Taking Command
Pjo crossovers—good guess, but no.
I am glad that Shin'en's discourse was met positively instead of being considered to be too edgy. It was a bit scary, because it puts all of us on the spot, doesn't it? We all see what's happening around us, yet all we do is grumble and complain, turn our attention elsewhere so we can focus on something else, yet wishing there was something we could do about it all.
Well, to that point…
*loads shotgun with religious intent*
If you're willing to fight, die, be labeled a rebel and traitor, and potentially have your entire family executed or ostracized, then the Founding Fathers would be proud of you, and you'd have their full support from the afterlife.
The origin of Shin'en's discourse actually comes from a long time ago, back during the chapters in Backup Plan where he had to play as Kira in the Death Note dimension Amaterasu had him step into. From there, however, experiences with Naruko helped refine and shape his view, and it was ultimately his big sister Persephone that solidified it all.
Veterans remember that Persephone's big thing was adopting the Spiderman philosophy of great power and responsibility, but when she pitched this to the Seven back in Backup Plan: Armageddon, she was met with an overall lackluster response from the other demigods who just wanted to get through the war and retreat from the world to go do their own thing. Persephone was ready and willing to get her hands dirty and start tackling the world, which is the plotline going on in Promised Year.
But everyone that's read that story should know by now what's really happening in Promised Year.
So, per Backup Plan canon, Persephone's efforts were thwarted by Nero winning the Imperial War.
Shin'en's discourse ultimately comes from his big sister, who was a passionate young person that wanted to use her powers to make the world a better place.
RIP Persephone. Gone but never forgotten.
Anyway, the story of Shin'en in Remnant continues!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or RWBY
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"And for a few extra lien, we can secure you guys a place up in the VIP cars with us!"
The teeth of Dee and Dudley shined in the light of the train station as they pitched their side hustle to the good guys. Suffice to say, not a single one of them was impressed.
Least of all Shin'en Yūrei, who came up from behind with trays of drinks in his hands. "Gentlemen, please."
His sudden voice from behind made the two amateur Huntsman flinch pop into combat stances with weapons drawn.
Shin'en regarded them. "The lives of approximately 80 people are resting in your hands, and you are attempting to extort them for extra money?"
Dee and Dudley had the decency to at least appear ashamed.
"I strongly suggest finding a different profession if your goal is to acquire wealth, gentlemen. Most good Huntsman die before they reach 35, and the two of you already look to be in your late 20s. While paying well, you will both die in this profession before you can even fantasize about spending your money. Now leave. Make sure the train's defense systems are working before something happens."
Dee and Dudley couldn't leave fast enough.
Shin'en distributed beverages to the good guys.
"What a couple of jerks," Yang scoffed.
"Do not think negatively of them," Shin'en said calmly. "They are young and inexperienced, their heads full of dreams and delusions of grandeur. Pray for their lives. They will either lose them in some horrible way, or they will wise up."
Yang nodded.
While that was a jab at Dee and Dudley specifically in tandem with some wise words on how to consider others, it was also a sobering comment on all of them, too. Just yesterday was Shin'en's grand, life-altering discourse on what it meant to be a hero, and have powers, and to save the world, and not everyone could say they were as determined to face a lifetime of struggle and turmoil only to have it all fall apart before they even died like Ruby seemingly was.
It was amazing what a fitful night of sleep could do to you when the heat of the moment had passed.
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It wasn't much longer until the Argus Limited departed and reached the snowy forests of Northern Anima.
It wasn't much longer after that when Shin'en pulled the Lamp out of his personal subspace.
And then it wasn't much longer after that when the Grimm descended en mass.
A big Sphinx accompanied by over four dozen Manticores.
Predictably, panic ensued, and the negativity attracted even more Grimm, and the good guys plus Dee and Dudley went topside to fight off the monsters, which resulted in Dee getting his head ripped off by a Manticore, and then his body fought over by two others, and Dudley was crushed into a bloody smear complete with clothes and skin when a second Sphinx landed on the train.
With a small sigh, Shin'en joined the fight up top.
"Really?" he called out over the gunfire and roaring wind of the speeding train. "Two weeks with me and you don't have this under control yet?"
