Chapter 39 – Avenged
Lavinia
The sandstorm slowly calmed down, and as it cleared, the burning blue eyes of Lavinia Vasillias were revealed. She stood atop the cliffs of the Ravine that her daughter had just fought through. Beside her were the Happy Huntresses, Marrow and Vine. "By the gods… what the hell happened here?" Marrow gasped, eyes wide at the devastation left behind. The canyon was completely obliterated, massive chunks of rock choked the river and thick black smoke billowed through the cracks and outside where fires raged.
She floated down whilst everyone used their landing strategies to get down there. Below were the burning corpses of Black Gallows soldiers left behind. Some of them were just scorch marks on the walls, turned into permanent shadows. "Something big went down here." Joanna commented, crouching down and looking at the burns.
"An explosion… high yield explosives were detonated." Vine scanned the environment, using his optics to examine every detail of the destruction left behind here. "Someone must have planted an explosive on some sort of payload, judging by what's left of these Paladins… Killian and the Black Gallows must have been preparing heavy shipments for something." Vine commented as he walked over to the still burning remains of the Paladin.
Fiona coughed as the smoke blew through the air. She jolted though when she saw parts of the Ravine Walls come crashing down nearby. "This place looks unstable. We should be careful."
Lavinia walked around, continuing to clear the Sandstorm with her Winter Maiden powers, and she passed by many bodies on the ground. She followed the destruction and found the docks where the boats were. "They must have escaped using the boats that were moored here. Killian's body isn't here, meaning they chased him down." Lavinia explained. She looked around and turned as one of their Airships descended before them. It landed and the back door opened to pick them up.
They followed the river, and they saw the size of the devastation left behind from that massive explosion that Eryka created. But eventually they flew over the large lake, finding the smoking wreckages of the two Wasps in the water. "Well, they definitely came this way." May deduced, then Marrow peered through the window of the Airship.
"Damn… we need to hurry. Look." They all followed his line of vision and saw the Shadow of Broken Promises. It was sending a small army down to search for their leader, most likely.
"Yeah, we need to find them before those bastards do." Lavinia agreed. They continued to follow the lake, passing by the Obsidian Spires in the lake and finding the rapids that lead to that waterfall. As they passed over, they saw the wreckage down below.
The Gyrfalcon.
"That's that gunship we saw on our way to the Summit's Claim." May remembered.
"The Gyrfalcon… it was the only one of its kind. Watts was the one who found it when he escaped from Atlas Police after the Grave Dust event. It was just a prototype gunship, and he destroyed the others as he left. Without the original and the facility destroyed, they couldn't make more Gyrfalcons." Vine explained.
"Well… good to see that damn thing is gone." Fiona said, relieved. The Airship descended towards the crash site, and Lavinia walked outside immediately, looking around. The waterfall constantly roared nearby, spilling gallons upon gallons of water down into the river beneath them. She walked by the wreck of the Gyrfalcon, seeing the dead bodies of the Black Gallows soldiers who were serving on it.
She then saw the blood on the sharp piece of metal that protruded out from it, where Dutch threw Killian's face down against. Her eyes widened as she turned and gasped. She saw Eryka laid in the sand, bleeding out from her side and battered. She sprinted to her side and lifted her up onto her knee. "Eryka? Eryka?" She stammered, and she pressed her ear against her chest, and could hear a faint heartbeat.
Lavinia looked around and only saw the bodies of Dutch and Winter.
"Check them!" She yelled. The others all ran over to their bodies.
"Oh, gods… Dutch has been shot in the head…" Fiona gasped, covering her mouth. May pressed her fingers against his neck for a pulse and she couldn't believe it.
"Holy shit… the dude's still alive, but his pulse is really weak. We need to get them medical attention as fast as we can. Especially Dutch… I'm amazed he's still alive." May hadn't even noticed the stab wounds in his gut until she looked at them. By the looks of it, he had got those from Killian's Grave Dust claws.
"How's Winter?" Joanna asked Marrow and Vine.
"Still alive, but badly hurt. Looks like Killian really beat her badly, and nearly strangled her to death. Lots of blunt trauma." Vine answered, scanning her body. "And her leg is badly damaged, gunshot wound."
"What about Eryka?" Marrow asked Lavinia.
"Stab wound in her side, from her own sword by the looks of –"
They looked at her and saw Lavinia staring at something other than Eryka, eyes wide and actually… tearful. "What is it?" Marrow asked her. The Happy Huntresses followed her gaze and Fiona gasped.
"Oh, no…" she realised, walking over to the body of Dulcis near where Eryka fell. She fell to her knees by the beautiful Altum Eagle and she carefully picked him up, looking at the bullet wound.
"Dulcis… he meant everything to Eryka… gods…" Lavinia buried her head down onto Eryka's shoulder. But she fought back the emotions she felt, and lifted Eryka up, carrying her. Vine stood tall as Joanna picked Winter up, and May picked up Dutch.
"Where's Killian?" Vine realised. He walked around with Fiona, then he stopped, crouching down to the floor when he saw something.
"What is it?" Fiona asked him.
"Grave Dust… in the sand…" He said, then he saw the chunks of broken metal laid in the sand, alongside still fresh bloodstains. He picked a piece up and his eyes widened when he realised what it was.
