I'll be off starting Saturday 15th April and I'll be back writing on Saturday 22nd. I'll mention this on other fics and be sure the dates at the bottom are accurate when that time comes.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 57

It had been two days since he used the Relic of Knowledge and he'd already unlocked the aura of forty other people. There were more who wanted it so they could fight but unlocking aura was a consuming process and he couldn't manage more than that a day. Adam, Ruby, Ren and Blake took to teaching them how to use it, essentially relaying his lessons to the newcomers, and then having their own private lessons under Ozma later. In a sense, they became his faculty, his teachers, even if Beacon did not exist yet and might not for many, many years.

The queues of those waiting to have their aura unlocked grew larger by the day, swelled by witnessing all their peers manage it without complication and talk about how powerful they felt. Those who secretly feared it might corrupt the soul or harm the body were forced to accept it was harmless when their friends and family came back just fine, and the more that went through it the more came forward to have it done. Sienna had made sure the most capable soldiers were at the head of said list, but she had other concerns on her mind as well, which she cornered him about on the morning of the third day.

"They want to talk to you."

Jaune glanced over at her as he finished unlocking the aura of a faunus soldier. The man stood, flexed his hands, and smiled at the feeling of power under his skin. He thanked Jaune humbly and scurried off, leaving him to address Sienna. "Who is they?"

"The prisoners. Specifically, the high priest and the Chosen, Pyrrha. They've both asked to meet you."

"Why?"

"I'd assume the high priest wants to negotiate their release. As for the Chosen, I can't guess at that one." Sienna shrugged. Her aura had also been unlocked and she'd been working on it hard with Adam and Blake. He could feel it around her body. "We can't keep them forever. You realise that. Don't you?"

The prisoners were taking up food, space, and time of those set to guard them. Beyond that, they were functionally innocent of any crimes and had cooperated since the start. Not that there was much chance of them surviving if they hadn't, but still – it mattered. What also mattered was the feelings of the faunus on Menagerie. They were happy now, determined, but that might change if they saw Sienna and he execute people who really hadn't done anything wrong. Jaune wasn't sure he wouldn't change either, that he might feel this was all going wrong if they did something like that.

"I know," said Jaune, "but the earlier we release them, the earlier Salem finds out what is happening. We're moving fast but we're not ready to fight a war against the four kingdoms under her banner. Not even with so many aura-users. The Chosen still outnumber us, and they've had years of intense training. They'll slaughter us."

"If she can communicate with the Grimm like that vision suggested then she might already know. We've been killing all the terrestrial Grimm we can get a hold of, but we can't shoot every Nevermore out the sky. And it won't matter anyway if they don't return to the mainland in time."

The journey by sea was perilous and the church might accept their vessel being a couple of days late, but they'd send out people to look, or another ship to Menagerie. Then what? Did they take them hostage as well? That might buy even more time, but at that point there would be an uncomfortable amount of Chosen on the island. They might be able to break free on their own.

"We're not entirely out of options," said Sienna. "We'll never win a battle on land if it comes to it, but that's not our strongest suit. Menagerie is an island nation, and we came in on an armada of ships. If they want to fight us, we'll fight on the open water where numbers won't matter. They'll have to come through the same narrow strait Jinn led us through, and that'll be our battlefield."

Jaune looked to the shore. Some of the larger arks had been repurposed and broke down, but most still stood in the shallows, and there were many more reasonably sized ships out in the water. They weren't small sailing vessels given their journey across the deep ocean. They were proper, seafaring vessels. As big as galleons in some cases, and small and sleek in others. All were capable, and the path through the water was treacherous. Salem might use Grimm, but she couldn't be too obvious about that, or her own forces would panic and attack them. On the water, through so narrow a pass, their numbers wouldn't mean nearly as much as they would in open battle.

"You're right. I guess we'd best get those ships repaired and set up to fight. I'll try and get the aura-users capable of throwing some fire around. But for now, I'd best go see what our prisoners want."

"Don't harm them."

"I won't." He flashed her a smile. "I'm not that far gone."

/-/

Menagerie lacked a dedicated prison complex and so the captives were being kept on the bottom level of one of the arks. It was a given that the Chosen could burn their way out with fire, but then they understood that would bring him down on them. An uneasy truce had been set where they allowed themselves to be kept, at least until they were sure of what would happen to them. Jaune didn't want to panic them by showing up on his own, so he had Taiyang and Adam bring both the high priest and Pyrrha to him instead.

They were shown into the cabin he'd taken over for the moment, and they both froze. To his credit, the elderly man did not faint or show his fear. He took a deep breath to steady himself instead and walked into the room. Pyrrha followed. Jaune stood, smiled, and indicated the seats set up around a small table. There was even a clay jug of squashed oranges on it.

"Take a seat. Help yourselves. I heard you both wanted to speak with me and I thought it would make you more comfortable if you weren't alone when doing so. I assure you no harm will come to you unless you invite it upon yourselves."

The priest took the seat first, and the jug, masking anxiety with action and pouring three cups. Jaune quickly took and drank one to make it clear there was no poison. Pyrrha sat quietly after, staring at him in a way that made him uneasy. The priest cleared his throat and said, "May I ask who it is I am speaking to right now? Do you go by Ozma? The Dark Lord…?"

"Jaune. Jaune Arc." He saw the surprise. "And that's who you're speaking to. I can let you speak to Ozma if you want to. Would you like me to ask him to take over and have this conversation?"

"N-No. That is unnecessary."

"Is it really you?" asked Pyrrha, leaning forward. "Or is that just him speaking through your mouth?"

That was a good question and easy enough to prove. Jaune closed his eyes. Ozma swam forward quickly, knowing what he wanted, and his body went momentarily slack before sitting straight. His eyes opened again but it was another man in control, and the subtle differences in how they sat caused his body to adjust. It did not go unnoticed by the duo, who stiffened in their seats.

"I trust this is evidence enough," said Ozma. The voice was the same, but the accent was not, and the way Ozma spoke carried a certain elegance to it that Jaune's rustic timbre lacked. "We are two souls, two individuals, and though I am always listening I am not always speaking." He chuckled and closed his eyes. "Jaune, if you will."

They switched. His body had a momentary lurch again as it was without any control for a fraction of a second, but he was soon sat in his body once more, adjusting to a more comfortable position for himself.

"It is me, Pyrrha. I can't offer you any further proof than that, but I haven't been taken over like the church would have you believe." He saw their collective winces, and the dismay wrought on their faces. It was a low blow. "But I guess you've realised that already."

The aged man sank in his seat. "I do not know what I have realised, nor what I have seen. My mind has not yet had time to come to terms with it and, if I may say, the cramped quarters and lack of sunlight has made it no easier. I wished to speak with you to talk on the wellbeing of my procession. You have justifiable reason not to trust us but keeping us locked away here is a cruelty. If I must, I will get down on my knees and beg that you grant them time out to stretch their legs in the sun. They have done you and your no ill."

He hadn't realised they were in such a bad state. Sienna must have been too afraid to let them out lest they try and take control of a ship, and she'd been busy too. Things had been hectic.

"There's no need to beg. I'll talk to Sienna Khan and ask her to arrange for trips outside. We're in discussions on what to do with you right now." They tensed. "Death is not an option either of us are considering." And relaxed. "But our situation isn't a good one either. If we send you back then you'll raise the alarm, but if we don't then more people will come."

"What will even happen to us if we do go back?" asked the priest. "Should the vision be true – and everything I know about the Relic of Knowledge tells me it must – then we shall be killed if the god- if Salem even believes that we know. We will be killed to keep the peace. And even if she did not, our fellows would brand us heretics if we spoke it. If they did not kill us, then the general populace would stone us to death on their own."

That was a question Jaune didn't have an answer to; he didn't think anyone did. No one would believe them if they went back and tried to tell of what they'd seen. "You could always keep it to yourselves. Go back, forget you ever saw it, and serve her loyally."

The man's face fell. "How could we forget that…?"

"Salem purged Menagerie because it threatened her. As long as you don't threaten her, she'll probably keep the Grimm away from you."

"Mistral," said Pyrrha.

"Ah." Jaune winced. "You've heard about all that, then?"

"Chosen Weiss Schnee informed us."

"I hope she wasn't…"

"She's alive," said Pyrrha. His concern seemed to please her. "Salem… she held a grand speech in which she argued the Grimm had been summoned by you to sow chaos. She said that you had worked with and then betrayed the people of Mistral, all for your sick enjoyment. I… I believed her. I… oh goddess- no. I…" Jaune sighed as Pyrrha broke down. Not in tears, but into silence, her head down, eyes on the floor, mind lost in a dark place.

He couldn't blame her, could he? Like him, she'd grown up in a goddess-fearing community being taught from his mother's arms on the merciful goddess. Then she'd been recruited by the Chosen and taught even more, surrounded by people staunchly loyal to the goddess. Anyone would believe what they'd been taught in a situation like that. If anything, it was worse for the man. He'd spent his whole life in her service and now, in his golden years, he learned it was all a lie.

"Your fates are very much your own at this point," said Jaune. "We're discussing the idea of giving you a ship and sending you back on it. I think it'd be in all your interests to never mention what you saw. It won't help anyone. You could then retire from the church if you wanted and go live somewhere peaceful. I know it's not much but it's the best I can offer."

"I cannot," said the old man. "If you would allow it, I would remain here."

Pyrrha's head shot up. "Father…?"

"I'm no father now, Cho- Pyrrha. How can I be after what I've seen? I'm just an old man who has dedicated his whole life to a lie. I have little time left, and I would rather use it in a manner I can die proud of." He met Jaune's eyes and said, "If you would allow it and speak to Sienna Khan on my behalf then I humbly offer myself. I am experienced in teaching, herbalism, medical care and public speaking. I cannot preach a religion I can no longer believe in, but I am sure I could fulfil a similar role. Unless you are setting up your own church?"

"Ozma is no god and neither am I. He's just a man who was cursed to live forever. He'd never allow anyone to see him like that, let alone to worship him. The same goes for Salem. Once, she was a normal woman. I'll speak to Sienna on your behalf. I suppose we'll have to ask the same of the rest of your people."

"Some have family they will want to return to, but I shall impress upon them the need to not tell of what they saw here. Perhaps they might even say I remained to lead the flock, and then Salem should have no reason to fear."

"Someone will talk," said Pyrrha. "There are too many. One man when drunk, or a nervous soul clinging to their belief despite all the evidence, and she will know. An army will come to destroy Menagerie."

"Then I shall die. I am an old man anyway."

"You said all the evidence," said Jaune. "Does that mean you've accepting what you saw as well, Pyrrha?"

The Chosen laughed bitterly. "How could I not? I saw her hand you the Relic of Knowledge in Vale. I saw it then, and I recognise it now, and we are all taught of what it does and what it cannot do. The Relic cannot lie. To show us the past like that means that it happened. There can be no doubt. I… I can't fight for her. I can't! My family fell to the Grimm. It's why I dedicated my life to training to stop them. I dedicated my life to their murderer. Why? Why did she kill them?"

Jaune winced. "Ozma says that she might not have explicitly told them to do that," he said, passing on the spirit's message. "He says they wander and behave aggressively when she doesn't give them specific orders, so it might have been unintentional. That's why you were made to fight them even though she could control them." Jaune paused, listened, and then relayed. "But he also says part of that might have been to keep you all busy and prevent any of you getting so strong as to be a problem."

Pyrrha laughed again, her hands sinking between her legs as she sank in her seat. "It makes no difference. My life is no less a lie than anyone else's here. I…" She looked to her former priest and back to Jaune. "T-Take me as well. I can't go back and stay silent. There's no way I could avoid accusing her – and I'd be killed for it. There's no point in me going back. At least here I could fight Grimm and keep people safe like I'm supposed to. Not as a Chosen but as a huntress."

It was more than he could have ever hoped for. There was a chance this was a ploy or a trick, but it wasn't like they'd be instantly trusted even if he did release them. They'd be watched for weeks, and there would be plenty of people who would raise the alarm if either of them acted out of sorts.

"I'll speak to Sienna. I'm not the one in charge here despite how it might look. I think she'll accept so don't worry too much. In the meantime, I want you both to do something for me." He saw their nervous nods and smiled. "Nothing too bad. I just want you to talk to your fellow captives and tell them your decisions. You don't have to convert them to your way of thinking but give them the choice, and then tell us which want to go home and which – if any – want to stay. You have my word that those who want to go back to the mainland will be given a ship and released. There really is nothing to gain from killing them. It'd upset everyone, completely alienate you, and give the church all the justification it needs to come here and kill us all. It's honestly better for us if they go home because at least then there's a chance they can convince people of the truth."

"You have my word that I will do this," said the old man. "And I promise you now that I shall be an asset to Menagerie. I ask not for position or wealth, but only for a place to spend my last years in peace."

"I can't promise you peace, sir. I think you know that. But I can promise you we'll try."

