Hello everyone. It's been a while, hasn't it? A whole 3 months since last chapter.
Yeah, sorry about that. I'm suffering from a bit of burn-out, so unfortunately, 'longer take to write the chapter' doesn't even equate with 'better quality'. I guess I'll be happy if the quality hasn't suffered from the burn-out, at least.
I'd normally answer reviews before the chapter starts, but I'd need to sort which ones I answered in PM and which ones I haven't and I'm just too exhauted to bother. At least most reviews have been answered in PM. But if you haven't gotten an answer, rest assured that I do read every reviews I get, and I do appreciate yours as well. If I haven't answered, it's probably just because I didn't know what to say and then after a while it started feeling awkward to answer after so long and I gave up. Sorry.
There is one thing I want to touch on, though. I had a guest review call this fic a crackfic. Dunno if it's true, but it did get pretty crazy during these last chapters, so it got me curious to see what you all think. I now have a poll on my profile, asking whether my fic is a crackfic or not. You have 4 options:
- Yes, and it's a bad thing.
- Yes, and it's a good thing.
- No, and it's a bad thing.
- No, and it's a good thing.
I'll be waiting for the result.
Disclaimer: RWBY is the legal property of Rooster Teeth. Yu-Gi-Oh is the legal property of Shueisha. I own only the ocs appearing in this fic.
Oh, and I watched Ice Queendom. It was a pretty good time. I loved the sillies, they were absolutely adorable. ^^
''… And that's about it. As you can guess, I'm not sure what to think of it all.'' Ironwood said over the scroll on Ozpin's desk.
The headmaster of Beacon was sitting in his office as he listened to Ironwood describe the events that had transpired in Atlas. Glynda was standing next to him, her mouth gaping at the insanity of it all.
First, the Grimm attacked Atlas. A far blunter and more direct approach than Salem's usual one. Did she really have such a large advantage that she could afford such moves? Apparently so.
Two different Grimm people leading the army of Grimm, neither being Salem. That was… beyond worrying. Salem had long since been trying to create more people like her, able to wield authority over the Grimm in her name. She had never succeeded, though. Until now, it seemed.
And then one of these two was confirmed to call Gemini Torchwick her 'father', even though he was clearly too young to have a child. Interestingly enough, Gemini reciprocated this 'Sibyl's' familial feelings, despite opposing her assault on Atlas and putting a stop to it.
And then that was where everything that made sense, not that there was much of that left already, stopped, because Gemini had, according to James, defeated Sibyl via a… card game? And somehow, a god appeared?
James had first thought it had to be the God of Light, but the reports he received from someone that witnessed the game confirmed it was some previously believed to be fictional deity from a cartoon made by Gemini. The identification of Slifer was seconded by some of his soldiers as well, a few of them either having family or friends who watched the show or watching it themselves.
Ozpin could confirm that it wasn't the God of Light either, as outside of being a dragon, Slifer was very different from the God of Light. He thought the Two Brothers were the only gods who were real, but it seemed there was another one… He wasn't sure what to think of that, or of the boy this Slifer god had apparently chosen as his champion.
''I'm glad to hear Atlas still stand, James.'' Ozpin said, before releasing a sigh. ''Unfortunately, I have my own bad news to deliver.''
''Something happened in Vale?'' General Ironwood guessed, concerned.
The wizard nodded. ''Ruby Rose was murdered.''
''What!?'' James shouted. ''Summer's daughter? Gods… It was Salem's doing, wasn't it?''
So did Ozpin assume, before James described what had happened in Atlas. ''It was Gemini Torchwick.''
''Gemini? But… Are you certain?'' he asked with a tinge of disappointment. He had hoped for the child to make for a good asset.
''Unfortunately, yes. Tai's elder daughter herself saw him decapitate her little sister, and there were traces of a fight around the body.'' Including Gemini's arm, at least he didn't walk away from his crime uninjured. ''I first thought he did so at Salem's order, but his actions in Atlas showed that it is not so. It seems we're looking at a third party, hostile to both sides of this shadow war. He may be as much of a threat to the world as Salem. We need to stop him.''
The Two Brothers may have seemed callous at time, due to being of a nature so different from mortals, but there was no denying that life under their guidance had been a golden age of peace and prosperity for Mankind. Nothing like the forsaken world that Remnant now was.
But this Slifer? Ozpin had never even heard of this god, and didn't know its intention for the people of Remnant. The domain of the gods was full of unknow and mystery, but what Ozpin knew was that Remnant was the Two Brothers' world, and that would mean this Slifer was an intruder, or worse, an invader. And invaders were oh so rarely kind to the conquered.
If Gemini was doing the bidding of a foreign god who sook to take over Remnant, then he had to be dealt with. Especially if that god was one who demanded the death of an innocent girl…
Was it the motive behing Ruby's murder? As a silver-eyed warrior, she had the power of the God of Light in her veins. If Slifer wished to take the Two Brothers' world for himself, then it made sense that he would seek to remove their powers and influence on Remnant.
''Very well, I will have my army searched for the boy.'' Ironwood said without hesitation. ''It shouldn't take too long to find him and eliminate the threat he poses.'' After all, the boy was quite the successful wannabe businessman. That was a lot of paper trail to track him down with.
Ozpin frowned. ''Deploying your armies against Gemini would cause quite a bit of unrest, wouldn't it?''
''Oh, I have no doubt Jacques would throw a fit when my troops eliminate his golden goose. He will just have to deal with it.'' The General of Atlas said. As always, he had no patience for the nonsense of the rich. His priority is and always will be the security of the kingdom.
''… Not quite what I was getting at, James.'' Ozpin sighed, his words causing Ironwood's to raise an eyebrow. ''While Jacques' reaction is likely to be bothersome, I am more worried about how the people would take their nation's military seemingly taking actions against a god they saw protecting them? Tell me, James, what are the people of Atlas doing in the wake of a divine apparition?''
''They are hailing Slifer as the patron god of Atlas, holding celebrations in the street. I do not believe I've seen that much religious zeal in my lifetime.'' Ironwood admitted.
''And trust me James, neither of us want that zeal turned against you.'' Ozpin said. He had lived long enough to know how people acted when they believed they had just seen a god and had been granted said god's favor. On the bright side, there should be a distinct lack of negativity in Atlas right now, so the northen kingdom was about to get a rare break from the ceaseless assaults of the Grimm.
Ozpin finally saw understanding click in the General's eyes. Good, he was worried Ironwood was going to be difficult about this.
''I understand. We can't simply get rid of him like that.'' Ironwood conceded. ''I will have him captured and my men will draw a confession out of him. Gemini admitting his crimes and ill designs should be enough to get the people to understand the clear threat he is.''
… So close, James was so close. Just a step away from what Ozpin was getting at.
''That is preferable, but I'm afraid that people aren't quite as rational as you expect them to be. While having a recorded confession from the boy would certainly help calm down a fair share of the population should the public learn of us taking action against him, it would be better to handle this with discretion, lest we see things backfiring against us before we even catch him.'' Ozpin said. ''I believe that limiting your military intervention to a small team of Specialist, instead of overt movements of troops, will be necessary. People will take notice and figure things out if they see you mobilise your army against Gemini.''
''... The army would be faster.'' Ironwood said. ''He needs to be stopped before he causes more harm.''
''And we need to stop him without causing more harm than he would have done on his own. So how about we don't go out of our way to cause riots all across your kingdom?'' Ozpin. ''A small team of Specialists, James. You aren't getting anything more to hunt him down.'' Not in Vale, at least.
''… Gemini has already left Atlas, so I suppose I have little choice but to agree to your way.'' Ironwood yielded. ''But I make no promises if he step foot in Atlas again.'' He would need to make sure the selected Specialists were up to the task. Gemini had already proven able to defeat Winter after all, and despite her young age, she was still one of the best fighters in his army.
''Very well.'' Ozpin nodded. ''Choose your Specialists for this mission, James. I will support them in Vale as best I can.'' He said, before James and him bid each other goodbye.
''So… What do we do, now?'' Glynda asked. ''Qrow still hasn't come back.''
He knew that. It wouldn't be the first time Qrow went dark on them, but this time his mission was to find the Fall Maiden and bring her back as quickly as possible. In these circumstances, Ozpin was starting to fear the worst may have happened.
As for Gemini… They couldn't do anything until he was back in Vale, especially since they didn't even knew where he went after Atlas.
