I actually got gifted "Shadows of Doubt" by a friend yesterday and got to play that – such a cool game – even if my first real (not tutorial) case absolutely ruined me. I must have tried everything to track how the killer could have got in and out the building without being on any cameras, or there being any witnesses, and I investigated the victim's workplace, gun stores, everything. Nothing made sense.

Then another death was on the same floor – literally across the hall, and I asked the only other resident on that floor, who had inconsistent testimony. Inspected his room and it had the murder weapon. Ffs, the reason she didn't show on cameras was because she was the next-door neighbour. I felt so dumb for spending hours combing the city before even knocking on the neighbour's door and asking if she'd seen or heard anything. The killer literally killed the tenants on her right and left. Meanwhile, I'm inspecting fingerprints in the victim's workplace and questioning their staff like a moron.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 63

Pyrrha and Coco led the various scouting parties that combed the island in search of more pockets of Grimm. They didn't expect to find any, for what would have meant Salem had thrown her monsters away against the walls for no good reason. Surely enough, while they found a couple here and there in small packs, they were mostly acting like wild Grimm, aggressively attacking the parties and being put down by the former-Chosen. With every day that ended, and every scouting party that returned, the mood within Menagerie improved further.

Sienna had as good as told the people what happened, and what it meant, so while there was still some unrest to him having abandoned them in their hour of need, the overall sentiment was that Menagerie had held on its own, without outside help, and that this was proof they could do so again. Of course, Jaune knew they would have fallen if not for his group dealing with the other Grimm, but he let that be. It didn't cost him anything and it was good for them to have their own confidence. Since then, the walls had been patched up and the trenches were being dug out again. There was no reason to expect an imminent attack from the land, but it didn't hurt to be prepared.

Jaune kept to his fledgeling academy – if one could call a bunch of training fields that – and focused on unlocking aura, and letting Ozma teach while pretending he wasn't in control. Those who knew him well could tell, but the average person couldn't, and Ozma was a much better teacher than he could ever be.

Not having any immediate or lingering threat on their lives pushed the tuition further than it had before. He had no idea what Salem was doing – preparing, obviously, but he didn't know for what – but they had over a week and a half with no sight of anything, and those ten interrupted days were enough for two hundred more people to have their aura unlocked, and about forty to reach a level where Pyrrha felt comfortable with them going on scouts with her. They hadn't yet "mastered" their aura, and that might take years, but they had it to the point where they were instinctively using it to defend against more hits than not. If this continued then they would eventually reach a critical mass where Menagerie was too strong to attack, and Salem knew that. An attack would come. It was just a question of when, where, and how.

In the evenings, while at rest or communally eating and drinking together, Jaune would meet with Sienna, her commanders, Adam, Blake, and bring Pyrrha and Ruby along. There, they would discuss the various things they could imagine Salem doing, plan for them, and more often than not dismiss them. It was better to have a plan than not, however.

"What if they tried to sneak a small team of Chosen onto the island?" asked Ruby.

"There would be plenty enough room for them to hide and live off the land," said Blake, "but I'm not sure how they would pull it off short of having a few people swim away from the next naval engagement. The only way through to us is that strait, and we have it watched twenty-four hours a day. We're even keeping an eye out for aquatic Grimm since we know she controls them."

"I think a much more likely attack will be by said Grimm," said an older man. "We can't very well sail out and cull their numbers, and they can gather however many they want outside the strait and then push through."

"Let them," said Adam. "We could simply surrender the bay and let them have it. They're aquatic Grimm. They can't come up on land, and the church won't sail into a bay swarming with Grimm either. Losing our fishing industry will be bad, but we can hunt and farm on the land if needs be. Better that than fight them on the water where they have every advantage."

"The problem will be if the aquatic Grimm can somehow deliver terrestrial Grimm onto the shore," said Pyrrha. All eyes turned to her. "I'd have normally said that was nonsense because Grimm don't have that kind of capability for strategy, but we know that isn't the case now. If Salem orders Grimm to cling to the backs of Grimm tasked to act like ships then they will do so."

An image of huge Grimm as big as whales carrying tens of littler ones on their backs flashed through his mind. It was ridiculous, almost comical, but it was also something that could happen. They didn't know what limits Salem had with them. If any. "By that logic we should be wary for avian Grimm carrying others as well, though I suppose they'd have to land, and the cargo would need to be lighter than usual."

"We can't build a roof over Menagerie," said Sienna. "And we can't dam the strait either. If the Grimm want to get in, they'll get in. All we can do is try and push them back out." She turned to a heavyset woman Jaune didn't recognise. "How long would it take to build a harbour with a seagate?"

"One strong enough to slow Grimm down? Years, Sienna. Two at least. It'd need to be made of stone, and we'd need to quarry that and then survey the water for shallow points, plan out where the walls would lay and more. It's no small endeavour."

Sienna growled and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm hearing complaints but few suggestions. Anyone?"

"We could build a second wall between the water and the settlement proper," said Adam. "That's about the best I can think of. Cut the ocean off from being a direct route in, and instead have it as its own little area walled off. Anything else would take years – we'd need to terraform the landscape. Dig out channels, widen the bay or build sandbanks. We can't achieve that in a reasonable timeframe."

There was a knock on wood. Sienna's hut-slash-tent didn't have a door, but one of the soldiers had leaned in and rapped on a wooden support beam to create the noise. "Sienna, there's news from the bay. A ship has entered the strait."

"A ship?" Sienna stood. Others did, too. Alarmed. "Just the one? Is there more outside?"

"Far as we can tell it's just the one ship, ma'am. Its flying peaceful colours so the captains let her through. We can have ships out and ready to engage them if you want, though."

"Peaceful colours?" mused Blake. "I wonder if the church is sending yet another diplomatic mission. You'd think they would have caught on the first time we rejected them."

"It's pious to keep faith and continue to try," said Pyrrha. The formerly religious woman then grimaced. "At least, that's what they would tell themselves. It doesn't matter how many times you reject the Church of Salem; they will keep trying to make you see the light and turn away from darkness."

Sienna snorted out a laugh. "Then let's see what their latest offering is – if this even is the church. News of must have spread by now and I wouldn't put it past some cocky trader to see if they couldn't make the journey. If they have, well, we'll welcome them with open arms. Trade is good – and there's a lot we could use."

It would be good, but Jaune highly doubted any trader would have the guts to try it. He'd heard of some risking dangerous roads or bandits to deliver to villages and towns, but you usually only risked your wealth with them. Not only would they be risking their lives here in the straits, but he was sure the church would have made it clear they would be risking their souls as well. Only eternal damnation awaits those in Menagerie or something like that, he thought. Still, he followed Sienna and the others as they left, eager to see who would be visiting them this time.

/-/

They weren't the only ones to gather curiously on the water's edge and watch the ship approach. The mood was relaxed as it drew closer, mostly because it quickly became obvious that this was not a multi-level galleon or warship the likes of which the church employed. It looked small and sleek, with maybe a single level below the deck for a hold and crew's quarters. No one could fit an army big enough to take the island on that, and it also wasn't flying any iconography of the church, so this probably wasn't a diplomatic mission at all, nor a mission to "convert" them back to the true faith.

Was it really a merchant's vessel all the way out here…? Surely not.

Ruby was the first to speak. "Hey, doesn't the shape of that boat look a little familiar?"

"A boat is a boat," Jaune mumbled.

"No. Look! Properly. It has that square house-thing at the back. The captain's quarters. And the deck above it – and look how pointed its nose is." Jaune didn't miss the winces from the much more nautical White Fang at Ruby's choice of words. "I think that's Captain Neptune's ship!"

"The Seaspear?" Or the Trident. Whatever it was they'd decided on in the end. Jaune cupped his hands over his eyes and peered out. It did look familiar now that Ruby mentioned it. "Sienna," he shouted. "They may be allies of ours."

May be. Neptune had sailed back to Atlas and then Vale and could easily have been captured. Still, unless Salem herself was on that ship, they wouldn't be able to conquer the island. He had a feeling Ozma would be reacting a lot more right now if Salem were close.

The ship eventually came close enough to pull its sails back up and turn the rudder, bleeding momentum as it drifted side on towards them. It came to a stop and an anchor was loosed, and then a smaller wooden rowboat was let down with a group of people sat inside it. By that point everyone had figured out this was no invasion, so about half the onlookers had gone home and the other half were waving or calling out to the new arrivals. As they drew close, Jaune caught Neptune's distinctive hair, and then Sun sat behind him on a pair of oars.

More distinctive than both of them were the two youths with pure white hair.

"Is that-?" asked Ruby.

"I think so." Jaune breathed out quickly. "Maybe this is a diplomatic thing. Someone had best warn Ren and Nora before they bump into one another by accident."

The Schnee had come to Menagerie.

Neptune was the first to step off the little boat, and he waved for the rest to stay. A sign of peace. He waded into the shallow water and up onto the beach, bowing low as he came. "Well met, Menagerie. I believe we have had the pleasure before, Sienna, wasn't it?" He waved cheekily. "Hello Jaune, Ruby. Good to see you're doing well. Do Ren and Nora fare well?"

"Well enough," said Jaune. "How about you?"

"Less ideal in all honesty. My crew and I were hoping you might have room for more settlers."

Sienna nodded and stepped forward. "You and yours are welcome so long as they carry their own weight."

"We're no shirkers if that's what you mean." Neptune's smile faded. "But we bring more than just our bodies – we bring news. Which I'm sure isn't exactly easy to come by out here. But first, if I may have my crew come ashore?"

Most of the crew got off, while Sun and another rowed the boat back to share the good news. Sienna called for people nearby to show the newcomers around but waved for Neptune to come with them. The Schnee siblings broke off from the main pack to follow him, and Sienna let it go with a raised eyebrow. They returned to Sienna's hut, at which point they were invited to sit. Ruby had come with Jaune, eager to learn what was happening outside the island, and Adam and Blake had come along as well.

"You said you have news. I expect this is bad news if you felt the need to flee here."

"It's bad, yes." Neptune nodded. "But first, I should introduce to you Weiss and Whitley Schnee. I believe you met them briefly when we docked with your armada."

"I remember them. You were to deliver them to Atlas. What went wrong?"

Weiss cleared her throat. Sienna waved for her to answer for Neptune. "Nothing went wrong initially. Captain Neptune delivered us to Atlas, and after questioning by the church there to make sure we were not compromised, we were freed to continue our duties. The captain was also paid for his services. The problems came later."

"News of your island among the four kingdoms – or three now, with Mistral a ruin – is not good. Initially, you were hailed as pioneers and a hope to replace Mistral, but then you sided with the Dark Lord and your entire island was deemed a place of heretics. A bastion of darkness where evil reigned."

Adam scoffed. No one called him out on it.

"Things changed with what I understand was the first batch of soldiers you sent back. Many of them talked – and they talked of witnessing Salem herself command the Grimm to destroy Menagerie all those decades ago."

"It's the truth," said Blake.

Whitley nodded, interrupting to say, "And we believe it. We were there in Mistral. Weiss and I saw what Salem did to our mother and older sister, and we saw Mistral destroyed. We also saw that the current host for the Dark Lord had nothing to do with it. He was as shocked as we were, and we were all hunted by the Grimm as we made our escape. It couldn't have been him. In fact, the rebels of Mistral were more likely to side with you, Jaune, which is why we believe the Grimm were sent to destroy them in one fell swoop."

"We were conflicted before," said Weiss, "but when we heard what those people claimed to have seen, well, it all connected in our minds. It made sense. Too much sense. I retired from the church citing grief over my family. I couldn't be a part of it anymore."

The same as Pyrrha and Coco. They hadn't seen the reveal, however. Sienna was shooting him a look – as if to ask if he vouched for them. Jaune nodded back. They couldn't know for sure, but they'd been there when the Grimm attacked. They knew he had no part in it. "Why come here?" he asked. "It would have made a lot more sense to retire somewhere quiet and away from all this."

Weiss smiled bitterly. "That was the original plan."

Ruby jumped in. "Something changed…?"

Whitley answered for his sister. "It began after the first failed attack on Menagerie. It was Atlas that mobilised the most ships to the combat, and Atlas who lost the most people. The prisoners you returned were executed."

There were gasps. Jaune closed his eyes. Bastards. He hadn't thought- But no. No one had thought it. Not them, not the prisoners happy to be returning home, and not even Coco or Pyrrha who had spoken to them. "Why?" he asked.

"To send a message," said Adam. "To warn her people to fight harder next time – until the death if needs be."

"It might also be a sign of her mood," added Blake. "As we know it, she hasn't suffered a defeat in thousands of years. Not one like this. I could imagine she's forgotten how to handle it, and that she lost her temper."

They couldn't return prisoners in the future either way, if anyone would surrender to them at all at this point. Things had just become even messier. There was angry muttering around the room until Sienna silenced it by banging her fist on the table. "Enough! Let them continue!"

"Thank you," said Weiss, bowing her head. "After the executions, sentiment for the war became fractured. There were obviously those staunchly loyal to Salem and the Church who supported everything, but there were also a lot of people in Atlas who had lost people – or who feared for their families being sent on future campaigns. There was a push, a call to the goddess supported even by the local bishops, to wall off Menagerie and let the people there suffer for their own folly. The idea was to stop throwing lives away and simply cut you off."

"Salem would never allow that," said Jaune, repeating Ozma's words.

Weiss laughed. "Salem approved it. The war was called off."

Shock.

It wasn't just he who was stunned to silence, but everyone else around the room. Finally, someone made to cheer, but then he stopped. They all did. Had the discussion ended there then Weiss and Whitley would not be here, and Neptune would not have begged them to take his crew in. A pall hung over the room. Sienna broke it to ask, "What happened?"

"One week after peace was declared, Atlas came under sudden attack by Grimm. At least a thousand of them. The walls were breached, more than half the population killed, and the church…" Weiss closed her eyes. "It was a slaughter. The Grimm desecrated it. And I mean that specifically. They didn't just kill, but they tortured the clergy and those inside the church and painted the walls, floor and ceiling with blood. They took their time causing as much chaos as possible – unlike behaviour from Grimm we have ever seen before."

"To frame me," whispered Jaune. He felt sick. "She blamed me for it, didn't she?"

Whitley nodded. "A reprisal for the church's attack on Menagerie, they say. A sign of your intention for the rest of Remnant. The news spread fast, and the church reacted with shock and anger. In a night, the remaining kingdoms were unified against you. Against Menagerie. In their minds, they gave peace a chance and you took advantage of that. No one could hope to convince them otherwise."

"Whitley and I knew we couldn't stay," said Weiss. "And we refused to be drafted into her service. When the Grimm came, we fought our way to Neptune here, who was already trying to escape. He agreed to take us with him. We dropped off other survivors at places along the way and came here to warn you." Weiss spread her arms. "The rest you know."

Everyone began talking at once.

"Self-defeating!" said one man. "She's robbed herself of a whole kingdom!"

"The remaining two are enough souls to fight us."

"What then? What will be left?"

"She will be left," growled Adam, "And that's all she cares about. She'll start anew. A new world, a new civilisation, a new church – more controlled this time. Don't be fooled into thinking she cares about having a functioning kingdom to rule. Salem isn't interested in taxes or wealth. Only control and power."

"But to plunge the whole world into war?"

"It's happened before." Jaune's words brought silence. He remembered Ozma's story. "Back before she ruled, when Ozma did, her solution to that was to purge almost all life on Remnant. It's easier to start afresh than convince people to forget. If she thinks her position is threatened, then she will pit us against one another and then have her Grimm sweep away the ashes. As long as a select few loyal to her survive, she can rebuild civilisation. It might take a few hundred years, but that's nothing to one like her."

No one knew what to say.

"And then what?" asked Ruby, finally. "What are we meant to do? We can't sail out and convince the world about her, and we can't welcome every refugee to come here. Menagerie is a small island compared to the landmass of Vale. We'd never gather enough food."

"Do we accept ourselves as the last people to survive?" asked Blake. "Repopulate the world ourselves?"

"That won't work. Given enough time Salem would eventually overwhelm us – even if it takes her a hundred years, she could gather millions of Nevermore. The only reason she's been rushing things thus far is because she wanted to keep what she has." Jaune looked around the room. "Right now, she's in damage mitigation mode. But if she stops caring about collateral damage entirely then it'll just be full-on Grimm."

"If only we had a question on the relic left," groaned Sienna.

"Good luck convincing everyone to stop and listen to it," said Whitley. "You've destroyed Mistral and Atlas now. Or so most people are led to believe. You – Jaune Arc – have defeated two of the four kingdoms. Half of the empire."

Jaune couldn't help but laugh, even if it was hysterical. "And I haven't even done anything. Salem has scorched two kingdoms just to get to me. This is insane."

"There's something else too," added Weiss. "The Church has investigated the phenomenon of men with aura, following testimonies from survivors of the battle. They have been confirmed as wielding a tainted version of aura provided by the Dark Lord. Now men are being tested as well as women, and any men found to have aura are being purified. Killed. There's panic in smaller villages. Parents are hiding young boys away on the off chance they'll be found to have it. Others are rounding up their young and marching them to be tested and handing them over to be executed if they're found to have it. The divide is extreme between the faithful and those that are being called the faithless. A schism is forming, and the church is being far too heavy-handed in beating it down."

"Has that schism spread to the church yet?" asked Pyrrha.

Weiss looked to her fellow huntress. "Not officially, but I know that some Chosen have spoken out against it. Some are refusing to carry out purification, and some have left. There's been purges among the higher ranks to remove those unwilling or unable to carry out the Goddess' instructions." She sighed. "This is a world my mother and sister would have very much been at home in. It's hard to stomach what's become of us."

That was his fault in a sense. He pushed Salem this far, and her overreactions were part of her attempts to hunt him down. It wasn't fair to say he should have surrendered and given up, but he held some small responsibility. Enough to want to fix it.

What can we do? Ozma?

"I have little wisdom to give," said the old man. "You are right; Salem is preparing to either defeat you or wipe the slate clean and begin anew. If we stay here then we may be able to throw back the attackers and win this war, but that will not protect anyone from the second war looming behind. But to leave Menagerie and take the fight to her would be the height of recklessness. You do not have an army capable, and your students will not be ready for some time. Time you – and the world – do not have."

That wasn't helpful at all.

"I'm sorry. Had I answers to give then I would give them freely. I have failed for many thousands of years, Jaune. You are the closet to success I have ever been, and it has been through little interference by myself. I would trust your instincts over my wisdom."

"Maybe we should take a break." It probably wasn't what Ozma had in mind, that Jaune would make no decision at all, but there was no helping it. "None of us are in our right minds to decide on anything right now. Let's split up, think about this, and then come back tomorrow with suggestions. We know Vale and Vacuo aren't going to attack any time soon from Weiss and Whitley's testimony. It's going to take them a few weeks at leas to gather their forces. Maybe even a few months."

Sienna drew a deep breath. "He's right. We're just throwing ideas around and getting angry. Understandably so, but, well, we might as well be angry on our owns." There were agreeing mumbles around the table. "Neptune, thank you for bringing them and your news. Miss Schnee, will you be happy to work at the academy here with the other former chosen?"

Weiss blinked. "There's an academy?"

"There's a field we call an academy," explained Pyrrha, with a tired smile. "It's a work in progress."

"Then yes, I'll be happy to help. I am more familiar with aura-based magic than most, so I'm sure I can help teach that. I'd like to ask for Whitley to have his aura unlocked as well. My brother almost certainly has the potential if every other member of our family was a strong huntress. I can take care of his training myself."

"We can see to that outside," said Jaune. The others took that as the cute that the meeting was over, and they moved outside. Before they left, however, Sienna called out to them.

"Keep what you've heard today as quiet as we can. Neptune, I want you to spread that to your crew. We won't lie to them, and we'll explain in time, but let's let them have a few days peace before we drop the news."

"Aye, Sienna. I'll make sure they know."

It's a super hot day. The perfect day for my parents to call and ask if I can go do some heavy lifting at theirs to help them with a few (MANY) jobs around their farm. My dog will be thrilled if nothing else. Kali loves jobs outside, to the point that "job" or "jobs" is now a word that triggers her into getting excited.

Next Chapter: 28th May

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