Yep, last chapter generated about what I expected. I do know a lot of people are upset, and the worst part is that I really can't say anything to those people without revealing spoilers. As such, all I'll say is make your own decision. I've had some people threaten to stop reading if I don't fix the Jaune and Blake, but, well, that's your call.

Hey, for some I might even suggest taking a break and coming back in a few weeks. You can always let a few chapters pile up and then read them all in one go. I won't ask you to trust me, because that's your choice to make.


Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: Dishwasher1910

Book 5: Chapter 13


"Grimm?" Corvo asked, shocked. "Well, we now have ten Heroes with the two of you. I can perhaps spare some men to-"

"No, you can't," Mercury interrupted. "This isn't just some Grimm. This is an army. We're not going to need some of your men, we'll need all of them – and even then, we might not make it."

"You want my Soldiers to fight the Grimm!?"

"It's that or you all die. We'll try, but there are just too many."

"How did so many spawn? This doesn't make sense!"

My attention flicked between the two of them, my mind struggling to catch up with what was being said. Grimm, here, in such numbers? Corvo was right to be shocked. Even with the war going on, there didn't seem enough negativity to summon so many. Maybe there would have been if Magnis had been taken and sacked, but that was what the Treaty sought to prevent. The battle here had, up until now, been relatively bloodless. Was this the Greycloaks' doing? It almost certainly had to be; the timing was too perfect otherwise.

"Our only hope is to back into the pass," Emerald said. "If you can cover your flanks with the cliffs, we can at least stop the Grimm flanking us. Whether we can actually win, though…"

"That's too much of a risk," Corvo said. "How far are the Grimm from here?"

"Two hours at most, but they're headed directly here. No diversions."

"We will lift the siege and retreat, then."

That caught my attention, and not in a good way. "If you do that, they'll hit Magnis instead!"

"I understand that, but what would you have me do? I would not leave even Vale's Soldiers to die if I could help it, but if I don't move my men, they will be slaughtered. We can't hold this area. If we back into the pass, we'll be assailed from the walls of Magnis and then crushed against them."

And the pain and horror of so many deaths would no doubt summon more Grimm, creating an endless cycle until the whole area had been purged. Realistically speaking, theoretically speaking, the best bet was to leave. Magnis would fall, but at least then the slaughter would be limited.

Except that with Magnis gone, the Grimm would funnel through the pass and directly towards the city of Vale. Vale's Soldiers were all out on various campaigns on the frontlines, leaving the city with a skeleton defence.

"You could join forces with Magnis," I said.

"Join forces?" Corvo sighed. "Jaune, while I appreciate the sentiment, I doubt they would be willing to open the gates to us – especially with no evidence that what we say is true. By the time the Grimm arrive, it will already be too late. I have to make a decision within minutes." He sighed. "I will instruct the men to begin packing-"

"Cinder!"

Mercury, Emerald and Corvo's heads all snapped to mine.

"Cinder is still in Vale with Ozpin. If Magnis falls, the Grimm will go after Vale next and kill her."

"The Princess…? Why would she be in Vale?"

"It's true," Mercury confirmed with a grimace. "We can't give you the details, General, but Cinder Fall is currently in Vale, and not as a prisoner of war. If Magnis falls…"

General Corvo bit his lip. "The future Queen would fall, too."

Indecision warred within the General; that much was obvious. Duty demanded he stay but compassion for his men said otherwise. In Mistral, duty was everything.

"We will hold… to what end it takes us."

"Death," Emerald said simply. "You haven't seen how many of them there are."

Neither had I, but I trusted the two enough to believe their warnings. Up until now, we'd mostly faced small amounts of Grimm, the attack on the village in Mistral notwithstanding. Even with Emerald and Mercury, there were only ten of us, which meant best efforts or not, we wouldn't be able to spread out over the full length of the pass. There would be gaps where Grimm faced Soldiers, and that would lead onto to death.

"Let us try and speak with Magnis," I said. "We'll go ahead and try to warn them of what's happening. If we can convince them to let you into the walls, things would be a lot easier."

"They would be, and I would accept that in a moment's notice," Corvo said. "Assure them that should they co-operate, not only will I honour the rules of guest right, but I shall lift the siege afterwards – at least for a period of two weeks."

