Of Knights and Windmills

by GladiusNocturno

Jaune Arc has been offered to travel with and be trained by a Legendary Huntsman. An old eccentric man with a love for adventure!...and a little bit of madness. Follow their tale as they journey through the country side of Anima. A story of heroism, grief, loss, witchcraft and dreams. A story Of Knights and Windmills.

7. The Witches' Market

Chapter VII

The Witches' Market

Silence. Not a single sound in the deep woods of Anima. Nothing but the few early birds just waking up along with the sunrise. The calm before the storm I suppose.

South of Lake Matsu, Ruby stood alone in a forest. The red huntress was stretching. Beside her, her trusty scythe was on top of a rock alongside some ammo.

"Are you ready?" Her master's voice came out of her earpiece.

"Just a second" Ruby responded as she started loading the dust ammunition.

"You are taking too long. Every second counts" Maria replied, scolding her student.

"I know, but don't worry, I'll make it. How is the evacuation going?", Ruby responded, scythe loaded and ready for action.

A few kilometers away, Maria was in a small village, people all around her taking everything they could and fleeing the town for safety. They started late though, there were still too many left and time was about to run out.

"Slow. But there is not much time left. We'll have to start and hope for the best". Maria said as she stood on top of some boxes, overseeing the evacuation attempt on the village.

"Ok, then. You see the target?" Ruby asked.

Maria used the zoom in function on her cybernetic eyes. With them, she managed to see a massive dust cloud quickly approaching the defenseless village.

"Yeah. Almost at the drop point". Maria confirmed.

Ruby placed her folded scythe on her back and prepared herself adopting a sprinting start position. "Ok, I'm ready".

"Hold it". Maria said. "Hold it…." She continued, Ruby getting more and more pumped but keeping her calm mind, her objective was clear, life is a beautiful thing, and it must be protected. "NOW!" Maria yelled and Ruby immediately ran at high speed, leaving a stream of rose petals on her path.

She rushed through the woods, faster and faster and as she did, there were fewer and fewer trees around her. She kept running until finally she made it to a precipice. A wood log placed right on the edge served as a ramp and Ruby, like a rose rocket, launched herself to the void.

From the air, the dust cloud rushing on the green plains below could be seen clearly, as well as the beasts that caused it. A horde of Brazen Horns, massive and highly aggressive bull Grimm. An angry stampede that was rushing straight to the village.

Sniper rifle ready, Ruby fired multiple shots of explosive dust ammo behind her to gain more and more altitude and distance in midair. Once she got right on top of the stampede, she unfolded her scythe and with a spin move placed the end of the barrel straight up to the sky, firing one last shot of explosive dust to launch herself down.

The raging stampede was savage, but the mission of a huntress requires to face the most dangerous beasts head on. It didn't matter the danger, all it mattered was the safety of those who couldn't fence for themselves. Ruby's mind was completely fearless as she plummeted down at high speed. Using her semblance, she covered her entire body on a large cloud of rose petals which grew larger every second.

At the village, Maria kept pushing the villagers to evacuate as fast they could. "LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND! JUST TAKE YOUR FAMILY AND GET OUT OF H…" She kept yelling before getting distracted at the sight of a huge red cloud crashing right on top of the stampede. Maria knew exactly what that meant, of course she grew worried for the safety of her student, but she had to trust her.

The Brazen Horn's stampede had a portion of it covered under a mass of rose petals, but the beasts kept rushing. They kept charging out from the cloud and continued their mad rampage towards the village. Steadfast, brutal…and unaware of the blade of a huntress.

Ruby came out of the rose petal cloud riding on top of a Brazen Horn. The petals served to mitigate her fall. Now she was in a prime position to start her work. Ruby wasted no time in slicing Brazen Horns one after the other, quickly jumping from bull's back to bull's back. None could match the speed of the red huntress, but time was of the essence, and if she wanted to save the village, she needed to give it her all.

Ruby kept jumping her way through the raging stampede, slicing and shooting every Grimm on her path. She knew that in order to protect the villagers, she couldn't hold back, but she was training for a reason and it was time to put her new abilities to the test. As she jumped, Ruby started to use the technic Maria had taught her, Silver Flash. With her heart and mind set on the memories of her beloved family and friends, Ruby started blinking and activating her Silver Eyes. The flashes of silver light weren't strong enough to finish every Grimm in sight, but they allowed her to eliminate multiples at once while still staying conscious enough and keep moving.

Slices, shots, reloads, and flashes of blinding light. Ruby kept her assault going as fast as she could. At every second, the rampaging horde of Brazen Horns became smaller and smaller, but they were also getting closer to the village.

The evacuation was advancing, but there were still people behind. Maria kept pushing them to move faster as the stampede drew closer. Her attention was then caught by the sight of a little girl running towards the wheat field, right in front of the stampede's path.

As the horde was about to reach the field, steam started to come out of their bodies. Soon enough, flames came out of their nostrils and some sections of their bodies and the Brazen Horn stampede ignited on fire. The flames scorched everything on their path.

Maria rushed after the little girl; the dust cloud had now turned into black smoke. She ran as fast as she could, but at her old age, she struggled.

Ruby was facing her own difficulties. The ignition of the Grimm stampede made their bodies hotter. She was now forced to jump faster as the Brazen Horns had become too hot for her to stay too long on their backs. The smoke was causing more troubles though. Not only did it make it harder for her to see clearly, it also difficulted her breathing; that combined with the exhaustion of the fight and the rising temperature meant that her body was soon to reach her limits, which in this case would be lethal.

The little girl ran as fast as she could, unaware that the blazing stampede had already reached the wheat field and was heading straight in her direction. She finally reached her destination, a small dog tied to a chain. "Bianca! I'm here!" she said as she started setting the dog free, the smoke cloud approaching her.

Ruby hastily dispatched of as many Brazen Horns as she could, finally dwelling their numbers to single digits, but it was too late, the beasts were about to reach the village.

As the little girl managed to free her beloved pet, the ground started to shake violently. In fear, the little girl held her dog tightly as she fell on her knees, paralyzed in terror. Maria found her and immediately embraced her, her cane unfolded, Maria aimed her gun at the approaching stampede, ready to do one last stand against them.

Ruby had to act quickly; she had already realized the proximity to the village, the smoke clouded her vision but as soon as she caught a glimpse of her master among the wheat, she knew she had to make one last push with everything she had.

7 Brazen Horns left, Ruby used her last shot of explosive dust to propel herself forward, killing another Grimm in the process. Using her semblance, she rushed on the Brazen Horns' backs and managed to launch herself in front of the stampede towards Maria and the little girl. In midair, she then released the empty clip in her rifle and quickly loaded a magazine with gravity dust in it, firing it right at the middle of the stampede. The Gravity dust exploded on impact, attracting all remaining Grimm to a single spot and making them fall and as Ruby landed with a roll on the wheat, she quickly stood up and released a massive blast of her Silver eyes.

As the bright light dissipated, Maria and the little girl saw as the remains of the stampede banishing in ashes and the red cape of the Silver Eyes warrior blew with the wind, victorious.

Maria ran to help Ruby, the blast and the exhaustion caused her to stumble. Before she fell, Maria got a hold of her and helped her stand up.

"It's ok, I got you. I'm here. Are you alright?" She reassured to her apprentice.

"Y…Yeah…Just…Hold on…" Ruby struggled to say, but she managed to get the strength to release the clip on her rifle once more, load a charge of ice dust and fire three shots around them to help mitigate the flames on the wheat field. She then fell down and sat on the floor.

"Easy, easy" Maria said as she tried to help her tired student.

"So…What do you think? Was that...worthy…of the Grimm…Reaper?" Ruby asked, a faint smile on her face as she tried her best not to fall unconscious.

"Hehe. I would have done it blindfolded. But it wasn't half bad. Come on let's get you out of here".

The Grimm threat was over and the village was saved. The villagers rushed to deal with the fire but not before applauding the efforts of their heroes. A father ran frenetically to hug his daughter. "What were you thinking?!" he said as he hugged the little girl who has holding her puppy.

"I'm so sorry, daddy! I had to help Bianca and…I'm sorry!" She kept saying as she cried on her father's arms.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" He said to Ruby and Maria.

For their heroic kindness, Ruby and Maria were invited to get breakfast at the now saved house of the man and his daughter.

The man couldn't thank them enough but he was ready to make sure they would get the best meal they had ever have. As he headed to the kitchen, the little girl was excited to have visits, specially from the heroes who saved her life.

"Miss Huntress! Would you like to meet my mom?" The girl said.

Ruby found the comment curious but of course she agreed. The girl grabbed Ruby's hand and took her outside the house. The two of them ran over a small hill, for a moment Ruby though that maybe her mother lived in another house. It wasn't until they reached the top of the hill that everything became clear…and a bit familiar for her. On top of the hill and below a lone tree, a tombstone lied there with flowers in front of it and the picture of a woman.

"Hey, mommy. I brought visits! A brave huntress that saved me today!" The girl started saying as she kneeled in front of the grave and talked to her mother.

Ruby was shocked initially, but she had seen this scene before. She also tended to visit the grave of her beloved mother. She spent much of her childhood talking to the kind spirit of Summer Rose.

Ruby got closer and kneeled next to the girl before speaking to the grave. "Hello, ma'am. It's so nice to meet you. You have a really brave daughter. She saved a little puppy all on her own".

"I'm sure she would be mad" The girl said with a sadden tone.

"Hehe. Maybe, but only because she loves you very much. I'm sure she would also be very proud of you". Ruby said.

"You think?..I just wanted to help Bianca. I didn't want to lose her too".

"I know how you feel" Ruby said as she softly touched the girls head. "You know…I never met my mom. But my dad and my uncle always told me stories about her. How brave she was, how kind she was. Every time I feel alone, or doubtful, I remember those stories and…is like she was there hugging me and telling me everything would be alright" Ruby paused to wash the girl's tears away from her cheeks. "Our moms might not be here anymore, but we didn't lose them. As long as we keep their memories alive, no matter how painful it can be, they will always be here for us" She said with a smile as the two shared a hug.

As Ruby and the little girl arrived back at the house, Maria received them with a smile on her face. "Enjoyed your trip?" She asked and only received a smile and a nod from her student.

"That's great, because breakfast is getting cold and you need to recover your strength young lady!" Maria continued. "Silver Flash and a big flash like that all in a rough. Hehe. You must have had some really good memories to do that".

"You know I did. This time I remembered Yang's birthdays. That time dad and uncle Qrow both got me the same present and…." Ruby was saying although she stopped herself as soon as she was about to mention the last one.

"And?".

"Oh…Some other stuff, I don't even remember really, hehe…" Ruby said. Maria didn't buy her attempt at deflecting, but if the girl had her reasons that was not of her business.

"Well I'm glad it was strong enough. It really saved our asses back there. Come on. Let's grab a bite".

As Maria went inside the house, Ruby kept on a smile, although her eyes were a bit sadder. The memory she used was strong and happy…but the implication of it, was also heavy in her heart. Some happy memories can be painful to remember, but the joy they bring, that will always outshine the pain...right?

"The anniversary is coming…".

---

"Now this is some good steel you have here, lad. Sharp as a razor, sturdy as a wall. It is a real beauty", the blacksmith said as he admired Crocea Mors. From the blade to the shield itself, the blacksmith was impressed by the craftmanship that took to make such an old weapon so durable it still seemed newly forged.

"You think you can do the upgrade?" Jaune said, before he handed over a small paper with the rough design he had in mind.

"Ha! Can I? you won't find a better blacksmith in the entire Stained Coast Line! What you want requires making the sheath a bit longer, not much though. It would make it slightly heavier but the shield's defense would be magnificent!". The blacksmith said, proud of his own skill as he ensured the quality of his services to an excited Jaune. "You came in early, so I'll say, give me 2 full days, I'll have it ready by then".

"That's perfect! Thank you so much!" Jaune said, a big smile in his face and his eyes shining just imagining his new weapon. Of course, reality always had ways to pull him back to earth.

"Thank you? This ain´t free you know? Haha!" The black smith said jokingly as he wrote the price on a piece of paper and handed it to Jaune.

"Eh…this is…way higher than I thought…" He said, his fantasies crashing just as fast as they came.

"Well, I'll tell you what. I do want to work with this beauty. I'll give you 50% discount if you also add that silver belt buckle" The blacksmith said as he pointed at Don who was of course playing around with some shiny shields on the wall.

"Deal!" Jaune said, much to Don's dismay.

"What?! Wait! Hold on! No deal! NO DEAL!" Don said as he ran to the counter and stood next to his apprentice.

"Kid! You don't understand! Billy and I have a real connection now! We have grown closer in the long 3 days we have been together!" Don said right as he took his silver belt buckle off and started lovingly rubbing it against his cheek.

"What are you talking about?! We were stranded on that island for that stupid buckle! And you said we were going to use it for this anyways!" Jaune angrily replied to his master.

With arms crossed, Don answered, "I don't remember ever saying such thing!", completely lying of course.

"Give. Him. The. Buckle. Don!".

"FINE!...just…give me a second…This is goodbye, old pal…Oh gods, WHY?!" Don said as he handed over his beloved belt buckle and cried with his arm covering his face.

"Is your grampa ok?".

"I don't know at this point" Jaune answered when Don started to blow his nose with his own cape. Clearly the pain of losing Billy was too much to handle.

As Jaune and Don made it out of the blacksmith's shop, he wished good fortune to this couple of…strange adventurers.

"Please take good care of Billy!" Don said as the two of them closed the door behind them.

"I will!... Say, Billy. How would you like a steamy date with a melting furnace?".

---

A new day of adventure awaited our heroes as they found themselves in the city of Sevillana, the largest merchant town of the Stained Coast Line. Sevillana is famous for three major things; its exquisite cuisine, the ancient beauty of The Cathedral of Saint Agnes and of course, its legendary flea market.

It was said by many that you could find anything in Sevillana's Market. From Mistralian wine to Vacousian jewls, from Valian clothes to Atlasian tech. The market had it all, the common, the exotic, the regular and even the mystic. If you thought of it, chances were, there was someone at the market willing to get it for you, for the right price of course.

Jaune and Don found themselves in the middle of the busiest area of the market. With a few days to burn, they decided to do a bit of exploration. They managed to save a bit of money and there was no better place to resupply than the market that sold almost anything.

Jaune started checking up their list, mostly food, although more clothes wouldn't hurt. Medicine wasn't a necessity thanks to Jaune's semblance, but it was always good to have just in case. Dust? Neither of them actually used it, but fire dust was useful for making camp fires and they certainly weren't going to have a problem finding it in this place. Merchant towns in The Stained Coast Line were the main hub for commerce and the dust exploitation of Lake Matsu, combined with the import of Atlasian Dust, made the market and the entire city as good as a Dust mine itself.

"Just look at this place! Is marvelous! Is astonishing! Is…LOOK! Free samples!" Don said, right before running straight to a booth of cookies, the smell of freshly baked treats was mesmerizing.

"Hey! Wait up!" Jaune ran after his excited master who already had a mouth full of cookies. "Don't run like that!".

"Relax! Get a cookie!" Don said before shoving a cookie in Jaune's mouth. Jaune of course resisted at first but that was probably the best cookie in the world.

"Haha! What did I tell you? Come on, lad. Let's have some fun!".

"Ok, but we also need to get everything on the lis…Holy crap! Is that?! It is!" Jaune replied right before something got his attention in the booth next to them. "The novelization of the X-Ray and Vav movie! I missed the film, but look! It's here!".

"You were saying?" Don asked with a smug face.

"…Ok, fine, I guess there is no rush" Jaune said while paying for his book with a big smile on his face.

"That's the spirit! Come! I see a stand of grilled corn with my name on it!".

Excited, Master and Apprentice jumped around from stand to stand, amazed by the things they saw. They of course had a bit of self-control and did manage to get some of the things they needed plus some extras. Fantasy novels for Don's collection, and a new pair of gloves for Jaune. He even decided to get some things for his friends; he knew Ren would love some exotic incense, he also got a jar of raspberry yam for Nora and thought of getting a neckless for Ruby. As he checked out the jewels, Jaune noticed with curiosity how Don was going through some handmade dolls in another stand.

"I think Maria is not the type to play with dolls, hehe" Jaune said trying to humor his mentor.

"You'll be surprised! But no, is not for her, but now that you mention it...maybe I should get her something too" Don responded.

"Then who is it for?".

"Oh…well..Oh! this one is perfect!" Don said as he grabbed a small rag doll of a little female knight and immediately paid for it.

Before Jaune could ask again, an old lady got their attention with her loud yelling, "GET YOUR CHARMS! YOUR ANTI CURSE CHARMS!".

Jaune was startled by the old woman yelling on his ear, she noticed this and immediately put her charms on his face.

"Get your charms! They will protect you from those retched witches and their dark curses! Just 3 Lien each!" The woman said getting closer to Jaune's face and plastering her wooden handmade charms on it.

Jaune was really awkward "It's ok, I…".

"Ok?! OK?! Sure, you say that now! Just wait until a witch casts a spell on you and makes you lose that blonde hair of yours!" The old woman replied aggressively.

"Get out of here, before I call the guards! I don't need you scaring my costumers!" the doll merchant said as she tried to get the woman away from her booth.

"Scare them? They should be scared! The witches are gonna come for them! Mark my words!". The woman said before she ran off, much to Jaune's relief.

"Thank you so much".

"Don't mention it. And don't worry, they won't come for you…at least I hope they don't…" The merchant said, her words were kind but a bit grim at the same time.

"Hold on! So, there ARE witches!?" Don said, surprised and eager.

"Well…" The seller said but stopped to let two guards walk pass her booth, Jaune and Don noticed how the guards walking by got a reaction from the doll merchant. "We aren't really supposed to talk about it…"

"We won't tell anyone, what is it?" Jaune asked. To him the idea of witches was worrying, he of course believed in them, the stories he heard as a kid were enough to make his skin crawl, but he still wanted to know about it, especially since he was one of the few people who knew the truth. Magic was more than a fairy tale, it was real, and it was dangerous.

Don on the other hand was less worried and more excited. Real life witches? Adventure in the making! There were two natural enemies for a knight; dragons and witches! And he was not going to let this opportunity pass. "Yes! Tell us, please!".

"I…I really shouldn't. Look, the guards take people to question them if they hear them talking about them and…well, I also don't want the witches to…I'm sorry, thank you for your purchase, please move along". The merchant pleaded, an awkward look on her face told Jaune and Don that clearly, this was a topic she really didn't want to talk about.

Jaune and Don noticed how afraid the woman was, and so they didn't pressure her any more. Their minds were curious though. For the guards to be so focus on witches, and for the citizens to fear them so much. What exactly had they been doing to this city?

The young huntsman grew worrier and more curious by the second. But nothing creeped him out more…than that mischievous grin in his master's face.

"Sigh. First Bandits, then Pirates and now…" Jaune started to say before getting interrupted by his mentor.

"We have a mystery in our hands, lad! You feel that? The excitement?! That thrill in your bones?!" The old mentor said, shaking his student's shoulders with eager enthusiasm.

"Ok, OK! CALM DOWN!" Jaune yelled, taking his mentor's hands off of him, trying to make him recover composure. "Don, for once, just listen to me first".

Don's joyful face quickly changed to one of confusion. Just what exactly was his student on to? They had already faced dangerous challenges before, what was so different this time?

Jaune looked around him before lowering his voice and speaking closer to his master's ear. "Remember the story I told you?".

"The time you locked yourself out of your dorm and had to stand in a hallway with nothing but a towel? Sure, why you bring it up?".

"What?! No! Not that! The world ending thing!".

"Oh yeah, the gods and the evil wiiiitch…Oh". Don's eyes got wide open upon the realization of what his apprentice was trying to say. "Wait, so..you think that witch and these witches…".

"I don't know. Maybe. Listen. Salem is not the only witch out there, ok? I know there are at least 4 more and if this has anything to do with the Maidens, we have to be careful". Jaune explained.

Don's excitement got clouded for a moment, he now understood his student's concerns and he would be lying if he didn't have his own, although there was one thing he found curious. "Waiit a second. You aren't saying no to this!" Don remarked his smile coming back big time. "You want to find out just as much as I do!".

Jaune had an awkward smile as he scratched his cheek "Well…I mean, is for a good cause...we might help out and even find a maiden…".

"Aaaaand?".

"It..does sound really cool". Jaune finished while rubbing the back of his head. The tale of a knight facing off against a group of witches? As his master had taught him, that sounded like adventure!

"IM SO PROUD OF YOU!".

"Stop! Let me go!" Jaune yelled while he tried to push his master away who was tearfully trying to hug him.

Jaune managed push away his joyful master, and after a small pause he smiled back at Don, "Heh. We really can't have a normal day, can we?".

"Pff. Normality is for loser!". Don answered right before master and student shared an enthusiastic fist bump. Their next challenge was already here, and neither could wait.

Don and Jaune decided to split up, cover more terrain and do their own research. They planned to meet up by the end of the day and share anything they could find about the case of Sevillana's witches.

---

With a mission in mind, Jaune explored the market on his own. He had to keep an eye on the guards and be discreet, he didn't want any trouble and just like the doll merchant, people would just be too cautious to talk about the situation.

He walked over to a lone stand and decided to see what he could find. The merchant was a florist, he seemed kind and not threatening at all, which might have been why Jaune felt comfortable to start with him.

"Oh, good day, sir".

"What can I help you with?" the florist said with a smile on his face.

"I…" Jaune started to say, he stopped for a second to consider his approach. Asking the florist directly might not have been the best idea. If he was just like the doll merchant, he would be afraid of telling him anything. He had to play it smart. Jaune took a quick look at the florist's stand just to find something to start the conversation. "I was looking for some red roses".

"Huh, so a gift for a special someone?".

"A specia...no! I mean…" Jaune said, the question was common but it took him by surprise and made him feel awkward. Truly a master detective move.

"Haha. Well, I'm sure they'll love these ones over here". The florist said before walking to the front of the stand and getting the red roses.

Jaune realized this wasn't going anywhere, he needed to dig in if he wanted some answers. "Actually, it's not for anyone. I just heard that roses are good to pay respects to a departed one. They say they keep…evil hexes away…", A clear lie of course and a really bad one, but it was as best as he could come up with.

The florist got a bit shocked at the mention of hexes, his hand started to shake a little as he kept getting the roses. "I've…never heard of that before. The language of flowers doesn't say anything about it, but I guess you learn something new every day…".

Jaune started to get nervous. "Oh, you know. It's just something people say, hehe…".

"I see. Well, you won't be paying much respects here anyways".

Jaune was a bit surprised by this comment. It wasn't the information he wanted but it was still odd. He decided to ask what the florist meant.

"You aren't from around here, are you? Sevillana has a special law against negative emotions. You know, to keep us safe from the Grimm. It might sound odd but…mourning, is something we try not to do anymore". The florist said while handing a bouquet of roses to Jaune. "Maybe you can take them to the Cathedral if you still want them. The god of light might appreciate them".

This certainly sounded interesting, although he wasn't sure if it had to do with the witches. Jaune realized this wasn't going anywhere and when the guards started to station near the florist's stand, he realized he was out of time. Jaune paid for the flowers and thanked the florist before moving on and continuing his investigation.

As he walked through the market, Jaune started to notice something about the city. Many buildings seemed to be under construction. They were mostly old buildings though, so he immediately assumed they were repair jobs, but to this extend?

There were cranes lifting bricks every few blocks and even entire sections of the market that were closed off to the public. He was thinking about it when his attention was caught by the loud voice of a young woman.

"Sir, please! I just need a hand". A young nun said, she was around her early twenties, had pale white skin and long sky-blue hair that came out of her veil. Her habit was mostly white with some black and gold sections in it.

"Sorry, sister. Delivery costs extra" A merchant responded to the pleading nun.

"I can't pay for that! Please!". The nun kept begging.

"I'm really sorry. The Cathedral is on the other side of the city. I just don't have the time". The merchant said before leaving the scene, abandoning the poor young nun with two big sacks of potatoes.

Seeing the nun in need of help, Jaune couldn't ignore her desperate pleads, so he forgot his quest for answers to lend a hand to her.

"Excuse me" He said to the nun, completely forgetting about the romantic bouquet of flowers he was holding in his hand.

"Ah! I…I'm flattered! But I'm fully dedicated to the lord!". The nun said, blushing and becoming a nervous wreck.

"What? AH! No, no, no! This isn't…I wasn't trying to…". Jaune said, becoming a nervous himself. With a red face he tried to calm down and explained himself. He told the sister how he overheard her conversation with the merchant and offered to help her out.

"Would you do that?! Thank you so much!".

---

Dominique had been in the middle of his own investigation. So far, he had learned many things. People get pissed off when you yell at their kids; electric dust is not candy and when you bargain you probably shouldn't end up paying more than the original price. None of which had anything to do with the witches, somehow.

He knew that the merchants themselves were very wary of guards. Pressuring them into talking would be hard specially because no one wanted to risk getting in trouble. But if he found someone that was already in trouble, there could be a chance there, and luckily, a market like this had its fair share of shady things going on.

It didn't take long until he found what he was looking for, an alleyway with a street gambling table with a sleazy dealer.

"Ok, people. See the queen? Where she goes? Could be here, could be there. Let's see" The dealer said while performing his card scam. An unlucky costumer sitting in front of him and surrounded by people picked a card. "Ohhh. Sorry, pal. Guess she's too fast for ya".

Don got an idea and with a determine smile approached the dealer.

"Ok, who's next? You, my lady? The gentleman over there?".

"I'll give it a shot!" Don said. As he walked through the small crowd and sat on the tiny pillow in front of the dealer.

"Sure thing, sir! If you pay the fee".

Don threw a couple lien and the dealer with a smirk shuffled the cards around. Don looked at the cards carefully before he pointed at one and the dealer immediately flipped it. "Ohhh. So sorry, bud. Queen didn't like ya".

"Oh, darn it. You know what? Let's give it another shot". Don said before doubling the bet.

"You're the boss!" The dealer said before shuffling the cards once more.

Don once more kept his eyes opened, closely following the hands of the dealer. His eyes when from left to right quickly and as soon as the dealer stopped, he picked another card.

"Oh! Another miss, old pal", the dealer said, the small crowd started laughing at Don's losing streak, but to their surprise, Don was joining them in the laughter.

"Well, that queen is a crafty one. I do like my ladies like that. Tell you what, another chance, but let's make it interesting".

"What ya have in mind?" The dealer said, a smirk on his face and his arms crossed, clearly interested in a high bet and an easy scam.

"If I lose again, I'll give you all my money and the clothes I'm wearing" Don said, dropping his wallet on the table.

"Alrighty then!".

"But!" Don interrupted, "If I win. I'll get all the money, and you'll tell me everything you know about…the witches".

The crowd fell into a deep silence at the mere mention of the witches. Even shady people like them were terrified of them. The dealer's eyes got wide opened. "I…don't.."

"Yes, you do. But it's ok. I mean I lost twice already, didn't I? let's see if the queen likes me by now".

The dealer swallowed nervously, but after a deep breath he came back to his previous confidence. It was just a crazy old man, easily tricked, there was no way he would win. The dealer calmed down and shook Don's hand to seal the deal, for him, it was just easy money.

As soon as the dealer began to shuffle the cards, Don started to talk. "Let me tell you a story" he said, "My grandfather was in the circus. He was an animal trainer. Every day he would call his dogs with a soft whistle" Don let out a whistle before continuing, "One day, he met a girl, and he wanted to impress her, so he called his dogs" he let out another whistle, "And they all came rushing".

At this point, the dealer kept shuffling the cards, but his vision started to get blurry, and so did the crowd's, everything started to look a bit weird.

Don continued. "The girl at first was mad. This weird guy whistling at her? She did not like that at all. But then she saw all the little puppies rushing and she realized the guy was actually kind of sweet". The dealer hadn't notice how long he had been shuffling, he just started to do it by motion. After a few minutes of hearing nothing but mumbling from Don's mouth, he started to snap out of Don's hallucination, realizing that he hadn't stop shuffling the cards.

Both the dealer and the crowd came back to their senses, disorientated, none of them had realized that quite a lot of time had actually passed. They snapped out of it right as Don finished his story, "So finally, after a few months of dating, my grandpa asked my grandma if she would be his queen…". The dealer shook his head off and with a bit of relief, saw that the three cards were still on the table, but his relief was short lived when Don finished his tale "…And the queen say, yes" and dropped the queen on the table.

The dealer was in shock and immediately looked under his sleeve, much to Don's delight. "Oh, I took her out of there like 5 minutes ago. Now, about the information".

"I don't have to tell you nothing! You cheating bastard!".

"Oh really? Well, if you prefer to talk with the guards, I'll be thrilled to introduce you. Or do you want me to leave you alone with your friends?". Don said with a big smile as he pointed over his shoulder behind him to the angry crowd who didn't appreciate being scammed.

The dealer was in a panic. "Ok, ok! You win! The major has been dealing with the witches for almost 6 months now. They steal things from people, personal things, and use them in rituals to call Grimm to the city! That's why no one wants to talk about them! If you do, they'll send one of their minions after you! That's all I know, I swear!".

"6 months? For that long?".

"The major is a bozo, ok? He comes up with stupid ideas and the Grimm just keep coming". The dealer said.

Don started to think about this information. The major wasn't actually preventing the citizens from talking about the witches, that's why the guards only took people to question. If the major was actively trying to fight the witches, then maybe it was best to contact him directly.

"Wait, where are you going?".

"I got work to do, but don't worry, I'm sure your friends will keep you company". Don said before leaving the dealer with the angry crowd around him.

"So, the queen likes your sleeves, huh?".

"Hehe…NOT IN THE FACE!".

---

With a sack of potatoes in each of their backs, Jaune and the sister walked through the city to deliver the goods to the Cathedral of Saint Agnes.

"You sure you don't want me to carry both? Um…" Jaune asked politely.

"Violet. And it's ok, I'm tougher than I look. Mister…". The sister replied with a smile and a sweet little laugh.

"Uh. Jaune".

Violet and Jaune walked together across the city. She was really friendly although a bit awkward at times and quite shy.

As they strolled through the city though, Jaune kept noticing the state of the city. The repair jobs weren't limited to just the market. Many buildings all over the place also were under construction. Curious, he decided to ask directly to Violet although he decided to leave out any mention of witches as to not scare her off.

"Grimm" She answered. "It's been a rough year. I've heard it has been for many places, but here…it's gotten pretty bad" She said.

That was probably an understatement. Jaune had seen firsthand the extend of the Grimm attacks in smaller settlements. From light damage, to half a town decimated, and lately…towns completely over run. However, Sevillana was a small city, it was way larger than the towns he had seen in his travels. For it to suffer so much damage, the Grimm activity had to be out of control.

Construction work wasn't the only thing he saw though. Around the city, Jaune saw guards in almost every corner. He saw many things that he found concerning, like a man who hit his toe and was reprimanded by a guard for yelling in anger. A particular view shocked him when a small child fell and started crying and his mother ran to desperately shut him up, just for a guard to approach her with a serious look. The woman pleaded with the guard who seemed to be writing a ticket of sorts.

Around the town, Jaune saw many posters with what seemed to be political propaganda. They said things like "A happy citizen is a good citizen".

At one point, Jaune and Violet stopped for a quick break before continuing. The hot midday sun was cooking them alive. They left the bags and the flowers in a side and sat on a bench on a park.

Violet handed over a bottle of water to Jaune that she had in a small purse.

"Thank you so much, you saved my life!".

"Hehe. You really are brave, wearing a hoodie under the summer sun" Violet replied with a smile while Jaune desperately drank the water.

"Yeah, bravery. Let's call it that." He said, which Violet found quite funny.

Violet and Jaune started to enjoy each other's company.

While recovering strength, Jaune noticed something curious. A block away from the park, there was a hill with ground that seemed to had been moved around. The brown hill seemed like a new construction site, but what was curious to him was…The city was focused on repairing buildings not making new ones. So, what did they want to build in that empty site? Some sort of defense?

"Jaune?". Violet said, much to Jaune's surprise. He was so focus on his thoughts, he ignored her for a bit.

"I'm so sorry. You were saying?".

"I was asking where you were from". Violet said.

"Oh. Vale. Yeah, I've been traveling the world with my friends, we actually just came back from Atlas".

"Really?! That's sounds exciting! I…wouldn't dare to leave town, my sister would kill me".

"You have a sister?".

"Yeah. My big sister. We both joined the convent when we were kids. She is a bit…bossy, hehe".

"Ha! Yeah, I know what you mean. I have 7 sisters and they can get pretty strict when it comes to protecting the baby of the house":

"Right?! Finally! Someone understa…wait, did you say 7 sisters?!" Violet replied, only to be met with Jaune's awkward laughter.

Their conversation was cut short though when a scream was heard coming from a nearby building.

Jaune's instinct was to immediately run towards the building, but was a bit too slow, Violet had already run to the person's aid.

The person yelling was an old woman. "Gods! Please no! Don't take him!", she said.

Violet entered the building quickly, Jaune followed closely, he wasn't sure about entering a person's house without invitation, but it clearly was an emergency.

The sister and the young hero arrived at the place and found the woman crying beside the body of an old man lying next to her. "Please, please!".

"Ma'am, it's ok, it's ok" Violet said, as she hugged the woman to calm her down.

Jaune remembered his training from his time at Abigale's nursery and tried to check for vitals, but the man wasn't responding. He tried to apply first aid on him, but still no response.

"Come one! Come one!". Jaune's heart started rising, the old man wasn't breathing and he didn't know what happened to him. In a last desperate attempt, he resorted to his semblance, not even knowing if it would work.

Jaune was about to cover the old man with his aura in a last effort, but before he could…Violet grabbed his hands. The two shared a sadden look as Violet shook her head, telling Jaune to stop…It was too late. The old man was dead.

The old woman busted into tears, while Violet placed a cloth napkin on the man's face and said a prayer before consoling the poor widow.

Jaune struggled at first to recover composure. He tried, he really did, but it just wasn't enough. A part of him was blaming himself, but really, he did everything he could.

Half an hour passed, and Jaune was sitting on the stares of the house. He was greeted with a soft touch on his shoulder.

"Hey. You are doing ok?" Violet said.

"Better than her" Jaune replied, his sad voice couldn't be hidden. "I guess it's time for him to rest".

"…I wish it was that simple". Violet answered. Her tone was somber.

Jaune was surprised by her comment, but before he could ask, two guards approached the house.

"We are here for the body".

Violet walked up to them with an upset look. "Let the woman grieve in peace".

"You know we can't do that, sister" A guard replied before stepping in the house. A few minutes later, the guards came out of the house with the body of the old man. The widow was heartbroken, but she fought to contain her tears in the presence of the guards.

"Where are they taking him?" Jaune asked, "The graveyard?".

"No…We, don't have a graveyard anymore" Violet responded. "They'll cremate him…and just throw away the ashes to the trash themselves…That's the major's law".

Jaune looked at Violet in shock before turning again at the guards, who put the body on a truck before driving away.

"The major's law?".

---

Downtown at Sevillana. A small crowd gathered around a group of guards. The major himself, a short fat man with a big black mustache, had just finished a speech, some uplifting words for his beloved supporters, although the crowd also included many who despised him.

As reporters flooded the area and crashed into the security ring. The major tried to move towards his car without answering any of the press' questions.

"Sir, Sevillana's gazette. What do you say to accusations of inefficient measures to combat the Grimm?".

"No comments". The major said.

"Mayor. Cornsilk! NRT news! What about the low budged for the reconstruction efforts?".

"N…no comments" he repeated.

" And the accusations of your romantic affair?!".

"What?! No, no comments!". He said, awkwardly. The major was a man of low composure. He would constantly act proud but the moment someone threw him a curve ball, he became a nervous mess. Imagine his surprises though when a phrenetic voice asked him a question everyone was afraid to ask.

"WHAT ABOUT THE WITCHES?!".

The major's eyes got wide opened and the crowd was startled. The guards quickly rushed to apprehend the man responsible.

"Let me go! Freedom of speech! Make love not war and all that!" Don yelled while jumping around trying to free himself from the guards.

"Shut your mouth, old man!".

"Old man?! I'm a huntsman! I've eaten boarbatusks bigger than you with eggs and beans!", he kept yelling.

The major was already curious, but the moment he heard Don mention his title, he ran to him with a relieved smile. "Wait! Did you just say you are a huntsman?!".

Don was surprised but he knew when an opportunity presented itself. He released his arms from the guard's grip and with a smug and proud face approached the major.

"That's right! Dominique Cervantes, huntsman extraordinaire! At your service". He said, taking off his hat and bowing before the major, much to his delight.

"Back off, pal!" A guard yelled, "Sir, this man could be lying! Show proof that you are a huntsman!".

"WHAT?! How dare you! Who else but a huntsman could do this?!" Don said before he started swigging his sword all over the place, showing off his abilities, his dexterity, his amazing skill!...and cutting off a bit of his own beard in the process. "Ah! My style!".

The crowd and the guards weren't impressed in the slightest, the guards were even ready to arrest the old man. That was until they heard the applauding major cheering in excitement.

"Yes! Yes! Oh, we sent bounties to Haven months ago! Took them long enough to send a group of you our way!". The major cheerfully said and he shook Don's hand to greet him. "Major Cornelius Cornsilk. Welcome to Sevillana, Sir. Come, come! We have so much to discuss!".

The major wasted no time in inviting Don to ride on his car with him. He told his chauffeur to drive around town, mostly to bust about his achievements to his guest. He served Don a glass of wine and started their conversation.

"You are going to love what we have done here. In less than a year, my administration has achieved the impossible!" The major said before taking a sip of wine, "Crime rates are in an all-time low, the economy is excellent and look! They even made a statue in my honor!" The major continued, to his shame though the statue he was pointing at had a bucket on its head and a caricature of his face wearing makeup.

"That's…flattering?".

"Well, not everyone is easily acceptant of change, you know what I mean?" The major replied, trying to recover his pride.

"Right. So anyways. Let's talk business. I'm here to lend you a hand with your witch problem". Don said.

"Of course. Those despicable witches" the major replied, his cheerful voice became a bit hostile, as if he was ready to spit on the face of the witches themselves.

"I understand they have been sending Grimm to the city".

"Yes, exactly. It all began about a year ago. Before my election, Grimm attacks started to become more and more frequent, we didn't know why but I made it my mission to solve that problem. Keep the people safe, you know? Like you guys do", The major said. He took another sip of wine and continued; "I promised the people that we would do everything in our power to stop the Grimm attacks, and 8 months ago when I was elected, we immediately started working on our social projects".

"Social projects?".

"Yes. Let me ask you, what attracts Grimm?" the Major said.

"Negative emotions".

"Exactly! Take the negative emotions away, and the Grimm won't come". He added.

"But…how do you take emotions away?" Don asked, weirded out by this claim.

"THAT, is where our social projects come in. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much. But law after law we started to shape our community into a more…positive one. And for a while that was showing results…That was, until the witches came".

Don wasn't sure how he felt about this. He was a man of a positive attitude, but laws against negativity? That just sounded too extreme for his comfort. Nevertheless, the major was finally getting to the part he was asking about.

"It was a few months after my election. Reports started coming in about these cloaked shadows all around the city. They only appeared at night and were entering people's houses. We though they were thieves, and in a certain way they were, but they didn't steal money".

"They stole personal items", Don added.

"Yes! Wow, you are better informed than I thought. Anyways, guards started to investigate the matter, they found out that some people managed to see the witches. They were all women wearing black and escaped as soon as they appeared. We were obviously concerned but we thought we just had a crime syndicate in our hands, until…the Grimm grew stronger".

Don looked outside his window and saw some buildings under heavy repairs. The farther they rode, the more damaged the buildings were, some even had to be demolished.

"Suddenly, our social projects weren't enough. We had to double down on them, become stricter. We realized we were getting a Grimm attack the day after a new report of the witches came in. It wasn't hard to connect the dots".

"This has been going on for a while. How many people have…?" Don asked, and the major wasted no time in answering.

"Casualties are low, majority of the damage has been to infrastructure. But, one life is too many. Thankfully our first responders are well trained, if it wasn't for them, the death toll would be way higher". The major said, a bit of sorrow in his voice. He served another glass of wine for Don and one more for himself.

"The witches must be stopped. At any cost" the major declared before asking Don, "Would you help us?".

Don now understood the stakes on the matter. Lives were in danger and it was the duty of a hero to stand and do something about it.

"Of course!" He proclaimed and with a cheerful smile, Don and the Major clanked their glasses, settling down their deal of cooperation.

---

3 hours had passed and Jaune was waiting outside the old woman's house with the two potato sacks on the side. His mind was still scrambling. It wasn't the first time someone had died right in front of his eyes, but that didn't make the experience any less painful. Death; is probably the most natural and terrifying part of life. He was no stranger to these feelings; regret, sorrow, grieve, he had first-hand experience with them…and still, it was an emptiness that ate him from inside out.

Violet came out of the house, ready to continue their way. She approached Jaune with a regretful smile on her face. "Her family is up stares. She will be fine".

"I'm glad to hear that".

"Jaune…I'm sorry, I gave your flowers away. I thought that they might help her more. Please don't be mad" Violet pleaded; she was a bit ashamed of not asking him first.

"Oh, no, It's ok. Honestly, I kind of bought those by accident" Jaune replied, scratching the back of his head.

Violet was relieved and chuckled a bit. "Really? It must have been destiny then, hehe".

"…Destiny…" That word…That word resounded in Jaune's head and weighted heavy in is heart.

"Yeah. Do you believe in destiny?" Violet asked, not knowing what those words meant for him.

It might have been the sorrow he saw on that day, but those words hit him harder than he expected. Just like the old woman, Jaune had also lost a loved one. The memory of that evening when Pyrrha said those same words to him. "Do you believe in destiny?", those words filled Jaune's mind with image of happier days…and of more tragic ones.

"Jaune?".

"Wha…No….I don't" Jaune replied, snapping out of it and quickly grabbing a sack of potatoes.

Violet quickly realized something wasn't right. She saw how Jaune nervously struggled with some potatoes that fell off the sack. She slowly walked towards him and when he finally stood up, she grabbed his face softly.

"I've seen those eyes before". She said, much to Jaune's surprise and confusion. Violet let go of his face. She turned her head to see the flowers in front of the old woman's house, a sad expression on her face and her hand closed on her chest as if she was holding her pained heart. After a short bit, she turned again, looking at Jaune straight in the eyes, "Come, I want to show you something".

Violet took Jaune a few blocks away from the old woman's house. She looked around to make sure there weren't any guards watching them and once the coast was clear, she and Jaune got inside a small alleyway. The alleyway was too narrow, so they had to leave their things outside to fit in it. Jaune couldn't help to feel a bit claustrophobic, and the spiders didn't make the experience any less uncomfortable.

"Where are we going?".

"We are almost there", Violet replied.

After a few seconds, Jaune noticed the brick wall in front of him had stopped and in its place, a large wooden fence stood before him, some ivies were tangled around its planks. Violet stopped to remove a large metal plate that was leaning on the wooden fence. "This way", she said.

Jaune followed her inside, just to be shocked at the beauty of a hidden garden in the middle of this city. The place was quite big and green plants covered every corner of it. Flowers painted the garden with every color of the rainbow, and the hummingbirds flying around just made the place feel more and more alive. In the middle of an ivy-covered brick wall, a little shrine stood with a picture of a family. Violet scrambled around a small metal box and took out some incense and a tiny fire dust crystal to turn them on. She placed the lit incense in front of the picture before turned back at Jaune. "Come, I want you to meet someone".

Jaune walked carefully and stood next to Violet, who had a sorrowful smile.

"This is my secret garden. I come here every time I want to talk to my parents". She said.

"Your…parents..." Jaune said, before realizing that the family on the picture was most likely Violet's, this was an altar on their memory. "I…Violet, I'm so sorry".

"Thank you, that's so kind of you" She said, the sad smile not leaving her face for a moment. "I come here to remember them. To remember all those hugs my dad gave me. To remember the kisses from my mom. Hehe, I remember how soft and fluffy her tail was, it was so cute".

"Tail?".

"Oh, yeah. My dad was a human like me, but my mom was a faunus just like my sister". Violet explained.

Jaune found himself with a weird sense of peace in this place, but that didn't prevent his mind from remembering, it didn't prevent his heart to feel that heavy weight in it.

"Jaune…I brought you here for a reason". Violet said. "I've seen your eyes before. The old woman today had them. My sister had them, and so did I". She continued.

Jaune turned his face away from her in shame, but Violet softly turned it back at her. "Jaune…you lost someone, didn't you? Those eyes…You still haven't let go yet".

She read him like a book. It was true, it had been so long since that fateful night at Beacon, the night he lost Pyrrha, and still, that last kiss hunted him at every single moment.

"I…yes. Her name was Pyrrha and ever since she…Everything has been so hard and confusing" Jaune said, trying to hold in his sorrow.

"Have you talked about it with someone? Family, friends?".

"I. I have…a little. Not much. Look, my friends and I have a lot of things to worry about already and …I really…I just don't feel is right for me to bother them".

"But they are your friends, aren't they? If you are in so much pain, don't you think they might want to know and help?", Violet replied.

"I'm ok".

"No, you are not. Jaune…I use to be like you" Violet said, once again holding her heart. "When I lost my parents, I spent years pretending I was fine. I didn't want to bring that pain to my sister, so I stayed quiet. But every night I cried myself to sleep, I even started to become bitter and lashed in anger at everyone, even those who were just trying to help me".

"Violet…".

"You can't bottle up that pain, Jaune. It will only kill you from inside".

"Well is not that simple, ok?!" Jaune said, pain and anger could be heard in his drowned voice. "Is not that simple …Pyrrha. What happened…It was my fault. I can't just let her go and pretend I didn't love her".

Violet turned once more to face the altar of her family, "That's not what I'm saying", she said. "I'm not saying you should forget her. How could you, if you loved her that much?" she continued. "But if you don't release your pain, it will consume you. It's why I hate these..these laws. The major basically made it illegal to feel. We can't cry, we can't be mad and we have to deal with this…this indignation while our departed are disrespected!". Violet's hand made a fist, which made Jaune notice her own pain and sorrow.

"Jaune. You won't heal if you keep that venom inside you. If you do, you will never find peace" She finished.

Violet's words resounded in Jaune's heart. Maybe she was right. He couldn't keep pretending he was fine. He really didn't think he was that good of an actor either, not with the way his friends looked at him, not with the way he acted in front of Cinder. His family and friends did want to help him, show him that support he so desperately needed. At that moment he realized that maybe, he was just hurting them more by not saying anything than he thought he would by telling how in pain he was.

Violet gave him a kind smile, "Promise me you won't bottle up anymore".

Jaune smiled back at her "I won't. I'll give it my best shot. Thank you, Violet".

The two of them shared a hug before leaving the garden. As they walked to the gate, Jaune though about what Violet said about the city and decided to return her words of encouragement to ease her own pain.

"Violet?" He said, catching her attention. "I'm sorry for what's happening to your people…The departed…I would do anything if it meant I could help".

"Anything? How far are you willing to go?" Violet responded much to Jaune's surprise. "Would you sell your soul if it meant you could give them peace?" She said.

Jaune was completely caught off guard by this response and he would be lying if it didn't send chill to his skin.

Violet gave him a sweet smile and chuckled a little, "You are too kind and silly you know? Hehe" she said before going thought the gate, back to the alleyway.

---

Jaune and Violet finally made it to the Cathedral of Saint Agnes. As they approached the ancient temple, Violet told the story of it. The Cathedral was originally built by Saint Agnes the Just centuries before the Great War. Although temples of the Faith of the Two Brothers normally depicted both gods, The Cathedral of Saint Agnes as well as their preaching and their convent were all fully dedicated to the God of Light. It was their believe that the God of Light was a guardian of the living, and as such, it was worthy of complete devotion, unlike his brother who was but a bringer of death.

As Jaune and Violet made it inside the Cathedral, Jaune saw in awe the ancient architecture of the temple and its beautiful stained glasses. He saw how many other sisters worked tirelessly as they took care of the inside of the Cathedral. All wearing their white habits as they cleaned the temple and put in flowers on small pots. Jaune saw in curiosity how some sisters where lighting candles placed high above with a device he had never seen before, a long black metal rod with a hollow bulb like spiral that hosted a fire dust crystal in the middle.

As they approached the middle of the Cathedral a rather upset voice echoed in the temple.

"Violet! Where have you been?!". The voice came from an angry sister, her hair was crimson red but the most peculiar part of her was her fluffy red fox tail. "All you had to do was get some potatoes. What took you so long?!".

"Vi...Victoria! I'm so sorry, we ran into an old lady and her husband and…" Violet nervously tried to explain, but Victoria's worries for her sister turned in deaf anger.

"I don't want excus…Wait. We?" She said, somehow not noticing the tall blonde man standing behind her little sister.

Victoria's eye got wide opened. Her face became…worried. She really wasn't comfortable with Jaune being close to her sister. But what was more concerning to her was…she seemed to recognize him, from somewhere.

Jaune started to feel rather awkward and Violet quickly picked up on it. "Ah! Jaune, this is my sister, Victoria. Victoria, this is Jaune, he helped me bring the sacks from the market".

"It's a pleasure to meet you" He said awkwardly.

Victoria stared at him, walking past her sister. "Thanks for bringing her. Now leave", She said, much to Jaune's surprise. Violet on the other hand was nervous at her sister's sudden rudeness towards the nice man she just met.

Jaune didn't know how to act. Victoria was acting really hostile towards him; she didn't want him near her sister for a second. The awkward moment was broken when the voice of an elder woman was heard.

"My, Victoria. That's not way to treat visitors".

"Mother Emilia". Victoria replied, giving another angry look at Jaune before she walked away from him.

Mother Emilia was the headmistress of the convent of Saint Agnes. She was an old but quite strong woman, she sported a kind smile at all times but her presence also inspired respect. "Violet, dear. What took you so long?".

"Mother Emilia. I'm sorry, Jau…this kind young man, was helping me carry the sacks from the market and on our way, we helped an old lady, she...lost her husband when we arrived. We helped her deal with the guards and stayed with her until her family arrived".

"You dealt with the guards?!" Victoria replied, still being overprotective of her little sister.

"Victoria, please" Mother Emilia responded, she then turned to Jaune. "Thank you so much, young man. I'm sorry you had to see such tragedy".

"It's ok, ma'am. I'm glad that I could help". Jaune said.

Mother Emilia gave Jaune a far warmer welcome to the Cathedral than Victoria, who still gave him a stink eye.

Victoria then had an idea and with a snarky smile, she asked Jaune, "You aren't from around here, are you? What are you? A tourist? A merchant?".

"Oh, no. I'm a huntsman". Jaune replied, but to his surprise, Violet's eyes got wide open. She never asked about why he visited Sevillana, the thought never crossed her mind. Jaune never mentioned either, the topic never really came up. But Violet's reaction of shock was odd to him. Was this a bad thing? Why would it be?

Mother Emilia still sported her smile, but her tone became a bit more serious. "I see. Well, thank you again for your kind help. I would have to ask you to be on your way, though. There is an event at city hall tonight and the major has asked our aid".

"Oh, sure. It was nice to meet you all. And, Violet…Thank you, for everything". Jaune said although he felt as if he was being kicked out.

As Jaune left, Violet tried to talk to him before he was gone "Jaun…", but she was suddenly stopped by her sister.

Victoria waited for Jaune to exit the building and as soon as he did, she told her little sister, "Of all people, you had to bring a huntsman, didn't you?".

"I…I didn't know…". Violet said, she looked ashamed but as soon as Victoria and Mother Emilia left the scene, she lifted her head and looked in Jaune's direction. Her eyes had regret and worry in them.

---

The sun was setting when Jaune arrived at the main plaza of Sevillana. He was a bit tired and decided to recover for a while on a bench. That peace didn't last long though, when someone softly…Yelled in his ear.

"QUIT SLACKING OFF, SQUIRE!".

"AH! Don! We talked about this!" Jaune screamed as his master joyfully hooped before sitting next to his protégé.

"Oh, come on! You know you missed me".

"Yeah, right. I kind of liked the peace and quiet" Jaune answered before sharing a laugh with his mentor, Don even messing Jaune's hair playfully.

"Found out something about our case?" Don asked, much to Jaune's shame.

"Not really. I kind of got distracted. I learned some things about this place and its laws though".

"I see…Well, is alright, because your amazing mentor DID learn a lot today!" Don said proudly; "Come on, lad! We are going to be late". Don said as he stood up from the bench.

"For what?".

"A meeting at City Hall. While you were slacking off, I got us a job with the major himself! Ill catch you up on our way, let's go!".

The major. Don seemed excited of working with him, but Jaune wasn't so sure. Not after what he had seen, not after the way Violet spoke of him.

Don told Jaune everything he found out about the witches. How they stole personal items from the people and used them to send Grimm after them. Jaune quickly understood the state of the city, he had also seen the damaged buildings and a constant flow of Grimm attacks made perfect sense in that case. The more he heard about the witches' actions, the more concerned he grew; however, he gave it more and more thought as there were still missing pieces in this puzzle.

City Hall was full of concerned citizens. The major had arranged a meeting with the public which he hosted inside the main ball room.

Jaune and Don entered the place as guests of honor, clearly Don's charms were at play as they were given special treatment thanks to Don's new partnership with the major. To Jaune's surprise, the sisters of Saint Agnes' convent were attending the meeting, helping greet the people and serve the food.

As they stood near the snack bar, Don continued discussing the matter with his student.

"So, what do you think? Is it one of your maidens?" Don asked as he stuffed his mouth with food.

"I don't know. But I don't think so. As far as I know, the maidens don't need to steal things to do magic. They also don't control the Grimm. Salem though, she can do that, but why a town like this? It just seems like she wouldn't be interested in it". Jaune explained.

"Maybe, they have one of your macguffins here".

"No, we took care of Mistral's relic. The two we haven't seen are in Vacuo and Vale. And even if they were here, it still doesn't make sense. The Grimm come after the witches are seen, if Salem wanted to steal the relic it would be the other way around, the Grimm attack first to destroy everything and her people would then come to get the relic". He replied.

Don finished shallowing his food before continuing "Ok, then is not your evil witch lady. Thank the gods. But now, what we need to do is capture one and get to the bottom of this".

"Capture one?".

"Is part of the job, kid! The major sent a request to Mistral for huntsmen to capture the witches. He said he was so happy that finally they sent a group of us to help out". Don continued.

Jaune still had his concerns about the major, and he couldn't hide it anymore from Don. "Do you trust him? The major?".

"I don't trust politicians, kid. But he seems like he cares for this city. There are a few things that have me concerned about him though…like his laws, his so-called social projects". Don replied.

"Yeah, I saw those first-hand today" Jaune said. He then told Don everything he saw regarding the major's laws. How even letting your child cry was a criminal offense, how by law you aren't allow to mourn your dead love ones. The people were living in fear of their own emotions, all thanks to the extremism of the major.

Don was shocked to learn this, but not too surprised, he had his suspensions, just didn't know it was this bad. Through their talk, they both realized that the citizens had a very strong opinion, but not a good course of action, they all feared the witches but majority also saw the major as incompetent and his actions ineffective and harmful.

"Wait. The major said he was happy a group of huntsmen came to the city? Weren't you the only one there?". Jaune asked his mentor who really didn't though about it. However, before he could answer, the major appeared and started the meeting.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! My dear citizens, I welcome you all. With great pleasure, I'm here to announce that not 1 but 2! teams of huntsmen have…" The major started saying, but he clearly didn't know his audience. The citizens interrupted him rudely and without any respect for his supposed authority.

"Cut to the chase!".

"Yeah! The Witches are coming! Quit goofing around, you useless prick!".

"What are you going to do?!"

"Why haven't you fix this already!?".

The crowd was growing angry and the guards were getting ready act.

"I…pardon me…We are…" The major struggled to answer to those comments, he became nervous and his voice cracked a bit.

"Ill take it from here, Major". A voice was heard coming from behind Jaune and Don. A voice that for Jaune was far too familiar.

Jaune looked in shock at the sight of the team of huntsmen taking over the meeting. "Ca…Cardin".

Team CRDL of Beacon Academy walked towards the center stage, but as they passed by Jaune, Cardin Winchester did nothing but give him a side eye. The rest of the team all noticed him, but didn't address him, too intimidated by the attitude of their leader.

Cardin sported a five o'clock shadow now, his armor had multiple marks from previous battles, he had a confident and quite arrogant look. But the same could not be said about his teammates. The rest of team CRDL, Russel, Sky and Dove, they all seemed exhausted and beaten, their clothes had far more damage and the three of them had bags on their eyes.

Cardin took center stage, taking over from the major. "Citizens of Sevillana! You don't have to worry anymore! Your heroes are here to save you!".

"Not worry?! With those witches out there?!".

Cardin looked at the yelling man in anger, intimidating him into silence, after a little chuckle, he continued. "Don't get me wrong people. You have every right to fear the witches, in fact you should. The witches will come after every single one of you until this city is NOTHING BUT ASH!" he said, much to the crowd's dismay.

People started talking amongst themselves before Cardin continued, "But you don't have to worry! Your major! He has contacted us! And we came here on a crusade to END THOSE WITCHES!". The citizens saw Cardin's confidence and started to be influenced by his words, applauding him.

"Your city has a plague, people, and we will exterminate it! But to do that, I need your help, ladies and gentlemen. I need your strength!". He continued.

"Wait…Exterminate…" The major tried to argue for a moment, but he stopped when he realized how on board with the idea the citizens were. "That's right! Exterminate them!" he said.

"Hold it right there!" Don intervened, him and Jaune stepping on to the stage. "The mission was to capture them, you never said anything about an extermination".

"BOOOO! COWARD!" the crowd started to yell, which prompted the major to turn against Don.

"If a true witch hunt is what we need. SO BE IT!".

"Speaking of which" Cardin added before, plugging his scroll on a socket, this connected it to the projector of the hall and showed a picture.

"Ladies and gentlemen, THIS is a picture we took two days ago of one of your WITCHES!" Cardin presented much to the crowd's horror.

The picture was taken at night with a flash as the witch escaped. It showed a female figure with crimson red hair, she was wearing a black cloak and a pointy black and gold hat, she also had a mask covering the bottom half of her face, the witch was wielding a black steel staff. All this matched the description of the witches from eye witness, but the feature Cardin pointed attention to the most was the witch's particular red fox tail.

"As you can see, your witch problem, is also a faunus problem!" Cardin said, much to the horror of the crowd.

"We have seen it before, people. Back at the Fall of Beacon" He continued. The mere mention of that tragedy alarmed the crowd even more, and lit a rage in Jaune's heart.

"What are you talking about?!" Jaune said.

"Didn't the White Fang attack Beacon?! Aren't they just a bunch of faunus!? You were there, so don't try to deny it!" Cardin said to shut Jaune down immediately. "The day of the fall, the White Fang brought faunus witches with them, it was their magic what sent the endless horde of Grimm to Vale!" He continued.

Jaune was in shock at this claim. It was true that the White Fang had a hand on the Fall and the Grimm rampage. But witches? Magic? The only one of those was Cinder herself, did Cardin know? No, he couldn't have. "You don't know what you are talking about, Cardin!".

"LIER! THE FAUNUS ARE WITCHES!" The crowd started to yell.

"Wh..what should we do, then?" The major asked at Cardin as the crowd's support for him increased more and more.

"I propose we start our witch hunt by rounding up all the faunus in the city. Arrest them all and question them. Get them to talk…at any cost" Cardin said.

The crowd supported him, much to the terror of the faunus in it. Jaune and Don were horrified at the proposal as well as the reaction to it. Jaune knew he had to do something, but the crowd was too eager to start their witch hunt. Hysteria wasn't going to let them consider the moral implication of what they were about to do, so Jaune decided to play around the major and the citizen's new found culture, their obedience towards the major's laws.

"Hold on! Listen to what you are saying! The Grimm are attracted to negative emotions. If you start to round up the faunus, imagine the mass fear that would cause! Fear will mean Grimm!" He said, hoping this argument would convince the crowd. "Major, don't do this. You are putting people in danger" He pleaded to the major, hoping this would convince him to reconsider. Jaune was ready to oppose this proposal no matter what, the lives of many innocent people were at stake.

The major thought about it, his policies were the back bone of his administration, if this would go against his own laws it would discredit his efforts. "You are right, we can't attract the Grimm" he said, much to Cardin's annoyance.

"COWARDS!" The crowd responded.

To prevent them from causing a riot, the major ended the meeting, claiming that he would discuss the next course of action with the two teams of Huntsmen.

The crowd was taken outside the building along side the two teams of Huntsmen. After a few minutes, CRDL managed to make it outside but got caught at the entrance of the City Hall by Jaune who had been running after them.

"Cardin!" Jaune said.

Cardin and his team stopped, the rest of team CRDL faced towards Jaune, their faces insecure, shameful and fearful. Cardin on the other hand had his back toward Jaune.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Jaune demanded to know.

Cardin calmly responded. "Jaune…Do me a favor", he said, before turning around and looking at Jaune straight in the eyes, "Please get in my way. I would love to crack your skull open". With this threat, Cardin and his team walked away, leaving Jaune with the uncertainty of what they would do next.

Jaune stood there, his worries growing at every second. Things were becoming more serious than he had expected. The witches, the major, and now this. What was more, he was also growing concerned for Cardin and his teammates, not only for what they were capable of, but also for just what happened to them. They were always bullies, but this? To get to such extremes? His train of thought was derailed, when he spotted Violet asking him to walk over her.

Violet was standing next to the City Hall and as she saw Jaune walking on her direction, she quickly walked to an alleyway next to the building.

Jaune ran to the alleyway, he found it odd but maybe Violet needed his help with something. He finally made it inside to the alleyway.

"Viol…" He started to say, only to be met with a black metal staff to the neck. Violet had him pinned down against a wall.

"Stay out of this!".

---

Don made it out the building but lost Jaune on the crowd. "Where did that kid go now?".

The crowd was gathering around to talk to the major in front of the City Hall. He was the last person to come out of the building. He was immediately surrounded by the press and the people to ask him for his comments regarding the meeting and the witch hunt.

"I told you people, I'll have to discuss our next course of action with our huntsmen" He said, but the crowd kept pressuring him.

Don was standing behind him at quite the distance, a bit upset that he didn't get the exclusivity of the job, but even more angry at the change in objective. Don was ok with capturing the witches and arrest them, there was no harm in that, but what the major wanted to do now was an execution, and he certainly didn't feel comfortable with the idea.

Suddenly, the doors of the City Hall shut close and all the lights on the block turned off. The guards were on high alert to protect the major, but they were soon dealt with when ice was used to immobilize them. An ice wall appeared from each side of City Hall, trapping the major, the crowd, team CRDL and Don in a massive circle.

The people were in panic, but their screams of terror became an attentive silence, when flame where seen on the roof of the building. Like torches, the Witches' staves lit the darkness and reveled their presence to the crowd.

"Citizens of Sevillana! Hear our words!" The leader of the witches spoke. "Your major! The insolent rat! Has disrespected the spirits of the dead!"

The crowd listened in attention and fear.

"An insult to the dead is an insult to the Dark Brother himself!" The witch leader proclaimed as her sisters slammed their staves on the floor, sending flames to the night sky.

"We are the Coven of Saint Aradia. Devoted daughters of the God of Darkness. And this is your ultimatum!". She continued. "The major must resign in the next 24 hours; his laws must be deleted from this land and he must be delivered to us! If not, then the souls of the dead will swarm this apathic city, and consume it entirely!" The witch declared.

---

"Vio…let" Jaune struggled to say as Violet kept him pinned to the wall.

"You are staying out of this! Don't make me hur…" She said, but was interrupted when Jaune overpowered her, pushing her to the side.

Jaune struggled to recover his breath, but soon enough he turned to see Violet who managed to quickly stand up.

With an angry look, Violet placed a mask to cover the bottom half of her face and with a snap of her fingers, she ignited the dust woven into her habit. The dust fabric lighted up with a purple flame that quickly transformed the white habit into a black cloak and the veil into a pointy hat.

Jaune's eyes were wide open at the sight of Violet as she reveled herself a witch.

Violet pointed her staff towards Jaune. By instinct, Jaune tried to reach for his sword, but soon remembered he left it with the Black smith.

The fire dust in the staff allowed Violet to shoot fire balls at the defenseless Jaune, who struggled to evade her attacks and got hit multiple times, even getting pushed to the ground with a particularly powerful one.

Jaune managed to roll to the side and evade another fireball, and as he got a bit of cover behind a barrel he managed to stand up, however, as soon as he did, Violet had closed the gap between them and started her close range assault, hitting Jaune with her staff at a high speed.

Violet swung her staff multiple times while Jaune blocked her strikes with his arms and evaded some of them. She eventually started to spin the staff until flames started to come out of the metal spiral end and she blasted Jaune once more.

"Stay down!" She said, but Jaune wasn't done yet.

He took a couple of empty cans that were next to him and threw them at Violet, who simply blocked them with her staff, but this was a distraction as Jaune quickly stood up and started his counter attack.

Jaune had been training in hand to hand combat for situations like this, so the speed of his punches was too much for Violet to handle on her own. She blocked a couple punches but had to resort to other tactics to get him off her quickly.

Violet flicked a switch in her staff which activated a mechanism in it, soon enough, the fire dust went inside the staff and was quickly replaced with wind dust, which she then used to blow Jaune away.

Jaune struggled but he managed to remain standing, the wind blow was a strong stream but to Violet's surprise, Jaune was managing to walk against it.

"Why…are you…doing this?!" Jaune asked as he pushed against the strong wind.

"Just give up! Please!" Violet replied.

When the wind resulted ineffective, Violet switched to something with more power, she got explosive dust on her staff and was ready to blast Jaune away, but as soon as she stopped the stream, Jaune ran closer to her. Startled and with Jaune right in front of her, Violet accidently activated the explosive dust, hitting the floor right in front of her. The resulting explosion sent Jaune flying towards a wall, and Violet toward the street, outside the alleyway.

The explosion caught the attention of the crowd and the witches. Panic was spreading amongst the people.

The leader of the witches saw how Violet was struggling to stand up in the middle of the street, which prompted her to signal her sisters to make their exit.

As the witches left, the lights were turned back on and a guard outside the ice wall saw Violet as she stood up. "WITCH!".

Violet ran pass him in a panic, she speeded up through the street to make her escape.

The explosion prompted Don to try to see between the separations of the ice spikes of the wall, he was worried for his apprentice, and to his surprise and concern, he saw how Jaune rushed from the alleyway and ran chasing the witch on his own, "JAUNE!".

Violet ran as fast as she could and everywhere the people yelled in terror at her sight. She was concerned of any guard chasing her, but when she turned to check, all she saw was Jaune running after her.

Violet quickly tried to lose Jaune by running through the maze of alleyways in the city. She knew these streets better than him, but Jaune was too fast for her, and had no intention of giving up.

Violet switched once more to fire dust and attempted to slow him down by shooting a couple at him. But her accuracy was lacking and Jaune was able to evade them all.

The two of them kept running until Violet spotted a signal fire on top of a building. She then made a quick turn into an alleyway to her left, Jaune following her to it. She was desperate to finally lose him. She switched to ice dust and quickly tried to make an ice wall to stop him in his tracks, but Jaune was too fast, he jumped on a few wooden boxes and leaped forward, barely passing the ice wall forming behind him.

Violet had no time to waste, she used earth dust to summon a stair she could climb to the roof of one of the buildings. She got up the rock stair as fast as she could, but Jaune was catching up.

She finally made it and ran in a panic, she looked around trying see any sign of her witch sisters, but it was hard to see any at night even with the full moon in the sky. She knew she didn't have much time, so she switched to her secret weapon, lighting dust. Before she was ready though she heard a voice coming from behind her.

"Violet, please stop!" Jaune pleaded to her.

Violet got startled and turned around in a panic, ready to attack Jaune once more, however, she didn't notice the puddle she was standing on and slipped and fell as soon as she fired the lighting dust. A lighting bolt went up and hit a construction crane, making a stack of bricks fall right on top of her.

"VIOLET!".

"AHHHH!", She covered her head with her arms fearing the worst. The bricks fell on her, crashing violently.

A cloud of dust covered the roof of the building…but when the dust settled, Violet opened her eyes, and saw Jaune hugging her and covering her from the bricks. He had boosted their auras and managed to save her life.

Violet saw him with shock and once everything got clear, Jaune let her go and addressed her.

"Violet! Are you ok?!".

Violet's eyes became a bit teary "…Why?".

"What do you mean? You almost died!" Jaune replied. "Violet, what's going on? Please talk to me!".

Violet couldn't look at him in the eyes. She had a fearful and shameful expression. She lifted her head a bit and saw a signal flame from the building behind Jaune.

She pushed Jaune to the ground and quickly took her staff before standing up. Jaune was still in shock and was tired from the chase.

Violet stood in front of him with the full moon behind her, she took her mask off and held her heart before saying. "Stay out of this…Please…I'm begging you".

As Violet finished, she put her mask on once more and ran to the edge of the building, she shot a blast of wind dust to launch herself to the air, and as she did, another witch flew by riding her staff like a broom and grabbed her hand.

Jaune then saw as Violet and the witch flew into the night sky towards the forest outside the city, vanishing in the distance.

---

Author's notes: Thank you so much for reading. Sorry for the long chapter but this is a story I wanted to tell for a long time now, and well, I kind of want to do it justice.

As always, I would appreciate any feedback both positive and negative.

Hope you enjoy it.