This chapter is going to be another dark one. Not like the last one, but actually discussing things in a bit more detail. Also, there's going to be a bit of new formatting in this. Anything bold in quotes is supposed to represent that whatever said it is demonic/Grimm in appearance or just a being of malice.

Splatterpxnk- I'm glad you liked Neo in this chapter. My goal is to have her act closer to her age (probably 1-2 years younger than Ruby) when she doesn't need to be serious. As for the White Fang's response to the HPF, it depends who you look at. Anyone who holds Adam to be a hero will look at it as justification for increased aggression, while a number of others that took two of the Rose family's teachings to heart will come to realize that there's an inescapable truth behind the Rose family's warnings and that the HPF's existence and actions are what they should have come to expect as time went on.

Chapter 58: Lament

Ancient Draconys, Badlands

A white-cloaked figured knelt down as he stared at the field of corpses in front of him. A look of disgust crossed his face as his silver eyes swept across the blasted plains and burned buildings. Each body was stripped bare, the skin removed to reveal muscle. As he stepped forward, he tried to avoid glancing down; even with the dark miasmic clouds drifting overhead blocking out most of the light, he could see the scraps of skin littering the ground and knew that he was stepping on more than a few. He cautiously adjusted the grip on his longsword, a blade decorated with engravings of branches, vines, and various flowers, as he stepped across the bloodsoaked land. "Another village destroyed…" he thought bitterly as he continued along the path, stopping at the sight of a woman's body.

Like all the others, the skin had been removed from her to leave muscle and sinew exposed, but it was tucked inward as if she had tried to curl into a ball. The man's eyes widened slightly at the realization of the true cruelty of the situation. "She wasn't dead when it happened…" He leaned forward, heaving as his stomach was emptied, using his sword for support. Once he was done, the man stood upright shakily, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his coat. A boom overhead caused his gaze to turn skyward as a dark, black liquid fell from the sky, causing smoke and steam to rise from the corpses. The man watched sadly as any flesh the Miasmic Rain touched started to decay and melt slowly before he turned back to the path, his pace quickening.

Even if he wasn't on a hunt, there wasn't anything he could do for these people. By the time he finished digging the graves, there wouldn't be enough left to bury… By the time he finished digging the graves, there wouldn't even be a sign of the small village or any evidence that it had ever existed.

As he continued walking, the man was torn, unsure if his immunity to the Miasma was a blessing or a curse as he wandered through the hellscape his prey called home. Eventually he reached the lone mountain in the area, a black, monolithic tower of jagged cliffs with a cave leading to its heart. He walked down the tunnel quietly, eyes shining brightly enough to illuminate the path ahead of him. After several minutes, he entered into a large chamber. The rocks rose from the ground like fangs, reaching up to the exposed sky. He couldn't see to the other side of the chamber, causing him to growl. "Apollyon!" he roared. "I know you're here! Show yourself!"

A deep, booming laugh came from behind him, causing him to spin around as a giant creature dropped down from a ledge over the entrance. The black creature was the size of an Ursa, its torso, head, and legs covered in white plates with batlike wings sprouting from its back. A pair of horns sprouted from its temples, curling around its ears and ending beside its jaw. It flexed its clawed hands as it stood upright, glaring at the man with blood-red eyes. "Ah, Aurelius. I was wondering when you would come to visit me," the creature snarled, its mouth twisting into a cruel smile. "Have you come to admire my handiwork in the field outside? Or do you have the audacity to try to end me the same way you destroyed the others?"

Aurelius tightened his grip on his sword. "You've become nothing more than a monster, Apollyon. It's too dangerous to let you continue to exist. Even if it means my destruction, I will end you!"

Apollyon let out a booming laugh as flames engulfed it. "Do you really think you can end me? This world is mine! It was always meant to be mine and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Accept the inevitable, worm!" The creature let out a booming laugh as it swung its flaming talons at the man, causing him to jump over it. He let out a tired sigh as he glanced over his foe, shoulders sagging. It was going to be a long fight.

Modern Times, Bastion, Citadel Training Grounds

Yang let out a growl as she charged forward, swinging her fist at Neo. The smaller girl smiled playfully as she gracefully ducked under the punch, making a thrust with her umbrella and forcing it open to push the blonde away. "Why do you make it so easy to hit you?" Neo asked innocently, causing Yang's eyes to turn red.