"What is that?" Fiona asked.
"Killian's Respirator… it was the only thing keeping him alive… keeping the Grave Dust in his blood from killing him." Vine explained, then he let it fall back into the sand.
"They got him… if that thing's broken…"
Vine looked at her and nodded.
"Killian is dead."
Normally, Fiona hated the idea of killing people. She was kindhearted to the bone, but at this moment? She felt differently. "Good… too many people died because of that monster. And a little boy has been made an orphan… and I lost one of my best friends to him. I hope he suffered in his last moments." Fiona stated. Vine stood there for a few moments.
He saw the chrome glint of Killian's pistol nearly completely buried in the sand, but he just turned and walked away, leaving it to be swallowed by the desert.
To be forgotten, just like the murderer it was fired by.
They all got aboard the Airship and left the area with Eryka, Winter and Dutch aboard, leaving the incoming Black Gallows forces to scratch their heads and fall apart at the prospect of losing their leader.
"Without Killian, the Black Gallows will weaken. And with his body gone, they could even think that he lost his mind and abandoned them. We can use this to our advantage… the Black Gallows' days are numbered." Lavinia explained, and Marrow looked back at the crash site as the Wasps arrived, sending out troops to try to find their leader.
Lavinia looked down at her daughter, and for a brief moment she saw Eryka when she was a little girl, asleep in her arms. But she closed her eyes and exhaled.
"Please… be okay, little one."
Blake
Unaware of what had just been achieved in Vacuo…
She paced around as they arrived at the location that Ghira, Kali, and Sienna were talking about.
The original headquarters of the White Fang.
It was not as grand as the one in Mistral, but that was what she was expecting. They already told her this was more of a Covert location, designed to blend in and be ignored. And it was exactly that, since they all nearly passed it when they arrived here. If it weren't for the Veteran White Fang members, they would have completely missed this place.
It looked like just a wall made from rock in a cliff face, no path lead up to it and there were no flags at all. Very easy to miss, but Ghira and Sienna both approached the wall and opened two panels that were perfectly camouflaged into the rocks.
"Whoa." Yang chuckled, surprised at the ingenuity.
Inside that panel they opened were two things: a handprint scanner and a keypad. They both instinctively typed in the same passcode and then at the same time pressed their hands against the prints. It took a few seconds, but the systems were still in operational parameters. They flashed green, and they heard a deep unlocking sound, and the wall split apart, slowly opening up to reveal the large hall inside, heading deeper into the facility.
"Hmph… good to see our updated handprints worked. Good thing we never showed this place to Adam. Imagine what he would have done with the secrets stored here?" Ghira sighed.
"Of all my choices with Adam, that's one I'm proud I made."
Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling as the wind rushed inside. Blake gasped in awe as she listened to the immense doors opening up. "Wow, that's some impressive stuff. And you said this was back in the early days of the White Fang?" Nora asked.
"That's right, we didn't have a large following back then, but we needed somewhere to keep our heads down. Even here in Menagerie, the Humans kept their eyes on us at all times." Ghira explained as they walked inside of the underground building.
"I've been around even since the early days of the White Fang, and even I don't remember this place." Ilia stated.
"That's because it was extremely secret. Only a very small number of us knew this place existed. Basically, the founders of the White Fang." Sienna explained.
"Adam doesn't know about it?" Blake asked.
Sienna chuckled. "Gods no. I may have enabled his savagery against the Humans that opposed us, but I knew he was too dangerous to know the secrets buried here."
They walked down the dark steps, and Weiss felt a chill as she saw the old paintings left behind. Some of them were eerily familiar. "Are those… the two White Fang Monks you killed?" She asked Sienna.
"Fennec and Corsac? No, but they were like him. They weren't the only ones… and if you ask me, that was when the red flags flew. These were the people who took our cause and turn it into something far more fanatical and extreme than it was supposed to be. The beginning of the Feral Ones, so to speak." Sienna explained.
"So who was he?" Weiss asked.
"Corvo Albain, and yes… he was their grandfather. He was one of the High Leaders, the one who came before Ghira. The one I killed after he did… what he did to Kaldararr and the Scorpio Bloodline…" Sienna answered, grief in her voice.
Yang turned on the flashlight in her scroll and shined across the walls of this descending stairway, revealing more paintings of the High Leaders.
"There were a lot of High Leaders, huh?" Yang asked.
"Many… our mission has lasted long before Ghira or I were born… I guess we're still fighting for it. And different leaders had different methods. Some slaughtered the Humans, any of them we saw. Others stayed in hiding. Some tried diplomacy. Others fought back against the ones who wronged us." Sienna explained.
Yang shone a light and found the picture of Sienna Khan. She was so much younger in this picture, with beautiful flowing locks of black hair. "Wow… this you?" She asked.
"In my early days, yes… lost a lot of my beauty since." She chuckled.
"I wouldn't say that." Yang answered with a chuckle, a compliment that warmed Sienna's heart. Ghira turned and saw the picture of him and Kali… and Yang's eyes widened when she saw how much Blake really was just like her mother. In fact, she looked identical when she was younger.
"Like two peas in a pod, you two." Sienna chuckled as she walked past Ghira.
"Still are." Kali said, holding his hand. Weiss looked around at the place, then followed Sienna down the steps with Ilia beside her.
"Whenever I thought I knew the White Fang inside out… stuff like this always proves me wrong." Ilia chuckled. They continued down the stairs until they reached the bottom floor and found many rooms to the left and right. Blake walked into one room with Oscar, who lit the way. She felt the walls with her fingers, examining the old stones that made this place. She sniffed the air, easily identifying this was filled with books.
"A library…" Blake said.
"Yeah… an old one too." Oscar held one book in his hand. Beside him stood Ozpin, who looked over the books as well.
"My, my… I always believed many of these texts were lost. Stories of the White Fang and the Faunus. There must be stories here from the Great War and after it." He said, impressed by this collection of knowledge. Oscar opened another and found it was written in brail. He turned his gaze to Blake and placed it in her hand.
"Why don't you hold on to this one?" He asked her, and she felt the brail. It made her smile. Oscar was always thoughtful like that. Whenever he found a brail book, he would always give to her. He knew how much she loved to read and remembered how depressed she became when she realised she could never read again.
He made it his mission to prove her wrong.
"Thanks, Oscar." Blake said with a sweet smile. Oscar walked out of the library and joined the others, whilst Blake felt the Brail with her fingers.
… we continued to wander the deserts of Menagerie together, not sure if we could survive. We cursed the Humans every single day for just giving us this island and expecting us to make do.
How can we?
There's nothing here… just a desert filled with monsters…
… when will they stop punishing us?
…
…
- Day 67
By the gods! This is incredible! It's not all desert! There's this stunning part of the island, filled with beautiful trees and fresh water, and it's connected to the ocean! We can actually start fishing and building a future for ourselves!
Maybe… maybe our future isn't lost?
Maybe we can make this island a paradise for the Faunus… the Humans may think it was a cruel joke to name this place a Menagerie, and I still hate them.
But we can prove them wrong.
This land is ours.
And we can make it something beautiful for our people.
And we will die to protect it if we must.
Blake closed the book, and she ran her hand across the title on the front cover, realising what this book was about.
Menagerie – Beginnings
It made her smile. She always wanted to read stories of the settlers of Menagerie, she always knew they had it hard in the beginning. Thinking the entire island was just a desert, and they were expected to survive there. But when they found this place? It was perfect. All manner of Faunus could survive. Land, Water or Sky, it didn't matter one bit.
Everyone could be happy here.
She clutched the brail book close and tucked it away in her bag, leaving the room to join the others. In another room, Weiss walked in with Ilia as they looked around, finding it was an old Armoury. Very few weapons were left behind here, but the ones that were had been rusted over, and were indeed very, very old.
Ilia approached one of the axes that had rust tainting the blade. She picked it up and felt the weight of it in her hands. "To think we once used such weapons." She said.
"I guess we made do with whatever we could back in those days." Weiss stopped, and she leant against the wall, bowing her head.
"Are you okay?" Ilia asked.
"Yeah… just… thinking…" Weiss said, and Ilia walked over to her, hopping onto the barrel left in her, crossing one leg over the other.
"About?" Ilia asked.
Weiss sighed, shaking her head. "About the past… and how I used to behave when it came to the Faunus. I was so complacent about the things my father did, what the Schnee Dust Company did. I just… didn't want to see it. Or maybe my father's prejudice was rubbing off on me? Gods, I don't know which is worse." Weiss sighed. "I just wish I had been better…"
"We've all made mistakes, Weiss. The White Fang isn't all good either. We've done bad things. Had corrupt leaders with bad ideals. But the difference is Weiss, you actually changed. You're better than you were and better than your father ever was." Ilia explained, gently squeezing her shoulder.
Weiss crossed her arms as she listened to Ilia. "Don't start torturing yourself for things in the past. What happened… happened. But you learned and became better. You should be proud of how far you've come. You proved it's never too late to change… and well… you made me change, too." Ilia admitted.
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.
"When I first met you, I just assumed you were gonna be some stuck up rich Atlesian girl. Hell, I've seen my fair share of people like that when I grew up in Atlas. But… you proved me wrong. And I realised I had become prejudiced towards a friggin' name." She scoffed. "But I was wrong… and I'm proud of that. Because I know you for who you are now."
Ilia hopped off the barrel and held out her hand. "That's always worth eating my words for." She said, and Weiss smiled, taking her hand and standing tall once more. "Now, after all that deep stuff, let's keep moving." Ilia joked, making Weiss chuckle.
The other rooms were merely storage rooms now, which meant the most important place was in the room directly in front of them. Ghira opened the doors, and they walked inside. Kali looked around at the now dark meeting room, but they had their flashlights. They shone them around and found an old generator.
"Let's see if you're still working." Kali said, approaching it and opening the side panel, fiddling with the switches. Suddenly it roared to life and all the lights switched on, making everyone in the room jolt from the sudden bright light.
"Gods, that's a shock to the system." Ghira grumbled.
"Oh, hush, you old man." Kali teased, walking back over to them. They looked at the main table and saw the large map on the table of Remnant.
"Wow… look at that. The old map we used when designing our Mistraalian H.Q." Sienna chuckled with amazement. "Little piece of history right there."
