AN: Last chapter, unless I publish the epilogue, which I'm not sure if I will. I'll see if there is enough demand for.

I plan to re-write this at some point, but to what capacity I'm not sure, although this version will stay up.

It's been fun, and I want to thank everyone who followed, faved and reviewed, even if some of you gave me some harsh reviews.

I've learned some writing this and that's something, and it was fun all things considered.

Winter was starting to panic, Weiss was late, and whatever the hell had happened to the Grimm had the higher-ups just questioning what the current situation was. Whatever had happened to it had reduced its threat level by about 98%, but the Grimm horde amassing to the east wasn't anything to sneer at either. It was still three times larger than what had attacked Mistral and six time larger than the one at Vale.

It was still going to be hard, but now the odds were manageable with the Kingdoms defenses and the remains of the attack force. But what had happened? Everyone in the sit could see it, and the flash of light destroyed most of it, it was as if the gods themselves had struck it down.

But the site of a bullhead flying down to the landing pad caused her to throw all thoughts aside and rush forward to it. The first sight she saw made her heart drop, a body being wheeled out on a gurney, covered in red cloak. But she shook the thought from her mind, they were far too big to be her sister, though she recognized her sister's friends.

Her sister walked off the bullhead, looking incurably despondent. That was one of her friends, that had been carried away, and while she didn't want sound callus, that was part war. In that operation, Winter had lost people she'd known for years, some of them were good friends.

"Weiss." She said hugging her "I so glad your back."

"Winter…Thor." She said into her chest.

"I know it hurts, and I'm going to say will get easier, but that is war."

"Okay, come on." She heard an all too familiar slurred voice come from the Bullhead. Qrow was shoving a prisoner out.

"When do you pick him up?" She asked her sister.

"Who?" Wiess asked before responding "Both were inside that thing, he worked for Salem and Qrow was captured."

"Why?"

"He…said he knew out brother." Weiss said "I wanted to know more."

"I'll interrogate him later." Winter said "But how did you survive?"

"Thor lead us inside, and me and Loki kept the tunnel from sealing by freezing them, we hunkered down inside…" Her eye's started to tear up.

"If you not ready to talk, don't, go be with your friends, I need to talk to the prisoner."

She hugged her sister again and went off after Qrow.

Whitley was nervous, but that was natural. He'd chosen the losing side, but so long as his role was left unknown, he'd be fine, he'd just have to play the game a bit longer.

Still, he was upset that Salem had failed, now he'd have to wait till his father died to get what he wanted. At least Weiss was out of the way, if only he had some more of that parasite, he could probably finish his father off, especially with Weiss and her boy toy gone.

Well, at least he was still the only heir and even if he hadn't killed his father, he was still in much poorer health than before.

A knock at the door broke his thought as he said "Come in."

Three Atlas solider marched in, followed by his father who was supported by a cane.

"Father…what is it?"

"These men have some questions for you son."

Tyrian interrogation, Three hours earlier.

"You can't be serious." Qrow muttered. He'd never thought much of Schnee's as a whole, especially the patriarch. But this son was something else.

"Why would you want the old man out of the way? All that would do is make Ironwoods resources stronger."

"Yes, and that was Queen's point, to provoke an attack, a strong one and crush it. To kill your hope." The unhinged Faunus said.

"So what the hell would he get out of it?"

"The family company, at least that what we told him, he probably would have died before then to be honest."

"These are grave accusations." Winter cut in "Do you have proof?"

"Check his scroll, or mine, I've got out correspondence and meetings on file." He said smirking.

"Why tell us?" Qrow asked.

"I hate the Schnee's, and if I can't kill one, I can at least destroy the life one and hurt the rest with this." He said still smirking.

"I knew that little bastard was ambitious…but this…" Winter muttered.

"You want to arrest him or should I?" Qrow asked "Family matters aside, this is high treason at least."

"Neither of us will go, I'll contact my superior officer, and he'll handle it."

"Father." Whitely whimpered, near tears. He was caught. That word echoed in his head. Caught. Caught. Caught! "Surely you don't…"

"They have proof boy." His father seethed "You're lucky I don't have you killed, these men will take you to prison where you'll await trial. You'll receive no help from the family attorney's or aid in legal fees."

"Father!" He went to his knee, tears and snot running down his face.

"Get this…thing out of my sight." He spate and the MP grabbed him and cuffed him and dragged him out.

"Please!" Whitely cried "You can't send me to prison!"

His father ignored everything he shouted and never bothered to look at him again.

Loki sat with his brother. His brother's body he had to remind himself. He was given the responsibility for funeral arrangements and he had no clue what to do. He knew the Asgardian traditions fine, but they were expensive, even with the money he saved over the years, he'd never be able to afford the proper ceremony for a prince of Asgard.

But would he even want that? Thor wasn't one to stand on ceremony.

It dawned on him he'd done this to his brother before, and now appreciated what he'd put his family through. Only Thor wasn't faking it. He was alone now, and not just with his brother's body, but in this world. His power gone, his spear gone, and his brother…gone.

That child, Yang's and Thor's was his last link to his old life.

His mind wondered to the poor thing and how she'd had to be taken to a doctor. It was odd given how she seemed so tough and strong, but she was the most affected this aside from himself, and she had other concerns.

He supposed she'd tell the other's now. That made him more depressed, that she'd planned to have this be such a happy moment, now it was riddled with sorrow.

He'd gone so soft, he never used to care about such things.

There was still work to do however. Salem wasn't dead, she'd been badly defeated, her fortress destroyed and her power base broken. But the Grimm coming from the remains, those had to be dealt with. He heard the whispers, they were coming.

He wanted to fight, but his weapon was gone. He'd had one in storage here, he'd been going to retrieve it when Cinder had attacked him, and now it seemed like a cheap imitation of what he'd once had.

"Cinder" he muttered and he realized that she may have her power back, but he had a hard time caring.

He hadn't felt such despair in…he didn't know how long, but he had to find a way to move forward and function for the next few days.

An air siren started howling and he looked at his brother. "Sorry brother, but I have to go."

He stood up and left Thor alone in the cold hospital.

The rain started as Jaune got to the wall. He looked over the ledge to see a great black mass moving towards the city. He got chills of memories of Mistral at that sight. The region they were coming from was quite a way off, and if he could see it from here, there had to be a lot.

It disturbed him that even after most of the base being destroyed, and countless Grimm being killed, there were still that many. Other's had to be drawn in from the surrounding areas, but still, the sheer numbers of what was left after such a devastating loss…hope was hard to hold onto, especially with no gods coming to save them this time.

He felt cold, and not just from the rain. He looked around to see the Atlas military mounting heavy machine guns, mortars and a wide array of other weapons.

His own weapon…felt not up to the task. He knew if he could get in close, he'd been a functional warrior. But in a defensive position like this, with heavy artillery support, melee fighters like himself had to stand and wait until the Grimm got close to actually do anything.

The problem with that was once that happened, things were already bad, if it was at all possible, it was best the enemy be destroyed before it even reached the wall.

They'd be here, by night. He wondered which of the others would come. Yang and Ruby were near in complete shutdown, and the others were not taking their loss well.

He'd handled it…he didn't want to say better, because there was no right way to handle something like the loss of a friend, but with more of his composure he guessed.

Ruby…was taking this harder than he thought she would. Given how she'd managed to get back up after Pyrrha and Penny, she was much more despondent. She pulled herself up by her boots and got right down to business. Granted she'd had some time to deal with the loss then, this new one was only hours old. Then there might be the fact she'd finally passed the breaking strain in her ability to be strong for those around her. She'd done that for a while, shown strength while others, like himself, had become useless lumps and help get them back up on their feet. She may just not be able to do it. Given her age, at sixteen it was a wonder she'd done as much as she had.

The other's, well he didn't know. Yang was far more affected by the loss than anyone else. It made sense, given she wasn't just dating him, but had spent more time with him than any of the others, and a lot of that was just the two of them.

Loki however wasn't showing much emotion. He was worried he was up to something. He hadn't explained anything since they'd reunited with him, and if he'd really turned on them or not. Unfortunately, the only person who could verify it was gone.

He looked at the black sea of Grimm, scattered with lights from the eyes and marks, again reminding him on the attack on Mistral. This one didn't seem as organized, but the numbers were far greater, he couldn't even guess the numbers.

Jaune thought of everything he'd learned since he left Beacon and found himself getting mad. The God of light and Thor's father Odin, especially Odin from what he heard of him. They could have wiped these threats out with a mere thought, but let them struggle. What sort of god was that? Not one worth the breath a prayer cost. Thor… he was what a god should be, self-sacrificing, compassionate, helpful and willing to sacrifice himself for those he was supposed to protect.

And he was dead. If he was still out there, in some afterlife Jaune couldn't understand or comprehend, he hoped he'd help them. Maybe this rain was him telling them he was watching?

"Thor." He muttered. No sooner than he said that a lightning bolt crossed the sky, the biggest he'd ever seen, and it seemed to linger. He didn't know if that was an answer or just a coincidence, but he felt better thinking it was. "Tell everyone else…Pyrrha, Penny, Ruby's mom…Summer" He said to himself "Everyone else who we've lost…we miss them, and we're hoping they're watching out for us."