"They just keep coming!" Nora rebutted.
"It's like this train's a Grimm magnet!" Jaune shouted.
Across the way, Shin'en saw Oscar's faintly glowing eyes—so Ozpin's—briefly lock onto the Lamp hanging from Shin'en's coat.
Jaune wasn't too far off in his conclusion.
Shin'en's theory that the Lamp itself was attracting the Grimm was proven true when five Manticores screeched and attacked him all at once. He raised his hand above his head, mixed some water and lightning chakra within, molded it some more, channeled it through coils to his hand, making it glow, and then dozens of beams of Gale Style lasers went flying, twisting, and curving in all directions, wiping out the entire horde of Grimm in seconds.
The good guys could only stop and stare in awe at the dazzling circus of lasers all around them. None of the Grimm stood a chance as the lasers burned straight through them—even the thick bone plates of the Sphinxes' faces. In a few blinks of the eye, Shin'en killed what had to be over 50 Grimm, and he didn't even have to move.
With that out of the way, the logical thing for Shin'en to do would have been to put the Lamp back in his subspace where it could no longer attract the Grimm, and then the train could've gone straight to Argus without any more major issues. However, Shin'en's curiosity over the Lamp and Ozpin's connection to it was now peaked, and he didn't feel like having a discussion in the privacy of a cabin.
After a big talk yesterday, the kids needed some drama to take their mind off the crushing reality of the bleak future.
It helped that another horde of Grimm decided to come after the train, and so it was agreed to get all the passengers up in the front car where Ren would use his Semblance to mask everyone, then the train would be disconnected and everyone would eventually meet up in Argus where Jaune had a sister.
It was a great plan; the Sphinx blowing the back half of the train off the rails really helped.
"Is everyone okay?" Ruby asked as everyone pulled themselves out of the snow and wreckage of the train.
There were affirmative groans from Yang, Weiss, Blake, Qrow, and Oscar. Shin'en was just fine, as was someone else.
"Still alive!" a short, elderly woman called as she hobbled out of the wrecked car. "That sure was a close one, huh?"
"And you are?" Shin'en prompted.
"Maria Calavera. Who are you, handsome?"
"Shin'en Yūrei. Why weren't you with the others at the front of the train?"
"Well, you see, when you get to my age, certain parts of the body don't work like they used to."
Whether she was referring to her ears, her bladder, both, or something else was unknown, because she did not elaborate.
No one really cared enough to find out, because all but Shin'en were annoyed and frustrated that they now had to trek through the snowy wilderness to get to Argus. No one was in any immediate danger of freezing to death thanks to their Aura being able to keep them warm, but using Aura in that function drained it, so it was inevitable that they would actually freeze if they didn't find shelter, and fast.
"This is great," Yang huffed as she tugged on her motorcycle, Bumblebee, that was stuck in the snow. "We're stranded, we lost half of our party, and we gained a defense old lady!"
Shin'en cleared his throat.
Yang blushed. "I mean…it could be worse."
"That it could," said the demigod. "Gather what supplies you can viably carry. There's a settlement to the northwest about three miles from here. We will need to move quickly before nightfall."
Blake crossed her arms, her own frustration getting the better of her. "Why? So more Grimm don't attack us? Because apparently that thing attracts them like-"
"A cat to fresh fish?" Shin'en interjected with a flat voice and narrow eyes.
It was now abundantly clear that there was zero tolerance for any kind of bullshit today.
Shin'en did look at Oscar, though. "Bring him out."
Oscar didn't argue. He focused a little, and with a shudder and a glow of his eyes, Ozpin was in control.
"Yes, the Lamp does attract the Grimm," he admitted. "I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity. It seemed like the safer option. I also thought that Mr. Yūrei was going to keep the Lamp secured, and it would be a nonfactor anyway. I'm sorry for assuming that."
Shin'en's lips quirked up. "Lying for the sake of someone else's peace of mind? Is that why you chose to tell the world Lionheart died a true hero as he defended Haven Academy, instead of a traitorous coward?"
Ozpin's own anger spiked at how Shin'en demeaned his old friend. "Yes, as a matter of fact. I believe the Kingdom of Mistral deserves better than the truth. And I believe Leonardo deserves to be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not for the unfortunate missteps he made in his final years."