"I thought you took it with you."
"Nah, I forgot." Sienna confessed.
"Gods… and I surrendered the White Fang to you." Ghira groaned.
Blake chuckled at that, and so did Sienna. "Okay… where's that Broadcaster we have in here? It's sitting around here somewhere." Kali wondered as she looked around. Everyone searched for the piece of old technology.
"Are we sure it'll work? I mean, won't it be outdated?" Yang asked.
"That's the good thing. We have our scrolls. We don't need the old cameras. This is simply a signal booster that we need. Once we tune it to the C.C.T Signal, we can send our message everywhere." Ghira explained.
They continued to search until they heard the booming cheer of Ghira Belladonna. "AH-HA! Found it." He cheered, holding the small device in his hand. Oscar gave him his scroll after he set it down on the table. He set it down and fiddled with the cables.
"Any idea on what you're gonna say?" Nora asked.
"I have a rough idea." Ghira answered.
"Are you seriously just winging this?" Ren asked.
"For the first time, I think the simplest part of all of this is going to be the message. Killian already did the hard work for us. We just need to be the spark the Faunus needs to help us. The hard bit is getting the broadcast to work." Ghira explained whilst Kali helped him cycle through the settings.
Blake sat there, wringing her fingers. Yang sat down next to her and gently bumped her shoulder. "You okay?" Yang asked.
"Yeah… just nervous. My dad and Sienna are used to this kind of thing… but me?" Blake stammered.
"Don't worry too much about it. Just… remind the people of what they're fighting for. A chance to be free of Salem." Yang supportively said.
"Gods… but what if nobody comes, Yang? What if everyone is… too afraid? What if it's too late to ask for help?"
"Blake… breathe." Yang suggested, and Blake started to simply focus on her breathing. Yang always knew public speaking was never one of Blake's strong suits, but she was one of the strongest people she knew as well. "Like your father said, Killian's already sparked a massive fire in people's hearts against Salem. People don't wanna die… and wanting to stay alive tends to light one hell of a fire under someone's ass." Yang explained.
Blake giggled. "Beautifully put."
Yang smiled. "You can do this. I know you can. Just… tell the world the truth. That we can stop Salem once and for all. Today."
Blake looked at Yang and smiled, gently pressing her forehead against hers. She exhaled, nodding her head. "Okay…"
"Got it! It's linked up, just gotta hit record when you're ready. How's the lighting and backdrop looking?" Kali asked.
"Uh…" Nora struggled.
"Nora! Just hold it still!" Ren protested as he tried to connect the white sheet onto the pole.
"How's this thing work?" Ilia mumbled as she fiddled with the light.
Weiss pinched her brow with defeat. "We're doomed."
After a few minutes of foolish prep work, they finally made a decent looking recording booth for the three of them. Ghira and Sienna were the ones stood before the camera first – which was literally just Oscar's scroll propped up on a chair. The two of them had done this hundreds of times before, and knew that Blake was their ace in the hole.
"Okay… you ready?" Oscar asked them.
"Ready." Ghira agreed.
Sienna cracked her neck. "Let's do this." She exhaled.
"Aaaand… live." Oscar answered, and the feed patched in through every single scroll, television and computer across Remnant thanks to the C.C.T Network.
"My name is Ghira Belladonna."
"And I am Sienna Khan."
"Both of us were once the High Leaders of the White Fang, and we speak to the world now – Faunus and Humanity alike." Ghira spoke.
"Salem and Nathaniel Killian have committed an atrocity with the real threat of killing millions of people today. And this is not something that we can let stand unchallenged." Sienna followed.
All around the world, people watched this message be sent out.
"For years, Humanity and the Faunus have felt like we have been on opposing lines of a line drawn in the sand that both sides created. But it is time for us all to remove this line and stand together." Ghira explained.
"I know there are many members of the White Fang out there who have lost faith… and… I shoulder the blame for this. I abandoned you all when the Feral Ones attacked us… I gave up. But I was wrong, because I saw that despite everything, the past six years have thrown at her… a woman stood up to the darkness and fight back." Sienna explained, turning to Blake, who approached.
"My daughter – Blake Belladonna…" Ghira introduced as she stepped into the shot.
From Salem's Sanctum, Adam bolted up from his chair with shock to see her stood there, and he clenched his hand into a fist with hate.
"Adam Taurus – the cowardly leader of the Feral Ones – mutilated my daughter on the night of the Inhumane Necessity. And despite everything she has suffered… she still stands here and came to fight against Salem and her enemy." Ghira explained, sounding so proud of her.
Blake inhaled and lifted her head, seeing the glowing aura of her friends… and of Yang, who smiled and nodded supportively at her.
"We are broadcasting this message today – because we can defeat Salem." Blake revealed. "Salem is incredibly powerful, but she is not unbeatable. But only together can we hope to destroy her once and for all." Blake explained.
Li Ren listened to the message as he sat at the Summit's Claim, but he stood up and walked outside to his people.
"I know how it sounds… after the Rebellions against Salem ended in so much bloodshed, how can I stand here and expect any of you to follow me? To follow us?" Blake asked them. "Well… I guess there's nothing I can say that can convince you. But Salem and Killian have already drawn the line, and it's up to us to cross it and fight back against her. The only way our world can be safe from threats like this… is if Salem is destroyed. She will not stop until she gets what she wants… and what she wants will destroy everything we know and love."
