AN:Just had an Anon called "YourMom" review my story, told me to go die because he didn't like it. So I had my first troll "Hope you die review", so that's pretty cool. Feels sort of like I'm really part of the community now. Deleted the review of course. He said Thor was weak, and if you have been reading, you'd know that is intentional.
Honestly this whole thing should of been out by now, but two things are holding me back for publishing it.
1. I'm certain I'm going to botch it in some way, screw it up and ruin it. This is part of the reason I'm so intent on re-writing this with a proper beta reader.
2. This chapter in particular works better, I think, without immediate follow up.
I've also stopped naming chapters, in part because I've having a harder time thinking of titles.
The world inside this Grimm reminded Thor of Muspelheim, in appearance if not in temperature. It dominated with red and black, and the 'sky' was blood red, it was a vast rocky wasteland, with a foreboding fortress in the center. But the carnage was familiar as well. The remains of several teams were strewn about and in the distance, he saw their killers. Wendo and at least two of the machine/Grimm hybrids they had fought back at Mistral. If there were more of those monstrosity's lurking around, the survival of the others wasn't high. Just one had taken Mjolnir to kill and that was very far away.
"This is terrible." He heard Blake say behind him. She'd probably seen more of this type of war than anyone else here except for Loki and himself, but that didn't stop the horror from showing in her voice.
He turned to look at the other's and indeed on Loki seemed fine with what lay before them.
"We need to move on." Thor said, "The Grimm will find us if we stay still unless…." He turned to Loki "You can mask our presence with a spell."
For whatever reason, his brother and Weiss exchanged a look, and he didn't know what it meant but his attention was brought back to Loki as he raised his spear. "I can try."
He raised his weapon and over his head then point the tip at the ground, and walked in a circle around them. There wasn't much indication anything was happening but Thor noticed that small pebbled and sand were shifting out of the way from the tip when Loki drew a rune in the ground
"Well?" Thor asked.
"I doubt it will work hold up for long, but it should mask us for…half a day…maybe more, a day at the very most?" Loki said.
"So it's like Ren's semblance?" Nora asked.
"I…tried to replicate some aspects of it yes." Loki added. "It won't last, and frankly it wouldn't matter if it did." Loki looked around "We don't have much time anyway, limited supplies, hostile territory, it's enough time make a plan of action or make peace with whatever gods will have you."
Thor knew his brother was right, time was short, and so were the options. They were blind and underequipped. He didn't care so much for himself, he'd faced odds like this before, and he didn't think his life was so precious that he cared if he died. But he cared if his brother and his friends did.
"We have one chance." Thor said. "First, we need to make sure we're all awake, Loki can you wake him up?"
His brother didn't respond except to pass the spear over Jaune's unconscious form, and the boy started to come to.
"What happened?" He muttered rubbing his head.
"You were getting hysterical so Loki whacked you in the back of the head with a stick." Yang said in her usual candor.
Jaune's face flushed with embarrassment but he didn't say anything.
"If we are going to do anything, we need to make a direct attack on Salem and try and cut the head off the snake." Thor said to the group then gestured at the castle "The fortress is where we'll find her, but we are clearly at the disadvantage here."
"Clearly." Loki added "They have at least one relic, an army of Grimm, those machines, at least one trained huntsman and Salem herself." He looked them over "I'd say we have the element of surprise, but she has the knowledge relic, so she may know we are here."
"So were outnumbered, outgunned and possible at the intel disadvantage." Jaune mumbled "Do we have anything going for us?"
"Some things." Loki said. Thor was impressed how his brother was taking charge, when his tendency was to operate from the shadows. "Ruby's silver eyes are lethal to Grimm." He said "Granted she has yet to master them. We've got Silver-Steel, lethal to the Grimm on contact, and hopefully Salem herself." He added "I've got the Maiden's magic." He tossed his spear from hand to hand as he said this part. "And a wealth of experience with me and Thor."
Silence overcame the group. Thor knew that didn't sound good, but he needed to keep a cool head. One person panicking was bad for group morale.
"So we're more or less screwed." Sun said.
"No." Thor said in his commander voice, the voice he used when directing troops in battle. "If we can get into the fortress unseen we can kill the Queen, if we can do that, the Grimm may die."
"What kind of plan is that? What sort of leader would make their whole army die when their command is taken out?" Weiss said, not even bother to hide the contempt in her voice, but Thor just smiled and looked his brother.
"And overconfident one, who thinks they are untouchable." Thor said.
Loki looked away, being reminded of his own failures was always a sure thing that would irritate him.
"So we…" Blake began saying "basically use the shadow of the assault to hit her while she doesn't expect it."
"More or less." Thor said. "We'll rest here until everything dies down, If Loki's protection circle works, we can wait till she thinks all the soldiers are dead." He hated how cold that sounded, but there was nothing they could do for it.
"Loki." Weiss spoke up "Can this circle protect us from the relics?"
Loki shrugged "It may, but this isn't very powerful camouflage. The relic's power is related to the maiden's power so it may, but there are many things we don't know in this situation, we can only hope."
"Everyone rest up." Thor said "Eat and hydrate, we'll need to be at full energy."
"Shouldn't we ration our food?" Ruby asked.
"It's not going to matter, one way or another, we won't be here for more than 48 hours."
Loki watched the 'sky', as the flying Grimm soared through it. As they were hunkered down in this small 'protective circle' he felt like a rat cornered by a cat. The protection he'd been able to conjure was little more than a mask, it wouldn't stop even the weakest of Grimm, if it happened to wander blindly through it.
"Loki?" it was Weiss, he wasn't sure if he was losing his touch or if these people were just extra stealthy because they kept sneaking up on him.
"Yes?"
"I…don't remember last night very clearly, but I remember what I said and did."
"I know."
Silence for a moment. "Well?"
"Well what? What do you want me to say?" He said coldly.
"You said make peace with whatever gods will have us."
"Hmm."
"Well…" She said, her tone made it clear she wanted him to say it.
"Well what?" He looked into her eye's and she looked incredibly confused, like she couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Can you drop the 'troublemaker' shtick for a second, we could be dead in a few hours and I'm trying to have a real conversation with you." Her voice was a bit snappish, but a bit he picked up the faint notes of desperation.
"Forgive me." He said turning his gaze back out the wasteland. "You know my history." He sighed "I don't find it easy to connect with others, and those with whom I start to, I tend to sabotage."
"Then just forget it." She huffed and walked away, frustrated.
Loki just kept his gaze on the castle until his brother's voice came from behind.
"Aggravating the girl isn't to our advantage now, we all need to have clear head." His brother paused "Why do you play with her feelings?"
"It's what I do brother, I'm the god of mischief."
"You were the god of mischief, now you are mortal teenager, like them, like me, you don't have to be defined by what you were."
Loki sighed "I know, but a near eternity of past behavior is hard to break. You don't have to change much at all to fit into society, I on the other hand…" he trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence.
"Well get over it soon, we're probably going to be dead in a few hours." Thor said briskly slapping him on the shoulder and walking away.
That was Thor's way of…comforting him, by trying to make it seem like whatever obstacle was a trivial thing. They both knew it wasn't, but it was his brother's way of trying to make think he could do it.
But this wasn't what he was more concerned about. The whole invasion had gone south incredibly quickly, he could only think of sabotage and a traitor. But in all likely hood, if the was the case it was someone he didn't even know. If he got a hold of that relic again, he thought he'd find out.
But there was also the question of why? To him, he could only think of crippling the military or dealing a heavy blow to morale, but fact was he just didn't know and wouldn't know unless he heard it from Salem mouth.
Then there was getting to her. The normal Grimm would be troublesome at best, but those giant…cyborg Grimm he supposed, were much more troublesome. Just one had been hard for everyone here to handle as a group even with standard military and another hunter's support, and they'd only succeeded because it had been knocked onto the damned hammer.
Avoiding those creatures was top priority in moving through the environment.
This was bad, despite the advantages he'd offered to the group, at best, he thought their chances of getting to Salem were less than 1 in 20, never mind what they would do when they got there.
It was odd, the sense of impending doom reminded him of…home.
Ruby had always thought everything would just sort of…work out in the end. They'd all get there happy ending, beat the bad guys and live happily ever after.
This was not what everything was looking like. They were stuck inside a living abomination, surrounded by the enemy and woefully underprepared. The idea's she'd had of what she wanted to be, now seemed impossible.
She looked at her friends and sister. They were scared, they thought she didn't pick up on these things, but she was much more observant than any of them except Jaune gave her credit for, and he only picked that up because he was like her in many ways. Yang, despite knowing her the longest, seemed to be under the perpetual delusion she was always nine.
The only two who didn't seem scared were Loki and Thor, but even then, she wasn't sure if that was a lack of fear or a mastery of it.
But her attention was drawn to Weiss, who had tried to talk to Loki and walked away upset. Weiss infatuation with the god of mischief was probably her friends worst kept secret. Granted that was largely due to the whole scenario surrounding his introduction into the group, she never really lost the infatuation she had initially. That combined with the time they spent together, it was pretty obvious.
Still, she wanted to talk to her partner and see if she'd come out with it.
"Hey…Weiss?" She said as she walked up to…well you couldn't call any part of the camp secluded due to its size and the number of people, but they could have a conversation here in relative privacy.
"Yes Ruby."
"You wanna talk about it?" Ruby kicked herself for the very vague way she had worded the question, but still she thought Weiss would pick up on it.
"About what?" Weiss responded with a dejected tone, which wasn't what Ruby was expecting, if anything she had expected some sort of snappish tone.
"Ummm…." She looked at Loki then to Weiss "your love life?" She'd done it again, worded her statement is a vague manner. Maybe she wasn't as comfortable discussing this with Weiss as she thought she would be. Weiss gave her "the look", as she thought of it. She narrowed her eyes, frowned and drew her eyebrows together.
But the expression faded and she sighed "You know I was jealous of you and Jaune when you two first got together."
"Oh…" Ruby felt her heart race as an old fear crept to the surface, that Weiss would somehow draw Jaune away, not intentionally, but that the torch he carried for her might break them apart somehow. "I didn't know you…when did you start liking him?"
"Ruby…" Weiss voice sounded incredibly strained, almost embarrassed. "It wasn't him…or just him."
"Huh?" Ruby wasn't quite following, unless of course she was talking about her ignoring her partner. "Weiss, I'm sorry if I haven't had time with you but he's the first guy I've-"
"You're not getting it Ruby." Weiss cut her off, but not looking at her, her face looks tinted red in the this light, almost like she was blushing.
"What am I missing?" She said and realized that Weiss didn't just look like her face was flushed red, it actually was. A thought came into her head, and she thought maybe she wasn't as observant as she thought she was.
"That's beside the point anyway." Weiss pushed on, Ruby could more or less hear how uncomfortable she was and wanted to move on before it got too awkward, and for the time being, she was fine with that. "When you two got together, I was suddenly…by myself, everyone else had someone…special and I was on my own."
"You never really struck me as someone who…you know…cared about being…" Ruby said struggling to say what she was feeling "Like you didn't care what other people had, you sort of…did you own thing." That wasn't the best way to put, but she wasn't as articulate as her friend.
"It was more than that Ruby." Weiss finally looked at her as she spoke "It felt like everyone else was…moving forward, making connections…like they… could get along with other people, and I was still where I was when we were at school." She took a deep breath "like I'd been…left behind in some way. Even when I got back with everyone, I was the only one who'd come alone, Yang had been with Thor, Blake was with Sun." She paused for a moment "You, Jaune, Ren and Nora all stuck together. I was alone up in Atlas, and when I got back with everyone, when you and Jaune started…together…I still felt alone."
"Weiss…" Ruby felt like her heart was breaking for her partner "You were never…we'll always be there for you."
"Ruby." Weiss said "I know that logically, but emotionally, I felt isolated from the rest of the group, I was part of it and not at the same time, if you can understand that."
Ruby didn't, not beyond an abstract concept. But she nodded anyway to try give Weiss some comfort. "So…when Loki, or Gunner I guess when you meet him."
"I was eager to try and build some sort relationship outside the group." She said "Granted, he used his powers to attract me in more, but I don't think it would have worked if I wasn't so eager to try and get something for myself."
"Okay." Ruby said "But why are you still…I mean, he's sort of…" Again, she was having trouble forming her thoughts into words with some level of tact "I mean he tricked you into liking him. Why do you still?" Weiss only looked mildly surprised and Ruby realized Weiss hadn't actually come out and said she did like him, but at this point she'd dropped enough of the information that it was obvious.
"He didn't trick me Ruby." She said "He was deceptive of who he really was, but he didn't trick me into actually going out with him."
"Kay…"
"Still…I didn't even realize that I still…was attracted to him until very recently." She said, "Before then, he was just…a friend who I could talk to about mutual…issues."
"Alright…"
"But I've tried to tell him…twice now that I think about it and he keeps deflecting."
"I think he's got some hang-ups on…people." Ruby said, thinking of her own initial hesitation of making friends at Beacon. Though in Loki's case it less with being socially awkward and more of a lifetime of being mistrusted.
"I know for a fact he does." Weiss said, "But we could be dead soon, he could at least give me a straight answer."
Ruby didn't know what to tell Weiss. She had no experience with someone like Loki, who was such a layerd individual, she didn't know what to expect. Jaune and Blake had been the most deceptive people in her life, and even then, it was more of a secret shame than something intended to hurt someone else. Loki…sometimes he seemed to be deceptive just for the fun of it.