It was probably the best he could offer, even if a fortnight wasn't all that long in the grand scheme of things. As the General of an army, he couldn't promise to stop attacking entirely. He didn't have the authority.

"We'll stay here," Emerald said. "Go quickly – we don't have much time."

They needn't have told me. I fell over in my haste to rush back to the camp, caught myself and surged forward. Soldiers dove out of my way and yet more shouted questions that I ignored. Panic wasn't needed now. Action was. I reached our camp in less than a minute. Blake was there. She saw me and turned to leave but I caught her elbow before she could.

"Jaune, not now-" she said through gritted teeth.

"Grimm," I panted, and Blake's anger evaporated. Professional calm returned.

"Where?"

"Out there – hundreds, maybe more. Two hours." I shook my head. "Wake everyone up. I don't want to have to explain this twice and we need to get to Magnis." I released her and jogged a few paces back. "I'll get our horses ready; tell everyone to meet me at the corrals."

My only answer was Blake shouting out as she ran to the tents, awakening the others. I left her to it, rushing over to the nearby area set aside for the horses. Several men there helped me collect ours, sensing my panic and realising something was wrong. In the distance, I heard General Corvo shouting for his men to gather and listen. The encampment was a buzz of activity and I wondered if those on Magnis could tell something was happening. Hopefully, they wouldn't think it the attack.

The Hunter's Guild met me not a few minutes later. They were bedraggled, tired and confused, but had all come nonetheless with Blake in the lead.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked, hair sticking out at odd angles. "Blake mentioned Grimm."

I explained as best I could. Their expressions became increasingly alarmed as the story went on, but quickly settled into determined ones. Not calm, never calm, but the kind of firm certainty that we had to do something - that we had a job to do.

"You want to convince Magnis to take the Mistral forces in?" Ren asked. "It's the logical choice, but I'm not sure that will apply here. Logic and war don't often go hand in hand."

"We have to try, though," Pyrrha said. "If it's the difference between death and survival, then no matter how low the odds, we must still make the attempt. It's our duty to do no less."

"We do know Grey in the walls," Yang offered. "He might believe us."

"If the assassination of Lord Roux hasn't turned the whole city against us," Weiss warned.

"Well nothing is going to happen while we sit here waiting," Ruby cried, leaping up onto her horse. "What are we wasting time for?"

As one, we all mounted. Faith bucked her head, sensing my panic and responding to it with an agitated back step. I nudged my heels into her flank, steering her on, and luckily, she chose to follow Ruby's mount instead of dashing in a random direction.

Like a herd of wild animals, we cantered toward the walls of Magnis, away from the Mistral encampment. It was still dark, being the early hours of the morning, and though I couldn't make out details on the walls, numerous torches held by defenders were visible.

"Do you think they can see us?" Nora asked. "What if they try to shoot us?"

"The flag. Wave the flag."

Yang nodded and reached down to her saddlebags, where the long pole was still attached. She unfurled it quickly and waved it in the air, letting the fabric fall out and revealed the gold on green of Vale's Heroes. The dark colour of the green didn't stand out, but I hoped the gold would.

"Weiss, can you give me a little light?"

"Sure. Hold onto it," the Mage replied. The top part of the flag pole burst aflame, not quite burning the fabric itself but illuminating it brightly and making our approach all the more obvious. Now trailing fire behind us, our approach was impossible to miss.

I just hoped our reception would be as warm.

/-/

Grey Sullivan, Commander of Magnis, leaned back in his seat. "An army of Grimm marching here…? You're sure of this?"

"As sure as we can be," Weiss said, speaking for me once more. "We didn't see it ourselves but a pair of Heroes from Mistral did."

"What reason do we have to trust them?" one of Grey's men asked. "They're likely working with Mistral to make us lower our guard. They want us to open the gates and let them in, and wham, they'll turn on us immediately."

Weiss crossed her arms. "The Treaty forbids that."

"I don't doubt the treaty, I doubt them! They're invaders and fanatics. What do they care about honour and respect? Sir, this is a trap," he said, rounding on Grey. "I say let them rot out there. Time will tell if they're telling the truth or not."

"And if they are?" I asked, interrupting.

"Then the Grimm will deal with them. Far as I'm concerned, that's not a bad outcome."

"You'd condemn thousands of people to death?"

"No, but I'd condemn a thousand Mistral Soldiers to it. They're not people."

"How dare you!" Pyrrha cried, stepping forward. Ren and Nora held her back, but it didn't stop her anger. "Mistral may be the ones invading, but they're still willing to put that aside to deal with the Grimm. How can you suggest you're not? If they fall, you, too, will be killed!"

"You'd ask us to put our faith in Mistral, then? Nonsense. My faith belongs-"

"Enough," Grey snapped, silencing the man. "This is not a matter for Soldiers to decide. Would that Lord Roux were here, for he would know what to do. You say that General Corvo promises there will be no violence? He said that?"

"He did," I confirmed. "He promised that they'd leave once it was over, and that he'd lift the siege for two weeks."

"A blatant falsehood."

"I said enough." Grey snapped a hand out, dismissing the man. The Soldier scowled but bowed and backed away, closing the door behind him. That left Grey with just the eight of us and looking at least twice his age. "Things have not been calm here since you left, I'm afraid. Although I hoped to keep Lord Roux's death concealed from the people to avoid a panic, they found out within hours. I'm not the statesman he was, and it feels like my decisions have led to disaster after disaster. This is just one more example."

"Did the Greycloaks attack again?" Ren asked.

"Not that we know of, but there have been… disturbances. Food going missing right under the noses of some of my most trusted men, alongside graffiti that claims I had a hand in Roux's death. Even the fact news got out so quickly hints at this being orchestrated. I fear they are trying to remove me from command, though why they don't simply kill me, I'm not so sure."

The calm way he said it was worrying, though with Neo around it was probably accurate. I was reminded of Corvo, who had somehow been able to stand up to Torchwick. Whether Grey was weaker or Neo just more efficient, the same obviously couldn't be said for Magnis.

But that wasn't important right now. "Whatever the Greycloaks have planned has to wait," I said. "The Mistral army are going to come here to make their final stand. You can let them in the walls and fight with them, giving us all a better chance for survival or you can keep them out and condemn them to death."

"Which will spawn more Grimm," Ruby added. "Reducing casualties is needed to stop more appearing. We need the walls."

"It's not so simple. My decisions have been questioned at every quarter. To let the invaders into our city? I fear this may be a decision too far for many."

"Yeah, well it won't be an issue if you refuse," Yang said. "On account of how we'll all be dead."

"Do you think I don't understand the importance of this?"

"Oh, I do. I just think you're afraid. You're afraid of people questioning you, or of it not being taken well. You're not afraid of Mistral taking over, because you don't think that'll happen." Yang's words proved true when the man refused to meet her eyes.

"I am not cut out to be the leader of Magnis…"

"Maybe not, but you're the one here," I said. I kept my voice soft, not wanting to pile on any more pressure than Yang already had. "No one's asking you to be the next Lord Roux, but right now we need a fast decision – and a definite one."

"It'll be unpopular, so it might need Soldiers to enforce it," Ren added. "But sometimes you have to go against the crowd. A leader can't just make the easy decisions. Sometimes they need to take a risk."

Wisdom I wished I'd known before. How many times had I tried to satisfy everyone and ended up satisfying no one? I'd not been ready to be a leader either, and in a way I wasn't, but that didn't change the fact I'd held back at times, afraid to be called out on a bad choice.

"The people will rebel…"

"Then… maybe that rebellion will have to be quashed."

Ruby gasped and turned on me. "Jaune!?"

"I'm not saying violently," I said, even when I knew I hadn't not said it, either. "But this is a decision you have to make. If you don't, Mistral loses an army, we all die, and then the Grimm have a direct route through to Vale. If people want to go against it because they hate Mistral, then so be it. But those self-same people shouldn't have say in what is decided. They don't know all the details and they're acting on emotion and anger. Isn't the whole point of a leader that they rise above that and make the best decision for everyone, not just what's popular?"

Or what they want. Another mistake I'd made. I'd wanted the attack to stop, so I sabotaged the siege towers, with no thoughts as to what might be best for the Guild. I'd also roped everyone into that Guild War against the TRE, which ended in success, but only because Glynda and Tsune had saved our lives at the last second.

By all rights, we'd been dead until they arrived – and the only reason we were there was because I'd wanted personal revenge on Torchwick. There were other options; I'd just been too blind to seek them out.

"Be the better leader," I begged of Grey. "Do what you feel you have to, not what people want."

The Commander pinched the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb.

"I will open the gates."

"You will do no such thing, sir." The doors to the chamber burst open and several men spilled in, some of them soldiers, others members of the Noble Caste. The one at their lead was one I recognised, the Scribe that had accused Blake of being responsible for Roux's murder before. He led the party, beside him the soldier Grey had dismissed only moments ago. All in all, there were at least thirty people, at least twenty-five of them Soldier Class.

"Your input is not needed here, Seneschal," Grey said with a sigh. "Matters of military concern are not yours."

"No, but matters of the city are and you are daring to allow armed invaders into our walls, and on what, the fanciful promise that an army of Grimm is on the way? Don't make me laugh. The walls of Magnis have held for over four hundred years. They will hold here, as well."

"They'll hold better with Soldiers manning them," Weiss said. "No matter their allegiance."

"Stay out of this, Heroes. While we appreciate your concern, this is a matter for Magnis and Magnis alone."

"Actually, since there are Grimm involved, I believe it is our business," Ren said.

"Then you can discuss it with the new Commander of Magnis."

Grey stood. "What? You would dare!?"

"We would. Men, arrest Grey Sullivan immediately." The Seneschal smiled cruelly to us. "We shall meet with you in time, Heroes, but if you truly wish to fight the Grimm, you might want to leave and do so with Mistral's troops. Magnis' gates shall remain closed."

The Soldiers moved towards Grey.

My hand fell to Crocea Mors.

But my eyes strayed to Blake, in time to find her watching me, judging me.

The situation wasn't so dissimilar, was it? People in danger, greed, corruption, grief or something else getting in the way, and my temper to top it all off, telling me that the best way to fix the current injustice was to hit it in the face and damn the consequences. I'd traded the woman I loved for a chance to cut the siege a day late and save some prisoners. Was I now going to do the same with someone else by having us start a fight in the middle of Magnis?

No. I let my hand fall away. Instead, I marched forward to stand between Grey and the Soldiers coming for his arrest.

"The Grimm are coming to destroy Magnis," I said. "Once they're done here, they'll go on to Vale – killing every man, woman and child they see. Out there, in front of this fortress, is an army that can fight them back, but only if they have your help. Are you really going to let the colour of their armour determine whether you help them or not?"

The Soldiers hesitated and traded looks between them.

"That's a nice speech and all," the Seneschal said, "but the protection of Magnis and its people come first. Heroes cannot intervene in situations like this and even doing this much could be considered tantamount to threatening the Grand Treaty. You're using your influence to force us to take Mistral into our walls, putting our people in danger. That is a clear violation."

"Not if it's to stop the Grimm," Ruby pointed out.

"Grimm which have by all standards refused to materialise. Should they arrive, we will reconsider."

"It will be too late by then," Blake said, "but I think you're aware of that. I think you're counting on it to kill all those people outside, even if it means the doom of the people you're supposed to protect."

"I don't need an assassin to lecture me on morality."

It wasn't working. We could take out the guards here and capture the Seneschal, giving Grey back command, but yet again that would mean me not only breaking the Treaty, but forcing everyone else to, as well. Even assuming Ozpin spoke out on our behalf and forgave us for it, that kind of stigma would follow us forever. And it would weigh on some of them, Blake, Pyrrha and Weiss in particular.

No more leaping into things without thinking them through. There has to be another option. Some way out of this that doesn't involve breaking the Treaty. We couldn't get involved in this matter because it was an internal military matter, or one between the Soldier and Noble Caste. We didn't have the authority and the only one who would was—Wait, that was it.

"We lied about the scrolls before," I said.

The Seneschal froze. "What?"

"The scrolls that you tried to look at before. We gave you fake ones because our Quest was too important to be known. Even with Roux dead, the Quest was our main priority. And it was not just to stay here and kill any Grimm which spawned."

The Soldiers began to whisper and murmur between themselves, while the Nobles looked suddenly nervous. The one in charge, the Scribe, narrowed his eyes. "What is your point, Knight?"

"Ren, the scrolls."

Ren nodded and moved over, revealing both from within his clothing and placing them in my hands. "I hope you know what you're doing," he whispered.

But even with that doubt, he backed away, trusting me.

I hoped I knew, too.

Both were about equal in weight, but one was marked with the symbol of Mistral, and the other of Vale. I uncorked Mistral's drew out the parchment a little to show it, and then tossed it to the nearest Soldier, one of those moving to arrest Grey. "Read it," I said as he caught it. "Read it out loud so that everyone can hear."

The man looked at it nervously, but finding that nothing bad happened, drew it out and unrolled it. The Seneschal moved to try and take it off him, but I angled my body in such a way as to make it clear I'd intervene if he did. He stopped with a frown.

The Soldier spoke, "The bearer of this scroll has all rights to and from the camp of Mistral, led under Lord General Corvo, and also retains the right to order the immediate arrest and dismissal of General Corvo – or any under his command - as per the bearer's judgment!" The last bit was read in an increasingly high-pitched voice. The shock among the Soldiers was audible. "This right is to be carried out on behalf of the bearers by any and all Soldiers of Mistral it is presented to, by divine order of the Crown Princess and Future God-Queen of Mistral, Cinder Fall. This… it is the royal seal of Mistral!"

The proclamation brought with it intense chatter as people shouted and gasped, fighting to be heard over one another. The Nobles tried to regain control, but even their faces were pale and taut. I strode forward and took the scroll from the soldier before he could do anything with it. Unrolling it, I presented the seal so that everyone in the room could see it.

"This was given to us by the Crown Princess of Mistral to support us in our true Quest – which is to investigate General Corvo of treacherously working with the Greycloaks, a terrorist organisation. That is our Quest."

The men shuffled. The Scribe spoke, "What does that have to do with us?"

"That scroll does not," I said, raising the second – and intentionally showing them the sigil of Vale on the exterior. The Nobles gasped. "This one does."

Weiss caught on and strode forward to stand beside me with an impressively condescending smirk. "Did you honestly believe that Vale would allow Magnis to fall without some intervention? We can't be tasked with investigating Mistral's army without the same being expected of your own. That was a decision with support from the royal family of Mistral. Who do you expect ordered the same for Magnis?"

"T-The King did!?"

Actually, no, but I didn't feel the need to point that out and neither did Weiss. It was a bluff on our parts since the scroll only really contained Ozpin's signature, and a request that they offer us "all the aid they felt they could", but with the explosive contents of the first, it wasn't hard to see why they would assume the second to be just as big.

They were both in similar containers, both marked the same way, and we'd kept both secret from them before, and after a clandestine meeting with both Grey Sullivan and Lord Roux. It wasn't hard for one's imagination to fill in the gaps, as incorrect as such assumptions would be.

"So, by all means, you may arrest Lord Sullivan if you wish," Weiss said, waving a hand. "But whosoever seeks to take control had best be prepared for our intervention. With the Grimm approaching, we don't have the time to waste on a thorough investigation."

"B-But the Treaty," the Scribe stammered. "It forbids you from interfering!"

"Read the missive from Mistral again," Pyrrha said. "It doesn't say we arrest the Commander. It says we can order every other Soldier to do so. We're not interfering at all."

"Of course, we can only do so against the acting commander," Blake said. "So, if you wish to depose yours, who is to be the replacement?"

The threat was obvious. No one stepped forward.

"T-This is madness," the Scribe said. "This is treason. It's against the natural order – against the very Caste System itself! You cannot act with such impunity!"

I tossed the scroll up and down. "This says otherwise."

The man snarled and turned to his fellow Nobles, hoping for support. While he had been distracted however, they'd all backed away, leaving him far out of the group and singled out for our attention. The Scribe balked and looked to the Soldiers. All had hands on weapons, but they were no longer certain who to move towards.

Following orders was one thing, but Treason? That carried harsh penalties, especially in a time of war. Death was by no means an unlikely outcome.

"Grey is in command," the Scribe finally spat. He opened his mouth to say more, no doubt a last warning or ominous insult, but shook his head and closed it with a snap. He spun on his heel and stalked away, slamming the door behind him. The soldiers remained, unsure what to do, at least until Grey strode forward.

"Well, did you not hear my previous order? Open the gates!"

"But sir, the people will never accept it."

"They'll damn well have to. If they want someone to blame, let them hate me, but they can damn well hate me after we survive this. Assuming they're alive to do so. Biggins and Simons, tell the guard to patrol the streets about the gate. I don't want to see a single civilian here heckling the Mistral forces. Roberts, take twenty men with you to open the east-facing gate. If any Soldiers there try to stop you, put them down."

"Peacefully, sir?"

"If you can. Prepare for if you can't."

"Yes sir!"

They hurried to obey, filing out and shouting orders in the corridor beyond. As they left, Grey turned to us and nodded. "Thank you. I'll do what I must, but I hope you'll stand with me when the time comes. I fear some will see what I do here as an abuse of authority."

"Vale won't," I promised, knowing Ozpin would protect him if it came to it. "But we'd be happy to. We ought to be there to welcome the Mistral army anyway."

He nodded. "I appreciate that."

We'd done it – or at least for now, we'd assured Mistral's place in Magnis. I let out a long breath I hadn't been aware I was holding. With it, the anger I'd felt before dissipated. It felt good to have not drawn my sword, to have not committed to violence, and to have not broken the Treaty. More than that, it felt good to know everyone had my back, as evidenced by their pleased smiles as they filed out after Grey. Ruby bumped into my arm as she did, winking. Even Weiss looked amused.

Blake was the last to pass me. As she did, she paused-

And nodded once.

She was gone a moment later.

"One step forward," I whispered, clutching the golden locked I still wore around my neck. Somehow, foolishly, my shoulders felt just a little bit lighter. Only the briefest of nods, and yet it was enough to make me smile. It was gone a moment later, replaced with a grim determination. There wouldn't be a future for either of us if Magnis fell.

Next step; survival.

/-/

"Mistral go home!"

"Cowards!"

"Monsters!"

"Feed 'em to the Grimm!"

Despite Grey's best efforts, a throng of people surrounded the plaza that led to the east gate, which was now open and welcoming Mistral's soldiers. Or perhaps `welcome` was too kind a term. They were greeted with heckles, jeers and even the odd rock that pelted off their armour. Soldiers in Vale livery surrounded the area, pushing the protestors back.

Mistral's men and women bore it stoically, never once stepping out of formation or deigning to shout or howl back. At the front strode General Corvo in full regalia, though he kept his swords sheathed on each hip. He removed his helmet with a flourish and approached us, or more precisely Grey, who stood flanked by us.

"General Sullivan," he greeted, hand extended. "I am General Corvo, Commander of Mistral's forces. I thank you for your mercy in these circumstances and pledge to stand beside you against the Grimm."

Grey took the hand and shook it. "I accept your offer, General Corvo. Well met. What we have, we will share. Your men are welcome here."

Several members of the crowd chose to prove Grey wrong on that front, hurling vulgar abuse at them. Grey's cheeks darkened, though whether that was with embarrassment or anger was unclear. To his credit, Corvo didn't react to it, and acted like he'd not heard at all.

"Thank you, General. I and my men are in your debt."

"You can repay it by killing Grimm with us," Grey said. "My men will show yours to where they can stay. Would you care to discuss strategy with me in the keep?"

"By all means." Corvo moved to follow Grey, but paused as he passed by me. "The Heroes from before asked me to give you this," he said, handing over an open scroll.

"They didn't come with you!?"

"The scroll explains it."

I unfurled it as the two commanders left, with Blake and Weiss following – intent on keeping an eye on them in case the Greycloaks tried anything. The rest crowded around me, looking curiously down at the parchment.

"What does it say?" Ruby asked.

"That two extra Heroes wouldn't make much of a difference," I read. "They're splitting up – one to Vale and one to the nearest Mistral army. They're going to try and bring reinforcements, both Soldiers and Heroes. They say to hold the line. That's it."

"Vale isn't too far away," Pyrrha noted. "But I don't know how fast it can mobilise its soldiers, or if it has any to spare."

"Beacon does, though," Yang said. "If Miss Goodwitch can open a portal inside the city…"

It was a good point, and also a needed bit of good news. Even if only Cinder came through, the firepower of her summon would be enough to drastically change the course of the battle. If the teachers and more students came with her, along with a force from Mistral hitting the Grimm in the rear, then this battle might yet be won. We were reliant on Emerald and Mercury for that, though.

"Let's hope they make it," I said. "We'll have to defend the walls until then, and also keep an eye out for the Greycloaks. I don't trust that Scribe and I'm not sure he'll be put off just yet."

"Blake and Weiss are keeping an eye on the commanders," Ren said, "but perhaps we should have a rotating watch. We should guard the gates, too. If traitors are in the Soldier's midst, there's a chance they may try to open them."

"And kill themselves at the same time?" Nora asked. "What would be the point?"

"What point is there in bringing Grimm to destroy a city you live in? The Greycloaks don't seem to make any sense; or rather they know something we do not. That is what makes them so unpredictable. We'll have our work cut out for us."

I let out a long sigh.

"Then we might as well start now."

/-/

Splitting the tasks between us was easy enough given our relative specialities. Between looking after the commanders, guarding the gates and watching out for the Greycloaks, I found myself stood at the battlements overlooking the plains we'd been camped in only a few hours before. Much of the camp was still there, along with the siege towers and also a paddock filled with horses. Since the Grimm tended to ignore animals, they would be safe, and I had to assume plenty of hay and oats had been put out for them. There was grass aplenty to graze on, too, and cavalry would be no use within the walls.

Magnis had calmed down once the soldiers from Mistral were out of plain sight. Oh, I was sure the people simmered, and there were no doubt angry words being exchanged over dinner tables and pints at the local inn, but the shouting had ceased once there was nothing to shout at, and the people at least kept their heads down.

It was odd how much I couldn't understand them, despite being Labour Caste myself. Was it that I'd never faced the prospect of invasion before, nor felt as helpless as they did? Or was it that I could see the bigger picture and everything involved? The latter felt likely, but also insulting. Assuming the Labour Caste were incapable of understanding the implications of a Grimm attack was really no different than calling them NPC's. Both degrees of prejudice worked on the assumption they were deficient in one way or another.

Even so, they still confused and annoyed me. It's not like we have a choice here. Mistral wants to be in her even less than they want them to be, but the Grimm don't care for allegiance or nationality. Why can't they see that?

"A lien for your thoughts?" Ruby asked.

I sighed and turned to the Reaper, who had opted to stand watch with me. Our job wasn't so much to look out for Grimm – the Soldiers did have eyes, after all – but more to prevent any sabotage. "I was just thinking about how those Labour Caste people acted down there. These Mistral Soldiers are going to be risking their lives to protect them." I gestured to several now on the walls, stood alongside Vale's own. "And yet they were treated like scum."

"Yeah…" Ruby's face fell. "I was pretty upset, too."

"Mistral have always been kind to us," I continued. "They've never shouted at us or mistrusted us, or even acted like we might have Vale's best interests in our heart other than our own. I just… it's hard to accept that our people are worse than theirs, especially when we're the ones being invaded."

"I don't think it's totally that, Jaune. We've only seen Mistral Soldiers and Heroes, remember. I bet if we met Mistral Labour Caste now, they'd not like us as much as they did before."

"Maybe…"

"Soldiers know what's going on in the war and so do Heroes. They know it's not our fault, and most of the soldiers here are happy enough to let Mistral in. It's the Nobles and Labour that aren't, because they haven't faced the things we have."

"Well maybe they should," I said. "Or maybe if they don't want to, they should stop being involved in the decision-making process." And coming from me, that felt ironic, but wasn't that what I'd proved here already? I wasn't saying an entire Caste should be excluded, but rather than they should get the full story first.

I was Labour Caste, and yet I'd stepped outside the comfort zone assigned to me and discovered the world, war and Grimm. I'd earned the right to be involved, and it felt frustrating – and offensive – for people who never had and never would, to feel like they had as much say.

Was that arrogant? I didn't know. Maybe. But it was still how I felt.

"I don't disagree," Ruby said, slowly. "But ignorance is bliss, isn't it? If we forced everyone to confront the same things we do, no one would have a happy life."

I looked to her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your family don't know about all of this, do they?" Ruby gestured to the walls, soldiers and Magnis itself. "They're probably safe wherever they are, never knowing how close they are to being killed by the Grimm. Sure, that might mean they don't understand how things work, but is that necessarily a bad thing? Would you want them to know, and to spend their whole lives afraid?"

"No…"

She had me. She had me beaten immediately.

"Exactly. We fight to let other people live happy lives, and if that means they don't want to know about how bad things are, then maybe we have to accept that. They definitely shouldn't insult us or Mistral, though," she added, frowning cutely. "That's just stupid."

It was, and yet… Ruby had a point. Two years younger than me and struggling in her own right, Ruby had still grasped so simple a truth long before I'd begun to consider it. Maybe I was the one in the wrong for demanding the world change to meet my expectations. If the Labour Caste wanted to seek bliss in ignorance, then who was I to say no?

I knew who. I was the Labour Caste member who had cast off those shackles and demanded to be told more. Well, here I was, on a wall about to face an army of monsters intent on my death, and having seen the worst of my own people, not to mention having broken one of the most sacred laws of the land and lost my girlfriend in the same moment.

My eyes closed with a sigh.

Was I really cut out for this? Honestly?

I'd managed to make it by in combat and deluded myself into thinking that would be enough; that the only difference between a Blacksmith and a Knight was some Stat distribution and a few Skills to toss around in combat. But that had been arrogant of me. There was more to it, like culture, lifestyle and an understanding born of actually being in that Caste. In the same way Ruby and the others knew nothing of the Labour Caste, I knew nothing of being in the Hero Caste.

And instead of trying to fit in, I'd focused instead on forcing everyone else to accept my point of view. They had, in some ways, but in others I was still out of the loop. How I'd acted before, when faced with those soldiers executing the prisoners was one such example.

The siege towers were, too. Now, with the benefit of hindsight and the knowledge that a Grimm army was on the way, I could confidently say that was a good thing. If the battle had started this morning or yesterday, then this momentary truce would have been impossible. Mistral would be mid-battle right now, and the Grimm would have rolled up and killed us all.

So yes, sabotaging the siege towers had worked out, but I couldn't say any of this had entered my mind when I'd done it. I couldn't claim anything from it other than a case of good luck. My only thought on doing it was that I knew better, that I, and I alone, deserved to decide what happened here at Magnis.

I didn't deserve to be a Hero here.

And more than that, I wasn't sure I wanted to be. I'd grown up with such ridiculous expectations of what being a Hero was, and now here, faced with the reality, I'd been constantly waging a battle between wanting to support and hate the Treaty, of wanting to stop and delay the war. That wasn't my job. I was supposed to kill Grimm and nothing else. Instead, I had human blood on my hands, and I'd doused Blake's in it, too.

I'd promised before that I'd tell my friends the truth when the war was done, but now, stood here, I wondered if I'd hang up my sword at the same moment. The Blacksmith work I'd scoffed at before didn't look so pathetic now. Good, honest work creating tools that men and women used to work the land and grow food that fed communities. If a Hero could save ten men in a battle against the Grimm, a good hoe could save hundreds come the harvest.

Funny how I'd always considered that beneath me… like I was somehow destined for more or that I deserved more for being the only one with an imagination.

Gods, I was a real idiot back then.

But as the sentries cried out, pointing to clouds of smoke that began to appear on the horizon, I realised that such thoughts would have to wait. The truth, my future, and even the prospect of retiring back to Ansel, would all have to wait until the war was over.

I'd started this, and I was going to see it through no matter what.

"They're here," Ruby whispered. "I- Jaune!" she gasped. "Your eyes…"

"I know." I could feel them glowing. I could see the pale light reflected off the stone in front of me. "Run to the keep and tell the others, Ruby. Get them here. The battle for Magnis starts now."

We would see it through.

I was certain of it.


So, obviously some mentioned that despite my parting comment of "this won't become another Magnis" it totally is. Sorry, what I meant was that I wouldn't have this go on for ages. We're honestly only a few chapters from the end of this book and then it'll move onto the next one.

What are the Greycloaks doing? Why are their plans so contradictory? Can Emerald and Mercury be trusted to pass on the message?

Will Jaune ever dip his ding-a-ling into Blake's cootie-catcher again?

Find out next time!


Next Chapter: 7th May

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