Author's note: Today for real, the third attempt at killing the Carcolh.
Opal's group reached the dust processing plant, and took in the sight before them. The bridge leading to their target was almost completely covered with slimes, and they knew that killing them would only make the Carcolh stronger. There were rocks in front of the bridge, which attracted Grimm on sight, but the Combat Drones had already been used up entirely, causing the Grimm to just surround the rocks.
"So, what do we do now?" Bartholomew asked.
"Something's off," Jaune said to himself.
"Nora, kill those Grimm," Opal answered, "Be sure to use Spectral Healing, and then use the resulting aura to make lightning-dust. Blake, immobilize the slimes. I'll get past them and kill the Carcolh."
"Hold on a second," Jaune said, "Look." He pointed at the edge of the slime horde, and upon taking a closer look, the group noticed that it lined up with the wilted vegetation on the bridge. Now that she saw it, Opal's tail began flicking nervously, and she felt her pulse picking up a little.
"So Mister Arc, what does that tell us?" Bartholomew asked, slipping back into teacher mode.
"It means there is likely a range limit," Jaune answered, "If we kill them further away than that, it shouldn't heal the Carcolh."
"Leave that to me," Blake said and loaded her gravity tether bullets, "Nora, if you would."
"Of course," Nora said and fired a lightning-dust canister into the Grimm, killing them all. Blake handed her the metal disk and rushed towards the bridge, running up one of the support arches. Nora headed over to the rocks and used the healing orbs to recharge her aura and make lightning-dust, then walked over to a spot in front of the bridge, put down the disk and placed a Shock Crystal in the air above it.
"Impressive," Peter said. Blake shot the slimes with the tether bullets, and when she reloaded, Nora activated the metal disk, pulling over two dozen slimes towards her. As soon as they got close to the disk, they were electrocuted, and the attack jumped from one to the other, killing them all. Once all the slimes were dead, Nora deactivated the disk again.
"We still good?" Yang asked and looked back at Opal, and all the color drained from her face.
"Yang, what's wrong?" Weiss asked and looked at Opal as well, only to freeze when she saw the fusion's thousand-yard-stare.
"Guys, we have a problem," Jaune called out, getting Blake and Nora's attention and prompting them to return.
"What's wrong?" Blake asked, but paused when she saw Opal's face, and how her horse tail twitched slightly as tension and anxiety clashed inside her, fighting for control over her body language.
"We're heading back," Jaune said, and he and Yang picked up Opal, while the rest of the group prepared to open a corridor for them. In their retreat, they completely neglected to pay attention to what the slimes were doing.
~o~
On the way back to the train station, they encountered a Beowolf, and before anyone could react, Opal screamed and rushed towards it, knocking it to the ground with a left hook and aura shockwave. She jumped at the Grimm, putting her full strength into her legs when she came back down, and began stomping its head into the pavement until the road cracked. She grabbed the Grimm by the arm and threw it onto the street, and caught it with Prism Chain before swinging it into a building.
"Why won't you die?!" Opal shouted, with Sapphire's voice being extremely prominent, and zapped the Grimm with blue energy blasts. She spun around, slamming the Grimm into the surrounding buildings and damaging them severely. Jaune created several clones of himself to protect the group from all the flying debris, and whenever the Grimm hit near the group, he felt even the shockwave bear down on his shield. Looking around, Cardin realized where they were, and rushed towards Opal when her back was turned. As soon as she turned around again, he slapped her, sending her to the ground and breaking her aura. The Beowolf landed some distance away, got up and charged the group, but as it jumped, it took all the damage it had received, and spontaneously ceased to exist.
"If I wasn't so shocked, I would have to study this," Bartholomew said absentmindedly.
"Hey Ruby, you- oh no," Yang said when she turned around, and saw Sapphire lying on the ground. She wore dark blue shoes, black pants, a white shirt under a blue hoodie, and the same wrist band with glass pearls that Ruby had, but also wore a red hooded cloak, and carried Emerald's weapons.
"Does anyone know who this is? And where's Ruby?" Cardin asked and said, "I thought she'd be here." Jaune's clones disappeared again.
"I think that's Sapphire," Jaune answered, "She seemed to have been in charge when Opal's aura broke, so Ruby's body defaulted to this form, instead of Ruby's."
"Great, now what?" Cardin asked, "Do you think I should let the others know?"
"No, probably not," Yang answered, "They'll only worry, which would attract Grimm, and we just saw how Sapphire responds to those." They looked around the destruction, and already dreaded the complaints they would get from the business owners.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Cardin said and asked, "So, what do we do?"
"We'll head back, this time for real," Yang answered, walked over to pick Sapphire up, and led the group back to the train station. Jaune and Blake eventually took the lead, allowing Yang to focus on keeping Sapphire steady, instead of watching out for danger.
