Jacen was still wrestling with what he had been shown.

The fact that there was a half-dead living legend just beneath the school was unsettling enough, but knowing that this Salem would go to great lengths to obtain these Maidens made his blood run cold.

He truly hoped that Ozpin's comment about Salem meeting the same criteria as a Sith was just an example based on Jacen's experience.

He hadn't survived an entire war engineered by one Sith Lord, only to encounter another this far from the Core.

There had been a long-standing rumor that, somewhere in the Unknown Regions, was an ancient world known as Exegol, believed to be the last remnant of the Sith Empire years after their destruction.

Many believed Exegol was a scary bedtime story that masters told younglings who wouldn't behave.

However, Jacen recalled throughout his training under Draco that every myth began with some form of truth that became distorted or misconstrued throughout the ages.

Worse yet, if that dark woman with the burning golden eyes he'd seen in that vision he had was the one who took half of the Fall Maiden's power, Amber's half-dead state also constituted a kind of doomsday clock if she died.

Ozpin seemed to be holding more secrets that he had yet to reveal.

For instance, it wasn't just the Maiden's power that he sensed down there.

Something else was beneath the school, very powerful and, most likely, very dangerous.

What else was Ozpin hiding? He wondered.

Ozpin had brought Jacen into his group that protects the world from whatever this Salem has been tossing at them while also keeping the existence of the Maidens a secret, but Jacen felt a twinge of suspicion in his musings.

Though he was grateful to Ozpin for giving him a new purpose after he'd lost everything during the war, Jacen felt that he wasn't fully prepared to trust Ozpin.

Still, if there was a possibility that he could help in keeping the peace in Remnant alongside Ozpin's group, he wasn't about to pass it up.

This could be the chance to truly do a Jedi's work, protecting the innocent, dismantling criminal elements, and bringing down whoever Salem was.

Still, he had more immediate concerns on his mind.

For example, he'd thought that Rowan might have returned later in the afternoon, but he hadn't.

In fact, no one Jacen asked seemed to have seen him all day.

He wasn't necessarily worried about Rowan being hurt, considering he could handle himself in a fight.

However, the fact Rowan hadn't come back troubled him.

Where could he have gone? Jacen asked himself.

Looking around the room, Jacen reached through the Force to see if he could detect anything that would explain Rowan's whereabouts.

He cleared his mind of what he'd been shown and gave himself over to the Force for guidance.

He had the vague impression of being drawn toward something on Rowan's side of the bedroom.

It resonated with a strong emotional current.

Closing his eyes, Jacen held out his hand as his mind grasped the size and feel of whatever was drawing him.

It felt no bigger than a coin, smooth as though it were made of some marble, there were carved symbols etched onto its front and back.

He then called upon the Force to bring the object into his hand.

When Jacen opened his eyes, he saw that he had discovered some kind of tribal rune stone.

A ring encircled the same twin axe sigil that he'd seen on Ozpin's mug, but there was also a clover symbol in the center.

The carved markings within the ring were written in a language he didn't recognize or understand.

However, from how it pulsated with memory, it was something important for Rowan.

Sabacc, Jacen thought to himself.

Now, he had a way to find out where Rowan had gone.

As he grasped the rune stone, the room's sounds became muted as he drew upon his usage of psychomatry.

He couldn't always see a clear image, but he saw enough to get a basic location layout.

He saw what looked like miles of gravestones, a cemetery.

His focus then changed to a fenced-off cemetery section with the axe sigil above it.

It took Jacen a second to realize that he was seeing through Rowan's perspective.

He could feel a powerful sense of respect and sorrow as Rowan gently caressed the rune stone.

Jacen's focus then came to rest on an obelisk with the status of identically dressed warriors with spears held as though sentries standing guard.

A memorial for the Cú Warriors.

Jacen saw Rowan get closer to the obelisk, where he could make out a list of names for the fallen warriors.

Before Jacen could discern any other names, the vision faded.

Jacen gave a slight grunt of frustration; whenever he used psychomatry, it was always difficult to keep what he saw in focus.

While it was more practical to learn a new skill or even track someone, whenever he used it for longer durations, it often caused discomfort.

Quinlan Vos had an innate talent with psychomatry, and he never showed any discomfort unless it involved touching a weapon or some other object saturated by the Dark Side.

Jacen had to put more focus into the effort to see certain things.

Now he had something of an idea, except he didn't know exactly what cemetery the Cú Warriors' memorial was.

However, he knew who he could ask.


Gray stared in awe at the object Jacen showed him.

"An actual Cú Warrior Honor Rune," he said with excitement.

"What exactly is it?" Jacen asked.

"Well, per their tradition, a member of the Cú Warriors carried these as a kind of good luck charm," Gray explained.

"It's also used during funerary processions," he added.

Jacen seemed to think about that topic; given the new information that Gray added to his entry regarding Jedi that Jacen had graciously shared, Gray assumed he must have used some kind of Force ability as Jacen described what he saw.

"I saw an old cemetery with an obelisk surrounded by four statues standing in silent guard around it," Jacen explained.

Gray looked from the rune stone to Jacen with interest, "What else did you see?" He asked.

"Is this ability shared by other Jedi of your order?"

Jacen thought about it momentarily, "Psychomatry is a rare ability, even among the Jedi," he answered.

"Aside from myself, there's the Kiffar Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, and then," Jacen's voice seemed to drop to a somber tone.

"Maru Thorne also had that gift."

Gray felt a sting of guilt; he recalled from Jacen's story of the Fall of Taris, during which a horrific Jedi killing cyborg known as General Grievous, leader of the Separatist's droid army, led a brutal assault upon the world, which resulted in the death of the Echani Master Kaiya Fenni and, Maru was said to have been killed alongside his master.

"You mean, you can see things whenever you touch certain objects?" Gray asked.

Jacen nodded, "See things, and places, and occasionally sense the emotions of someone that's held the object," he answered.

"For instance, when I touched the stone, I could sense Rowan's feeling of reverence and even a deep sorrow."

Gray's eyebrow lifted slightly, "Sorrow, from someone like Rowan?" He asked in surprise.

"Rowan's not different from any human that feels a sense of loss, I guess even Faunus shares that same feeling," Jacen answered.

The mention of the rune stone used for funerary rites made Gray gasp, "Um, Rowan's going to be livid at finding this missing," he said with concern.

Jacen stared at him in bewilderment, "Why's that?" He asked.

"Regarding funerary rites, if a member of the Cú Warriors wishes to speak to the spirits of the fallen warriors, they needed this to do so, according to their ancient traditions," Gray answered.

He saw Jacen place a hand over his mouth, "I don't suppose you know where the memorial site is?" He asked, his voice muffled underneath his hand.

Gray obliged Jacen by pulling out his scroll and going through his extensive lists till he found the right article.

"The Cú Warrior Memorial is at the heart of the Vale cemetery, in the same section in which the Royal Crypt where the royal family of Vale was laid to rest," he said.

Jacen composed himself and then rushed out the door after grabbing the rune stone.

No sooner did he leave than Gray looked into a mirror, his face noticeably cold.

To others, there wasn't any visible change, but often, Gray saw the reflection take the appearance of Hyde.

"This complicates things," Gray said to the reflection.

"If that Jedi were to touch our weapons, what do you think he'd see?" Hyde's voice spoke from the reflection.

"You should have let him die during the Emerald Forest battle."

Gray scoffed slightly, "You're too impulsive and brutish, Hyde," he admonished.

"We were lucky not to be seen by the cameras scattered around the forest when I let you play with the Ursa and King Taijitu," he added.

"However, it wouldn't have been brilliant to transform just to kill one person in front of a group of other people."

Hyde growled, "You've had plenty of chances," he said.

"Don't tell me you've become so distracted with this Jedi that you've forgotten why we're here."

Gray's eyes narrowed, "This changes nothing," he said coldly.

"The plan will continue, however, we'll need to move cautiously from now on," he added.

Still, while Gray had carried out his tasks without regret or hesitation, he just couldn't bring himself to add Jacen to the list.

Jacen was unlike anything Gray had ever discovered or even read about.

He was noble, and potentially powerful, and he had a genuine sense of duty whenever it came to protecting others.

Inwardly, he wondered what might happen when, She, learned about this Jedi.

Jacen mentioned that the Empire would stop at nothing to hunt him down, but if he was introduced to Her, could She ensure that the Empire never got their hands on him?

Gray closed his eyes tightly and clutched at his head; when he opened his eyes, the reflection was once again his own.

She had given him so much opportunity to study real history and even showed him things even his own mother only had a partial understanding of.

He hoped deep down that She would be willing to consider Jacen worth something.


Alone in the dead of night, Rowan genuflected in front of the memorial dedicated to the fallen Cú Warriors that had passed on throughout the ages.

The ones in green-gold lettering marked those who died in service to the last King of Vale during the Great War.

Dressed in the more formal uniform of the Cú Warriors, he raised his head to gaze at the obelisk.

One day, my name will end up on this memorial stone, Rowan thought.

His eyes fell upon the most recent addition to their numbers, Rowena.

Jabbing Gae Bulg into the ground with the spearhead pointed skyward, he adopted a poster of prayer, an infrequent and unusual process in such a modern society.

He chanted a small invocation in the language the Cú Warriors were versed in, then he called upon their names.

When he announced Rowena's name, he began to reach into his pocket, then froze.

Where was it!?

The rune stone was gone, he'd come here to seek atonement, and the act of coming without it would only add to his growing list of things to atone for.

The sound of creaking metal made him turn.

Someone had the nerve to step upon the sacred grounds of the memorial.

His eyes changed yellow, and his tail bristled as his anger mounted.

He already knew who it was.

"You'd better have a good reason for coming here, Jacen," he practically growled.

Sure enough, Jacen stood just outside the gate, not quite setting foot on the grounds entering the memorial site.

"I don't want to fight Rowan," Jacen said.

"I just want to talk," he said, then tossed something to Rowan that he caught in his hand.

The rune stone, Rowan still maintained a guarded position with his eyes narrowed, "What did you come here to say?" He asked.

"For starters," Jacen said.

"I wanted to apologize for insulting the Cú Warriors, and for making you feel disgraced."

Rowan growled, he came to apologize for all that?

"Apology accepted, now get out," he said gruffly.

"Please, Rowan, I don't want this tension to go any further," Jacen said, still standing outside the gate.

"Yes, it's true that I'm probably the last of the Jedi, and I couldn't save my master when our troopers turned on us."

Rowan lifted an eyebrow with that comment, "What do you mean your soldiers turned on you?"

Jacen shrugged, "Remnant had the Great War in which the Four kingdoms were embroiled, Vale had the Cú Warriors to defend the King of Vale and its people," he said.

"The Jedi were involved in a war known as the Clone Wars."

Rowan became more confused rather than angry, the Clone Wars?

Rowan definitely never heard of such an event, he'd also never even heard the term clone.

From his training under Rowena, he learned about several instances of strange strategies used during the Great War.

One of the most insane was planting Grimm into enemy areas.

A sudden realization came into his mind, "The Jedi aren't from Remnant, are they?" He asked.

Jacen looked from side to side, perhaps seeing that there wasn't anyone else nearby.

Eventually, Jacen looked at Rowan and shook his head, "We're not," he said.

Rowan, in turn looked from Jacen to the memorial obelisk and back.

Rowan had thought Jacen would rub his face in his humiliating defeat, but Jacen was appealing to his honor.

Still, Jacen's words regarding the Clone Wars and these troopers the Jedi commanded betraying them warranted his attention.

Easing his stance, he motioned toward Jacen, "One who has earned the respect of a member of the Cú Warriors is welcomed upon these sacred grounds," he replied.

He watched as Jacen gave a slight bow before he walked with a motion of reverence, not unlike how Rowan himself often did whenever he came here.

When Jacen stood before him, Rowan crossed his arms across his chest, "You were mentioning this, Clone War you and your fellow Jedi were involved with," he said.

Jacen took a moment before answering, "The Jedi were supposed to be guardians of peace and justice, backed by wisdom from the Force," he explained.

The Force, was that the name of the power Jacen used?

He'd heard legends about magic supposedly existing in ages past.

Was this Force power such an example?

"To most, the Clone Wars was a massive struggle between the Republic, which the Jedi swore to serve, and the Separatists, which opposed us," Jacen explained.

"Even the Jedi thought we were doing the right thing during the war."

Rowan cupped his chin with his hand, "That explains your strategy usage and facing terrible odds," he said.

"You've been forged by such experience, so why become a huntsman?"

When Jacen's eyes met Rowan's, Rowan noticed that there was a look of near despair in his eyes.

He knew the Great War had several horrifying events that would leave even the most hardened warrior broken and thought it likely Jacen had witnessed such things during his own Clone Wars.

What could have happened that made Jacen's own soldiers turn on him and the Jedi?

It was true that not every soldier who fought had a sense of honor or loyalty, and there were always those who would stab their superiors in the back if things went to hell.

"Don't get the wrong impression," Jacen said.

"The clones we fought beside were loyal beyond measure, and in a fight, you couldn't ask for better soldiers."

"Then, what made them turn on you?" Rowan asked.

"Where there's light, there is shadow, and for the Jedi, no shadow was as deep or dark as the Sith who orchestrated the entire war," Jacen answered.

An orchestrated war? How could anyone engineer and maintain an entire war, especially against these Jedi?

From the way Jacen described the Sith, it was likely that they also followed their own interpretation of the Force, but there was more to it than that.

"I already explained this to Yang, though both Gray and Rouge happened to listen in," Jacen added.

"Simply put, the entire war was nothing but the biggest trap organized by our ancient enemies, and who would have guessed, that the ultimate tools the Sith would use in our destruction would be our own soldiers?"

The Sith had turned the Jedi's entire army against them, "What about this Republic or the Separatists?" Rowan asked.

"The Separatist leadership has been completely eradicated," Jacen answered.

"As for the Republic, it became an Empire which marked all Jedi like me for death guilty of treason."

Rowan looked at Jacen when the word treason left his lips, "Treason?" He asked.

"The official story was that the Jedi Order was plotting to overthrow Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, and attempted an assassination," Jacen answered.

"However, the Jedi played into the hands of the Sith, now, in addition to the attempted assassination, there's even a story saying that the Jedi were the ones that organized the war to seize control."

Rowan noticed that as Jacen continued speaking, he began trembling.

Rowan turned when he heard the metal fence shaking as if a strong wind were blowing, though Rowan noticed there wasn't even a slight breeze tonight.

His eyes turned toward the trembling obelisk as though an earthquake were taking place.

Suddenly, Rowan looked at Jacen with a hint of concern.

Whatever the Force Jacen drew upon seemed to make Jacen into something of a force of nature.

"With one order, the Clone troopers under master Draco Jedite and myself turned their weapons on us," Jacen's voice had gone shaky as though an unbearable sadness had gripped him.

"My master sacrificed himself to save my life."

Now Rowan truly felt remorse for what he'd said about Jacen being unable to save his fellow Jedi.

"He must have been like a father to you," Rowan said.

Jacen seemed to calm down a bit as he replied, "He was, though the Jedi often preached that we shouldn't form attachments or even act on our emotions," he said with what might have been slight bitterness.

"You mean they told you to cut yourself off from friends or family?" Rowan asked with a hint of surprise.

"My master argued that it wasn't a bad thing to form bonds with people, but the danger lies in holding on to something long after its time has passed," Jacen answered.

"Eventually, all life ends, no matter how much we may desire it to be otherwise, but we should always cherish those moments we have with those we've formed bonds with."

Rowan actually found himself placing a hand on his shoulder, and he couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"I-I'm the one who should apologize," Rowan said reluctantly.

"You were right that I was disgracing the Cú Warriors through my petty acts," he added just as reluctantly.

"It's part of why I came here to seek atonement."

Jacen seemed to adopt a curious expression, "I feel that there's someone specific you seek atonement from," he said.

Rowan grimaced inwardly, evidently, the Force let Jacen read people's minds or emotional states.

Rowan brought Jacen closer and pointed with Gae Bulg at Rowena's name, then pointed toward her last name.

"Rowena Conall?" Jacen's voice sounded almost shocked.

"Rowena, was my mother," Rowan said.


Rowan's mother?

Jacen didn't know how to respond at first.

Jacen's view of Draco being like his father was more of a symbolic relationship.

In Rowan's case, Jacen felt that it was a relationship by blood.

"I guess, we have more in common than I'd initially thought," Jacen finally said.

He noticed that Rowan was looking at him with a new respect.

"The Cú Warriors once held respect and honor, but those Warriors that joined after the war ended became disillusioned and ended up dragging the Warriors into disrepute," Rowan eventually said.

"When I become a huntsman myself, I want to be able to restore the honor they once had," he added.

Jacen raised an eyebrow, "What about your fight with Pyrrha Nikkos?" He asked.

Rowan chuckled a bit, "For me to take that step toward restoring the Cú Warrior honor, I have to show the world why we were such great warriors, and Pyrrha Nikkos happens to be one of Remnant's top most tournament combatants," he raised a hand slightly.

"Mind you, I respect Pyrrha as a fighter, and it's that level of notoriety that I need to begin redeeming the Warriors."

Jacen turned toward the obelisk, marveling at its impressive stature.

As he gazed at Rowena's name, he lowered his head in the traditional Jedi bow of respect.

"There is no death, there is the Force," he began in a kind of prayer.

Afterward, he raised his head and then turned to face Rowan, extending his hand.

"I don't want our past mistakes to keep us from reaching our goals," Jacen said.

"Perhaps now we could start being friends," he added.

He noticed a slight scowl on Rowan's face, but at least he hadn't outright rejected the idea out of hand.

With a light chuckle, Rowan grabbed Jacen's hand firmly, "Then let us walk the path toward our goal together," he said.

"If nothing else, I don't want to be compared to that Schnee brat."

Jacen involuntarily winced, Weiss had an inflated ego the size of Jabba the Hutt, and she'd never be as willing to admit her own faults as she was now.

"I'm actually surprised you could resist shattering her like a porcelain doll for calling you a flea-bitten mutt," Jacen said.

"I'm not about to drag the Cú Warriors even further into disgrace by acting like the sycophantic holier-than-thou members of the White Fang," Rowan replied, not even hiding his contempt.

The White Fang, every act of violence only darkened humanity's views on the Faunus while others were doubtless terrified.

"I know they weren't always like that," Jacen said.

For a split second, the image of Tukson and Dusky sprang to mind, followed by the image of Blake.

He paused, "Blake…Belladonna," he said as though struck with insight.

His mind reflected on the bow she always wore and how it seemed to twitch even when there wasn't any wind.

Jacen already had his suspicions that she was a Faunus from how she reacted to the news report on the White Fang, but his fear was confirmed when he noticed the bow twitching.

Furthermore, there was another reason that Blake's last name was familiar, "Ghira Belladonna, he was the leader of the White Fang before this Kin Onyurio took his place, which means," he heard Rowan make a noise expressing confirmation.

"Blake's a legacy from when the Fang wasn't the crazed holier-than-thou group it's become since Onyurio took charge," Rowan said.

His mind reflected on how Tuskon had set up a network to help those wishing to leave the White Fang in secrecy due to how its ideology had changed.

He reflected with a sense of irony how many others shared a similar circumstance to himself.

Rowan had been part of a once noble warrior group, only for them to fall into disgrace, and Blake was trying to find a new path after the one she'd devoted herself to had turned dark.

He ultimately decided to respect her desire to be hidden, confident that she'd reveal that when she wanted to.

"I suppose you'd like to continue your atonement?" Jacen asked.

Rowan seemed to come to a decision he usually would have refused to consider, "We can do it together," he proposed.

Rowan immediately resumed his genuflecting posture, and Jacen came beside him, mirroring the gesture.

Whatever Rowan's shortcomings, at his core, Jacen felt he wasn't quite the brute that he'd thought.

In a way, Rowan almost reminded him of Maru, who was also a fearless warrior following his own code of honor.

It still filled him with grief, could there have been more he and Draco had done to break Grievous's blockade over Taris?

Draco's death weighed heavily on his heart, but Maru's loss was the first significant blow to his spirit.

As he followed Rowan's example, he prayed to the Force that Draco, Maru, Kaiya, and everyone else he'd lost found peace within the Force.

END