Ozpin sighed. ''For now, I have a cartoon to binge.''
He never watched Yu-Gi-Oh before, his duties keeping him too busy for things such as animated shows, but if it contained information about Slifer and Gemini, then he needed to know of it.
A god wasn't something you could anger lightly, and killing one god's chosen champion was a sure way to attract its wrath. Gemini will answer for his crimes, Tai and his daughters deserved that much, but they needed to know more about the deity that was his beneficiary.
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''That was… so cool!'' Ruby exclaimed as the Red Trailer, played via my Archive, came to an end. ''Did you see how much badass I was? I ripped those Beowolves apart like nothing, and the music and camera angles made it looked so awesome! I was all hoowah! Ya! Woocha!'' Ruby said, her words devolving into karate noises at the end.
Meh. Don't get me wrong, Monty did amazing work, but after watching Ruby rip through a Beowolf pack several times in real life, an animation of her doing it kinda lost its luster.
Although, I had to admit it was nice to see actual good animation again, where the character actually moves with the weapon to use it, the weapon had actual weight, and Crescent Rose's change from gun to scythe is animated, instead of 'swirl around, suddenly changed form'. The man really went above and beyond.
''I thought you said all members of the team had their own theme song, though?'' Ruby continued, soundign a bit disappointed. ''Mine wasn't really about me…''
''Yeah, 'Red like Roses, part 1' is more of a team song, but there's a part 2 that is actually about you.'' I said.
''Oh really? Can we listen to it?'' She asked, blissfully unaware in her enthusiasm.
I froze slightly, for just a second, before playing the song. As much as her reaction to it was something I was wary of, there was no getting out of it wihtout telling her why, and that would have the same effect as letting her experience it anyway.
She quickly grew quiet as the lyrics started. Unfortunately, it wasn't an 'enjoying the music' kind of quiet.
''That song,'' Ruby breathed out, barely audible, ''it's about…''
''Yeah. It's about how sad you were when your mother died.'' I said. Silence answered me. ''Ruby?''
''W-what are the other girls' songs about.'' Ruby said, trying to change subject with all the subtlety of a bull in a [West Taiwan] shop.
I nodded and went along with it. ''Blake's song is about how sad and angry she is that racism exist,'' well, Blake was the sadder lyrics. The angrier ones were Adam's, ''and Weiss' song is about how she's sad that she doesn't have any friend.''
''With how she acts, that's kind of self-inflicted.'' Ruby quipped.
Eh, not quite. The loneliness came before the attitude.
''I'm guessing Yang's song is about her being sad that Raven abandoned her?'' Ruby continued, remembering how Yang was trying to search for her mother before Neo leaked the info.
''Nah, it's about how much butt she can kick.'' I said with a wry smile.
''Ah, of course it is.'' Ruby said. I could almost feel the roll of her eyes, even if I couldn't see her.
''So, do you want to continue watching? It's the White Trailer next.'' I said.
''… Maybe another time? I'm interested, but…''
''The you-know-what killed the mood?'' I said, referencing the lyrics of of her theme song.
''Yeah… I think I'll go for a run in the castle or something, get some pratice with my semblance.'' Ruby said. She might no have a body to train anymore, nor her weapon, but she could still use her semblance while inside the pocket dimension of… my semblance, soul?
''Alright then, see you later.'' I said. We shouldn't have too long left before getting to Anima.
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On the outskirts of civilisation, an airship crashed in front of a town's gate. The guards walked up to the airship, looking carefully around to try and find the Grimm that attacked it, but there were none.
Then the door opened, and a red-headed boy, with only one arm, smiled at them. ''Excuse me for bothering you so late, good sirs, but could you direct me in the direction of the Branwen's tribe's territory?'' The boy asked them.
''Ah, hum, south-west from here?'' One of the guard answered, unsure how to react to the unexpected turn his shift had taken.
''Thank you. Have a nice night.'' The boy said, before closing the door of his airship and taking flight again, leaving the two guards as he continued his way through Anima's night sky.
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''T- traitor.'' The Faunus said, as the blade in his chest slid out of his body, along with his last breath.
He was the traitor? When they worked with the Albains? Yeah, right.
Adam sighed, wiping the blood off his blade before sheating it and walking away from the 8 bodies.
He had kept the same clothes as he had before officially 'leaving' the White Fang, save for the Grimm mask, which had been replaced by a black eyepatch, covering the upper-right half of his face and held by a thick elastic band around his head, to hide the scarring.
He walked for about an hour, until he was back in CCT range.
The ignorant assumed the White Fang's headquarters were on Menagerie, but doing so would cut Sienna from communicating quickly with the rest of the organization. No, their headquarters were hidden in the jungles south of Mistral, just barely in range of the CCT, allowing the High Leader to speak with any cell or agent she needed.
Thus, Adam took out his scroll and called Sienna.
''Adam. I assume you're done?''
''Yes.''
Since he had left the White Fang, the Albains' co-conspirators had demanded Sienna send teams to track him down and kill him. She told them that there were only so many troops she could dedicate to pursuing a traitor without risking the White Fang's operations. Then she used their desire for his head to sent only them after him, so that he'd clean up the White Fang from the Albains' poison. Everything went just as Sienna had planned.
Sienna would send a team of the Albains' acolytes, warn him of when they would come after him and give him a comprehensive list of informations about their capabilities, giving him the advantage against them and the opportunity to chose the battlefield and lay traps before they found him.
''Good. This was the last of them.'' Sienna said, her eyes watching Adam from the other side of the screen. She didn't miss how his shoulders relaxed at her words.
None of this was how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to fight against their oppressors, instead he had to slay his own people. Traitors, of course, but still Faunus like him. He was growing weary of the killing.
''Soon, I will start breaking the truth to the higher ups in the White Fang, to prepare your return at our side. In the meantime, I have another mission for you.'' Sienna told him. For a moment, Adam hoped it wouldn't involve bloodshed.
Only a single moment, though. Before he caught himself and squashed the stray thought. He would do whatever he needed to do, even if he didn't like it.
''What is it?'' He asked.
''I want you to go to Beacon.''
… What? ''Why?''
He had no reason to go there, did he? He had nothing against huntsmen in general, but that wasn't what he wielded his blade for.
''You've heard of what happened in Atlas, haven't you?'' Of course he did. How could one miss a god appearing in front of an entire nation? Shame that it did so for the worst kingdom of the four. ''Gemini Torchwick is involved as the first person to have ever released information about the god Slifer. And he's on the side of the Schnee. We can't let him talk in Slifer's name in condemnation of the Faunus, so we need to get him to make a statement in our favor before he thinks of turning all of Remnant against our people.''
Right. Gemini Torchwick not only had attacked his cell, back in Atlas, but he also had openly aligned himself with the Schnees. As if that wasn't enough, he had heard about how his show, Yu-Gi-Oh, didn't have a single Faunus character in it. It didn't matter that much, but it did strongly hint at how little he thought of Faunus.
Gemini clearly hated the Faunus, and if people thought his word carried the authority of a god, then it was only a matter of time before he abused that and encouraged the humans to persecute the Faunus. It would set them back decades, perhaps even centuries.
But what did this have to do with Beacon… ''His fiancee, Weiss.'' He thought aloud.
Sienna nodded. ''She's going to go to Beacon as a huntress-in-training, giving you the opportunity to learn more about Gemini, including a possible leverage.''
''You want me to buddy up with a Schnee!?'' Adam said, having trouble believing his ears.
''Ah!'' Sienna barked a laugh. ''Hardly. You don't need to talk to the girl, just keep an eye on her and open your ears. With how in love the two clearly are, it shouldn't be too hard to eavesdrop on her when she gushes about how wonderful her fiance is. There's also the possibility that he might show up to visit her.'' After all, there was only so long young lovers could go without seeing each other, right? ''If all else fail, we can always threaten the girl or kidnap her to force him to comply with our demands.'' And if Gemini could invoke Slifer's intervention, then that was a power she wouldn't say no to take for their side, although they would have to be careful not to find themselves in a situation where they faced Slifer's wrath.
Also, Adam clearly needed a break from killing people, but Sienna wasn't going to tell him that because he'd just deny it and stubbornly refuse to take the mission at Beacon in favor of continuing fighting.
''It's also a place where you will be virtually untouchable for anyone in the White Fang, giving me the perfect excuseto shut down those who would still want revenge for killing our 'comrades', while I slowly reveals the truth and prepare your return.'' Sienna continued.
''… Fine, I'll do it.'' Beacon was known for training the best of the best amongst huntsmen, so at the very worst, he should still walk out of here stronger than before going at the academy, so this wouldn't be a complete waste of time.
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Once the call was finished, Sienna sighed.
She hadn't told Adam, because there was a chance he'd overreact, but she was worried for Blake. The girl and her cell had missed their mission to raid a train in Forever Fall. It might just be that something unexpected forced them to retreat from the region before they attacked the train, but the complete radio silence from Blake wasn't reassuring.
Her friendship with Kali and Ghira might have been strained ever since she took over the White Fang, but she still respected them a lot despite their disagrements. If something happened to their daughter while she was under her command, if Blake died in Sienna's White Fang, Sienna wasn't sure she could forgive herself.
She knew Kali wouldn't forgive her. She'd be skinned alive.
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In the dead of the night, a town's militia was fighting back against a small horde of Grimm (well, it was kinda big for what the town could handle, but an actual big horde would have wiped the town off the map already.)
The militiamen fought just outside the walls, desperate to stop the Grimm from breaking it and getting inside to their families and children, gunmen and archers shooting from atop the walls.
Honestly? They could handle the Beowolves and the Imps, even the few Ursai, but the real problem was the Petra Gigas, impervious to their attacks. Arrows and bullets bounced off armlessly against its stone body, and it had already claimed thirty lives as it pressed forward inside their position, able to push back the only two huntsmen present as it clearly intended to smash the town's gate open for the rest of the Grimm.
Then a red airship crashed into the Petra Giga, breaking the rocks the Geist used as a body. Geist that was quickly shot at by every gunmen on the wall that had a clear view of it, killing it on the spot.
Then the ship's door opened, and a young boy walked out with a short, black sword in his only hand, joining the militia in cutting down the remaining Grimm, which were much less of a threat.
''Thank you for your help…?'' The captain of the local militia said, once the last Grimm had been killed.
''Gemini Torchwick. It was pleasure to help.'' The boy introduced himself.
One of the huntsman, a faunus with goat eyes, the pupils horizontal rectangles, frowned. ''Jacques' son-inlaw?'' He muttered, wary.
''Uh, yeah. I don't have anything against Faunus, if that's what you're concerned about.'' Gemini said. The faunus huntsman wasn't particularly convinced. ''Anyway, can anyone tell me in which direction i can find the Branwen tribe?''
''They've moved just south of here.'' The captain said. The news made the towns people anxious these past few weeks. Probably helped to attract the Grimm. ''Why would you want to find bandits, though? Especially those one?'' No one had ever survived the Demon of Mistral. The monstrous woman was a scourge that not even the huntsmen could put down.
''Don't worry, I'll be fine. Or I won't, but at that point, I won't be able to worry about it anyway.'' The boy said with a cheeky grin. ''Say, do this town has any explosive I could buy? I'd take a trenchcoat, too.''
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Fortunately, they did in fact have explosives, even if barely enough for my purpose.
Well, the town itself didn't, but a few merchant passing through did. The militia had dispatched a few men to requisition it from them when the Petra Giga joined the fight, intending to blow its body. It took them time to gather them and bring them to the battlefield, though, and I had arrived just in time to get rid of the Grimm before they had the chance to use them.
The merchants were happy to sell me their stock instead of losing the profit to stop the Grimm, at least. And I got myself an old trenchcoat to wear over my clothes too, before departing once more into the sky.
''I don't like your plan.'' Ruby said.
''It's a tried and tested strategy that worked many times for me.'' I said.
''See, that's kind of the problem. Why has this become something you have a habit of doing!?''
''If it's not broken, don't fix it.''
''Your brainis broken and very much in need of fixing.'' Ruby insisted. She didn't understand my genius. ''Ugh, and we've been searching for the tribe for hours. Are we going to find them soon?''
''Look on the bright side, in another fews hours, the Sun will rise.''
''What does that has to do with anything!?''
''I don't know, but it's true.'' I said with a wide grin.
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''… And finally, we've managed to make preliminary contact with Roman Torchwick, and will meet him in two days.'' Cinder said through the seer, concluding her report.
''Good, good. You are dismissed, then. Continue to make things run smoothly on your end.'' Salem said. At least one of her minions was succeeding in their objectives.
They cut the communication of the Seer off.
''… Tch.'' Salem clicked her tongue in displeasure, as Augur and Sibyl stood before her.
First, Tyrian, despite having gotten her used to him being competent, lamentably failed to bring in Ruby alive, killing her instead. And now, Augur and Sibyl had failed to bring the machine girl.
And worse… A god appeared in front of everyone in Atlas.
Oh, unlike the Atlesians, Salem wasn't left to speculate in wonder at the divine apparition, and knew of the circumstances that led to that. She knew Slifer wasn't actually real, only an hologram from Gemini's game powered into being physical by the magic the God of Darkness left behind. Technically, this 'god' was a creature closely related to the Grimm, only not looking like one due to taking the hologram as a base. It didn't even exist anymore, and wouldn't exist again unless the card was used with Sibyl's Grimm Duel Disk's involvement.
Yet, that wasn't going to stop the people of Remnant from worshipping it. Not only would their moral, protected by the armor of faith, be all the harder to break, but that might last for several generations. It would last for generations, for as long as they remembered Slifer and believed it was real, something that would be difficult to undo. It would make it impossible for her to conquer the four kingdom without wiping them out and returning Mankind to the stone age, until they forgot this era and she could build her own kingdom from scratch. But doing so would set her ambitions back by centuries. Something she could afford, but was no less frustrating.
… Unless she obtained the card for herself.
Salem had no interest in the card game, and didn't care to learn it, but if she could obtain Slifer, then she could use it according to her will, to channel the magic in the Shrine of Destruction and crush her enemies with a far larger output of magical power than she could wield herself, but also to easily gain followers thanks to the people's faith in Slifer. Not now, of course, for now, she had to remain hidden.
Yes, Slifer was quite the curve ball Gemini threw at her, but she could get back from his. While there hasn't been a god on Remnant ever since the Two Brothers abandoned this world, there had been plenty of false gods worshipped by the people of Remnant. Maidens, silver-eyed warriors, Ozpin had several incarnations of him being deified as well, either during their lifetime or after their death, and there had been quite a few ordinary mortals getting their hand on one of the relics and using their power to passes as divine, with varied success. Even the spirits of the relics had been worshipped as minor deities as well.
All of her plans concerning Atlas and Ironwood were ruined, but… ''Our other objectives remains. Gemini will fall in line when the rest of his family do. We know Ozpin has gathered the other pieces of his souls at Beacon, and these fragments will be mine.''
''Of course, your Majesty.'' Augur bowed his head. ''In the meantime, may I strike against Ozpin's future pieces? As of now, they could easily be killed before they grow into becoming a thorn on our side.''
Sibyl's fist tightened. Augur always wanted to kill, hence why she had been worried her father had been right to worry about Yang's life. Her 'brother' didn't quite follow the reasoning Gemini did, but he was still going after Yang, and as if that wasn't enough, after the other students as well. Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren, Jaune, Nora…
''Hmm.'' Salem made a noncommital sound as she thought about it. ''Spare the Schnee heiress, it wouldn't do to give Gemini further motivation to align himself against us, instead of Ozpin. Then you may launch an independent attack on Beacon's initiation.'' Normally, she would forbid this to avoid revealing Augur's existence, but that was a card that had already been seen in Atlas. She had no doubt Ironwood would tell Ozpin.
After all, Ozpin losing a fighter as skilled as Pyrrha Nikos early wouldn't be an indrance to her side. And as much as Jaune Arc didn't matter right now, being basically a civilian, his semblance could make him quite the problem in the future. Then there was Yang Xiao-Long. Salem had intended to weight the girl's life as leverage against little Ruby, if needed, but now that she was dead, the only thing the blonde was, was an easy escape for Raven, the Spring Maiden. Cutting that off would help them latter when she went after the Lamp. There was her father, too, but all in due time.
These kids were all going to be together during their initiation. They might be under their teacher's watchful eyes, but they would also be separated from them. By the time Beacon's staff made it to them, Augur was likely to have killed at least a few. After that, once inside Beacon, they would be nigh untouchable for a while, so this was the best opportunity they would get to strike.
