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Chapter 50

Blood soaked the streets of Mistral.

It was everywhere, along with the bodies, and the thick stench of blood, urine and other unidentifiable smells had Jaune's nose clogging up. He took to breathing through his mouth, though even that threatened nausea. He'd seen bodies before of course, but never so many. It was so bad that you couldn't look away from them without seeing more, and they had to pick their steps carefully around them so as not to trip up.

The battle hadn't even ended yet. Willow Schnee was dead, Mistral had fallen, but until the last pockets of resistance were rounded up, and until the fighting stopped, it would not be official – and no one would know. He wasn't sure if there was anything they could do to speed that up. He couldn't use magic to just "get their attention" without causing a panic, and the Corps weren't going to surrender. They had no choice but to fight to their deaths. And even if he did end it, what would happen? The bodies would need to be collected, someone would have to be put into power – or several someone's. It would be a mess of debates, discussions, meetings, arguments and more.

It could take weeks. Months, even. Hell, it might take years to really sort everything out, especially with the Church involved, and his presence was just going to make that harder. So, they left. Their group, with Weiss Schnee hidden among them wrapped in a shawl, walked out the broken wall where the fighting had long since died down, over bodies of innocent people, and then out into a field filled with corpses staked into the ground. Weiss sucked in a breath, not having witnessed it due to her incarceration, but she remained silent. They walked back off the battlefield that was still raging and to a camp now mostly abandoned. Ruby met them there, smiling in relief.

"You're alive!" Ruby crashed into her father first, and he embraced her tightly, then she quickly hugged Jaune as well before backing off. "Did you manage it? Is it done? What happens now?"

"Willow is dead, Mistral has pretty much won, and I think we should leave."

Ren and Nora were nearby, with Whitley, and they approached in time to hear. Whitley Schnee detached from them to approach his sister, and after staring under her hood the two embraced. Jaune did his best to give them some privacy and not look their way. Thankfully, Ruby was more interested in the conversation anyway.

"Leaving? Just like that? You don't want to stay and see this through?"

"Mistral has won," said Jaune. He glanced to Nora and Ren to gauge their reactions. Neither looked thrilled. "The agreement I had with An Ren is completed. Ozma, too. I've got a feeling my presence here will just make things worse. They can't very well petition Salem with me here, and I'm just going to draw Chosen from Vale and demands for my immediate surrender. What of you, Ren? Nora?"

Ren, his eyes blindfolded, breathed out. "I go with you, of course. It is the bargain we struck."

"I go with Ren," said Nora.

"I don't mean that. It's just… Are you okay with leaving now? Mistral is your homeland and An Ren-"

"Mother is gone," said Ren. Nora ducked her head but didn't cry. They must have come to the conclusion days ago, and had no doubt grieved aplenty already. "I don't think there's any point holding out any longer. Kuroyuri was found and purged, the villagers around it destroyed as well. But the woman who ordered it is dead. The rebellion was successful. We've done what we set out to do, but I can't see myself settling down here. Too many poor memories." He smiled faintly, and added, "Don't worry about me. I'll be happy to travel. Being able to learn magic and see again – after a fashion – is more than enough to please me."

"Ren is all I have left," said Nora. "And I promised An I'd keep an eye on him. If he goes, then I go. If you'll have me."

"You're all more than welcome with us," said Adam, stepping up. He eyed the Schnee duo. "Best we not mention where we're headed in public company, but I can speak for Sienna when I say the more the merrier."

"Even though we're not faunus?"

"It never was only faunus who lived there. Just mostly. No one will care."

"It does seem strange to up and leave before the battle is even over," remarked Ren, "but I can understand your reasoning. I also can't speak for any of the cells here. We were all united against Willow Schnee, but who can say if they will be sympathetic to you? Without a common enemy, there might well be calls to have you arrested or delivered to the goddess. We should meet Neptune and Sun back at the Seaspear. I'm sure they'll be willing to take us out to wherever the White Fang fleet is waiting. What of the Schnee?"

"We agreed to take them with us to the coast and then cut them loose. I was thinking Neptune could deliver them to Vale."

Their plans made, they broke from the camp while the battle still raged on. It likely would for hours yet, and there might even be looting and burning to get under control. He didn't want to stay around and witness that. And even if they were fine with him, they wouldn't be fine with the Schnee siblings. They would demand they be handed over, and the two would likely be lynched. Maybe even tortured and strung up to die slowly like those outside the walls. Everyone was angry; everyone wanted someone to blame. To suffer. It wasn't worth waiting around for all that.

It was amazing how far the sound of battle persisted. They had reached the edge of the lumber camp and were on the road between the forests and it could still be heard what must have been kilometres behind them. The moment they entered the narrow road between the trees, Blake's hand snapped out, her long knife flicking out as she scanned the trees.

"Blake?" asked Adam. "What is it?"

"I saw something. Movement."

"Could it be a deer?"

"Bigger."

"A bear?"

Blake's lips thinned. "Bigger. Much bigger."

They formed a rough circle, tensions suddenly high. It was dark – the sky clouded over. The shadows of the trees seemed long and overly powerful, cast from left to right across the dirt road. No one made a sound to better hear, but the battle in the distance didn't make that a simple matter. Jaune could feel something wrong. It tickled at the peripheral of his mind with a feeling not unlike aura, not unlike magic. Ren tensed up as well, no doubt feeling the same thing as he, and even Ruby shrank back.

"Something is wrong," whispered Jaune. "We need to leave."

"Where?" asked Taiyang. "Back to the city?"

"No. Away. Fast."

Taking the first step was hard, but the rest followed easier. They moved on in a tight bundle, weapons drawn and those on the edges looking into the forest. It was slow going, much slower than before, but the feeling of being watched only got worse. He could hear sounds now as well, cracks deeper in the woods like broken twigs – but for him to hear them at all, they must have been bigger than that. Whole branches. Maybe even fallen logs. Something, or some things, were moving in there. And they were big and clumsy.

Then, the first of them stepped out onto the road ahead. A huge, hulking, bearlike figure that snuffled at the dirt on all fours. It was blacker than the night, with armoured bone plating, spikes, and red lines like veins running beneath its furred hide. Huge, powerful arms reached down to sharp white claws. Jaune's hand clenched tight around the hilt of his father's sword, and everyone froze. Before he could speak, before he could do anything, he felt a weight slam into his mind and body, and drive him back.

"I will apologise later!" shouted Ozma. "Give me control or you shall perish!"

Trust was a difficult thing, but fear was powerful and the raw fright in Ozma's voice was enough to have Jaune swimming back. He became a spectator in his own mind, watching as his vision lurched forward. Ozma broke from the pack and raced toward the Grimm – an Ursa – and drew his sword. His free hand ran down the blade, a subtle tug from inside coating the metal in burning flame. The sword, burning hot with fire, arched through the air leaving a trail of flickering light behind it, and struck down between the monster's neck and left shoulder.

It barely had the time to react, but even then, mortally wounded, it roared and swiped its meaty claw across Jaune's body. Aura flared as Ozma blocked it, and let the force of the blow take him back, ripping the sword free. Dying, with its head hanging off by a thread, the beast still lunged for him and slashed again and again, determined to take him down in its death throws. Ozma danced back and aside, away from the watching group. As he did, a shout heralded a lance of ice impacting the creature in the side of its head, punching through its skull and out the other side. The creature lurched a few steps and then dropped, twitching before dying and slowly turning to dust. His head turned back to see the Schnee with her arm outstretched, fingertips trailing frost-like smoke. A similar prevalence for ice-based magic as her mother. It made sense.

"We must go," said Ozma, in Jaune's voice. "The Grimm are coming. We cannot remain here any longer."

"What of Mistral?" asked Ruby. "The city!"

"What of you?" demanded Ren. "You're… different. Your aura, your presence, it's all off. I can feel it. You…" His brows drew back as his eyes made to widen even ruined as they were. "You're not Jaune. Are you? You're-"

"I am what I am," said Ozma. "And right now, that is your only hope of getting through the oncoming horde alive. They have been drawn to Mistral. There is nothing we can do for them. Even were it myself alongside a hundred Chosen, I fear this would end the same way. Listen. Can you not hear them? They are aware of us now."

There were roars and howls in the forest now. The use of magic had alerted them, but even so they weren't coming this way. The scent of so much bloodshed in the distance was a far more appealing target. It was said that Grimm were drawn to two things – negativity and magic. Aura, too, but that was part of the latter. There was blood enough in Mistral, and his and Willow's duel likely hadn't helped on the other side.

Goddess, it was going to be a massacre. They didn't stand a chance. Ruby felt the same way.