"I'm not doing anything! Just stand still and let me punch you!" Yang yelled before taking a swing at the girl, causing her to sidestep the punch. The blonde glared at Neo and let her semblance flare, covering herself in flames as she slammed her fist into the younger girl, frowning when she shattered. "Damn, it was an illusion…" she growled before a foot hit her in the side of the head. Neo leaned on her umbrella and waited for the blonde to stand back up.

"Yeah, you're just standing there and letting me hit you. Wouldn't it help if you tried dodging?" she asked, causing the blonde to blink.

Blake walked over and put a hand on Yang's shoulder. "She has a point…" Blake muttered, causing Yang to sigh.

"I… I know she does…" Yang said, clenching her fist as she channeled Burn energy into the lattice inside. "It just pisses me off is all…" the blonde stopped talking as her arm began shaking, causing her to let out a squeak. After a moment, it stopped, leaving her confused.

"What just happened?" Blake asked.

Yang looked at her prosthetic hand, clenching and unclenching her fist. "I have no idea…" she muttered before channeling more energy into it, causing it to start shaking slightly. "I guess there's a limit to how much power I can put into it. After that, it just starts shaking like hell." A thought crossed her mind and she grinned. "Oh, I've got to try this on my little kitten!"

"Do you think we should tell Aurelius?" Blake asked, oblivious to her mate's plans.

"Nope! I'm sure I can handle it perfectly fine!" Yang said with a grin, causing Blake to look at her strangely. The blonde quickly went to change the subject. "How are you handling this crap about the HPF?"

Blake let out a tired sigh, running a hand through her hair. "I think I can understand how Weiss felt when she gave her "all White Fang are monsters" rant now… The thought that something like that happening to me… It's easy to forget just how blind attacks can make people fear for their lives when you're the one on taking part in the attacks and don't want to admit that what you're doing is wrong."

Yang wrapped the cat faunus in a hug. "You never hurt anyone, Blake. You didn't even know the White Fang was doing anything like that… Don't blame yourself for it," she said as Blake rested her head on the blonde's chest. "I just hope they find the people responsible soon… I want to tear them apart right now."

Blake put her head on the blonde's shoulder. "Yang… It's because of them wanting to do the same to the White Fang that made them do what they've done in Atlas. As much as I wish we could do something else, Aurelius is right."

Yang let out a sigh as she stepped back, running a hand through her hair. "That doesn't mean I don't want to strangle whoever's leading these clowns…" she muttered before Blake gave her a peck on the lips.

"How about we go take a walk and take our minds off this?" the cat faunus asked, getting a nod from the blonde.

Neo watched the two leave before turning to Roman. "Dad, what were they taking about?" Roman winced and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't really know, Neo… How about we go look at one of the arboretums? Maybe we can find something fun," he said, getting a smile from Neo before the girl pulled him along.

Rose Quarter, Ruby and Weiss' Residence

Weiss let out a sigh as she leaned against Ruby. Much of the afternoon after the meeting had been spent training quietly, both sparring and Dust manipulation. Now, however, the two had stopped to rest under the tree in their yard/arboretum. The White Rose looked up at the ceiling before speaking up. "I wonder if the sun's setting outside too…" she muttered, looking at the reds and oranges that colored the artificial sky while the simulated sun was starting to dip below the horizon.

Ruby wrapped an arm around her mate. "Probably…" she said before the two slipped into silence. A minute passed before Ruby spoke up. "Weiss… I'm sorry things aren't going as well as you probably would have liked…" The fox glanced at her in confusion, causing her to elaborate. "You know… Beacon and Vale almost being destroyed, me slipping into a coma almost preventing us from ever getting together, you father disowning you, the HPF showing up after you became a faunus making it more dangerous to be faunus than human…"

Weiss silenced her mate with a kiss, pressing her forehead against the wolf's. "Ruby… We can't change any of that. We fought hard and we saved the people of Vale. We finally got together in spite of the Battle and what happened to you. No matter what anyone says, I refuse to call Jacques my father. I chose to stay in spite of his demands and I'd gladly do it again because I've never been happier than right here. I'd even become a faunus again even if I knew the HPF would be forming because I love how having you as my mate makes me feel." Ruby smiled at the words before nuzzling into her mate's neck, causing her to giggle slightly. "Although… I don't really like the idea of this group running around…"

Ruby let out a sigh. "The Rose family was meant to protect the world from any threat… fighting against humans and faunus isn't something any of us enjoy having to do and all this violence between them… I'm pretty sure it's unthinkable for my ancestors… And we both know who's probably behind it."

Weiss shifted uneasily. "Salem?" she asked getting a nod from Ruby.