She wanted to help Weiss, but had no clue how to do so.
"Okay." Thor said to the assemble group "Loki is going to try and mask us each individually so we can try and move to fortress. After that, we'll move out."
"Umm…how is he going to do that?" Jaune asked.
Thor looked at his brother, who took up his spear and slices the palm of his own hand and said, "You can go first." He walked up to Jaune and before he could do anything, painted a rune on his armor in the blood.
"Awww! Gross." Jaune said stepping back to late to stop it.
"It's a spell of concealment." Loki said "With my blood, I can hide you from the enemy sight, the Grimm won't be able to sense you or see you, and even the relic won't be able reveal your location."
Jaune looked at the mark on his armor. "You sure about that last one?"
"Yes." Loki said quickly, the stopping to think for a second "Well, fifty/fifty."
"Okay, I'm going to say this, I don't want your blood on me." Blake said, and Sun was nodding his head in agreement.
"Fine, you can walk around unprotected." Loki said as he walked up to Ruby, who despite some hesitation, accepted the mark.
Thor could tell none of them were thrilled about the blood mark, but it was the best option. They saw that without any need of convincing. Yang accepted it more easily, in part because Loki put it on her prosthetic arm rather than her clothes.
After everyone was marked, Loki dispelled the circle he'd already painted on the ground.
"Let's head out." He said, leading the group "Remember, avoid unnecessary conflict, Loki tells me these seals will break if the Grimm actually touches you, and those machine hybrids may not be affect at all."
The trek was silent, in part out of practical reasons like wanting to stay alert and keep position's secret. But Yang felt like the others were also incredibly pensive. They all had things on their mind and she wasn't sure if she should tell anyone yet. She thought now wouldn't be the best time, but it would be a hell of a positive surprise if they made it out of this.
They'd avoided three Grimm packs so far, the last one being a troop of Wendo. Those things still unnerved her, how at a distance they could almost pass for human. Not just their silhouettes, but how they moved and interacted with each other, how they used tools and solved problems.
They'd also spotted a few new Grimm she'd never seen before, although at a "safe" distance. One looked like an octopus or squid, but moved through the air like it was underwater. A Grimm that looked like a giant dragonfly. Another that moved in swarm clouds. And the biggest one she'd ever seen, not counting the one they were in, bigger than the Dragon at Beacon, she'd estimate it at three hundred feet tall, it looked like a dinosaur with massive spines or fins with a long tail. It walked upright like a man, but had relatively short arms compared to its massive legs.
She'd never been one for Grimm study, but even she had to admit it was fascinating to see all these new species. She had to remind herself that they weren't real animals, no soul to speak of.
But her mind wandered to the fortress. As they moved towards, it was taking longer than she thought it would, in part from need to avoid areas with heavy Grimm. But also, it was apparently much bigger than it looked from a distance.
She felt tired all of a sudden, like this whole ordeal just kept dragging on longer than the time it actually had.
"They are out there Doctor." She said looking out the window.
"Yes, my queen." Watts said as Salem looked out the window.
"That little thief, I can feel him." She said and turned back to face him. "But they've masked themselves somehow, the relic can't find them, have you checked the tome?"
"Yes my queen, I'm afraid they know it's magic better than we do, they are lost to us."
"No matter, they will come here isn't that right Qrow?" The man didn't respond, he'd fallen unconscious, he'd been slipping in an out of consciousness for the past few days and Watts was certain he was nearing the end of this life. He was nailed to the wall of the room and infection had set in and his fevered state made it so even when he was waking, he wasn't always coherent. "Doctor wake our guest up."
"Yes, my queen." He went over the man, and put his hand on his head, and charged his body, stimulating his system and he awoke with a scream.
"Good you're up." Salem said, "Your nieces are here."
"No…" he whimpered.
"Yes, walking right into this fortress."
"No…" his voice getting even more pathetic.
Salem loved to see death of hope, which was the only reason Qrow was alive. Bringing him back with the relic had been a wise choice on his part, anything to endure him to his Queen after the destruction of one of the relics.
Salem didn't keep it up for long, for as much as she loved the torment, Arthur knew she and he had work to do. He didn't know how their final plan would progress with only three relics, but he knew that soon they'd have all they could.
"Doctor, how is out contact in Atlas, is he ready to make his move?"
"Yes, my queen. Tyrian will meet up with him soon, we'll have the last relic soon."
"Oh, my dear doctor, that isn't the last relic."
He didn't know what she meant, but for once he thought it would be best not ask questions. It was so close to them, he'd know soon enough.
Winter sat with her head in her hands, eye's resting in her palms. Her father waited in his room for her. He didn't know, her brother and mother didn't know. This was her fault, she should have been there with Weiss, not commanding from the back.
First, Second and Third waves were considered a complete loss, along with most of the fleet. This was an unmitigated disaster and Ironwood was facing a Court Marshal for gross mismanagement of military assets.
She didn't care, her little sister was gone. All she could think of was how she soured their relationship in the past few days.
If…that was all she could think of was all the if's. If she'd done this or if she'd done that. Now she had to tell the family. What made it worse was she was on the same mission and she was back and her sister wasn't.
"Your father will see you now." A guard said.
Winter stood up and walked into her father's bedroom which had been doubling as his office while he recovered.
"Winter." He said to her as he worked on a tablet "I've heard your operation wasn't successful, maybe next time you and your sister won't put so much faith in that General."
"Father…" Her voice cracked as she spoke and her father clearly heard this and stopped his work and looked up at her. Her eyes were welling with tears and her father's face paled.
"Where is your sister?"
Whitley just sighed as one of the servants brought him the news. The man had been hard pressed to reveal what he'd been told. Weiss was dead and the Winter was alive.
"You may go." He said to the man "I'll go to my family shortly." The man bowed out of the room and left Whitley alone.
Well, that was at least one of his obstacles were removed. But he'd expected all three to be gone by now, but his sister's little boyfriend had saved their father and Winter had managed to avoid the slaughter.
He'd have to get out of the home and meet with that…bizarre Faunus. He found the man repugnant and unstable, but he'd have to deal with him this one last time. Then the family fortune would be his.
He'd never really felt a strong sense of attachment to them, but he wanted the family company. When that man had offered him a means to finish off his father, while his sisters were disinherited, he thought it would all be his.
But as he walked to air pad to head to academy, he couldn't help but think of how it had backfired on him. The all the company assets had been seized by the military and he'd been left with nothing other the family personal wealth. Too weak, was he? Well they'd all see soon, when he was the only Schnee left and he was given what he was promised.
"You're late young man." An oily and unpleasant vice said to him.
"Tyrion." He muttered "I'm not late I came as soon as I knew the situation."
"Well, whatever you say…Schnee." His tone wasn't ever pleasant, but whenever he talks directly to Whitely he just seem angrier. Typical Faunus attitudes. "You can get me into the Academy."
"Yes, but don't forget what I was promised."
"Yes of course, the Queen always keeps her promises."
"Then we had better hurry, my family will be wondering where I am soon and why I'm not with them mourning my dear sister."
"We'll rest here." Thor said as they came to rocky outcropping that would offer some cover from the air and most directions. The deeper they went in, the oppressive the air got and harder it was to breathe. He personally felt like he'd been walking for twice as long as he actually had.
Frankly he felt more or less fine, some of the others weren't holding up so well. Nora and Loki didn't seem affected at all. Yang wasn't holding up as well as he would of thought, but looked more or less okay. But Ren and Weiss were flagging pretty badly.
Those two sat down and started to drink what water they had left.
"This air." Ren said "It's sapping my strength."
"I doubt it's anything so deliberate." Weiss said "This place wasn't meant for humans, at least not many or for long periods of time."
"So you're saying what." Jaune asked "That in addition to everything we have to face, now our bodies aren't adapted to the environment?"
"We'll adapt." Thor said "Like going to a higher elevation, we just need to rest a bit."
"That brings up a question." Loki didn't so much ask as state "Do we wait for our bodies to adapt and function at our best, or do we rush in now, while we still haven't been discovered.
Thor looked at them all. While Ren and Weiss were the only ones really suffering from fatigue to the extent they were labored in there breathing, it was still affecting them all. If they rested, they'd lose a day. But the idea of going in at half strength wasn't ideal either.
"If we go in and just get gassed, we aren't going to do very well." Yang added. "But we can't afford to wait until we totally acclimate, that could take weeks."
"Then we're just going to have to stretch out the trip's time." Thor said "Taking breaks."
"We don't need them." Jaune added "We can get there much faster if we don't stop."
"And we'll be dead on our feet." Ruby responded, "We can keep going and not be in any condition to fight."
Thor could tell Jaune knew what they needed to do.
"We'll rest for an hour, then keep moving." Thor said.
"This is insane." Jaune panted. The air felt thinner than ever, and the air was hot and hard to breathe, almost like it was filled with smoke. He imagined walking near an active volcano felt like. "We need to rest."
"We can't." Ruby said, despite fairing little better than him. "We've already rested twice in the past hour."
It was true, but the environment was getting harsher. It felt like every mile was taking the effort of five or six.
"We'll keep going till we reach that ridge." Thor called out for the front of the group pointing to a stone ridge. "The fortress should be just on the other side, we can get some sleep and move in on it in the morning."
"Who put him in charge." Jaune muttered. He knew it was just the fact he was, tired, thirsty and hungry. Thor was the most qualified in the group to lead them, given he was ten billion years old or something.
The final push up the to the ridge, left him panting and ready to keel over. He dropped on the ground and starting drinking from his canteen.
"We won't have enough supplies to get out." Jaune said to no one in particular. They hadn't planned for extended deployment, at least their group hadn't. They were supposed be guarding a hole and a bullhead.
"If Salem has human associates, which we know she does, then she'll probably have supplies in her fortress, we can take what we need from there."
Thor had moved up to the top of the ridge and was now crawling on his stomach. Jaune could guess he was scouting the area below the ridge.
"We'll have to sleep in shifts." Loki said as everyone rested "This close to the castle, I can't guarantee the cloak will work."
"Great." Jaune muttered.
"Jaune…" Ruby's voice came from his left "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why?" He lied.
"Ever since we started down here, you've been irritable, rude and not yourself."
Yeah, he had been, but he was being pushed too far with all this. He didn't know how the other's felt, but he was certain that before this was done, he'd see more of his friends die.
"I'm just worried Ruby." He said.
"Sort of makes you wished you listened to my suggestion, huh?"
He looked at her face, saw she was smiling and realized she was trying to lighten the mood. Instead it just made him regret his decision. He didn't like the idea of dying a virgin, but that's what it looked like was going to happen.
"I'm just…tired."
"You don't mean physically do you." She said softly.
"Well, that is an issue, but yeah, it's more…emotional and mental." He sighed.
"We'll be alright." She said "We've got two gods on our side, that's like…gotta be two more than Salem…right?"
"Well…sure." He said, forcing a smile. He didn't feel the need to point that for all the power these two gods had, that were little better off than if they had brought Qrow along. Loki had the maiden's magic, but even that…here didn't seem like enough. His mind wandered to Thor on the bridge, that power…that would of made a difference.
But unless they had a relic to break like then, that probably wasn't going to happen again. It was this thought that got the gear turning in his head, and he looked from Ruby to Thor, who was making his way back to the group.
"We can all get a few hours of sleep." Thor said to the group "Then we can reach the fortress in from here."
"How far away are we?" Loki asked.
"A mile...more or less, though my depth perception isn't the best anymore." He said smiling.
"Ruby." Jaune said "I need to talk to Thor for a minute."
Ruby didn't say anything as he stood up but he thought he saw her face fall a little bit.
"Hey Thor." He said as he walked up to. He was feeling kind of stupid, given he was sure he'd already this a thought. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure…about what?" He face, scared and almost ominous in this light unnerved him a bit, but didn't let that stop him.
"Back in Mistral, you used a relic to…get your power's back."
Thor raised his hand showing he understood "I know where you're going with this, and I'll assure I've thought of it."
"Well? Do you think you can do it again?"
Thor shrugged "I can certainly try, We know she has one relic inside at least, I can feel it…very faintly."
"Good so you just smash it, do your hocus pocus and 'bam' we leave." He said his spirit risings at the thought.
"Well that was certainly my first plan, but we have to be realistic, we may not be in a position do so."
That didn't make him feel much better, but the idea that they may not be doomed, the hope swelling in his chest, he suddenly felt thirty pounds lighter and the air felt less oppressive.
"Get some rest." Thor said "We'll need everything we can get tomorrow."
That was true, and for once in the whole debacle, he felt himself relax.
Loki stared at the "sky" as he lay on the ground, and was thinking of how much he missed the stars. This blood red 'sky' was a pale imitation.
It was his turn to sleep, but he didn't feel tired. The three who were supposed to be sleeping at least looked like they were.
"Loki." An all too familiar voice said. "I want to try and talk to you one last time, and I want you to actually talk to me."
He closed his eye's and sighed "If you insist Weiss."
"Look." She said sitting down next to him "I like you, do you like me or think that you could or give it a chance."
Loki just looked at the sky "I thought you were hung up your partner and her boyfriend." He didn't need to look at her to know her face was flushing.
" I was…jealous for a little while, but I've moved on."
"No you haven't not completely, how you look at her, how you look at him." He turned his head to look at her "Is it odd to be attracted to two people individually who are dating."
"Yes, it's awkward and confusing at the same time." She said "But even if there are some…feelings left, I've learned to accept the situation."
"So I'm your…third choice."
"Don't make it sound like that." She said "I didn't meet you till after all of that."
"What is it you want to hear?" He said, coolly and distantly.
"The truth." She said "I know that's hard for you but please try." He tone was firm and uncompromising.
"Fine." He said taking a deep breath. "The truth is…I do find myself attracted to you." He looked in her eyes and say something he absolutely hated to see in the eyes of someone like her. It was hope. "I connect with you in ways I don't with other's here." Her eyes were making him sick and he needed to get this over with. "But I'm no good for you." He said "I'll hurt you somehow some way."
"Well." She started "What if I don't care about that." Her tone was attempting to stay strong but, he could hear the hurt.
"Then you are a fool." He looked away and back at the 'sky'. He suddenly felt her body lying next to his.
"Then call me a fool, I don't care, we aren't likely to live much longer anyway." She said.
They lay there for some time before one of them spoke, it was Weiss. "This isn't as romantic as people make it sound."
"Well the lack of real stars and sky probably doesn't help." He said, chuckling slightly, and despite his better judgment wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"So…what does this make us?"
"Whatever you want." Loki said "For however long we have."
She didn't say anything and soon her breathing slowed into that of someone sleeping. He looked at her, confirming his suspicions.
He felt himself drifting off as well. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
He dreamt again, but this was different.
He was in the wasteland of the Grimm, but alone. This wasn't a normal dream, it was lucid and…real.
"Loki." A voice emanated from the mist. It was soft, pleasant and alluring. But laced with poison.
"Show yourself." He said "We are both too old for this."
At this a woman with skin pale as paper and hair to match appeared. Her eyes were Grimm like and veins ran along her face. She looked like a Grimm, but in human form.
"Loki, the trickster." She said in an even confidant tone.
"Salem, I presume." He said, crossing his arms, not at all impressed. Surtur and Ymir definitely cut a more impressive figure.
"I won't waste time with you, but cut right to the point." She smiled at him "I want to make you a deal."
"What kind of deal?" He said, but not hiding his interest in her words.
"You want your power back." She said " I can give it to you."
"If I thought you could give me back what I lost, I'd already be there." He said "How can you give it to me?"
"I have three relics." She said "If I collect the fourth, then reality will bend to my will." She said smirking "If you deliver the fourth to me, I will grant your wish."
"It's gone." He said "My brother destroyed it."
"No." She said "That power still resides in him, sleeping but there, I need him and if you deliver him…I will grant you your powers back."
"Well." He said "That is interesting…tell me more."
Thor woke up after his uneventful sleep. He sat up, working the stiffness out of his arms and leg, both real an artificial.
He looked to see who else had been sleeping if they had woken up, and sure enough they had.
"Let's eat." He said to everyone present "Don't' worry about rations." He looked around at everyone "If we don't make it now, it won't matter."
The reactions from everyone was different. Yang and Nora ate with gusto. Ruby near matched them, but everyone else seemed much less willing to eat.
He hated this. He'd lead warriors to their death before, but not in such a manner. But this was this world only choice.
He needed to fight through to the end, they all did, that was the only choice to end this. If he could reclaim his power for a just a few minutes, he'd be able to finish this once and for all.
But this was the final effort. He wanted to talk to Yang about everything. He wanted to stay here, as a mortal, with her. He'd felt this way before, but it didn't stop the desire to live as one of them, as a mortal. But he never could, he had to see those he loved die.
Mortality seemed like a gift to him, to finally sleep at the end of all things. He was tired with all things considered. He was ready to let it all fade out.
But that wasn't the case for the other's, even his brother. He seemed much more lively than before as he made himself ready for the day. He'd noticed him and Weiss sleeping next to each other and he thought he knew what had happened. Nothing physically, but they may have finally come to terms with their feelings for each other, whatever those may be or however complex they were.
Thor checked to see if the mark Loki had drawn on him was still there and sure enough it was. He'd be taking a back seat today on the approach to the fortress. He didn't know anything about its layout, and Loki, while not knowing it well, knew more than any of them thanks to the relic he had in his possession for a short time.
"Brother!" He called "You ready to show us the way."
Loki didn't respond at first, but fiddled with his spear before answering "To the best of my ability." He said "There isn't much a covered approach to be had." He said "But we can stay in partial coved if we stay near some of the larger rock formations."
"I thought we were cloaked." Jaune asked Loki, to which Loki responded.
"From Grimm, but normal humans will see us as easily as we see each other. Those machines may still be able to see us and Salem may or may not be affected, best not risk it."
