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Chapter 145: Reawakening
Whilst Arctus and Eagle had spent a considerable portion of their time at the Allied Remnant Resistance Movement base that they had been brought to learning its' layout, the fact remained that it was effectively a small town or respectably sized village in its' own right built and fortified within the ruins of Old Vale, or simply Vale as those native to this timeline knew it as the Capital city and Kingdom of New Vale that Arctus and Eagle were familiar with had simply never been built; with it being such a size there were still many areas of the base that the two of them, due to not being permitted or simply having never chanced upon them had not yet explored and currently the two of them were making their way through one such area as the sun rose and birds began to chirp in the distance.
"This must be the place" Eagle noted, excitable nerves creeping into her voice "Your uncle said to look for Jade's handiwork"
"Don't call him that, he doesn't like me saying it" Arctus replied, unable to hide a hint of sadness at the fact that after all the stories he'd been told by his father, Aunt Artemis and Uncle Rover the last member of Team GRAP had not been as welcoming as he would have hoped or expected.
Such concerns were pushed to the back of his mind however as he and Eagle, who carried Sentinel in shield form across her back took stock of their surroundings and saw that this was indeed the building they had been instructed by Squish to find; a small establishment that had once been a seemingly picturesque coffee shop of all things that had survived bombings and other such brutalities of war simply by being surrounded by larger and more attractive targets; the roof of the building and several others close by were covered in a sea of green where Jade had used the Powers of the Spring Maiden in the way she had been trained to, growing enough crops to ensure that those who called the base home could eat healthily for the foreseeable future without having to scavenge as often, as well as several hanging pots of brightly coloured flowers blooming out of season decorating the doorway of the building.
This was Oscar Pine's current residence and the Wizard had awoken from his fugue state.
"The door's open" Oscar's warm voice called out, tinged the last traces of a Mistrali accent that had largely been lost over the years; Arctus and Eagle looked to one another and then to the doorway which was in fact entirely bereft of an actual door and stepped inside.
The interior of the coffee shop was as homely as it could possibly given the circumstances; much of the furniture had been removed and likely either given to other families or individuals living on the makeshift base or used for firewood when Dust was hard to come by, there was no sign of anything resembling a bed or personal effects though those could easily have been kept in the small apartment above the coffee shop if they hadn't been left behind at Mountain Glenn, there was however a single table remaining with a pair of comfortable, if somewhat dilapidated looking chairs around it at which Oscar and Jade sat whilst the Wizard seemingly tried to explain some mathematical concept to the Reindeer Faunus with what limited resources he had available; the young Spring Maiden obviously having a sleep schedule that could best be described as hectic.
"Math class?" Arctus asked, unable to keep a not of surprise from his voice at the sight of something so mundane
"While I can definitely appreciate Jade's abilities as a farmer and the two of us can make sure nobody here goes hungry….well my predecessor was a teacher and a White Fang education is apparently lacking"
"Please tell me you came to get me out of this" Jade gave an exaggerated groan which was enough for both Arctus and Eagle to forget the seriousness of why they had come here and share a laugh at the fact that mathematics were apparently sticking point for students across multiple timelines.
"Sorry" Eagle shrugged "But we might need Oscar's help for a while so now is your chance to run" her voice was tense despite the joking and the Wizard regarded her carefully, his own tone becoming solemn as he spoke again
"I can sense what it is you want to ask me" his voice was apprehensive and seemed to carry a warned which Arctus and Eagle respectfully disregarded, the Bear Faunus setting his jaw and squaring his shoulders
"We told you everything, we told you who the threats are in our timeline and about the sentient Grimm that come before Salem's return" Arctus met Oscar's eyes and found himself silently pleading before adding quietly "Now we wanna go home"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple" Oscar sighed with a gentle shake of his head "If it were this war would have ended much sooner…,there are countless timelines and from what I can learn from Wizards before me I can't remain outside of this one for long. Even if I can find the Remnant you come from I'd be sending you back in this time period, roughly ten years before where you came from….The future isn't fixed, it hasn't been made yet so there's nothing to anchor to"
"Yes there is" Eagle's voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper yet when she spoke she seemed to radiate determination.
"I'm an anchor point" she began to explain, faltering a little as she sought the words "Hellion and I….our Semblances….our souls have touched each other, I can still sense her even while I'm here in another Remnant and in the past; so maybe the future isn't built but our present must be" Oscar was silent for several moments and the tension in the room grew unbearable, both Arctus and Eagle's hands trembling as they thought that the Wizard might decline them before finally he rose to his feet, the leather gauntlet covering his right hand creaking as he flexed his fingers and let out a slow breath as if to steady himself.
"You've given us warnings that could save thousands of lives….I owe it to you to try"
"Really?" Eagle beamed in disbelief, Oscar nodded and crossed the distance between them whilst Arctus braced himself and Jade slipped from her own seat and took several cautious steps backwards.
"A word of warning" Oscar intoned gently as he placed his hands on Eagle's temples "This may be unpleasant"
Then the powers of the Wizard flared into life and Eagle felt the air leave her lungs as a blinding wave of green light and immense, burning pain washed over her.
The sensation of airlessness threatened to overwhelm her, a pounding in her skull and a dull pulsing throb that spread out to every fibre of her being and grew more intense until she thought she might lose consciousness; at which point it ended and Eagle found herself with a sudden sense of immense clarity. Looking down at her hands showed her that her body had taken on an ephemeral glow and as she looked around her she saw that she was elsewhere in the ruins of Vale, thought she looked down on them from a position somewhere above; no sooner had the realisation occurred to her than time seemed to accelerate at an impossible rate around her which caused her to let out a gasp as she saw the final touches being made to the construction of Halo Academy and the vast anti-gravity platform it was built on, it's launch into the air and subsequent landing.
Then she saw her.
Hellion was on the grounds of the academy somewhere yet Eagle couldn't pinpoint where exactly as everything became indistinct around her, time and space seeming to blur around the Dragonfly Faunus and Eagle, without a moment of hesitation reached out to embrace her with tears of happiness spilling from her eyes.
The scene imploded and a moment later Eagle felt her body hit the floor of the coffee shop, waves of pain cascading over her.
"SHE'S STILL BREATHING!" Arctus called out, voice wavering with panic as he leaned over Eagle whose mind still spun out of control "Eagle, Eagle talk to me" he almost begged and in response the blonde rolled over and coughed up several mouthfuls of blood before being helped to her feet by both Arctus and Oscar and led to a wooden chair that Jade had grown from the floorboards. With her senses slowly returning to her Eagle saw that her Aura was flickering and failing around her and smoke was rising from her armour whilst a faint smell of ozone hung in the
air and the way that her team-mate was staring at her eyes led her to believe that several blood-vessels within them had burst.
"What happened?" Jade asked, being the first to dare broaching the subject.
"I was there" Eagle's voice cracked "I could see her, I could almost touch her….Oscar try again, please"
"Absolutely not" the Wizard answered firmly.
"Please-"
"No" Oscar cut her off, wobbling on his own unsteady legs "That nearly killed you Eagle, Arctus had to use a Glyph to get us apart, I couldn't stop it….That was you on your own, if I'd used the connection you have with your present to send you both back neither of you would have made it"
"So what happens now?" Arctus asked, needing a moment to compose himself as the weight of Oscar's words threatened to crush what little hope that he and Eagle still clung to. Oscar hung his head in abject shame and defeat before speaking with a grim sense of finality
"I'll continue to research and commune with past Wizards….But I think you may have to accept that, at least for now, you're stuck here"
It had been a matter of days since Hellion had slipped out of the confines of the academy in search of the Eagle's indescribable presence only to be caught, exhausted and dejected by Team CLIR along with her own team-mates; in the time that had followed the Faunus scout had chosen to follow the rules that had been put in place to mitigate the panic caused by the Grimm spires and remained confined to the campus, ignoring the distant tug of what she knew to be Eagle somewhere in the distance and just out of reach and searching for anything that might serve as a distraction.
It was in this search that she had initially found herself speaking with Qrow Branwen.
Eagle's father had been ecstatic at the news that his missing child was, in his mind at least, proven to still be alive and the revelation that Hellion could sense her in whatever alternate Remnant she had been sent to had reinvigorated the veteran whose hope had admittedly been beginning to dwindle despite the facade he maintained.
Beyond this the two had simply spoken for hours on end between the classes that the Professor of Unusual Tactics and Ungentlemanly Warfare still had to teach, his monitoring of the cities' remaining security systems and late into the night as they shared countless stories which had stemmed from their mutual love of Eagle Arc outwards into various other subjects; with Qrow being the shadowy right hand of the former headmaster and Wizard Professor Ozpin he had seen and taken part in many things which the average student would struggle to reconcile with the heroic image in their mind of what a Hunter should be, whilst Hellion as a former raider and part of the vanguard of her tribe understood them perfectly.
Qrow for his part had found himself becoming oddly protective of the young woman, especially upon learning that she, like most of those who made up the Shadow Cadre of the Frost River Tribe had never known her own father and began checking up on her to ensure that she was eating and sleeping properly as well as finding ways to keep her distracted from the sensation of being close to Eagle which he knew that she was longing to track down once again even if she was unsure of how to bring the blonde home.
All of which had led Hellion to the outdoor training area of the campus, the vast Colosseum like space replete with its' holographic and hard-light projectors capable of creating countless scenarios and simulations for the students to be tested against; standing beside Qrow as he addressed a class of Third Year students including those who had journeyed to New Vale from the other Kingdoms and found themselves stranded and Team SNST who still trained with Carcharodon and Onyx at every available opportunity and whose leader Shine Jua gave her a nod of recognition.
"Okay class" Qrow rose his voice just enough for it to carry and his students immediately fell silent, several of their number stiffening and standing to attention "Today's lesson is a test of your stealth and use of cover during time sensitive missions. Each of you will be given one paint-bomb and I will be setting the hard-light projectors to terrain of my choosing which you will make your way through undetected in order you tag your target, Miss Eudialyte. The rules here are simple; you have ten minutes per team, if your objective is not completed in that time you fail, if Hellion spots you and tags you with her paintball gun you fail, if you try to get close and she beats the stuffing out of you…..you fail. Any questions?" After a few moments of silence Qrow nodded, shifting his weight and making himself comfortable in his mobile chair and wearing an amused smirk at the situation; after a shaky start that had traumatised a handful of students he found his footing and an approach that suited him as a teacher, handling the subject matter with proper respect whilst also taking care not to overwhelm his students.
