Ignore the troll spamming guest reviews as usual

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 76

Weiss gasped for breath and stumbled back, accidentally pulling Myrtenaster out the decaying carapace of some insect-like Grimm she'd never in her life seen before. Its six legs twitched and clacked against one another, curling up like a dying spider and drawing a disgusted scowl out of her. The rapier dipped down, tip scratching the amethyst soil among wet spots of dripping sweat. Her free hand came up to sweep damp hair from before her face, flinging it back over one shoulder.

"Is…" Her voice cracked. "Is that the last of them?"

"Looks like it," Ruby panted back, hoarse and down on one knee leaning on Crescent Rose for support. "I…I don't feel so good, Weiss. I… ugh… I think I'm going to be sick."

"Drink some water. Wash it down."

Ruby pulled out a canteen and did so, splashing some over her face as well and sinking onto her rear. The fact her skirt rode all the way down to her hips probably didn't mean much when the nearest man must have been several hundred miles away; propriety was always the first thing to go in a fight.

A cursory look told her Yang and Blake were alive and well. Blake had one heeled foot on the head of a Beowolf she was twisting Gambol Shroud into, while Yang was already staggering over, done with her Grimm and eager to check on her sister. She made it about halfway before stumbling and laying flat on her back, eyes up toward the crooked sky. Weiss took her time to scout for a suitable outcropping of rock to serve as a seat, before eventually giving up and dropping onto both knees, laying Myrtenaster flat on the ground in front of her.

In her time at Beacon, she liked to think she'd gotten used to killing Grimm, liked to think she'd become a professional that others would look on in awe. That hadn't changed, but her confidence in how much of a difference she could make had taken a hit.

"I've never fought so many at once," she gasped out. "I've never seen so many in one place."

"Hundreds." Ruby groaned, slumped over by her sister. "There had to be hundreds."

"Easily." Blake retorted. "We're in the Grimmlands after all. That shot must have summoned every Grimm for miles around."

"M'sorry…"

"I wasn't blaming you, Ruby."

"M'sorry anyway," their team leader mumbled.

"What about Cinder?" Yang asked. "She dead?"

Blake sighed and looked up. "No such luck."

Cinder Fall descended like a fallen angel, arms outstretched and crackling with powerful wind and biting frost, landing one foot first, toes down, then floating on a billowing breath of ice-cold air that Ruby greedily rolled into. Weiss wished for once that she wasn't a Schnee and could do the same. Instead, she subtly leaned in and enjoyed the chill air on her face.

"That's the immediate threat dealt with." Cinder bit out. "And I see you're all lazing about as usual. No wonder Salem was able to accomplish more with four people than Ozpin could with hundreds. All quantity and no quality."

"Can you…. Can you not?" Yang asked. "For, like, ten minutes, can you not be a colossal bitch?"

"That depends on your ability to not disappoint me for all of ten minutes, and I must say you're not managing it." Cinder ignored the middle finger held up toward her and cut off the powerful maiden energy, also ignoring the whining noise from a Ruby Rose now deprived of her personal refrigerator. "You're welcome by the way. Killing the main horde and taking the ire of the Grimm so that you four could deal with the dredges. The least you could do is thank me."

"Thank you." Blake said.

"With actions, fool. Words are cheap and meaningless!" The faunus threw her hands up and joined Yang on the middle-finger brigade, aiming two at Cinder's back as the woman turned to face Weiss and Ruby. "Can I trust you not to shoot your weapon off like a firework this time? I'd like to actually get some sleep this time."

"Now?" Weiss panted. "I don't think I could sleep right now if I tried."

"Good. Then you can take first watch."

"But-" Weiss paused and caught her breath, and her temper. "Perhaps we should move on instead," she suggested. "You're the leader here, Cinder, but I think I speak for the four of us when I say we're concerned about more Grimm approaching, especially after seeing you floating in the air summoning blizzards and icicles. We can't all fight as hard or as long as you can."