"We can warn them, can't we? There has to be something we can do!"

"Look up, child," said Ozma. "Look up. It is midday and yet the sun does not shine."

The sun was blocked out by thick grey clouds that he'd seen before, but there was something off with them now. Little wisps of black moved across the underside of them like bits of straw in the sky. Jaune stared, along with the rest, trying to make sense of it, until a larger shape broke through the clouds for a moment, before it wheeled up into them again. A bird. A gargantuan bird. Suddenly, all the smaller shapes made a lot more sense.

"By the Goddess," whispered Weiss. "Nevermore – but so many? No. He… He is right. This is no pack. This is a horde. Goddess, this cannot be happening."

"We can fight them," protested Ruby. "Can't we…?"

"A few, perhaps," said Weiss. "I could handle maybe three or four at a time. You all? Together, you might be enough to take one or two. If you are cautious. He might handle more. Maybe ten or twenty. I don't know. That is it, though. There… There are hundreds up there. And more in the forests around us."

"And this is only one side of Mistral," said Ozma. "If they are here then they are surely converging from all directions. No, child, this is not something I could handle. Not even if I were to expend every drop of aura in your friend's body." Breaths were drawn in. Some had realised who it was speaking, but not all. Not until that moment. The Schnee, especially, trembled. "Come. We must leave. There is nothing we can do here. Nothing at all."

His body moved without his control. It was a blessing, because he didn't need to make the terrible decision everyone else did. With spirits low and guts clenched, they walked away from Mistral. Away from an impending disaster they could not hope to stop.

The Grimm they faced on the way out were few and far between. One or two here, another there, usually distracted and some even trying to bowl past them to get at Mistral, all but willing to ignore them entirely until they caught the scent of Ozma's aura. Or Weiss'. Either seemed enough to have them turn back and lunge for them. All were dealt with swiftly, and they made their way out the forests and onto the open hills with all the haste they could muster.

The sun shone out there, but the clouds behind them heralded far worse for the people of Mistral. All this work thought Jaune. Everything we did. And now this. They're just going to be slaughtered after we finally freed the country.

"It is what it is," said Ozma, voice quiet so that only he could hear it. "Not all of Mistral shall perish. There must still be some towns and villages that yet persist, those that escaped the purge, and they shall rebuild. A small comfort, I know, but there is little else that can be done. If we had gone back there then we would have died with them. Willow brought this upon Mistral with her actions. It was not us, nor the rebellion, but the senseless slaughter she ordered."

That didn't make it any easier.

/-/

They were forced to make camp as exhaustion set in, perhaps halfway to the coast. By that point Ozma had surrendered Jaune's body back to him, once he was sure there were no more Grimm, and the ancient spirit had grown quiet inside, dormant or sleeping. They took shelter under a large diagonal rock propped up against a few others, at the base of which was a hollowed-out fire pit where other travellers, likely illegal given Mistral's laws, had set up camps before. It wasn't long before a small fire was roaring away, and some scant supplies were cooked over them.

Conversation was quiet and limited to small groups. Ruby spoke with Taiyang; Ren with Nora; Blake with Adam; the Schnee siblings with one another. It surprised him when, after an hour, one of those siblings came up to take a seat across from him. Weiss Schnee still looked weak and tired from her long captivity, though the sun and fresh air had brought some life back to her sunken eyes. It was obvious she needed this rest more than any of them.

"You should be sleeping."

"I shall soon," said the huntress. "You… You are you right now. Are you not?"

"I'm me. Ozma is resting."

"Ozma." Her lips thinned, not quite disgust, but dislike for sure. "You call him that? So familiarly?"

Jaune shrugged. "It's his name. Calling him Dark Lord all the time would get old."

"You are not as I thought you would be."

"Violent? Insane?"

"Both of those," she admitted. "But I also expected a certain degree of paranoia, anger and fear. Justified given our pursuit of you. I am surprised you are so relaxed around a Chosen such as I. Not that I could defeat you either way, but still. You could have left me to die quite easily. Was it against his advice that you saved me?"

"Not really. Ozma didn't care either way."

That seemed to bother her. "Why? I am his enemy. I am Chosen."

"I think his attention is on bigger things."

"The Goddess. Of course." Weiss closed her eyes and breathed out. "That, at least, I can understand. I am simply too small to be of concern for him. I'm grateful either way, obviously. And grateful as well for your protection of my brother. Let it not be said that I agreed with my mother. Not everyone did, not even amongst the Corps." Her gaze flicked toward the city. It was too far gone to see now and might already be a graveyard. "Not that it availed them any. Everyone feared her, even those who served her loyally. You were right in what you said to her. Not even the Goddess would mourn her passing."

Jaune waited for her to continue but Weiss hesitated. It was obvious she wanted to ask something, but her situation wasn't exactly a stable one and she was probably afraid what would happen to her if she overstepped herself. "It's fine if you want to ask me something. I'm not going to lash out."

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How can you just let him take control of you like that? He assisted against the Grimm, true, and I don't fault if there was literally no other choice, but you're so calm about it. He – the Dark Lord – exists in your mind, and every single person before you has gone mad. Are you not afraid of that?"

Jaune laughed. He couldn't help it. Weiss looked downright affronted, but he cut her off. "I am afraid. Sorry, I'm not laughing to belittle you. I'm laughing because it's such an obvious answer. Yes, I'm afraid. Yes, I hate this. I didn't ask for it and I didn't have any grand ambitions this is helping with. All I ever wanted was to be a normal boy hunting for meat. Maybe finding a cute girl to settle down with, raise a family, watch my kids grow old. Boring stuff like that. Now, I'm possessed by the Dark Lord and locked into an endless war with insanity and complete mental breakdown as my only reward. Yes, I'm afraid. But what good does fear do?"

Weiss didn't answer.

"It's like… It's such a certainty that nothing will end well that I've stopped worrying about it. Does that make sense? I'm more afraid of things that are uncertain because they may or may not happen, and the impact of it happening is worse. This is definite. I will go mad. There's no stopping that. So, why waste my time worrying about what's definitely going to happen? It's like death, I guess. Everyone dies and we just accept it. Or taxes."

"That is both remarkably logical and unimaginably sad," remarked the huntress. "It may not mean much coming from your sworn enemy, but I am sorry for you."

He shrugged. "It means something. And thanks. I'm glad to know not everyone assumes I'm just some rampaging monster."

"Not all of us think that way anyway. There is a philosophy within the Chosen that the Dark Lord should be treat fairly if he is caught early enough. Before he goes mad. After all, they are just unfortunate souls burdened with an impossible curse. It is only when they grow violent that we are sent in to kill. And you did attack the Goddess."

"Ozma did. He said the madness took him."

"Convenient." Weiss sighed and shook her head. "I respect you, Jaune, but do not expect me to respect him. Do not ask it, either. I have been taught since birth to believe this way and I still do believe it. My mother's actions were her own. I won't let anyone try and lessen her guilt."

"Then I guess that means we'll be enemies again."

"We were always enemies. I'm just not beyond thinking that enemies can't work together if the situation calls for it. This would be a very different conversation if you'd fully given into the Dark Lord's influence. You're sane, you're reasonable, and you haven't gone out your way to kill innocent people. Yet," she added, eyes narrowed. "But all the people before you eventually did. I'm not saying you will out of choice – everything I've seen of you suggests otherwise – but one day, in the future, you might not have a choice. You might not be yourself. When that happens, I will try my hardest to kill you."

"Hm." Jaune closed his eyes. "And when that happens, I'll try my hardest to let you."

"…" Weiss stared long and hard at him, and then chuckled. "You're a strange man." She stood, dusted herself down, and turned back toward her brother. "But not a bad one. I wish you could have been spared of such an unfair burden."

"Me too. Me too…"

/-/

The Seaspear was waiting for them off the coast along with a host of other moored ships. Their crews stood nervously, hunkering around a few more that Jaune noticed had been broken apart. Some sat with their hulls on the bottoms of the shallow water, half submerged and half above the surface. There was a camp on the shore, with more than a few people injured and some dead and laid under cloth sheets.

"Grimm?" asked Nora the moment they arrived. Neptune wiped the back of his hand over his brow, smearing blood across his face on accident. He'd obviously been elbow deep in bodies before they arrived.

"How did you know?"

"They're attacking Mistral as well. Hundreds of them. Maybe a thousand."

"Goddess protect us." Neptune made the sign over his chest. "What's happening out there? Why now? The Schnee rules Mistral with an iron fist and there were no Grimm, and yet the very moment we overthrow them it's an invasion. Are we really that cursed?"

"I can understand why the city was attacked," said Ruby. "Negativity and all that. All those dead people. But why were you attacked? Weren't you just waiting off the shore?"

"Mining our own business," said Neptune. "We were all a little worried, sure, but I've never heard of worry being enough to draw the Grimm. Then this monstrous form breaks the water out the shallows. Huge snake-like thing. We thought it wouldn't come into the shallows, but it did. Cracked ships open with its head, and those that jumped off found smaller Grimm waiting for them. We were only able to kill it thanks to ballistae and arrow fire. Even then, we lost several ships and whole crews. It was a massacre."

"Did the Seaspear take damage?"

"No, we were spared. I put us in the middle, and it was the outer edges that took the brunt of it. We're all hesitant to push out, though. What if they're still out there waiting for us? What of the city? You said hundreds of Grimm. If you're here…"

"We don't know," admitted Jaune. "There was no way we could have faced them. Even Ozma said that. There were just too many."

"Your magic couldn't clear them out?"

"Perhaps if they were all in one spot and we had the perfect angle to cast upon all at once. Not as it was."

"They were coming from every direction," said Jaune, as he relayed Ozma's words. "Including the sky. We were attacked on our way out, and it was all we could do to survive. I don't think the city will have made it. I'm sorry."

Neptune looked like he wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or scream. "We finally achieve freedom, and this is our reward. What sick justice." He clenched his fist tight but didn't have the energy to punch anything. "What now? What of you, Ren? Nora? Are you leaving Mistral?"

"There's nothing here for us anymore," said Ren.

This time Neptune did laugh. Bitterly. "There's piss all here for anyone anymore. Even the Goddess is going to be ruling over the ghost of a country. Fine. Whatever. I promised we'd see you wherever you wanted to go. Nothing else to be done but follow through. Is this everyone?"

Jaune, Ruby, Taiyang, Adam, Blake, Ren, Nora, Weiss, and Whitley. Nine people out of everyone from Kuroyuri and beyond. The Schnee siblings had their hoods up, cowls drawn, and they stayed as quiet as could be. As a Chosen, Weiss could easily defend them from anyone on the Seaspear, but she was obviously cautious of upsetting him. They were at his mercy, and so far he'd been reasonable and sane about it all. There was no good reason for them to change things.

"This is it," said Jaune. "We want you to take us out to…" He eyed the siblings. "Adam and Blake will give you the details. After that, you're welcome to leave. We'd only ask you to deliver these two to Vale."

"Or Atlas or Vacuo," said Whitley. "Whichever is most convenient for you."

Neptune crossed his arms. "And you'll be up for fending off whatever Grimm we come across?"

"I can," promised Jaune. "We'll be as safe as we can be."

"Then fine. I… I need a direction," said Neptune. "Something to do, somewhere to be, if only to take my mind of all this. Welcome aboard again. Maybe we'll even come with you wherever you're headed. If you'll have us."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," said Adam. "The more the merrier."

"Especially if you're as competent a sailor and crew as we've been told," added Blake. "We need as many of people like you as we can get."

"If it does not bother you, my brother and I can retire early so you can talk freely without fear of us overhearing you." Weiss' voice was dry, almost mocking of their attempts at secrecy, but there was also some real caution there. If Weiss did overhear, then they might be tempted to take her prisoner or dispose of her. "I am still in desperate need of rest. Once I am, however, I'm more than willing to take over for guarding the ship against Grimm. They are my enemies as well as yours after all."

Though, to be fair, they might be able to guess at their location anyway. There was only one landmass they could be headed for what wouldn't put them firmly under the hands of the goddess and her people. It was just that no one could get there due to the ocean currents, reefs, and various other natural boundaries.

As they took the rowing boat back to the Seaspear, Jaune felt a churning inside him. Ozma was restless, and there was an odd amount of… not fear, but anxiety, radiating off him. As though he wanted to say something but was afraid of how it would be taken.

"There are some things you are not yet ready to learn," whispered the spirit.

"Is this about the Grimm?" whispered Jaune. He'd thought it odd, the timing, the fact they hadn't come before when Willow was conducting so much tyranny. They hadn't even come when all those people had been staked outside the wall.

Only after Willow died and Mistral fell.

"You wouldn't accept the truth even if I told you it. You would call me liar. I will tell you in time. Or I will show you. Once I believe you will accept what I say and not stick to what you have been taught since childhood."

That was just a little ominous.

Next Chapter: 5th February

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