Watts stood with Tyrian sat beside Salem, watching the broadcast from his scroll, whilst Salem sat there and she smirked at them.
"I wanted to hide at first… when I lost my eyes, I thought I would be nothing more than a burden on the world. But every day, I heard the news of how the Feral Ones were butchering people. Abusing Humans and Faunus alike… and this was not the world the White Fang wanted to create. We wanted to create a world free from Human Tyranny… and now both sides and under the oppression of the same enemy."
Lavinia watched the broadcast whilst sat beside Eryka, who was still recovering from her injuries, and a smile formed on her face. "Good girl…"
"And believe me… I know it can feel impossible to stand up and fight against an enemy that seems to be so unstoppable. And I know that asking the world to put their lives at risk is a crazy thing to do… but that is what's at stake. We are going to face Salem one way or another. It's up to you to decide if a peaceful world is worth fighting for."
"We hope… you make the choice that you believe in." Sienna added.
"Because that is all we have ever asked of you… our brothers and sisters." Ghira concluded.
The Broadcast ended, and Blake exhaled.
"I hope that worked…" Sienna said.
"Me too…" Blake agreed.
Now they can only pray that the people of the world band together and help.
Because at this point?
Unity is going to be the only way to defeat Salem.
Eryka
Pain…
That was all she felt in her heart. It was like a part of her was just forcefully ripped from her heart, like part of her had died and never returned. She felt numb, and just wanted to see Dulcis again. She had prayed it was a bad dream, that Killian didn't actually shoot him and kill him… but when she slowly came back to reality, she realised that was not true.
He was gone… and so was a part of her.
She looked to her side and saw Winter was still unconscious and so was Dutch. He definitely had the most attention with the medical supplies. The man was shot in the face, after all. She winced in pain as she slowly sat upright, turning to see Lavinia still next to her with Roland. "Whoa, whoa… steady…" Lavinia eased, holding her shoulders so she didn't hurt herself.
She groaned in pain and rested her back against the wall, staring vacantly. "Eryka? Sweetheart? Are you okay?" Roland asked her nervously.
"W-Where is he?" Eryka stammered, and Lavinia bowed her head in grief for her daughter. She turned and looked at the comfortably placed mass covered in a warm blanket.
"I'm sorry, Eryka… but he's gone." Lavinia confirmed. Eryka didn't know how to react. She wanted to cry, but nothing came out. She just hugged her knees in grief, closing her eyes.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"My Dreadnaught… we're heading to Salem's Sanctum… to fight. Blake Belladonna, her father, and Sienna Khan sent out a broadcast of their own. Let's just say the world is itching for a fight and they've given them a target. I wouldn't be surprised if more reinforcements are minutes behind us." Lavinia explained.
"Heh… good on them…" Eryka whispered. She then just laid back down in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Only then did tears stream from her eyes, but still… she couldn't cry. She just stared upwards.
Lavinia looked at Roland, and he sighed, cradling her hand. "We're relieved… honey… we were so afraid we lost you down there. We saw the devastation…"
"Yeah… that was… me." Eryka admitted.
"I had a feeling." Lavinia chuckled.
"Killian… he was pooling together bombs and missiles… he was gonna blow up Argus and Menagerie, too." Eryka revealed their eyes widened at that.
"What?" Lavinia questioned.
"But… why?" Roland asked.
"No loose ends… full reset… Dutch gave me a remote bomb, and we detonated them… was a bit bigger than we were expecting. There were lots of bombs." Eryka explained.
"Well, that explains why the Ravine was in the state it was." Lavinia wasn't stupid. She knew her daughter and knew that Eryka was trying to fight the pain in her with simple conversation. It was her way… usually she did it well, but this? This was the first time anyone had ever seen Eryka so broken.
Yet… she was still trying to be herself.
To try to brighten the mood somehow…
… even if her heart was bitter with grief and depression.
The door opened, and she saw Saphron walking inside with the Happy Huntresses, Marrow and Vine – though the two Ace Ops stayed back, feeling like they should. They were so relieved to see her awake, and whilst Winter and Dutch were still unconscious – they were stable. "We're so happy to see you're okay." Fiona said, hugging her. Eryka winced slightly and returned the hug, but it wasn't as warm as her hugs normally were.
"But I'm not…" Eryka answered, letting her hand drop.
Fiona's face saddened when she looked back at Dulcis. "I'm so sorry, Eryka…" Eryka just stared at the body covered with the blanket. She didn't even know if she wanted to see him like that yet. It stung when she held his body in her arms when she died… she didn't know if she wanted to feel that pain again.
"He was one brave Eagle… never backed down from a challenge." Joanna said with a smile as she looked at the blanket.
Eryka closed her eyes. Tears streamed down, and she inhaled. She could see the question in her eyes when she looked at Saphron. But she didn't want to ask, because she was too concerned about Eryka's health. But Eryka wasn't stupid. End of the day… she and the Happy Huntresses played a big role in why they hunted Killian down in the first place.
She sat upright and held Saphron's hand with a smile.
"We got him… Killian is dead." She promised.
