Well here we are... hopefully it's worth the wait for those of you that are waiting. Bit of a change here, because I haven't actually finished writing this act. I'm close, though, and you guys have been waiting long enough. I have 5 chapters ready, and if I can't finish another chapter or two in five weeks then what am I even doing? I'll be deleting the 'news updates' soon as well. I say this because I don't know how that will affect chapter alerts, so just be aware.
Another thing I have to say, is that I spent a long time debating whether or not to include info from volume 6 in this story, and I eventually decided against it. As long as it's taking me to write this, I do have a good idea where the story is going. I've been planning this tale for a long time, and was excited to write things that new lore from volume 6 started to directly contradict. So I decided not to worry about whether things are 'wrong', and write the story I want to write.
Without further ado, please, at last, read, follow, review, and most importantly enjoy!
Act 2
Gathering Strength
The desert outside of Vacuo was a vast, terrible thing. A void of nothing with villages sporadically placed wherever there was water to be welled from underground, as well as a large tropical oasis owned privately by the Kingdom of Vacuo. Between those small havens of safety, the desert was harsh and unforgiving, with heat reaching degrees that could overheat even a grimm. Almost no being on Remnant could survive extended periods in the middle of the desert.
Almost. But then, that was one of the many benefits afforded to the Summer maiden.
Atop a dune somewhere between three outskirt villages sat a dark-skinned woman dressed lightly in white. It was easy for to hide out in the desert when, to her, there was no difference between here and an air-conditioned house. It was also incredibly easy to get a tan. The summer maiden took a drink from her canteen and crossed her legs. As she began to meditate, the sand shifted beneath her, and she rose into the air.
"Must be warm today," The maiden noted, having noticed white shimmering in the distance before closing her eyes.
In that distance, outside of the maiden's earshot, a brown dressed man was complaining to his pale companion, "How can anyone stand this heat!?"
"Says the scorpion faunus," His companion noted sarcastically, "Aren't they supposed to be desert creatures, Tyrian?"
"Not this desert," Tyrian Callows, the scorpion faunus, shook his head, "There aren't even any bones around here, because nothing can even survive far enough to die here! Even you are looking decidedly pink."
His companion, Leid Kale, frowned. Her complexion was generally stark white, but the desert was starting to get to her as well. "Don't worry. The trip back will be much easier."
"I hope so. Why isn't painless here? Wasn't he supposed to be here?" Tyrian referred to their other ally, Hazel Rainart, a very large man whose semblance allowed him to ignore pain.
"He won't be necessary here," Kale explained, "In fact, if all goes well, your own presence should be redundant. Besides, he does worse in the desert than you do. The inability to feel discomfort is not the boon you might think in this situation."
The summer maiden finally heard people approaching and set herself down quickly. She stood slowly, mentally preparing herself for anything. Including a fight. The newcomers came closer, and the maiden could more easily figure them out. Well, the scorpion faunus she could figure anyway. The other seemed to almost disappear when she wasn't looking right at her. She knew the woman was there, but there was nothing about her to remember.
"Can I help you?" The summer maiden called out, "Some water perhaps? You are pretty deep into the desert…"
"You can help us, in fact," Kale spoke up as she approached the maiden. The blank woman reached up to remove her sunglasses and stared the maiden in the eye.
The summer maiden was immediately captured by the swirling color phantasmagoria of Leid Kale's eyes. Everything she was and feared melted away as Kale turned up her semblance. She was truly content and couldn't tear herself away if she tried. Not that she wanted to try.
Kale smiled. It all came together perfectly. She slipped on a long white glove given to her by the Grimm queen and readied herself for what came next. A little portal opened in the palm, a Grimm insect crawling out of it. Kale aimed her palm at the maiden, and the bug shot a thick, black web. The powers of the glove reached into the very soul of the summer maiden and began to extract.
Even the power of Kale's semblance could not keep the summer maiden from feeling the pain of having her soul torn apart and ripped away. But by the time she began screaming, it was already too late. The transfer of power had begun, and they were alone in the desert. There would be no one to stop it this time.
Weiss all but shoved Reaper into the closest, unoccupied cabin. Blake, Neo and Chamillia followed them in. After they had all piled into the room, Weiss promptly locked the door behind them. Reaper watched the display next to the door turn red, rolling her eyes. "Wow, Weiss, I'm flattered you'd want to lock yourself in a room with me, but we kind of have an audience…" Reaper snarked with flat, half-hearted sarcasm.
"Quiet!" Weiss was in no mood for Reaper's shit, drawing Myrtenaster once more. "The last time we saw you, you blew a hole in Vale's wall!"
"Wait, what?" Chamillia didn't know what she expected to hear in this little meeting, but it certainly wasn't that.
"To be fair, I was under the influence of a Grimm parasite at the time," Reaper countered.
"Wait, what!?" Or that either.
"And how do I know you aren't still?" Weiss accused.
"Maybe I am?" she teased, taking slow steps toward Weiss. The tip of Myrtenaster began to shake, until Reaper walked right into it, pressing the tip against her chest. "What do you think?" the dark woman frowned.
Weiss found herself staring into Reaper's eyes. From the bright silver, to faded blind eye. They looked like Grimm eyes before… perhaps Reaper is Reaper. But she still didn't lower her rapier. "I… don't know…" Weiss admitted.
Reaper grabbed Myrtenaster's blade and shoved it down. "You know, I didn't have to save this ship, Weiss."
"This ship isn't what you were saving," Blake pointed out, "We all know it."
"Fair enough," Reaper shrugged, turning away from Weiss toward Neo.
"This doesn't mean you're in the clear," Weiss sheathed her sword, "Until I'm sure one way or the other, I'm not letting you out of my sight."
"Whatever…" Reaper waved her off and sat next to Neo on one of the beds in the room.
Blake frowned at the exchange. Before the silence became awkward, Blake spoke up, "Reaper, were you… aware while the parasite had you?"
"Why?" Reaper responded.
"Because maybe you saw something that can help us," Blake explained.
Reaper looked genuinely confused. "Help with what?"
"Fighting back, of course," Weiss crossed her arms, "Against Salem."
"You mean the human shaped Grimm in the black castle surrounding by the monsters she can control?" Reaper seemed shocked, "And you want to fight her!?"
"You saw Salem?" Blake picked up, "You know where she is?"
"I could point out the continent on a map, but if you actually want to survive the journey and head straight to her? No, I don't."
"So what, you were only aware half the time?" Weiss asked, clearly not believing the dark woman.
"I'm sorry if I was a little occupied trying to find a way to take back control of my fucking body to keep an eye on Korruption's every action," Reaper spat venomously.
"Did you at least learn anything about what Salem knows about the maidens and the relics?" Blake asked.
"The what and the what?" Reaper responded blankly.
"Oh, for fucks sake…" Weiss's rare curse showed just how tired she was.
"Looks like we have some things to catch you up on…" Blake volunteered herself to fill Reaper in.
A few moments earlier, Ash had made her way over to the door she saw the Schnee girl push Reaper behind. She wouldn't say she had befriended Reaper and didn't think she would continue to tag along with the angry woman and her angry friends. So, she figured she would return the green pistol. She held it in one hand, wrapped in cloth so the sight of it didn't set off another panic attack when Reaper saw it.
Ash arrived at the door, slightly nervous about interacting with the people on the other side. She saw that the door was locked and raised her fist to knock. Hearing the voices coming from inside made her hesitate. What are they discussing behind locked doors? Curiosity got the better of Ash, and she held her ear to the door.
The more she listened, the more she wished she had never started to.
Winter sat at a desk in the captain's quarters, pen to paperwork as she waited for Qrow. She was sure he was helping people settle in for the flight before coming up. They had the entire flight to speak, after all. Whatever his faults, Winter could at least admit Qrow cared for people.
She finished the last of the paperwork, and as if on cue, the door opened the moment she set the pen down. "There you are," she greeted the grayed huntsman.
"Yeah," was all Qrow offered in greeting, "You wanted to talk?"
"Not exactly," Winter stood up. Where she had been sitting lit up with a hologram of General Ironwood.
"Jimmy," Qrow greeted, "Shoulda guessed."
"Hello, Qrow," Ironwood nodded.
"What do we have to talk about that we didn't cover a few days ago?" Qrow asked.
"How about we start with the fact that you've decided to include a group of school children?" Ironwood accused, "Specialist Schnee ran into her sister at the halls of Beacon and was able to discern that they're working with you and know more than they should."
"They're not 'school children'," Qrow defended, "After everything they've been through and how close they were to finishing their fourth year, they might as well be graduated huntresses."
"If you needed bodies to fight alongside you, I have an army," The general offered.
"It was Oz's call to bring them in," Qrow told Ironwood, "We don't need an army, James. What we need is a tight group of specialists. Even if we wanted to use your army, sending groups of soldiers on secret missions all over Remnant will attract unwanted attention, and not just from our enemy. The Vytal Council would ask questions we can't afford to have answered. There's a reason we fight this fight in the shadows, I hope your smart enough to remember that."
"I thought you said Ozpin had fallen?" Ironwood accused.
"The last thing he told Weiss was to tell me they're ready," Qrow explained, "Then he stayed behind to try and stop the wall from going up. Which we all know, didn't work."
"The more we go over this, the more I feel like I'm being side-lined," Ironwood confessed, "Do you even want me in this fight?"
"Listen, general…" Qrow tried to sound reassuring, "No one can deny your resources would be helpful. But the fact is you're just too public to help us in the ways you're trying. What you can do, is what we discussed last time. Use your spy network that already exists and track down the summer and fall maidens. And most importantly, keep the winter maiden safe until we need her."
Ironwood went silent in thought. "Very well…" he finally conceded, "However, at least take Winter, as in Specialist Schnee, with you."
"Sir?" Winter asked.
"You and Ozpin assured me that I have equal say in our partnership," Ironwood explained, "I simply want to contribute. Specialist Schnee has never taken holiday nor sick day. She has her vacation hours stacked up, and no one would pay any attention to what she did in her own time. She's worth several of any squadron on her own, and I'm sure she would appreciate being able to watch her sister's back."
Qrow looked to Winter, and thought of Reaper.
Ironwood waited for Qrow's silence to end, but the longer it took, the more suspicious he got. "I am an equal partner in this, right?" he finally accused.
"It's not that!" Qrow quickly assured, "There's just a matter of team cohesiveness."
"What does that mean?" Winter crossed her arms.
"It means there's something you should know before doing this," Qrow took a deep breath. He did not anticipate his next words to be met politely. "Reaper is back with us."
"You're saying that criminal has returned, unsupervised, to the presence of my little sister…?" Winter all but growled, her emotion bleeding through beyond her control. "If that's the case, then I apologize, General Ironwood, but I must insist upon that 'vacation time'."
Ironwood did seem slightly taken aback by Winter's slight loss of emotional control. On the other hand, given the situation, he could understand. And besides, "I agree with Specialist Schnee. I don't trust Reaper as easily as Ozpin had."
"Right…" Qrow's shoulders slumped under the weight of this added stress already. "Welcome aboard, Ice Queen. I better warn the team you're joining us." Qrow turned to leave before turning back around with an idea, "Oh, James, since we're being cooperative and all… One of our team needs a new hand, and we may also need a few new weapons."
Ironwood frowned before giving a resigned sigh, "Very well. Winter will have to come in to fill out the official paperwork for her 'vacation' anyways, just bring them along and I'll have them escorted to the labs."
"Thank you, General," Qrow decided not to test his luck and responded cordially. Now for the hard part… convincing Reaper to play nice once Winter joined them proper.
The information Ash heard through the door was strange and frightening. Yet, she couldn't pull away. After you hear about maidens with magical power over nature itself, it's hard to not be curious of the full story. It was only because of how her ear was pressed against the door that the saw the indicator next to it change colors, showing it had been unlocked. She jumped back just in time for Weiss to open the door, scroll in hand.
"You?" Weiss asked, not knowing Ash's name, "How long have you been there?"
"Not long. Why, what are you talking about in there?" Ash feigned interest, hoping it would reinforce her lie.
"Nothing," Weiss brushed off. "What are you here for?"
Oh shit! Ash had nearly forgotten after her eavesdropping. "Right, Reaper gave me something to hold on to down in Vale," she pulled the pistol out of her jacket, wrapped in cloth so Reaper didn't have to see it directly. "I was just returning it."
Weiss took the item, feeling it out in her hand. "Is this…?"
"I'm not sure what it is," Ash informed her, "But she had a panic attack when she looked at it. That's why I had it."
"Panic attack?" Weiss asked. She shrugged and walked back inside the room, her buzzing scroll already forgotten.
Ash turned and walked away, quickly. Could what she heard them talking about possibly be the truth? A Grimm Witch hunting magical maidens and relics left by gods? No! Stop thinking about that! she tried to tell herself. She didn't want to be involved, but something inside her wasn't letting what she heard go so easily. As if something like that is something one could so easily forget to begin with…
Back in the cabin, Weiss turned to Reaper, "Your friend from Vale dropped something off for you. And she said something about a panic attack?"
Neo frowned and turned her head to face Reaper as well, hoping she would answer.
"You mean Ash?" Reaper asked, staring down the package.
"Is that her name?" Weiss nodded. Reaper stood up and took the cloth wrapped object in hand. "Is that what I think it is?"
Reaper took a deep breath, trying not to focus on what was inside the wrap. She could feel the memories scratching at the back of her brain, threatening to surface and consume her mind once again.
Blake saw Reaper's posture soften. She wasn't as skeptical as Weiss, she believed Reaper was Reaper. This news about panic attacks made her worry for her friend. "Reaper?" she reached out.
It brought Reaper back. Her face hardened, and she shrugged Blake's hand away. She was sick of this feeling, she was sick of being weak. She had to take care of this. I have to confront this head on… I have to go to Nora, even if it's only for my own sake. "Where's JNPR?"