"Hmph. I suppose your training has been lax…"

"Oh piss off," Yang said. "You're only this strong because you're hopped up on magic-juice."

"Magic I acquired through strength earned by hard training. Do try and keep up." Cinder smirked. "If you can. Very well, though, you may have a point on them converging on our current location. Who knows, luring them here may prove a boon if we use the opportunity to sneak past."

"Yay." Ruby said tiredly. "I did a good."

"You summoned evert Grimm within miles to attack us!"

"Which acquired us a chance to slip by them undetected and avoid further fighting?" Ruby tried, using Cinder's own words against her.

"Hmm. Fair point. Well done."

Yang mouthed some very unhappy words at Cinder's back.

"If we push ourselves then we should be able to get within sight of the tower. Salem will have left some Grimm to guard her home, but there shouldn't be anything we can't deal with. Sorry, that I can't deal with. The four of you will probably be useless."

"Not even two minutes!" Yang accused. "Not even two minutes of not being a bitch."

"Indeed." Cinder sighed. "I share those same thoughts every time you open your mouth, Xiao-Long. Not even two minutes and you've managed to disappoint me. Well, there's no point dwelling on your inadequacy, is there? Let's move on."

Cinder strolled ahead, smirking and hooking her hands behind her head. Weiss watched her go and watched Ruby stumble in behind, resigned to the long march while already tired. Blake stomped after, unhooking her own canteen to pour it over her head and hair. Feeling at least a little sorry, Weiss waited behind for Yang, drawing out some dust and pushing it through Myrtenaster to summon a small chunk of ice. She handed it to her teammate, accepting the muttered thanks as Yang crushed it in her palm and then held the ice against her face.

"I want to kick her ass so bad."

"It's not worth it. Be the bigger person. Show Professor Arc you're the mature one. You want to win one over her, don't you? Imagine her face when you beat her in the one thing she thinks is hers. It'll all be worth it."

Yang sighed. "I know you're manipulating me, Weiss-cream."

"Am I wrong?"

"Ugh. No." Yang retracted Ember Celica onto her wrists and rubbed her thumbs into her eye sockets, twisting them in circles to push the exhaustion away. "You're right, as usual. I'll prove to that stupid bitch I can put up with her shit and more, then I'll laugh in her face when the prof is mine."

That was… probably not the best ambition to hold onto when traversing enemy territory to find a world-ending relic and steal it away from the queen of all evil, but eh, whatever. Weiss couldn't say she'd had the best reasons ever for coming to Beacon in the first place either and it all worked out in the end. Sort of. The fact she was here working under Cinder notwithstanding.

"That's the spirit. Don't let her get to you."

"Are you two done making out or what?" Cinder called back sarcastically. "If you want to experiment, do it on your own time, though keep in mind you'll be breaking Port's heart if you get it on. He has money riding on White Rose being a thing."

Deep breaths, Weiss told herself, grimacing and turning to follow after Cinder. Deep breaths.

"Personally, I'm on the Bumblebee train."

"You know who I like, you stupid skank."

"Yes, but after I take Jaune and you're left high and dry, I expect you'll need an easy rebound."

Blake scowled and asked, "Why am I considered easy…?"

"You dated Adam Taurus, and we all know what he was like. I can only assume you were blind, stupid or easy. You may take your pick on which of those best fit."

"He wasn't always-" Blake paused and took a deep breath. "No. No. I'm not getting drawn into this. You may think what you want, Cinder. I'd like to focus on the task at hand and get back to Beacon before anything happens to my parents. You may mock me as much as you wish, but I won't allow myself to be drawn into a petty squabble."

Good work, Blake. Weiss felt a surge of pride for their most down-to-Remnant member.

Cinder was less impressed. "Is that so? Well, that's awfully convenient since I have plenty to criticise on. Ah, where shall I start? Oh yes, how about your weapon. What is that, really? A handgun that is a cleaver that is a whip that is a bondage toy one swing away from garrotting yourself. I realise you huntresses like your mecha-shift weapons but were you drunk when you designed that, or did you pick its attributes out a hat?"

Blake's lips thinned but she didn't rise to the bait. Not that the fact stopped Cinder any.

"And really, a bow as your only disguise? According to Adam you didn't even change your outfit or weapon despite the fact it's been seen everywhere. You even kept your last name as Belladonna, your eyes are bright yellow, and you run around eating fish, chasing lasers and getting worked up everyone so much as mentions the word faunus. Not exactly subtle, were you? Don't get me started on the fact you must have gone into the communal showers with a bow on. Do you really think that fooled anyone? How amusing!"

"Deep breaths, Blake," Weiss mumbled, slapping her friend's back. "Deep breaths."

"It's fine. I'm above her petty insults. They don't even affect me."

"Really?" Cinder mocked. "Is that why I can hear your teeth grinding together? Or are you just hungry?"

Weiss sighed and made a mental note to not wake Cinder up early the next time she took a nap, especially not by shooting a sniper rifle near her ear. I have new respect for Professor Torchwick for putting up with her for so long. And Mercury and Emerald. They must have had the patience of saints. At least all the anger was fuelling their energy and keeping them from giving in to exhaustion, if only because they knew doing so would earn a fresh raft of insults. A more generous person might have thought that Cinder's aim in so callously insulting them. Weiss knew better.

Cinder Fall was just a royal pain in the behind.

"And don't get me started on your Semblance! Clones. Actual elemental clones! And you use them… how often? Never? Once or twice a month? Really, talk about wasted potential."

"We can't all be magical girls." Blake muttered. "Maybe I should buy you a fuku."

Cinder Fall froze. "What did you just call me…?"

"Enough!" Ruby yelled. "We're here to do a job, remember? While we're arguing, everyone else in Beacon is risking their lives! They're fighting to the last breath against a horde of Grimm ready to rip them apart! That goes for Jaune, too!" she told Cinder. "Do you want to explain to him why you were so busy insulting us that you didn't get the Relic in time and let Vale fall?"

The smirk had fallen. Cinder snorted but didn't respond.

"I thought not." Huffing, Ruby let her voice drop. "Let's just get on with this. People are counting on. I can't even imagine how frightened they are right now, how much pain they must be in as the Grimm crash down around them…"

/-/

Jaune looked up as a Grimm crashed down nearby, splattering into paste and spraying ichor over the frosted glass window of a delightful little coffee shop Ozpin had found. He sipped at the coffee, humming happily and leaning back in his chair.

"It is good, isn't it?" Oobleck remarked. "When the owner evacuated, he left behind all the blends and machines. I must say, I didn't expect you to be a dab hand at this, Roman."

"I have a very specific set of skills." Roman said, coming over with a tray and setting it down. Jaune, Ironwood, Oobleck and Ozpin each took a mug. "Sometimes a man needs to have a certain cover and being the master criminal doesn't always fit. How goes the game?"

"Alright," Jaune said.

"Poorly." Ozpin countered. "Mr Arc is dead within ten turns."

"I am!?"

"Yes." General Ironwood sighed and reached over, moving both Jaune and Ozpin's pieces in a few lines and connecting the dots to his defeat. "You're being too obvious. There's no point having a good strategy if your opponent can see it coming a mile away."

"You told me to try and hold the centre!"

"I said you should always try and hold the centre." Ozpin countered. "Not that you should sacrifice queen and rook to do so. Pawns are usually enough, and if you commit too heavily than your opponent will rip your lines apart."

Pouting, Jaune crossed his arms and glared at the board. "I think I'm doing well for someone who didn't know how chess even worked until this morning."

"Yes, and the fact you don't is galling enough…"

"I like the horsey best."

"I can feel my brain cells dying." Ozpin sighed and took a long drink. "I don't think I can make a chess master out of you, Mr Arc. I'm sorry. You're not hopeless but things like this take time, and time is not a commodity we have."

"I don't need to be a chess master. I just need to be better than Salem." Jaune slammed the thick history book down on the table. "According to this, plenty of battles have been fought over games of chess or similar. Two generals clashing over a board to show off their strategic might and intimidate the other into retreating. If I can challenge her to a game and win, I can win concessions, maybe even more delays."

"Like renaming Beacon to Ozpin sucks?" said man possessing a young boy complained.

"It's earned us time to recover and rest. It was worth it."

"Worth it now, perhaps, but in a thousand years from now – even in ten thousand – she will never let me forget this moment. Even if I have her on the floor at sword point, she will laugh and remind me of the time my own school became my greatest insult."

Jaune looked to Ironwood, who rolled his eyes. While Ozpin certainly hadn't criticised the pause in the attacks, he'd certainly been passive-aggressive enough about the terms. Weirdly enough, the students were worse, not because of pride over the school but because they all agreed it was in poor taste and disrespectful to insult the fallen. Naturally, they didn't know Ozpin wasn't dead, so his name change made him look like a bit of a bastard.

Roman had managed to convince them it reflected worse on the Grimm, however. He'd given a huge bullshit speech about how it showed that Ozpin, rest his soul, had been such a force of good that even the Grimm wanted to insult him, and that while the name change on the school may have appeared disrespectful, the hero that was Ozpin would have gladly allowed it if it meant his students being safe. It was all so poetic and sweet that no one could find it in themselves to argue, and now `Ozpin Sucks` had become kind of rebellious battle chant against the Grimm, a reminder of what Ozpin had done.

The man himself was not best pleased.

"All of this won't help because Salem is not an amateur when it comes to chess, nor any boardgame. Keep in mind this is a woman who was locked away within a tower until I rescued her. What do you think she and I got up to in there when she couldn't escape?"

"Sex." Roman said.

"Sex." Jaune agreed.

"I was thinking the sex." Glynda said.

Ironwood nodded and grunted in the affirmative, while Neo made the circle with her fingers and furiously hammered her finger in and out of it, even bending said fingers over a table and adding a second a little higher up. Jaune blushed and covered her hands with his, pushing them down before she could try for a full fist.

Ozpin didn't look even the slightest bit embarrassed. He coughed into one fist. "Well, yes. There was that, I admit, but the body only goes so far. There were long moments between our… romantic unions - yes, thank you, Miss Neo. That is what I meant by that – where Salem and I would play games together, often tangled in the sheets after a rousing course of – ah, my apologies, Oscar. I forgot my audience. Anyway, while she did not know chess when I first met her, I taught it to her and she was a quick study, especially when we started playing strip chess."

"That sounds like the most long-winded and dull foreplay I've ever heard of." Roman said.

"Well, we rarely finished a game of it. Our pieces tended to be a little… ah… suicidal when nudity was on the line. We were young," Ozpin said with an awkward cough. "Young and in love and not at that time cursed by two Gods to swing our swords at one another for all eternity."

"So." Jaune said. "No chess?"

"No chess, nor Checkers, Go, Poker or Solitaire."

"How do you play solitaire with two people?"

"Well, when one person completes a set, the other takes off a piece of-"

"I regret asking. Damn it. I really thought we could challenge her to something. Maybe earn a few more days of this pointless bombardment."

A Nevermore screeched its way toward their coffee shop, aiming directly at the glass before a strong gust of wind took it, twisted one wing and sent it flying into the face of a nearby huntsman. Qrow Branwen was swept off his feet and sent crashing into some garbage cans. Almost immediately, several students of Beacon rocked up with a stretcher, loaded him on and carried him away to the medical tents.

Since the fighting had not yet become violent enough to necessitate students on the front line, they had them working shifts between support, logistics and medical – basically involving them with jobs so important they knew they were helping, without actually risking them on the front lines. Not that there were front lines at the moment. Even the huntsmen on the walls were mostly having picnics and taking selfies.

"It was a good thought." Glynda said. "Any other ideas from ancient history?"

"Jousting, honour duels, wards-"

"Wards?"

"If I had a child, I could apparently offer him or her up to live with and be taught by Salem until she was older. That way she has some leverage over us and a hostage to stop me ever doing anything against her."

"A shame you don't have a child," Ironwood said.

"I think you mean a shame I would never agree to that ever!" Jaune shot back. "Anyway, there's also all the ideas involving giving her rotten food under the pretence of honour and gifts, then letting her army eat it and get sick, but the Grimm wouldn't care and I think it would only give her a stomach ache at worst. There is the idea of allying and doing an arranged marriage."

"With you?" Glynda asked, voice full of alarm.

Neo locked a hand onto his knee.

"No. With Ozpin, obviously."

"Ahem. I am fourteen years old."

"You'll get older."

"I believe the golden rule is half your age plus seven, Mr Arc, so in that case, give or take a century, Salem should only be with someone who is around eleven-hundred years old. Alas, whatever my mental age, I am still fourteen."

Jaune did his best to ignore Glynda quite clearly working out the math in her head with a look at him and then paling drastically. Yes, they hadn't exactly kept Ozpin's little rule in mind while they'd been together.

"It wasn't an idea to take seriously anyway. Most of these only work on human opponents because it's all about Kingdoms and Empires. Salem doesn't want our wealth or power; she wants us dead. An alliance by marriage, hostage or surrender won't mean anything to her."

"Why does she want us all dead?" Roman asked suddenly.

"Because she's a Grimm?"

"No. No. Think a little. That person out there may physically be part Grimm, but she's still a human underneath it all. She doesn't gain anything from killing every human on Remnant. Far as I can tell, there doesn't seem to be any point to what she's doing, but that's not how people work. There's always a motive. A goal. Something they're after."

"According to Ozpin," Ironwood said, "It's vengeance against him."

"Then why wouldn't she give us the chance to hand him over? You'd think that would be thrown on the table. Hand over Ozpin for her to torture until his current body expires and she'll back off. That didn't happen. She also went after the Relics, which don't do much to harm him. There has to be something more."

All eyes turned to Ozpin.

"I agree!" the immortal said, raising his hands in surrender. "You needn't look at me like I'm keeping secrets; I am as in the dark as you all are. I genuinely did believe it vengeance for the longest time, or that the pools had corrupted her, but I agree with Mr Torchwick that it doesn't all add up now. Alas, you can see as well as I that my relationship with her has deteriorated. I don't know her current motives. I would gladly share them if I did."

"Torchwick makes an interesting point." Ironwood grudgingly admitted. "Like chess, if we know what her goal is then we can better pick apart her strategy. She does not seek to hold the centre or hold anything at all – she wants to destroy Vale entirely, much as she wanted to Atlas. The question is, why? Neither Kingdom is a threat to her as she is. Nothing is. No one can ever kill her thanks to her immortality, so what is there for her to fear from us?"

"Salem isn't afraid." Eyes turned to Jaune as he spoke. "Not of us."

"Jaune…?"

"I thought it was stupidity that had her walk up on offer us terms, and maybe it was, but it also showed us her thoughts toward us. Her lack of fear."

Salem stood before the walls, before their huntsmen and artillery and all their weapons. Her methods had been outdated and honestly a little laughable, but the fact she bothered to deliver them at all showed how she saw them.

"We're minor annoyances to her. We're… honestly not even that. Salem walked up and gave us the chance to surrender and be killed quickly. That may have sounded threatening from someone else, but she said it like it was a foregone conclusion and she just wanted to give us the choice of not wasting our time."