"Even if the White Fang and HPF are dealt with, she's still going to be around, causing trouble and doing what she can to get more groups like them to form… The only way to prevent that from happening is to take her out once and for all…" The two sat quietly before Ruby stood up. "C'mon, how about we go make dinner now? We'll worry about it when the time comes." Weiss sighed and nodded before the two got up, heading inside.

Citadel Tower, Aurelius' Office

Winter set a cup of tea down in front of Aurelius, getting a grateful smile from the wolf as he took a sip. Janus hummed from his position on the other side of the desk. "Do you think that such a passive approach will work?" she asked hesitantly, getting a look from the Blue Rose. "Do you expect that simply putting out a reward for any information on White Fang and HPF members will improve the situation more than a direct response will?"

He put the cup down with a sigh. "If there was only one such group, I would say no. As it stands, we can't target one group overtly beyond what we've already done without being unable to respond to the other group's actions as effectively. We know the location of the White Fang's base, but Atlas can't aid us in launching an attack against them without leaving the faunus in Mantle and Atlas vulnerable to the HPF's brutality," he said before glancing at Janus. "What are the proposed preparations?"

"Vulcan has evaluated the effectiveness of Bastion's defenses against the Aurora and he isn't too pleased. If either the White Fang or the Human Primacy Front gets ahold of an Aurora-Class cruiser or, gods forbid, the Corona-Class battleship that serves as the heart of their fleet, we would most likely be incapable of defending ourselves beyond using the Aegis again due to the range of the Aurora's spinal lasers," Janus reported, causing Aurelius to tap his fingers on the desk. "Vulcan's solution is that we modify a number of Roc-type craft with greater armor and turret mountings to act as destroyer-sized warships while work is done on designing a dedicated combat ship."

The Blue Rose let out a frustrated sigh. "And once again the tools of peace are turned into weapons of war, their original purpose deemed worthless…" He rubbed his head before looking at the Imperator, not noticing Winter's concerned glance. "Very well… Proceed with this solution." Janus gave a quick salute before opening a rift, stepping through it. Winter bit the inside of her cheek and glanced around, looking for a diversion from the heavy atmosphere of the room.

Her eyes landed on the sword that sat on the desk. It was the first time she had been able to look at the Blue Rose's signature blade. She reached for it hesitantly before grabbing the hilt, lifting it off the table. As her hand brushed over the flat of the blade, she took a moment to admire the detailed engravings of flowers, branches, and vines that decorated it, each line unaffected by the ravages of time. "This is an exquisite blade. I'm curious as to where you obtained it."

Aurelius' gaze softened slightly. "It was a gift from Isolda, my sister," he said quietly, causing Winter to look at him briefly before staring at the blade in surprise. "She was perhaps the only one of our kind besides myself that didn't turn to the cruelty and depravity that the rest of our number came to enjoy. It was from her the concept of snow and ice first arrived in Remnant and she came to cherish the coldest nights of the year for the fact they encouraged people to spend time together and enjoy what they had. Her hair was so white that she almost vanished in a field of snow… After I started hunting down our kind to put a stop to their madness, I took to calling it Luctus, Lament in the modern language, to represent the emotions that drove me to do this. She gave me that blade just a year before she was killed by Apollyon," he finished, a look of disgust on his face.

"Who… or rather, what… is this Apollyon?" Winter asked, dread filling her.

The Blue Rose clasped his hands together. "Apollyon was a creature of true horror and depravity, a being that even the Grimm feared. He existed to dominate and destroy, the entire world his hunting grounds and everything on it his prey," he glanced out the window quietly. "It's from him and his dark influence that humanity learned to fear, to dread, to hate… and to kill. Many of the worst acts a person could inflict on another were created by him. Back then, hunting him down was the hardest battle I'd fought and the first time I came close to death…"

Winter swallowed uneasily. "You speak as if it wasn't some type of Grimm…"

Aurelius' eyes darkened again. "That's because he wasn't… If you'd like to hear, I could perhaps tell you the story." Winter glanced out the window, eyes unfocused for a moment before setting the blade down and sat in front of the Blue Rose. He took another sip and ran a hand along the blade, trying to decide where to start.

Sorry for the delay, it was arbitrarily decided earlier this week that we needed to take care of a flea problem where I live and I've had to spend the last week helping get clothes and bedding removed for tomorrow when we spray everything down.

For those wondering, Luctus comes from Latin (as most of the "Ancient Draconian" words do, except for a few exceptions) and means mourning, grief, sorrow, distress, and lamentation. A fitting name for Aurelius' sword considering who and what he was forced to first use it on…

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter.