"Hey, Jaune…" his partner called out as she closed the door. She looked terribly worn down, but a smile of satisfaction was on her face. Looks like she's once again put in more than her fair share of hard work. "Sorry for the wait."

"No, don't be. You all worked hard," he replied as he immediately got up and helped to guide Nora, who was practically falling asleep in mid-stride, to her bed where she then unceremoniously collapsed without another word. Meanwhile, Ren just patted him on the shoulder in thanks while he too plopped onto his own bed. "Did you manage to eat anything?"

"Some snacks here and there," Pyrrha answered as she slowly removed some portions of her armor. "Right now, we really just need to rest… don't worry, we'll be just fine tomorrow morning."

He smiled. "Alright, just wanted to be sure."

"…" Pyrrha made a sound as she slowly stopped what she was doing, settling for just staring at him. "…Thinking again about everything?"

Jaune flinched as Pyrrha hit the nail right on the head. "Yeah… I know I shouldn't be, especially not after everything we've all been through, but I just-."

"-Can't help it." Pyrrha chuckled quietly after finishing his sentence. She sat down on her bed and stared at him as he sat back down too. "Well, I can't fault you for that – there really is a lot to be done still, isn't there?"

"To put it mildly, yeah…" he murmured. He then sighed. "But honestly, at this point, I feel like I want to do all this less out of 'mere' obligation and more for… more for those who've been lost during all this."

As was always the case, he was more than ready to do whatever it took to keep the world as relatively safe as possible… but more than that, he just wanted to make sure that all who've been sacrificed along the way were truly able to rest well. And though Salem may have been beaten, he highly doubted Ozpin or Amber would be completely content on the other side with so many potentially dangerous loose ends still around. And of course, there could be no forgetting everyone else who've lost their lives in the conflicts waged between Salem and Ozpin back then.

At the very least, he could make sure they could rest easy in whatever afterlife existed by making sure something like this never happens again.

Pyrrha made her way over to his side and gently grasped his hand. "I know how you feel. We all do, Jaune," she began as she looked him in the eyes. "And rest assured, those issues will be addressed later down the line. But not all by yourself. After all, you have all of us to help you out, remember?"

Jaune blinked and then smiled.

She was right, he silently admitted. Hadn't he come to such a realization during his final battle with Hazel? It wasn't always completely up to him to do the heavy lifting; there were plenty of others out there that he could have faith in to take care of matters too.

Sure enough, he began to recall some of the other details he'd skimmed over during his reading just some odd minutes ago. For all the trouble the criminal underworld was causing in the other kingdoms, brave members of the law and even official militias were joining arms to combat these forces and restore some level of stability to their regions. The gathering pockets of White Fang were likewise being driven back and often by groups of Faunus at that too, who've long since grown tired of the horrible image the White Fang had been painting for all Faunus. And in Atlas, there were plenty of politicians with genuinely good intentions that argued back against whatever ridiculous rhetoric the devil's advocates and conspiracy theorists were coming up with.

And within Vale, they were all working together in restoring the kingdom bit by bit. Be they civilians, law enforcement, huntsmen, trainees, human or Faunus, young or old, all were doing their part in speeding along the kingdom's recovery and by extension their own recovery from Salem's attack.

And meanwhile, he had his friends by his side, ready and willing to answer the next call to action, no matter what form that may be.

There was much to be done, but with everyone so willing to work together and tackle things, these potential issues didn't seem so bad.

"…Thanks," he said after a moment.

Pyrrha just chuckled. "You're welcome. After all, we're friends, aren't we? We'll always have your back, just as you have ours."

From the other beds, some muffled sounds of affirmation managed to ring out. Looks like Nora and Ren weren't quite as asleep as they'd initially seemed.

That honestly got a genuine chuckle out of Jaune. Only those two could be like that even while heading off to deep within dreamland.

His chuckle was one shared by Pyrrha herself, drawing his attention to her again. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before getting up and heading to the bathroom, presumably to change unlike Nora and Ren who were too tired for that.

"Now, make sure to rest up – we all have another long day ahead tomorrow. Long… but just as rewarding," she called out before closing the bathroom door.

"Right." Jaune's single word response was quiet, but his voice was strong, resolved.

Despite said resolve, his posture was the very definition of relaxed, another odd weight that had been upon his shoulders now gone.

After Pyrrha changed and got out of the bathroom, he got his own sleepwear and changed into them within said room before getting out and crawling under the comfortable sheets of his bed. Pyrrha had already fallen asleep by the time he'd even done so, but he nonetheless whispered a quiet good night to her and to his other teammates.

As he lied in bed and slowly began to drift off to sleep, his expression shifted into one of peace.

The future that lied ahead may be quite uncertain as of right now, fraught with who knows what sorts of dangers… but even so, it was a future that didn't worry him anymore in the slightest.

Because he wasn't a lonely 'slave' anymore – he was now the free man, surrounded by those who shared his dream of making the world a better place one step at a time.

With this in mind, Jaune proceeded to have a genuinely good sleep, eager to see what tomorrow would bring.


Short, sweet, and simple. Or so I hope, heh.

Anyways, that is that, people. With this, Slave of Light is finally concluded. As you can see, still plenty of loose ends left about and intentionally so – after all, not every story wraps up every single little thing and while series like RWBY are all about moderately happy endings, that doesn't mean endings will always be inherently ideal, no matter how hopeful the tone is.

Oh, and on a random aside, Jaune's new outfit as of this epilogue is basically that of Keraunos, again from Silverio Trinity. You can see a glimpse of said outfit in the cover pic for this fic, but you can see the outfit in full if you google Keraunos from Silverio Trinity, if you so desire, of course.

Once again, thank you all for bearing with me in spite of the admitted decline in quality near the end here. Hopefully you managed to get some enjoyment throughout the course of this fic, though, and will look forward to my next fic, whenever that may be. Again, that likely won't be happening until maybe 2022 depending on how long it takes me to write my original novel.

Now, have a Happy Thanksgiving/Holiday, everyone. And remember to stay safe out there, both yourselves and your loved ones.

This is Rialga, now signing off.