"Isn't that arrogance?" Ironwood asked.

"Is it? I think arrogance would be gloating and taking stupid risks. Salem is… I don't know what she's doing. It's like she's bored."

"You think that's it?" Roman enquired. "Live a couple thousand years and you must get bored."

"No." Ozpin interrupted. "I agree with the principle, but Salem has been waging war on me since day one of our parting. If she were bored and wanted to try something new, this is not it. This is more of the same."

"Boredom might be disguising herself as a human and living a normal life for the fun of it." Glynda said, stroking her chin. "Or otherwise acting out of character. Ozpin is right; while this is unusually direct of her, it's still Grimm vs Humans. There's no meaningful difference."

"Then the motivation can't be boredom." Jaune said. "It's something else. You know Salem better than anyone else, Ozpin. What was she like? Before?"

"Loving, Mr Arc. Sweet and loving. Kind, friendly and funny. Clingy at times," he admitted, "But after being locked away for so long on her own, who could blame her? She was the light of my life, able to make me laugh until I felt like crying, then able to render me speechless with a single smile. All without realising it, without ever meaning to. There was an innocent curiosity to her. She wanted to see the world for herself, experience it, and would always ask me to take her on a journey to see everything there was to see."

"Did you?" Ironwood asked, voice quiet. He could sense the grief as well as any of them.

"I did. It was one promise I was able to keep and one I shall never regret. Salem was like a child among the people, amazed at every little thing. It was as endearing as it was embarrassing, especially when she wouldn't understand simple things and caused a scene. Of course, she was an intelligent woman and soon learned. Those were happy times. The happiest of times."

"What went wrong?"

"I died." Ozpin said it simply and with a bitter smile. "I was murdered. A close friend, or one that I believe was a friend, invited me out on a hunt to commemorate a victory we'd earned together. I speared a boat and when I went to confirm the kill, he speared me. I could not believe it. I could not even say a word; I was so shocked that I died without even uttering my last words."

He shook his head sadly, leaning over his mug. "There is a part of me that wonders if that didn't start it all. If only I'd died in my bed with her at my side where we could have made peace, where I could have held her hand and told her I loved her, then maybe all of this could have been avoided. Instead, she only found out when my friend came back to tell her I had fallen. I'm not so much an idiot as to suggest it was my fault for being killed, of course, but I have wondered a few times if that wasn't what set her off on her quest to petition the gods for my return."

"It could be." Ironwood said softly. "As you say, there's no way that is your fault, but it's easier to accept loss if those involved have a chance to say goodbye to one another. There's a reason family is invited in if doctors believe a patient is on death's door."

"What happened to the twat who killed you?" Roman asked. "You get your own back?"

A small smirk played on Ozpin's lips. "I did. He tried to seduce my wife once I was gone. Naturally, she had no interest, but even though the Gods only resurrected me for a matter of minutes, I naturally took that time to convey the truth of what happened on my wife. Once the Gods killed me again and Salem went back to rally the armies against them, she invited him to her quarters at night and personally slid a dagger into the bastard's heart when he was disrobing."

"Good riddance."

"Yes. I happen to feel the same way. Regardless, I wasn't then brought back again until Salem and I were both cursed, at which point the Gods were gone and the rest you know. Salem and I then lived together happily until our disagreement, whereupon our children were caught in the crossfire and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then I have worked to try and fulfil the God of Light's quest, not because I hate her but because I would like to see us both released from this hated curse. Any questions?"

Roman raised a hand. "What's the afterlife like?"

"Eh." Ozpin shrugged. "It's alright."

"You can give us more than that, old man! You are literal proof there is a place we go after death. I want details!"

"I can't give many. I'd been murdered, I was bitter, and my killer was busy trying to sleep with my wife. I was a little distracted, so forgive me if I ignored the whole life after death thing. It's not like I was going to explore it without her, anyway. I had decided to wait there for her natural death, where we could explore a new world together like we had our own." Ozpin's face wore a warm, almost peaceful smile. "Alas, the Gods were pricks and that didn't happen."

"So, you're saying you want to die?"

"By now?" Ozpin asked. "Yes. It may seem shocking to you, young man, but that is precisely because of how old you are. I've been around far too long. I've seen people I cared for die, others grow old and yet more pass on into history. There comes a point where there is little left to live for other than the same, tired routine. Call me morbid if you like, but I know there is an afterlife, so I don't really see it that way. I would like to be able to explore it peacefully. I want to move on…"

It clicked in Jaune's head. "Salem wants to die."

Ironwood, Glynda and Roman's heads turned his way. "What?"

"Her goal. It's the same as Ozpin's. Salem wants to die. I don't know if it's explicit or obvious even to her but look at what she does. The Grimm constantly attack us – constantly – but never really eradicate us like they could. They just push us back. For all that she acts like she's trying to wipe us off the face of Remnant, she's pretty half-hearted about it."

"She attacked Atlas and Shade." Ironwood said.

"To try and get the Relics there. Not to use them, though, or she wouldn't have been so terrified when I pretended to have the other three with me, and she wouldn't have left Destruction in the Grimmlands now."

"Why not?" Roman asked. "The Gods said that if all four were gathered, they would judge Remnant, but that if Salem accepted death or something, the curse would be lifted. That seems an easy way for her to get herself killed."

"Ozpin said it himself." Jaune pointed out. "The Brother Gods are pricks. Look at what they did the first time to her and think how likely she is to trust them a second. What if they go further and say if she accepts death then they'll erase her soul from existence? What if they toss another curse on her? What if they do something else, think she needs another `valuable lesson` or just want to take their own petty vengeance? There's no way she'd trust them after what they did."

"Mr Arc makes a valid point. Even I have wondered if the curse on me would ever truly be lifted."

"And Ozpin's sin was dying early." Ironwood said. "So we know they don't have any qualms about punishing people who haven't done anything wrong. I'd say they sound corrupt, but in reality they're more inept. I'm not sure I'd trust their word either."

"Exactly. So, summoning the Gods is out because she doesn't know what they'll do, but she knows Ozpin has been tasked to kill her and she knows he will side with humanity. What's the best way to make sure humanity hates your guts?"

"Attack them over and over again." Ironwood said. "But she's been doing that for hundreds of years. Why the sudden escalation?"

"Because she isn't dead? Because no one is attacking her? Because despite Ozpin being tasked to kill her, he's instead kept her identity secret from the world?" Jaune shrugged. "Pick your poison. Maybe Salem decided that if throwing Grimm at us isn't getting us worked up enough, she'll start gathering the world ending Relics and threatening to use them as such. Except that we know that's a complete bluff because she chickened out on that already…"

"Meaning that unless her intent is to use them to conquer us – something she's proving right now she doesn't need – the collection of the Relics really has no purpose." Ozpin leaned back, his eyes closed. "You… You may have something. Salem is no strategist, I admit, but she was never an idiot and even though our argument led to the death of our children, I somehow doubt she would hold a grudge this long. And if she has, well, why not attack Beacon before now? It's been thousands of years and this is the worst attack I've ever faced from her."

"Salem is tired of waiting." Jaune said. "Kill me now or don't kill me at all. I can't last any longer."

There was silence at the table. Numb and painful silence from Ozpin, contemplative from the rest of them. There was no real way to know for sure, but the fact Salem had given them no real option of surrender other than to die might have been her way of ensuring there was only one route for them to take, that of killing her to survive. If she'd let them surrender and live, they might have taken it. Similarly, she'd let the citizens evacuate when she could have attacked the convoys or tried to harry them with Nevermore. There hadn't even been an attempt.

Why would she care about civilians, though? They were no threat to her, and it might even be better for her if Vale was full of Remnant's most capable fighters and military. And it was! If Salem wanted to conquer Remnant, now was the time. Atlas was undefended, but then so had Vacuo after she attacked Shade, yet Salem had walked right on past a city full of people. That didn't exactly fit with the idea of someone who wanted to eradicate all human life.

Nothing did. Salem sent Cinder to strike against Beacon and Ozpin, the one place most likely to be able to stop her because Ozpin was there. The Relic of Knowledge had been in a school run by a traitor, and Cinder had known who the Spring Maiden was. Why attack Beacon before taking that? The only reason that made sense was that they were either cripplingly stupid, or that they wanted to be seen. They wanted to be stopped. Salem wanted to spark Ozpin into battle.

Salem wanted to die.

"But this raises a problem." Oobleck said. "Because whether she wants it or not, we can't kill her. And once she realises that I'm not sure how good a mood she will be in…"

"There's still a possibility our anti-immortal measures will work," Ironwood said.

"Yes, but they're not death so much as internment." Glynda said. "We're talking about cutting her into pieces and imprisoning her for all eternity. If she gets even a whiff of that fate, she's going to stop giving us chances to kill her and start treating us as if we're the Brother Gods in human form. If we try and doom her to eternal suffering as they have, then I think the kid gloves come off."

"It's pointless then." Ironwood said. "She wants to die and that should be the best news we've had all day, but it's not because we can't give her what she wants. Nothing has changed. We still have to fight the Grimm off, and the longer this takes, the more aggressive Salem is going to become, throwing herself at us until one side breaks."

Pretty much. Salem was out of patience and humanity couldn't fulfil her wish, which wasn't exactly fair because she was cursed by a pair of Gods. If humans could change that, they'd have to be as strong as the Gods, if not more so. That wasn't happening anytime soon. We can't trust the Gods either, though. The way they acted to Ozpin proves that.

"What if…" Jaune threw out his last hope. "What if we changed her goal to something else?"

Ironwood looked flummoxed. "What…?"

"Well if we can't give her what she wants because her goal is impossible, then what if we changed her goal to something we could provide? Wouldn't that give us a way out?"

"Well, yes, obviously, but how do you expect to do that…?"

"Therapy?"

Ironwood laughed. "You have got to be joking!"

/-/

Salem lay back upon the back of a Beowolf that had curved itself into a rough approximation of a reclining chair, staring up at the unforgiving sun and sighing. It had been fun counting the Grimm being hurled over her head for a while, but by the time she'd reached four thousand and thirty-six, it had lost its charm. Counting the leaves on the nearby trees wasn't much better. Perhaps she shouldn't have agreed to their little ceasefire. It hadn't seemed like much, a few days to an immortal like her, but my, that time dragged.

"My Queen!" Hazel appeared at her side, down on one knee. "News from Vale."

"Are they sallying out?" she asked, sitting up excitedly.

"In… In a manner of speaking…"

Salem stood upon the Grimm and peered over the ranks of those before her. The gates of the city were already closing, but some hundred metres outside of it lay a rather strange sight. A parasol umbrella had been stabbed into the grass and left to cast shade over a small table and a long seat one could lay down on. Beside that, on the other side of the table, a single armchair stood with Jaune Arc sat within it, a pair of glasses balanced on his nose and his legs crossed, fingers steepled over his knees. There was a kettle and two mugs on the table, along with a tray of what looked like cakes and baked goods.

"Hazel?"

"Yes, my Queen."

"I am confused."

"You are not alone, my Queen. Shall I have him eviscerated?"

"No. No." The ceasefire was still on, and she had to admit to a little curiosity. Given the boredom of the last few hours, something so strange as this sounded like a welcome distraction. It was so rare she felt so intrigued nowadays. "If the commander of the enemy wishes to meet with me, I shall. Wait here and do keep Tyrian from interfering."

Building up quite the list of clientele there, Jaune.

Next Chapter: 17th September

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur