The troll is back and imitating me and others in the reviews, this time trying to make it look like I'd attack my own reviewers because obviously that's a thing I'd randomly do from a guest account. Ignore the nonsense.

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 61

Despite knowing Salem had the Relic of Destruction and that she might be bringing it to Vale, there was remarkably little they could do without knowing exactly where she was. Somewhere in Vacuo obviously, but `somewhere in Vacuo` was a pretty vague place. Ozpin and Jaune made all the plans they could – well, Ozpin did; Jaune just nodded – but without clear information they were all just contingencies. They couldn't move to support Vacuo out of fear Salem would show up near to Vale, see it empty and take it.

Qrow was searching, as were Peter and Bart, and Ironwood had also been alerted and had promised to have airships scout the coasts between Vacuo and the Grimmlands. Well, what everyone sort of knew was the Grimmlands anyway. Apparently, they didn't, and that was an awkward conversation of its own.

"Salem's home base is actually unknown," Ozpin said. "Remnant is a large and uninhabited place."

"You're joking, right?" Jaune stared at the man-child, eyes flat. "We know exactly where her base is located. It's here – on the continent that's shaped like a bloody dragon, is shaded dark black and is completely uninhabitable to all life."

Ozpin looked up. "We don't know that for sure."

"No. No, I'm fairly sure we do. You know, since the other landmasses are entirely taken up by the Kingdoms and Menagerie."

"Okay. We kind of are sure she's there," Ozpin admitted. "But we cannot know for sure. Technically speaking she could also live here, here or even in a small shack out in the woods by Patch. We just don't know since the Grimm cover more than four-fifths of Remnant. While you're right and we're ninety-nine per cent sure her base is there, we can't know for sure."

"It's never been scouted?"

"All scouts aircraft were shot down while huntsmen never returned…"

Jaune's eyebrow rose further.

"Yes, I know. That's good evidence she's there, but not certain evidence. Look, just accept that we don't know where her home is located."

"But we do…"

"We don't!"

They hadn't agreed on that even after the meeting. It was an intellectual difference, apparently. One he didn't see the point in pushing since home wasn't where the Salem was currently. It'd only become an issue if she took the Relic of Destruction there and they had to chase her down. Hopefully, Ironwood would see if that happened, since Salem would have to fly or sail back. Assuming that was her home Kingdom.

It's an island shaped like a dragon. Don't know where she hides. Has anyone even looked at a map of Remnant before? Might as well write her name as an archipelago.

Geographical phenomenon aside, the waiting was killing him. Ozpin too. The immortal's patience may have been deserving of his age, but he'd become snappier of late and prone to leaving Oscar in control for long periods of time. It must have been the inaction. That was painful for him too. Sitting back knowing Salem was up to something with a Relic with such a threatening title… well, it wasn't something that made sleep any easier.

Of course, sleep or not, Beacon still had to be run.

/-/

"Results are in," Glynda said. "Specifics will be posted on the boards tomorrow morning, but we're looking at a ninety-eight per cent pass rate."

Jaune clapped happily.

He was the only one. Roman mock-cheered, Sienna yawned, Neo actually had fallen asleep at the table, Cinder was downing coffee like hard drugs and Kali slapped a hand down and said, "That's nice, sweetie. How did my little flower petal do?"

Glynda stared at them all and slowly closed her eyes. "I hate our faculty having no real teachers…"

"Does that include me?"

"Yes, Jaune, though at least you're pleased for the students' sake. And Kali, you can find Blake's exam scores tomorrow at the same time she does. Or, if you have any mercy for the poor girl's reputation, you'll wait until later in the day before checking."

"Hm. I'll ask Jinn!"

"It's not been a hundred years and there are far more important questions to ask the literal spirit of all knowledge than whether your spawn passed a mid-term exam. Wait a day," she snapped. "It's only twenty-four hours."

Kali's innocent smile said she'd be elbow deep in Glynda's desk before evening.

"I'm not paid enough for this. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss Peter and Bart…"

"At least most of the students did well."

"Ninety-eight pass rate doesn't mean all too much. Students pass at a C- or above so I'm sure there will be some drama and upset at poor performance." Glynda rolled her eyes. "Not that these exams matter at all really, but it's the same every year." Glynda took a walnut off the table and pinged it telekinetically off Neo's head. To her frustration, the mute girl didn't wake up. "I'll be speaking to those who failed the exams personally and will arrange remedial lessons."

