Medical records achieved. Now waiting on results to be sent through to my GP. One drama over, another begins? Hopefully not. We'll have to see.

Cover Art: Z-ComiX

Chapter 93

Weiss barely had the time to register Lord Branwen's charge before a flash of silver light ended it. He hurtled back, slamming into the log wall beside her and bouncing off. Weiss gasped and thrust her hands out toward the new foe, shouting "Flame net entrap my-"

"Less of that, dearie."

The world suddenly changed. Up became down and left became right. Weiss gasped and tried to stop herself falling, only to find she didn't fall at all. Gravity had no meaning. Her head spun and she toppled to her knees, though even that meant she toppled upward instead of down. Nausea flooded her system before it was all back to normal and she realised she was on her knees on the floor heaving for breath.

"Rather rude of you both to attack an old lady, hm?" the crooked voice asked. The woman was old – ancient, even – with a small face, shrunken frame and grey hair tied in tight to her wrinkled scalp. She moved with unusual poise despite that, relying on a cane grasped between both hands to aid her. A dark blue strip of cloth was wrapped over her eyes. "Here I come to see who is visiting my neighbour so late in the day, and two younglings decide to ambush me. Why, I've half a mind to complain to the Collegium."

Qrow groaned and pushed himself up. "I'm not sure that'd work, witch."

"Mind your manners, Lord Bird. You're not so old that I can't bend you over my knee. Hmph. And you, girl," she said, looking down on Weiss. "Stop looking so alarmed. If I wished you dead, you wouldn't have the chance to feel it. Your stance is so open I could kill you a thousand times over."

"I doubt you're making her feel any better, Maria."

"Hmhm. Not exactly the point, is it?"

Weiss swallowed her rising fear. "D-Do you know this woman, Lord Branwen?"

"Oh, she's a polite one, isn't she?"

"Stuffy more like." Lord Branwen finally pulled himself back onto his feet. The fact he sheathed his sword gave Weiss the confidence to do the same. "And I know her. Regrettably. "This is Maria Calavera, the wicked witch of the forest."

"Pah!" The woman waved a hand angrily in the air. "Those superstitious farmers will call anyone they don't understand a witch. Ridiculous given they live alongside the bloody Collegium. Then again, most of you lot like to stay in your ivory towers so maybe they've never seen an Arcanist. I'm no witch, lass. Just an old lady and practitioner of the magical arts."

An Arcanist. Weiss let out a heavy breath. Given that Qrow knew her and that she'd been around long enough to get a nickname, she assumed Maria wasn't involved with the newer arrivals from Menagerie. This meeting would have been a lot more violent if so. Even so, what was an Arcanist doing living all the way out here…? The forest wasn't hospitable at the best of times, and certainly wasn't safe now.

"You said this is your neighbour's place." Qrow said. "Are they around?"

"Around? Aground, more like." Maria tutted and moved slowly through the ransacked home. "I heard quite the kerfuffle two nights back over here. Came to check on him, so I did, but a rather crude man had already killed the poor soul."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Weiss said automatically.

"Hm. Yes. Thank you. He was sorry for my loss as well once I was done with him. Always the way with their kind, isn't it? They love to parade their power and superiority but turn into mewling babies when the tables are turned."

"Their kind?"

"Nobles, lass. Your kind. Our kind, I suppose, though I've put that long behind me. Born fortunate and then believing themselves special for it. He didn't lose any sleep over killing my friend, but he certainly lost his nerve once he realised I wouldn't be put down so easily. Threatened me, he did. Told me to serve his and their ends or pay the price." Maria threw her head back. "Hah! As if an old lady like me appreciates being told what to do."

"Was he from Menagerie?" Qrow asked. "Did he say who his leaders were?"

"Hmm. He was a faunus, so I suppose he may have been from there. As for his leader, well, I took offence at being told what to do. Never thought to ask. Are you looking for our new guests in the forests?"