''As for you, Sibyl,'' Salem turned to the girl, ''You will go see Cinder in Vale and transfer the Winter Maiden's magic to her. After that, you will join Hazel in searching for the Summer Maiden in Vacuo. And do tell Tyrian to return to his assignement of killing Mistrali huntsmen. I would tell him myself, but he's forbidden from appearing before me until I say otherwise.''
''Oki doki, mom.'' Sibyl said, bringing her hand to the side of her head for a failed attempt at a military salute.
Sibyl knew she needed to warn her father about the incoming attack on Beacon's initiation.
On the bright side, she got to see Cindy, her bestie (not!), before going to Vacuo. Yay!
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It turned out that finding a small camp in the wilderness was next to impossible during the night. As such, it was only when morning came and the Branwen started cooking breakfeast that I spotted the smoke rising in the distance and found them.
Hey, look, the sun rising did help. Eh.
Time to start 'negociating'.
I lowered the speed of my ship to soften the landing a little, though it was still a crash. It was the best I could do without getting a piloting skill. Flying in a straight line in the sky was one thing, I just used automatic pilot for that, but the same automatic pilot had trouble landing on anything other than a landing port, so here in the wilderness, a semi-controlled crash was the only option I had right now.
''I really wish you had found a better idea.'' Ruby complained again.
Silly Ruby, there wasn't a better idea.
I opened the door of my ship to come face to face with two bandits pointing their guns at me.
''Who the fuck are you?'' One of the bandits guarding the camp's entrance said, glaring at me.
I should be the one glaring at him, swearing right off the bat was pretty rude. Asshole.
I gave them a smug smirk. ''I've come to strike a deal with your leader. Let me pass.''
''Ah! I don't think so.'' The guard laughed. ''Here's a better idea, we kill you and keep everything in you and your ugly ass ship.''
Now it was my time to laugh. I opened the trench coat, causing the bandit's eyes to bulge at the sight of the explosives strapped to my body.
''I have enough dust here for the explosion to wipe out the entire camp. I don't know if your aura is strong enough to survive, but I know that even if it is, it'll be weakened enough that the Grimm attracted by the blast will make short work of you all.'' I said in a casual tone, as if I wasn't threatening them with a suicide explosion.
Well, not quite a suicide. Most people's aura would break and they'd die in the blast, but I knew that much explosives wouldn't break mine. I'd have a little bit left.
''So you two have two choices; letting me pass, or death.'' I continued. Part of me almost wished they refused, so that I would rid the world of the Branwen tribe, but I needed Raven's cooperation right now. Plus, even if I destroyed the tribe, the woman herself would still escape alive and continue to be a plague on the people of Mistral.
''I don't like this 'plan'.'' Ruby said, as the intimidated bandits stepped aside and let me enter the camp. I closed the coat before waddling my way in. Yes, waddling. What? All the weight and bulk of the explosive stuck on me kinda got in the way of my movements.
Strapping bombs to myself to force the bandits to let me through and, if needed, also force Raven to not kick me out of the camp or kill me before hearing what I had to say. That should work unless she didn't care about losing the whole camp and living solo afterward. I was a genius mastermind!
''Me neither. I'd rather be on Patch and hang out with you like we usually do.'' I whispered to Ruby. Then, under the wary looks of the armed bandits, I raised my voice. ''Raven Branwen! I have come to bargain!''
There was a moment of awkward silence. She was present at her own camp, right?
''I don't know know who the fuck you think you are, brat, but if you think you can just barge in and demand whatever you want from the Branwen, then you better have brought a coffin with you 'cause you're gonna need it.'' Vernal growled, pointing her weapons at me and about to fire before I opened my trench coat again.
She stopped before firing, her eyes widening in shock at my little surprise.
''Either shoot if you wish to die, or step aside.'' I said, non-plussed.
''Y-you… But you'll die in the explosion, too.'' Vernal said, taking a step back and not daring to continue the hostilities.
''I'd die anyway if I fought against you. Your point?'' If I couldn't beat the Branwen bandits, then I could make the cost of beating me higher than what it was worth. ''Wouldn't be the first time I blew myself up anyway.''
The Branwen tribe valued only strength, yet failed to understand its use. They believed power to be the most important thing in life, but it was really just another tool to weigh in on the negotiation table. With the counterweight I brought to balance the scales, we were in a stalemate. And this stalemate was all I needed until I managed to get Raven to talk to me.
Speaking of the devil…
The flaps of the tent in the middle of the camp, the largest of them, opened, and a scowling, black-haired woman walked out. Her eyes, which had dark bags under them, met my face, and she did a double take, clearly not having expected me to be here. There was a moment of silence as she stared at me, and nobody moved.
''How the fuck are you here? And why?'' Raven said.
''I've come to make a deal with you, one I believe advantages you as well.'' I said, doing my best to appear calm and confidant.
Raven snorted, before resting her hand on her sword's hilt. ''And why would I even waste my time with you? Do you think these bombs strapped to you can stop me?''
''Nah, I'm sure you have your way of kicking my ass without letting the bombs go off. Or at least, go off inside your camp. These were for your men, not you.'' Beside, I couldn't force Raven to do what I wanted. Due to the tribe's culture, yielding to a coercion by force would make her lose face in the tribe's eyes. ''Now, shall we negociate?''
The bandit leader walked forward, stopping at only a step away from me to look down on me. The intimidation attempt would likely have worked better if her eyes didn't show her lack of decent sleep in the last few days.
… The strand of hair sticking out of her head didn't help. There was a reason it was nicknamed 'idiot's hair', it looked hilariously ridiculous. I mean, I knew Yang had the same strand of hair, but she was a 17 year old schoolgirl, not a not-quite 40 year old woman at the head of the most feared bandit clan of an entire kingdom. And she still dressed like an edgy teenager after all these years? What kind of middle-aged woman still wore a miniskirt?
''Negotiate?'' Raven raised an eyebrow. ''You must have more guts than brains, but I'm listening. With any luck, this might be entertaining enough to not be a complete waste of my time.''
Uh, she was more willing to listen than what I had expected. Then again, given the bird that was often hanging around Yang was obviously Raven herself, she'd have seen me when I was around Ruby and Yang, so she knew who I was.
… She was only humoring me because she knew I was acquainted to her daughter, wasn't she? That was totally it, the first thing she said when she saw me in her camp wasn't 'who', but 'how'.
''I need the Relic of Knowledge.'' I said, causing Raven to stiffen in surprise, and making her wary of me by the same occasion.
''… We will talk inside my tent.'' Raven said, before turning away and going back inside.
I followed her, but before I could enter the tent, Vernal grabbed me by the arm.
''Here's a piece of friendly advice: Make sure you ask about the baby pictures.'' She said, before letting go of me.
Baby pictures? What?
''Any idea what that's about?'' Ruby asked as I entered the tent.
I shrugged in silence, just as lost as she was.
/-/
Outside the tent, Vernal looked at Gemini enter the tent with a smug look on her face.
''I know he threatened to blow us up and all, but isn't that a bit too much of a payback?'' One of the bandits, Shay, asked Raven's second-in-command.
''Shut the fuck up, Shay.'' Vernal growled. ''I don't remember asking for your opinion.''
If she had to sit through that torture, then so could the dumbass brat.
/-/
The first thing I noticed when I entered the tent were the empty bottles of alcohol laying around. This was starting to be strange, this woman wasn't anywhere near as much of a mess in canon, right?
Raven, sitting at a low table in the middle of the tent, stared at me, clearly analyzing me as best as she could with the information she had on me. How much she actually knew about me was kind of up in the air.
''So, the Relic of Knowledge. Mind telling me how you even know about it?'' Raven said, her voice cold and her eyes watching me like a hawk.
''I'm not with Ozpin, if that's what you're worried about.'' I said, knowing how unwilling Raven was to work with the wizard.
A hint of hostility appeared on the woman's face. ''That would leaves Salem…'' She said, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword.
''I don't work for Salem either.'' I said quickly, before the situation degenerated.
''Then how did you learn about them?'' Raven asked.
She wasn't going to let go of that. I supposed I had little choice but to give her an answer if I wanted her to listen.
''While training on Patch, I encountered a Seer directly controlled by Salem herself. She was searching for a silver-eyed girl. That's when I became aware of Salem and silver-eyed warriors, and after that I lead my own researchs.''
''Ah, so that's how Ruby learned about her eyes.'' Raven mused.
''Yes. I didn't stop there, though. I managed to secretly get a spy inside Salem's group, which is how I learned more about the Two Brothers, the Maidens, the Relics, and Ozpin.''
''You have a spy amongst Salem's minions?'' Raven barked a laugh. ''You expect me to believe that? How could you even begin to pull something like this off?''
''With a lot of dumb luck. I'm just as surprised about it as you are.'' I said.
''And who is this spy?'' Raven asked, still unconvinced.
She was going to stay skeptic as long as she didn't have more information, wasn't she? That was fine, I didn't mind giving her an answer.
''Her name is Emerald Sustrai.'' I lied.
I wasn't going to risk Sybil's true loyalty leaking to Salem. I couldn't sell the lie of the spy being Cinder, since she likely had been working for Salem for too long for that to be credible, but Emerald? I couldn't control the fallout of that lie, but if Emerald was the one to get the short end of the stick, that wasn't my problem. One less threat to deal with for me.
''I see… Any reason why Salem's assassin managed to take you by surprise despite you having your spy in her ranks? Shouldn't you have known about the attack on Ruby beforehand?'' Raven said.
''The Grimmland doesn't have wi-fi, she can't contact me whenever she wants.''
''… Right. I suppose that would explain it.'' Raven said. ''What have you come to me for? With how well informed you are, you should know I have no interest in anything related to Ozpin or Salem.''
''Yeah, but I really, really need the Relic of Knowledge. I'm kind of backed into a corner otherwise, so I have little choice but to ask for the Spring Maiden to open the vault under Haven.'' I said.
''Again, why bother me with this? I have nothing to do with any of this.'' Raven said, continuing to pretend to be unrelated to my objectives.
''Now you're just wasting both of our time, I know you are the Spring Maiden, and you know what my source is.'' I said.
Raven struggled to keep her composure, and almost succeeded in letting it not show at all. Her skin only slightly paled. ''That means Salem knows now. Dammit! I was hoping to keep that secret for longer.''
''Look, you have two options. The first is to leave the Lamp in its vault; that's the option where Salem comes knocking at your door and kills you. The second is to give me the Relic to run around with and attract Salem's attention; that's the option where you live… and I die.'' I lost my smile as I considered that last part. ''I might have to do something about that last part… Eh, I'll figure something out once I have the lamp.''
''And why would you want Salem's attention on you?'' Raven asked.
''Do you care?''
''No.'' Raven said. ''But it confuses me and I don't take deals I don't understand.''
I shrugged. ''Alright, it goes more or less like this: Ruby's dead, I grabbed her soul instead of letting her go to the afterlife, I have the schematics for building her a new body but need a scientist skilled enough to be able to actually understand and follow said schematics, I have no idea where to find one since the only one I knew died in Atlas right before I summoned a god to save the kingdom, so now I need to ask the relic to know who else on Remnant would be able to.''
Raven stared into emptiness for a moment, before she blinked and her eyes refocused. ''… What- Are you saying Summer's daughter isn't dead!?''
''I mean, that depends on how she'd define death, I guess?'' Ruby said.
''No, I'm saying that in her case, 'death' is relative and there's a shot at fixing that… Well, 'fixing' is kinda relative, too.'' I said. It was more like, 'patching up'.
''… I'm not even sure where to begin with that.'' Raven said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. ''And what was that about a god?''
''Oh, nothing much. Atlas was attacked by Grimm, I saved the kingdom by summoning a god while playing cards, as you do.'' I said nonchalantly.
''… What?'' Raven said, still confused.
''What do you mean, 'what'? You never bet the fate of the world on a card game?'' I grinned in false confidence. I had no idea where this conversation was going to go from there.
''Well, not really the world, it was just Vacuo.'' Raven said.
I blinked. ''… Wait, really?''
The black-haired woman nodded. ''Both Team STRQ and Salem's agents involved were equally matched and neither side were willing to take the risk of an actual fight since we all knew that whoever won that day, it was more likely than not that the winning side would walk away with only one survivor. Salem's agents couldn't afford that big of a loss and Summer wasn't willing to take any loss, so we bet the Sword of Destruction on a game of poker.''
''Uh, so Remnant didn't become crazy yesterday then. It just always was like that.'' Ruby commented.
''We all had the worst draws ever, of all time. Except Qrow.'' Raven continued. ''And there was no god involved. Seriously, what's that about?''
''Uh, not sure how to explain that one.'' I doubted Raven would be familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh, so she kinda lacked the basics to understand what happened. ''But you might want to look into atlesian news next time you're in range of the CCT. I wasn't exactly subtle.''
''… I'll do just that, I suppose.'' I could almost hear the gear turning in the woman's head. ''Alright, I'll get you the Lamp.''
''Really?'' I knew it was what I had hoped for, but I had expected her to refuse and to have to insist.
''Sure. B-but I'm not doing this for Summer's brat's sake, I'm doing this so that Salem's agents chase after you to get the relic, and leave me alone.'' Raven said, to which I nodded. That was about what I expected from a monster who abandoned her own daughter at birth to go live off of murdering innocent civilians. Of course she wouldn't care for Ruby's fate.
And now came the difficult part. I took my scroll and opened my semblance to get one of my inventory's crystal out. ''I would also need you to hide this in the vault.'' I said, taking the Staff of Creation out.
Raven froze, and stared at the relic in my hands with horror. ''You brought that thing in my camp!?''
''Couldn't exactly leave it in Salem's hands. Now I need to put it somewhere where nobody will find it, lest we see Atlas be dropped on Mantle. A vault everyone else will believe to be empty seems like it would work.'' I said, shrugging and putting the staff back into my inventory.
On my way, when I fought the Grimm, they didn't seem to give me any special attention compared to other people, so it seemed that a relic's attraction on the Grimm didn't work when the relic was hidden inside my soul. Don't ask me how that worked, I had no idea.
''And why would I agree to that part?'' Raven sneered. ''The whole point of taking the Lamp out of its vault is for Salem to have no reason to come after me, I'm not putting another relic in there.''
''Salem would have no reason to believe the Staff would be hidden in the Vault of Spring. As long as they confirm I have the Lamp and I don't tell them the truth about how I hid the Staff, they won't have a reason to think the Staff is in your vault. There is no risk to you.'' I argued.
''Oh, really? Can you guarantee Salem won't find out? That the information will never leak?'' Raven said. ''Even if only the two of us know where the staff would be, do you really think it'd be the first time in her long life that Salem had to obtain information that only one person knew? Everyone has a limit, and she won't have any issue breaking yours. Assuming she doesn't just connect the dots, which wouldn't be that hard to begin with.''
Yeah… I couldn't say she was wrong on that one. But I hadn't said my last word.
''Then allow me to amend what I said. Hiding the staff in the vault is a bit of a risk to you, but the risk is outweighted by the danger someone using the relic poses to your tribe.'' I said. Dealing with someone like Raven was dangerous, but not particularly complicated. You could always trust a selfish person like her to act in their own interest, it was the selfless ones you needed to be wary of. ''The staff is currently producing limitless energy to keep Atlas in the air, if anyone were to use the Staff of Creation to create anything, the previous creation disappears, meaning Atlas would crash on top of Mantle and the entire kingdom would be gone.''
Really, who was the idiot who thought bringing a city into the sky was a good idea? And who was the even bigger idiot who thought of building under that city? These people needed to be fired. And shot.
''Tragic.'' Raven drawled out, uncaring for the fate of the Atlesians. ''And I should care, because…?''
''Because the other kingdoms, for some reason, decided it was a bright idea to entrust the heavy lifting of their defenses against the Grimm to Atlas, instead of doing it themselves like they used to. This means that if Atlas goes down, all these settlements outside of the kingdoms' capitals are going down.'' I said. This might seems like it wasn't Raven's business at first glance, but it actually very much was. ''Your bandit tribe, the Branwen, relies on raiding small towns and the caravans transporting supplies between those to survive. With-''
''I don't need a brat like you to explain to me how running my tribe works.'' Raven growled.
''Good. Then you must know that without these towns and caravans, you and yours would starve. In your own way, you need Mistral's settlements to be protected by Atlas. You need the Staff of creation to be out of reach, because anyone who gets their hands on it could end Atlas, and by proxy, end you.'' I said, drawing a snarl from the woman.
''You only say that because you want me to hide the staff for you.'' Raven accused me, drawing her blade and holding it to my throat. ''I won't be manipulated.''
''Yes.'' I said calmly. Well, calmly from the outside. In truth, I was a little bit nervous. ''But I have told you no lie. I know it's a little counterintuitive, but leaving the staff inside the vault really is in your best interest.''
Piercing red eyes stared at me, their owner refusing to avert her gaze as she considered my words. ''… Tch!''
''… Is birb auntie done being mean?'' Ruby whispered.
''Fine, I'll hide the staff as you wish, but do not expect anything more from me.'' Raven said. ''I will be keeping an eye on you, and at the first sign of foul play from you, I will come for your head.''
Yes, it seemed Raven was indeed done being mean. She went from direct and immediate death threat to conditional death threat. She'll only kill me 'if' I tried to pull somehting against her. That was one 'if' I was fine with.
''Wonderful. Then, can we work on the plan to access the vault?'' I asked.
The corner of her lips raised in amusement. ''You need a plan for that? Cute.''
I raised an eyebrow at that. ''The entrance to the vault is blocked by the statue inside the school, and the key is the pocket watch Lionheart keeps on him at all time. We kinda need to figure out how to obtain it.'' Or we could just kill him, but aura made assassination pretty difficult, especially in a place like Haven Academy. The teachers and students would be on us before we broke through his aura. Raven could no doubt break his aura faster if she went all out, but using her maiden's powers would also attract the attention of the rest of the school faster. We'd have to wait to attack him when he'd be outside of Haven, but we could be waiting for a few days before seeing such an opportunity and we'd be betting on not having huntsmen close by… In a city harboring a huntsman academy. ''I was thinking of blackmailing him.''
That would have the benefit of Salem knowing that I had the lamp, if it could be called such, which would lower the interest Salem would have in Raven as I had promised. We only had to not let him know we were putting the staff in the vault.
''Blackmailing him?'' Raven snorted. ''With what? You know he works for Ozpin, right? All the headmasters do. He's not going to cooperate so easily.''
''Works for Ozpin? I'm afraid your informations are outdated. Lionheart has turned his coat.'' I said, opening my scroll and playing the clip of Lionheart's secret room. The one I paid Yama's clan to obtain. They did an excellent job, as they brought the footage within a week.
I had originally thought of using it to reveal Lionheart's treachery when Cinder would be pretending to be a student at Beacon, to have Haven's students being suspicious in Ozpin's eyes and lead to expose Cinder and her minions, but Salem's move against Ruby forced my hand.
Raven raised an eyebrow at the sight of the Seer. ''Oh my, I knew Leo had lost his spine, but to think he sank so low as to submit to her will…'' She thought aloud, with an amused smirk.
''But… but he's a headmaster. He's supposed to protect people from the Grimm, not work for their queen.'' Ruby said. She wasn't wrong, per see, but…
'''Headmaster' is just a position. Regardless of the title they hold, everyone has their weaknesses. You won't find a single person in the world without flaws, and unfortunately, Salem has had millenia to learn how to exploit people's flaws.'' Like how she exploited Ironwood's hardheadedness in V3 to bait him into overextending with his army, deploying his battleships and machines when he shouldn't have.
Raven blinked. ''That's true, but…''
''Oh, sorry. I was talking to Ruby.'' I clarified. This was going to be confusing people whenever I talked to Ruby without being alone, wasn't it?
''Hi auntie Raven.''
''She says hi.'' I relayed.
Raven huffed, not willing to dignify Ruby with a response. Instead, she decided to focus on the matter at hand. ''Well, maybe blackmailing him could have worked, but that's unnecessary.''
''Eh? How so?''
''There's a small crevice leading to a cavern on a lower level pf the vault's. A human couldn't pass through without widening the opening, but as a bird, I can. Then I just have to fly up to the vault.'' Raven said. Wait,, was she talking about the same entrance Cinder exited through in Volume 6? How did she knew about that!? ''Just wait here at the camp. I'll open a portal to Vernal when I'll be there, then we'll only have to exchange the relics through it. It should only take two days for me to fly to Mistral.''
What? B-but, I had this plan to blackmail Lionheart. I had this figured out, mostly. I put effort into this. I was going to use assets that I had acquired by my own effort… and all of that was for noth- No, no… I shouldn't complain about things being easier than I had expected.
It might feel like I had wasted efforts, but it was a good thing. I shouldn't be an idiot about it.
I sighed. ''Alright. So, what do I do in the meantime?''
''Uh? Nothing, just stay here.'' Raven said, shrugging uncaringly.
''… With your bandits?'' I shifted uncomfortably at the idea. ''Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean-''
''Don't worry. I'll specifically order them to not kill you and not inflict any injury that you won't heal from within a day.'' Raven, the mean bitch, gave me a predatory grin.
''But-''
''Yeah, yeah. They're going to beat you up. That's you get for threatening the Branwen tribe. You won't get anything worse than bruises, though. You lucky little bastard.'' Raven said. ''Now, is there anything else before I go?''
I sighed in surrender. I didn't want to get beaten up, but I was afraid that arguing would get me worse. And honestly? A bad time in exchange for a relic… I was the one getting the better deal here, despite the unpleasantness, so I guessed I just had to endure through.
''I was told to ask about… baby pictures?'' I probably should have shut up, but my curiosity got the better of me.
As soon as I said that, Raven's demeanor changed radically. The now eager woman didn't wait for a moment longer before grabbing an album from her shelf, a strange, worrying spark in her eyes.
/-/
''- and that's Yang making her first steps.'' Raven said, sitting at the low desk in her tent and pointing at a picture showing a baby Yang walking, Mr Xiao-Long and Summer around her. The picture was clearly taken from outside one of the house's windows. ''And that's her first schoolyard fight. It started when her classmate pulled on her hair.'' This time, the picture showed a six-year old Yang fighting a boy her age. Next to it was a picture taken after the fight, showing the boy crying as he bled from his nose. ''And that's her first training session with Tai.''
''Oh gods, I remember that. She was there?'' Ruby exclaimed, a bit put off by the information. Indeed, a child Ruby could be seen in the picture, watching her sister and father training. Finding out that this crazy woman had been stalking her sister for years mustn't be a great feeling.
Raven then showed a picture of Yang throttling some girl, a crying Ruby standing next to them. ''And that's when, in sixth grade, Yang kicked the butt of a schoolmate that bullied Ruby.'' The next picture was another of small Yang, this time smiling full teeth as she showed the result of an exam to her father. ''That was her first A. First of many to come, because my baby is a smart girl!''
Then a picture showing Yang testing out Ember Celica in her home's yard. ''And that was when she had just made her weapon. Look at her, she's so happy! Oh, and then there's her first fight against some thugs that she ran into when trying to search for information about me. That was back when she was trying to stalk me, before she entered her rebellious teenager phase and stopped caring about her poor, affectionate mother.'' Raven said, pointing at a picture of Yang wiping the floor with some thugs from the slums.
Excuse me? 'affectionate mother'? Who the fuck was that!?
Raven continued like that for a few hours, before departing for Mistral. I was left in her tenth, trying to comprehend just how batshit insane the woman was.
Kekekekeke
Shut up, Cackler!
/-/
Knock! Knock! Knock!
In a hotel room in Vale, four heads turned toward the door.
''Finally!'' Cinder said, before signaling Emerald to go and open the door.
As the green-haired girl obeyed, Blake tensed, wary of the being about to enter the room. Why did there need to be a second one? The first walking nightmare was more than enough for her.
''Heya!'' Sibyl greeted with cheer. ''You must be Emerald. Cindy talked a lot about you.''
Emerald's eyes widened. ''She does!?'' The girl exclaimed with a smile forcing itself on her face.
''Sure.'' More like Cinder mentioned how useful of a tool Emerald's semblance was, but details… ''Oh, and happy to meet you, Blake.'' Blake recoiled as Sibyl moved right in front of her, bringing her face way too close to Blake's for her comfort. ''You and I are gonna be great friends, I can just tell, so if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask me, your new bestie.'' Blake wasn't originally supposed to be on the bad guys' side, so if there was a chance of her returning on the right path, Sibyl didn't want to miss it.
''Errr…'' Blake, on her end, had expected a being that acted as the monster it was, like Augur. She wasn't sure she liked friendliness from a Grimm more than barely restrained hostility.
Sibyl then jumped in front of Mercury, who looked back at her with a bemused smile. ''Sup. Mercury the mercenary, is it? Merc the merc. Do you mind if I call you Merc?''
''Sure, why not?'' Mercury shrugged. He kind of liked the sound of 'Merc the merc'.
''If you're done wasting time, I believe you are here for something important: The Winter Maiden's powers.'' Cinder said, this was the only thing out of this interaction that she had been looking forward to. Sibyl was late enough as she was. Cinder would have been angrier about it if Sibyl hadn't sent a text earlier to warn them she was being slowed down due to needing to avoid being noticed.
Unknow to Cinder and anyone else in the room, Sibyl was actually late because she took the time to leave a message to Gemini with a burner scroll she had 'borrowed'.
Sibyl held her cheeks in her hands, suddenly turning bashful. She was clearly faking, and thus, wasn't fooling anyone in the room. ''Oh, Cindy, I didn't know you were so eager to take my Maidenhood.''
''W-what?'' Blake sputtered. Did she hear that right?
Emerald covered her mouth with her hand, glad that her dark skin hid the blood rushing to her face. Mercury, on his part, barely suppressed a laugh, out of a desire to not be burned to death.
Cinder's eyes ticked. ''Don't phrase it like that. And how many times have I told you to stop calling me Cindy!?'' Cinder said, snarling as she said the last part.
''Uh, this is the ninth time, I believe?'' Sibyl said, holding a finger to her chin. Cinder glared at her, and the Grimm girl sighed. ''Alright, alright. One Maiden magic for the angry lady.''
Sibyl held her hand toward Cinder, who did the same. But before the process started, Sibyl's hand twitched in hesitation.
''What now?'' Cinder asked, annoyed.
''It's… It's just…'' Sibyl started to fidget, her head held low. ''It's my first time, so be gentle, please.''
Cinder's eyes ticked harder, and Emerald threw a scandalised glare at Sibyl.
''Just shut up and give me the Winder Maiden's powers already.'' Cinder said. By the Brothers, she wished Sibyl wasn't immortal.
Holding their hand in front of each other's, both's Beetle Grimm came out the their respective hands, and as Blake watched disgusted, spat out their black strand on each other's. The Beetle's ability to absorb another's magic may have little care for what happens to the victim's soul, but with each participant having their own Beetle, the transfer was harmless as long as it wasn't interrupted.
Cinder could feel the magic flowing from Sibyl to her, the power of the Winter Maiden joining that of Fall.
And then, with darkened cheeks, Sibyl moaned lewdly. ''Ah⁓''
''Stop.'' Cinder ordered, her lips curled downward.
''Aaaah⁓''
''Stop that!'' Cinder snarled. Ugh, Emerald was already looking at Sibyl with jealousy written all over her face. ''I know how the transfer feels. There's nothing that feels sexual here, so stop trying to fake it, you perverted brat!''
''Oh, because you know all about your partner faking it, don't you?'' Sibyl quipped.
… Cinder's eye ticked again. She didn't say anything this time, realising that Sibyl was going to twist whatever she said.
And then Emerald just had to open her mouth. ''Hey, don't insult Cinder like that! What would you know about someone faking it or not?''
Sibyl grinned. ''Want to test that in private?''
''W-what!?'' Emerald sputtered, her face feeling warm.
''Oh, silly me, you'd rather have Cindy.''
''N-no!'' Emerald yelled. ''Don't listen to her ma'am, she's talking nonsense!''
''Did Emerald really think I didn't notice?'' Cinder wondered to herself.
Thankfully, this was the moment where the magic of the Winter Maiden finished transferring. Not that it stopped Sibyl from continuing with her bad jokes.
The Grimm girl puts her hands around her face, before wiggling her hips. ''Eh eh. You'll take responsibility, won't you, Cindy?''
Cinder waved a hand toward the girl, setting her on fire.
''Worth it. Also, ouch.'' Were her last words before her body turned to smoke.
Blake was left shocked. This… This had to have been an act, was it? There was no way a Grimm could be so… so… Non-Grimm like!
/-/
''Why the fuck can't you losers beat up some city brat!?'' Vernal yelled at the Branwen bandits sprawled around the ground.
With sweat on my forehead, I was breathing heavily as the 13th bandit moaned in pain on the ground.
Vernal asked them a really good question. For a culture that prized strength above all other things, only Raven and Vernal were actually strong. The rest kind of sucked.
''Honestly, I'm kind of with Vernal on that one. With how feared the Branwen tribe is, you'd think there'd be more than just Raven and Vernal worth a damn in a fight.'' I said. I got most of them were just grunts and thugs, but still…
''Shut up, dumbass!'' Vernal yelled at me.
''That would be Sir dumbass, thank you very much.'' I didn't get knighted for nothing.
''In your fucking dreams! Shay, you're next! Move your ass already!'' Raven's uncouth second-in-command ordered.
She's pretty much sent the tribesmen one after another, expecting to mock me when I folded sooner rather than later, but none of them expected the 'city boy' to fight dirty. It looked like Vernal's patience was running out, though. Not that she had much of that to begin with.
The next bandit, Shay, came at me, and as he tried to swing at my head with his fist, I slipped under his guard and took out a pepper spray can from my pocket before spraying his face. This ended the 'fight' as he wailed in pain.
''Yikes, that was a bit much.'' Ruby commented.
Yeah, it was a bit more cruel than what I'd usually do, but this marathon was getting me tired and I didn't have much stamina left in reserve. I was going to fall soon and once I did, I wasn't going to enjoy the bandits beating me up for fun. Damnit.
''Tch! Fine, I'll do this myself.'' Vernal decided, taking an angry step toward me.
''You don't need to, look how exhausted I am, the next will totally kick my ass.'' Please not Vernal. Please not Vernal. Please not Vernal. I couldn't beat that bitch even if I was fresh. I absolutely didn't want to fight her.
''Go get her, Gem! You can do it!'' Ruby cheered me on.
No, I couldn't!
Vernal deployed her crescent-shaped blades, and I was barely able to raise Blake's sword and block her first strike, before receiving a kick in the gut. Not giving me any room to breath, she immediately leaped toward me. With Gambol Shroud, I blocked her next strike and tried to counter with a kick aimed at between her legs.
Don't judge me, there was no such thing as a 'low-blow' in a fight against bandits. Honor was for people who could afford it and I wasn't strong enough to!
Unfortunately for me, Vernal saw my kick coming. Her leg was faster, and I groaned in pain as I fell to the ground.
My future children…
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''Really, it's a wonder you guys even needed me to step in.'' Vernal told the bandits surrounding us, her boot pressing on my head as I layed on the ground.
So… That fight went about as well as I expected. She beat my ass black and blue. A long, one-sided beating until my aura broke, and then Vernal continued until I had bruises all over my body. I could taste my blood in my mouth, too.
''Well, I've seen everything I needed. Guess you can take a nap, now.'' Vernal said, before stomping on my head to knock me out.
My 'nap' only lasted a few minutes, though, and I woke up as soon as my broken aura rebuilt enough for my semblance to kick in again.
''Wow, I had almost forgotten what it felt like to wake up.'' I said, noting that during the short time I was out, I was moved into a cage. Was it the same one Weiss was kept in during Volume 5?
''The fuck!? How are you waking up already?'' Vernal exclaimed.
''Passive semblance. Makes it impossible for me to sleep.'' I summarised.
''… Eh, whatever. I don't give a shit anyway. Just stay in there until Raven opens her portal.'' Vernal said, before turning around and leaving me in the cage.
''… You'll get her next time.'' Ruby said.
… I didn't want a next time.
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A handful of hours after, Raven finally reached Mistral, and sneaked into a small opening in the mountain below Haven Academy before flying up to the entrance of the Vault.
Under the light of the door, the Spring Maiden opened a portal back to Vernal. It didn't take long before her second-in-command threw Gemini through the portal. Standing above the kid, Raven looked down at him with a smirk.
''So? Enjoyed the Branwen hospitality?''
''… Eh, I've seen better. Then again, that was still a nicer treatment than Vale's.'' Gemini said. Hey, the forced sparing wasn't anywhere near as bad as the dark room the valean police shoved him in. And at least he was getting a magical relic while safeguarding another out of the deal. He was just going to take the win where he could take it.
''Sounds like I need to tell the boys to be rougher next time we have a guest.''
''As long as the next guest isn't me.'' Gemini got himself up, groaning slightly in pain as he did. His aura had a few hours to heal his bruises, but he still felt sore all over. That would have made for a decent training session… if he could get stronger the way everyone did. ''So, the relics… We doing this?''
Raven nodded, before touching the door of the vault with her palm. As the door opened and the Lamp of Knowledge came into view, Gemini couldn't help but grin. Attempting to make a deal with Raven could have ended badly, but he was glad things (mostly) went his way.
''The Staff?'' Raven reminded him.
''Oh, sure. Give me a sec.'' Gemini opened his scroll and activated the Game to access his inventory, and took the staff out of it. ''Here.''
With the staff in hand, Raven walked toward the lamp. The sand of the ethereal desert lifted into the air around her steps, falling upward. This mirage-like dimension still gave her the creeps. The sooner she was done, the better. She took the Lamp of Knowledge from the stone it rested above and looked at the Staff of Creation in her other hand.
Raven snorted. She might be here to put the staff in the lamp's vault, but why would she put it in the exact place the lamp was when she could make it harder to find for anyone who might one day come for it?
She opened her hand, and let go of the staff, watching as it slowly floated upwards until it stayed at eye level. It was as she thought, there was no trusting the wonky physics of this place.
Using her magic to shift the sand around, Raven revealed what was under the slab of rock the stone under the Lamp was. Namely, nothing. The circle of stone was a platform that was seemingly locked in place, remaining unmoving even as the sand under it was swayed away and it was left to rest on nothing but air. She noted that the sand below was already raising to fill the hole she had made.
You know what? This would do.
Raven remade the hole under the stone platform, and threw the staff under it, watching as it tried to rise in the air only to be stuck under it, unable to pass through the solid rock. Hopefully, it would stay like this after the vault was closed again.
She walked out of the dimension with the lamp, and touched the door again, closing it for anyone else in the world. She held it in front of Gemini, allowing the redheaded boy to take it, but when he grabbed the handle of the lamp, his hand next to her's, she held firm.
Raven tugged on the lamp, pulling Gemini a step closer to her as she leaning down toward him, glaring directly in his eyes.
''You better use both questions left without delay, because I swear, if Salem gets her hands on the lamp and it still has a question left, and she uses that question to learn where the Staff of Creation is, I will take your head before she gets to take mine.'' Raven threatened. ''Understood?''
''Crystal. I was already planning to do that.'' Gemini said, keeping his calm. He didn't want Salem to get a question either.
''Good.'' Raven released him, letting him have the relic. ''Then let's get back to the camp so you can take your ugly excuse for an airship and get out of my territory.'' She said as she opened a portal back to Vernal
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''So? How did your evaluation of the boy go?'' Raven asked her second-in-command, as they watched Gemini's red airship disappear on the horizon.
Vernal spat on the ground before answering. ''He's weak. Way too weak. Normally I'd say someone with that little strength wouldn't last against Salem or her agents.''
''But?''
''Well… He might be weak, but he knows how to fight dirty, and he's too clever for his own good.'' Vernal scratcged the back of her head as she thought about it. ''I guess there is a chance he'll manage to pull something out of his ass and keep her too busy to come after us? Wouldn't really bet our lives on it, though.''
That was fine, Raven hadn't expected certainty unless Gemini didn't show any potential. As it was, she was going to have to keep an eye on the kid and see whether he was worth helping keep his head above the water for a little longer, or if she'd be better off leaving him to drown.
That was about the best she had hoped for.
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I leaned back into the driver seat, letting the automatic pilot keep the airship straight toward Vale as I sighed.
Hiding the Staff of Creation out of Salem's reach? Done.
Obtaining the Lamp of Knowledge? Done.
It felt good to have something go my way for once. Now it was time to capitalise on my victory.
''Alright, let's do this.'' I said, looking at the magical lamp on my lap.
''You just need to say the spirit's name to summon it, right?'' Ruby asked.
''Yep.'' I confirmed. I had shared that much with Ruby. ''Jinn.''
Immediately, the airship stopped moving, as did the rest of the world.
Must… Resist… Urge… To…
''Za Warudo!'' The words slipped out of my mouth.
''Za what?'' Ruby asked, confused.
''Nothing. Sorry about that.''
A light blue smoke arose from the lamp, passing through the airship before the spirit of knowledge took form right in front of the frozen vessel. She glared at me, and her blue lips parted.
But before she said anything, Ruby spoke, her voice raised in anger. ''Gem! Don't look at her! Look away! Look away now!''
''What? Ruby, what's got into you?'' I said, not getting why she was so outraged.
''Are you really asking me that!? There's a naked woman in front of my boyfriend. You can't imagine I'd be okay with that!?''
… Was she serious? ''Ruby, Jinn is… some sort of magical genie spirit being. I don't think concepts such as 'being naked' or 'being clothed' have any meanings here. There is nothing perveted or erotic about the current situation.''
''Still, don't look at her. Keep your eyes closed. You don't need those to talk and listen.'' Ruby insisted.
I supposed she was technically right… So long as Jinn answered with words and not by showing a vision of some sort.
I shrugged, and closed my eyes. ''Alright, alright. Better?''
''Better.''
''Now that you two are done…'' Jinn said, her voice cold with contempt. Strange, her attitude was markedly different from what I remembered of her in Volume 6. ''I am Jinn, a being created by the God of Light to aid Humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I've been graced by the ability to answer three questions every 100 years. You're in luck, as I am still able to answer two questions this era.''
Uh, the exact same introduction as in canon, despite the different circumstances. This must just be her usual spiel she gives everyone who used the relic, informing them of what she was about and how many questions were left.
''I said… that I was created to aid Humanity in its pursuit of knowledge.'' Jinn said slowly. This time, there was no denying the hatred in her voice. ''You do not qualify as such, Aberration, nor can your current form trick me.''
What?
''Uh oh. Guess that cat's out of its bag.'' I heard the Cackler say.
''Explain.'' I said.
''Now, now, shouldn't you first ask your questions to little Jinn? We can just have that talk afterward.''
''Yeah, so that you can just avoid revealing anything by simply refusing to answer? I think not.'' I said. ''You can either tell me why Jinn thinks I'm not human, or I'll be using one of the two questions on asking her.'' That Jinn refused to asnwer me wasn't a problem, I could just tell Ruby to be the one to ask the questions. The problem was the implications.
''Well then, go ahead and use one of the questions. Why don't you?'' The Cackler challenged me.
Oh? ''Don't you need me to stay alive for your own designs? My chances wouldn't be quite as good if I had to pick between what could be vital information and what you could tell me yourself.'' I said, calling the eldritch entity's bluff. It was already down 1 contractee, so I was hoping the three ones left were important enough for the being to reveal some of the information it was holding from me.
''… Alright, I suppose I could explain that much.''The Cackler conceded.
''But that, dear readers, is gonna have to wait for next chapter. Kekekeke…'' The Cackler continued.
No! Oh good God, the fourth wall! What are we going to do without it?
''Take less than three months to write next chapter?'' The Cackler said.
I'll try to get chapter 24 done before the end of the year.
Anyway, the title… While I'm sure you can guess where 'Bomberman' was for, I decided to change it due to a lack of explosion, which in insight I realised was just setting up expectation that weren't met since the explosive wouldn't actually go off. I'm sorry for that.
The new title, 'Diplomacy check', is a reference to tabletop RPGs. It's more fitting than a title referring to Gemini's use of explosives in this chapter, since it doesn't just apply to a small moment in the chapter, but could apply as much to Gemini negotiating with Raven (guess he rolled a nat 20) than it could Ozpin and Ironwood negotiating how to deal with the threat the 'evil' Gemini poses. Also to Gemini convincing the Cackler to give him an infodump.
Speaking of which, next chapter is going to be named 'All there in the manual'. It's a referrence to how old video games used to have no lore or plot explained in the game, and you had to read the manual to get said lore and plot. Works well with how next chapter is going to have Cackler explain much of what he hadn't told Gemini in chapter 1.
''Also, only 0.45% of you left a review on last chapter. Please, remember your feedback is important to the author of this fic and goes a long way to both keep the moral up and improve as a writer.'' The Cackler said.