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Beta: CrowSkull

Coverart: Nova

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 73

Volume 2, Episode 14

"It seems that the drug has had completely positive effects on the boy," Ironwood said as he looked at a report from Doctor Oobleck. So far, nothing unforeseen has happened just yet. The treatment was made by the best doctors and biological scientists in Atlas, ones who specified in both human and faunus vaccines. Since Mister Matsuoka was a hybrid of the two, it was only natural to wish that they all work together to create a single treatment. "Nothing to complain about, he says. This is great, I am glad that I have been proven wrong."

"I had faith in your scientists, James," Ozpin said with his own small sigh of relief. "It was something that needed to be done. I couldn't allow such an asset to be bedridden for months. Surgery would have been too invasive, and the extent of the damage to his body may have been too much for aura to handle all on its own. That particular study wasn't just an option, it was a necessity."

"Is it worth earning the ire and distrust of the mother?"

"Marron," Ozpin corrected the General. "Will have her opinion on every matter that has something to do with her son. I understand why she would be against such a treatment, but in time she will understand that it was better that than for her son to be stuck in bed slowly getting weaker and weaker as his muscles atrophied and constant surgeries were done to his body that would require him months to completely recover from, physically or otherwise.."

"I agree with you, but you do know that she would have a strong case against not just you, but Atlas as well, for an experimental drug to be tested on her only son that could have very well accelerated what you feared." Ironwood pointed out.

"I am aware and have no worries, James. I have Qrow working on her for that, it is in both of their good interests after all, since Qrow was the one to sign off on it as Mister Matsuoka's legal guardian."

"I am also sure that this Marron would not like that."

"Oh, she doesn't." Ozpin sighed and offered a toast for the man with the terrible bad luck. "But she will have to deal with it at the end of the day. She has nothing to complain about as long as nothing bad happens to her son. As long as he remains healthy and recovering his strength, what can she say?"

From the other corner of the office, the third man in the room scoffed loudly. "Really Oz, you have not changed a single bit." Albedo said with crossed arms. "Does it not matter that he is your student and my former student?"

"He is my student," Ozpin easily agreed. "And I shall treat him as such. But he has also accepted his role in this war against Salem. This means that decisions such as these will have to be made in the case he or someone else gets badly injured. I can hardly work with him if he can barely move, and I would rather not earn him as an enemy by moving on from him."

If Albedo hadn't already used his semblance on Ozpin long ago, he would have called the man a vicious sociopath. But using his memory reading semblance on a man whose soul is more than a thousand years old granted him knowledge and experience that no other man could hope to achieve. It was why he not only didn't call the man names and went on to try and lecture him on what is right and wrong but he also understood him. He saw those memories after all, and he knew exactly what he was up against. Tough decisions like the one he'd just made with Kai was trivial compared to the ones he made in the past. The many, other ones he'd made in the past.

"To think the little blind boy I accepted into my school would have become such a strong man. I had my doubts at first, but after what he did at the breach?" Albedo chuckled, he felt a sense of pride for the boy, he'd helped teach him and nurtured him to becoming the man that he is now. But alas, he couldn't think about it for too long. "Alright, so, Little Kai is recovering, what of Amber?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Amber is secured. I have even tighter security down there and I even have Glynda monitoring it and personally checking the security systems herself at least twice a day. Trust me, the fall maiden is not going anywhere anytime soon."

"That is not what I meant, of course, she is secure." Albedo said with a shake of his head. "Ironwood, perhaps you can help make my point?"

"I shall." Ironwood nodded his head. "Amber was attacked by Cinder Fall and two very dangerous terrorists of the White Fang, if you hadn't shown up just in time to protect her we would have a full-powered fall maiden as our enemy. It was too little too close, I feel that now is the time to start considering new candidates to transfer the power to."

Ozpin understood their points and raised a hand up to his chin in thought. They were right, of course. Cinder knew where Amber was now, and they would be foolish to think that she would have given up on her quest for power just yet. Thanks to Albedo and his semblance, her plans for the future have to be completely redone now, which gives them more time to prepare for whatever it is she would throw at them next. He has waited for over a year for Amber to wake up in hopes that she could make a recovery and once again become his fall maiden. But her time was running out, and any day now she could succumb to her wounds from Cinder's attack and inadvertently transfer the power over to Cinder anyway. After thinking about it for another moment, Ozpin sighed and nodded his head in agreement with the two other headmasters.

"I agree with you two. It is time for a new fall maiden."

"Great," Albedo clapped his hands together and rubbed them against each other. "So, who is going to be our new maiden?"

Right, that decision needed to be made as well. Getting to choose a new maiden of any season was a rare blessing, but it was also cursing a young woman to forever have a target on her back from those who want to use the magical power for their own selfish gains. It was a double-edged sword metaphorically. On one side he could pick and choose a trustworthy maiden who wouldn't be like Amber and go out on her own and neglect her training, but on the other… it was a conundrum and mixture of good and bad.

"The obvious decision would be a student from the first years of your school," Ironwood pointed out. "Someone who would spend the next four years of their life protected by Beacon and growing to become a powerful huntress and maiden. While also giving you the time to win over their trust and gain their loyalty and allegiance. I'm sure a few of the female body must pique your mind…"

"Few do," Ozpin admitted. "There are three females on Mister Matsuoka's team…"

"You would have to run that past him first," Albedo said. "I am not sure what he would think of it. He might be able to get convinced but he might get put off by the idea just as much."

"He'd come around with the right words," Ozpin said, and then he went on to thinking. There was Blake Belladonna, Orchid Rosa, and Ruby Rose on Team KRBR alongside Kai. Blake was a no go, because he couldn't trust a former terrorist. Orchid was also a risk because of her multiple personality disorder; it would be difficult for her to learn how to control the power when every personality of hers would have to learn how to use it. And then there was Ruby Rose…

A theoretical silver-eyed fall maiden was a powerful prospect. And she'd certainly do it if she thought she could protect people using said power. But, he'd have Taiyang and Qrow breathing down his neck, and he didn't know if they'd even allow him to try such a thing with their daughter and niece. Not to mention the ever-approaching problem of Kai having a say in it either way. He was fighting so that his friends didn't have to, having any of his female friends become the next fall maiden was bound to cause issues within their own relationship.

Pyrrha Nikos also came to mind, she was polite and she had the submissive personality to authority to go with her exceptional strength. But the same problem arose with Kai's agreement to having her do it. Any of the other female students would also potentially cause a problem, because friend or no, Kai was protective. Enough for it to cause a problem if he felt like he needed to step in.

"This is not a decision that needs to be made today," Ozpin said, choosing to think about it later. "By the start of the Vytal Festival a decision will need to be made, but right now we all have work to do given the repairs of Vale and the preparations for the Vytal Festival."

"Very well," Albedo said with a nod. "I will go on to show my visiting students from Signal around like I told my wretched deputy that I would," With a nervous sneer, Albedo moved past them to the elevator. "Do call for me if you need me, however, I have interesting knowledge about Cinder Fall now that I was able to use my semblance on her. Some of it you may want to know."

"I will keep that in mind, my friend." Ozpin waved goodbye to the man as he departed.

"I'll go being interrogation on Sienna Khan," Ironwood said next. "She is bound to have information that Albedo may not know just yet. But I believe that I will call for him to help with finding out what she knows if she proves to be resistant."

"Do what you need to do," Ozpin said, giving him the permission that he thought he needed. Ironwood accepted his words and departed soon later. Leaving Ozpin alone with himself.

Ironwood going to interrogate Sienna Khan… For some reason, he was interested in what she had to say. Adam Taurus himself looked less than willing to be working with Cinder Fall of all people, and he almost wished that he would have given in to any urges he may or may not have been feeling at the time when he did battle against him, Sienna, and Cinder. He felt that there was something deeper than that within Taurus' ideals. Something that could potentially be used.

As was the Khan of the White Fang… Now, there was an idea.

Kai stretched sore muscles as he walked around his hospital room to test the recovery of his body. It has been a few days since he woke up, and he's been eager to get out of bed since. Now that his legs were working the same way they were before he was excited, it meant that he would be able to get back to his normal routine again back with his teammates and back to his cozy and homey dorm room. He hasn't been in such a good mood for a while, even if the weird silver dreams were reoccurring every now and again. He was just glad that he could hop on his toes again.

"I feel… great," He said with a satisfied and toothy smile. "I still feel sore and in pain, but I can feel it fading away with each beat of my heart." Said heart was beating over and over again and probably much faster than what it was supposed to be. It felt like a gun was going off inside of his ribcage, but not in an uncomfortable way somehow. It felt soothing, warm, and like he was ready to start a marathon and run in multiple times in a row. The energy within him was palpable.

He couldn't wait to use it to get revenge on Cinder and her allies for what she did to Vale.

"Hey Kai- What are you doing up!?" Orchid exclaimed as she stepped into the room, darting toward him the moment she saw him awake as he was.

"I feel fine," Kai said as he showed off his health by standing strong and not letting Orchid drag him back to bed. "Don't I look it?"

"Well-," Orchid eyed his body up and down. The body that currently didn't have a shirt on it and with plenty of muscles with attractive scars on them. She felt her skin burn as she grew embarrassed and heated, but coughed into her hand and strayed her eyes away and back up to Kai's blindfolded eyes. "I guess," She allowed herself to say. "But you should still be resting. I can't believe the doctors deemed you okay to leave so soon. You have no idea what you looked like when we first brought you here!"

Kai winced. Blake told him what he looked like. His skin was burned and melted in places, his face was actually burned by how bright and hot his flames grew, and his flames, which were once black, turned white during that blast he made to destroy the Grimm that were rushing out of the tunnel. He found comfort in the fact that he was actually able to know which color was which for once, shades of white and black and grey and silver were the only ones that he could tell which was which. The fact that his flames turned white, the same color flames that his late father Malikai manifested with his own flame semblance, brought him a relieving comfort.

"Yeah, I heard," Kai said as he scratched his face nervously. "Sorry about that-"

"Don't apologize," Orchid swapped to a more aggressive personality on the spot. "If you didn't do what you did the Grimm would still be invading Vale now. I can't be mad at you for doing what had to be done, no matter how hard it was to look at you when you were hurt. Hmph," Orchid crossed her arms and looked away, pouting. "Put on your clothes," She said as she pointed to the chair beside Kai's bed, which had his older clothes resting on it. "Blake and Ruby are coming any second now so we can all walk back to our room together. Make sure you're ready to go before then. I hate having to wait…"

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what it is," Kai snorted when Orchid smacked him lightly on the chest and demanded for him to get moving since he thought he was so healthy so quickly. The familiar feeling of his tight undershirt felt great as it stretched and molded around his muscular body, and his pants came with a warm feeling that kept his lower half covered. The makeshift blindfold that he wore to offer himself comfort for the past few days had done its job, and he discarded it after giving the soft piece of fabric a last bit of respect and went on to tie a new blindfold over his eyes that his sister brought for him. The same one that his father wore. After snapping it into place, he found that he had finished just in time. Sensing Ruby and Blake jiggling the lock, he stood his ground as he sensed one of the presence's weight suddenly vanish only to crash into his chest a second later.

"Hey!" Ruby exclaimed as she looked up to his face while hugging him. "How do you feel?"

"I'm alright," Kai chuckled as he rubbed Ruby's back with one hand. "I feel better than before anyway, how about you?"

Ruby pulled away. "I feel like I can run a marathon, that's how I feel. But the nurses say that I- we should rest for another day before we go back to training. Ugh… if Yang wasn't so buggy about it I'd be able to scratch the itch in the back of my mind."

"I can understand that…" His mother Marron and undoubtedly his sister would be on him for that as well. He'd listen to them for now, even though he believed that he didn't need the break to be extended even further. "Mom and Malienna won't let me live this one down. How about you Blake, everything okay?"

"Just fine," Blake said, strangely stand-offish. "Are we all ready to go?"

"Should be," Ruby shrugged and patted Kai's body up and down, starting with his hips and working her way up. If it wasn't Kai she was touching, the other two girls may have thought the worst. "Nothing hurts?"

"Nope," It was a minor lie, since his body was still sore and healing from his aura, but that was to be expected after what he'd done. "I'm ready to get out of here. The smell of this place is just… too clean."

Orchid scoffed. "Is the smell of my flamingo and it's poop more endearing to you?"

"Oh, no. That's just disgusting." Kai said. "I just want to smell something other than sanitizer and… cleanliness for once. It's been giving me a headache."

"Same here," Blake added, sharing the same sense of smell as her fellow faunus. "Let's go then, there's no need for us to be here any longer."

So they did. Kai just had to sign a few forms accepting the infirmary's terms that he was letting himself out earlier than what was recommended for him by the doctors and he was able to walk right out with his teammates in tow. The smell of fresh air and the trees and the concrete all around Beacon was a very welcome scent for his nose to breathe in over and over again. The dorm room building was thankfully not even that far away. It is close to the infirmary was important, he guessed since teammates were bound to get hurt and sent there to get healed so their other teammates would have an easier time locating and visiting their friends while they were recovering. Getting to the dorm was easy and climbing the stairs was as well. It almost felt like he wasn't hurt at all, though there was a tiring feeling to his muscles. Which was normal since his body was still using energy to recover from his injuries and healing. It was nothing he needed to worry about. After another few days, he was sure that he'd be well enough to go back out again.

"Here we are!" Ruby jumped onto her bed and rolled in the covers, effectively making herself into a human-blanket burrito. "Ah, I really missed these sheets."

"That's my bed, Ruby." Blake pointed out.

"Oh, whoops?" Ruby laughed awkwardly as she made no effort to untangle herself from Blake's sheets. "Can I sleep here tonight?"

"I…" Blake saw no reason to say no and chuckled. "Sure, whatever."

"Yay!"

"I'll take Ruby's bed!" Orchid exclaimed as she jumped into the vacant bed that Ruby left behind, which left Blake with the one bed that had Orchids pet flamingo on it. Which has yet to be named. Or has it been named already? She didn't know, she didn't bother to remember it if it did have a name. Either way, she chose not to go near the animal, it looked comfortable and while it was comfortable it wasn't bothering her. She'd worry about it later tonight, surely it would notice its masters absence and move to go lie with her. Leaving the bed open for her later.

Kai sent a pulse around the room and basked in its homely feeling. It was nice to be back, and as much as he wanted to lie down in his own bed for once to get rid of this sudden heaviness behind his eyes, he felt someone coming up to their room from behind. One of their friends.

Just as he predicted, that friend knocked on the door to get their attention and waited patiently for him to go open it for them. At first Kai waited to see if any of his other teammates were going to get it, but Ruby was still in her burrito blanket, Blake was reading one of her books, and Orchid was playing a game on her scroll. So it was left to him as the leader of their team to take responsibility to see who it was.

"Who is it- Woah!" A ball of fluff pelted into his chest and he felt a wet piece of muscle slobber against his face. For a moment, he almost threw the thing away in panic but quickly realized that it was not just any rabid animal, this was Zwei, the same dog that he spent a lot of his time with back when he used to live with Taiyang back on Patch. The short-legged black and white Corgi kept whimpering and licking at his face, telling him just how much he missed him. Kai did the only natural thing, and threw the dog to Ruby.

"ZWEI!" Ruby instantly untangled herself and grabbed her dog. "I missed you too boy! Oh my gosh, look how big you've grown."

"Heh," Kai laughed as he wiped his face of the dog's saliva.

"Yo," Yang patted his shoulder, getting his attention and telling him that she was there. "Good to see you back on your feet tough guy."

"Good to see you too, Yang," Kai said with a fond smile. "How's it been? We haven't talked in a while."

"I know, sorry about that. It's my fault as much as yours. Having a whole other team and a partner sorta makes it hard to find free time." Yang laughed in a way that told him that she didn't actually think that they were a bother. They were all friends at the end of the day, after all. "I actually wanted to come talk to you about something after I made sure you were okay. Alone, if possible." She added quickly.

Kai sensed something was off and quickly agreed. Just as fast as he made it back to his room, he left it again so that he and Yang could have the necessary privacy to talk without having to worry about anyone else listening in on them. They moved down the hallway a few doors just to be safe, where Yang rounded up on him and leaned against the wall with her shoulder.

"So," Kai said as he leaned against the wall himself. "What's up?"

"Raven," Yang said her name right away, making Kai go tense. "Nothing to do with you for once, this about her and me."

"Right," Kai grew less tense. "What about her?"

"During the battle, she saved my life," Yang said, rubbing the new scar that she had underneath her clothes. A permanent reminder that the mother who abandoned her so long ago suddenly returned to save her life. "The bottom line is I want to know why. She never made any effort to talk to me, much less show any sign that she actually cares. Not to mention the fact that she doesn't apparently have the inability of having a hand in raising a kid." The subtle gripe at him wasn't all directly aimed toward him. At the time, Kai hadn't even known that Raven was the mother of Yang, and she even used a fake name to fool him at first. If he'd known from the start he would have been more insistent on her talking to Yang, but experience has told him that wasn't such a good idea. Qrow had asked enough times, and look at how his relationship with his sister was now. Tense at best.

"I'm guessing that you want me to try and get her to talk to you?" Kai asked.

"If you can," Yang sneered. "I know its not your fault, but you're the only one besides that Vernal girl that seemed to have gotten close to her and actually managed to stay close to her…"

Kai nodded his head, a small sigh slipping out his nose as he thought about it for no more than a few seconds. "I'll try," He said. "But I can't make any promises, I am sure you're dad told you about how she is. Convincing her to do anything is damn near impossible unless she gets something out of it."

"How's actually getting to talk to her own daughter for once?"

"I… Listen, I said that I'd try. I don't want to reopen old wounds with this," Kai said, deflecting the oncoming conflict. "You know I didn't know at the time and it wasn't like I had a choice in who she chose to train. Maybe my dad put her up to it, I don't know."

Yang shut her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry." It didn't make it hurt any less for her, but it was important for her to accept it. Kai didn't deliberately seek out Raven for her mentorship, it was her who went after him. Back when he didn't even know her name. And when he did find out, it wasn't like he didn't try. Trying to convince Raven to explain herself to Taiyang and her daughter was like banging your head against a brick wall without the protection of aura - You were bound to just hurt yourself in the process. "It just sucks, y' know? My own biological mother left me before I could even remember her face. Seeing her after all that time… I barely saw her at Haven, I never knew just how alike we look. I'm literally a carbon copy of her with blonde hair and different colored eyes. I would have stopped caring about her soon, but when she saved my life, it made me think. In her own weird and screwed up way does she really care about me or did she feel like she just owed it to me and got rid of a favor? I'm honestly afraid of the possibility of her having a good reason for it… But then if it's not? Whoof."

"If I had known earlier I would have tried harder," Kai said. "I'm sorry I didn't."

Yang laughed it off. "Don't blame yourself, man, all of this drama happened before either of us were even able to remember anything. I may get a little ticked off about it, but that doesn't mean that I hate you or anything."

That brought a smile to his face. "Thank you. That actually means more than you know."

"Great. So in return, you'll do what you can the next time you see her?"

"Tonight," Kai promised, Yang looked at him with shock in her eyes. "I'll try and talk to her tonight if I can. We have a bond, me and her. A strong one at that. I can call her and she'll respond, most of the time anyway, with portal."

"R-really?"

"Of course," Kai stepped away from the wall. "This is a conversation that has been a long time coming. I want answers like you do. I want to know why she chose to train me all of a sudden. Was it because of my dad? Some strange motherly emotion for me since she used to date him? I have questions to ask too, its just… hard to talk to her. It takes a lot of practice, so I have to warn you to be careful what you say to her. If she feels too uncomfortable, she'll leave, and you won't be able to stop her."

Yang growled lightly under her breath but nodded her head. "I'll hold back, don't worry. It'll be a small price to pay to finally get an explanation. Anyway, I'm sorry for yanking you away the moment you got back on your feet. I'll leave you be to rest, though do stop by to see how everyone else is doing. Rick and Brick are still bragging about their little lightning attacks, and Pyrrha needs a sparring partner who she doesn't absolutely outclass for once."

"Heh, I'll come around soon," Kai promised. "See you,"

Convincing Raven was going to be as easy as forgiving Cinder. But he'd try at the very least. Yang and him parted ways and he waited at the door to his room for a moment, sensing around the inside to make sure he wasn't about to walk in on anything that might get him in trouble. Not that it would make sense, since he was still blind. But it was never a bad thing to want to be prepared for the worst.

"Why did you leave her!?" Adam snarled as he slammed his hands on the table before Cinder. The half-maiden glared dangerously into the slits of his mask, but for once, Adam couldn't care less. "You coward! We could have brought her with us, saved her! But you were afraid!"

"You seem to hold my ability to fight two headmasters, one of them being Ozpin, to unfair levels." Cinder calmly snapped back. "Would you have rather me continue to fight until one of you were killed? Would you have rather me taken her instead of you? Do not use that head to think too much, Taurus. You may be strong and gifted but you are still a child compared to me."

"She's the leader of the White Fang!" Adam screamed. "Sienna was the reason why most of the faunus fought! Her leadership and guidance were what saved even me from giving up after the events of Haven. She was the one to has made great strives for all faunus kind and was the one to directly deal with you where others were afraid to. Do you not at least have some respect for that woman?"

"I do not hold respect for anyone," Cinder said. "The only reason I am not punishing you for speaking to me this way is because you are now the fact that the millions of White Fang within this massive city are now looking up to. You are the new leader of the White Fang, I can only hope that you will be less disappointing than that prideful tigress you hold in such high esteem."

"Oh, is that so?" Adam sneered as he stepped back and crossed his arms threateningly. "What if I take all of my men and women and leave you to your devices?"

Cinder's eyes flared with an orange flame, Adam winced as he felt the heat of it. "Careful, you overstep your boundaries." She warned. "I understand why you are angry, which is why I will not harm you right now, Be smart about this. You know just as much as I do that you leaving and bringing the White Fang with you is not an option. We have an agreement after all. Don't we?"

"Tch…" Adam refused to say that she was right. That dreaded deal that he'd allowed himself into being fooled to make months ago constantly came back to haunt him even in his dreams and at the best of times. Cinder wasn't the one pulling the strings, she was just second in command. That was implied over and over again, and if she had this kind of pull, he didn't want to meet the one that she reported to when she thought she was alone and no one was listening in on her. To earn her ire was something he was not keen on doing just yet, not when so many lives also bank on his current decision.

"I see you realize your current standing," The bitch smiled at him, knowing that she had won. "Good. You are already smarter than Sienna ever was. Use that intelligence to protect yourself and your pack and I may just see fit to trust you a little more. Now leave, we have nothing more to talk about unless you think it a good idea to continue throwing this tantrum of yours like you have been the past couple of days."

"This isn't over, Cinder," Adam said as he turned away and refused to look back. "The White Fang won't be your playthings forever."

"I know," Cinder shrugged her shoulders, uncaring of Adam's threat. "But by that point, I would already have everything I want."

Mercury closed the door behind Adam as he left the room. Adam shoved him out of the way, and Mercury stuffed the hidden article in his pocket as he closed the door behind the faunus leader.

"What a fun guy," The ex-assassin said absentmindedly. "He's going to become a problem in the future, you know."

"I am aware," Cinder sighed, gesturing for him and Emerald, who were sitting on the sidelines for that entire argument, to come before her. "But his anger can be directed and used. I know he holds no real loyalty for me, but that doesn't mean that he is useless."

"What are we going to do now?" Emerald asked, being as respectful as she could. "Ozpin has bound to have put even tighter restraints around Amber, and you won't be able to catch him off guard a second time."

"Not to mention our plan with the Vytal Festival has to be completely redone now," Mercury continued. "All due respect Cinder, we're sorta fucked right now."

"My dear Mercury, we have never been so fucked as we are now." Strangely enough, Cinder laughed bitterly at the statement. Enough so that Mercury felt uncomfortable seeing her smile for once. "All of our plans that I committed to memory need to be tore down and built up again. Everything we have meticulously planned for the past two years have been discovered. Certainly Mercury, we really are fucked at the moment."

"So…" Mercury hesitated. "What do we do next?"

"Kneel," Cinder said, waving a hand toward them. Almost instinctively and not without practice, Mercury and Emerald both knelt down on one knee. "The answer to that question is simple, Mercury. We will waste too much time coming up with new plans on our own. Time that we cannot afford to lose. So the only option is to take a more aggressive approach… and in order to do that, I am afraid I must admit that I need help, my Queen."

Queen? Mercury and Emerald thought at the same time, only to then freeze and not move a muscle as a Seer moved out from in between them. The red barbed tentacles of the communicative Grimm creature dragged against the floor with an ear-deafening grinding sound that made it hard for them to sit still as comfortably as they were now. The Seer continued to move forward until it was directly in front of Cinder. Then, it began to glow, and crack, and then explode in a fragmented cloud of black dust and red magic.

The magical energy continued to swirl and swirl until it took the shape of a woman. Or at least a vague shape of a woman, and Salem's face slowly began to appear from within that figure. Her black and red eyes opened and the rest of her features came quickly. With shining red eyes, she looked down at Cinder, not even acknowledging the Emerald and Mercury as she towered many heads over the half-fall maiden.

"Cinder…" Salem frowned at her. "You disappoint me. I do not sense the power of the maiden within you, and it seems you have lost me a very valuable pawn. Even after I allowed you to use the service of Tyrian, Hazel, and Watts, you still managed to fail me. How could you do this to me Cinder? After everything I did to raise you to the position you are in now… this is how you repay me?"

"My deepest apologies," Cinder got out of her chair and knelt toward the Queen of the Grimm. The one person in the world who was able to force such a submissive gesture from her. "I have failed you, and I have disappointed you. I suffered defeat at the hands of Ozpin, your sworn enemy, and I am also afraid that one of his allies who possesses a type of mind-reading semblance has taken my memories and compromised nearly all of my future plans. The fault is mine, and mine alone."

"And yet you claim to seek even more aid?" Salem scoffed at her. "What do you think you can offer to me now that you have potentially been set back years? In that time, our enemies will only get stronger, and my pawns older, and weaker. I may have to wait for another generation because of this Cinder."

"I have recently thought of something that you might enjoy so much that you may forget my past failures." Cinder went on. "An idea that I came up with mere hours ago. A desperate one, but one that will only work with your approval and… assistance."

"Hm. Go on, child. You have piqued my interest."

"You, my Queen." Cinder began. "Are the single most powerful entity on Remnant. You are the embodiment of darkness and humanities greatest sin. My idea is simple, almost predictable. It will be something that our enemies will never see coming. Not even Ozpin."

"The subtle route is not working. I plan for something more aggressive in nature. Something destructive. Something that requires… a certain touch, if you will."

Salem pieced it together quickly enough. A smile slowly stretched across her face as Cinder's idea began to infest her own mind. It was risky, and going through with it would bring terror to all of Remnant whether it failed or succeeded. At first, she almost didn't dare to go through with it. However…

"You never cease to surprise me, Cinder," Salem said with a slight shake of her head. "You have given me something to think about. And preparations may very well begin construction. I will keep in touch, Cinder. Do be careful not to fail me again, or else the power that you are so desperate to achieve will never become a reality."

"Of course," Cinder bowed her head, smirking widely. "Your desires are ever above mine, which is why I think this is perfect for both of us. I am sure you have had enough of that castle, hm?"

"Yes," Salem agreed and began to fade away. "Yes, I do think that I have."

When she faded away, Mercury and Emerald felt a weight fall off of their shoulders. Cinder leaned back and barked a laugh, but didn't allow herself any more than that. What had they just witnessed? The beginning of a true war? No, this was something on a much larger and grander scale.

They were careful not to reveal their intentions so blandly, but the implication was there. Not only Beacon, but all of Vale was now a part of their plans. Mercury thought as Cinder laughed harder than she ever did in a long time, that their enemies had just made the mistake of making her snap.

Is that the end of Volume 2? I might make another chapter or two. But Volume 3 is coming very shortly, and with it, a very small time skip. Just thought you guys should be warned. A few weeks or days now mean a lot, and after everything that has happened, who knows what is happening next?

T wi tter . com (slash) genatools

P a treon . com (slash) Genatools