"They are Rogue Arcanists from Menagerie and must be stopped." Weiss explained. "We believe they may be responsible for the Grimm who attacked Vale and-"

"Enough. Enough." Maria waved her cane at Weiss, startling her to silence. "Never use ten words where two will suffice. I may be blind but I'm not stupid. I know Vale was attacked. Who is this brat, Qrow? Not like you to have someone so stuffy."

"Weiss Schnee," he replied. "And she's not my brat at all. I'm mentoring someone else. This one was foisted on me by Goodwitch."

"Glynda, huh. How is that old crone doing? Still a stuck-up bitch?"

"Still," Qrow agreed, earning a quick glare from Weiss. "Though you know she'd have your head if she heard you talking like that."

"Hah. As if she needs an excuse. So, you're trying to figure out who these people are and what they plan for Vale, hm? I can't tell you much other than that they're trying to press anyone they find into their service, and they won't take no for an answer. Brutish fellows. Efficient, though. I've lost a lot of my neighbours to them."

"Killed or recruited?"

"Killed to a man. Our type don't do well with authority." Her lips peeled back to reveal a toothy grin. "You know how it is."

"I'm not a fan myself," he admitted.

"Oh, I know. I've always wondered why you're not yet a part of our little community." Maria cackled. "Enough of that. You'll be wanting to find these people, hm?"

"We planned to lay an ambush for the one who did this. I take it he's already dead?"

"Oh yes. Quite dead. Very dead."

"We need his Arcanum, Maria. And any evidence you might have."

"Hmmm. Yes. I suppose you lot do like that. Well, what makes you think I have any of those? I'm an old lady living alone in the forest. What use have I for hunks of metal and gemstone?"

Weiss was about to ask where she'd left them, but Qrow interrupted her. "I know you have the body, Maria."

"Oh? Do you now? And why is that?"

"Because you're you," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Can we cut the bullshit for a moment? I'm on the job."

The elderly lady cackled and turned around, motioning for them to follow. Qrow did so with a huff, leaving Weiss with no choice but to do the same. Catching up with Lord Branwen, she kept her voice quiet and whispered, "Do you know this person, sir? What if she's on their side?"

"Maria is an accomplished Arcanist," he whispered back. "One of the strongest in Vale. If not the strongest. Also one of the most stubborn. There's no way she'd agree to serve someone else, especially not in something as pointless as the destruction of Vale."

"I can hear you both, you know!" Maria called back. "When my eyes went, my other senses grew to fill the void. You're a nosey one, lass. Why ask that old bird when I'm here?"

Weiss flushed. "I'm sorry, Lady Calavera. I mean no offence."

"Enough of that tosh And don't call me lady. Tis no surprise you don't know about me. I keep to myself. No one bothers me and I don't bother them. Get a few travellers every now and then, curious folk that stop by for company. Otherwise, I'm long done with all that Collegium nonsense."

She was a hermit, then? Someone who had retired from Collegium business to live on her own. Why she'd chosen the forests for that, Weiss had no idea, but you certainly couldn't find anywhere less inhabited. Still, I wonder why Lady Goodwitch didn't ask us to make contact with her if she knew we might see her. Surely Lady Maria would have valuable information for us.

"Is it safe to live out here?" she asked. "I know you're a powerful Arcanist, but even the best need to sleep and aren't there wild animals around?"

"They keep away from fire. It's not been an easy life but it's a rewarding one for sure. Besides, I find it a lot easier to practice my brand of magic out here. Much easier access to reagents and resources than in the city."

"You're a practitioner of magic relating to nature, then?"

Maria cackled. "You could say that."

Nature magic wasn't an Arcana per se, more a designation for a type of magic. The Emerald Arcana was the most obvious set of practitioners, healing involving herbs, medicine and natural processes. Someone from the Crimson could also use it if they controlled vines, plants or such to attack. It was uncommon to limit yourself like that because you'd always be at a disadvantage when away from nature, which was commonplace in the Collegium. Maybe Maria wanted to live somewhere where it was all around her.

"I'm surprised you haven't run into these people from Menagerie before," Qrow said idly. "From what I hear they've been spreading out across the whole forest with their Grimm."

"Hmph. I've seen them. Unfortunately, they haven't seen me."

Maria stamped her cane once into the ground. The impact, light as it was, created a shockwave of air that seemed to blast the fog away. Before Weiss' very eyes, the empty clearing was suddenly revealed, a beautiful cottage with a peaked roof appearing as if from nowhere in the centre of it. Constructed entirely of wood, it was a pretty mix of cream, yellow and pine colour, covered with potted plants and creeping vines. There was a drying rack outside the front door along with a wooden tub and copper pail, a small table and a rocking chair set on the wooden porch. It looked to have two storeys and room for a family of four or five to live comfortably in. It had also been completely invisible but moments ago.

"Well…" Qrow trailed off. "I guess that would explain it. How?"

"I met a lovely girl a few months ago," Maria said. "In an awful hurry she was, running away from Menagerie. Poor lass was starving when she came upon me. I patched her up and fed her before sending her on her way. In return, she taught me a few tricks to keep me safe. Lovely girl."

"Tricks from the Shadow Arcana, I take it." At Weiss' confused expression, he added, "It's an Arcana from Menagerie that specialised in concealment. To be able to hide an entire building is something even they would struggle with."

"Oh, she only taught me how to hide myself," Maria said. "I reverse engineered the rest on my own. Mixed it with a little of the Black to create a standing stone concealing the whole property." She sighed. "Course, that doesn't stop accidents. You would not believe how many birds I have to scrape off my invisible walls. Poor things fly right into me. Well, come in. Come in. Make yourselves at home."

If there was one word to describe the interior of Maria's house it would have been "busy". The place was in desperate need of a clean, with dusty shelves covered with cobwebs. Maria seemed to ignore them entirely, instead stacking whatever she needed on the floor. In the hallway alone there was a pile of chopped logs, a stack of leather and cloth, a bucket of water, two potted plants, a coatrack, three cloaks, two pairs of boots, another rocking chair, an odd assortment of rocks and a basket full of mushrooms.

"Mind the mess," Maria said, picking her way through the carnage and forcing them to do the same. "Not had much reason to tidy up. Nor time. I'm old, you know. Time is precious."

"Why do you have so much random shit here?" Qrow asked, picking his way over an actual, literal boulder. "And how did you drag a rock this big here at all?"

"You know. I can't quite remember how I did it or why…" The woman giggled and tapped her head with the top of her cane. "My memory isn't what it used to be. Can't really be bothered to move it now, either. Unless you want to do an old woman a favour?"

The rock was half the size of Weiss and probably several times the weight. She doubted that she and Qrow could shift it an inch, let alone get it out Maria's house. The question of how she'd gotten it there in the first place remained, and Weiss wasn't sure they'd get an answer.

"I've a stew bubbling in the kitchen," Maria said. "Only place I keep clean nowadays. Want some?"

"What's in it?" Qrow asked suspiciously.

"Roots and vegetables."

"I'll pass."

"I'm quite alright as well, Lady Calavera, but thank you for the offer."

"One word instead of ten!" Maria said, rapping Weiss' knee with her cane. Weiss hopped back, rubbing her leg. "And I warned you not to start calling me a lady. Goodness knows I'm no lady. Haven't been for a long time. I suppose you'll be wanting the idiot, then? He's up in my workshop."

The circular, wooden staircase leading to the second floor was perhaps the slowest and worst ascent of Weiss' life. It wasn't difficult for her by any means, but Maria appeared to really struggle with it, and when she offered to help, she received another rap across her knees for reward.

"I'm old, not incompetent!" Lady Calavera snapped.

You're clearly both! Weiss thought but did not say. Instead, she growled and rubbed her knees, glaring at an amused Qrow stood at the bottom still, leaning against a wall and waiting for Maria to finish the arduous journey before starting his own. I'm just being polite and this is my reward. No, don't get angry. It's okay, Weiss. Be calm and polite.

"I'm sorry for insulting you, Lady Calavera. It was not my-"

"On and on!" Maria bemoaned. "Just use a single word! No. Yes. Sorry. Okay. Not everything needs a bloody monologue."

Weiss' eyes twitched. "I apologise."

"Damn right you do. Useless children nowadays. In my day when an elder asked you to do something, you did it. Spoiled, entitled and holier-than-thou kids. Tch. Ah. Here we are." Maria stepped up onto the second floor and stretched her back. It popped and crackled like an ice sheet breaking. "And I did it on my own."

"Well done," Qrow said, near enough hopping up the stairs in a matter of seconds. It was fortunate he'd taken over because Weiss' blood was boiling, and her hands kept clenching into fists. "Where's your workshop again?"

"Just down here. Just down here. Mind what you touch. I've no idea what half the stuff in here will do to a person."

"Then why do you have it?" Weiss asked.

"For the joy of discovery, of course." Maria opened a door and stepped through. "Mind your head."

"My wha-" Weiss' forehead cracked against a beam of wood and she lurched back into Lord Branwen. "Ow! Ow!"

"I told you to watch your head…"

"Why is the doorway so small!?" Weiss cried. "I'm not tall – I'm not even average height!"

For Lord Branwen, even taller than she, he had to stoop down and duck under the beam. Fortunately, the room inside wasn't as ridiculously designed. The roof was slanted with a large, wooden shutter designed to let natural light in. Inside, numerous tables lay strewn about, each with a different set of things atop them. Plants, bones, papers, books, one even had a wolf's skull on it, as if Lady Calavera had started twenty different projects and not had the patience to see any of them through.

"Welcome to my workshop!" she declared grandly. "It's a mess as I said. Lots to do, not much time. Don't touch anything. Especially not you," she said, rapping Weiss' wrist with her cane.

Weiss snapped her hands back to her side. "I wasn't trying to touch anything!"

"You were thinking about it. I know how you youngsters are – all curiosity and no common sense. The last thing we need is you setting off some chain reaction and blowing my house up."

"Lady Calavera, I am not going to-"

"What did I say?" Lady Calavera snapped, swinging for Weiss' knees.

The cane struck the palm of her hand instead. Weiss closed her fingers around it and yanked it out Maria's grip, making the small woman stumble with wide eyes. Weiss cared not a bit.

"Enough!" she snapped, waving the stick back at the old woman. "If you hit me one more time with this, I swear I'll break it over your head, old woman or not! I haven not tried to touch anything; I have not tried to insult you; I have not caused a single problem. I am sick and tired of your petty insults!"

Maria Calavera stared at her, gobsmacked.

Lord Branwen was no better.

"And another thing," Weiss ranted. "I will speak however I wish to speak, thank you very much! If I want to be articulate, I shall be! If I want to speak to you with respect, you'll damn well take it!" Weiss threw the cane back at her, making Maria catch and hold it to her chest. "Am I understood!?"

Qrow made little choking sounds.

"W-Well," Maria said. "I knew there was fire in you-"

"None of that!" Weiss snapped. "I hate when people act rude, make you mad and then pretend like it was their plan all along because they're too proud to admit they were at fault! You did not mean to make me lose my temper. You're just a rude, belligerent and cantankerous old woman!"

Weiss took a deep breath after her little rampage. It wasn't polite, it wasn't genteel, but by the heavens was it deserved. She glared the old woman down one last time before crossing her arms and huffing.

"S-So," Qrow said awkwardly. "The person who threatened you…?"

"Oh. Uh. Right." Maria Calavera set her cane down with one last look to Weiss before leading them toward the back wall of her workshop. "He's over here. A real pain to get him back here, it was. Should have invited him over first and save myself the time, but I wasn't thinking straight. Old Tomlinson was a friend of mine and this idiot killed him. Here he is."

Weiss and Qrow were led to a long table, upon which was a dead body. A dead human – or faunus – body. Weiss' hands clapped over her mouth immediately bile rushing up at the sight and smell of blood. He was very much dead, his throat slit, and his chest literally peeled back to reveal inner organs. Weiss turned away and retched.

"Lovely," Qrow remarked, pinching his own nose. In a slightly more nasal tone he said, "I see you've still got that special ability yo creep everyone the fuck out, Maria. Congratulations."

"Eh. It's an art. His Arcanum is over here." Rummaging in a pile of what Weiss assumed was the man's belongings, she tossed a metal ring over. Weiss caught the emblem of Menagerie that adorned Ruby's own Arcanum. As the stones, they were red and blue. No White Arcana this time. "I suppose you'll be wanting the rest of his belongings as well."

"Might be evidence in them," Qrow said.

"Fine. Take 'em. I'm claiming the body, though."

Qrow grimaced. "Not like we were planning to carry it back with us…"

"Good. This is prime research material right here. Heh."

"Research!?" Weiss gasped. "This is… This is horrible!"

"This is magic!" Maria replied. "Not your happy, sanitised branch, sure, but magic all the same. Speaking of…" She turned to Qrow. "Are you wanting to speak with him? He wouldn't say much to me, but you're welcome to try."

Speak with him? The man was quite clearly dead and wouldn't be doing any communicating any time soon. Qrow, however, looked tense, his lips puckering up like he'd sucked on a lemon.

"I…" He took a deep breath. "Fuck me. I suppose I ought to. Can you make it not emotionally scarring, however? For one time in your life?"

"You think this is an exact art? I work with what I have. One moment."

Maria turned to the dead body and brought her cane up above it. Silver light ran down her arms and into it, seeming to come from her eyes behind the bandages. Qrow placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder and dragged her back. When Maria began her incantation, Weiss' head pounded. The words didn't make sense. They couldn't be heard, only felt, and each one was like a hot needle into her skull. It wasn't just her. Qrow winced and kept twitching, eyes shutting as the tiny woman performed her magic.

What is this? I've never heard anything of the sort. Blue Arcana? They're all about discovering secrets. Is she doing something to find a secret hidden on his body? Emerald Arcana? Even if he's dead, he's still a human body and maybe healing magic could be used to stimulate his brain…

The ideas ran through her head, but nothing could have prepared her for the dead man's eyes snapping open, his body shaking and his mouth opening wide to let off the most ear-splitting and horrible scream imaginable.

"Aiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!"

Weiss opened her own mouth and screamed with the corpse.

"Oi! Oi!" Maria smacked the dead man with her cane. His left eye popped out his skull which didn't help him or Weiss in the slightest. The corpse writhed on the bench, trying to sit up but pinned down by several large nails dug into his arms and shoulders. "Calm down!" Maria roared. "You can't feel anything. You're dead!"

The man stopped suddenly. His wide eye roamed wildly, the other a rotten mess. His chest rattled as he took what must have been his first breath in days. It was a sick, wrenching sound.

"W-Where am I?"

"My abode," Maria said. "You remember me, don't you?"

"Pain! Blood! Fire! Hurts! It hurts!"

"That's your imagination talking," she huffed. "The dead can't feel pain. Or maybe it's your memories. What did I do to you again?" She cackled. "Oh yeah, I turned the blood in your body to liquid fire. You screamed so loud!"

Weiss bumped into Qrow, clutched at his robes and hid behind him. She'd done what-? That kind of magic was unthinkable, likely illegal. It was pure torture! Murder! The man on the bench evidently agreed because he began to shake and weep.

"Oh, stop being such a baby," Maria snapped. "You killed Tomlinson and planned the same for me. This is what you get. Now, I have a lovely young man here wanting to ask you a few questions. Answer quickly and I'll let your soul pass on. Piss me off and I might just keep you around to act as a thrall. I could use a live subject to practice my necromancy on. Well, not a live subject, but you get the idea."

Necromancy.

The most forbidden of the magical arts. Unknown – or so she'd been taught. It was a theoretical school of magic that was said to be impossible. You couldn't mess with life and death. That was just a known fact. Even so, it was illegal to even dabble in trying to understand it because of the risks involved, both the risks of it working and the risks of an unscrupulous person digging up bodies to practice with.

Necromancy is supposed to be impossible! The Collegium agrees it's never been done! How is there someone just outside the walls who has mastered it to such a degree that she can re-animate a corpse!?

It didn't make sense. Why hadn't the White arrested her? Why was she allowed to do this? Why were people still saying it was impossible if Maria Calavera had already mastered this much? Weiss' heart pounded wildly in her chest, suddenly realising why the villagers called her the witch of the forest.

Qrow, Lord Branwen, looked as disturbed as she felt, but pulled away from Weiss to approach the dead man brought back to life. "I am Qrow, an Arcanist from Vale. I have a few questions for you…"

"Pretender!" the faunus spat. "Chained Arcanist. I'll tell you nothing!"

Maria twisted her finger and the man screamed.

"I thought you said he couldn't feel pain," Qrow said.

"He can't, not in a way we can understand, but it's amazing what the mind can be tricked into believing it feels. Talk, fool. You owe loyalty to no one now that you're dead."

The Arcanist writhed on the bench. "They'll kill you!"

"Who will kill us?" Qrow asked.

"My allies! Those I serve!" The man laughed through the agony, giving them no real details. "Yours will be the same fate as Menagerie. The world will change. The old order will be cast down and things will be as they should be!"

As they should be? What did he mean? Qrow posed the same question, demanding answers. The man only continued to laugh through his agony, laughing until he hacked up dry and mould-filled air from his dead lungs. He wracked and shook until he was still – alive, or undead, but refusing to speak.

In the end, Qrow made a signal to Maria and the Arcanist snapped her fingers. The silver light faded, and the dead body slumped back, still once more. The elderly woman adjusted her blindfold and hummed sadly.

"Headstrong young fools rarely give you what you want. I doubt he will crack now that he knows he's dead. There's a certain freedom to death, a lack of responsibilities. He knows there is little worse I can do to him than what I already have."

"It's fine." Qrow sighed and looked away. "I got something at least. They're against the Collegium. Called me a chained arcanist, too. One of those kinds I reckon. The ones that think we should rule instead of serve."

Weiss knew the type. She hadn't met any foolish enough to say it among the Arcanists, but it was a prevalent idea among the nobility. It was ridiculous given how much power they already had, but some of them genuinely believed the noble families should be like kings and queens in their own right, having people serve and worship them. A top-down hierarchy across all of Vale.

Among the upper crust, it was seen as an old-fashioned and brash ideal. No one took those who said it seriously. For Arcanists, however, who had the magical power to back such threats up, it was far more dangerous.

"It's something to report back at any rate. And this," he added, hefting the man's belongings. "I'll have to tell Goodwitch we found you. I hope you don't mind."

"You won't find me again if I don't wish it," Maria replied. "Knock yourself out, kid." Cackling, she looked to Weiss and winked. "And you're welcome back any time you fancy, lass. Maybe we can work more on that stick up your butt. Unless I'm too cantankerous an old woman for you."

"I… well… I…"

"Fire snuffed out already?" Maria cackled. "I guess my brand of magic has that effect on people. Lord Bird never did introduce me properly, did he?" The woman sketched a rickety curtsy. "Lady Maria Calavera, Arcanist of Life and Death. And also the most wanted and dangerous Rogue Arcanist on Remnant."

Not that it comes as a big surprise given her forbidden magic, but poor Weiss never realised.

Next Chapter: 27th June

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur