"Cardin..."

"Caaaaaaardin..."

CARDIN

In violence and blood rushing through the veins, in the heartless body that panged with throbbing muscles and eyes of gold shooting open, Cardin saw Rosemary, in his vision.

"Cardin- we have to go now!"

"W-Wha-"

"-Cardin!" There was banging, loud, with the moaning, groaning, crying of horrors unknown of man, behind the closed door that led further down into the former fort. "Cardin- CAAAGH! Cardin! We have to leave! Get Rosemary and your pack!" Russel was shouting, trying his damnest to overpower the pounding on the stone doors, as Cardin, groggily so, forced himself onto his feet, noticing the open sarcophagus, of a gargantuan, human skeleton, wearing armor of a pristine condition. "CARDIN!"

"Shit-" He looked at his backpack, shoving the painting in it with little care for its own state, zipping it up, and grabbing it alongside Rosemary. "What's going on- OH FUCK! Russel, what happened to you-!"

"JUST FUCKING RUN!" Russel ordered his own leader, before sprinting out of the empty chamber with his lantern, which pissed his brother into running after him, listening as the wailing monsters faded off, as they distanced themselves from them.

"RUSSEL! WHAT ABOUT DOVE AND-"

"-THEY ALREADY RAN AHEAD! I'VE JUST BEEN TRYING TO WAKE YOU'RE DAMN FAT ASS UP! NOW JUST- OHH FUCK!"

The old fort rumbled, as the earth it lied within cried out in pain, shaking the hallway, tumbling the brothers down, as Rosemary rolled off towards the stairway, pushing down the broken pottery, breaking apart the decrepit wood of furniture, and forcing weapons to clatter against the floor.

"Keep on going! Hurry before they reach us!" Rosemary, almost like a broken child on the verge of tears, encouraged the two brothers. Though they did not need to be told twice, when the far-away sound of stone crashing apart against the floor caught up to them.

"Oh fuck- COME ON CARDIN!"

Get up, get up and pick up Rosemary. That was all that Cardin though, doing as such, as Russel picked up his lantern. Go go go, the Thrush would shout, to be followed by his brother. Go go go, listen to those cries, those moans, those crunchy, grinding moans of whatever it is behind us and use it as fuel to run faster than you have ever done so.

Run run run, up the stairs, up the stairs. Cardin followed in absolute horror, sprinting behind Russel, with his lantern acting as a guiding beacon for Cardin to follow, in this roaring fort. That what it sounded at least, as they went up further and further. It sounded as if something, some beast, of a size incomprehensible to man, bellowed above the surface.

Yet it stopped, the silence being followed by another earthquake, temporarily felling the two brothers, giving some time for the screaming of demons to encroach on them, before getting back up and reaching yet another flight of stairs.

To only be blinded by a source of light, seemingly having waited for them on the top.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE! It's them! It's them! Are boys oka-"

"-There no time for talk! They're coming! They're right behind us!"

"Shit- everyone, fall back! Get to the surface now!" The soldier commanded his squad of three men, after having been warned by Russel.

Now they had some companions to run with, Cardin still staying behind, clutching Rosemary close to his chest, as they started to hear gunfire; the closer they got, the louder it became, just cracking ever so quietly, but of course growing, growing, along with whatever on God's green Remnant was chasing after them.

But there it was! The hub, where they could either go down the other floor- but not, let's not do that, ever- or go up to the surface, which was preferable.

"You found them?!"

"Yes! But we need to leave- more of those freaks are coming!"

"All right. Men, move out!" Soldiers filed upward the stairs, wet and slick from rainfall, while also riddled with corpses of soldiers, either clawed, bludgeoned, or melted to death, along with those of humanoids, covered either in fur, looking as if they had been bred with wolves. Others were more, but were just incredible pale, with long limbs, and thick fingers.

When they had reach the surface, there waited only more bloodshed, as bullets zipped by, either by land or the sky, hitting into the bodies of monsters unknown, of giants, lycans, pale cretins, , and bright-green balls of burning energy, streams of fire, and fists of giant proportions slammed into the soldiers and former huntsman alike, all the while Cardin and Russel stood back, absolutely shook from the warzone before them, listening to both man and inhuman cry out in pain, noting the fallen body of a colossus, like a giant boar of the same pale flesh, hairless, riddled with bullet-holes, burn-marks, shrapnel, and slashes.

"S-Should we help-"

"-No," the soldier who led them out of the construct would be quick to shout, ripping his throat in attempt to blast over the firefight, "you two head for that airship over there, and do not engage with the enemy!" He just rushed off after that, filled with no other intent than to just tackled one of the pale humanoids down and smash the but of his rifle into its head, crushing and spewing out violet blood, as it cried and whimpered in suffering.

"Why are you two just standing here?! Run for it, now!"

Rosemary demanded of them, snapping the two back into reality and prompting Russel to pull out one of his own daggers, while Cardin chose to just instead hold tightly onto Rosemary, feeling it'd be better to hold her tight, as he literally went and steamrolled through the warring crowds, preferable knocking aside any of the monsters, while Russel shived them in either where their kidneys would be, or slitting their throats, coating his hand in alien blood, all the while heading for the pad of which their airship remained on, propellers revved up, as they could see Sky, Port, and several soldiers cutting or shooting down any beast that came near.

"Look, there they are! CARDIN! RUSSEL!" Sky called for his brothers, in his altered state of body, yet not being called out in it of itself by the leader, as he kneed one of the lycans in the gut, having used his aura to break enough ribs to force it down for him to curbstomp, giving a crimson, grey-matter and bony coat to the bottom of his armor boot.

"Good! Good! Get in the ship you two! We're leaving now!"

"But what about all these soldier-"

BOOM! Russel stopped, looking back with Cardin to see an absolute, blazing, howling storm of fire, scorching the flesh of these monsters, with the all-too familiar figure of the baroness herself, accompanied by Sure-Shank and Richard Smoke.

"Oh yeah- let's get the fuck outta here!" Cardin, having just thrown his mace into the airship, did the same with the altered Thrush, grabbing and tossing Russel into the airship without his permission, unintentionally sending him into his mace.

"AW FUCK- CARDIN!"

"SORRY!" He ran into the airship, followed by his a heaving Lark and sweating Port, as the soldiers around the flying machine dispersed into a safe distance- though nowhere was really safe in this hellish sinkhole, now seemingly made for the purpose of being filled and mixed of blood from human or monster. The doors closed, tightly sealing off the five men, as the airship took-off without the pilot even bothering to check if they were all strapped in; he too had a life he looked forward to after all.

Cardin, Russel, Rosemary, Sky and Port would just stare out of the windows, appalled and shocked by the radical change that the surface had undergone, from a craggy sinkhole to a pool of inner liquids and guts, scarred by crates, burning eternally, and bodies of allies and enemies laying lifeless, as dozens and dozens and dozens of howling Disownian airships came soaring in to rain hellfire down on the invaders, all the while Cardin just kept his eyes locked on his own mother, tearing apart any of the monsters she caught in sight; her presence alone confirmed to him that this battle will go in favor for Disown, though the implications of it will forever remain until addressed.

"... What happened? What the fuck happened here? What the fuck are those things?!"

"Russel... they're the inhabitants of the fort."

"What?! How the fuck are they alive then?! Resurrection?!"

"Yes."

"Then who the fucked did it?! Who, or...- what- the fuck came down there and brought to life hundreds of MOTHERFUCKING SKELETONS?!"

"... Dove."

"What?" Russel looked over, his brow quizzically bending so. "Dove? What does he-"

"-He opened the sarcophagus! I saw him pull the lever! It opened and... fuck, I just blacked out. But I saw him do it! He opened it and..." His gaze fell onto Rosemary, as he brought her up to his eyes, "unleashed something YOU didn't fucking tell us about, bitch!"

"W-Wait! Cardin-"

"-I should fucking just smash your goddamn jar apart and let you shrivel like a fucking raisin! Or throw you out this damn airshi..." Oh God. His mind, his sight, his hearing... it was overwhelmed, by the doings of Rosemary. By images, sights of that very chamber they slept in, after Cardin had passed out. There he was, Dove, standing as still, petrified, staring at the wall behind the lever, as from beneath his feet, his own shadow, stretched, and hissed, and clawed, and festered upon Volemont's bones, glowing, being sucked into the darkness of this... whatever it was that came from beneath Dove.

"... It wasn't him, Cardin, it wasn't him. But rather some... force, masked, hiding itself, influenced him to do so." His vision, mind, hearing, came back soothingly so, almost like he had reached the same level ecstasy one would have from intercourse, and entered that sleep-inducing state after doing so. "He had no intention of opening the sarcophagus, not once did it cross your brother's own mind. But whatever it was that made him do so did. It wanted Volemont's fading power for itself."