"We never found his body, only Grave Dust and what remained of his Respirator. We made assumptions… but… what happened?" May asked.
"Killian tried to escape on a boat, but we chased him, and the damn Gyrfalcon showed up. He could have escaped but kept attacking us in the thing, but I used my last arrow to blow up the wing. It crashed and when we came to, he had already shot Dutch in the face. The two had fought… but in the end it was just me and Winter against him." Eryka explained.
She clutched the blanket on her. "Then… he shot Dulcis… and… I felt it… I thought he shot me at first… but my connection to him? My aura connected to his? I…"
"Shh… it's okay…" Fiona softly assured, sitting on the side of the bed next to her and giving her a hug.
That was it.
That was what made Eryka break down into tears, sobbing into Fiona's shoulder. Lavinia closed her eyes in grief for her daughter. Marrow bowed his head for her grief. Eryka contained her sorrow, fighting back her tears, hiccuping breaths as she tried to speak again.
They nearly wanted to stop her from speaking to not relive that moment again, but she needed to tell them.
She needed to tell Saphron it wasn't for nothing.
"After… I… I lost it. We both did. We tried to kill him and Winter destroyed his Grave Dust Arm. But even then he kept getting the upper hand on us over and over, and he stabbed me in the side with my sword. And he started beating Winter…" Eryka explained, shoving the tears away. "I got to her sword when he was strangling her and I stabbed him through the neck… and through the respirator. He crawled away after I destroyed it, and I passed out before I could be sure, but the Respirator was destroyed and he was bleeding out." Eryka explained.
"We only found Grave Dust… without the Respirator… he wouldn't have lasted long." Vine assured.
Eryka looked at Saphron and held her hand. "We got him. Killian's dead… and Terra and Robyn are both avenged." She assured with a smile.
Saphron smiled back at her and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Eryka… if I hadn't begged you to kill him… Dulcis would still be…"
"Don't… please… we knew what we were getting into. And Dulcis literally refused to be left here, wouldn't let me close the cage." Eryka assured. "And… after his threat? And seeing all the bombs he was preparing to send and drop on Argus and Menagerie? We had no other choice… we had to stop him, no matter what the cost. So please… do not blame yourself. Either way… if Robyn and Terra were still alive? We would have done this either way. It was a long time coming." Eryka assured.
Saphron wrapped her arms around Eryka, sobbing with her. But this time, the tears were of joy that at least Eryka, Winter, and Dutch were alive… and that Killian was dead.
Robyn and Terra's deaths weren't in vain.
They turned when they heard Winter groaning, and Eryka turned swiftly. "Wints?" She yelped, holding her side. Marrow and Vine both approached her side, checking how she was doing. Winter opened her bruised eyes to see Eryka, and she reached over to her, holding Eryka's hand.
"Thank the gods… he didn't kill you… that's my job." She joked, which finally put that beautiful smile on Eryka's face as she laughed.
Lavinia smiled at seeing her daughter smile like that.
Winter looked over at Dutch and saw he was still unconscious. "What's Dutch's condition? Will he make it?"
"The doctors are certain he will. He's one tough son of a bitch. But they think his eye will be blinded for the rest of his life, and he will be out for a few more days… meaning he won't be able to join us. But we'll keep him safe, I promise." Lavinia assured.
"We should keep Eryka and Winter here, so they can recover." Saphron said, speaking from a medical perspective, as always.
"No… I want to fight." Eryka said.
"Eryka, you were stabbed. Pretty badly too. The meds may heal you by the time we get there, but…"
"Then that's enough… I need to see this through… and I need to find Neptune." Eryka explained.
It was all I have left outside of Winter and Mom.
I've lost Dulcis…
I can't lose him too.
Saphron wanted to argue against it but knew that Eryka Vasillias was one of the most stubborn people on Remnant, and so was Winter Schnee.
A match made in heaven.
"Well… we still have a few hours before we reach the Sanctum… so make sure you heal. And be ready… because we could be heading from the frying pan and directly into the fire."
Eryka clenched her fist.
"Good."
Ruby
Team C.P.P.R had been waiting for a couple of hours now since they sent their response to Killian.
"Surprised he's taking so long." Ruby commented, who was sitting on a rock and kicking her feet back and forth.
"Think he's asleep?" Penny asked.
"Dunno… kinda rude of him to keep us waiting, y'know? I mean, he's the one who gave us the ultimatum. You'd think he'd be ready to come get us." Pyrrha added.
"Maybe he's dead." Cinder shrugged.
"That'd be nice." Pyrrha agreed, Penny looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, am I wrong? How many people are dead thanks to that guy?"
"Okay fair, I guess I can let that slide." Penny shrugged.
They continued to sit.
"Should've ordered pizza." Ruby yawned.
"I could kill for a pizza right now." Cinder agreed.
"Oh, give me a chocolate cake any day of the week." Pyrrha sighed dreamily, picturing a delicious cake in her head.
"That's a surprise." Cinder chuckled.
"What is?" Pyrrha asked.
"You loving chocolate cake. From how thin you are, I imagined you'd be watching what you eat every day." Cinder stated.
"I do, but… a girl can dream." She said.
"Oh. So no black hole metabolism then?" Cinder presumed.
"No, that's Nora. I swear she could eat an entire table of food and not gain a pound. No idea how she does it." Pyrrha stated.
"Lucky." Cinder scoffed.
"Tell me about it." Pyrrha groaned, burying her head in her knees.
"Heh… not a problem for me! I could eat one hundred cookies and be fine!" Ruby squeaked. "Aww… now I want cookies."
Penny just looked at them with confusion. "I wonder what food I'd enjoy if I wasn't a machine?"
"Hmm… I dunno." Cinder said.
"Oh, you'd have a sweet tooth, definitely. Ruby would hide the cookies from you." Pyrrha joked.
Penny looked at Ruby, and her big silver eyes widened. "Hey don't look at me!" she panicked.
"Would you share cookies with me if I could eat them?" Penny asked.
"Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhh…"
This was the real ultimatum right now, cookies or Penny?
"Pick your choice veerrry carefully, Ruby. Look at her face." Cinder reminded, gesturing to Penny's raised eyebrow.
"Y-yeah… s-sure!" Ruby stammered, then Penny's eyes glowed. "Uh oh…"
"You're lying!" She gasped, crossing her arms and looking away.
"PENNY NO!" Ruby squeaked.
"I can't believe you'd choose cookies over me." Penny teased.
"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Ruby begged. "Guys, tell her!"
Pyrrha and Cinder glanced at each other and both just shrugged. Penny smirked cheekily when Ruby just looked down.
"You are such a tease, Polendina." Cinder chuckled.
Suddenly, a black and red portal opened in front of them, getting all their attention. They all stood up and snapped back to the situation, and Ruby stood in front of Penny.
"Think they figured out they're leaving us girls sitting around?" Cinder asked.
"Or lost their keys." Ruby joked.
The Eleven Praetorian Knights emerged, sceptres in hand and they all stood in a position in front of them, then Jaune emerged. He glared at them, and their eyes widened when they saw him again. He drew his sword and pointed it at Ruby's face. "Relinquish the Relic of Knowledge." Jaune commanded.
"Jaune…" Pyrrha stammered, but Cinder spoke up.
"I don't think so. The deal was to bring it to Salem. Not give it to her lackey. So we're going in." Cinder stated. Jaune glared at her, eyes burning purple, and then he looked back at Ruby. He didn't even acknowledge Pyrrha or Penny. He lowered the sword and raised it to the portal, commanding them to go.
Ruby walked first, with the rest of the team behind her. They passed through the portal, feeling the cool air by the sea turn into a more unnerving chill. They walked through and saw all the Children of Salem…
… bar Killian.
And sat in her throne was Salem, one hand resting upright against the arm of it with Tyrian and Watts beside her. Tyrian was sitting on his chair beside her, whilst Watts was standing beside her throne, with his arms behind his back. Hazel was sat down with his arms crossed, and Icarus was pacing back and forth. Adam was sitting in his chair, still tightly gripping his scroll after watching Blake's broadcast.
Alongside Emerald and Mercury, who looked more like hostages here.
They looked at Cinder as they entered and she looked back at them… they immediately saw her pale complexion and knew she was sick.
Ruby crossed her arms confidently at Salem, smirking. "Took you long enough." She said, which just made Salem smile.
"I will say… I admire your courage, Miss Rose. Not a hint of fear at all." Salem said.
"Where's your crony? Killian? He's the bastard who threatened all of Remnant. Well… it was definitely your command, of course." Ruby stated. Salem went quiet.
All of them did, and that surprised them.
"Ooh… you don't know?" Cinder chuckled.
Suddenly, all of them were kicked to one knee by Jaune and the Praetorian Knights. "Silence." Jaune snarled, walking around them.
The chilling chuckle of Salem made their hairs stand on end as she walked towards them. "Team Copper… a team of the most unlikely allies… turned family. How poetic." Salem said.
"Hehehehe… shall I cut them down, my queen?" Tyrian grovelled, but Salem just gestured her hand, commanding them all to leave.
"B-But…"
"Leave."
Her voice echoed through the room and silenced them all. They all left the Throne Room one by one, leaving only Salem in there with Team C.P.P.R. Salem walked to the window, her arms behind her back as she watched the Grimm getting into position. "Do you feel it?" Salem asked.
"What?" Pyrrha questioned.
"The end? It's drawing near… it's true what Killian said. There is no sweeter feeling than knowing the end is getting closer." Salem said.
"For one of us." Ruby reminded, which made Salem chuckle.
"Perhaps." Salem said, turning and walking back towards them, and standing them all up with her dark magic. They jolted as they felt the wind push them up, then they looked at each other with confusion.
"What is this, Salem? I thought you would have killed us by now." Ruby questioned.
"Not yet… the four of you may have been a thorn in my side… but you have earned my respect." Salem explained.
"I'd be humbled…" Cinder coughed, holding her chest as she spat blood out. "But I know… that you knew, didn't you?"
"Knew what?" Salem asked.
"You raised me to become your Maiden… and had me murder Amber for it. You knew that power was going to kill me, didn't you? Did you know it would give me Noctis Putrida?" Cinder questioned, her voice turning hoarser.