"Anyone from Team RWBY?" Jaune asked

Glynda eyed Kali, who was smiling hungrily, sensing that she might have some information on her darling daughter. To be fair, he had to know if the team would be free for the sake of being ready to move on Salem if she showed.

"No. Team RWBY and Team RVNN all passed. Barely on some of their parts," Glynda muttered under her breath. "And if we were docking points for blatant cheating as we should be, Oscar would bomb out of Beacon altogether."

Well, fair, but at the same time what could they expect of the poor kid? He was a farmer. It was a little unfair to throw him into a huntsman exam when the closest he'd ever come to training was shovelling manure. I miss the days when my biggest worry was doing well on an exam. What happened?

"When you say barely passed…"

"I might mean Blake. I might not." Glynda chuckled as Kali's entire body shivered. "You'll need to find out tomorrow when they do. The papers are kept in my office and you won't be sneaking in there to rifle through them anytime soon." As headmaster, they were kept in his office actually and – oh, oh, that was clever. Kali would be so busy turning Glynda's office upside down that she'd not think to look in his.

"If that's all," Jaune said. "I wanted to speak to Roman and Cinder after."

"I'll see to arrangements in the school," Glynda said. She'd already sat in on the meetings between him and Ozpin, so she knew everything that was to be said. Sienna, Kali and Ghira got up to leave, one of them more quickly than the other and on a straight route for Glynda's office. Roman remained seated, as did Neo, though she smacked her lips silently in her sleep.

He hadn't slept well last night, which meant Neo hadn't either. That was just an occupational hazard of using a high-strung fraudster as your pillow. He imagined it was the same reason for why Cinder looked blitzed on coffee and red in the eyes. Knowing the ex-employer you betrayed had the Relic of Destruction didn't make for peaceful rest.

"You've heard the news, I take it?"

"Salem has the Relic," Cinder said.

"And possibly the maiden to go along with it," Roman added. "Wonderful, eh? And we thought she was just a mindless brute. Feigning an attack on Atlas to divert us away from Vacuo. We danced right into her little trap."

They had underestimated her, which was stupid given her age and experience, but she used Grimm. It was just too easy to forget everything else and focus on the Grimm being mindless aggression and no strategy.

"Ozpin thinks she might want to test the Relic on Vacuo or Vale. Cinder, you know her best. What are the odds she'll do that?"

"I'm afraid I no longer know." Cinder put her mug down and cupped her face, massaging her temples with her thumb and middle finger. "Salem was always a cautious person before. There was a time she even considered giving up on this generation."

Jaune leaned forward. "What now?"

"She's immortal. Deathless. That makes for a lot of patience. After you beat us back and reclaimed Ozpin, Salem considered giving up on this iteration, building her forces and preparing for nature to take its course. You'd die of old age eventually."

"We were that close to having a way out?" Roman said. "I wish she'd taken it…"

So did he. Was it selfish to think that way, to push back the threat until after he'd died? Probably, but at the same time she was, as said, immortal. There might be no real end to her, while eighty years peace or so would be a big victory. The idea that she'd do that for him as well was more hilarious. Not for some great warrior or genius leader of men, but an idiot with a lucky streak. Remnant had come close to escaping disaster.

"What changed her mind?"

"I did. I convinced her to push."

"Fuck's sake, Cinder!" Roman growled.

"What did you expect of me?" she snapped. "I wasn't alone in this. Hazel, Watts and Tyrian wanted it as well. We have our own goals and Salem deciding to let you die of old age would mean the same for us. Of course we pushed for her to continue."

Evidently, she'd agreed, and now with a success under her belt he wasn't sure she'd stop anytime soon. No point wishing otherwise. Even if Cinder weren't there, the other three would have pushed her to fight.

"Watts is dead now and you're on our side. That's half her forces taken away. How do you think that makes her feel?"

"I'll assume you don't just mean emotionally," Cinder said sarcastically. "Furious, obviously, but in terms of how she'll act, I can't say for sure. There are the two extremes of push her advantage or retreat with it. Salem isn't an extreme person though."

"Literal Queen of the Grimm," Roman pointed out.

"I meant emotionally. There's extreme biology but her approach to this war has always been surprisingly moderate…"

He couldn't see it. "How so?"

"As Roman said, she's the literal Queen of the Grimm. Why, then, do the Grimm focus only on the most outlying of settlements? Why is Mountain Glenn a one-off disaster instead of an annual event? Salem was able to make two armies, one to attack Atlas in its millions – and that was only a distraction to the second, which was big enough to conquer Shade. Why, then does she not split those up into smaller pockets and eradicate every town, village or outpost outside the four major cities?"