Cardin, he dragged his face, stretched it down, rubbed it, as he fell down into one of the seats, still surrounded by his professor and brothers.

Russel asked her, "Where... is Dove, then?"

"Behind you." Just like she said, when Russel turned around, and Cardin slowly lifted his head, they saw a sleeping Dove, inhumanly looking at peace, despite having just been pulled and slogged through a battlefield. Out of his three brothers, Cardin noticed, through his still dreary sight, that on the surface, Dove suffered from the least serious of physical changes: he had but only a streak of his brown, messy hair, turned into the shade of snow white.

"He slept through it all. The quakes, gunfire, when that great beast fell, he slept through all of it." Port would tell the two, his gaze being that of a worry-nature, when he looked back upon the rest of CRDL,specifically at Cardin, when he said, "As for Grun... we couldn't find him. He had completely disappeared, no trace of him in sight."

Cardin would be lying if he said he did not care for the doctor. He was all right, for what little time Cardin had with interacting with him. But now he could not be bothered with thinking about the old man, for instead he was too preoccupied with just studying his brother, as he watched Russel, having just caught his attention, that he had torn off his eye-patch, revealing a burning orb where once an eye-socket remained empty and closed.

"... Russel?"

"What?"

"... Your eye." Thrush just nodded, bring his left hand up to feel that heat that emanated from his newly-gained eye, as with all of his skin taht had been scarred by fire, now instead looked like literal obsidian: smooth, black as night, and reflective of the airship's own lighting.

"Yeah... I can see out of it now."

Cardin then looked back at Sky. His whole body, all of his skin, just looked to be of a pale-blue coloration, appearing to be as if he was permanently oiled too, while his arms had extended to the point that his hands reached his ankles, and his face, now completely void of any scars from his own past, done those wretched White Fang.

"Sky."

"Yeah?"

"You look hideous?"

"What? Come on Cardin. We just got away with our lives and you call me hideous? I mean look at this." He rubbed his face, with his only three thick-fingered and one thumb hands. "My scars are gone Cardin."

"Yeah, but you got only four fingers on your hands. Also your arms are as long as you own halberd."

"... Yeah. That's true." Sky agreed. He was indeed shaken by his sudden alteration in appearance, but thanks to having just been put through running out of an infested sinkhole filled with monsters from the Soloman empire, he was too exhausted to think about how this was going to affect his life forever. The same applied to Russel, and both of them each at Cardin's sides.

While Port, he just stared down at them, silently so. Cardin was the only one who still looked the same as ever, as the professor's eyes trailed down at Rosemary, who Cardin had still been holding onto.

"... Rosemary, do you know what has happened to them? To Russel and Sky?"

"... I do, Port. They have been... put through the rituals, by whatever it was that influenced Dove and resurrected the soldiers of the fort, to become one step closer to the image of Kasts."

"... Are you fucking saying we're going to turn into those monsters at the ruins?" Sky questioned, now suddenly finding the energy to care for what happened to them.

"N-No! No. Don't worry about becoming them! Their souls wandered the fort for so long that they had lost all form of sanity. When resurrected, they were nothing more but deranged soldiers, who saw your own men as invaders from a foreign land. Neither of you will become like them. Also, you are required to go through multiple rituals in order to achieve perfect resemblance to the Kasts, though it is not anything to be scared of really."

"Whatever, as long as we don't turn mental like those... soldiers, then I..." His hand brushed against the burning orb, "... I'm fine with this, I guess."

"Both of you should be more than fine with this. In fact, both of you should be proud, actually, for your altered bodies come with abilities no human is capable of in your world today."

"... Really?"

"Well, with all that you already achieved, with access to this supposedly called auras and activations of semblances, humanity today has managed to surpass their own capabilities by themselves-"

"-No, I mean... Russel and I, we got new powers?"

"... Yes."

"Aw hell yeah, what can I do?"

"Oh... well, at this stage, Sky, you should be capable of shooting those balls of energy similar to what the Soloman soldiers were capable of, though that is about it for you."

"Oh..."

"Yes..."

"... That pretty neat, how do I do it-"

"-Sky!" The deformed Lark jumped in his seat, visibly disgruntled with the tone Russel had taken up, along side his glaring of daggers into Sky. "Can you shut up? Rosemary can teach you about it once we get back to Beacon."

"... Okay."

"Wait, you're all taking her to Beacon?" Port questioned the two, having just sat himself across from them, arms crossed, his blunderaxe sat aside, while a sleeping Dove rested on his shoulder, drooling a little onto his tattered jacket.

"Yeah. What else are we suppose to do with her? We couldn't exactly just leaver down there, Grun is gone, so he can't take her back, and there were no soldiers who weren't to busy fighting off resurrected warriors to take her off our hands. So... yeah, we're taking we're taking her back with us."

"Ah, I see, Russel. I understand, but don't you think she'd be of more value to your mother and Disown? She could help with disposing of all those... soldiers, and could also shed some light on more about the Solomon empire for them."

"Yeah... that's true, but really, you saw how they were doing back there. I'm sure everything will be fine. Ziz will probably either wait for anymore that's left to come out and kill them, or just... blow up the entrance and cave it in, trapping whatever else is down there."

"That would not stop them forever. Though it will give them time to build up fortifications around the entrance. " Rosemary interjected.

"Yeah, yeah. And also, honestly, when we're done with our first year at Beacon. We'll just go back to Disown, and give her to Ziz or... whoever, and let her tell them everything they need to know."

"... You do know that I have rights, don't you?"

"What rights?" Sky joked, "you're just a brain in a jar, you don't have any rights."

Rosemary stammered, "Y-Yes, I, do. Why aren't you all asking me how I feel about all this? You all entered into a fort none of you had business with, invaded my room, took me from my shrine, opened Volmont's tomb for his essence to be devoured, and took me back up to the surface, where we are now, in this airship. And now you are all assuming I am fine with being taken to Beacon, or to be used as just a source of information?"

"... Well, what do you think is best for you?" Rosemary stayed quiet, in Cardin lap, letting the behemoth go without answer for thirty seconds or so, as the airship whirred over the land below. "You didn't really get to do much down there, all lone, in the dark, surrounded by skeletons and ghosts, with no one to talk to, nothing new to see. And now, you don't have much of a choice either. Well... you do, I guess. First, we are going to keep you at Beacon for the time being, and when we are done there, we're going to take you back at Disown, where you may ask of us to do whatever it is you want to be done with you. Unless... my mom chooses to smash you apart if you reject to share any information with her about the Solomon empire, or about what else they've built underground, or anywhere else on Remnant."

"... Rosemary, you there?"

"Y-Yes, I am h-here with you."

"Well, what do you have to say about what I said, then?"

"... I will... I will be fine with being brought to Beacon, for the time being, until you take me back to the island you all now call Disown."

"And then? What are you going to want then?"

"... J-Just a place for myself to remain at in peace."

"Mmmm, yeah, that sounds fair. But... since you share my memories now with me, then you know who my mothers is, and that she always wants something in return."

"Yes, in return for my accommodations being provided to me, I will share with you mother, or any of you, or anyone of Disown, what they wish to know about the ancient past."

Cardin nodded his head, pleased with this outcome, "cool, cool. I think you'll like it at Beacon anyways. It's pretty nice there, all green with trees and... grass... and..."

"... Cardin."

"Yeah?"

"Why is your chest-piece pierced through?" The Winchester looked down, and sure enough, as Sky pointed out, his chest-piece of his gpray armor had been punctured, right on the golden bird, with his shirt having been torn through too.

"W-What?" He pressed his hand onto his exposed skin, feeling it to be crass, scarred. "Rosemary? What happened to me?"

"You saw everything, Rosemary, so you better tell me or I swear to my God that I will-"

"-It tore your heart out."

"WHAT?"

"The creature, it tore through your armor, and ripped out your heart, and repaired you before it finally left."

"Before you ask: how this affects you should not worry you. As of now, you can be considered to be in a state of being that of which is neither dead or alive. A-"

"-SHUT. UP."

"..." Cardin felt, as nothing pulsed within his body, keeping his hand pressed against his chest. He breathed in, and breathed out. Breathe in, breathe out, as his mind rushed, sped, flying through whatever thought popped in his head, gently closing his eyes, trying to just come to some kind of terms with this news.

Sky, at this inappropriate moment, would start up"... You're taking this pretty well, Cardin. You got no heart, yet you're as calm as I've ever seen you."

"Ohhhhhh, Skyyyyyy... I am...- a lot of things, right now, calm being one of the few. But I'm just... just thinking, about... what would be the proper response to this."