"Okay…"
"Let's go." Was all else his brother said before heading up the ridge for the final push.
"This air, does it feel colder all of a sudden?" Ruby whispered to Jaune "Like as soon as we got over the ridge, it felt like it dropped twenty degrees."
"Yeah." Jaune said "Look at those spawning pits." Point to a number of pits full of the black tar that spawned Grimm "It's almost like we walked into a nest, and this bowl is like an incubator."
"But incubator's keep thing warm Jaune."
"Yeah, but Grimm are like 'anti-life', so maybe they grow better in the cold."
"I guess…" She said as a Beowulf walked past them, blind to their presence. At least the runes kept the Grimm off them.
The air was getting easier to breathe too, like after they got over the ridge it became more suitable for humans, which might make sense if Salem had humans on hand.
They were in the shadow of the fortress now and she didn't know how they were getting in. Loki seemed to know, and she didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.
As she watched him from near the rear of the group she wondered if he could be trusted, but knew their options were limited either way. Then he disappeared from view between her blinks.
"What the?" She muttered and for a moment she thought he'd bugged out and left them. Then she saw Thor jump down into a trench. She hadn't noticed because of the dark color of the soil and dirt, and soon the others were following down.
Once she and Jaune got to it, she saw it what was looked like a natural fissure in the ground about eight feet deep with a small stream of water coming through. IT did not smell pleasant.
"This is used as drainage for the fortress." Loki said. "We can follow it into the lower levels of the building."
"You looked up this much detail?" Yang asked, wrinkling her nose at the smell.
"No, I just know that every building like this has to have water flow somewhere."
"And you're sure this is that?" Jaune said looking the stream.
"The smell gives it away." Thor said.
"It sure does." Blake said covered her nose and mouth her hand, and Ruby felt a stab of sympathy for her friend. As unpleasant as it was for her, it had to be ten times worse for Blake, and it would only get worse the further they went in.
"This is so foul." Weiss muttered as they sloshed through knee-high runoff from the fortress, which they were now under.
"Well, at least we'll have an excuse to go shopping after this." Yang offered in an attempt to comfort her. Her own boots were ruined, and everyone's clothes were ruined. It wasn't as bad a sewer runoff, but it wasn't much better either.
"Here." Loki said, pointing up with his spear, lighting the tip with what had to be magic. The light showed a steel grate.
"Well." Thor said standing under it. "Brother." He said cupping his hands and letting Loki step into his hands and lifted him up to the grate. Loki slide the tip of the spear in the grooves between the stone and steel and slide it along the line.
Yang heard something like grinding gears, and slight 'thunk' and Loki climbed up into the hall. Thor started to help the other's up, until it was her turn.
"Now I hope you didn't look up any skirts while you did this." She said, trying to be playful in the situation.
"Just Loki's." He said smiling at her and let her step into his hands and lifting her up.
Following that, Thor hooked the beard of his ax onto the ledge and pulled himself up.
"This way." Loki said, and Yang wondered how he knew any of this, unless it was his magic.
They followed him down the hall until they reached an open hall roughly five times the size of the one they were walking in, with three other halls leading out.
"Well, which way now brother."
Loki raised a hand and Thor went silent.
"I'm surprised you all trusted me to lead you in this far." He said while not turning to look at them.
Yang made to move up to the front of the group but her boot had to peel away from the floor, which it wasn't doing earlier.
Looking down, she saw the black stone floor was looking…shinier, like it was wet. Something was wrong.
"Brother…you know…." Thor began, but his brother cut him off.
"This place, is tricky." He said "Traps are a certainty, and falling into just one could lead to end of all this."
Something about his tone that was unnerving her, and looking around at the other's she could tell they were feeling the same thing.
"Tell me brother, who am I?"
"Brother…" Thor began, there was a fear in his voice that scared Yang, there was a note of fear in it.
"Who am I?" He said again.
Weiss stepped forward reaching out to his back, she said "Loki-" and as she reached to touch him, her hand passed right through him like a ghost.
He turned on them all, smiling widely. "That's right!" He lifted his arms wide and Yang felt her feet sink into the floor. Rage pumped through her body and her semblance activated, but she could break free of the tar-like substance. She fired at Loki, but the shot passed through his hologram.
His image faded and the last thing she heard was his voice echoing through the hall.
"I AM-"
And just before she was completely submerged she heard him cry out the only thing that could truly described him.
"LOKI!"
AN: I'd say expect the next chapter in two days, but given that I've shown I can't be trusted in that regard, I'll just say expect it soon.