Blake couldn't stand seeing Yang like this, and she didn't want to leave her in this state. But they were needed at the walls. One final effort was needed, and if she was in a place to help…she would.

As it stood, herself, Sun, Jaune and Ren seemed like the only ones completely ready to go into combat. Weiss had seemed to be holding up better, but she got a call from her sister and had to leave.

Loki…was up in the air. He seemed composed, but she honestly didn't even know if they could trust him. He'd yet to explain what had happened after they'd been captured, although Weiss had made it clear he'd given them the means of escape.

Her and Sun were heading to the wall, with many other volunteer hunters as well and military personnel. This was a mass of Grimm larger than any seen before, but after everything…it felt mundane.

Sun was rubbing her shoulder and while she appreciated the gesture, she didn't really want him to touch her. But she let him because she thought he needed the contact.

She…liked Sun. A great deal in fact. But she just could shake Yang from her mind. She'd never been attracted to girls before her, and hadn't meet once since that she did. But Yang drew her in, and they'd been…intimate at Beacon. They never officially started dating, but when she'd meet up with Yang again, and she was involved with Thor, Sun was there. And she did like him, she thought she was even in love with him, but her feeling for Yang, especially now in her hour of need, had left her confused.

But she pushed these thoughts and issues to the back of her head. She'd have time to deal with these feeling s after the final battle.

Weiss couldn't believe it, yet at the same time could. Her own brother, a traitor, and an attempted murderer.

She sat with her father and sister in a study at the estate as the situation with her brother was explained. He'd always seemed…disconnected from his emotions, but this was almost crazy to think of what he did.

"With your brother…gone." Her father said "That leaves you two as heirs to everything this family has."

"You don't say?" Winter said, but her father ignored her.

"You two have been….resistant to the idea, and at this point, I've accepted it." He said "I doubt I'll live to raise another child and frankly, you two are…more qualified than I would of expected."

Weiss would have reacted more strongly if she wasn't still in shock at the idea even a god could die. As it was, she just looked at her father more sternly.

"I'm willing to reinstate both of you as heirs to the family business and all my personal wealth." He said, "If you are agreeable to it."

Weiss didn't say anything, but Winter did.

"Why?"

"I have no family other than your mother, and I'd hate to see this company leave the family." He said. "Despite everything…I respect he Schnee name, and your grandfather, and I want to see it continue in the bloodline."

Winter stayed silent for a moment before speaking "You can leave it all to Weiss." She said. "She's…more deserving of it."

Weiss was surprised, but didn't have the energy to really discuss the issue. Her father seemed to be of a similar mind and said "If you wish."

She stood up and walked out of the room. She had wanted to see her mother, but she was sleeping. It scared her to think both of her parents were in such poor health, her mother from years of alcohol abuses, and her father from her damn brother's attempt on his life. Death seemed to just hover over her life this past year. Three people she'd considered herself close to had died, and countless other's she didn't know. She and her friends had several close encounters and he father had nearly died as well.

And it looked like there was going to be one more day of death the Grimm horde heading towards the city.

Footstep behind her told her that her sister had followed her out of the room, it had to be Winter, the steps were too quick to be her father's, whose top speed right now was a slow shamble.

"Are you going to the wall?" Her sister said.

"You aren't going to try and stop me?" She turned around as she spoke.

"We both know how well that works." Winter said "But I think I have to, you…you're drained."

"I can still fight." Weiss said.

"Physically you are still capable, but emotionally and mentally, you're near dead on your feet."

Weiss didn't say anything, but her sister was right. She wanted to sleep, the idea of lying down in her own bed and just drifting off to sleep.

"I'm going to bed." She muttered "I'm going to be hindrance if I go to the wall like this." She muttered and started to walk off to get some rest. She just couldn't do it anymore, she just wanted to sleep.

Winter watched her sister go to her room and wanted to comfort her, but she really did need to sleep. A few hours rest might change her idea of joining the battle, but hopefully it would be over by then.

The Grimm that were coming were nothing like she'd ever personally seen. The closest was the "Wendo", but these Grimm all had human aspects in greater and lesser degrees according to the scouts. Some had a woman's head, or human-looking stylized hair on them. The disturbing thing was there was no variation in human appearances, like they all came from the same woman.

This had to be Salem, and she somehow had merged with her creatures and was making a final move after her loss. What her goal in Atlas was she didn't know, Weiss had told her the relics were destroyed, so there was nothing here to take.

The sheer numbers of Grimm was...beyond her imagination. The remains of the giant Grimm were melting and forming into new Grimm, of types she'd never seen.

Then there were the "wild Grimm" that were being attracted by this. They were attacking the City at random were easy enough to defeat, but they were still chipping away at defenses.

Had Ironwood still been in command, she didn't doubt he'd lead another assault on the Grimm. But a defensive position was better in her option, with artillery support and wall to fire from, they needed every advantage they could get.

Loki watched the black mass of Grimm approach from the wall. If he had to guess, it was two hours away. Military engineers were mining and trapping the area outside the city, but at best their traps would be a hindrance. They knew it, but anything to thin out the numbers.

Loki wondered if they had to worry about an attack from the sea. The Navy was severally depleted and if it were him attacking the city, and he had the ability to choose his forces, he'd go for a naval attack. There had to be water based Grimm lurking out in the bay.

He turned to look, to see if he could make out any shapes in the water, but the rain and low light made it virtually impossible to distinguish if something was there.

Just as he started to turn away, something in the bay denoted and water and Pieces of Grimm flew into the air.

"The bay is completed mined." A voice said from behind him.

He turned to see Winter, Weiss's older sister walking up behind him.

"That probably killed more than a few Grimm." He said.

"There is no way anything is going to be swimming upon us without being blown to pieces of hemorrhaging its brain from the shock wave."

"Unless of course, they are smart enough to disarm them." He said looking back out to the bay

"Not likely, these are stealth mines, you could be looking right at it in the water and not know it's there." She walked up next to him as she spoke.

"Expecting an invasion?"

"More a safeguard in case one of the other kingdoms, Mistral in particular, tried to invade us."

They stood in silence for a moment before Loki spoke again. "Where is your sister?"

Winter responded quickly "Back home, resting, she's on her last leg, if she doesn't get some time to recover she'd going to collapse." She said, then went silent for a few moments before speaking again. "I'm sorry about your brother."

Loki wasn't expecting a sharp pain in his chest at the mention of Thor, but pushed it down. "Don't be, it's how he'd have wanted to go, crippling the enemy."

"So, he's the one who did that then?" She said "How?"

"With the relics, but it was too much for him, I won't know till the autopsy is done, but he ruptured something from the strain, bleed out internally."

"Were he and Weiss close?" Winter asked.

"Not particularly, I think he got on her nerves sometimes to be honest, he is…was a very boisterous person." He said "But he cared about her, and she cared about him, I think they were about as close as two people so different could be."

"She's very upset, though your brother's passing isn't the only thing."

"What else?"

Winter was silent for a while but responded "I guess you'll hear about soon enough on the news." She sighed "Our brother was the one who poisoned our father, he was working with Salem, he's been arrested for High treason, and father is understandably upset."

"That is…unfortunate." He muttered.

"Weiss and Whitely were never close, the betrayal still have her upset, considering he planned on having us killed off as well."

Loki didn't saying anything for a while, then he started a new subject. "You believe the city will withstand the attack?"

Winter looked out to the horde and back to the engineers and defenses of the city. "Yes, their numbers are great, but this the most heavily fortified city in the world with the best defensive technology on the planet." She paused "And our army is the strongest in the world, even after everything that happened out there." She gestured at the sea "we still have a sizeable force."

"How long." He said.

"Not much longer now."

The hospital was almost deserted, at least the section she was in. But that made sense, the living didn't come down here often.

Yang knew there was one more battle brewing, but she was tired of fighting. She was ashamed of it, but she was just couldn't do it now, the pain was to close.

Ruby had disappeared and she had an idea that she was heading to the defensive line. That was the thing about Ruby, she rebound from shock way quicker than anyone else she knew, and in many ways, she wished she was more like her little sister.

She made a turn in the hall and soon found what she was looking for.

"Thor." She muttered and the tears started to flow again. She didn't know why she'd come here, but in some vague way she thought there was something she could do, but seeing him lying on the gurney, pale and unmoving. "This isn't right." She walked over and leaned on the gurney.

Loki said he knew, but she wanted to tell him, to see his face. Now it was all over, and now…what? She hadn't felt this drained in her life, physically, mentally, emotionally.

She wanted to just sleep and let the pain go away. But she was afraid to sleep, another dream might come, they always seemed to before something big happened and she didn't think she could deal with another event of that scale.

But she needed to sleep, she hadn't had proper rest in days. But she didn't want to leave him here alone.

"Why did you have to leave me you son of a bitch." She whispered. Why did people keep leaving? Her mother, Summer, Blake and Ruby all left her alone. Granted her sister and Blake had come back, but it didn't mean the memory didn't still sting.

Now Thor had left two people behind.