"Okay, Team SNST you're up first" he called out "Hellion, take your position" with a silent nod the Dragonfly Faunus made a show of cracking her neck and knuckles before stalking towards the circular arena, Marauder letting out an ear-splitting screech for launching himself from the railings of the nearby stands and swooping over to Hellion and perching on her shoulder; if their opponent were anyone else the third years' may have had a chance but with her Semblance and Marauder on her side she was certain that she would have tracked each of them down long before their ten minutes were up.
She never made it to the arena.
She was barely aware of her body lurching forwards and collapsing to the ground as the convulsions started or Marauder's shrieks being joined by panicked yells from both Qrow and his students as they crowded around her.
All Hellion saw was Eagle.
Time held no meaning and for a single moment that could have lasted an eternity Hellion saw her, golden hair, crimson eyes and pristine white armour all glowing as her surroundings, wherever she was blurred and twisted around her. She reached out, slowly as she struggled to overcome her sheer joyous disbelief as she made to cup Eagle's cheeks.
And then it ended.
Those looking on had watched the Dragonfly Faunus drop to the floor, her eyes pure white and lit from behind by some unknown glow much like when she used her Semblance, yet her Aura flickered and rippled around her with Qrow growing steadily more panicked as he watched her reserves rapidly depleting and blood beginning to drip from her nose with no idea of what was happening to her until, as abruptly as it had begun it ended. Hellion fell still, her breathing shallow and laboured whilst her eyes returned to their natural jade green colour and a cold sweat coated her still shivering body yet she was conscious and, as evidenced by the way her eyes darted around before locking on Qrow still keenly aware of her surroundings.
"Give her some space!" the grizzled veteran barked, his many-legged chair striding through his students as Hellion dragged herself to her feet and staggered over to him on legs that threatened to give out at any moment, coughing up blood as she went
"Hellion stay down, we'll get you a stretcher" Qrow began, his voice authoritative yet she seemed not to hear it "Hellion damn it you're gonna hurt yourself, what happened-"
"It's Eagle" she managed to breathed out as she finally collapsed again, legs buckling and arms flashing out to clutch onto the mechanical limbs of Qrow's chair; a delirious laugh escaping her as she continued "It's Eagle, wherever she is she's okay…..she's trying to come home"
With that Hellion promptly fainted from the exertion of unwittingly being an anchor for the Wizard's power.
Officially the Kingdom of Vaccuo had launched missions intending to breach the stranglehold imposed on New Vale's Capital city by the Grimm spires, citing a need to protect their own territories from the same disturbing increase in Grimm activity that had been felt all across the continent of Vytal following the crippling blow to their neighbouring Kingdom. That was not to say that they had been entirely unhelpful though as whilst many of New Vale's outer settlements and territories had simply stated that they were unable to house those who had been left displaced, the ruling Council of Vaccuo, as bleak and crime ridden as the desert Kingdom had attempted to give aid and shelter to all who made it across the badlands between the two Kingdoms, welcoming them with open arms and sending their own Hunters out to retrieve as many of those who had been left stranded as possible and even using the train lines that stretched between them to implement mobile and heavily armed and armoured shelters in the form of repurposed freight trains.
Unofficially however the situation was far less clear-cut as whilst Vaccuo had not specifically contracted any of its' Hunters to breach the embargo around New Vale they had also done nothing to dissuade those who wished to try of their own accord; an eclectic mix of Hunters, mercenaries and simple thugs whose connections to the organised crime families with Vaccuo had given them access to heavy weapons, all of whom took on the task for myriad reasons ranging from having loved ones trapped in the city, seeing this as an opportunity to bring themselves fame, prestige and notoriety or in many cases simple altruism and a believe that no-one deserved to fall to the Creatures of Grimm.
Pantheon was in the process of butchering one such group.
They were a group of Shade Academy alumni who had likely sensed that this would be their greatest chance to break away from the monotony of patrolling thankless meat-grinder that was the Vaccuan perimeter wall or fighting a losing battle against the gangs and make a name for themselves. They had arrived across the horizon in a low flying transport with weapons that were inadequate for the task aimed at the spires yet before they could fire their first salvo the Sentient Grimm, who had sensed their arrival though the Hive-Mind in the form of the surges of primal ferocity it sent through the monsters that they flew over, burst upwards from an opening in the ground which quickly sealed behind them and even without the living trident which they had once wielded tore the small craft from the air with ease as they attacked from below and sheared through its' cockpit with scything talons; sending the four Hunters within scrabbling for the nearest hope of escape.
The first had perished before they reached the ground; Pantheon catching them in mid air and tearing their body asunder with clawed limbs and tail to paint the ground below them a grisly crimson. The second had been felled shortly after once their weapon was damaged and their Aura was broken by the resulting blast.
The remaining two Hunters had fought furiously and Pantheon had been forced to summon more Grimm to their aid, all of which had since been cut down in the ensuing battle but now the sentient horror had the situation in hand and struggle was coming to a close; a fact highlighted by the scream of the third Hunter of the group as they swooped low and crushed them into the ground with a sickeningly wet snapping sound as they tried to flee before driving their clawed upper arms downwards, three scythe-like claws on each appendage tearing through flesh.
"WHAT ARE YOU, YOU MONSTER?" the question was accompanied by a scream of rage and grief from the fourth and final Hunter, a young woman whose Aura flickered around her as blood continued to trickle from a dozen or so small injuries she had already received
"We are Pantheon" the Sentient Grimm rumbled, their voice a cacophony of shrieks and snarls speaking as one.
The Huntress let out a wordless roar and charged, Pantheon's tail lashed out at blinding speed and gripped her skull in its' three-pronged claw and a mere instant later the limb jerked violently, the sound of shattering bone was followed by the thud of a body hitting the floor and then silence.
Pantheon was displeased.
They were possessed of an intellect that far outpaced the vast tides of their fellow Grimm and had been given a rare gift among their species; the capacity to plan and imagine and this was not the conquering of the Kingdoms that they had foreseen.
Upon bringing their Queen back into the physical realm Pantheon had expected that she would lead the Grimm on the greatest hunt in the memory of the Hive-Mind and that they would serve as her bloody right hand as hordes of monsters tore down everything that stood in defiance of them. Instead Pantheon had been consigned to acting as little more than a guard dog whilst their Queen slept, a city filled with untold thousands of warm bodies being worried and harassed but never outright destroyed all whilst the Spawning Pits that they had brought into the fold stood idle and seemingly forgotten with no part to play in the great plan and Grimm from the burgeoning Spawning Pits beneath the city and the monstrous spires around it were destroyed by the score, if not the hundred every time their enemies attacked.
It was as if Salem was simply in uninterested in being the Queen of the Grimm.
"No" Pantheon growled, shaking their savage skull as they dispelled the uncomfortable idea.
Salem was their Queen and that was an immutable and unchanging reality, no matter how senseless the constant loss of the Creatures of Grimm for nothing in return seemed to them and no matter how it seemed that Salem regarded her subjects, her children as little more than cannon fodder and tools to be destroyed and discarded at will. Pantheon forced their mind to be quiet and still; Salem hadn't deigned to explain the intricacies of her great work to them and the sentient monster simply forced themselves to believe that the sacrifices would be revealed to be worth the cost in the end.
But no matter how hard they struggled to ignore it, the doubts had taken root.
Beyond New Vale's Northern border, on the opposite side of the capital city to where Pantheon was currently overwhelming a team of Vaccuan Hunters, Gangrel Slate and Blake Belladonna were returning to the small encampment that Kataigida Nikos and her honour guard had established in the woods overlooking a major thoroughfare into the city where the tribal leader was waiting for them alongside Yang, Weiss and Adam.
"Anything?" Weiss asked the hope in her voice far outweighed by her caution
"Scrap metal" Gangrel replied with a sigh; he and Blake had acted as a scouting and recovery party to see if anything could be salvaged from the remains of their transport, however upon reaching Salem's embargo around New Vale they had found only a crater filled with a blackened mass of twisted metal in its' centre where the majority of the craft had fallen with other debris littering the scorched ground around it.
There were a few moments of silence, the supplied aboard the craft had been limited to say the least and their loss was not something that would spell disastrous though it was still disappointing; eventually Gangrel took notice of the sudden absence of many of the Nikosi tents and the vehicles belonging to the civilians that they had rescued days earlier, tire tracks leading towards the road giving some indication of their destination.
"Someone finally took the offer?" he asked
"Indeed" Kataigida gave a derisive snort "I hadn't known that the Kingdoms were filled with so many cowards who would abandon their own"
Adam gave a mocking snort at that, some comment about the Kingdoms' willingness to subjugate or discard their own people clearly on the tip of his tongue whilst the rest of the group remained silent, as much as they disliked the idea none of them could dispute Kataigida's assertions with the evidence so clearly in front of them.
"We finally managed to convince one of your settlements to shelter the stranded" she continued "On the condition that my warriors bolster their own defences….It seems that even on Vytal you know that a dozen Nikosi is more than a match for the Creatures of Grimm"
Before the conversation could go any further Gangrel felt his Scroll vibrate in his pocket and quickly produced it and spoke out to the rest of the group as he saw the identity of the caller.
"Video call from Goodwitch" with that he made himself comfortable around the remains of a campfire, Weiss beside him in an instant with the others close behind; this was not a scheduled call and as such left each of them concerned. Accepting the call revealed the Headmistress, sat in her office and wearing her usual stoic and inscrutable expression which betrayed nothing beyond simple tiredness evidenced by the dark rings around her eyes.
"Professor" Yang spoke up, swallowing as she asked "Is something wrong? Are the kids-"
"Corvid is no longer one of my students but I have no reason to believe that she's in any harm, I can assure you that Felix is well" Glynda answered, her tone just a little softer than its' usual brisk bluntness
"Something's happened" Blake noted pointedly, an observation which Glynda confirmed with a nod before speaking again.
"Indeed, there have been developments….the matter is still conjecture but it felt right to inform you" she let out a slow breath and focused on Gangrel and Weiss "It's been brought to my attention that Hellion Eudialyte of Team GORE has been subject to some unknown phenomena that she believes allows her to track the location of Eagle Arc, wherever she may be. A little over an hour ago Miss Eudialyte was aiding Qrow in his classes when she suffered what appeared to be a seizure, since awakening she has stated that she experienced a vision of sorts and that she clearly saw Eagle attempting to make her way back to us-"
"Was Arctus with her?" Weiss demanded
"Hellion was unable to say, she states that there may have been other figures present but her….experience such as it was centred around Miss Arc" there was a deathly silence around the camp, tension hanging heavy in the air until Gangrel finally spoke up
"And do you believe her?" he asked, desperation beginning to creep into his voice "Do you believe that Hellion saw what she thinks she saw?"
"I don't know" Glynda admitted "Nothing about this entire situation is like anything we've dealt before….but I hope so"
"What about Bronzewing's project?" the Bear Faunus asked, voice cracking as he forced his emotions aside and focused on practical matters
"He believes that if successful it will serve not only as a treatment for the Botfly Grimm infection but also as a weapon that will, at the very least create enough of an opening in the spires for you to enter the city; though he hopes it will be enough to destroy them entirely" Goodwitch answered "Thus far only the weaponised variation of the weapon has been tested, it's shown promise under very strict laboratory conditions….However Professor Bronzewing is eager to field test his project"
"Keep us posted" Gangrel answered bluntly, giving Glynda the distinct air of being dismissed and a moment later the call had ended, the Scroll slipping from his hand as it fell limply to his side
"He's out there Gang" Weiss assured him as she squeezed his hand tightly, the tears in her eyes doing nothing to lessen the sheer defiance of her expression "Our son is out there somewhere, he's with Eagle Arc and they're trying to come home"
"And when Antonia finds out she'll put all of Poly-Techs' resources behind this" Yang noted with a grin "She'll find a way to pave a road to wherever they are" she trailed off as Gangrel simply pulled Weiss close and held her tightly, trying to share the hope she clung onto.
"He's out there" Blake added, gently placing a hand on the shoulder of the man who was her brother in every way that mattered.
"Of course he is" Adam's low, smooth tones caused all eyes to turn to him and the scarred, crimson-haired Faunus let out a chuckle as he continued
"Nothing about this situation is sane or should even be considered possible, but your son is the child of a Schnee and a former White Fang officer; why should what's possible matter to him….mark my words if the boy half as persistent as he should be we won't have to worry about saving him; he'll save us all before this is over"
Gangrel and Weiss shared a glance and silently agreed to never discuss the fact that Adam Taurus had managed to give them the most reassuring outlook on the situation of anyone present.
Upon having rushed the unconscious and bleeding form of Hellion Eudialyte escorted to the academies' medical facilities, his mechanical chair striding alongside the paramedics who carried her stretcher and injected syringes filled with Aura stimulants into her body Qrow's first action had been to contact the remaining members of Team GORE, Carcharodon and Onyx had all but rampaged their way into the room mere minutes later to find the Dragonfly Faunus dazed, disoriented and exhausted but ultimately awake and coherent at which point she had recounted what she had seen in as much detail as possible whilst clearly torn between sheer joy and relief at the fact that Eagle was still alive and utter heartbreak at being unable to reach her before whatever attempt to return the blonde was making had failed. From there Qrow had relayed the information to Glynda, the Headmistress daring to be no more than cautiously optimistic despite his steadfast belief in what Hellion claimed to have seen; she had however promised to make both Antonia Arc and Arctus Slate's parents aware of this development whilst Qrow himself intended to contact the head of Shade Academy, knowing that the school held the most vast and ancient library in all of Remnant and hoping that amongst the untold thousands of secret and prescribed tomes it held there would be some memoir written by a Wizard before Ozpin who had used their powers in the same way Salem had and that it might point him in the right direction.
Before he could do that there had been another task he needed to undertake.
"You're sure?" Felix croaked out as he and Diamond sat on a now rarely used sofa in Qrow's apartment, his great uncle positioned before him wearing a look of determination on his face after explaining what had happened; the two of them having already known about Hellion's collapse as the gossip had quickly made its' way around the academy.
"I'm sure" Qrow nodded "I know it's crazy but so is everything else right now, I know I sound like a desperate old man, clutching at straws-"
"I didn't say that" Felix interrupted
"You didn't have to" Qrow countered "Because that's exactly what I am, I want my daughter back….But you didn't see Hellion collapse, I did. Something hijacked her Semblance and drained her Aura, that's not her struggling with loss, that's not a breakdown; that happened and it's a physical thing we can point to. So yeah Fluffy, Eagle's still out there and we can't give up on her because she hasn't given up on us"
"I-That's" Felix struggled to find the words to express the sheer relief that passed through him, it felt as though a crushing weight had been removed from his shoulders and he could relax and breathe easily for the first time since he had been dragged free of the rubble following Team FADE's bout with Salem herself whilst at the same time he felt refreshed and filled with a fresh drive and determination.
Ultimately he realised that no words would suffice and simply gave into a fit of ecstatic laughter which filled the apartment until he saw that Diamond was silent, her cherry red eyes hard
"Dee?"
"Hellion didn't see Arctus?" her question pierced through the atmosphere like a dagger and the Lion Faunus felt his stomach clench as Qrow shook his head
"It doesn't mean anything"
"How can is possibly not-"
"Because Hellion didn't make out anything other than Eagle clearly….I don't think she could even if she wanted to" the veteran Huntsman explained simply, taking a moment to collect himself before continuing
"This is all just theories at the moment, but Hellion has used her Semblance on Eagle whilst she's in her avian form before; whatever happened earlier affected Hellion's Semblance….I think this connection exists between the two of them and nobody else. You haven't felt any pull to Arctus have you?"
"No but-"
"He's still out there. Simple as that" Felix ground out silencing both Diamond and Qrow
"Firstly, Arctus promised to spend the rest of his life with you and not even Salem herself is gonna stop him doing just that" he continued and Diamond couldn't help but feel some sudden warmth in her chest despite how flimsy the logic seemed, Felix wasn't finished however and added "Secondly does anyone in this room really think Eagle would leave someone behind?"
There was no counterpoint to be offered to that.
"I do believe that they're out there….believing that is the only thing that's keeping me going; it's just hard. I don't want to dare to hope too much 'cos I don't think I can take if we're wrong" Diamond admitted
"I get that" Felix admitted "But if they're out there then they're trying to get back, what else would they be doing?" Diamond nodded at that and took a deep breath before asking.
"So what do we do now?"
"The only thing we can do" Qrow grunted "Hold the line here and hit back at Salem at the first chance we get; whatever happens she's at the centre of it all and that's where the answers are gonna be"
"Keep us posted" Diamond nodded as she rose to her feet and made her way from the door, she needed to think, to talk to her parents, and frankly to cheer from the rooftops at receiving some concrete proof that her fiancée and one of her best friends were safe.
It had been hours since Oscar's failed attempt to open a portal spanning space, time and the fabric of reality itself between this Remnant and the one that Arctus and Eagle called home.
Eagle had fortunately been convinced to sleep off the fatigue and physical toll that the experience had taken on her, though Arctus had seen the heartbroken expression she wore and knew that the next few days would almost certainly be painful for all of them.
Arctus himself had made his way to one of the taller buildings that formed the Resistance outposts' perimeter; an apartment whose upper floors and roof served as a watchtower with the several hole blasted through its' surface and empty windows serving as gun emplacements which swept over the maze of barricades below. Once one the roof the Faunus had relieved the guard currently on watch there and taken up the post himself in search for the peace and quiet he needed to process the maelstrom of emotions he had been left with after having hope so cruelly snatched away from him.
"I'm coming home Dee, I promise" he whispered, voice cracking and eyes screwing shut as he pressed his lips to his engagement ring; in his mind the promise was more than mere words and the days events had reaffirmed exactly what was important to him, whilst he wanted to help his Uncle Squish and Jade whom he would forever think of as his sister in their struggle against the White Fang his true goal was to leave this blasted hell-scape behind and return to his friends, family and fiancée.
He was distracted from his thoughts by a throat clearing behind him
"Jade was worried about you, she asked me to come and talk to you" Arctus had already refused company from the young Reindeer Faunus herself as well as from both Squish and Neon and now, wiping his eyes as he turned around he saw that he was joined by Oscar Pine himself, the Wizard leaning on a cane in his left hand despite being a young and seemingly fit man in his mid twenties which, in addition to his white hair gave him the appearance of being far older than he truly was.
"I mean there's not really much to say is there"
"No I suppose there isn't" Oscar admitted sadly "But do you mind if I sit? Those stairs are unpleasant" Arctus nodded silently and gestured to the empty space next to himself as he turned his attention back to the wasteland of Old Vale beyond the outpost. A moment later Arctus heard and felt the Wizard making himself comfortable beside him before he spoke again
"For what it's worth Arctus I'm sorry but I refuse to risk your friends' life like that again….I'll continue to look for another way though; I will do everything in my power to see that you return home"
"Thank you….for both, I wouldn't ask you to risk Eagle like that" Arctus answered, the idea of losing one of his best friends something that made him distinctly uncomfortable. The two of them settled into a peaceful silence as they surveyed the seen below them whilst the sun slowly reached its' zenith overhead until Arctus spoke up once again as a thought occurred to him.
"Where does everybody live now?" he asked cautiously "I mean if the White Fang have Atlas and Vaccuo where are all the humans from those Kingdoms, or the Faunus that didn't join and everyone from Vale?….This can't be it"
"The war was catastrophic Arctus, it still is and the amount of lives that we've lost cannot be overstated" Oscar began, a distant look in his eye for a moment before he shook his head and continued "But you're right, there are other Resistance outposts across Vytal, many of them in the Vaccuan territories as well as a sizeable population on Patch. There are groups that I suppose we'll eventually come to consider nomad tribes that have moved out into the Jagged Mountains and the badlands between Vale and Vaccuo and managed to avoid the Grimm for far longer than anyone expected; there are some other groups in the ruins that aren't affiliated with the resistance effort as well, scavengers and bandits who watched too many movies before the fall mostly….Most of us are on Anima though; Mistral as it was no longer exists, the Kingdom, the refugees and the tribes are one people the new Council there is the real leadership of the Allied Remnant Resistance despite whatever anyone thinks of me"
"But you're the one who beat Salem though" Arctus murmured, both pleased that this timeline wasn't as utterly bleak and barren as it had first seemed yet at the same time still struggling to comprehend the sheer scale of the destruction that had been wrought here and would continue to be wrought until Caliginous Null and those like him could be stopped.
"That I did….But we don't decide our governments with a trial by combat, however much that might improve things. Besides I'm just a farm boy from Mistral" Arctus allowed himself a small grin at that comment which he noted sounded very much like something that his father might say, the silence between them was brief as another thought occurred to Arctus.
"How did you do that?" he asked "Beat Salem I mean, where I'm from it was a joint effort between you and Ruby Rose; separating her from the Grimm Hive-Mind"
"Painfully….very painfully" Oscar breathed out, removing the leather gauntlet from his right hand to reveal a disturbing sight; the flesh of his hand and forearm had been burned and seared away to reveal blackened bones and raw, bloody red tendons and ragged meat. Once Arctus had overcome his initial revulsion he realised that the injury was very reminiscent to the necrotic state of Ozymandias Eldritch's body as he had used the Wizard's power to keep himself alive after having part of his skull removed.
"Salem's castle allowed her to create bodies as fast as I could destroy them" the Wizard continued "But I saw that every single one of her bodies was built around a heart made of solid, ancient and fossilised Grimm, like a big crystal of the stuff….I managed to pull that heart out and destroy it and separate her consciousness from the Hive-Mind; nearly lost my arm in the process but I did it. Her fortress is still on Menagerie but it's empty, it's why I was so concerned about Salem returning here"
"Damn" Arctus murmured softly
"I take it I wasn't quite so….bad-ass in your timeline?" Oscar chuckled
"In my Remnant you and my Uncle Whitley had cute teenage crushes on each other"
"Really now?" the Wizard laughed "Now that sounds interesting, tell me all about it"
Night had fallen over New Vale and with it Yang Branwen had skulked from the darkness of Salem's domain below the city in search of fresh blood to spill and fresh Semblances to add to her collection of stolen souls and powers.
Prowling through the streets and using the guise of a police officer by using the Semblance of Neo Politan she had stalked the city in search of an opponent only to find its' lowest and formerly crime ridden depths vacant and silent as the lock-down and curfew of the city were enforced with diligence by both the authorities, police and Hunter alike and the once powerful criminal element with former members of both the Black Bear Syndicate and Torchwick Crew keeping a watchful eye over the lower levels of the Hive-Towers from the safety of their own homes and keeping the last remnants of their gutted and crippled gangs off of the streets for fear of things far worse than the law.
Eventually the Chimera had grown irate and used Neo's Semblance to make herself appear dishevelled and homeless before approaching one of the many anti-Grimm shelters that were now housing any who had been displaced by the recent catastrophes with the intention of butchering the Hunters stationed there as guards, only to left surprised by the fact that they had been seemingly waiting for her.
Upon her arrival a pair of Hunters had begun questioning her and asking for details that would confirm her story about being a resident of one of the now evacuated Hive-Towers, explaining this seemingly paranoid overzealousness by stating that Hunters had been attacked of late before asking for a fingerprint, specifically from Yang Branwen's right hand.
Which she had naturally responded to with a quip about her hand being forced before dropping all pretence and attacking the Hunters.
The fight had been swift and brutal, with both Hunters being left either dead or dying within a matter of moments with ease. The Chimera had been disappointed to learn over the course of the brief skirmish that neither Hunter possessed a Semblance she was particularly interested in acquiring and then thoroughly enraged as a rapid response to her attack made its' presence known, several patrol cars and armoured troop carries screeching through the streets and forcing Yang to flee, racing through the complex web of streets, bridges and various levels of the Hive City with gunfire ripping through the ground at her feet and causing her Aura to ripple around her; a high calibre machine-gun tearing several wounds into her back, chest and shoulder and spilling her blood across the street before she finally slipped away and made her way back into the sewers which she used as an entrance point into the power grid and then Salem's domain as a whole; which the authorities had clearly been warned not to venture into for any reason.
All of which was why Yang Branwen was currently slumped against a wall which was covered with thick and pulsating tendrils of Grimm matter, blood tricking down her chin which each ragged and pained gasp for breath as she forced herself to focus and push her bloodlust and fury aside for long enough to use the Semblance she had taken from Raffia Dirge.
It was exactly as excruciatingly painful as she had expected it to be.
Her still recovering Aura rippled around her like some viscous, sludge-like liquid rather than its' usual raging golden inferno as her flesh was stitched together at an impossibly accelerated rate and the bones that had been cracked and broken by the projectiles that had ripped through her were fused together once more. Her body convulsed and her eyes rolled back as she fought to keep her self from losing consciousness as every part of her screamed in process before finally the pain vanished, pulling back like a receding tide with simple fatigue rushing in to fill the void that it left behind.
She managed a single shuddering breath before leaning forward a mouthful of deep crimson blood which she supposed had flooded a punctured lung, though what concerned her more was the swirling black substance within the congealed gore that revealed itself to be Grimm matter as it began to fade away.
The Chimera was instantly filled with a deep, chilling sense of dread yet found it pushed aside as her right arm, comprised entirely of Grimm tissue began to throb and pulsate with a familiar aching sensation whose presence she had sorely missed. Leaping to to her feet and sprinting through the Grimm-infested narrow walkways and corridors that lay beneath the city on still trembling legs that she forced to cooperate through sheer force of will she found herself at her destination within a matter of minutes, though was aggravated to learn that Pantheon had arrived before her. The two of them taking their places as the foot of the raised dais upon which a chitinous throne sat.
Salem had reawakened.
"I sense that my spires remain in place, the Kingdoms have been unable to interfere with my plans" she cooed, her low voice tinged with amusement as her fingers drummed against the arm of her throne
"Good, New Vale will soon be the first Kingdom to be cast into the abyss" she expression morphed into a truly evil smile "Tell me, what have I missed?"
Authors Notes:
And boom another chapter down, this one is the actual mid-point of the volume.
That being said the big volume finale battle is gonna span three chapters on its' own so expect the groundwork I've been laying to be properly revealed and for things to start accelerating very quickly over the next few chapters.
That being said, let's summarise shall we?
Yeah it's not really "Old Vale" if New Vale doesn't exist here.
Their in an alternate universe….I had to work a coffee shop somewhere so I could make a "Coffee shop AU" joke, even if it is entirely with myself.
The Farmer and the Spring Maiden having a kinda sibling/cool uncle type relationship is nice.
Okay my whole thing about the future not being built yet, that's just my personal reasoning for why nobody ever comes back from the future once travel back in time has been established; it's not a fixed point and also the different ways that each event could play out are what creates the multiverse.
Eagle just saw over ten years of history in the space of a few seconds….fun fact the starting point of that journey from time would actually have been right around the same time as "Our Happy Ever After".
Oh come on you didn't really think it was gonna be that simple did you?
Qrow and Hellion getting on great is important to me, also the universe this story exists within was started before we got the reveal of Qrow's backstory so Qrow isn't from a tribe here but you can take his support of Hellion as a nod to it if you want.
Team SNST who have been saying "Notice me Senpai" ever since Carcharodon stomped them out two years ago.
Honestly older students helping out in lessons like that is something we should have seen more of in canon….hell we should have just seen more of the training in canon.
And now everyone in the main timeline knows.
So the problem was using Hellion and Eagle as anchor points to create a portal through time and space; they just can't handle the strain being placed on them….they're gonna need something bigger to anchor onto.
I was actually struggling with how to start this scene until the idea of using it as a chance to do a little world building and showing how the rest of Remnant has reacted to the embargo of New Vale; the idea of the criminal hell-scape that is Vaccuo being the ones to lend the most aid just felt oddly right to me.
But nope, happy-go-lucky newbies who don't what's going on aren't gonna be saving the day; add four more to Pantheon's body count.
Pantheon wanted a conqueror Queen to follow, instead they got Machiavellian scheming and frankly, they aren't here for it.
Pantheon is having doubts; this is gonna become very important later on.
So the Nikosi warriors are gone, meaning that when "Something" happens it's gonna be _WBY, Gang, Adam and Kataigida dealing with it.
A field test of Bronzewing's new toy….that should be interesting.
Antonia Arc will definitely be pulling all nighters on this.
"He'll save us all before this is over" Adam just casually foreshadowing.
Qrow's right, Hellion having a feeling can be dismissed, something body-snatching Hellion can't be.
And now the people in the main timeline are on the same page as the people where Arctus and Eagle (Adam's timeline) are in regards to the connection between Eagle and Hellion.
Felix made two very solid arguments back to back.
Oh yeah, it's gonna be a hard couple days for Eagle.
Fun little bit of world building and exposition from Oscar because there's no way the White Fang killed everybody and the resistance bases don't have enough people to be everyone that's left.
Patch remains, if you wanna imagine Tai and a one-armed Yang running it I won't stop you.
The Monty Python quote about systems of Government, y'know the one.
Oscar's right arm is like Oz's face, basically dead but being kept attached by the Wizards' power.
Salem has a solid Grimm-Fossil heart here too, Pantheon gave it to her; and now Arctus knows how to stop her without a Silver Eyed Warrior….Adam wasn't wrong.
The Chimera really is a monster.
But the Hunters aren't stupid, they know that there's someone going around targeting them and they've also been tipped off that no matter what Semblances she's stolen her right hand isn't real.
I mean they still died, but they at least stalled for time long enough to call for enough help to scare Yang off, just in-case she decided to break into the shelter.
Raffia's Semblance continues to cause her pain and now she actually coughed up part of the Grimm matter that's filling her body….could have been blown loose when she got shot up, but I think we all know better than that don't we.
And now Salem's back….meaning that the chapter both started and ended with a reawakening, and now the plot can move forward; it's gonna get fun.
Thank you to SumoSnipe and Funlander for their reviews on the last chapter.
Woo-hoo, my kneecaps are secure.
Yeah but they can always build another one, the Atlas war machine has more money than god and all the sense of Wile E. Coyote as well as a naturally occurring threat so big that they don't even need to spend money on propaganda.
God damn it, I wish I'd actually used the Vol.5 "No, I'm angry" quote now….fuck.
Batman, the Crow, edgy fourteen year old; it's all good.
I'm not gonna lie I don't know who Count Ruban is and Google was not helpful.
The gays almost found each other, have faith in me here….let the drama simmer for a while.
Well I received a whole one response in regards to starting another spin-off story involving Athena-Jade and it was in favour; so statistically it's a 100% approval rating.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review