~o~
When the group returned to the train station, they saw Khione, Glynda and Taiyang ready to fight, with several turrets set up and aiming at where Ruby would open a portal if they had to retreat again. Yang had wrapped Sapphire in Ruby's cloak and pulled the hood down, concealing her identity. When he noticed the group, Taiyang walked over to them.
"There you are," Taiyang said and asked, "Wait, what happened?"
"Things got a bit… out of hand," Yang answered, avoiding eye contact, "Ruby is a bit out of it, and needs some rest. But don't worry, we've got this."
"Alright, but you should also get some rest," Taiyang said.
"Will do," Yang said and headed inside. She walked upstairs and put Sapphire in Ruby's bed to keep up appearances, then went back downstairs to get something to eat. After a quick meal, she went back upstairs and sat down on Ruby's bed, both to make sure the cloak doesn't come off, and so that Sapphire wouldn't be alone when she woke up.
~o~
Cardin was in his bird form, looking for Sky. He found his teammate fighting some Grimm, along with several soldiers, and transformed back in a nearby alleyway, then drew his mace and approached the group as if he had come on foot.
"Watch out," Cardin called out, turned his mace into its war hammer form and hit the ground with a powerful overhead swing, sending a wave of fiery energy into a charging pack of Beowolves, killing them all. Hearing his voice, Sky turned around, while the soldiers got to securing the parameter and setting up barricades.
"Oh, hey Cardin," Sky said and asked, "What brings you here? How'd it go with the Carcolh?" Cardin collapsed his weapon into its mace form again and put it away.
"We had some trouble," Cardin answered, "Opal freaked out when she saw what was happening, and on the way back, she went completely feral when she saw a Beowolf."
"That sounds bad," Sky said and asked, "So, is that all?"
"No, not really," Cardin answered, "When we encountered the Beowolf, we were around your dad's factory. And, well, it looks really bad." Hearing that, Sky groaned.
"He's going to be so mad," Sky said and asked, "How bad does it look?"
"Sorry," Cardin said and answered, "From the damages, you'd think we fought a bunch of Big Ursai or something."
"That bad?" Sky asked, his eyes wide in shock, "How did she do that much damage to a single Beowolf?"
"Well, Opal's semblance," Cardin answered, "It keeps Grimm from taking damage until five seconds after she stops hitting them. So, since she kept hitting it, it never actually took damage until I stepped in."
"What did you do?" Sky asked.
"Just slapped her," Cardin answered, "Of course, with my semblance, and Jaune having cloned himself a couple times, there was a lot of damage. We decided to keep some things under wraps, at least for now, so I can't really tell you more. See you."
"Alright," Sky said, "Yeah, I'll head back once we make it to the upper class district. They want to secure this road properly, and prepare for the advance over the next few days, then take the district when every route is secured to make sure the Grimm can't get out."
"Sounds like a plan," Cardin said and walked away again. On the way back, he sent a Messenger Bird to deliver an important message, then walked into an alleyway, transformed into his bird form and flew back, after taking a detour over the upper class district for some quick recon.
~o~
When Sapphire woke up, the world was shrouded in red, and she could just barely make out the shapes of people. She laid completely still and focused on her aura. She didn't know where she was, but the person sitting by her side was a capable fighter. In the blink of an eye, she pulled back her left leg, rolled to the side and kicked with all her might, using an aura shockwave to add extra force and send the person flying into a wall. Before the woman could recover, Sapphire jumped onto her feet and pulled off whatever was covering her face, only to see Yang on the floor.
"Yang, what happened?" Taiyang asked as he and Zwei came running upstairs, alarmed by the sound of Yang crashing into the wall. While Taiyang knelt next to Yang to help her regain her focus, he noticed the sound of heavy breathing, and looked over to Sapphire.
"I can explain," Yang said, still a bit dazed. Sapphire looked around, then down on herself, and saw that she was herself, but also had Emerald's weapons and Ruby's cloak, and stood on a field bed.
"Wh- what happened? Where am I? What did you do to me?" Sapphire asked, starting to panic a little more with each question.
"I would like to know that, too," Taiyang said and looked at Yang, who he just now realized was bleeding from her forehead. Ren and Dove came running upstairs, and Sapphire glared at them.
"Calm down," Ren said and used Tranquility to calm her emotions, prioritizing her anxiety over her anger.
"We are not your enemies," Dove said and used Mellow, releasing a wave of blue energy and removing everyone's desire to fight. Sapphire relaxed completely and sat down on the bed, and both Taiyang and Yang were impressed by how quickly those two guys had completely deescalated the situation.
~o~
An hour later, most of the group met in the train station, to discuss how they should handle the situation, and what to do about Sapphire. Ren periodically reapplied Tranquility to keep her from freaking out, while Jaune used Aura Amp to keep him able to do that.
