Here we are again with the final part of this finale. Those who have been reading from me for a long time, do you prefer finale-chapters like this where I split it off into 3-4 chapters or would you rather it be in one humongous finale chapter like I usually do? One definitely gets finished a lot faster from the other, but it may sacrifice a lot of quality since, well, huge 30k+ chapters are hard to edit and find every little mistake.
Beta: CrowSkull
The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 95
Volume 3, Episode 14
The Weight of The World
Albedo struggled to free himself from Tyrian's grasp, using his only free arm to elbow the lunatic in the side until his grip loosened. After getting some room he leaned forward and threw his head back, slamming it directly into Tyrian's nose. The man clearly hadn't expected it, and Albedo slithered out of his grip and dropped down to his hands and knees, coughing and trying to catch his breath since Tyrian was damn near suffocating him just before. As soon as he did, he opened his mouth to warn Amber of Cinder's siphoning abilities.
"Amb-" He hadn't even been able to get the second syllable out when Hazel clamped his own, large hand against his mouth. Silencing him. Albedo's blue eyes rolled to the back of his head as Hazel's other hand wrapped around his neck and slowly started to choke him painfully. The whites of his eyes went bloodshot and he slowly felt his life drain away as his strength withered away.
"No, no, no," Tyrian ironically came to his rescue before that could happen. "Remember what thy Queen wants, Hazel. Executing him here wouldn't do anything for us."
Hazel glared at him. "This man has all of Ozma's memories, which means he might as well be a copy of him. I couldn't deal the final blow to Ozpin, but I can well and truly kill this one."
"Only for you to be thoroughly punished by our Queen," Tyrian warned. He brandished his weapons against the huge brute of a man that Hazel was. Hazel glared at Tyrian, the muscles on his arms tensing and flexing as they stood each other off.
Albedo coughed as he was dropped to the ground, his aura breaking as it worked to heal the bruises on his neck.
"Wise decision," Tyrian's tail wrapped around his leg, dragging him away from Hazel. Albedo looked up from his position and watched Cinder and Amber as they began their battle. It was like something out of a movie, two magical beings with two halves of the same power going at it so violently they might as well be the closest to Gods humans could ever get. "I'll take control of our new prisoner if you don't mind. I hope you won't be offended when I say I don't exactly trust you with the new, mortal Ozma here."
"I'm… not… Ozma," Albedo croaked. His throat and windpipe were nearly crushed beyond repair because of Hazel's choking grip.
"Oh? I'm surprised you can still talk." Tyrian stepped onto his back, causing him to retch out the rest of the air in his lungs. "Very well, Albedo, I'll allow you the respect of being referred to by the name you were born with. I can't say the same for the Queen, but, well, you take what you can get, yes?"
Tyrian smashed the blunt side of his stinger into the back of Albedo's head, knocking him out instantly. "Now since that is dealt with… what do you say to watch what comes next?"
"We should help her," Hazel said as he crossed his arms, his words and gestures going against his suggested action. "There is a chance that Cinder could get killed here."
"A chance, but not a very big one." Tyrian plopped down and sat beside Albedo's unconscious body. If there were any bags of popcorn around, Hazel imagined that he'd be eating it ravenously. "I for one am curious to see how it ends, however. This is Cinder's fight, after all, and she doesn't have those two brats to help her this time."
"Hm," Hazel didn't sit, but Tyrian watched through the corner of his eye, grinning when he saw that Hazel was indeed calming down and showed no intention of moving forward to help their forced-to-be ally.
Good, Tyrian was very curious to see how this all played out. Whether or not Cinder wins or loses, it didn't matter. If Cinder lost, they'd still be able to get their hands on the next fall maiden when she would be exhausted and likely wounded, and if Cinder won, well, it would be annoying but at least their Queen would be pleased.
So, Tyrian and Hazel resigned themselves to the role of observers. It was dangerous to help anyway, fighting a maiden who had the full intent to kill them meant that one wrong move and they could find themselves dying in whichever type of nature's wrath she fancied at the time.
Amber felt that her body, Sienna's body, was still not fully acclimated to the powers of the fall maiden. She had only gotten this body barely a week ago, perhaps it's just been a few days. But she knew how to use the powers, and regaining her muscle memory back when she was just a huntress was an endeavor that had done itself. It was a strange thing to behold, that the human body and mind could adapt so easily and right when it needed to. Amber wielded her staff of ice with practiced ease, and Cinder was tired from her fight with Ozpin.
Even she would admit that if it weren't for that, she would have lost already. This was her chance to redeem herself and avenge all the people that Cinder had hurt ever since she lost her first battle against her. She hung on to the virtue of giving mercy in a battle she had thought won, and realized too late that Cinder wanted more than the money she had stashed away in one of the sacks tied to her horse's saddle. Too late, and God forsake her for hesitating. Even if she had still died, she would have at least been able to kill Cinder before she could become a monster like she was now. If she had the chance now, she would have gladly given her life to do so.
"It's too late now," Amber whispered to herself as she slid away on a patch of ice. "All I can do is fix my mistake, and I'm not holding back this time."
Cinder's Grimm arm stretched and extended toward her. The action surprised her, but Amber ducked underneath it and slammed it down to the ground with her staff, pinning it to the ground. Cinder screamed out in pain before watching as Amber summoned a sword made of ice in her left hand, much like how she did with her semblance combined with her maiden powers. Cinder retracted herself closer to her arm and yanked it out from underneath Amber's staff.
A blade of ice met a blade of fire in a clash of elements. Cinder gripped the weapon with both hands as Amber used the side of her staff to help her push back. Their eyes burned with an orange flame as they fought each other in a contest of strength, but it was Cinder who put an end to it.
A ball of flame exploded between Amber and Cinder as the latter allowed her sword to explode with condensed power. However, as she watched the flames engulf her enemy, she watched as Amber controlled the flames and wrestled them under her control. All of a sudden, her blast was being used against her and Cinder felt herself get blasted away. She didn't strike anything and instead hovered in the air as a fire burned and melted the floor beneath them. Amber looked up at her from amidst the magma as flames burned underneath her feet and hands and floated up to meet her level with the power of the wind.
Again, they stared each other down. Cinder looked around the basement of Beacon and realized that if they continued their battle down there, the entire room would collapse in on itself, potentially killing them both. She had a feeling that Amber would let that happen, as long as she was killed as well.
Cinder cursed and flew right past her and right up the elevator shaft, she didn't want to waste energy bursting through the ceiling again. Amber cursed and followed her, leaving Hazel and Tyrian behind. She muttered a silent apology to Albedo, she couldn't help him when Cinder was in her grasp. She was the priority target here. Cinder had gotten experienced with the power of the fall maiden over the few years that passed after she defeated her the first time, but Amber had learned to control it for a decade and a half. While Cinder was still fast, she was faster.
"Agh!" Cinder coughed as she felt Amber slam into her body, forcing her into the adjacent floor before she could reach the top. Cinder's back smashed against a wall and Amber held her by the neck, summoning another sword of ice to try and stab through her neck. Cinder's Grimm arm caught it, but she let out a scream of pain as she felt the ice and the sharpness of the blood both freeze and cut into the palm of her hand.
Amber looked at the black blood with curiosity in her eyes, even as she started feeling her lungs take in slightly harder labored breaths while she pinned the other maiden. "Your Grimm arm isn't protected by your aura," she said with a special flare in her eyes. "You fool, you've become more monster than human, even your soul doesn't recognize that part of your body belongs to you."
"Shut. Up!" Cinder screamed in her face. The part of her hair that was covering the scarred part of her face was blown to the side as her red, Grimmified eye, flamed up as if she was a full maiden. Amber widened her eyes as she saw Cinder's full face, half of it being black and armored with bone as a Grimm's would, and it went down to her shoulder and arm. It also seemed to creep further onto the human part of Cinder's face, corrupting it with the power of darkness as even her teeth became sharper and pointier like daggers.
Amber felt a fist drive itself into her stomach, and a blast of wind blew her away from her fellow maiden. She rolled and crashed into a desk, and burning papers floated all around the office they were fighting in as Amber countered the momentum of Cinder's attack with a blast of fire of her own aimed behind her. Amber stayed in a crouched stance as she looked up at Cinder with shocked eyes.
She didn't think it was possible, she didn't think that Salem would ever do it, but she sensed it. Magic, very similar to Ozpin's magic but much, much darker. The human eye of Cinder flamed with the orange flame of the fall maiden, and the Grimm eye of Cinder flamed with a dark, black, and red flame. Even on the left side, the hair on her head started turning white, starting behind her ear and working its way up.
Cinder was still half of the fall maiden but now… she was something else as well.
She was also a maiden of a different kind, it was the only way Amber could describe it. As Ozpin sacrificed four-fifths of his power to create the four seasonal maidens, Salem sacrificed an unquantifiable amount of her magical prowess into a single woman. Creating a dark maiden of some kind. It made up for half of the fallen maiden that Cinder was, so it was at least just as powerful or equal to that of a normal maiden.
Even still, for how monstrous and intimidating that Cinder looked as she pulled herself out of the human-sized crater in the wall that she'd been slammed into, she was still human, and humans got tired after fighting for long periods. Even those with magical abilities.
Amber let out a breath of flames as she willed her fall maiden abilities back to life. No more running, no more defeat, she would defeat her or die trying.
"You are going to die alone and terrified," Cinder left behind a burning path of black orange energy, one from each respective foot as she walked toward her. "Just as you were supposed to a long time ago."
"No," Amber shook her head. "Fate has given me a second chance, and I am not going to waste it. You're going to die, falling from your high tower of self-proclaimed grace, and the only ones who will remember you are those that hate you. Even if I fail today, there is another who I know will bring an end to your life."
"The Matsuoka boy will fall as well, in time." Cinder replied slowly. "But it won't be soon, my liege has other plans for him, and I had to let go of my hate for him to do this." She clenched her fists and showed off her newfound powers. "I couldn't attain this power without doing so, and I couldn't let myself be distracted by him any longer."
"I don't care what your reasons are." Amber sneered.
"Hm, I suppose you don't," Cinder held out her Grimm arm at her, flattening her palm as she did so. "How unfortunate for a supposed agent of Fate herself…"
Amber recognized the glowing red mark on the palm of Cinder's hand right as she showed it to her, and dodged to the side as black web-like tendrils shot out at her like a spider's web. Amber burned what remained of it with her flames as she backed away, just to make sure. Now she felt her heart beating rapidly within her chest as the terrible emotion of fear clambered up her brain. She remembered that substance all too well, and she traced her face of scars that weren't there. She couldn't let that touch her, not again.
"Come here, Amber!" Cinder called with a manic look in her eyes, chasing after her. "I thought you were going to kill me, weren't you!?"
"Tch," Amber backed away and blasted her way into another room, then sent another burst of wind into the smoke that was left behind by her doing so. She saw Cinder drop down to one knee to brace herself from the wind, but at the same time created glass from her semblance and shot spears of it right at her. Amber created similar weapons but made out of ice to counter it. Sending it right back into the barrage of glass spears as she launched a barrage of ice. Shards of glass and ice littered the floor once it was done, and both maidens suffered damage to their aura. Amber backed away again, though this time she manipulated the wind already blowing into them from the shattered windows outside as she let out a steady flow of flames into the current, creating a small tornado of flames within the room itself.
Cinder screamed as it hurt her Grimm arm, and Amber sought to increase the intensity of the flames, but something hurt her within.
Amber gasped as she felt her entire body throb and her head start to feel lighter and harder to keep balanced on her shoulders. She stumbled and caught herself, but not before losing control of the wind and turning her devastating and destructive attack into a mere flamethrower that Cinder was easily able to overpower.
"Are you feeling it already?" Cinder asked as she caught the flames with brighter flames of her own. "Your power leaving you?"
Amber shook her head and denied it. She gave up on the tornado based attack and instead put all of her power into the flames that she was throwing at Cinder. Condensing it further into more of a beam rather than a reckless flamethrower. Cinder growled as she fought back against it for a moment before twisting out of its way.
"Agh!" Amber yelped as her back struck the wall behind her. "W-What is happening?"
Cinder's left hand steamed with red vapor as energy crackled around it. Red smoke burst up from Amber's aura, sapping away at its supply while also weakening her drastically.
"Thankfully, Tyrian and Hazel restrained Albedo before he could tell you. I don't think I have to tell you anymore, do I?" Cinder said as her Grimm arm extended and started choking Amber while pinning her against the wall.
"Salem didn't just give me part of her strength, but with it, she passed on an ability. Have you ever wondered how Ozpin was never able to defeat her? Not even with the help of maidens before? He tried to trap her, time, and time again because if he could not kill her perhaps he could imprison her for life? Well, he made one, major mistake."
"Ozpin never sought to enhance his already superior form of magic, but Salem did. She has learned to master her power over the Grimm and herself, and Ozpin failed, many, many times. Just like you are failing now." Amber gasped as the black webbing from before once again started to spread all over her body. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the same pain she felt before from her original body when Cinder did this the first time. The process began, and this time there was no Qrow to save her.
"I can siphon away the magic of other maidens, or those with magical prowess like Ozma," Cinder finally revealed. "It doesn't make me any stronger, but it makes idiots like you weaker. A shame you couldn't kill me in a single blast, I reckon that's the only way I can be killed as I am now…"
"M-Mons… ster…"
"I am," Cinder freely admitted. "And you are my prey."
If Amber had the rest of her power sucked away she would have died right then and there the moment when another maiden struck lightning into Cinder's back. Cinder cursed as she was brought into another room as blue lightning crackled around her body and ice trapped her where she was thrown to the ground.
Her vision was blurry as she slumped onto the ground and cracked her eyes open. The person she saw was a blurred mess of colors, and she said something to her. But nothing that she could quite understand. But the sound and tone of the voice she remembered from a very, very long time ago.
She could barely see her but the voice gave her away
"Fuck off you damn bitch!" Vernal shouted as she ground Cinder's face against the floor.
An explosion later was followed by the sounds of fighting while Amber started to shut her eyes, letting the darkness creeping up around the edges of her vision close in.
"Hey!" A pair of hands grabbed onto her and sat her upright. "Are you okay? Hey!"
"What the hell is Sienna Khan doing here?" Orchid asked as she knelt beside Blake, helping her hold up the woman as she wavered from side to side.
"I think…" Blake shook her head, filled with disbelief. "I think she's one of them, isn't she?"
"A maiden?" Yang asked, then took a second look around the destroyed room, it was burnt, frozen, and the wind was blasting all over the place. It wasn't too hard to believe. "She might have been, why would they make Sienna it though?"
"It doesn't matter," Blake said as she picked her former master up and hoisted her onto her shoulders. "We have to get her out of here, if she's the maiden then Cinder would want to kill her."
"Blake…" Orchid placed a hand on her forearm, getting the faunus to stare at her. "I don't think she made it."
"What?" Blake, for all her disdain for Sienna, still saw her as a former teacher and friend. She used to follow her in the White Fang and was there for her whenever she needed her. She wasn't going to let her die here, at least not without giving her a chance.
"Just…" Orchid took her hand and pressed it against Sienna's neck. "Feel that?"
"I…" She did feel it, and it felt like skin. The skin of an artery with no pulse.
"Sienna's already dead," Orchid told her. "I'm sorry Blake, but she's gone already."
"B-But how?" Blake asked as she let her teammate take the woman off her shoulders and set her back down against the wall, closing her eyes with her hand so they didn't stare blankly at them disturbingly. "She was alive just a second ago… Vernal said that she was alive just before we got here!"
"Clearly, something changed," Yang said as she cocked Ember Celica. They had run into Vernal on the way here, and she was conveniently going in the same direction as they were. Naturally, they teamed up because with a maiden on their side they might just stand a great chance against the monster that was Cinder Fall. "We can't do anything to save her now, and we can't leave Vernal fighting her all by herself. That's what Cinder wants."
"Y-You're right," Shaking her head and steeling her nerves. Blake picked up Gambol Shroud and prepared to fight.
"Stay back!" Vernal screamed at them as she came sliding their way, crushing through the floor as her feet, laced with ice and lightning, dug into the floor violently. "Don't get any closer to her, she'll fucking kill you in one hit."
The three girls were about to protest if it weren't for the deep red stain all over Vernal's left side. There was a deep gash in her hip, and her aura was glowing around it to close the wound quickly. "She hurt me through my damn aura," Vernal spat to the side, it tasted of blood and salt and ash. "I don't know how, but she became strong enough to fight right through it."
The other three readied their weapons and took a stance when Cinder landed in front of them, fire burning around her entire body and an amber-colored aura mixed with black and red flowed all around her body. She didn't even have her eyes open, she was just standing there grinning at them. When they finally did open, they were both flaming a dark black-red color despite one eye remaining the usual orange.
"Finally," she uttered happily. "Finally, finally, finally!" Vernal and the others stepped back as Cinder let out a happy cheer that came so uncharacteristically that it worried them. "I finally have the power that I have been searching for so many years! I've never felt more powerful!"
"Get out of here," Vernal said, pushing them back with her arms as Cinder went on to keep cheering for herself. "She's gonna kill us if we stay."
"You're saying you can't beat her?" Yang asked, shocked to hear this from Vernal of all people.
"For the first time in my fucking life, yes," Vernal looked over her shoulder at the blonde. "This isn't a fight I can win, not even with your help."
"But you're the Spring Maiden!" Yang exclaimed. "How do you not at least stand a chance!?"
"Remember when I said that I started to sense the other maiden's magical signature failing?" Vernal began. "Well, I know why now. Cinder, somehow, someway, found a way to siphon her magic. And she's doing it to me too."
"Impressive," Cinder said, continuing to grin at them as she continued to enjoy the massive power boost she had just attained. "You managed to figure it out much faster than even Ozma did."
"Ozma?" Vernal said, confused.
"Apologies, you only know him as Ozpin." Cinder chuckled.
"I'll try to hold her off," Vernal said as her own eyes flamed with blue. "Leave and try to find a way off of Beacon, ever since that dragon thing died, Grimm has been swarming the school. The longer we stay here the more risk we have at being surrounded by the damn things."
"We're not just going to-"
They didn't get a chance to speak as Cinder suddenly attacked. Vernal met her in the middle, and their ensuing clash had all three of the non-maidens falling to the ground as Ice and lightning met fire and wind. Vernal pushed back against Cinder, grabbing one of her arms and letting her hand get so cold that it left frost and blackened skin by the time Cinder pushed her back. The flash freeze was mitigated almost instantly, however, as Cinder used her flames to warm herself back up. Vernal jumped back as Cinder's Grimm arm lunged for her stomach, and jumped back again as a dark black-red orb of energy exploded from it.
A blue bolt of lightning came through the window behind the Spring Maiden and struck Cinder in the chest, doing all but nothing as the dark maiden simply took it with a smile on her face.
"Hah," The way she exhaled made Vernal believe that she was enjoying this fight so far as if she was having fun with it! "My aura is overflowing, I remember how you utterly destroyed me the last time you did this to me. I was defeated quickly, your strength and experience certainly caught me off guard as the Spring Maiden. Not this time, no, I sensed you coming the moment you got within half a mile of me."
"This is not Mistral, however," Cinder continued, tilting her head to the side with a wide toothy grin on her face. "And this time, I hold all the power I had originally wanted…"
"And you'll die with it!" Vernal rushed Cinder, her bladed weapons flicking out of her wrists. It has been a long time since she felt as though she had to use them for anything other than training the kid or whenever she felt like it, right now she knew that she needed them. Her wrist blades sliced through the air toward Cinder's shoulder, cutting into aura and stopping as soon as it touched skin. The fact that Cinder just stood there, with a bleeding gash in her shoulder, angered Vernal to no end.
She didn't stop and continued to blast Cinder with everything she had. If her power was being drained just by being around her, then she knew that she had to end it in one single attack or else Cinder would just outlast her.
To Yang, it was like watching a light show that she and her friends were much too close to safely observe. She couldn't even stand up to try and support the bandit maiden. All she could do was watch as Vernal desperately charged up her power as much as she could with the precious seconds that she had left before she ended up like Sienna over there.
"Just die already!" Vernal exclaimed as she put out both hands. A charged continuous bolt of lightning and ice burst out of her palms, striking Cinder in the chest and for the first time actually causing her pain. Cinder groaned and actually had to defend herself with her own maiden powers. Flames and winds bit back at the lightning, but with it already connecting with her body she felt the electricity seize her muscles and force her to come to a stop. Her voice became chopped and ragged as she yelled out in pain.
Dark red energy formed in her left hand and suddenly she wasn't in pain anymore. Vernal started getting pushed back as a beam of dark energy was blasted right back at her, quickly overpowering her as Salem's power overpowered that of a trueborn maiden.
Vernal did her best to hold it off, even as the beam made contact with her hands. Vernal turned the floor to the ice to make it harder for Cinder to walk forward, but her body was just too hot and instantly melted it. Vernal started to get forced back, all the way until she was practically right on top of the other girls. She looked down and to the right and saw Yang, wide-eyed and in shock and awe at what she was seeing, but also with a large degree of fear in her expression. Vernal looked to Orchid and Blake, the former being someone she remembered well as the brat's best friend from Signal, and then at Sienna, the already dead fall maiden.
If she died as well, and Cinder gained her power as well? It would be all over. If the girls behind her died along with her? It would be all over.
"RAAAAH!" Vernal roared as a burst of power that went far beyond her already depleting limits negated the blast that Cinder was pushing into her. The energy was blown away and shattered as little shards of ice clattered to the ground like hail.
"Well," Cinder said as she favored her Grimm arm, which was hanging on by a mere threat of flesh and skin after Vernal's burst. "You overpowered me for a moment there… even after I was siphoning your power… no matter, I'll recover soon enough."
Vernal fell to her hands and knees and clutched onto her stomach, blood leaking out of her mouth as she felt some of those ice crystals jammed into her torso. It hurt so much, she hadn't even realized her aura had gone down but it must have broken when she let out the last of her power. She fell to her side and clenched her eyes shut and had trouble breathing, the blood was just so much, it kept coming out no matter how hard she tried to stem it.
Yang pushed herself up to her knees and took in the scene a second time. Cinder was recovering from Vernal's desperate attack, healing her arm turned out to be a quick endeavor, but not one that would happen right away. She looked to Vernal, the Spring Maiden, and she gasped at what she saw. A pool of blood filled around her, she was bleeding and with that much coming out she would likely bleed to death. If she died, and Cinder got her power as well…?
She muttered a silent apology to her friends as she loaded an emergency shell into Ember Celica. Shutting her eyes tightly and covering one of her ears, she aimed Ember Celica in the general direction of Cinder and fired.
A bright white flash blinded everyone but her for a moment, and the screams came right after. Cinder got the worst of it, having been right in front of the flashbang the moment it went off. She was writhing on the ground when Yang opened her eyes and rushed toward Vernal, hoisting her up onto one shoulder before turning around and getting to Orchid and Blake.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," She told them as they rubbed their ears. Having recognized what Yang was about to do just before she did it, they managed to cover their eyes just in time, but their ears must be ringing painfully.
At least they could see that she was trying to take them away, they all staggered toward the nearest window and jumped out of it while Cinder screamed and swore that she was going to torture them to death for this. Yang didn't know just how long Cinder would be blinded and deafened from the flashbang shell, but it would have to be enough if it meant to get her and her friends out of there and to safety.
"Gah!" exclaimed Cinder sometime later as she finally regained some sense into her sight and hearing. "Those little bitches, I'll make them pay for that!" She scowled as she pushed herself back up to her feet. She made her way to the window and tried to find the girls, who had to have escaped somehow while she was trying to recover from the flashbang. When she couldn't find them, she cursed. She had half a mind to try and go after them.
"No… no…" She had to restrain her Grimm arm before she would actually try and find them. "I'm already the fall maiden, I don't need to get too greedy, not yet, besides… Vernal will die from her wounds," She smirked as she imagined it, her next rush of power. She was already overwhelmingly strong with just the fall maiden's power and Salem's, another maiden power on top of that, was an exciting prospect to her.
"I already got what I wanted," She said as she looked over the most prestigious academy in all of Remnant. Or what was left of it, anyhow. Most of the buildings were on fire and the floors were swathing with blood and ash and craters. Even from up there, she could see the mass retreat that was ensuing. It brought a smile to her face. "Almost everything I wanted, so far," she added, looking up to the moon and shutting her eyes.
"You didn't even get a chance to stop me, little Kai Matsuoka. I love that, I wonder how much pain you will feel once you find out everything that happened here while you were stuck in Vale… I really hope it's too much."
Cinder Fall walked victoriously up the steps of the CCT tower, now all that was left was making sure Hazel and Tyrian secured Albedo, and to meet her Queen later.
"C'mon," Yang said as she dragged Vernal behind her, after all the fighting with Adam, Grimm, and everything she could barely stand without her legs shaking. "Let's go, we're almost there."
"Put… me… down," Vernal said through ragged breaths.
"Fuck off," Yang's eyes turned a bitter red. "You're not gonna die."
"Yang…"
"I said fuck off!" Yang exclaimed, continuing to drag her toward the evacuation point even while her legs refused to let her move.
"Yang, we need to rest," Blake said as she slumped to the ground, dragging Gambol Shroud by its ribbon the rest of the way so it can rest in her lap. Orchid did the same to her side, only she was the only one actually trying to help Yang move Vernal.
"We can't, the Grimm-"
"If the Grimm could sense us they'd already been here by now," Blake said. "Just a few minutes, that's all we need."
"Right," Orchid added, wincing as she tried to roll one of her shoulders. "We've put enough distance between us and the tower anyway, and Cinder isn't chasing us. We'd know if she was."
"But…" Yang held Vernal as she crouched down, looking down at the friend she had made so recently. She was barely breathing now, and Blake and Orchid seemed to have already accepted it. Vernal was dying.
"Bitch…" Vernal coughed as she cracked one eye open. "Stop having such a pathetic look on your face… it's annoying."
"Tch…" Yang didn't bother holding back the tears that rimmed her eyes. She saw Blake from the corner of her eye look away, having nothing to say or any knowledge on what to do in a position like this. She didn't blame her, the two of them had hardly talked since Beacon started. Orchid, however, shifted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, being there for her was enough.
"You can't die," Yang said, shaking her head violently at the thought. "There's been enough death today… enough defeats… you can heal yourself, can't you? Cinder did it, she was able to heal herself almost instantly and she's a maiden like you."
"She's not a normal maiden," Vernal pointed out, coughing as soon as the words left her mouth. Her hands clutched the bleeding wound on her stomach, it bled profusely through her fingers. "And I am out of aura… this is the end for me…" growling to herself, Vernal shook her head. "What a shitty way to go… I was beaten so quickly, so easily…"
"You can't blame yourself for that," Orchid said, being the only other person there who had at least a good relation to Vernal, she felt like she should say something as well. "We had no idea what we were up against, no idea at all…"
"Hey… I remember you," Vernal said softly, smirking up at Orchid. "I remember that I snuck drinks you guys… all of you… I remember how shitfaced you all got… even your precious little prodigy Kai." She laughed with a bloody smile. "Man, that was so long ago… you little shits were so happy it made me sick."
"I… I wish we could return to that time."
Yang choked on tears while Orchid began to sob as well. She barely knew Vernal, and yet she always considered her a friend. "I wish that I had a chance to actually get to know you…" Orchid said, tears beginning to flow down her face. "I really wish I could…"
"There's… still away," Vernal said, cracking her eyes open and resisting the urge to fall asleep.
"W-What do you mean?"
"She's the spring maiden…" Yang pointed out, rubbing the tears out of her face even as more came straight after. "When she dies… the power goes on to the last girl you think about, right?"
"Yup," Vernal confirmed, letting out a long sigh.
"Cinder can't get that power," Blake spoke the obvious thought in all their minds. "She's already the fall maiden, and she destroyed all of us without even giving us a chance to fight back. If she gets twice as powerful… I don't think anyone would be able to stop her."
"Catgirl is right," Vernal said. "I'm dying, and as much as I hate to admit it, my mind is full of images of her face."
"C-Can't you just think about somebody else?"
"It doesn't work that way, idiot," Vernal explained. "Cinder is the strongest thought in my mind right now, even if I think of some other person, I'd be forcing myself too, and the power knows."
"But… there is another way… Another way I can transfer power."
"I'll take it," Yang immediately volunteered. "I can become the Spring Maiden, I'm strong enough to, and I can train to become even stronger than Cinder."
"Sorry, I can't give it to you," Vernal said.
"Whuh-" Yang's eyes blinked hard out of confusion. "Why the hell not?"
"Boss' orders," Vernal said, making Yang shut up before she could argue. "She specifically doesn't want you to become the Spring Maiden."
"W-Why?"
"Fuck if I know, ask her the next time you meet," Vernal said before coughing up a storm. Blood came out and it splattered onto her chest. Orchid held her as her arms flailed for a moment, panic gripping her body as it realized that it was really about to die. "I-I was supposed to give it to her as a last resort, but, well, you can see how that'd be difficult at the moment. That's not even considering the fact that she's likely too old for it at this point anyway." Vernal looked at Yang, then shifted off to Blake sitting away from them and resting before shaking her head and slumped her neck toward Orchid.
Upon being looked at, Orchid looked like a deer in headlights. "M-Me?"
Vernal didn't say anything, she just took one of her hands off her stomach and held it out toward Orchid. "You're far from the best option… but… you're the only one I'd feel comfortable giving it to right now."
"H-How? W-W-Why?" Orchid asked, shocked, and stuttering. "Why me?"
"Because you're close to him," Vernal chastised. "You love him, don't you?"
"I-"
"Yes you do, idiot," Vernal cut her off. "That means you'll be close to him, and right now, he's your best shot at beating Cinder. He has no magic for her to siphon out of him to make him weaker. Not even Ozpin could do it, but he can."
"I…" Orchid didn't deny her words. Her hand reached to grab hers, but she was shaking uncontrollably.
"I don't blame you for being nervous," Vernal's voice gradually got quieter and quieter, she could only bear to keep one of her eyes open, and her skin was so pale from the blood loss it made her look like an actual zombie. "This power… is a curse. It grants you strength, but it puts a target on your back that you'll never be able to get rid of. And I am going to pass on my burden to you."
"Train with it, learn how to wield it, and when the time comes, destroy your enemies."
"..." Orchid didn't know what to say, this was all happening too sudden.
"Swear to me," Vernal said, her voice barely above that of a whisper at this point. "Swear… to me…"
Orchid looked to Yang as if asking her permission for one reason or another. Yang looked back and nodded her head.
"I swear." Orchid's hand gripped Vernal's at last, nodding at the girl and holding her. At the very least, if she was to be the heir to the power of the Spring Maiden, she would take it while looking at her soon-to-be predecessor in the eyes.
Vernal finally shut her eyes and allowed herself to rest at last. Orchid felt a jolt of energy spike through her arm and then to the rest of her body. It felt incredibly strange, being given the power of the Spring Maiden. She felt her aura get rejuvenated almost instantly, and she saw the pink flames burst out of her eyes and warm her face as the power accepted her as its next host.
Vernal's hand went limp a moment later, as did her head and body once she finally let go of herself. Orchid looked down at her hands, seeing the powerful glow of her own eyes reflect off of them.
"Orchid?" Yang asked, unsure if she was truly okay or not.
"I'm… fine," Orchid assured her and Blake, who was watching on with a concerned look on her face. "It's just… my mind… it feels quiet for once." the new Spring Maiden stood, beckoning for her friends to do the same. "Come on, let's get out of here now. There's no reason for us to stay here anymore."
"R-right," Blake said as she picked herself up and then went to help Yang stand as well. It pained the blonde to know that they'd have to leave Vernal's body behind, along with so many of her fellow students. But they had no other choice. Not when Grimm could jump out at them at any moment.
Yang and Blake followed Orchid, moving slowly as to not draw too much attention to themselves. It seemed that Adam was right when he said that he ordered a full-scale retreat from Beacon and Vale, as they hadn't encountered any White Fang since. The Grimm that would come across them would be easily handled by Orchid with her newfound strength, and although she didn't know how to actually control her powers, it didn't take much of it to kill a Grimm.
Looking back at the place they'd once called home… in shambles, invaded by Grimm, while retreating like this? It hurt, it truly did.
Yet somehow it didn't hurt as much as when they found Qrow, kneeling at the edge of the evac zone. Not when he told them what happened to Kai's family with tears in his eyes. No… it was wrong to say that it didn't hurt as much.
It just made the pain already there even worse.
"Hah!" Kai groaned as he cleaved through a Beowolf, both of its halves falling to the ground in a heap of flesh and ash. He sucked in a deep breath and shouted as he sliced at another, removing one of its limbs for one of the Violet twins. "Just a little further…" He chanted to himself as he felt the hot steam, sweat, and Grimm blood smoke off his body. "Just a little further…" His sword felt heavy in his hands, and he couldn't hold it properly anymore. His hands were beginning to get bruised and cut from the leather strap wrapped around the hilt. His coat came unbuttoned a long time ago, and it flapped around him as he moved.
Rick and Brick fought at his side and were in a similar state. Both of them shed their coats long ago, leaving them both in two simple red and blue undershirts that hugged tightly to their body. They're bodies crackled with lightning, even if it wasn't strong enough to at that moment. They fought together, bled together, and were pushing through the Grimm together.
Kai's eyes burned as they gave him strength. His mind felt like it was melting, and his muscles screamed for him to halt and rest every time he swung his sword and killed another Grimm. They'd been going at this for hours now, how many? Kai couldn't keep track, he only knew that it had been at least three to four hours since they agreed to charge to the epicenter of the impact zone of Ironwood's flagship. And he could sense it, so close and yet so far, it was just one more block down the road now. Just one more block… and Kai could finally drive his sword through Salem's heart and end this.
Rick and Brick had given up on their attack names two hours ago and simply did whatever attack was most necessary for the strongest Grimm ahead. Kai had to hand it to them, their combined power was matching him to the T. Without them, he knew he wouldn't have been able to make it this far, at least not without blasting his eyes every two seconds. But even then, he'd like to not exhaust himself before he even made half the distance they were at now.
They moved like a blur to his senses, but he knew that they were fighting just as hard as he was. Their swords were short but cut true, aiming to decapitate or at least dismember each Grimm that came at them. Their synergetic semblances worked perfectly together, creating an explosion after the explosion of violet lightning and flames. They never stopped moving, just as he did. He wondered how he hadn't gone deaf yet after all the times a lightning bolt struck near him, but then again he wondered how Rick and Brick were able to keep up with him this far. It was true that he had ignored his friends too much… he hadn't even realized how strong some of them had become.
Kai simply held his sword out and allowed a Beowolf to lunge straight into it. He was so tired that he nearly fell with the creature as it slumped to the side, lifeless. As he stumbled, Rick and Brick were there to assist him. Rick helped him up while Brick stabbed his sword through the snout and out the skull of an Ursa Minor. When Kai was back on his feet, he sensed Rick go back to his brother and together, completely decimate a Beringel together. It went to show just how far they came from initiation. One Beriginel back then may have killed them, whereas now they destroyed one in a single shot.
Kai roared and charged back in with his friends, gaining yet another second wind as he activated the special ability of his sword and released a wide arc of silver light which slashed through half a dozen creatures of Grimm in a single attack. Rick and Brick went in as the Grimm's charge was broken, and chained lightning to each other as they sprinted off into separate directions, both roaring as blue and red lightning crackled from both of their eyes and bodies. The lightning between them destroyed any Grimm that touched it, but it quickly went out as one brother was knocked away by another Grimm.
"No!" Kai stomped the ground and propped Rick up on a stone platform before one Grimm could pounce on him and cause his death. Rick offered Kai a quick thank you as he stood back up and jumped back into the fray, this time alongside his brother.
Kai nearly passed out after doing that, his semblance was useful but it required a lot of focus and thought put into it. It wasn't something he could fully rely on in a situation like this, and it could serve as a means to knock himself out or even injure himself if he went too far. The most prime example of that was at the Breach. He nearly burnt himself to death after using Incinerate.
"I can see it!" Brick called out as a giant crater of fire and rubble burned ahead of them. "A-And… I can see it." He uttered next, referring to the shadow within the flames. Kai knew what he was talking about, he had sensed her now that they were so close.
"I… don't know if I can keep up much longer," Rick said as he stumbled forward, using his brother for support to lean on.
"Almost there…" Kai chanted to himself, stepped past them with Silver Ebony being dragged behind him with both hands. "Just a little farther… almost there."
"Wait, Kai! Shit," Brick looked at Rick and they shared a nod, activating their semblances once again and chasing after their friend. Kai was charging up another attack with his sword, and that shadowy figure in the shadow seemed to finally notice them coming when Kai unleashed it at his full strength. His eyes glowed a dastardly black as he stomped forward. Rick and Brick had no idea what the hell he was doing with eyes like that when his semblance revolved around a completely different aspect, but it worked well enough against the Grimm as it seemed to empower him.
Rick and Brick lunged with him and forced their bodies to move against their will. Every little motion hurt, every little touch of a Grimm hurt, their aura slowly draining away just because of the pain of fatigue hurt, but they just kept going forward, following Kai on his insane path to the one that apparently started it all.
It's already been hours, and another went by as Kai, Rick, and Brick cemented themselves in the same spot as something seemed to order the Grimm to attack them all at once. It was a miracle that they got this far already, though it seemed that this was going to be as far as they went. Rick was the first to drop to his knees, too exhausted to continue moving his body. Then it was Brick after getting his aura broken and slashed by a mere Beowolf. Kai realized that they were done and fought hard to defend them. His silver-black sword being hefted up and off the ground with each swing. With eyes hardened with determination as he refused to give up. Rick and Brick watched with shock as Kai fought tooth and nail, even going as far as to punch a charging Beringel with his bare fist and knocking it over.
He eventually lost the strength in his wrist to hold his sword after that, or perhaps it was him dislocating his wrist after slamming his fist into the armored face of a Grimm. Either way, Silver Ebony clattered to the ground as his one remaining arm lost its strength due to fatigue.
Even while down on one knee, Kai still refused to give up, his dislocated fist clenched up, forcing bone back together as muscles clenched and teeth grit. A white and black flame bundled up all over that arm. As his breath came out like smoke, his arm shot out like a bullet, and with a scream, shouted: "INCINERATE!"
The flames came out black but changed to white as it burned the Grimm around them to ash. Rick and Brick rolled flat to the ground as the flames washed right over their heads as Kai spun around in a circle, burning every Grimm in their immediate vicinity as his flames grew more and more powerful with each passing second.
Until finally, Kai's aura went out as well and he dropped forward and onto his face, finally out of strength and energy.
Rick and Brick crawled to his side, wincing at how hot his body felt when they grabbed it and helped him get back up to their level, which was still on their knees but it was better than lying flat on their face. Rick and Brick, despite being out of aura and utterly exhausted, clenched their swords tightly to their bodies as the Grimm began to encircle them once again.
"Halt," A woman's mature voice called out. Stopping the Grimm right as they looked like they were about to pounce. "Death by Grimm would be oh so infuriating, I imagine. After making it this far, I won't allow you to have such a pathetic death."
"What…" Rick and Brick's mouths hung open as they saw her, the one that Kai had talked about before. "This is her…? The Queen of the Grimm?"
"She looks a lot more human than I'd like her to," Brick said, trying to pick his sword off the ground as he forced his legs to carry the weight of his body again.
"Salem…" Kai muttered, blindly glaring in her general direction. "You… I need to… kill you…"
"Oh?" Salem raised an eyebrow, amused. "Is that so? Ah, Ozpin must have put those ideas in your head, didn't he? How shameful of him, putting yet another silver-eyed warrior's life in danger…"
"You won't hurt him!" Rick exclaimed, forcing himself up along with his brother.
"Children," Salem sighed. "I may let you live if you lay down your weapons…"
"Guys…" Kai croaked, trying to push himself back up to his feet but ultimately failed to. He couldn't bend his knees far enough, and he only managed to hurt himself by falling down and onto his sword. "Don't… you can't… beat her."
"We won't know until we try," Brick said. He would try and summon out his lightning again, but without aura, he couldn't even manage a spark. Same as his brother.
"You spent all this time protecting us," Rick added, mimicking his brother's defensive stance in front of him. "Let us spend some time protecting you for once, eh?"
"No…" Kai tried to get up again, only to fail again. His left arm was so burned by his flames that he couldn't even feel it as he pressed it against the ground. "You can't… shouldn't…"
"Sorry, bro," Brick had the heart to look at his blind friend, to at least give him that much respect. "But if we're going to die, I'd rather we die fighting to protect our friend."
"Couldn't have said it better myself, bro," Rick said, smiling a tired, bloody smile at him.
"Hm," Salem simply raised one hand and pointed it at them. She didn't say anything, instead, she waited patiently for the twins to come at her first.
After realizing that, Rick and Brick did the only thing they could do, and charged their last charge. They sprinted slowly at the Queen of the Grimm, each step echoing in their mind as they got closer and closer to their target. In their minds, this was their only chance to defeat the leader of the Grimm and perhaps save the city.
If it were a fairy tale, they may have gotten close enough to strike at her.
Two spears of dark red energy shot out of Salem's hand and pierced right through both Rick and Brick's hearts, killing them instantly.
"NO!" Kai screamed as he sensed their bodies hit the ground and their swords clamber away. "No! No, no, no, no, no," he kept saying as he dragged and crawled his exhausted body to Rick and Brick. Salem watched on with a disappointed expression on her face. Not in the Matsuoka, no, but in the actions of two boys who could have very well lived if they had just taken up her offer and laid their swords down. She allowed Kai to drag himself painstakingly close to their bodies, watching as tears flowed down his face like twin waterfalls.
"No… no… no…" Kai said as he placed a hand on both their bodies, feeling no pulse. "Why… Why did you attack? I told you… you fucking idiots… I told you," He sobbed, gripping their shirts and pulling them closer to him. "Why… What am I going to tell Glynda? Cyan? Everyone else? Why… why… no… why…?"
"No…" Kai felt hot streams of tears drip off his face. "No… please don't… don't do this to me… please… come back." He begged, hugging both Rick and Brick's bodies. "Don't leave me alone… I-I can't do this alone."
"They didn't die painfully," Salem remarked as she got within twenty feet of him. "I destroyed their hearts instantly with magic, they might have felt seconds of pain but only that. If that is any consolation, which I doubt it is. I just wanted to set an example."
"You…" Kai gripped Silver Ebony hard, and tight. The veins in his arms and hands popping out as sorrow made way for red anger. Salem watched curiously as the exhausted, bloodied, injured, and ruined Matsuoka made his way up to his feet. His clothing has long been ravaged by the Grimm, and his aura was out already. He could barely hold his sword even with both his hands. Salem smirked at the display of absolute determination. She would have expected nothing less. Had not expected anything but this. "Murdered them…"
"I warned them to not try it," Salem remarked as if that was an excellent excuse for what she did. "They did so anyway. If they simply sat still and let me do what I wish, they would yet live."
"You killed them!" Kai wasn't listening. He forced his arms to rise and brought Silver Ebony up with them. He tried to activate the power of his eyes, but he couldn't muster up the strength to do it. He was completely drained. "They were my friends! I don't care if I can barely stand, I am going to make you pay for that! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you, you fucking monster!"
"Oh, my sweet, sweet child," Salem said in a gentle, saccharine voice. "I will not hurt you anymore, you do not deserve to feel such pain. If only Ozma hadn't found you first, perhaps even your father would still be alive."
"Don't bring his name into this!" Kai screamed, trying to charge forward but stumbling and nearly falling over. Only catching himself when he stabbed his sword into the ground to prop himself up.
"I only do what I need to do, Little Kai," Salem said, slowly getting closer and closer to him. "I am sorry that it has hurt you so, but I promise, the pain doesn't last forever. It only makes you stronger."
"SHUT UP!" Kai screamed as he forced himself back up to his feet, wrenched out his sword, and pointed it toward the monster woman.
"Come, child," Salem beckoned, standing over Kai as she spread her arms across as if offering him a warm embrace. "I'll show you why Ozma is so afraid of me…"
"RAAAAAGH!" Kai screamed as he thrust his sword forward with every bit of strength he had remaining. The sword stabbed straight through Salem's chest and came out the other side. Thick, black, hot blood spilled onto his arms and face, but he didn't feel Salem's strength fade at all. His blind eyes slowly widened as Salem's cold, deathly hands gently caressed his cheeks, stroking them lovingly as a mother would her child. Even as she spat up blood, she laughed.