/-/

In the end, about five or six more wished to stay on Menagerie for one reason or another. It was mostly among the church staff and the religious who had experienced a devastating blow to their faith. The soldiers, meanwhile, were loyal to the goddess in spirit but mostly had come because they'd been ordered to, and because it was their jobs. They were younger men and women who had families back home to get back to.

The bigger surprise was Coco choosing to stay, and Sienna was worried about two of them being here, but Pyrrha assured them Coco had no ulterior motives. "Her reasons are the same as mine. If she went back she would be forced into service again, and she doesn't feel she could keep a straight face if she saw the goddess. It's less her wanting to fight for you, and more wanting to not fight for Salem."

"Will you fight the Grimm for us, then?" asked Sienna.

The girl, Coco, nodded. "Yes. I… The Grimm are just pure evil. There's a lot less confusion up here when I'm dealing with them." Coco touched her head. "I don't mind doing a few other jobs as well."

"We'll find a place for you. I just ask you don't squander this trust."

"Where would I go if I did?" grumbled Coco. "There's nowhere left…"

Now they knew how he felt. There really was nowhere left on the world that he could go to that Salem wouldn't find him. He walked past them to the boats, with Ruby at his side. A sleek ship called a "sloop" had been provided for the freed prisoners.

"Do you think we can trust them?" asked Ruby.

"I think so. I could be wrong, but people will keep an eye on them."

"I will as well," said Ruby. "I can't believe we're doing this. That you're doing this. After all this time of not wanting to fight, and running, we're gonna turn around and fight."

"I guess I've finally accepted there's no other choice – but there is for you. Are you sure you want to stay here and do this?"

"Yes!" Ruby punched his side and smiled up at him. "We've been through all this and I'm not going to give up now."

"I know I saved your dad's life in Ansel but you've more than repaid that debt."

"This isn't about a debt, Jaune. This is what I want." Ruby looked out over the water. "Mom was a hero – a true hero – but she followed a bad person. I don't blame her for that because she couldn't have known, but I think she figured it out at the end. I think that's why she made dad promise to never let me be chosen. Mom saw or heard something and realised what was going on and didn't want me to have a part in it."

It probably was impossible that Salem had remained hidden all this time. There must have been people who worked in the palace that had seen things they couldn't explain, or heard things they knew they would be killed for sharing. Maybe there had even been people who saw her, and who she did away with in private. It wasn't too hard to believe Summer Rose had been one of them, but that she'd had the wisdom to keep her mouth shut even as she worked to ensure her daughter would never face the same as she.

"Your mother really cared about you…"

"Yep. And that's why I can't abandon you either."

"Because your mom didn't abandon you, you can't abandon me? I'm not sure I follow that logic."

"It's because mom taught me to always do the right thing for the people you care about." Ruby kept staring ahead, but her cheeks were dusted pink. "So, I'm going to do the right thing and stand at your side when the time comes. But I need to get stronger first, so help me. Help me master my aura."

Did she…?

He licked his lips and looked ahead, unprepared to delve into that now. Down on the shore, the former priest was doing his best to convince the returning soldiers to stay quiet on what they had seen. He talked of the risk, and of the fact that no one would believe them, and what would likely happen to their families. Most were nodding or looked too worried to talk anyway, but it was like Pyrrha said. It'd only take one of them confiding in their family, spouse or a close friend, and that person deciding to report them. Then it would all be over. He didn't hold much hope on the truth staying hidden.

"It'll take them a week to sail back and probably a few weeks to get a navy ready," said Jaune. "I guess we'll maybe have a month. Longer if Salem takes the time to summon and call every Chosen from across the four – well, three – kingdoms. If we had another question left on Jinn then we could reveal the truth to them all, but that's not an option anymore. I can't believe how badly I wasted the first one."

"We'll be ready. We'll fight them on the water."

"They'll have a lot of Chosen."

"We'll have our huntsmen and huntresses. And the White Fang are no slouch when it comes to ship combat." Ruby leaned into him, and after a moment of hesitation he slid his right arm over her shoulder. "We can win."

"I wonder how many times Ozma has said that, or his host has claimed it."

Ozma wisely remained silent, not wanting to ruin the mood or destroy Jaune's confidence. He'd probably lost count anyway. He'd raised so many armies and seen so many fall that it must have been a blur by now.

"This time," said Ruby. "This time will be different."

"Why is that?"

"Because you have me of course."

Jaune laughed. "You're right. Salem will never know what hit her."

There we go

Next Chapter: 2nd April

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