"Missteps!?" Yang shouted. "If it weren't for Shin'en showing up out of nowhere, we all could be dead because of him, and the Lamp already in Salem's hands!"
"What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible. I am not here to argue differently, but does one lapse in judgment truly negate all of his good? Do we not all have regrets? You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him."
The pain in his voice was evident, and so Yang softened her tone. "Look, we're supposed to be in this together. You can trust us. We're not going to turn our backs on you."
And after so many times of hearing that through his many lives, Ozpin's composure broke. "Do you really think Leo was the first!?"
His shout echoed through the forest.
Shin'en cocked a brow.
Ozpin looked at everyone around him, eyes alight with anger. "That he didn't say those exact same words to me? I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviors are backed by experience. I'm not saying that I have reason to think you will betray me. I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do, the secrets I keep. Mr. Yūrei, if you could please hand me the-"
"No." Shin'en's black-and-red eyes glowed softly. "The time for secrecy is over. What's really going here? Who is Salem? Who are you? And how does the Lamp work?"
"You're one to talk of secrecy," Ozpin glowered back.
"The secrets of my personal life have no bearing on current events. Yours do."
Well, he had a point there. Shin'en's life was more interesting trivia than anything, just answers to some burning questions. Whatever Ozpin was hiding, however, had serious implications.
Ozpin suddenly seized and fell to his knees.
"J-Jinn!" Oscar wheezed. "The Lamp! Say her name! He's trying to-!"
"Jinn."
Everything stopped. The snow stopped falling, the wind stopped blowing, and the clocks stopped ticking.
The Lamp floated away from Shin'en's hand. From its center, blue smoke spread into a cloud, and this cloud solidified into a very large, mostly naked blue woman adorned with gold jewelry. She stretched with a satisfied moan, and then adopted a pose that conveniently hid her nipples and vagina.
While everyone else was awed and mystified, there was Shin'en.
"Oh, my God—it's Rule 34 bait!"
Jinn looked at him and promptly freaked out. "Shin'en Yūrei!"
Shin'en arched a brow, already having a theory as to how this Jinn seemed to personally know him. "I don't believe we've ever had the pleasure of meeting prior to this. Who are you?"
It was such a simple question, but the implications behind it were gigantic. Jinn took one look at Shin'en and not only instantly recognized him, but was scared that he was here. She obviously knew Shin'en, and knew him well. But how? And what did she know that elicited such a strong reaction?"
Jinn swallowed. "I-I am Jinn. I was created by the God of Light to aid humanity a long time ago in the pursuit of knowledge. I can answer any three questions every one hundred years."
Shin'en narrowed his eyes, being familiar with the concept of genies and how they took things very literally. He had already asked Jinn who she was, so that was one question, and if he asked her how many questions she had left in her century, that would be two questions, and potentially the third depending on if anyone had already asked a question.
"I mean important and pertinent questions," Jinn clarified, having read Shin'en's facial expression. "The who are you question doesn't count."
"I see. In that case, how many questions do you have left for the century?"
"Two."
"Oh. In that case-"
"Who is Shin'en Yūrei!?"
Everyone turned to look at Ruby, shocked and flabbergasted.
The man of the question, however, was less than amused.
"U-Uh…" Jinn hesitated.
"Don't answer that," Shin'en commanded, eyes never leaving Ruby.
Amazingly, Jinn complied. With a brief nod of her head, she said, "Yes, sir."
Shin'en ignored that for now in favor of flaying Ruby with his eyes. She couldn't look at him, her eyes glued to her feet as she shuffled in place.
"I-I'm sorry-"
"When I want to reveal my personal past to you, I will. It is no place of yours to go behind my back—right in front of my face in this instance, actually—and demand answers. I can assure you, Ruby Rose, you will not like what you find. If you ever try to pull a stunt like this again, it will be the end of you. Am I clear?"
The absolutely glacial tone in his voice had everyone nodding their heads. The threat against Ruby's life wasn't even enough to launch Yang or Qrow into defending her.
Shin'en directed his attention back to Jinn, and appreciated how he was more or less engaging in hypocrisy. Like he said, though: his secrets had no overall bearing on the situation, but Ozpin's did. "Jinn, this is one of the important questions. Who is Ozpin?"
And the world erupted into a white void, and Shin'en found himself alone. He looked around with an arched brow, not feeling any water anywhere, meaning he was in some kind of subspace dimension.
One that was apparently Jinn's sandbox.
A new world came into being, one of pure illusion because Shin'en still could not feel any water. This illusory world consisted of a stone path leading to a distant tower nestled in a valley between towering mountains. The sky was clear and the sun was bright, but there was no inherent warmth.
"Once upon a time," Jinn's disembodied voice echoed all around, "there stood a lonely tower that sheltered a lonely girl…"
The world zoomed up into the tower, into a bedroom. Sitting in front of a mirror was a young woman, pale, with blonde hair and blue eyes, humming to herself.
"…named Salem."
"Oh, here we go," Shin'en rolled his eyes. "Parent-induced tragic backstory."
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No, the entirety of that episode is not about to be painstakingly transcribed into text. The episode is available for free on the Rooster Teeth website, and the whole transcript of the episode can be read on the RWBY wiki, so ironically the whole episode already has been transcribed into text, but it's not about to copy/pasted here and extensively edited. That would jack up the word count for no reason.
So we're just going to skip to the end instead.
When everyone "got back," the prevailing reaction was shock, hurt, and betrayal. Ozpin was actually an immortal, reincarnate being? Salem was his wife and the mother of his children—and something not lost to anyone was how the daughters not only had magic, but their color schemes basically confirmed that the story of the Four Maidens was about Ozpin's daughters—and the most striking of all: Salem could not be killed.
All of this effort, all of this death, and they literally could not kill Salem.
Ozpin had been leading a deceptive crusade for apparently centuries, lying to everyone about hope in defeating Salem for good, and bringing peace to the world.
Almost everyone was glaring angrily down at the Ozpin-possessed Oscar.
Then there was the sound of crunching snow.
With his hands clasped behind his straight back, Shin'en took one step after another towards Ozpin. His expression was severe, his gait was strong, and the energy around him was powerful enough to invoke everyone's flight or fight response.
Adrenaline surged as heartbeats increased. Muscles clamped onto bones. Sweat began to seep out of pores despite the cold. Weapons were reached for.
What was about to happen? What was Shin'en going to do?
The demigod stood over the kneeling warrior of old.
For Ozpin's part, he had died in many terrible ways over the centuries, and faced countless horrors. Right now, though, he had all the bravery of a six-year-old boy who just had his pajama pants yanked down at his big brother's sleepover, and now everyone could see he was wearing a pull-up because he still wet his bed.
There was thunder in the air as the dreary grey sky began to darken with storm clouds. Lightning flashed in the distance. There was a faint rumble in the ground as the snow began to shift and twist.
Shin'en towered above the kneeling form of Ozpin like a god about to render judgement…and then he turned around.
With a measured spin on his heel, Shin'en directed everything back at Team RWBY and Qrow. His red eyes glowed brightly, and the air thrummed with energy. The space around Shin'en even began to distort in a manner similar to a heatwave coming off hot concrete in the summer.
Then there was a blinding flash of lightning, a bone-rattling clap of thunder, and finally a tremor in the earth that sent everyone besides Shin'en to the ground.
And then there was calm.
"If anyone has something they would like to say…they can say it…to me."
Shin'en's words were not, in fact, an open invitation for comments or complaints, but a panic-inducing threat. He was daring them to say something negative—but why? Why was defending Ozpin, or Ozma, or whatever you wanted to call the lying bastard?
Shin'en's eyes darted from Qrow to each of the girls, and over and over again. When it was clear that everyone had been sufficiently scared into submission, Shin'en turned his body 90 degrees so he could turn his head from Ozpin to Qrow and the girls without having to break his neck.
When he looked at Ozpin, his expression became so much softer—tender, even, and his voice reflected that.
"You've been through a lot, haven't you, Ozma?"
"I…I…" Ozma couldn't form words right now.
"All the friends you've had, the families you tried to settle down with, all the women you loved, all the children you raised and cherished—all dead. Taken either by time, disease, Grimm, humans, Faunus, or some other unfortunate means, right?"
Ozma's eyes swam with many memories after Shin'en put his life into a couple of sentences. "Yes…"
As much as he tried not to let them, a few tears ran down his face anyway.
So many families…so many women he had loved…so many children over the centuries he had watched learn and grow…so many good friends…all gone. Just like Shin'en had said.
As for Team RWBY and Qrow, now they were feeling bad. Here they were angry that Ozpin had been lying to them about Salem, her nature, and his connection with her, while he was a man that had watched everyone he knew and loved die. Multiple times, in fact. They'd all heard the phrase once burned, twice shy, and so if that had any truth to it, then it was amazing that Ozpin had any kind of sociability, amicability, kindness, or friendliness to him at all, instead of being a total recluse that lived in abject misery and depression.
"I have a brother that is like you," Shin'en said. "A reincarnate soul that has lived many different lives, and loved many people in each."
Just what he meant by sharing that specific information in relation to Ozpin's situation, no one knew exactly.
They would forever be left to ponder, because Shin'en then turned his full attention back to Qrow and the girls.
"What was Ozma's exact words in the last question he asked Jinn? This is not a rhetorical question; I expect an answer."
Blake was the one that provided it. "H-How do I destroy Salem?"
"Very good, Ms. Belladonna. Now, we all know that Salem is immortal. Who made her immortal?"
"The God of Light?" Ruby asked.
"Correct. A literal god made Salem immortal. Because of this, how do you expect a mere man—reincarnations or otherwise—to kill a being made immortal by a god?"
With that question, they all felt a little bit silly. Here they were freaking out over Ozpin not being able to kill Salem because she was just so monstrously powerful, but the reality of the situation was that her immortality was actually just a divine curse. Granted, that still put them all at square one with no idea how to stop the bitch, but there was a slight comfort in appreciating that Salem's immortality wasn't some grandiose thing.
It was just a curse from a god.
No big deal.
"I guess…I guess we don't?" Yang answered.
"That's right. You don't." Shin'en regarded them all. "There is a change of plans. When I came back to my world, I did so out of curiosity. I wanted to see how things were going, and take on more of an observer-type role and offer my advice when needed. However, it is clear that a more direct role is now required.
"Henceforth, I am in command. Salem is no longer any concern of yours. I will deal with her when she comes to me. She will be unable to resist getting her hands on the Lamp. In the meantime, we will make for the settlement three miles from here. We will make camp for the night there, and in the morning, we will continue our journey to Argus. Any prejudice you have against Ozpin will be swiftly addressed. I need all of you focused and with a clear mind, am I understood?"
Even Qrow responded with a firm Yes, sir!
Shin'en nodded and looked at the diminutive Maria. "Ride on Yang's motorcycle. No one will carry you."
The woman nodded, and neither she nor Yang said anything to the contrary.
Shin'en turned to look down at Ozpin. "Pull yourself together and stand up, Ozma. You still have a job to do, and I need you focused as well."
Ozma wiped his eyes and nodded. Putting his feet firmly underneath him, he stood back up. He looked Shin'en in the eye and gave him a nod.
Shin'en nodded back and set off for the settlement, everyone following in silence.
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The average adult male in good enough physical condition should be able to cover a mile within fifteen minutes, and the same was true for women. Team RWBY and Qrow were as physically fit as could be imagined, being well-trained Hunters. Shin'en was godlike, so it was irrelevant for him.
Therefore, in theory, the group should've been able to make it to the settlement within 45 minutes to an hour.
They made it within 20 given the hard pace that Shin'en set.
That was each mile in a little over six-and-a-half minutes.
Aura was an awesome thing.
What was not awesome was the settlement itself.
Brunswick Farms was what the sign over the entry gate said. It was a small place, with a large farmhouse down the central path, greenhouses flanking the central path, and a number of barns and smaller houses within the fence. It was clearly an abandoned place, covered in snow, no one working or visible, and there were no fires going. Other than the creaking gate blowing in the wind, the entire place was quiet.
Eerily quiet.
"I don't like this place," Ruby said softly.
Shin'en looked around at the buildings with a critical eye, and then down at the ground. His eyes moved as if he were seeing through to the rock and snow. He looked back at the farmhouse and entered the property.
"We will not linger here," he said loudly and clearly, Jinn's lamp still attached to his hip. "We will rest for the night, and then we will leave at daybreak."
No one argued that. This place was creepy.
"Where is everyone?" Weiss asked Shin'en, since he seemed to have an idea of what was going on.
"Dead," was the short answer.
"How do you know that?" Blake asked.
"As you know, I am acutely attuned to water. So much so that I can feel the molecules in the air, and what they settle upon and pass over. As such, I can feel the bodies of the former residents in the houses around us. They are all dead. Fourteen in total. Looks like three individual families, a farmhand, and a Huntsman. Most likely for protection."
Shin'en nodded at the main house.
"I'm guessing the head of this settlement and his wife in the master bedroom of the second floor. The husband and wife were both in their late 40s. They had three children, a son and three daughters. The son was in his early 20s, the middle daughter in her teens, and the youngest girl not even ten. She is still cuddling her doll."
Shin'en nodded at one of the smaller houses.
"An elderly couple in bed together, another woman by herself, and a teenage girl by herself. All four are directly related, meaning grandparents, mother, and daughter, but the father is absent."
Shin'en nodded at the other smaller house.
"The youngest married couple. They had a son only a few years older than the head couple's youngest daughter, so only about eleven or twelve. In the guest bedroom is a physically fit male. The hired help, it appears. And down in the tunnels beneath us is the body of the Huntsman. His is most curious, because he is nothing but bones. The others are still…preserved. The cold has turned these houses into morgues."
Shin'en delivered all of this information objectively, as if reading from a field report.
That did nothing to help ease the nerves of anyone.
"What killed them?" Qrow asked. "Everything's intact. No bullet holes, blast marks, claw marks—nothing that makes it look like a battle took place. You said the head family were all in their beds?"
"Yes, it's quite curious," Shin'en said. "All of these people are wearing their bedclothes, and are in bed, and are in positions of comfort. It does appear that they all went to sleep one night, and simply never woke up. They all died peacefully in their sleep."
"Even the kids?" Ruby squeaked.
"They all died peacefully in their sleep."
Ruby stopped. "I don't want to stay here anymore."
"Not an option."
Yang set a hand on Ruby's shoulder, trying to offer encouragement through her countenance and peace through her presence. It had a small effect.
"How did they die?" Weiss asked. "Can you tell that much?"
"I have no specific answer," Shin'en said, "but if I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with the horde of Grimm below us."
Everyone came to a dead stop.
"I'm sorry—the horde of Grimm?" Blake demanded.
"Yes. I count 93 in total. Tall, lanky things. Humanoid, with claws and horns."
Maria flinched. "The Apathy. They're not strong or ferocious. They just sap your will to live with an Aura-draining shriek. Even the heartiest Huntsmen can be overwhelmed by the Apathy."
"Well, there you go. That's why everyone here is dead." Shin'en looked at the well and then back at the house. "Get comfy and start a fire. Do not explore and do not wander. Unless you want to see a bunch of frozen corpses."
"You want us to make camp in a farm infested with Grimm and teeming with dead bodies!?" Yang shouted.
"I will handle the Grimm," Shin'en said. "I expect dinner to have been found and in the process of being prepared by the time I am done. You have five minutes."
With that, he hopped down the well. Seconds later, there were explosions that rattled the settlement.
Shin'en's voice called from below. "Quit gawking and get cooking!"
After a pause, Maria said, "Well, you heard the man. Let's find what's left to eat."
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Shin'en actually gave them six minutes because he was nice, even though it took him less than one to kill all the Apathy. Their little scream thing didn't work on him because he had no Aura. While he was killing the Grimm, he was keeping track of the girls, Qrow, and Oscar, monitoring them to see what they were saying and doing to make sure he didn't need to go back up there and smack someone for getting onto Ozma's case.
As for why Shin'en was so keen to defend Ozma: firstly, Ozma reminded Shin'en of the Assassin. Secondly, Shin'en knew Ozma's pain. A man that had gone through life after life, finding love, trying to settle down, start a family, raise kids, just to watch them all die every single time, his friends betray him over and over—what a miserable life. And then a bunch of fucking teenagers think they're in any position to talk down to such a being that had suffered so much yet still found the will to fight on, when none of them had an inkling of an idea as to what suffering was.
Yeah, sure, Blake being a Faunus made life difficult, and Weiss growing up more or less neglected also stung, and Yang and Ruby losing their mother Summer when they were little girls definitely hurt, but that was all far from the worst things Shin'en had seen a kid go through. At least Blake had the love and support of both her parents; at least Weiss had both parents alive, and had her faithful butler Klein, and had millions of lien at her disposal; at least Ruby and Yang got to experience Summer's love, and then grew up with Taiyang and Qrow guiding them.
At least Blake's parents didn't kick her, beat her, starve her, or sell her into slavery.
At least Weiss's father didn't kick her to the streets as an unwanted child, and left her to die in the cold.
At least Taiyang kept his daughters, instead of giving them away because he fell into depression.
At least none of the girls knew what it was like to be raped, or parts of their bodies chopped off and put into a stew that they were then forced to eat, or made to watch as their body parts were fed to animals. At least none of them were subjected to horrible and twisted experiments like seeing what a new formula for acid would do to their intestines if poured in through their anus, nor were any of them ever placed in an orphanage where they had to kill the other kids just so they could eat dinner. None of them were ever sexually exploited in ways that didn't specifically involve being penetrated. At least none of them ever experienced what it was like to starve, or freeze, or burn. At least they all grew up in households with parents that cared enough about them to teach them how to use the toilet, instead of leaving them to sit in their filth until they contracted a disease.
Shin'en had seen some shit in his very long life.
When he joined the girls and the others, he did so by scaring the crap out of them when he entered the farmhouse through the cellar connected to the bar. It had been locked with a chain, but that meant nothing to a good, firm, kick.
"Grimm are dead," Shin'en informed the wide-eyed Ruby and Weiss. "What'd you find for dinner?"
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And that's a wrap for this chapter.
Yes, Shin'en will be taking a more active role now, meaning Salem's going to have to step up her timetable, meaning this story admittedly won't be very long. There's really only so far I can stretch this anyway given Shin'en.
That being said, I have a couple of fun surprises in mind for the coming chapters, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, please Fav, Follow, and Review!
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After everyone had fallen into a peaceful slumber, Shin'en made his way to the second floor. Up here were the bodies of the Brunswick family, the Mr. and the Mrs., and their three children.
It was a textbook tragedy, really. Mr. Brunswick had tied to make something of this settlement, but hard times hit and he tried to find a solution. His idea was to lure one of the Apathy into the tunnels under the farm, and use its power to calm everyone down. The snag was that the effort of getting the one Apathy into the tunnels had been so exhausting that Brunswick didn't have the energy to go seal the tunnels off until the next day.
When that happened, the rest of the huge pack had already made it inside.
Brunswick literally sealed not only his doom, but the doom of his family and all their friends.
He'd killed his wife and all their kids.
Shin'en silently walked down the hall to the littlest girl's room, gently opening the door. It was exactly what you'd expect of a child's room, with white and pink, stuffed animals strewn about, and a pile of dirty laundry stuffed in a hamper in the corner, a pair of underwear unceremoniously left atop the pile.
Cartoon ponies.
The girl liked horses.
Shin'en stood over the girl, his gaze forlorn as he beheld her frozen body as she still clutched her favorite doll. His heart thumped heavily in his chest as too many memories came to him. Too many times had he been here, staring at the deceased body of one his many children, unable to have cured them of their illness, with the best thing he could've done was make their passing painless, and their final days comfortable.
It was unfair that all of this innocent life had ended by the foolish actions of one man just trying to provide for his family.
So Shin'en corrected that.
The slit on his forehead opened to reveal a third eye, completely green. Concentric rings circled the pupil, and three tomoe spun around on each of the rings.
The Rinne-Sharingan.
Shin'en clapped his hands together. "Gedo Art: Rinne Rebirth."
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