Ruby walked to the wall where all the Hunters and military personnel were gathering. She was looking for Jaune, he'd mentioned going to the city defense. She'd hadn't planned on going originally, but after everything she didn't think she could just sit ideally by and let this happen without doing her part.

Scanning the wall, she saw the shaggy blonde head of her boyfriend, and a bit of her surprise the black hair of Loki.

They were both standing on the wall looking out as the Grimm approached. The first few opening salvos from heavy artillery had opened fired.

"Jaune!" She called and ran up behind him and Loki. Both turned to look at her, but Loki turned his attention back to the field while Jaune ran to meet her.

"Ruby!" He called and embraced her quickly before saying "I didn't think you were coming, are the other's coming?"

Ruby shook her head "I don't know." She said, and couldn't help but think how this felt like the fall of Beacon, where they'd all been separated, but this was more…she didn't know how to describe it, coincidental as they all tried to deal with everything in their own way.

"Have you managed to figure out your Silver eyes yet." Loki called over his shoulder.

"Ummm….maybe?" She really didn't know how they worked, but she thought she had an idea. Both times she had used them were under duress when someone she cared about was in danger.

"Well I hope you do." Loki said "They would be a valuable asset here."

More and more heavy artillery started firing and soon the Grimm started to step on land-mines. It didn't seem to stop them. Taking out Crescent Rose, she walked up to the wall and looked down the side. Large stakes of Silver-steel had been planted at the base, like at Mistral.

Gunfire started ringing out, and she leveled her own weapon and took aim. Her heart stopped for a moment, seeing Salem's face on the body of one of the Grimm. The shock faded as it was blown to pieces by an artillery shell.

Getting back into proper headspace she leveled her rifle and got ready to fire.

Before she squeezed the trigger, she heard Loki mutter something she was quite familiar with.

"Lo there do I seem my father."

Blake watched as the Grimm rushed towards the city. She never thought she'd be defending Atlas in her life. But here she was, shooting at the horde of Grimm.

The sheer brutality of the Atlas's military's efficiency was impressive, as much as she loathed to admit it. The mines were blowing holes in the ranks of the Grimm and the Artillery and heavy machine gun fire was ripping the weaker ones' to pieces.

Her own pistol did little against the larger Grimm, but this was something she knew was a shortcoming in her style. Her mind wandered to the pouch at her side. At close and mid-range that would help, but at this distance she wasn't going to be much good. She was going to have to accept that there wasn't any way for her to fight well at all ranges without altering her equipment and style drastically.

It wouldn't matter in a few moments, the Grimm despite the wall of fire being leveled at them were still advancing. They didn't look normal either, they had been fused with another entity but only half way and all sported human-like features to some degree.

As what may have been a mid-sized Nevermore weaved through the fire and headed straight towards her.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a throwing knife and tossed it at the Grimm. It impacted in its chest and stuck there. The Grimm didn't seem to or even noticed as it swooped over her and other's on the wall. "That wasn't supposed to happen. What I was expecting was..". As she thought this, the Grimm's chest exploded and she thought "That". She needed to work on the timer, but the blast was strong enough to down the Grimm. She didn't know if it was dead or not because Atlas solider fell on it with rifle fire to finish it off.

These throwing knives held high-end dust explosives, more or less making them grenades, only with the ability to stick it to a target. A hard-hitting weapon that didn't compromise her fighting style, she was actually quite proud of herself in the innovation.

She threw another as a Wendo tried to leap the wall.

She kind of wished Thor could see she'd addressed the problems she was having in her combat style.

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind. This was war, and if she let her mind wander, she'd die.

More Grimm were reaching the wall and starting to scale it, if nor outright go over it.

She watched as Atlas solider was cut in half by a Deathstalker, and his comrades ran in, firing at it while one of them tried to pull him away.

They were all crushed under the claws of the thing. This was a side of the Atlas solider she never saw before. In her life they only guarded dust shipments, here they were defending their home and each other.

The Deathstalker moved towards her, and she pulled out three more knives and threw them into its mouth. The detonation hurt it, but didn't kill it. Given its size, she wasn't surprised. It was hurt though and now under fire from several directions.

Soon enough it died under the pressure and she moved back to the edge of the wall to see the progression of the fight.

It was…going far better than she would have expected. Grimm were being torn to pieces by the Atlas military. Air support was raining fire down on the Grimm in addition to stationary artillery and even the remnants of the Navy were firing on them.

This was going to be over soon, and it felt…almost anti-climatic.

Yang looked at the boat or ship, or whatever it was called. Loki had built it for this purpose. It was wood and absolutely ancient in design, it had a sail of wool and everything. It was a hundred feet long and half that in width at it's widest point.

It stood on a giant pyre on a beach several miles from Atlas, and had been loaded with weapons and fire dust. Loki had spent all the money he had to have this put together and Yang was furious with him, He hadn't asked her or anyone else about this. She knew he was Thor's brother, but he was important to them too.

She didn't know how he'd afforded this, but didn't care to ask.

On the deck of the ship, Thor's body was laid out on slab, he was dressed in fine clothes that looked ancient in design. His arm and leg had silver limbs replacement, his hands clasping a replica of his hammer over his chest. His leather eyepatch had been replaced with a silk one, and she couldn't help but feel that was disingenuous to how he'd been. The fine cloths, the glamor of what he was wearing wasn't in line with his personality.

She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead and moved off the ship so the others could have one last look at him.

There weren't many people here. Team RWBY and JNPR were in attendance. Sun, Winter and her father and Uncle were here as well. And of course, Loki.

It seemed wrong, that so few people knew what he'd done for them. It may be known one day, but it didn't seem right that he was getting such a small send-off.

She hadn't cried today, which was odd. She just couldn't, like she was too tired for even that. As Loki walked off the ship he was the last to leave.

There were lines of torches burning in the sand, one for each person in attendance. Loki picked up the first and everyone followed suit. In complete silence, they all threw them into the pyre.

In moments the flames were consuming the ship, and the fire dust started to ignite. The heat was unbelievable and it was so bright she almost couldn't look at it.

"How are you?" Loki's voice came from behind her, but she didn't' look away from the pyre.

"How do you think?" She snapped.

"Have you told any of them?" He said instead of responding to her attitude.

"No." She hissed. She knew she was just being mad at him for the sake of being mad, it felt good to have a focus for her rage, and she knew it wasn't even remotely fair, but she couldn't help it.

He put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Watch this part."

Scowling she looked at the pyre. Suddenly the fire appeared to turn gold and what looked like giant firefly's started to float up into the sky.

"What the…" The orbs of light soon started to engulf the entire pyre and rise into the sky like giant sparks, but they didn't dissipate, but just kept rising up and up. She didn't turn to look at Loki, but asked "What did you do?"

"Nothing." He said "When an Asgardian soul moves on, the body turns to energy."

Yang looked around quickly and saw that everyone else's reactions were similar to her own. The energy was still rising in a massive pillar of light, with the tiny orbs breaking off and floating away. They shone like gold and moved like firefly's. It was beautiful and she felt tears running down her face, but she felt…hope in her chest.

As she continued to watch, the energy floated down from the pyre and washed over them all. Qrow and Winter backed up as if afraid of being burned, but as it washed over them, Yang felt pleasantly warm, and for a moment, she thought she felt a hand cupping her face and another on her stomach.

It was over to soon, and the light eventually rose into the sky as the sun went down.

Ruby didn't know that it was possible to feel so happy and sad at the same time. Yang had told her about the baby, and the idea of being an Aunt was incredibly exciting. But the same time the kid would grow up without one of its parents. She knew what that was like, but this child would never know it's father.

Her father was stressing out, but was far from mad. Nora was excited, Weiss tried to hide her smile but didn't do it so well.

Her Uncle seemed like he wanted to be upset, but even he couldn't suppress the warmth he felt having something like this come along after so many dark days.

The symbolism wasn't lost on Ruby, with everything coming to one end, new life starting from this was almost intoxicating to the emotions. But not everyone seemed thrilled by this.

Jaune looked a little distracted, like this had caused him to start thinking of something that was weighing on his mind. Loki had known before anyone else so his reaction was mild, but Ruby was a little mad that Loki had been the one Yang had spoken to about it instead of her, her own sister. Well, she understood why once it was explained, and while she hated to admit it, Yang was probably right she might of accidentally let it slip out.

Sun and Blake had reacted in what she thought was the weirdest way. They had moved off to the side of the room and were talking pretty intently. That was a curious thing, but she didn't want to eavesdrop. Well, that wasn't true, she did, but she thought it would be better to leave them alone.

The future seemed brighter than it had in a long time. As sad as she was over everything that had happened, she felt that healing was starting. There was work to do to rebuild everything, and to honor the dead.

Weiss was given some responsibilities of her family companies, namely with its public image. Weiss thought of it as the first steps to fixing their family name. One of her projects was helping the kingdoms after the year of turmoil, and she had plans for memorials in each of cities that had suffered.

She wondered where her future was in all this. She still wanted to a huntress, but if Loki was right and the source of the Grimm was that crab Grimm, then work was going to become thin in that field. The White Fang was crippled as well, so she guessed Bandits…like Yang's mom would probably make up the bulk of hunter work in the future.

She could do other things, and she found herself surprisingly okay with the idea. She'd lived out the dream she'd had since she was a child, she'd been a hero who helped save the world.

Maybe she'd start a family, not right away, but in a few years when she was older. Yang was already there, but that was a less than ideal situation. Growing up in a largely single parent home most of her life, she'd seen how hard it was. But Yang would have help, unlike their dad, she didn't have a broken team, plus she had their dad and Uncle Qrow. She might have a tough go of it, but she'd have support.

Being an Aunt would be…well she was excited. She wondered if Loki thought the same thing. He was weird about his feelings, he hid everything about himself so well, she was never sure if she was seeing a genuine face of his, or a façade.

That very uncertainty about him was part of the reason she, and she presumed the other's, had believed he'd turned on them so easily. Had it been anyone else she'd be angry with herself for believing one of her…she guessed friends, had turned on them. But that was what Loki was good at, tricking people.

He and Weiss were, well she didn't know if they were together, although that's were things had been heading before his trick, she wasn't sure Weiss would forgive the trickery, even with the explanation he'd given. As cold as she portrayed herself to be, she was actually really emotionally sensitive. She didn't make bonds easy, and those she had form she treated with a great deal of care.

She hoped Weiss didn't get herself hurt again, because along with her trouble forming bonds, there also came the odd duality of being very hurt when they were betrayed, and her desire to forgive and reconcile with those who may of hurt her.

She'd never blame Weiss, or anyone else, if someone hurt them, but some people definitely put themselves out there is situations where they might be hurt.

As she looked around the room, she knew that despite everything they had lost, since this whole thing started with…where ever it really started, they had made it out with far more of their teams intact. Some teams, even whole family had been destroyed in this conflict. It didn't make the pain of the losses they experienced any less hard, but given how bad everything could of gone, Ruby would consider them lucky. Not that she voiced this idea out loud, especially in front of Jaune or Yang.

Still, her father, uncle and sister were alright, her team was alright, her boyfriend and what was left of his team were alright.

She wanted to talk to Yang in private, but that probably wouldn't happen today, the excitement over the news had made a few of their friends not want to leave her alone. Nora was most energetic over the whole thing, but Weiss was quietly invested as well. Her father hadn't left her alone either.

She decided to enjoy the happy atmosphere while it lasted, because there was going to be a lot of work coming, both in their professional careers and personal lives.

Three Months Later

Yang didn't know why, but being home didn't…feel like home anymore. She felt like a stranger in her own home and she had no clue why. The world had seemed to change radically to her in the past two years. It was like realizing you'd been looking through a single gun slit your whole life and hadn't noticed it. Then the wall came down and you saw a much wider view.

Beacon was opening again, though she didn't know who would be appointed to head the school. Goodwitch probably, but she wasn't sure if she would go back. She had other things to worry about, and besides, she'd seen more than many other hunters.

Ruby and Jaune were excited to go back, and she thought that was their attempt try and recapture some of what they had lost. Weiss had also made some mention of not going back, finally have some control of the family company, even in such a small capacity was the start of her dream.

Blake and Sun had headed back to Menagerie, they also didn't know if they were going back either. This time Blake had told everyone what she was doing, and Yang was happy that she'd done that this time. Blake seemed like she wanted to say something to her, but hadn't managed to get it out.

Ren and Nora had made it clear they were going back to school, and Yang thought they were trying to capture some more of the "normal" teen life as well, given what they had done through when they were younger, she didn't begrudge them wanting to get a little more out of it, even if they were legally adults now.

Loki…had floated off somewhere. She'd thought he would stick around, and he had…for the first three weeks. But then one day he disappeared without a trace. He'd been acting oddly the day before, almost like how an animal starts to behave oddly when a natural disaster is coming. Then he was gone.

He hadn't told anyone anything, at least as far as she knew. Maybe Weiss knew, but she didn't know that one way or another.

She wasn't going to worry, it was true she didn't know Loki all that well, no one did she was beginning to think, he wouldn't let them. But he 'd be back…sooner rather than later. The loss of his brother had cut him much deeper than he wanted anyone to know, but in this rare case for the trickster god, he wasn't hiding his emotions all that well.

Still, he'd been gone for a while now, and she wondered what in the world he was doing.

Loki walked in the "Impact Zone" where the remains of the giant Grimm his brother had destroyed had landed. Even with most of its body destroyed it had still altered the landscape, bringing the shoreline up to the base of the mountain it had hit. He could still feel the faint power of the relics in the air, and in the ground. Not enough to do anything other than make him feel like he'd had a large cup of coffee.

But he wasn't here for that, he was looking for something closer to home. He could feel it, in the power of the relics, as faint as it was, it was like an off note in a musical movement. It was weak, but he could follow it to a reasonable degree.

The area was surprisingly flat, but given all the remains of the Grimm had literal walked off, the area was largely void of anything of real substance.

He'd been searching the area for a few days now, even with his ability to faintly feel what he was looking for, it was still a huge search area.

Today was the day he was certain he'd find it. He'd already been searching for a few hours and he knew he was close.

He was walking with his eye's closes, trying to sense it out. But there was something else in the area. Someone was following him, but whoever it was, was probably looking for the same thing as him because they'd been around for days and done nothing to him.

Opening his eyes, he set off, his feet crunching in the thin layer of snow. After an hour or so of walking he spotted something partially buried in the snow. He approached it and brushed it off, and sure enough it was what he was looking for, finally.

The last book, it's Runes telling him it was the book of the present. The ultimate information broker, the movement of all things and people. Insider trading of the highest order, he was certain he could make plenty of use from it.

"Loki." A voice said from behind him.

He stood up and tucked the tome in his jacket. "Cinder, I see you've escaped the Atlas prison." He turned to face her.

"You're behind the times, I escaped months ago." She said, smiling "Around the time your brother killed that…thing, I got my powers back, it was easy then," She walked in an manner he could only describe as 'alluring', she was putting on her feminine wiles, she wanted something. She didn't walk directly at him either, but rather off to the side.

"Yes, I suspected that had happened." He said, clenching his dagger in his coat.

"You two really did it, you killed her." She said looking around at what Loki had come to see as a monument of Salem's defeat, even though the final nail in her coffin had actually be before the walls of Atlas, this was where her death had started.

"Yes, well the Sons of Odin are known for doing the extraordinary." He said before saying "What do you want?"

She looked at him and her smile faded "I want direction."

"The city is that way." He said pointing towards Atlas.

"You know what I mean." She hissed.

"Well I can't help you." He said "You lost your leader and your friends, if you call them that, are still in prison I presume." She nodded. "You are alone and three of the four kingdoms aren't likely to be safe for you at all. The best advice I can give is Vacuo or Menagerie, and frankly I can only see only one of these being even remotely possible for you."

"Will you come with me?" She said in such a pathetic voice Loki had a hard time hiding his surprise.

He raised an eyebrow at the request "Why? Forgive me but I don't see why I should."

"I need a new partner in crime." She said, regaining her composure "With my power and your knowledge, in Vacuo, such as it is, we could do quite well for ourselves."

Loki wasn't fooled for a moment. He saw in her eye what he was certain Yang has said she could see in his. The girl was alone and didn't want to be. Her entire social circle was either dead or in prison, leaving him the only person she had any sort of connection with, as poor as that was. They'd only spoken a handful of time and it was depressing that made him the person she knew best in the outside world.

"No." he said "You'll have to start with a completely new slate."

Her face scrunched in a frown "I could kill you." She said.

"Just like last time?" He said, tilting his head to the side. He knew full well that if they fought a second time, with her at full power, she'd kill him. He doubted she'd fall for the same trick twice, and frankly he wasn't sure he was capable of repeating the trick he'd pulled before. This was a bluff, but he was very good at those.

She seemed to calm down a bit but spoke again "There are three more Maiden's out there." She said "We could hunt them down, split their power, fifty-fifty."

"Can you take another Maiden's power?" He asked.

"I could have, before your brother killed Salem, but now…"

"Ahhh…" He saw "You need my magic, weak as it is now, to do this without your Queen." She didn't answer, but she didn't have to.

"I'm sorry, but again…no." He started to walk away. "I've decided to move away from all that, I suggest you do as well."

He heard her call from behind him "Without your power how are you!" she was near shouting "Who am I!"

He stopped and turned to look at her, and she really did look despondent. "You are Cinder, I suggest you to discover what that really means."

"Well who are you!" She was near panting, almost like a dog. "A god with no power!"

"Me?" He said smiling. "That's simple." He turned and walked away, after a moment he called back.

"I am…Loki!"

AN: Okay, so I'm certain some readers thought I would being Thor back, but I planned for his death from the start of the story.

Now for the Epilogue, I'll post it if there's enough interest in it. It will tie into some other story idea's I have and I'm working on.

I've also thought of doing a side project, that is a "Field guide" to the Grimm I made for the story. I would be my attempt to write as if in the manner of scientific observer, but in this world and with creatures of my own creation.

Again, thanks for sticking around till now. I'm sure it was rough at time, my own skill are rather raw as a story teller. But if you made it this far, I guess I did something right.

Thanks, and I'll see you soon.