"What happened back there?" Taiyang asked, looking around the room, and everyone involved in the assault party looked at Sapphire.
"Opal suddenly got really, and I mean really, nervous," Yang answered. Sapphire pulled Ruby's cloak close and shrunk into it.
"You've seen it too, haven't you?" Sapphire asked and said, "The decay, I mean."
"Yeah, spooky stuff," Nora said, and Sapphire huffed.
"You there, aura boy," Sapphire said, looking at Jaune, and asked, "You can see Grimm with your astral tracing, right?"
"My name is Jaune," Jaune answered and asked, "But yeah, why?"
"Astral tracing detects aura," Sapphire explained, "If you can see something with the technique, it either possesses aura, or at least interacts with it. Interaction means a possibility to modify."
"So, what are you saying?" Glynda asked, and Sapphire gave a short, somewhat insulting, laugh.
"It's Niob. It all comes back to him," Sapphire answered, "Or in this case, his father. When he died, all the souls he took, all the skills, went to his mistress."
"I'm… not sure I follow," Glynda said.
"Of course you don't," Sapphire said, "You haven't seen it. But I have. I have stared into the abyss. I have lived in it. I grew so familiar with the darkness as to be repulsed by it, like having the same meal for three weeks in a row."
"Can we please focus?" Yang asked, "How does this relate to the Carcolh and what happened back there?"
"Niob's father stole countless souls," Sapphire answered, "Two are important here. Their semblances are Withered Armor and Broken Sword."
"That still doesn't explain how this relates to the Grimm," Bartholomew said, and Sapphire huffed angrily.
"Except it does, you stupid coffee addict," Sapphire said, and began to come out of the cloak as she got more worked up.
"Hey now, that's uncalled for," Peter said, trying to defend his friend.
"No one asked you," Sapphire shot back, looked at Oscar and asked, "Are you sure that all pigs are dangerous? Because that one doesn't look like much."
"Hey, don't drag me into this," Oscar said and backed into his chair, hoping to get out of the situation. Suddenly, Sirena loudly put her hands together, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"I invoke privateer code article fifteen," Sirena said, "We should postpone the conversation at least until sunset."
"You have no right to invoke that code," Sapphire said, and Sirena pulled out a special license to operate in Vale's waters at her own discretion, in order to preserve public safety.
"I do, actually," Sirena said and handed Sapphire the license to let her see that it was real. After confirming that it was real, Sapphire handed it back.
"That still doesn't mean I have to agree," Sapphire said, "It's just one against one."
"I- I'm in favor," Khione said and pulled out her captain's license. Sapphire took it, and after confirming that it was genuine, sighed in defeat and handed it back.
"Alright, fine," Sapphire said, "We'll meet here again at six. I'll be waiting." She fell into her chair, and while everyone else left the building to get some air and calm down, Sirena used the break to prepare for the next attempt at discussion, while Khione wondered why Sirena had a license that made her exempt from the law in special situations.
~o~
Later that day, after sunset, everyone returned to the train station to continue the discussion. Everyone had just accepted that Sirena knew the privateer code, and didn't really bother bringing it up, since the explanation was actually fairly obvious. After Ruby's friends, Cardin and his team, and the teachers got seated, Sirena gave Dove a nod and he released another wave of blue energy, this time saturated with silver sparks that lingered in the air.
"What is that?" Yang asked and moved her hand through the sparks, creating a turbulence like they were dust suspended in the air.
"Well, Cardin has his Messenger Bird," Dove answered, "And I now have Ceasefire. Any and all attempts at fighting will be punished."
"You tricked me," Sapphire shouted, and glared at Sirena.
"Privateer code article fifteen, second addition," Sirena said calmly, "Participants can use the break, should it be granted, to take measures to ensure the conversation does not need to be postponed again once it resumes." Sapphire blinked in confusion and calmed down again.
"Well, it appears I underestimated you," Sapphire said, "Very well."
"So, let's get back on topic," Glynda said and asked, "What is the deal with this Grimm?"
"As I said before, Grimm interact with the ambient aura," Sapphire answered, "And during my time in the abyss that is Niob's soul, I learned that this has serious implications."
"How serious?" Taiyang asked.
"If you can interact with something, you can change it," Sapphire answered.
"And aura is no different," Jaune said thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Sapphire said, "This Grimm, the Carcolh, was created to change the ambient aura passing through it in a specific way."
"Wait, don't tell me," Glynda said, her eyes wide with horror.
"This Grimm is replicating the effects of a semblance," Sapphire said. Even Sirena was visibly shaken by this revelation, and the room fell dead silent, and no one knew for how long.
~o~
A group of Atlas soldiers, as well as several Knight 130 and 130b units, stood guard at one of the fortifications, trying to keep Grimm away from the parts of the city that had already been reclaimed. The waist-high barriers blocked off two thirds of the road, and alternated between sides, slowing down any horde of Grimm. Suddenly, a large pack of Beowolves charged towards them, and the soldiers opened fire while the Knights opened with their defense-reducing energy disks.
"Retreat," one of the soldiers called out as the Grimm reached the first fortification. Half the soldiers fell back to the third barrier, while the other half kept shooting the Grimm until the first half resumed fire, and only then did the second half retreat. The second half went straight to fourth fortification, and provided cover fire for the first half, who went to the fifth barrier.
~o~
The train station was still dead silent when the people inside heard gunfire. It was subdued at first, as the shock took priority in everyone's mind, but one by one, they could no longer ignore it, and were reminded of their duty. Jaune was the first to get up, then Khione, and then Sirena.
"Hey, what are you waiting for, an invitation?" Sirena asked and snapped her fingers impatiently, bringing the others back to their senses.
"I'm going ahead," Jaune said and burst into rose petals, heading to where the fighting was. Khione drew her crossbow followed him on foot, while Sirena made sure everyone else was coming, too. When Sapphire left the train station, Sirena walked beside her, letting her know that everything would be alright.
~o~
When Sirena and Sapphire went to catch up with the others, they saw that they had split up to help defend different areas. Jaune had formed a shield wall with his clones, completely blocking off a major road and using his Aura Guardian as additional defense. Ren had used Sword Dash, covering a smaller road in spectral blades that would cut up any Grimm that came close. Sirena took Sapphire's hand and started running.
"Where are we going?" Sapphire asked.
"Where we're needed," Sirena answered, "I can sense their fear, and it's strongest there. Hurry." Sapphire quickly caught herself and started running alongside Sirena, still holding her hand.
"What is this feeling?" Sapphire thought as she felt the wind blow through her hair, "Why does it feel… familiar?" She looked over to Sirena, who seemed to be moving in slow motion. The stars and moon, reflecting off the distant pearly white facades of the upper class buildings, framed her silhouette and gave her an almost otherworldly shine.
~o~
Glynda and Taiyang helped a group of Knights fight off various Grimm in the agricultural district, after the soldiers had to retreat for their own safety. However, Glynda internally recoiled at the fact that the ground was covered in animal waste, negatively impacting her ability to fight. A King Taijitu broke out of the ground, flinging the stinking goop everywhere.
"This will never wash out, will it?" Glynda asked and looked over to Taiyang, only to see that he got hit worse than she did. Taiyang shrugged and augmented his semblance with water-dust, launching balls of blue energy at the Grimm, which burst into water on impact and somewhat liquefied the gunk on the ground. Once the Grimm died, Glynda looked at the puddle, and saw that it was draining into a manhole, leaving a moderately clean ground behind.
"We can worry about that later," Taiyang said, "For now, let's make sure the city is safe." The Knights advanced as soon as the Grimm was dead, but struggled to keep their footing on the filthy ground.
"Great, now what?" Glynda asked, paused and asked, "Wait, do you hear that?" Both turned around and saw a woman with silver eyes and short, light brown hair, safe for four strands reaching down to her waist, from where the duo saw a horse tail protruding. She wore a white shirt under an open beige vest with blue edges, a blue asymmetrical skirt held by three belts, and dark beige rider's boots with blue laces. She also wore light blue ribbons wrapped around her arms and a red cape. Her hair and tail, the belts, and the ribbons and cape all fluttered in the wind.
"Who's that?" Taiyang asked, paused and said, "She's not slowing down." Glynda used her Telekinesis to move her and Taiyang out of the woman's way, not sure who she was or why she wouldn't stop.
"Watch out, Gloria coming through," Gloria said as she ran straight past the two huntsmen with a big smile. Her feet were covered in a blue glow that lingered and formed an arrow wherever she stepped, and a blue path formed on the ground, extending half a meter to either side of the line of arrows. The Knights that were on the path began glowing blue and floating, and were brought along the path, unhindered by the ground.
Author's note: And another attempt fails.
Remember how Talia found a way to recreate semblances with technology? Salem learned something similar.
The privateer code, also called Pirate's Law, was established in the kingdom's early days, when the king handed out letters of marque to pirates, in order to get the pirate problem under control. The code forbids privateers from flying the kingdom's flag, or attacking ships that do, and also means that if a ship surrenders, they can only take a third of their stuff, and have to take all the prisoners on that ship into their crew.
That last thing was intended to combat slavery, as slaves were counted as captives under Valean law, but this obviously led to an awful lot of faunus pirates.
Anyway, in order to invoke this code, one must operate on the kingdom's waters in an official capacity.
Officially, the code is no longer in effect, but most pirates still abide by it, at least to some extent. Khione studied it mainly so she could use it if she ever had trouble with pirates.