Knives and Shields

By Icura and Vahn

~o~

Prologue

~o~

A farmer.

A farmer was a good profession, right? Safe, stable, secure. Just two feet on the ground and absolutely no requirement to be hanging upside from a Bullhead's side hatch while desperately holding onto a chromatic silver suitcase with his teammate holding onto his legs being the only means of preventing him from going splat in the forest far below…

Ah, who was he kidding? He would probably pick up a sword and shield after only three days of tilling the fields. It was in the Arc family's bloodline after all, wasn't it?

"Jaune, let it go!" Ren was stubbornly holding onto the legs of his teammates, even as the Bullhead tilted from side to side. Its weight was being awkwardly distributed, and it was made more unstable when a griffon landed on the roof of the vehicle, its black claws ripping into the hull and anchoring itself in place. "Nora!"

"On it, Renny!" The aforementioned girl was already on the roof of the bullhead, charging straight at the Grimm. With a swing that had been practiced a countless number of times, she took a batter's stance and bashed the griffon on the head, sending it rocketing off the Bullhead and into a downward spin toward the forest below. Without pausing a beat, she shifted her hammer into a grenade launcher and began firing at the approaching swarm of griffons.

"Jaune! Let! It! Go!"

"I can't!" Jaune stubbornly held onto the handle of the silver suitcase.

"It's not worth your life!"

"If I let it fall, everything would have been for nothing!"

"We can come back and get it later!"

"It'll be too late by then!"

Normally, Jaune wouldn't have been holding onto something so valuable, but Professor Oobleck—or Doctor as he preferred—had been knocked out of the Bullhead by a griffon. In a last ditch effort, he had tossed the silver suitcase back toward the Bullhead, even as he was grappling with the griffon in a free-fall. The fact that Jaune had acted on instinct, diving nearly completely out of the Bullhead to catch it, was simply the event that led to this moment. It could even be considered as inevitable, considering his disposition.

But one could be wondering how Jaune, a veteran huntsman and one of the few remaining living graduates of Beacon Academy, could stand to be hanging upside from a violating swaying moving air vehicle while desperately holding onto a silver suitcase? Could he have overcome his vehicular motion sickness in all these years since the fall of Beacon?

The answer was no.

Vomit was already dripping down his arms with the majority of it having splattered onto the suitcase itself. If asked later, he would simply say that he was disguising the suitcase from the Grimm by using a repulsive scent to cover it.

If there was a later.

From his viewpoint, Jaune could see the distant fleets of Atlesian airships—gigantic constructions of metal and weapons—fending off the endless swarms of Grimm that dotted the skies like swarms of bees. Atlesian fighters and Mantas darted through the skies, inflicting numerous wounds to the endless black swarm, even as larger Grimms loomed menacingly in the background. Several massive Whale Grimms floated slowly in the skies behind it all, their bellies glowing with dangerous light even as tide waves of land-based Grimms jumped off of its backside, falling down into the former upper class city district on the northwestern shoreline. Artillery fire was being directed at it from the ground level, but it was hard to tell if they were doing anything more than scratching it.

This was Vale, or at least, it was what used to be Vale. Its ruins had been taken back by the combined Remnant fleet and army only a few days ago, and now, it was the stage for the final battle of the war. The Whale Grimms were coming from the north-west side, from the direction of the Dark Continent. It was a race against time to reach Beacon tower before them. Jaune and his team had come from the south after retrieving the last relic—the one hidden by Ozpin himself just before the fall of Beacon—from a little Icelandic island off the coast. It was the Crown—Vale's relic—and the last one needed to complete the ritual. That was why it was imperative that they get to Beacon tower.

To Ozpin.

One of the massive airships from Atlas exploded down the middle, both ends of the ship flipping up as something had impacted it down the center. Smaller explosions ranged down each side of the ship with Grimm flocking to it in greater numbers, in spite of the fact that it was falling—collapsing—down into the forest of Forever Falls. The moment it smashed through the trees and slammed into the ground, its reactor detonated. A massive explosion consumed the ship and the surrounding area, sending an even larger shockwave that blew away both the trees and rocks into clouds of wood chips and dust. Flying far above the crash landing, a small figure surrounded by a darkened reality bubble stood idly in the air, as if taking in the chaos that it had wrought.

"Salem…" The word was barely out of Jaune's lips before he saw four colorful auras racing through the air, converging on the black figure. The four Maidens, the counter-team placed on reserve specifically to deal with Salem. As he watched, the four lights slammed into the black figure, their auras sparking off and circling around as they repeatedly hammered into their target. Despite that, it seemed more like they were stalling her than anything else as the black figure retaliated, sending a shockwave that caused the four Maidens to fly backward. Despite that, the four lights quickly resumed their attacks.

Two more hands grabbed his leg. Looking up, Jaune saw Cardin joining with Ren to pull him up. Despite the cocky smirk the man had, there was blood dripping down from his burnt-orange hair. It took only a moment more of pulling to finally bring him back up into the Bullhead. Collapsing to the cabin floor, they simply lied there, breathing hard. After a few more moments, Cardin turned his head to Jaune.

"You really pulled through, Jauney-boy," he said between gulps of air. "If that fell, we wouldn't have gotten it back. The combined army is pulling out and making their stand closer to Beacon so there's nothing down there but the Grimm."

Jaune's head snapped up.

"Wait, what about Professor Oobleck?"

"Doctor," Ren interjected, as if he was doing it on behalf of Oobleck. Or in memory of him.

"Teach will be fine." Cardin waved his hand nonchalantly. "You don't become a teacher at Beacon without being strong."

"Former teacher," Ren corrected.

"Same difference," Cardin said with a shrug. He paused, sniffing the air. "Hey, what's that smell?"

Jaune subtly shifted the suitcase away from Cardin. As if on cue, and to his immense relief, Russel peeked his head upside-down over the top edge of the open side hatch.

"If you're done talking, we need some more help up here."

"Give me a sec." Cardin sat up, even as Russel's head pulled back and disappeared from the open hatch. "I'll head up. You two stay here and rest. You both used a lot of your semblances to keep us hidden until now, but you think you can bring it back up again?"

Ren shook his head.

"Even with Jaune's amplification, it won't work. I used too much of my semblance for too long already."

"Then we'll just have to punch through." Though his words were confident, there was a grim expression on his face. One look out of the open hatch was enough to know why. The skies were swarmed with Grimm and Atlesian fighter jets, backed up respectively by larger Grimm variety and Atlesian warships that were locked in long range firing barrages. In the forest and city districts below, countless swift-moving figures—hunters and Grimm—were darting about in constant conflict with frequent explosions of high-powered dust laying waste to the landscape and ruins. They were supported by fire-teams of soldiers, robotic Atlesian Knights, and mechanized Atlesian Paladins.

There was a moment of silence between them.

"Strange, ain't it?" Cardin murmured, pushing himself up to his feet. "Me and you, fighting side by side with the world on the line. Only a few years ago, we were at each other's throats. Who woulda thunk it, huh?"

"End of the world has a way of changing things," Jaune said idly as he also pushed himself up onto his feet.

"You're coming too?"

"I can't sit around while everyone's fighting their lives." Jaune glanced at his teammate. "What about you, Ren?"

"Somebody has to look after Nora." Ren flipped up to his feet.

"Sounds good to me." Cardin smirked before turning his head to face toward the front. "Hey, Pilot. What's the ETA?"

In the very front of the vehicle, the helmeted pilot glanced back over his shoulder.

"Beacon in ten, but reinforcements are already here!"

As if on cue, a flight of Atlesian fighters flew by the side hatch, close enough that their turbulence rocked the Bullhead. It was enough to cause Jaune's stomach to sour again, even though he was pretty sure there was nothing left inside of it.

Swallowing down the bile, he quickly followed behind as the other two swung out the hatch and climbed up onto the roof of the Bullhead. Nora, along with Russel and Sky, were relaxing on their feet, using the lull from the reinforcements to take a break. The hull around them were scorched, marked, and clawed, a aftermath that was entirely appropriate considering that they were facing the Grimm. They looked up at the approach of the three, though there were almost no smiles to be had.

Cardin whistled as he walked up.

"Been busy while I was gone." His eyes slowly narrowed as he looked around. "Where's Dove?"

Sky merely pointed his thumb downward and shook his head.

"Fuck!" Cardin turned to the side. He kicked a little at the hull, though it did little to vent his anger. Taking a deep, heavy breath, he glanced back at Sky and asked, "How?"

"A Sphinx took him," Russel interjected, taking over Sky's part of the conversation. "Grabbed him off the ship before we had a chance to react. One second, he was there, and the next…" He bit down on his lip and turned his head away, refusing to finish.

"We… We'll find him afterwards. Him and the Teach." Cardin closed his eyes for a moment to recollect himself. When he opened them, there was only a glint of hard determination within his eyes. "Mission comes first. The faster we get this done, the sooner I can go give him a punch for making me worried about his sorry ass."

There was a resolute set of nods all around.

Of course, with so many things happening in the background, the chaos blended together into white noise. However, even then, there were some things that could cut through. Nearby explosions being one of them, as was apparent now. Jaune quickly turned his head, watching as a Manticore landed right on the center of an Atlesian fighter, its claws spearing into the machine. In response, the glass canopy shot off the top and the pilot ejected, his seat rocketing upward with built-in thrusters underneath. Unfortunately, just before he could reach more than twenty feet, another Manticore snatched him out of the air in its jaw.

Scenes like that were replicated all around them as the squadrons of Atlesian fighters that were serving as their reinforcements were being torn apart. Even the Atlesian warship that had come—in spite of the fleet having none to spare in this conflict—was being swarmed by Grimm so heavily that they couldn't provide any support, despite their proximity.

"We got to help them." The first words out of Jaune were words that shouldn't have been said.

"And do what?" Russel asked with a voice laced with harsh derision. "The Bullhead is barely holding up as it is!"

Nora looked between both of them.

"Maybe we can—"

"Nora." Ren's stern tone caused the girl to fall silent.

Jaune looked at Ren for support, but only a stoic gaze was returned to him.

"We push through," Cardin spoke with a sense of finality, breaking through the tension. "They're using their lives to distract the Grimm and open a way. Don't waste their sacrifice."

Jaune balled up his fist and clenched his teeth, but even he knew that there was nothing more that they could do. The silver suitcase felt heavy in his hand, ladened with the weight of countless lives. He felt sick. Sicker than when it was just his condition affecting him. However, so much had already been lost. Since the fall of Beacon, everything had been in a downward spiral. There had been times where things were looking like they would be okay, only for Salem to stomp out that fleeting bit of hope. There had been a good many people who had given up and simply walked out of one of the few remaining safe zones, never to be seen again. Some had even went straight to Salem and then came back to cause havoc.

Mankind was already on its last leg. Safe zones had heavy security against the Grimm, but the interiors were left to rot. Slums, corruption, terrorism. There was a reason why the Grimm attacked each of the safe zones everyday with barely any time for relief. If this last gambit failed, he didn't even want to think about what would happen next. This was not the world that he wanted his sisters or their children to grow up in.

"Incoming!"

A cluster of Lancers sped towards them.

"Shoot 'em down!"

Each of the huntsmen and huntresses mecha-shifted their weapons into their range counterparts and proceeded to unload their ammunition into the swarm of hornet-like Grimm. All except for Jaune who was simply holding onto the suitcase. Not that having no ranged weapon was much of a detriment to him these days. He ran over to Cardin and pressed his free hand into the small of the huntsman's back.

"Hey! A little higher next time!"

"Sorry!" Jaune's semblance and aura poured through his hand and into Cardin.

"Alright! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Cardin clicked a switch on his mace, causing the branch-like claws at the top to spread apart as the fire dust crystal began to manifest a ball of flame. Unlike normal though, it soon grew large enough that the fire's tendrils flickered out from in between the branch-like claws. He swung his arm, tossing the fireball from the tip of his mace toward the swarm. It arced in the air, burning through a Lancer before it burst apart in the middle of a cluster, enveloping the surrounding Lancers in a huge explosion of fire dust. "Keep at it. We're comin' up on Beacon!"

The barrage of firepower scattered the swarms, but even then, they kept trying to reconvene and commence their assault again. As numerous Lancers went down or were obliterated, so too did it cause the attention of the other flying Grimm such as the Manticores and Sphinxes to turn towards them, but even they were soon eclipsed. A Nevermore appeared within sight and swooped down toward the Bullhead on a direct course.

"Nora!" Jaune raced over to the girl, placing his palm on her back. His aura poured down through his hand, making waves spread across the entirety of her back. "You're good!"

"It's~~~SHOWTIME!" Nora charged over to the edge of the Bullhead, electricity dancing across her arms as she reared back her hammer. Just before the Nevermore could crash into the Bullhead, she swung her hammer, slamming it into the side of the Grimm's head. Time seemed to slow down as its head spun on its neck, far beyond its limits. Its body followed in its spin, but by that time, it was too late—the skull had already spun off of its spine. Its corpse spiraled away, even as it began to fade into black ash.

However, there was one thing that wasn't accounted for. Its razor wing had sliced into the Bullhead's wing in its spiral, tearing through the turbines. The aircraft started to descend as the turbines began to lose power.

"Nora…" Ren rubbed his forehead in agitation.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune saw the pilot peeking his head out of the side hatch. Seeing the huntsman, the pilot gave a casual salute before he jumped out of the Bullhead with a parachute pack on his back.

"Uh, guys. The pilot just jumped out."

"Oh, oh! Ren, Ren, Ren!" Nora hopped in place, despite the fact that the falling aircraft was starting to dangerously tilt. "This will be just like riding a roller coaster!"

"Well, you know what they say." Cardin tilted his head left and right, cracking his neck joints. "Prepare your own landing strategy."

"…we're tilting down too much." After a moment of observation, Russel added, "We're not going to land at Beacon."

"Am I the only one who thinks you guys are being too calm about this?!" Jaune asked half-hysterically, even though he wasn't expecting an answer.

"Oh, oh! Ren, Ren, Ren!" Nora spun her hammer around, aiming with the spiked end. She quickly swung it and stabbed it into the hull, pulling back on the weapon to jam the hammer's spike in place. "This will be like riding an Ursa!"

"I thought you said it was like riding a roller coaster," Jaune commented.

"Ursai are more fun. Now, shut up and give me a boost!"

"Fine, there. Now just—whoa! Pull up! Pull it! Stop aiming for that Wyvern!"

"Two for one deal!"

~o~

"Ren…"

"Yeah?"

"When a two for one deal sounds too good to be true, remind her about today."

"If we're still alive…"

Jaune reached over and pinched Ren's arm.

"Ow!"

"Yep. We're still alive."

"I mean, if we're still alive by tomorrow."

"Oh…" Jaune glanced over at Ren. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Ren half-heartedly glared back.

Jaune slowly sat up, brushing off the dust and debris off his body. He ran his hand through his hair, brushing out the dust in his relatively longer hairstyle. He had allowed it to grow out after his disastrous experiment with what others called "banana hair." Around him was the burning wreckage of the Bullhead, and there were already a few people surrounding the debris.

As huntsmen and huntresses, they could have simply jumped off and conducted their own landing strategies. The problem was that if they had jumped off earlier, they wouldn't have landed in Beacon. They would have landed in the forest below Beacon or possibly in the lake beneath the waterfall. If they had done that, they would have had to scale up the cliff to Beacon, and that would have taken time that they didn't have to spare. Though, all of that was because Nora aimed lower than she could have just so she could hit the Wyvern at the same time.

He supposed it worked out in the end since Wyverns were pretty big threats anyways. And he was pretty sure he saw Team CDRL bail out early as well. Obviously, Team JNPR had far more trust in Nora than they did.

At least, she landed them right in front of Beacon tower. The Bullhead had crashed right into the Wyvern and then into the courtyard, skidding across it until the aircraft smashed into the tower, pinning the Wyvern to the tower's wall. Or at least, for a few moments before the Grimm turned into ash.

"There you are, Ren!"

From the top of a burning hull shard—a large one at that—Nora leaped into the air and body-slammed into Ren. The victim of this assault, one Lie Ren, let out a gasp of agony tinged with…joy? It was disturbing enough that Jaune had to look away, especially from the subsequent scene of Nora giving a big hug while Ren was carrying an odd expression of pain and pleasure on his face. Not that it lasted long. There was another gasp, though it was a far more feminine one this time.

"Ren, you're injured!"

That one sentence snapped Jaune into action. Scrambling to his feet, he stumbled over to the two and placed his hand on Ren. He had only started feeding aura through his hand when Ren grabbed his wrist, moving it away from him.

"Jaune, stop," Ren said. "There's a shard in my thigh. I have to take it out before I heal myself."

"Then I'll help."

"No, there's no time. I can handle it myself. You and Nora have to get the relic to Ozpin."

"No!" Nora shook her head. "I'm not leaving you."

"Nora…"

"I said no, and if you think otherwise, you have another thing coming, mister!"

They stared at each other for a few silent moments before Ren closed his eyes and sighed, giving her a single nod of his head. Nora turned her head to face Jaune.

"Sorry, Jaune, but I need to stay with Ren," she said in a strangely melancholic voice. "We're together-together so I can't leave him. Well, even if we weren't together-together—which we totally are—I still wouldn't do it since, you know, a world without Ren would be…"

"Yeah…" The image of Pyrrha flashed through his sight. It stunned him for a moment, but Jaune put on a confident smile and pointed a thumb at himself. "Don't worry, I can handle the rest. Piece of cake."

"I can't go with you, but if you give me a boost, I can give you a boost."

"You mean…" Jaune eyes were brought over to the looming tower. He pointed a finger at Nora and then at the tower. Then back again.

"Of course, silly. What do you think I meant?"

Jaune sighed heavily.

"You know that point where I know you well enough to know what you're thinking? I think I'm at that point."

"That's the spirit! Now, get over here and charge me up!"

"I'm right next to you…" With an exasperated shake of his head, Jaune reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder. Activating his semblance, he could feel his aura filtering into Nora even as it amplified her own storage.

"I feel the powah! It's overwhelming~!" Nora hopped to her feet and flung out her arm, sending both Jaune and Ren to the floor. Dropping her hands down and cupping them together, she held it out like a foothold. "Quick, quick. There's some people coming over. We got to do this before they stop us!"

"They're on our side, Nora…"

"Stop being a busybody and act more wounded, Ren."

"I'm not acting wounded. I am wounded."

"What's the difference?" Nora turned back to Jaune who was already on his feet. "Now, quick! Before they—"

The top of the tower exploded, shaking everything as rubble and debris fell down. The people who had been coming to them were backing away. Pieces of the falling structure fell around them, some of them ironically putting out the fire from the burning wreckage. Jaune quickly took cover under one of the large hull shards while Nora simply broke apart any debris that fell near Ren.

When the rain of dust and rubble finally ended, Jaune came out from his cover and looked over to Nora. She stared back. As if on cue, they both nodded at the same time. Nora dropped her hammer and created a foothold again with her hands. Jaune ran up to her and stepped on it, letting her swing her arms up and throw him into the air. While floating in mid-air, he grabbed his sheath in one hand and expanded it into a shield, aiming it downward. Curling up his body, he turtled behind the shield with the silver suitcase secure at his chest. As gravity took over and he fell back downward, shield-first, Nora picked up her hammer and reared it back, electricity arcing off every inch of her arm.

"It's HAMMER TIME~~~!" Nora swung the hammer at the falling shield. The moment that the hammer's head touched the center of the shield, she pulled a special trigger on the shaft, setting off every explosive round chambered into her weapon. The incredible force and rocket propulsion dented and burnt the shield, even as it propelled Jaune upward at lightning speed.

His semblance went into overdrive to recharge and amplify his aura, repairing the damage that his body was going through. He was in so much pain that the tower and its many floors seemed like a blur, enough that he didn't realize before it was too late that he had slammed into somebody. The impact arrested his ascent, and in a tangle of limbs, he spun around in a spiral with the person he crashed into, hitting the floor and rolling around with them. It was only when they rolled to a stop with him on top did he realize who was under him.

Salem.

Panic began to set in as her red eyes glared into his, the pale skin around her lips stretching back as she bared her teeth. In that split second between realization and action, Jaune did the only thing he could think of.

He headbutted her.

"You worm!" Dark magic flared, blasting him off of her and sent him flying across the ruins of what used to be the top floor of the tower. Despite that, he held on tightly to the suitcase, letting go of his deformed shield with his sword still sheathed in it. They slid and fell over the edge of the tower.

Jaune landed roughly as his side, groaning even as he instinctually forced his semblance to recharge his aura. Despite that, it was enough to paralyze him for a few moments. Working through the pain, he slowly pushed up to his feet. Across from him, Salem similarly rose, holding her hand to her forehead. She glared as an inky black aura surrounded her, manifesting her malevolence.

At least, until Penny rocketed into her, carrying Salem straight off the tower.

"Jaune! Are you okay?!" A rose-petaled blur sped across the floor before stopping right next to him to reveal Ruby, her eyes glowing with a white light. Her clothes were partially shredded and her cape looked like it had been through a blender, but she seemed relatively alright if one ignored the multitude of bruises on her face.

"I'm fine. Where's Ozpin?"

"He's over there." Ruby pointed a little distance away to where a brown-toned teenager was lying on the floor next to what looked like a ritual drawing.

"I'll go help him," Jaune said before glancing around. "Where's the other Maidens? Penny won't be able to hold Salem off for long by herself."

"They were knocked out." Ruby's grip on her scythe tightened. "I'll go stop Salem."

"Ruby," he slowly said. "Don't go all out. Just hold her off for five minutes. No, just a minute. I'm sure Ozpin will end this once and for all."

"This… This will work, right…?"

"Sure it will." Jaune smiled with a confidence that he didn't have. "It's Ozpin plan, after all. When has he been wrong? Wait, that's the bad one. Well, I mean, he's basically immortal so this should work, right? I mean, yeah, that's right."

Ruby looked apprehensive so Jaune gave her his most confident grin.

"Beside, I'll be there. Trust me. I'll help him finish it! It'll be just like a walk in the park. Well, a park overrun with Grimm, but that's simple, right?"

Ruby giggled, but she nodded anyways. Turning around, she sped away in a flash of rose petals.

"Good luck, Ruby," Jaune called after her. He wasn't sure if she heard him, but it was the thought that counted.

They could do this!

With those words floating in the air to motivate himself, he dragged himself over to the teenage vessel of Ozpin. As his wounds healed, his steps became surer and more rapid, bringing close enough to kneel down next to the boy. He reached his hand out and felt his semblance activated once again, though it was weaker this time. Still, that was enough as his aura filtered into Ozpin.

It wasn't long before Ozpin's eyes began fluttering.

"Ozpin!" Jaune poured more of his aura into him. "Ozpin, can you hear me?!"

Ozpin groaned and finally, after a couple of moments, he opened his eyes.

"…Jaune?"

"Ozpin, I brought it. We can do this!" Jaune placed the silver suitcase on the ground and popped it open. Cushioned within the soft interior was a golden Crown, the relic of Vale and the last one needed for the ceremony. However, instead of looking happy, Ozpin turned his eyes away.

"…I'm not Ozpin."

"What?"

"I said." The teenaged boy turned back with tears in the corner of his eyes. "I'm not Ozpin!"

"Oscar…?"

Oscar wordlessly nodded with a helpless look on his face.

"I can't hear his voice. He must have been knocked out when he shielded us from Salem," he said, shaking uncontrollably. "What do we do now? He's the only one who can do this. I…I can't do this. I can't do this!"

Jaune looked down at the Crown and then at Oscar. For anyone else, there would at least be a moment of hesitation, but his mother always did tell him that he had what it takes to be a hero. Sure, he was six years old at the time and she was probably humoring him. Well, not probably. Most definitely. And that wasn't even mentioning that he was pretty sure that if she saw him now, she would freak out, but…

"Where are the other relics?"

"They're safe," Oscar said to reassure him. "Ozpin already set them at key points inside the tower for the… Wait! Jaune, stop!"

Taking the Crown out of the suitcase, Jaune began walking over to the ritual circle.

"Please, Jaune. You can't do this. Only Ozpin can do it safely. You'll die!"

Jaune stopped at the center of the circle.

"…I know."

He raised the crown and placed it on top of his own head. For a moment, nothing happened. Then silence overtook his surroundings. Everything slowed and faded to monochrome. Oscar holding out his hand. Salem fighting Penny and Ruby in the air just outside the tower. The war between mankind and Grimm erupting in the background. All of it became stagnant, static. The mere thought of even moving a finger was deadlocked, stalled to a standstill in his mind.

And then a pillar of light erupted. Bright, brilliant, and divine in nature. From the point that he stood on, he became the center of that radius, even as the pillar itself reached up through the skies and clouds, stretching far beyond the range of the planet itself.

And then, the world resumed.

From all directions, the fighting came to a stop as all eyes—human, faunus, and Grimm—turned to the pillar of light that was breaching the clouds.

"No! It's not possible!"

A cry, a denial. Salem appeared in front of Jaune, her hands stretching into the pillar of light, as if to grapple him out. To stop him before it was too late. However, the light was too much for her. It strained at her, flowing into even as she struggled forward.

"You've doomed us all!"

"Maybe, but at least, you'll go first."

Salem surged forward even as her blackened flesh burned away, the light filtering into her body and igniting every organ inside of her. The agony on her face could not be hidden, but her stubbornness drove her on. Drove her forward, even as her body failed her. Drove her to reach out her hand and faintly touch his neck even as that finger crumbled away into dust. The light of the pillar crept beyond her scattering ashes and began to spread across the entirety of Vale.

Everywhere that the light touched, the Grimm faded away, like dust on a breeze. Calmly. Peacefully. Almost as if they never were. Leaving confused and awed humans and faunus staring at the pillar of light emanating from the tower and into the skies above.

"Jaune!" Ruby appeared in front of the pillar, trying to step toward him. However, she struggled to take even one as the light pushed back at her, overwhelming her.

Perhaps that was why Jaune noticed his own condition. Raising his arms, he saw that his hands were breaking apart into tiny, granular fragments. Crumbling into dust.

Remnants.

"Ruby." Jaune smiled. "The gods are coming. You have more important things to worry about than me."

"Jaune!" Tears fell from her eyes as she reached out to him, even as his arms fully broke apart into particles.

However, Jaune's eyes were turned upward. He looked up within the stream of light as cracks began to appear across his face.

"Pyrrha…"

That final word echoed on his lips before the rest of his body followed suit and crumbled away.

Despite that, the Crown remained floating in the center of the pillar of light.

At the apex of the light, two sets of eyes gazed down upon the remnant of the world that they had once abandoned.

It was time for them to pass Judgment.

~o~

Authors' Notes:

Vahn (Vahnhammer): I'm feeling a bit under the weather, but no covid, thankfully, so I won't write too much here except to say that this is a project that we've been wanting to hit since the end of the Tanya fic. Time and schelude just did not align. Now though, I hope you enjoy this story.

Icura: It feels good to be writing again. Tried a couple of projects that fell through for a variety of reasons. Probably because of a lack of Vahn at the time. Blame him.