"Foolish boy. You cannot slay what cannot be slain." Salem said as she pulled Kai deeper into an embrace. Kai was too shocked to realize that she was hugging him. Too shocked by the fact that she still lived despite having her lungs and heart completely skewered by his sword. She should be dead, so why wasn't she dead!? "I understand your anger, Little Kai Matsuoka, I do. Which is why I am not upset by this. No, anything but, I am overjoyed!"
"W-what are you?" Kai's voice and eyes went shaky as he let go of the hilt of Silver Ebony. Giving up.
"I am Salem," The Witch replied. "Queen of the Grimm, a remnant of a time long past, the lonely girl in the tower," She chuckled. "I have many names, many titles. But none of that matters now, my dear, dear, Grandson."
No...
"G-Grandson...?" Kai repeated.
No… that can't be right.
"That's-"
"Impossible?" Salem laughed as she reached a hand up to stroke his hair next. "In a world where beings like Ozma and I exist, is it truly so unbelievable? How else do you think you could unlock the dark, hidden power of the silver eyes? It is true, you are my long, descended, Grandson. My blood flows within your veins, just as Ozma's does."
"W-what…? How…?"
"The truth will be revealed to you soon enough," Slowly, Salem pulled away from him. Keeping her hands on his shoulders and leaned down so that their faces were barely not touching each other. "My son, my family, continue fighting, continue your journey. It does not stop with the fall of Vale. And when you are ready…" Salem's cold lips planted against his forehead. When she pulled back, Kai fell down to his knees, slumping down and on the verge of passing out from exhaustion and fatigue.
"Come find me." She whispered as she wrenched Silver Ebony out of her chest and dropped it down in front of him. Stroking his head one last time as she moved past him, Kai just sat there on his knees, listening and sensing the chaos all around him ensue as Vale did indeed fall. Kai didn't know for sure, but if Vale was falling then Beacon was surely quickly following.
Everything, everything he had ever done up to this point, and none of it were enough. He trained, got as strong as he possibly could at just the age of eighteen only to find out that Salem couldn't be killed at all… His mother, Malienna, were they still alive? The very real possibility that they weren't made his heartache, all this time he was trying to kill Salem when his family was in danger… Gods… he couldn't handle it anymore.
Kai screamed and broke his knuckles against the pavement he sat on. Punching it over and over again until the pain was too much for him to handle. He fell over onto his side, huddling down into a fetal position and letting out all the grief that has been growing inside of him throughout his entire life. The Grimm moved past him, completely disregarding him as Salem ordered. All he could smell was death and failure, all he could sense was chaos and defeat, all he could see was… nothing, still nothing, even after all this time.
Even as time passed and the sun began to rise, he couldn't move, much less react to Neo as she appeared out of nowhere and started dragging him away. He didn't even know if it was her, he only knew that it could be no one else who could get him out of an army of Grimm without getting caught.
He just couldn't stop thinking about it… Vale had fallen, Beacon had fallen, most of his friends had likely fallen…
And Kai Matsuoka finally broke under the pressure of the weight of the world.
Well… here we are. The end of Volume 3. Well, I say it's the end of Volume 3 but there is of course going to be an epilogue to such an arc. Too many loose ends need to be tied, but for now, some explanations.
I didn't write JNPR or Ironwood fighting at Amity because there wasn't much to write on for them. JNPR and Ironwood and all the other forces held off the Grimm as long as they could and got everyone out of there. Looking back now, I probably could have, and I might actually add it in someday. I'm just too tired now, I just wrote over 11k words in a single day trying to get this done.
And yes, Salem is Kai's actual great great great great… lots of great grandmother. That I will confirm now. How is he related to her exactly? Well, you'll find that out soon enough.
Marron is indeed dead, though Malienna is still alive, as I said in a previous chapter.
Qrow didn't get another scene, but I'll explain what he did here after watching Marron die. To him, he just watched Marron, his lover, and her daughter - his practical step-daughter - crash and burn in a Bullhead. He just… shut down for a while. He was found by some other students and they managed to drag him to one of the evac zones, but I thought it would be too depressing to show him in a state like that. Of course, he doesn't know that Raven saved Malienna just in time, but even if he did, Marron still died. I originally was about to have him help Yang, Blake, Orchid, and Vernal to help Amber/Sienna against Cinder, but well, plans changed.
As for Amber's death… it came abruptly, and she had a brief involvement in the story as a whole. It was always meant to be that way, and sadly Amber's fate was sealed when Cinder defeated her once already.
As for Vernal's death? Well, it was kinda the same thing. Vernal was at Beacon at the time, and she wasn't just going to stand back as Cinder did her thing. Sadly, she realized too late that Cinder was just too strong and powerful for her to defeat, even without the siphon ability, Cinder would have still beaten her and the others with her.
As for Cinder's recent buffs… she had been granted power from Salem herself, as revealed by Ozpin in a previous chapter, and along with a large boost in power, she was granted new abilities. See this as the equivalent of a maiden created by Salem, but of course, darker forms of magic work very different from the conventional form that Ozpin wielded at the time he created the maidens. Salem knew that Cinder would likely have to fight many other magical maidens, including Ozpin himself, and so gave her a way to always win, even if the other person is more powerful than she is. Hence why she was able to defeat Amber, Ozpin, and Vernal so easily. They all had magical powers, and so grew weaker and weaker as time went by. And even if she still couldn't defeat them with the siphoning ability, she still had the power that Salem granted her.
Cinder is… quite different yet again for this story, but I realized recently that I made her a bit too bit of a maniac who didn't use her brain. So I tried to make her a bit smarter and use her head a little more. It may have worked enough for you to notice, maybe not. But she did have to sorta forget her hatred for Kai in order to just go after Beacon directly.
Alas, there are many deaths on the good side and they were vastly underprepared to deal with this. Combined with a Grimm invasion along with the White Fang, they were just overwhelmed. And war brings death, and not even the most plot-heavy characters are safe from it in my eyes. Of course, I have these moments with plot armour and such, though I do try and steer away from that aspect of writing as much as I can.
This was always the plan, from very far in the beginning of the Mistral arc. It went through many, many changes, and Salem getting off her ass and invading with the Grimm herself was one of those major changes that came recently. All part of the Master plan, as CrowSkull would agree with.
A five part Epilogue is on the way. A series of shorter chapters are coming to settle down for the epilogue until Chapter 100. So that's five more until V3 has OFFICIALLY ended. I may get it done quickly, maybe not. But first, I gotta rest after this marathon of writing. See you all next time.
T w itter . com (slash) genatools
P a treon . com (slash) Genatools