"... Well, you seem right now. All breathing, talking, you're still able to walk, run, even plow through bodies and crush skulls. I'd say you're pretty fine right now, no biggie."

"Sky, you still have your heart. I, DON'T."

"And you're still alive." Russel cut in, having rested his eyes, leaning his head back onto his arms, but still listening to the three. "If anything, this just means you're immune to heart attacks and cardiac arrests."

"Oh, is that true, Russel? Am I really immune to that kind of shit, now?"

"... Yeah, I have a good feeling you are. But other than that, calm down. There's probably more benefits to you losing your heart..."

"... Is there?"

"Well... no, not really. You are right about being immune to the diseases of the heart, but that is about it for the recipient of the ritual. But for his heart, it hold much more power than humanity is aware of today. Whoever it was that took it, most certainly has some sort of plan for it."

"... Damn, sorry Cardin. It looks like you won't see it ever again." Cardin himself had no reply for Russel, nothing to say to Sky either, or a remark for Rosemary. No, Cardin just had it. If he was heartless, fine, just fine. Cardin did not care the slightest. If he was still alive, then it was all good. All good and dandy as it can be.

"Oh dear."

"What? Some thin' wrong, Port?"

"Miss Goodwitch sent me this about just ELEVEN minutes ago." Port played his scroll for Sky, and everyone else to listen to.

"Peter? Peter, wherever you are, I need you to cancel the mission and bring CRDL back to Vale as soon as you get this message! The city has been overrun with Grimm! We need all available bodies we can get! Please hurry!"

It ended there, letting dread set in, not because CRDL was scared of fighting Grimm- they were not even going to fight them. But the realized what this truly meant, of Cardin being presented with an absolute life-shattering path for him.

"... Fuck." Expose himself to the world, of what his family line has been secretly capable of for all these centuries.

"Cardin? What... what are we going to do?" Russel softly inquired, moving himself close to his leader's own ear, aware of how serious the tone had shifted, for their whole life together, and the future, as of now. "Cardin?"

"I... I don't know... what else to do, other than you-know-what."

"We just better hope we're dropped off somewhere isolated, away from everyone, and that Port can keep a secret..."


"Motherfucker! How can this happen?! HOW?!"

"Where did these freaks fucking come from?! What the hell are they?! And where the hell are my kids?!"

"Ziz, ma'am-"

"-WHAT?! What do you want, grunt?!"

"... I... do not worry about your children, Ziz, ma'am. They had retreated to an airship amidst the battle, and are already on their way back to Beacon."

"Oh... oh... good. Thank goodness. And what about Grun? Where is that old fart?"

"We can't find him so far, ma'am. Either he was killed by the enemy, or is lost down in the ruins."

"Well... shit. He's probably dead down then if that's the case... oh well."

"Ziz, madam, what are we suppose to do now? We've lost about a third of the soldiers here, along with dozens more injured, more than half of our equipment is destroyed, and several airships by the hands of that great beast. W-"

"-Don't worry about it, Richard, I got an idea: we blow up the entrance, and seal whatever else is down there."

"... Oh. Okay. After all the time we've spending going deeper and deeper down there, you're going to cave-in the entrance now, when there is still more left down there to explore?"

"What the fuck, Richard? Are you kidding me? Sure a few days ago, you and Shank were telling me not to send my kids down there! Now here we are, monsters fucking crawling outta there, and I am prepared to seal them off from the rest of Disown, yet you're telling me-"

"-Ziz, you're confused. I just didn't want you to send your precious boys down there. But I'm fine with anyone else exploring. But now they'll most certainly need to bring with them weapons"

"... So don't fucking seal it off, huh? Just keep it open and let more of them come out, just to kill them?"

"... Yes!"

"... Okay, okay. I guess I can bring in a shitload of Grimm to help deal with these freaks. But until then, I want both of YOU to stay here and help with killing anymore of those monsters that come out, understand?"

"Ugggggh- Yes, Ziz, will do."

"Of course, Shank and I will remain here until the Grimm arrive."

"... Ziz?"

"... This is a fucking disaster. I should have listened to Dion."


"We are approaching Vale city, be advised that it is crawling with Grimm from all sides. You all better hurry and equip your weapons, boys." Port had left the cockpit, stating as such when grabbing his blunderaxe, eying up the still sleeping Dove, oblivious to all that was about unfold.

"What are we gonna do with Dove and Rosemary? Just leave them up here?"

"That is the best choice for us to go with, Mister Cardin. Unless that is... Dove awakens within the next five minutes or so."

Sky, having spent the last few hours or so, just staring off at the passing world below, shouted, rising up in his seat, "There they are! Cardin, look."

And Cardin saw, to behold, the city Vale, of nothing more than similar to chaos and destruction they had all left at Disown.

"Damn," the city was overrun with the bodies, of black fur, black skin, red eyed beasts of Grimm. Beowolves, creeps, ursas, taijitu, all scampering, creeping, slithering, clawing back at the law enforcement, Atlesian military, anyone who was fighting back against this bellowing black wave. "I... I'm gonna have to-"

"Where are we supposed to be dropped off, Port?!"

"Somewhere near the others! I think we're closing in on them actually! Get ready now!"

"Ah fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Cardin, listen to me. I know we have found ourselves out of the frying pan, and yet into dire battlefield. But don't fret now! The Grimm are facing against General Ironwood and his-"

Rosemary cut off the professor, sounding so sure of herself when she said, "Cardin's not scared of the Grimm, professor. He only fears of what he will have to do in front of you and your allies; he fears of exposing his own secret to all who fight down there."

Befuddled, Port stared at the brain in a jar, wondering of what on Remnant she was talking about. What secret? What does she mean, when he looked back at Cardin? What does did she mean, when Cardin didn't move guess an inch, as his eyes of gold stared back?

"We're here! We're here! I'm opening the doors now!"

Damn— C'mon guys! Let's go!" Sky exclaimed, near the moaning of the mechanical doors, sliding open, letting in the volume of battle fill the interior, as the Bronzewing started to stir!

"It's time for us to go, Cardin! Move out!" Port had now just forgotten Rosemary's words like that, as he sprinted out and jumped, followed by the mutated Sky and Russel, not looking back, as the Winchester, still clutching onto Rosemary, came to the edge.

There they were. RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, even Penny, Sun, Neptue, and Zwei all battered to the brink, joined by Port, Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood his soldiers, draining into demoralization, locked in the seemingly eternal struggle between man and Grimm. With his two brothers, looking back up at him.

"Cardin!"

"HURRY UP AND GET DOWN HERE!"

"Cardin, you have go help them. You can stop all of this now."

"Are you scared, brother!? Allow me to help with that!

"D-Dove?!" Cardin did not have the chance to look back, to safely lay Rosemary down, when Dove kicked Cardin out through the door, into a fall for the streets below. "Oh fuck- HOLD ON!"

It was pure instinct, as Cardin, in his heartless body, activated his aura. Followed by him spinning himself in the air, holding the screeching Rosemary close to his chest, tightly so, staring back up, to see a manic Dove, free falling down towards his own brother.

Cardin THWAMPED into the street, sending agonizing shockwaves all throughput his body. As he winced, and moaned, and coughed, with a fully intact Rosemary resting on his heaving chest, Dove landed by his brother's side, tittering, not like him so.

"AAAAGGGH! DOVE! ARE YOU- COOOOGGH- FUCKING INSANE?! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ROSEMARY AND ME!

"Ahahahahaha— forgive me, brother! But I could NOT stand by whilst you remained in the great airship!"

"Wha... why are you talking like that?!-"

"-Cardin!" Russel called out for him, as he and Sky sprinted back to the fallen brute, helping him and Rosemary up, as he gagged at the pain, face beat red and sweating, his hair a total mess.

"W-Wait! What are they doing?!" Cardin listened, hearing Yang exclaim so, in confusion rightfully deserved.

"They're not... why aren't they fighting back?!" His eyes opened, and as sure as Jaune questioned, the Grimm had stop entirely, their attention drawn now only towards the CRDL brotherhood.

"Come now, Cardin, this is in your hands for the moment. Hurry." Dove, in his peculiar accent, was right, taking Rosemary away from him, letting Cardin go free, lumbering towards the allies, most of whom had yet to notice CRDL, having been too caught up in the heat of war.

"Don't... ohhhhh God— Don't worry, I'm here to help. Don't attack them, please.

"Cardin? What's going on? Why are they-"

"Are they— kneeling, now?!" Weiss asked out loud, hey icy eyes shooting from Grimm to Grimm, alll having assumed positions, in some way creating an image of soldier kneeling before Cardin, whom still went on, coming closer and closer to the monstrous mob.