Salem stayed quiet, and she looked out the window. "Well… I knew it would curse you, but I could never predict how it would do it. It's always random." Salem answered. Somehow that made Cinder even angrier than her, saying she knew it would give her this hellish disease.
But Cinder could barely breathe, let alone attack her. Pyrrha stopped her from collapsing to the ground. "But I am sorry, Cinder. If there was another way, I would have chosen it. Especially if I knew you would succumb to such a fate."
"You've got some nerve! She's dying from a horrible disease, and you act like you have any right to say that you're sorry? When you knew that either way she would suffer?" Penny questioned with disgust in her voice.
Salem stared at her, and a small smile appeared. "Cinder wished for power, and power I gave. But as the old saying goes – be careful what you wish for lest your wish be granted." Salem coldly stated.
Cinder spat more blood out whilst Pyrrha held her up.
"Yeah well… I guess that's true." She wheezed.
"Salem… tell me something…"
Salem stopped and looked at her. "What did you do to Jaune? WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE?" She roared.
Salem didn't flinch at her scream. "I improved him."
Penny took Cinder whilst Ruby had to hold Pyrrha back from attacking her. Pyrrha thrashed furiously as Ruby held her away from Salem, but the Dark Queen walked around the table towards the two of them.
"Improved? He didn't need improving! He was perfect the way he was!" Pyrrha screamed whilst being on the verge of tears.
Salem looked down at Pyrrha as she cried. "Jaune Arc was a fool with a death wish, whose skills lacked his semblance's power. I used him how I saw fit. Only through his bloodline can my plans be completed… though your connection to him allowing you to draw the Relic of Creation proved I miscalculated." Salem explained. "Perhaps I should have chosen you instead."
Pyrrha growled in anger as Ruby held her back, but Salem just walked away from them. "Why ask these questions if you cannot handle the truth?" Salem asked her, walking around the table once more as she approached Cinder.
She fell to one knee as Penny tried to keep her supported.
Then Cinder chuckled. "Well, then… wanna hear a truth, Salem?"
Salem raised a brow curiously. "Go on."
Cinder wiped the blood from her nose and stared up at her former master. "Watts plans to betray you, kill you and usurp your position. He used the Relic to find out how… and now he knows." Cinder explained.
Salem smirked. "Hmph…" She leant down and stared directly into her eye. "What makes you think I don't already know that?"
Her eye widened with disbelief, all of their eyes did.
"What? How do you…"
"Watts is a clever but very predictable man. He may have helped me find my strength after Thaddeus slaughtered my children, but I knew what he was. He is a manipulator, to the bone… I have always known that he wanted to take my place. So I simply indulged him with the power he gained as my right-hand man… but I never trusted him. Not one bit… and when he eventually tries? I will remind him that you can never be one step ahead of me." Salem said, standing in front of Ruby now, staring into her eyes.
"Now…" Salem suddenly grabbed Ruby by the throat and lifted her off the floor with one hand. "… enough of this." Salem snarled, grabbing the Relic of Knowledge and removing it from Ruby's belt.
She threw the girl against the wall, making Penny sprint to her side. She held the glowing blue lamp before her face, admiring its beauty. Pyrrha sprinted at Salem, but she blew her against the wall with powerful magic, barely even raising her hand.
"My Knight… please lock them away with the others." She commanded.
The Praetorian Knights opened the door and Jaune grabbed Pyrrha by her ponytail, dragging her away. The other Knights did the same for the rest of Team C.P.P.R. Salem remained, staring at the Relic of Knowledge with a smile.
"Finally…"
Jaune dragged Pyrrha further, ignoring her pleas. "Jaune! This isn't you. I know you're still in there! Please listen to me!" But he opened the door and tossed her inside of the dark cell. The other Praetorians did the same, throwing Ruby, Penny and Cinder inside as well, locking it and leaving.
Pyrrha pounded on the door desperately, but she knew it was a more corrupted Thaddeus than it was Jaune.
Just his body now…
She pressed her head against the bars and exhaled.
Ruby rubbed her head in pain after being thrown into that wall with penny next to her, then she looked to the dark end of the cell.
"Ruby?" a familiar voice whimpered.
Crawling out from the shadows…
… was Sun Wukong.
Covered in scars, bruises and fresh torture wounds, he stared at his old friends in disbelief. All of their eyes widened, realising all of them were still alive. Neptune was in the corner holding his knees, with Sage and Scarlet David inside as well.
Russel, Dove and Sky-Lark were in the shadows as well. All of them had been tortured over the six years they had been captured.
Just like Cardin.
Ruby stared at them and couldn't believe it.
"You're alive…"
Author Note - They are officially alive! Not in great condition but alive!
But Salem has the final Relic now, and things are about to get heated with the culmination coming together. They need to stop her because we all know that if she does kill the Brothers' Grimm... it is all over.
Had some fun with this chapter, less intense and crazy as last chapter but that's a good thing. And heartbreaking when we see Eryka's reaction to Dulcis' being gone. Honestly that made me so sad to write her sobbing. She never cries, she always keeps it together. But Dulcis was like her baby, raised him from an egg. Now Neptune is all she has left outside Winter and Lavinia.
And Blake has successfully sent out their broadcast, only time will tell now if it works. And now they are on their way to Salem's Sanctum too alongside the Vasillias Cartel.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt