Here we are again. I have officially enlisted in the Army and I will be shipped out on August 23rd. I'll put some more details of that in the AN below.

Beta: CrowSkull

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 108

Volume 4, Episode 8

The Path Set

Kai's eyes slid open and he immediately felt incredibly hot. It caught him off guard at first, not realizing why he felt so hot and what happened the night before explaining the cause. Kai slowly sat up with a certain degree of tiredness he had never experienced before, feeling a lightweight pull down one of his arms. Feeling what was holding on to his left arm and leg, he was suddenly reminded of what happened the day and night before. Aiden's death, the kiss with Neo, and what they did once they set up camp not long after. Remembering that last part made his face feel hot, and he knew that he was probably beet red thinking just thinking about it. He had to admit that last night was… fun. He had to do it with her blind halfway through because he wasn't able to concentrate on his eye powers while doing something so intimate and active. In all honesty, he didn't know what he was doing at first, but with Neo's guidance, it led to them both falling soundly asleep cuddling with each other. That meant he had to at least do something right, even if it was his first time doing something like that.

It took him snaking his way out of Neo's grasp on him to realize that he was still naked. He quickly got dressed as soon as he got away from her without waking her up and put a fresh pair of underwear and his pants on, then a black tank top he remembered throwing to the side once their sleeping bags were out. Despite how fit he knew he was, he still felt sore in places he had never directly exercised before. An amusing thought passed through his mind, he felt like a new man now. Losing his virginity was never a goal he ever truly cared about, and after spending years pent up with stress and gaining even more stress as time went on combined with his constant training and current goals, he supposed that it was only a matter of time until he sought comfort. Neo was a beautiful girl, despite their past together. He still held some resentment toward her and hasn't forgotten that she was the one responsible for almost permanently paralyzing Cyan and hurting Pyrrha back in Mistral. But he had to understand that it happened almost four years ago now. Last he checked, Cyan had almost made a full recovery and Pyrrha was obviously alive and well today. They almost killed each other several times as well, but somehow they ended up working together. It was due to Roman's last dying wish for her to help him kill Cinder after what she forced them to do, and one thing just led to another and another after that until they got to where they were now. The important question popped up in his mind, did he like her? Love her even? The latter was very unlikely - he admitted that to himself already after all - but he could admit that he had gotten past their history and began to like her for what she was doing with and for him. She didn't have to go so far in helping him, but over time they became more than just companions on a quest for revenge against Cinder. He prided himself in being a logical person, and logically, it was only natural that they'd eventually get to the point where they started looking at each other in different tones and lights, and evidently, they turned each other on.

"Hah…" Kai sighed to himself, shaking his head and running a hand through his black hair. "What the hell am I thinking…? This… is this right?"

That was another question he was afraid to find the answer for. This would have been far easier to understand if this had happened before they met Aiden, but the fact that they ended up doing those things with each other right after he brutally killed Aiden concerned him, to say the least. He was covered with blood, his clothes still had the life fluid of Aiden dried on them, and yet despite all of that they still went at it with each other without a care in the world for over an hour. At that moment, he didn't care what was right and what was wrong, all that was going through his mind was euphoria, fulfillment, and a strong lust for a woman's body.

He remembered a familiar scene, back when he was just twelve years old when his Mom and Dad were still alive and well. That awkward conversation parents needed to have with their parents to explain to them what sex was and how it worked to birth children. It was weird at the moment, but he always found it amusing afterward. However, he specifically remembered asking his mother a question, and the answer she gave him never left his thoughts.

"How do I know when to have sex with someone?" A much younger, child-like Kai Matsuoka asked his bewildered father.

"I- Er," Malikai stuttered, rubbing the back of his head trying to find a way to answer that question. "It's uh… how do I explain this? I can't really… Marron?"

"You should only do sexual things with someone you truly love and want to spend your life with," Marron came to her husband's rescue, smiling happily and hiding the awkward tension under wraps. "It may not be in the same way as girls, but your body is a treasure. Remember that, it's not something just any person can touch so intimately. Make sure you really trust and love the girl you want to have sex with because you can only have your first time once. Trust me, you're going to want to be able to look back on your first time and smile thinking about it."

Kai ran a hand through his hair again, looking back at Neo and sensing that she was beginning to stir and replayed the events of last night through his mind once again. He trusted her, sure, he had fallen asleep around her and fought with her countless times, they'd saved each other's lives, and she kept him company when he thought he was going to be alone for so long. But… love wasn't something he believed he held for her. He felt disappointed in himself for that, conflicted between the achievement of having sex for the first time and the disappointment he felt for not following his mother's advice. Was he supposed to love her after that? At the very least, if anything happened he'd have to take responsibility for it, right? In any case, that was it, his virginity had been taken, and he was fairly sure Neo wasn't one herself until last night. But again, it wasn't as if he wouldn't do that again with her. He had never felt such pleasure in his life, and thinking about it now was making his body yearn for her again. Gulping nervously and fixing himself so his pants didn't feel so tight, Kai went back to a concerning concept that had been disturbing him subconsciously.

He had killed Aiden. And he enjoyed it. He freely admitted it to himself yesterday while in the act. That wasn't ever in the plan, he once said to himself that he never enjoyed killing, and only did it to those who deserved it and never to innocents. Aiden wasn't innocent, and he definitely had to die after he realized that he was going to harm his sister if he hadn't killed him. But the way he had done it… his hands weren't even shaking. The sense of slicing through Aiden's hand and all the way down to his forearm was still fresh in his mind. The sound of skin tearing and muscles getting exposed. The feeling of blood splattering against his chest and face which still felt wet and hot even now as he thought about it. Stabbing down into his chest over and over, feeling the ache in his muscles and he mauled him as a Grimm would to a person without aura. Why did he like that? If this were just over a year ago, he'd balk at the very thought of doing something so cruel. Hell, he'd broken down and cried, seeking support in Raven of all people because he broke someone's neck with his semblance. The difference between who he was before and who he was now was astounding, and it made him wonder what his friends would think of him if they would think he went too far. If he was already too far gone. Would Blake, his partner, still want to be his partner? Would Ruby still be steadfast in being his friend - no, as another member of his family. Would Orchid… Orchid…

"Oh no," Kai whispered to himself, suddenly remembering the feelings he knew Orchid had for him. He felt guilty suddenly, even though he was never beholden to her. They went to the dance together and they might have become something much more than friends if Vale wasn't attacked that night, but things just never worked out the way he would have preferred. He wasn't even thinking about her last night, he hadn't thought about anyone but Neo during their moment together. Thinking about it only made him feel nauseous, but he had to convince himself that he was just overthinking things. He thought that to himself, but he still found himself shaking his head and clenching his fists nervously as he continued to think.

Kai almost jumped when he felt Neo wrap her arms around him from behind, her arms gently linking with each other under his chin while letting her own chin rest on his shoulder. Her pink and brown eyes blinked at him tiredly, and it took a moment for Kai to realize that she was still naked.

"Good morning," Kai said, absentmindedly reaching up and touching her wrist. "You snuck up on me for once. Have a good sleep?"

Neo giggled silently and rubbed her cheek into his, yawning happily and tiredly. What he was just thinking about before disappeared as his enhanced scent of smell took in her scent. Even though neither of them had taken a shower since they got off the ship, she still smelled extremely good. He didn't imagine that he was the same way while wearing clothes with dried blood on them. But Neo either didn't care or liked it nevertheless.

He felt her sign into his chest, their usual way of communicating when he wasn't able to use his eyes. She asked if he was okay, how she knew that there was something up with him so quickly, he didn't know. But he appreciated her concern either way.

"I'm uh… I'm just worried," Kai said, choosing to be honest with her. "I killed… and I liked it… that isn't right, I didn't think it'd be something I'd ever really enjoy."

Neo moved around him and sat one of his legs as he allowed her to pull her down. One hand touched his face and the other traced a finger into his chest.

"There can't be anything not wrong with that," Kai said, turning his head away as he thought. "I'm not… I'm not like that."

"You weren't like that." Neo signed into his chest. He felt his eyes open wide in surprise as he turned back at her. She didn't say anything else but leaned closer to him, he felt the heat of her breath on his face. That's right, he wasn't like that before. But he had spent the last year hunting bounties for lien and food, killing people and Grimm alike, and moving on with naught a concern. This was inevitable, wasn't it? He allowed Neo to kiss him and he leaned into it, tasting her as he had the night before. It was strange, doing this again after what he was just thinking. But the distraction was more than welcome. It put his mind at ease, after all, maybe he was just overthinking it. It was nothing but a night of pleasure to remember.

"Not right now," Kai said when he felt Neo's other hand travel a little lower than he was prepared for at the moment. "Later," he promised. "We have to find my sister still, there's still a lot to do and plenty more steps to go through."

Neo pouted but nodded her head. She knew better than to question his loyalty to his family over his lust. She got off of him and started getting dressed, leaving Kai to stand back up and start tracking the nearest village in order to find some people who may be able to lead them to where his sister was. A thought went through his mind, it hadn't been done for weeks, but he knew that there was a connection between him and his sister. Could he use that to track her down again? He didn't know if she moved or not but knowing that she was still alive and well would be enough comfort for now.

Kai shut his eyes and concentrated, using his eyes when no Grimm was around naturally made them use the darker variant of the power. But it still worked the same way, only that it harmed people instead of Grimm. It had the same powers and abilities. He thought about his sister, waiting and hoping for some kind of response.

He didn't know how it worked. Only that he knew that it had happened before. At some moments and at some times, he can hear a call in his mind. He only assumed that it came from the power of the silver eyes because he'd only ever heard such messages from Ruby once or twice and from his sister before - which led to him tracking her trail. He didn't know how she managed to get from Vale to Mistral so quickly and so instantly, he had feared the worst when Vale fell. The fate of his family was very unlikely to be favorable to him, but after finding out that his sister was still alive, he'd been able to hold up hope.

He still had family out there. Malienna Matsuoka, his younger sister.

It was better than Salem in every possible way.

Neo watched with a soft gasp as the black wisps of magical energy turned a bright silver color, almost white but not quite. Grey or pure silver was a better deduction. She wasn't quite sure what to think of it.

Weiss back stepped away from the much smaller girl as she swung a wooden practice sword at her knees. It was a crude tactic but for a toddler who was not even ten years old yet it would work against someone who was slow and underestimated her. It had Raven Branwen written all over it. As much as she did not like that woman because of what she has done to her friends, she was a good teacher. Having aura at such a young age had been making Malienna stronger faster as well. Normally torn muscles due to exercise would heal and grow stronger as one slept, but with aura, there was a very slight but constant regeneration that gave huntsmen and huntresses an unfair edge over those exercising and healing the conventional way. She doubted that Malienna would be able to notice herself as she doubted that there weren't any mirrors anywhere in this bandit camp, but her body was already very toned out and athletic. She was flexible, she knew the bare basics of swinging a sword, and all she needed to do now was get older and keep up on her training. Just like her older brother did before her.

As Weiss gently parried another one of Malienna's strikes while some of the bandits watched to make sure she wouldn't try to run away and take Malienna with her, she couldn't help but begin to think about her older brother. She hadn't thought about any of her friends in some time since she was so focused on escaping Atlas and her father. Now that she'd done that and had some time to settle down, her mind had begun to wander. She didn't even know if everyone else was alive. Once she passed out while fighting the Wyvern Grimm at Beacon with Ruby, her sister, and countless others, she woke up on a Bullhead already back on her way to Atlas. Her sister assured her that at the very least Ruby had most certainly survived, but the rest of her friends were still a mystery to her. She knew however that Kai had to be alive. He was the strongest of them, and while it wasn't a well-known fact, he was stronger than even Pyrrha. She respected him for that strength and was once envious of it herself. Aside from that, his determination, adaptation, and will were traits so strong and so rare that she wouldn't believe for a second that he was dead unless she saw the body for herself. The same went for her teammates, Ren, Brick, and Yang, and her friends from her sister teams. She didn't know that she missed them so much until recently.

"Almost!" Weiss cheered as Malienna clashed wooden swords with her. Myrtenaster remained in Raven's tent, she wouldn't want to use it against a little girl in training anyway, even if she did have aura. "You're very good Malienna, I can see why Raven takes pride in you."

Malienna was huffing and puffing but upon hearing Raven's name and what Weiss thought she thought of her, her eyes lit up and her body straightened. As if forgetting that it was exhausted in the first place.

"Y-You really think so?" Malienna asked, silver eyes wide and eager to please. She spun her head around her body and locked onto Raven, who was watching with an annoyed glare as she stared at Weiss while leaning against a stack of crates full of supplies. She looked down and Malienna and scrunched her eyebrows, turning her chin up and walking away. That didn't seem to phase the girl much, as she simply bashfully let out a yelp of excitement.

"I do," Weiss said, knowing very well that Raven had never and would never say such a thing herself and leaped at the chance at making her uncomfortable. Raven was the leader of a bandit tribe, but that didn't mean she made an effort to make little girls cry.

"You just need to get older and grow more, and you can definitely get even stronger than your brother."

"That'd be awesome!" Malienna cheered, smiling brightly as she turned back to her. "You're a pretty good teacher too, not like Raven at all. She usually beats me up until my aura goes out and then tells me not to get hit as much next time, but you actually teach me some new moves. I like that!"

"Hmph," Weiss flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well, I was taught by the best teachers in Atlas money could hire. It is only natural that I picked up a few things from them over the years while I was in training as well." And since she was staying there in that camp for the next indefinite amount of time, she seemingly would have more than enough time to train her.

That was what she would have said if she didn't see Malienna's eyes suddenly light up like two small consolidated spotlights for seemingly no reason at all. Nothing seemed wrong at first, the young girl simply starting into empty space as she reached one hand up to touch her face. In fact, she didn't even appear to be in any kind of pain at all. Weiss didn't know how to approach this situation, on one hand, she thought that she should get involved and try to help the girl, but on the other hand, Malienna wasn't panicking. Tentatively, Weiss got closer to Malienna, crouching down onto one knee and raising her hand to the bandits to stop them from getting closer and potentially making the situation worse for all of them.

"Malienna?" Weiss called out, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Concerningly, the young girl felt hot, but Weiss didn't want to lose her cool just yet. She only wished she knew what her eyes were reacting to, sadly enough, she didn't have a clue on what their true meaning was, not being a silver-eyed warrior herself and all. "Are you okay?"

Thankfully, Raven came by just seconds later, having noticed the commotion after she left. She quickly elbowed her way through the crowd and made her way next to Malienna and Weiss.

"What happened?" She asked, looking down and raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know!" Weiss exclaimed. "We were just talking and then her eyes started glowing! What does that mean?"

"If she didn't have silver eyes, I might say she became a maiden," Raven said offhandedly as she grabbed Malienna by the chin and cheeks and made her look up at her. She tilted her head in her hand, not seeing any physical damage she could point out. "Hm… this is odd."

"What's happening to her?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know, this is the first time this has happened," Raven said, letting go of Madonna's face. The girl kept looking up at her regardless as to if she was in a trance.

From Malienna's perspective, something unreal was happening. She was hearing a call, and yet she could not reply. She sensed something - knew something was there, but all she saw was white. A white void, as bright and soft as snow and warm to stand within. There was a spec of darkness in this whiter void, and she stared up at it with a mixture of awe and eagerness. She knew this sense; She knew the feeling; She knew the presence of mind that had calmed her so many times before. Malienna reached out and grabbed onto that one spec of grey color and heard his call.

"I'm here!" She tried to scream, although no voice came through her lips. "Big brother, I'm here!" She yearned to call back. The grey color was so close, so much closer than ever before although she's never visited such a place before. Somehow, she knew that the color noticed her, for the dark aura within expanded out and directed itself toward her. Malienna started to run - nay, sprint toward the familiar feeling. She wanted to be embraced by her sibling once again, she wanted to be held and told everything was going to be okay, and she wanted to do the same in return. Her little legs pumped as fast as they could, her young body feeling its age and the burst of overflowing energy that came with it.

And then the light of the sun touched upon her eyes again, Malienna felt a tug on her right arm. A hard tug, hard enough to send her to the ground. Angry, she glared up at the one who stopped her. "Why did you stop me!?" Malienna screeched at Raven. "I was so close! He's coming, I know it!"

"Girl, you sprinted out of the gate!" Raven shouted back with more force than ever before. Malienna felt startled, the fear of punishment suddenly overtaking her desire to talk back. "I could barely keep up with you even in my bird form, what the hell do you think you were doing!?" Two strong hands planted themselves on her shoulders, Malienne stared into Raven's red eyes, confused and weary.

"W-What do you mean?" She asked, looking around where she was and seeing nothing but trees and grass. "Where are we?"

"We're about a mile away from the camp, you stupid girl," Raven said, huffing as she stood back up and ran a hand through her thick black mane of hair. "You ran faster than I thought you could with those little legs of yours. Have you got a speed semblance as that other girl has?" Raven looked in closer on her as if checking for something. "No, you're much too young to even be able to unlock that just yet. It must be those damn eyes of yours. Empowering your physical capabilities…" Sighing heavily, Raven sat down with the girl and hung her head tiredly.

"I am getting too old for this… from one Matsuoka brat to the next. How many of you am I going to have to deal with? You're the third one to give me trouble. At this rate, I am going to have to start charging your fucking entire dynasty."

"I-I heard him." Malienna stammered, still feeling the familiar sense of her brother's presence. "Kai… he's alive, definitely alive! I heard him, I think I talked to him! He's close, and he's coming!"

Raven had her eyes open wide in surprise by the time Malienna was done explaining. "He's coming here?" She asked in a mixture of shock and nervousness.

"He has to be!" Malienna exclaimed. "He has to be! Has to be! Has to be! I talked to him, I know he heard me! It's my eyes," She pointed to them, tears of joy beginning to leak out of them as she continued. "I'm connected to him, I knew I was! As long as we're both alive, we can always find each other!"

"... Let's get you back to camp, girl," Raven said as she stood up, beckoning the girl to rise with her. "You've given me much to think about… Tell me, is the direction you were running in where you… saw your brother?"

"I… I think?" Malienna shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't even know I was running until now… So I don't really know."

"It'd have to do," Raven said. All she needed was the confirmation that the vague sense of a bond she felt with Kai was giving her the right general direction. "Why aren't you getting up? We're leaving."

"I… um…" Malienna looked down.

"What're you doing?" Raven asked, losing her patience quickly.

"I'm too tired," Malienna whined. "My legs… They hurt."

"They're probably sore from all that running, you idiot," Raven said with an explosive sigh. She reached down and grabbed the girl by her arm, picking her up and draping her over her shoulders. "Stinking Matsuoka's, always causing me shit." She complained as she felt Malienna happily fit herself to her back.

"Are you going to go look for him?" Malienna asked as she began a mile-long trip back to camp.

"Perhaps," Raven answered ambiguously. "In a few days, maybe. As long as the Schnee girl does her part in training my men not to be useless idiots, then I may get the chance to leave them alone for once. Seriously, I'm surprised they lasted so long before me and my brother were born…"

"Thank you…" Malienna said, slumping her head against Raven's shoulder and letting out a cute yawn.

Raven peeked over her shoulder to look at her as she slowly fell asleep, and then looked back.

"Yeah, whatever."

Salem sat on a throne of black glass made out of her magic where Ozpin's old office used to be. The ruins of Vale was a sight that she had been able to view from that height had become old over time. The initial conquering was tricky, as everything needed to work perfectly in their favor in order for it to actually come out as a success, but her faith in Cinder and her underlings had proven to not have been misplaced. It was strange, being alone without Watts, Hazel, Tyrian, or Cinder around. Usually one or more of them were always present and around her, Tyrian especially. But with Hazel out searching for Ozma's next vessel, Watts setting up his affairs in Atlas, Tyrian manipulating Kai and Cinder working on Haven and by extension, Mistral's conquering as well, she found herself… bored.

Well, not without nothing to do at least. Salem sat up from her magical throne with a gentle sigh and stepped off the back of a Grimm Wyvern she had commanded to remain there sitting permanently. From there, she walked patiently toward the empty elevator shaft that Cinder had blasted through previously and calmly walked off the edge. The fall was nothing she hadn't experienced before. Previous tests to see how immortal she really was had proven to her that gravity could never truly put her down for good. However, it would be a nuisance putting herself back together. Salem created a black shroud of dark magic that controlled her descent, like a reverse-shaped parachute, she was able to slow her descent significantly and landed safely on the ground of the basement where Ozma's previous life had ended. The body was still there, in fact, Salem walked past its skeletal remains and offered it a mere shake of her head. Ozma's previous vessel was left where it expired simply because she didn't care to get rid of it. In fact, it served as a reminder to the one that she had been keeping bound in this large open room lit by red flames that no matter how smart and cunning Ozma was, he always came up short on her. Salem smirked as she looked away from the remains and back toward the only company she had that wasn't a Grimm.

The headmaster of the training academy Signal was strung up in a web of red muscle and mucus. Keeping him suspended in the air and with all of his limbs bound and trapped under multiple layers of the same substance. It almost appeared as though he was trapped in an egg sack of some kind. He still wore the same clothes he wore the day he fought back against them during the defeated battle of Vale. Though his muscular physique had not weakened too much over the time he has been trapped there. That was due to him being constantly given food and water whenever he needed it.

"Got bored again?" The middle-aged man asked with a chuckle. His bruised face scrunching up with morbid amusement as he spat to the side. "Or did you just miss me? What time is it, anyway? I feel like I only just saw you like an hour ago."

As annoying as the man was, she needed him to find the Relic of Choice. Salem didn't reply to his bait - she had fallen for it many a time in the past but had quickly adapted to it. He was trying to annoy her so much that she'd either accidentally kill him or give up on him entirely. He was a smart man. Such was expected from someone who had a thousand memories of a thousand people crammed into his brain.

"The view of the destroyed city isn't nearly as beautiful as it once was to me," Salem said with a soft sigh as she conjured a colorful ball of magic between her hands. Albedo looked at it and gulped nervously. A deep red burn scar on his chest, shoulders, and neck visible on his neck and forever reminding him that Salem had other ways of torturing him other than just physically. How he had been able to hold on for so long was already extremely impressive. Though Salem would never say that to him directly. He didn't deserve the right after annoying her for so long. "I've had my Grimm scour it. Both for any potential rats and for the location of the Relic of Choice. I know it is in Vale. I can sense its magic and my Grimm can as well, so I will give you another chance to tell me where it is before I find myself with no need for you."

"The Grimm are hardly intelligent," Albedo pointed out, keeping his bloodshot blue eyes locked onto Salem's red and black rather than the magic in her hands. "Even the ones who have lived for centuries aren't even as smart as a normal everyday human. Relying on them is stupid, if you want it found so badly, why don't you go out there and search for it yourself-"

Salem released a stream of colored magic directly into Albedo's chest. The man immediately released a roar of pain and his entire body tensed up in another desperate attempt to tear himself out of the trap he had been stuck in since Beacon's fall. Salem counted to twenty in her mind, stopping only because she didn't want to leave any damage that Albedo wouldn't be able to recover from with his aura.

"A-Ah… Hah…" Albedo lurched forward and hung limply when Salem was done. "You… You are really not in a good mood today… I can see that now."

"I am neither in a good nor bad mood today," Salem said, bringing her hands behind her back and beginning to pace left to right in front of Albedo. "I am merely doing what I want to do. Tell me where the vault is, or I will continue to hurt you."

"You… You really don't learn, do you?" Albedo asked between deep breaths, raising his head to tiredly shake his head at Salem. "So headstrong… so stubborn. Just like back when you were human."

Salem stopped pacing and glared at Albedo through the corner of her eyes.

"Whenever you set your mind to something, you do it. No matter the costs, no matter how long it takes." Albedo continued, raising his head as he continued to gather his strength. "It really is a great trait to have. It might just be the last bit of human you have in you now. Such a shame you are putting that talent to such a vile act. Using the Gods to destroy the world… and yourself with it... is that what you really want?"

Albedo blinked and Salem was already close and grabbed his face. Squeezing it hard and forcing his mouth to open. Salem's eyes glowed an angry red, and the dark violet veins in her body pulsated in response to her rise in anger. Albedo closed his eyes and waited for the death by torture to come, but no such pain came to answer his preparation. Salem merely pulled his neck down painfully, so that he could hear her voice more clearly than ever before.

"Do not use memories of the past against me, Ozma. You will find yourself in a battle of thought you cannot win. Child murderer." Salem pushed Albedo's face back, and the back of his head stuck to the part of the sack that he wasn't connected to.

"H-How many times do I have to say it?" Albedo painfully groaned. "I am not Ozpin. Nor will I ever be! I may have his memories, but memories alone do not make a person who they are!"

"I care not for your philosophy," Salem said, her red eyes dimming down back to normal. "I care about ensuring my future. You do not know me anymore, creature. I haven't been human for a very, very long time. If you really think I want the relics just so I can bring ruin to this world, then you are not as wise as I respected you to be. If I really wanted to destroy this world, I would have done so a long time ago. I have control over all the Grimm. I can take over and destroy each and every kingdom tomorrow if I truly wished for it."

"S-So why haven't you?" Albedo gritted out. "What do you want? Why go through all this effort and kill so many people so mindlessly!?"

"Oh, you pitiful human," Salem said with a soft chuckle. "I have killed so many people that it no longer matters how many more need to die."

"That isn't true," Albedo snapped back. "You are leaving us alive for a reason. That, or you are lying about how powerful you truly are. We wouldn't be here now if you had the power and will to do so a thousand years ago. You could win this war and kill us all in a night, and yet you don't."

"Smart," Salem complimented, looking away and going back to pacing as she regained control over the conversation. "The concept of ruling a world populated with only Grimm is… boring to me. Ruling over the humans is boring to me as well. I've done everything I could think of already. I have had thousands of years, some of those with Ozma by my side, to try out and put into practice countless ideas. I do not desire to rule or destroy the world. Now… I just want to rest." Her face suddenly twisted into a snarl. "But I will rather live for all eternity than allow those wretched Gods to return and take my life just so I can end up in an actual hell anyway."

"Ah… I see what's happening." Albedo said, seemingly finally understanding something. "That's the most I've gotten you to speak to me at once. With my stolen memories and these meetings with you, I've noticed a trend. You're not just bored, you're lonely. You want something or someone to be at your side. No one like Tyrian or Cinder, but someone you can call-"

"Family." Salem finished for him, scoffing and turning to face him once more. "And again you've reassured me that you do indeed have Ozma's memories. Which means you know where the Relic of Choice is."

"He won't join you." Albedo said coldly. "It wouldn't matter if you were his grandmother or his direct mother. He fights to protect humanity, not live alongside its future and potential destroyer."

Salem smirked at him. "So you have used that ability of yours on me as well, it seems. Because I don't believe I ever told you that the Matsuokas are descended directly from my ancient blood."

Albedo shrugged the best that he could. "It was only a matter of time, really."

"A matter of time indeed." The magical energy Albedo hated the most returned. "Just as it is a matter of time that you will give up and tell me where Choice is."

"Ah…" Albedo sighed explosively. "I told you this before. Even if I told you where it was, I don't know if Ozpin would have moved it away again already. I first looked into his eyes almost ten years ago now. That means he has had ten years to find a new spot for it. My semblance cannot be used on the same person more than twice a lifetime. And there was no way I was going to use it on him again after nearly killing myself the first time I did. In any case, the human mind can only remember so much at once. I may have forgotten it without realizing."

"Then tell me where it may be," Salem said. "Give me your truth, and even if I cannot find it I'll not hurt you for a month."

"Sure, it's been dropped in the ocean by Patch." Albedo answered immediately, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I do have to warn you though, Ozpin never used Choice, so I wouldn't be able to explain to you how you can-"

Albedo screamed as Salem blasted him again.

Salem's eyes narrowed. Stopping the flow of energy before it could kill him. "Such information cannot be forgotten so easily. You will give me the correct answer soon. No human can be unbroken. Not even Ozma. You will break, and when you do, you won't be able to reincarnate as the real Ozma can."

Albedo looked at her and shook his head, disappointed despite a bloody mouth making him look very submissive.

"You... forget." Albedo said through bloody teeth. "I… am not… Ozma…"

Salem narrowed her eyes.

"We shall see how far that undying determination will take you."

So, as I said before I have enlisted in the US Army. The National Guard to be specific. I have signed a three year contract and I am shipping out for basic training on August 23rd. When that happens, I am going to be obviously unavailable for at least 4-5 months. At best, I expect that I MIGHT be able to upload again in January or February. Unless I am somehow able to continue writing and updating while in basic training, then I will be absent for a bit. I know this is a bit sudden, but it's something that I was thinking about during my time writing Su(o)n's of Amon, the book that I said I was working on a few times now, and well, I made that decision.

Now, what comes during and after my three years of service is another ordeal entirely. I will continue to update again as soon as I can while also working on other stuff. In the meantime, I have been exercising, eating better, and mentally preparing myself for what is ahead. I know I haven't really been as active as I used to be with my fanfictions. Hell, I used to write 3 chapters a week, one for three of my ongoing stories, every week for several years straight with hardly any breaks in between. What I am doing now compared to that is pretty pathetic, but it's simply because I just do not have the time that I used to before. My promise remains the same though, I will complete every story I have begun.

And yes, that includes Destiny Fated Black II and The Seventh War, the latter of the two which has been on hiatus for many moons due to me being unmotivated in the past. That also means YBWR, The Blind Huntsman, and a future Attack on Titan fanfiction I have almost totally planned out called Soldier of Humanity. I know the ending for AoT is… controversial. But it's not gonna stop me.

With that all said. I will continue updating as much as I can with the time I currently have until August 23rd. Until next time boys and girls, thank you again for your support over the past couple of years.