As one would expect, the students, hunters, they spurred in fret for Cardin, as Coco would even call out to the Disownian, "Cardin stop! Why are you..."

A little boarbatusk- no longer than a foot and a half, trotted forward to the Winchester, oinking in delight, just from the sight of him.

"Stop! Sit your ass back down!" With the order though, the little boarbatusk would whimper, and assume itself into a kneeling position, as the Winchester stopped before it, his gaze washing over the crowd of submissive Grimm, remaining in their rightful place. While Cardin himself was washed over too, by the soldiers, the general, the professors, the students, baffled, shocked, at the sight of the Grimm, awaiting as if Cardin was a king, about to command them into battle.

On the surface, Cardin looked calm and ready, in reality, his heart- were he still had it- would be beating at rates unhealthy for man, when he looked back at everyone, taking in their expressions of bewilderment, then back at his kneeling Grimm, taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, his aura flowing into his sockets, sternly saying.

"... You all know what to do: leave the city once I'm done, and don't attack any humans ever again."

Cardin opened his golden orbs, and out came the flash, of such might, such intensity, that immediately throbbed the eyes of everyone watching, who fell back to shield themselves from the glorious maelstrom that forced itself upon the Grimm, roaring, bustling, all over the city of Vale, each building, each car, lamp, street, human, Grimm, coated in boiling gold.

For just three seconds it all blasted, all swarmed, before suddenly recessing back into Cardin's own skull, through the sockets, further and further squeezing his head to the point it felt as if it were going to explode, just swelling and swelling, swelling, swelling.

But no, when the blinding radiance stopped pounding onto their eyelids, the surrounding men and women opened their eyes, baring witness to a gorgeous snowfall of golden flakes and specks, glittering off of the orange sky above, covering and sticking onto everyone's own armor and clothing, while being lost onto the fur, scales, and skin of the Grimm, now rising before a now-collapsed, broken Cardin, their eyes golden, just like his.

In a snap, they all started to swarm to him, murmuring like concerned babes for a dying mother, with voices ranging from small children to old men and women.

"Master!" They would call out.

"Master! Are you okay?!"

"Please open your eyes!"

"Why has he fallen?!"

Needless to mention, everyone, except for his own brothers, were a lost for words. They just stood by, their weapons hanging from exhausted arms, their gaze, that of disbelief, when for the first time in all of their own varied lives, hear Grimm speak the word of humans and faunus, let alone being concerned, begging for Cardin to wake up.

"All right, all right! Don't worry all of you!" Sky was the first to start reassuring the now blessed Grimm, his inhumanly-long arms raised, his deformed self followed by the Thrush and maddened Dove, as they pushed away the fretting Grimm.

"But his heart does not beat! We have lost him!"

"Oh no- this cannot be!"

Sky kept on going, "Nononono! It's nothing to worry about! Your master is very much alive! See? Listen to him. He still breathes." They listened so, and fortunately, heard the soft breathing coming from their dear master's lips. "See? You're master is fine. He fine. Just... run along now. Get out of this city."

"Go on— GIT!" In the strongest of reluctance to be demonstrated, the Grimm dispersed, swarming into the streets of Beacon, passing by the students, professors, soldiers, general, whom moved out of their way to let the Grimm pass, all but for that little boarbatusk, having rested itself up against Cardin, going unnoticed by his brothers or Rosemary, as they just watched the Grimm leave the city of Vale, while Sky just postured according to saying as such, "Can you believe

Until the rest of their peers turned their heads back at them, still just as shocked as ever, as General Ironwood himself asked CRDL, "What is happening? What did he do?"

And Russel, as plainly, yet somewhat rudely, responded with, "A fucking thanks for saving the city would be nice to hear, cunt."

"Excuse me? Do you have any idea who you are speaking to, young man?"

"... Nope." Without another word, he and Sky went to pick up their sleeping behemoth brother, and passed by everyone, whom did not even bother to stop the them, or the little boarbatusk that trailed them from behind...


"I thank you Dove for your services. For your actions, this cursed world will once more be put onto its previous righteous path into the oblivion of glory, and take the throne that the Kasts once intended us to usurp."

"..."

"But heed my words: I will return for all of you, for my war requires all of Remnant, if we are to finally take the universe for ourselves. Until then, my blessings will be upon you and your brothers."