Number wise, she could do it. Huntsmen were limited and operated from the Kingdoms. Ansel, his home, would fall. It had retired huntsmen and his father, but they couldn't hold if ten thousand Grimm descended on them, and by splitting up the force that attacked Atlas, Salem could field a hundred individual armies of that size.

"This recent attack was a surgical strike," he said, trying not to show too much stupidity in front of Cinder. He needn't have bothered since she was too exhausted to notice his hiccups anyway.

"Exactly. Surgical with the blunt instrument the Grimm are. That's her style. Careful strikes. Cautious probing. Long-term plans."

"It's a siege," Roman said, eyes wide. "Holy shit, she's besieging Remnant! That's… That's ridiculous, but if you live forever, it's entirely possible."

"What siege?" Jaune asked. "There's no army camped outside."

"Sure there is. It's just spread out." Roman laughed hysterically. "And we never noticed. Holy shit, that's amazing. And terrifying. How stupid are we?" Seeing Jaune's confusion, he said, "Think about it, kid. You siege a city by keeping it trapped in its walls until it runs out of food. She can't do that, though. Too many explosive weapons make those kinds of sieges a bad idea nowadays, so what do you do? You use guerrilla warfare. You pick apart the infrastructure. Destabilise the economy…"

"Dust," Jaune whispered, eyes widening. "And food! Numbers. The economy – no, humankind – relies on population. The Grimm aren't killing people to try and eradicate us, but to keep us in check? Moderate our population growth?"

"More like keep it centralised," Cinder said. "By flooding the Kingdoms with new life and refugees, she puts more and more strain on its resources. Dust isn't limitless, neither is food, and both require open land to farm or mine. Why do you think villages can crop up, but Mountain Glenn was eradicated? It didn't even last a decade."

"I heard that was experimentation from some quack," Roman said.

Cinder shook her head. "Merlot may have opened the gates, but the Grimm were already there. Mountain Glenn promised to be a thorn in Salem's side. She had it in her sights from the moment it was created."

Destroying Mountain Glenn pushed people back into Vale and showed the world that you couldn't just make a new home. Menagerie was an exception in that regard, a miracle, and it could have easily been another Mountain Glenn. Perhaps Salem had spared it knowing the racism would fuel anger she could use. That might take decades, but she had as much time as she needed. He felt so small just imagining it. He had to think up things that'd work this year, but she could sow seeds that wouldn't bear fruit until a hundred years from now and do so with a smile.

"The SDC were already reporting less and less dust," Jaune said. "And now it's gone, the situation is only going to get worse. The Kingdoms will become desperate and might band together to take a single dust deposit. That may buy time, but only that. And if she attacks…"

"She might allow it," Cinder said, surprising him. "As I said, she's exceptionally cautious. There's an old saying in gambling. You should always play to minimise risk. If you are losing, you need to take more risks to win, but if you believe you're winning, you should stop playing to win and start playing not to lose."

"That's backwards, surely. An advantage is meant to be pushed to a quick conclusion."

"If you're short on time, yes. But if you're immortal…?"

You had all the patience in the world. It didn't matter if she won now, next year or ten thousand years from now, so long as she was moving incrementally closer to victory. What a terrifying enemy. Cinder had been simple in comparison, wanting power now and fighting hard to acquire it. If it had been Salem, she'd have walked away, let him grow old and then come back to kill him when he was in a wheelchair.

"Even the latest Obelisk attacks support this," Jaune said. "Those were never going to be enough to actually destroy the Kingdom, but they made travel difficult. There's been all sorts of attacks on the roads and the huntsmen are barely able to handle it." And if you feel travel is unsafe, you tended to stay where you were. "It's the loosest siege I've ever heard of. Rather than keep us in our castle, she's keeping us from expanding outward."

Eventually, there'd be a tipping point. Another Mountain Glenn or maybe even another faunus war as resources dwindled and people were competing for dust or food. It could even escalate into another Great War if the truth of Salem remained hidden and the Kingdoms didn't realise a bigger threat was out there. That wouldn't happen in their lifetime since he and Ironwood knew the truth, but in the next? What if Atlas decided the only way to have the dust to survive was to take it from Mistral or Vacuo? What if one of those Kingdoms fell entirely?

That'd be a fresh wave of refugees and Salem would be rubbing her hands together. Why even intervene when you could watch your enemies tear one another part, sat nicely in your tower as the Grimm crept slowly closer, never pushing for a final attack and instead tightening the stranglehold you held.

"We underestimated her. Badly." Jaune looked to Cinder. "But you said this was normally. What's changed?"

"She has a Relic now. There's bound to be a temptation to use that while her enemies are off-guard, and yet…" Cinder hummed. "She's still prone to caution. Like I said, she's playing to not lose, confident she can take as much time as she needs. If you put up a sufficient force, she may well decide to retreat."

"But…?"

"But the Relic," she conceded. "I've no idea what it does or how it might influence her decision. If it's as powerful as it sounds, it might change what she fears. Assembling an army might be the worst thing we can do if it's a weapon capable of destroying one. That might make her more likely to attack. Does Ozpin not know more?"

"If he does, he's keeping it to his chest."

Cinder sneered. "He shouldn't. You need to know what it does to plan around it."

"I'll dig," he promised. "You should get some rest. Anything we do, you'll be joining in on as the new Winter Maiden. I want you to keep training with Pyrrha as well. Help her master her powers."

"The brat hates me," Cinder snapped.

"Of course she does. You tried to kill her."

"I tried to kill you," she pointed out. "You don't take it personally."

Actually, he did, and he still held it against her. He smiled. "I'm different."

Roman snorted. "That's one way to put it. Stay a little after," he said. "I need to speak to you about something too." Cinder took that as the hint it was, scraping her chair back to leave. Normally, she might have stayed to listen in or demanded to know more, but he knew her head wasn't in it. If it were, she might even have noticed how unlike a mastermind he was.

The door slammed shut behind her, footsteps echoing away.

/-/

"I'm taking it you wanted to speak to me alone." Jaune prompted. "I'm hoping you've an idea, because I don't."

"It's an idea." Roman drew out a cigar and lit it. That wasn't necessarily a good sign since he tended to the tobacco whenever he needed to calm his nerves. "In the same way jumping off a bridge is an `idea`. I'm not saying it's the best of ideas but well, as our not-friend just pointed out, we're kind of up the creek without a paddle."

"Agreed." Jaune let the fear he couldn't show in front of Cinder come out, slumping down. "I can't believe how much Salem has played everyone."

"See. I can. That woman has been alive for millennia now and trapped in a constant fight with your prepubescent advisor."

"Oscar is fourteen. That's post-pubescent at least."

"-and being in a constant war like that has to make you good at that sort of thing. Keep in mind she had a hand in the Great War and that's still considered the biggest war in history. Recorded history, anyway. Makes you wonder how many others she caused." They'd never know without quizzing Ozpin, and he probably wouldn't tell. "Point is, she's had a lot of time to perfect this. You're trying your best – we all are – but no amount of sitting down strategizing is ever going to outclass her."

"We have Ozpin."

"True, but he's had to deal with people. He's had to spread himself thin. He's made the academies and all that, sure, but his attention has to be split between four Kingdoms, all the people he interacts with and all the other shit that real people deal with. Taxes, paperwork, mid-term exams…" He let the hint hang. "Not to mention responding to each and every crisis that happens, trying to stop wars breaking out and dealing with Grimm attacks. Salem, on the other hand, got to spend one hundred per cent of her time on this. No distractions, no faffing around and no problems cropping up."

Ozpin had been playing catch-up. That was all he could do, wasn't it? Run around trying to patch the holes Salem made in their ship, bailing water to keep the Kingdoms afloat while she planned the next attack and the one after, on and on without distraction. At best, they'd kill someone like Watts and derail her plans, but that was one person. It would only ever inconvenience her. Salem had little to lose other than time, while Ozpin stood to lose far too much.

"Are you saying there's no hope?" Jaune asked, voice raw.

Roman puffed on his cigar. "Yes."

His stomach sucked in, head spinning as though he'd been punched in the solar plexus. The chair clattered back as he rose, knocking it down. "That's it then?" he yelled. "We just give up? Accept that she has too much time, too much experience and throw in the towel?"

"Pftt." Roman snorted, laughing a moment later. "With my life on the line? Fuck that." He waved Jaune down, but he didn't have it in himself to sit. Roman saw and continued, leaning one elbow on the table. "What I'm saying is that all this trying to outmanoeuvre her isn't going to work. You want to know why Ozpin hasn't told you what the Relic of Destruction does? I reckon it's because he doesn't know. Because he was afraid to test it with a name like that."

Jaune stared the crook down. "I don't blame him."

"Nor do I. But she probably knows. Maybe she asked the Relic or maybe she just knows. Either way, it's impossible to make a proper plan when we don't know all the details, and even if we did, she holds all the cards. Cinder was right to equate this to gambling. Salem is holding pocket aces and staring down at another pair on the flop. No one beats a hand like that."

Of course they didn't. It was a sure win. Salem had a sure win.

"But you know what people also don't do?"

"What…?"

"They don't lie their way into Beacon and get away with it."

Jaune's eyes widened.

"They don't tell themselves they'll just play along and then actually do it! They don't trick the smartest people in Vale, wind their fingers into the criminal underground, lead on a monster like Cinder, trick Atlas and then smash them all together like you did. They also don't fight a beast like Adam Taurus one on one, rescue hostages and end the White Fang, nor do they steal a maiden out from under the strongest military on Remnant and make said military thank them for the privilege."

"…"

"All the things you've achieved are due to an awkward combination of luck, bullshit and some kind of plucky dumbass determination I can't tell if I should admire or despise. But you know what? Fuck it. I'll embrace it instead." Roman stabbed his finger at Jaune's face, hovering it right in front of his nose, between his wide eyes. "No one beats four aces, kid. No one. There's a hand that does, though."

"Royal flush…? Isn't that just about impossible to get?"

"0.003% chance," Roman rattled off. "Don't look at me like that. I gamble and I don't like to lose; knowing the numbers is the best way not to. You know who else doesn't like to lose? Salem, apparently. Living forever has made her certain she'll win eventually, so why take risks if you don't have to? In poker terms, she's pot leader on a strong hand. Someone like that can afford to fold a few hands, even on a good play."

"W-Wait, but the only reason you'd fold is…" His face drained of all blood. "You want me to convince Salem I have a royal flush?" He shook his head. Stupid poker terms. "I mean you want me to convince her I have an answer to the Relic? To her…?"

"I want you to do what comes naturally, kid."

"And that is…?"

"Bullshit." Roman's grin turned positively feral. It ought to, fed as it was by such desperation. "Bullshit to such a high degree that the literal Queen of all evil falls for it." Roman sat back, puffing away. "That's the only way we win this one…"

/-/

"A mission?" Ren asked. "But we'll be receiving our results tomorrow."

"I can give you them via text. None of you failed." The headmaster had to pause as Nora whooped happily. Pyrrha tried to shush her but there was no doing so.

"Sorry about her, sir."

Professor Arc laughed. "No problem. Anyway, I can give you the specifics as soon as midnight hits, but I need Team RVNN for a particular job. It's not something someone else can do." His eyes slid to the side and Ren noted to whom.

"Maiden business?" he asked.

Pyrrha stiffened, suddenly much more alert.

"Yes. And not something Cinder can do either or I'd be sending her. This requires the Fall Maiden." The headmaster whispered loud enough for them to hear but no one in the adjoining rooms. "You'll be travelling with Jinn and not far, I don't expect this will take a single day. You may even be back before the end of tomorrow."

"If it's necessary, I'll do it," Pyrrha said.

"We shall do it," Ren counted meaningfully. He watched the embarrassment on her face, then the relief. There were times one of them had to remind her she wasn't alone in this, though Velvet and Nora were usually better at it than he was. "Team RVNN stands ready, sir. What do you need us to do?"

The headmaster's smile grew.

"I need you to retrieve something for me."

/-/

Ironwood's face appeared fuzzily on the terminal, slowly coming into focus as the call connected. "Arc," he greeted without any warmth. "There are securer channels for communication. Calling my personal scroll is an invitation to be spied on."

"Watts is dead. I somehow doubt Hazel or Tyrian can work this."

"Hmm." He didn't sound convinced. "Make it quick. I'll thank you for helping in Atlas, but let's not pretend we're friends."

"I'll get to the point then. You've received the intel on Vacuo."

"Of course. I have three battleships monitoring the coast and in constant contact with one another. If one goes down, the other two will know. Those in turn are reporting back to the mainland every thirty minutes. There's nothing as of yet."

"We think she's coming for Vale."

"It sounds likely," Ironwood said. "I can't push our military to reinforce you without proof. You understand that. Even if you and I know she exists and the threat she poses, the people do not. If Grimm appear, Atlas will move as quickly to aid you as you did for us, but the Grimm must appear before we can."

"I get that. We don't want to start a panic. I also don't want your position in Atlas to be in any trouble. However much we argue, we're on the same side and I'd rather you be in charge than a traitor like Lionheart."

Ironwood gave him a grudging, reluctant nod. "On that we agree. I expect there are some waiting in the wings for a chance. If I'd fallen in the assault… Let's not consider it. There's a reason Ozpin personally selects his successor. You didn't call without reason, I'm sure."

"I have a plan."

"Of course you do. Is it one that will incense me as your others have?"

"It might," Jaune admitted. "I need you to do me a favour. You're not going to like it, but it's important. Let's move onto a secure line and we'll discuss," he said, noting the warning popping up on the screen. "I think we're being listened into."

The red warning blipped off, telling him their eavesdropped had cut the connection. Even with Watts dead, it seemed there were more – lesser – peons serving Salem's whims. If she had a traitor like Lionheart, she might well have others within Atlas' military.

"Moving onto a secure line," he said, reaching to end the call. "Let's get this `favour` of yours over with, since I'm sure I'll hate every bit of it."

/-/

"In today's news, the sudden lowering of Atlas Academy has ceased and no damage to the city has been reported. General James Ironwood has responded to questions and concern, saying that routine maintenance and testing is being carried out on Atlas' floating mechanisms, which causes a natural descent as engines are turned off one by one for cleaning."

"General Ironwood has assured all citizens that this is a safe procedure, for almost half the engines would need to cease operation before Atlas descended, and even then, it would be a slow and controlled descent with time for civilians to be evacuated. The military remains on standby just in case, but with the Academy now maintaining its current height for six hours without movement, it seems there's little more to worry on."

"The Council of Atlas have mildly criticised General Ironwood for his failure to alert them and the city as to the nature of these repairs, but given the recent rebuffed invasion on Atlas, understand the importance of maintaining the city's defences. On warmer news, students at Atlas today will be receiving their results for the year's mid-term exams and current expectations are positive, with a one hundred per cent pass rate, placing Atlas above both Beacon and Haven! Teachers are Atlas are said to be ecstatic, with one Professor Greene stating-"

Salem swept her hand to the side, telling Hazel to end the transmission. The portable television unit was removed. Watts would have stood in as her Master of Information in the past, parsing through every broadcast and nugget of information for the secrets within. With him gone, she could not rely on Tyrian or Hazel for the task. In time, she would find someone else to fill the role, but there hadn't been much of that.

It wasn't like her to move so swiftly, but as her pale fingers traced over the pommel of the Relic of Destruction, she knew the uncharacteristic move had caught her enemies off guard. They were scrambling now, looking for answers. Her spies in Atlas had suggested as much, bringing her news of an interesting conversation between the headmasters of Beacon and Atlas both. With today's news, she had her answers.

They could not have, she thought. Ozma would never allow it.

"My Goddess?" Tyrian asked, kneeling rapturously. "Is it time? Do we attack Vale? Oh, I can't wait to rip Cinder to pieces. Hee. For betraying you, after you granted her such power. How dare she?" He snarled and bit at the air like the mad dog he was. "I won't forgive it!"

"Calm yourself, Tyrian. Calm." Her other hand came out to pet his head and the man shivered under her touch, gasping and leaning into her hand. To him, she was a goddess. No less. To be touched by his deity was an experience all too overpowering. "You will have your chance to bring her before me. I think I will have you punish her, but I would prefer to see it happen."

"Yes! Yes, I promise it will happen. Oh, I shall make you proud."

"What of Arc?" Hazel asked, ever the more professional. The only professional one now. How she missed Watts. "He's dangerous. Cinder underestimated him and we saw where that landed her. Watts too. If we give him an inch, he'll take a mile."

"He is but one man, Hazel. Men bleed."

"Atlas is falling…"

There were no `engines` keeping the city up. They knew that. Salem frowned, eyes closing as an unfamiliar feeling wormed its way in her stomach. "It doesn't matter," she decided. "He doesn't know how to use the Relic of Creation and even if he did, it wouldn't help him here. The advantage is mine. I shall take it."

"Then we march?"

"Yes." Salem stood, sweeping the Relic down and to the side. It hummed with power. "To Vale. I shall crush the seat of Ozma's power. No more games. We shall take Ozma alive and break his mind, shatter it so that even should he come back, he shall be a drooling madman. With him gone, the rest of Remnant shall fall."

Hmm. Plans and schemes.

I always liked how in RWBY it's said that no one knows where Salem is and it's like, dude, there's a continent shaped like a dragon. I know what they're saying, though. No exact location. And, you know, it could just be a coincidence it's shaped like that and she's not there at all. Still amuses me.

Next Chapter: 4th June

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur