Chapter 90: Fade to Black

Things have been going a little too well. Let's fix that.

It hurt, but it wasn't the agonizing pain Jaune had expected. He'd broken his arm once when he was twelve after climbing to the top of a stoplight on a dare and falling down (he still hadn't forgiven Saphron for it), and that was probably more painful. The pools, turbulently splashing up to his aura-protected elbows were more like the aching of a day of rough training with Oz in the courtyards of Beacon.

Still, he could feel the unwelcome energy of a rogue god surrounding him, penetrating him, and he knew he had to get rid of it before it killed him within seconds. Salem was in range. Jaune activated his semblance and directed the numbness his aura felt toward the soon-to-be mortal witch.

"Remember, your goal isn't to kill her. It's to simply flood her body with the darkness and upset the tenuous stability that the god of light granted her. If we're lucky, the light and darkness will cancel each other out, and Salem will lose her immortality."

And if we're unlucky?

"Well, it may not work. Or perhaps she'll simply become partially immortal – unaffected by age but able to be killed."

That would be good enough. Right now, she's eternal, which means she can't be stopped. If we introduce even the slightest of vulnerabilities into her body, even one the pair of us can't exploit…

"…someone somewhere down the road will kill her eventually A brave hero, my next host, James' oh so many guns…maybe even disease."

Salem, apparently unaware of both Jaune's semblance and his inner monologue with his mentor, waved a hand. The Grimm around him charged, teeth first.

Jaune kept one hand aimed at Salem, but he unhooked Veneficus with the other and smashed open a Sabyr's skull with the butt of his cane. Two Nevermore flew towards him, but he cracked them onto the rocky shores of the pool, all while keeping his semblance going and his aura down. A spider Grimm that he'd never seen before latched onto his back and bit down on his shirt. He just barely managed to swat it off and step on its legs before it got to his precious aura.

"It would be faster if you used Dust."

I'll need my Dust.

"Whatever for? Once we're sure Salem's mortal, there's no need for–"

Oh, come on, Oz. Jaune nearly sighed. We both know that's not how this is going to go down.

"Jaune, there's no need for heroics."

I accepted my fate a long time ago, back when that dragon caught hold of me. No, before then – back when I woke up in the chaos outside of Beacon's vault with you in my head. Even if Salem's not immortal, she's still powerful. Her magic isn't tied to the light or darkness, it's a part of her. She'll keep killing and killing if I don't stop her.

"No. No, I won't allow it."

You can't take control yet without my consent. Besides, you'll just reincarnate.

"But you won't!"

You've sent hundreds, if not thousands, to their deaths. What difference does one more life make?

"It makes a difference when I don't want that one life to cease! I care about you Jaune. I know I've shown it poorly, but I do! I swear on the Brother Gods that you mean more to me than any other person on this faithless, broken planet!"

You let Pyrrha die to further your goals. It seems right that I go out the same way.

The voice in his head rose, not in volume but in intensity and fear. "Yes! Fine! I admit it, I killed her! And it was wrong! It was wrong to let a child die then, and it's wrong now! If that's what it'll take to convince you to cease this pursuit of martyrdom and safeguard your own life, I'll confess to whatever sins you want!"

Jaune sighed.

I have to do this. There's no way to be 100% sure Salem is mortal apart from killing her.

"Think of your friends! Think of Miss Rose! Who will evacuate her back to the safety of Haven when you're dead?"

No sacrifice too great. Not even me. You were right all along, sir.

"NO! PLEASE, JAUNE, DON'T–"

Enjoy the fireworks, Oz.

Jaune shut Ozpin's voice out.

Ruby was strong. Once she came to, she could run for the hills with her semblance. Free of Salem's corrupting influence, she'd be safe. And even if she didn't, she was a huntress. He knew that she'd lay down her life if the situation called for it.

Salem looked at Jaune curiously, then down at her hands. Flexing her fingers, she looked back at Jaune, this time with more worry than curiosity. Her eyes snapped open wide as the revelation of why Jaune was inside the pools of darkness hit her.

The dragon roared and snapped its jaws down at Jaune, but he put up a magical barrier that prevented teeth the size of Crocea Mors from ripping apart his flesh. Oz had said magic would speed up the merging of their souls, but it didn't matter anymore. Salem's skin was now a dusty silver instead of pure, pale white.

"JAU-"

Penny bashed headfirst into the barrier, and Jaune was forced to drop Veneficus entirely and focus his newly freed hand on maintaining the shield. The golden hilt was the last part he saw of it before it sank down towards the bottom of the murk.

The barrier was holding, but he could tell from the rate of change of Salem's appearance that it wasn't going to hold on long enough. It was time to push back a little bit.

"PLEA-"

The transparent green bubble-orb of magic that surrounded him disappeared, and within a millisecond there came a vibrant yellow wall in its place blocking the dragon's gnashing teeth and Penny's relentless flurry of punches. Jaune imagined the wall becoming spiked. Lo and behold, hundreds of fine points shot out. Penny reacted fast enough, hovering away, but the dragon punctured its own nose. Apparently, it hadn't thought to raise its Grimm aura. Its mistake…

It was working. Salem was not just a touch away from being human, the black veins having retreated from her body entirely. Her eyes were still darkened, but the color was returning.

"SAL-"

Jaune decided to hear the old man out this time.

"–losing her connection to the Grimm. I was not expecting this, though I can't say I'm unhappy with such results."

I'm giving her more of the power that lets her control them. How would that make her lose control?

"The power of the gods is not meant for mortal bodies. The God of Light understood the power's nature, as it is his, and he made sure that her uneven balance of light and dark was stable, if just barely, when he granted her immortality. Now, you randomly forcing more and more of it into her is making her unbalanced. As her darkness grows, I suppose the excess light is drawn to it, causing both to meet and extinguish one another. Her magic was like a delicately stacked house of cards, and both sides now are collapsing in on themselves as you throw more at it. Fairly soon, she'll be a mere mortal without any godly powers. In fact, the Grimm will probably take care of her. There's no need for you to stay and watch. You ought to make your way towards the castle and look for a bullhead to–"

"ELEMENT OF SURPRI– OH NOES!"

Ruby tossed herself at Jaune from behind, but in her blindness, she miscalculated her speed and slammed into him. Both tumbled into the pools of darkness and sank below its surface.

Both she and Jaune fell into the weird goop, submerging their bodies entirely into it. Ruby assumed it probably was harmful for her (black sludges tended to not be all that nice), but it didn't feel like it at first.

Then, Ruby inhaled.

The sharp shooting pain spread across her entire body, flowing through her bloodstream and infection every single cell it came into contact with. Swallowing gasoline and shoving a lit match into her belly button would probably have been more pleasant.

She tried to scream, but it just came out as bubbles. Opening her mouth was a foolhardy move, as more of the invasive liquid seeped past her lips.

Then, suddenly, something was pulling her upwards instead of her being dragged downwards by gravity. The liquid around her was replaced by dry air as she passed above the surface, and the last dregs of it on her skin slid off of her.

"Friend Ruby! Is she okay?"

Ruby felt the cool touch of the ground on her skin, but the agonizing feeling did not go away. She wanted to scream, but her mouth couldn't even form the syllable to express her suffering.

"I…do not know. I pulled her out before she spent but five seconds in the pools, though…"

Ruby coughed. "W-What?" she whimpered.

"The pools of darkness. The source of Grimm. Molten power wielded by the younger Brother God himself. She should not have endured the ordeal."

Ruby squealed in pain.

"Stay still, Friend Ruby. What should we do, Queen Salem?"

Ruby arched her back in pain as she waited for Salem to answer. That was right; she'd fallen in the same stuff all those years ago, so she'd probably know what to do. She would make this better. She would know how to dull the hurting that wasn't going away.

"My Queen?"

"Well, did he?"

"D-Did who?"

"You cannot hear my orders?" said Salem's voice. Ruby rubbed at her eyes, trying to peel open her eyelids that felt glued shut. "That…does not bode well."

"My Queen?"

"It would appear that my connection to the pools has been severed, and with it, my link to you, Kraken. I asked what became of the boy, Jaune Arc."

"As far as I know, he is still down there. His death will be an agonizing one."

"A shame, as he…stop. Stop. STOP! I command you!"

Ruby opened her eyes fully in time to see a ravenous Beowolf pounce on Salem. She tore it in two using her magic with a flick of her wrist, but she shouldn't have had to. Wasn't she its queen? Didn't she control it?

…why was Salem blonde? And wasn't she supposed to be paler? Her eyes were now blue, not blacky-red.

Another Beowolf, this time an alpha, raised its paw in the air and brought it down at Salem with a mighty swing. Stupid thing! Why would it possibly think it stood more of a chance than the first Beowolf? If it was going to throw its own life away in such a useless manner, it may as well save everyone time and claw out its own heart.

The Beowolf stopped, midswing. Its paw then change direction and ripped straight into its own chest.

"Perhaps you connection is still intact, my lady."

Salem's eyes fell on Ruby. "That…wasn't me."

Wait a second.

How had Ruby seen that Beowolf?

Ruby turned her head and looked at Penny. There she was. Not a collection of flowing electrical currents and metal connections visualized through flimsy maiden-sight, but Penny. Orange hair, white top, green overall skirt, nuts and bolts and all.

Ruby could see her. She could see everything.

With her eyes.

Penny understood it faster than the others. As she was synthetic rather than organic or Grimm, she did not need to spend time registering shock.

Friend Ruby was the new Queen of the Grimm.

"Friend Ruby, order the Grimm to stop!"

Ruby blinked up at Penny in confusion. "What? I can't–"

"Please, do as I suggest. Now!"

"S-Stop!"

The Grimm around a worried-looking Salem stopped their advance. Then, after a moment's pause, they continued. Salem vaporized them all instantaneously before they came within a meter of her.

"How did I–"

"Do it again!"

"Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Each time Friend Ruby uttered the command, the Grimm complied. However, within less than a second, they resumed their movement. It appeared the Friend Ruby's control was complete but unpracticed. Penny knew that Salem could command the Grimm for days before her orders wore off. Friend Ruby, without the same centuries of experience as her predecessor, lacked the ability to last for more than a brief moment.

A monstrous tail swatted down a far smaller Teryx that got too close to Salem. "Back, you damn animals! Do you not recognize your own Goddess?!"

"They do not, because Salem is no longer their goddess!" Penny shouted to the horseman as he smashed Grimm underfoot before they could make it to Salem. "Salem, Friend Ruby's eyes!"

As Kraken casually massacred the traitorous Grimm, Salem rushed to Friend Ruby's side. Salem was entirely indistinguishable from a normal human woman now, save for her ability to manifest magical abilities. Her skin was no longer pure white, and her Grimm-like features had ceased entirely.

Friend Ruby was the opposite. She was as pale as Salem had once been, with thin black veins visible underneath it. The most notable change, however, had to be her eyes. One of them remained silver and blind, but the other was a swirling black, as though the eye were filled with mist rotating within, and a dotty red pupil at the center.

If Penny had now known better, she would've thought Friend Ruby was the old Grimm-bodied Salem's daughter. The resemblance was phenomenal. Ruby had kept the features that defined her, but they had been painted over by her new Grimm-appearance.

Salem knelt before her and cupped a hand to Ruby's cheek. "Look at me, child."

"You shall not approach my Queen, you ingrates! Perish, lower beings!"

Ruby ignored the massacre and gazed into Salem's eyes. "What's going on? Why is this happening?"

"By all accounts, you should've died in there. Any human would've…"

Penny offered a possible explanation, analyzing the situation with her understanding of all involved parties' powers. "Friend Ruby is not any human. In fact, of all humans existing at the moment, she is the least human. She possesses the final incarnation of silver eyes, a trait descended from the God of Light himself and reminiscent of his power. Furthermore, between her magical bird form and being the only double maiden to have ever existed, she is easily the most powerful creature to have ever walked the face of the planet…besides you and Friend Jaune, Salem."

Salem considered Penny's words for a second, inspecting Ruby. "I suppose…it would imbue you with a resistance to the Grimm pools like no other, and your brief duration inside them was not enough for it to be fatal. You command the Grimm?"

"I didn't mean to!"

"She can," Penny answered for a panicked Ruby.

Salem stood to her full height and sighed. "Then there is still hope."

"Why still?!" asked Ruby panickily, kicking her legs. "What suggests that there wouldn't be hope in the first place, if there's 'still' hope?"

The former Grimm queen smiled and turned back to look at the fight, where Kraken was manually peeling off the Grimm who climbed up his massive form and throwing them miles away into the deeper Grimm wastelands. "I've lived longer than any woman in history, but my time is at a close. My immortality is no more."

"What?"

Penny asked, "Are you sure, Queen Salem?"

"The light that was always inside of me has flickered out, quenched by the boy's attack. Never had I foreseen such a power."

"That is impossible. Friend Jaune may be capab– may be skille– may have a useful semblance, but he is nowhere near as powerful as the gods."

Salem actually smiled at that. "He is not, but it appears that he had the ability to send their lingering power my way. It was the pools that destroyed me, with him as but a conduit. My darkness is gone, as is my light. I am immortal no more. It is finally time for me to die."

Ruby shook her head vigorously. "Uh-uh. No way, Josélem! You're not dying. I won't let you! Besides, I'll need someone to train me on how to be a Grimm Queen! I don't know how to govern Grimm provinces or hold Grimm court or levy Grimm taxes or anything like that!"

"Look around you, girl." Salem gestured outwards, her arms spread wide. "We are in the heart of the Grimm wastelands, surrounded by an army of monsters and with no means to control them."

"You can hop on your dragon, and Penny can carry me like she carried Weiss. Heck, I can fly again, now that I can see!"

"Would that it were so simple." A small chuckle escaped Salem's lips. "What are Grimm attracted to, little rose?"

"Negativity," Ruby answered instantly, on instinct. It was such a well known fact that she didn't even need to think to respond.

"And how do you think I'm feeling after losing control of my entire army as well as the safety net of immortality that has protected me all these years?"

"Pretty gosh-darn negative, I guess."

Salem looked skyward, where a tornado of Nevermore about a mile wide was circling overhead like a dark storm. "If I went with you, I'd only bring the Grimm with me. We'd be swamped by avians before we made it half a mile out of here." Salem's palms extended and magical orbs began to rotate around them. "Don't cry for me, child. I intend to go out fighting. And who knows? Perhaps I may carve my way through the Grimm with my magic and survive. Though I would not hold my breath if I were you."

"I shall stay by your side, my lady," said Kraken, smooshing a Goliath with his hind legs. Ruby was stuck once again by there sheer might of the horseman, and for a second, hope blossomed that he might be able to cut through the Grimm army, but reality returned to her shortly. He had aura to protect him, which was fundamentally limited in its quantity. Even he would eventually reach his limit. "I am your last horseman. Allow me to defend my queen to my last breath."

"And when your aura breaks and your blood spills, creating more Grimm?"

"I…I…"

"You'd only make it worse. The horseman of creation is of no use to a…a…" Salem scoffed. "…a powerless pretender queen."

Salem helped Ruby to her feet and ushered her in the direction of the dragon, which shook off a layer of Grimm on its hide and knelt to allow the passenger onto its neck. "Defend your new lady, my loyal servant. Take her and go."

It stung, being so vulnerable and needing the help of others, but she was still reeling from the emotional and physical shock of being turned part Grimm. Though she now knew who the good guys were and who the bad guys were, she had still spent her entire life killing them en masse. To gaze into the mirror and see one looking back would be…unpleasant.

"Where are we going…m-my queen?"

Ruby waited a few seconds for the answer before realizing that she was the one being asked the question. Below them, Salem was laying waste to the hordes of Grimm as they rushed at her, but for every hundred Nevermore she slaughtered, ten thousand more came to take their place. She and Penny rode Kraken, who was hovering overhead until Ruby could make up her mind…and make up her mind, she did.

"Atlas."

Penny cocked her head. "Not Haven, Friend Ruby?"

"No," Ruby answered with a surety that came more from fear of failure than determination to succeed. "We only have one question left with the lamp, and I'm not going to waste it."

"So why are we headed back to my home kingdom, then?"

"Jaune was…Jaune was Ozpin, Penny. He's dead now, but it's only a matter of time before he comes back as someone else. When he does, he's going to seek out allies. As much as I want to bring Yang and Mom and Cinder and all the people in Haven to our side, they aren't as strong as the most militaristic kingdom in the world. If we go to Haven and show them the truth, Ozpin will go to Ironwood and all his other allies and attack us. We'd lose the relics, and…yeah. But, if we go to Atlas, we have the full strength of their airships and soldiers on our side."

"Though I was programmed to be a patriotic daughter of Atlas, I will concede that they are not invincible, Friend Ruby."

Ruby looked down to the fight below them. The Grimm pools were sloshing back and forth to the extent that they actually spilled out of their lakes and onto the barren land, summoning forth new Grimm that joined the battle against their former leader. Salem, powerful though she may have been, was going to die. Every instinct in her, every fiber of her being told her to go down there and risk life and limb to rescue the kind and compassionate woman who'd spent eons trapped in a repugnant Grimm husk.

The three of them – Ruby, Penny, and Kraken – were the only ones left. Without Salem to eternally hold back Ozpin, the immense responsibility fell to them. If they risked their lives here against insurmountable odds, hope would be lost. This wasn't a movie or storybook where conviction saw you through; millions of Grimm would wear them out before they could ever get to Salem. Short of the gods sending them a miracle, that much was a given, and Ruby very much doubted the gods had any miraculous intentions.

"Maybe not, Penny, but Atlas is our best bet to safeguarding the relics. We only get to convince one group of people with the question, I'd rather have the strongest military on our side than against us. It'll be us against the world no matter what, and they're better allies than Haven. Besides, Atlas' vault is the last unopened one on Remnant. Is the Winter Maiden there as well?"

"Correct, Friend Ruby. Her name is Fria."

"A-Alright." Ruby steeled her voice, knowing she was now the queen and needed to exude confidence. Everyone turned to the Team Leader in times of crisis, and this was no different. "Alright. I say we go to Atlas."

"Then that is where we shall go."Their mount broke into the sky and tore above the clouds, rising faster than the winged lower Grimm could follow.

"I will obey your commands as well, Friend Ruby, but you make it sound as though conflict is inevitable. Can we not reason with those in Haven?"

"They've got their hearts set on waging war against Salem."

"Your word could sway them."

"It didn't sway Jaune." Ruby's face fell as she gazed down back to the rapidly shrinking pools of darkness so far below. "I could tell I was talking to him, not Ozpin, but he didn't trust me. And that was when I looked like a normal person. Can you imagine how the White Fang and Cinder and everyone would react when I show up as a half-Grimm menace and tell them that I've seen the light and suddenly changed my entire outlook on who's good and evil? They'll think I've been corrupted or brainwashed! Heck, that's what I would think if it hadn't been me it happened to!"

Ruby sighed and decided to address the heart of the matter directly. "I know you want to go where Weiss is. I do too, and see Yang, and meet my mom, and…but we can't. Please, Penny, trust me that we can't put our hearts' wishes ahead of the world's safety. Not with everything that's on the line."

Ruby wasn't meant to be Queen. She had always know what her calling was – racing out into combat, throwing caution to the wind, all in the wild hopes that her actions would save even just one person. Except now, she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. It didn't come naturally, but prioritizing her own safety and that of her limited follower base had to come first.

Penny seemed equally conflicted, but she did not disagree. "I…I will trust you, Friend…Queen Ruby."

"Don't look so sad. This is just until we can find a way to keep the relics safe. A-And hey, we've still got each other, right?"

"…"

"Right?"

Something about the way Penny hesitated made Ruby's heart sink.

"There is something you must know about me. I may not be around to assist you much longer."

Jaune dragged himself out of the muck and gasped for breath. He'd taken a lethal dose of the Grimm fluid, that was for sure, but Oz's magic had kept him alive just long enough to get out.

He was as good as dead, but he'd come to terms with that a while ago. What he couldn't accept, though, was dying as anything other than Jaune Arc. Not as Ozma, and not as a Grimm. The creatures around him were attacking a now normal Salem, but they were entirely ignoring him. He knew why when he looked down at his half-tan skin, half-pale white hands. Mixed splotches of color ran along his –

"I'm sorry, Jaune."

It's okay. It won't be like this for much longer. I'll be with Pyrrha soon.

"You've done well by her memory and proven yourself a true Arc, worthy of your family's name. Remnant owes you a debt that will never be repaid. I'll make sure the world knows of your unyielding courage here."

Much appreciated, Oz.

"I'm proud of you, my boy."

Thank you, sir.

Veneficus was lost forever at the bottom of the Grimm pools, but Jaune wasn't unarmed. Pulling a coffee thermos out of his coat pocket, he wiped it free of icky water. When his weakened left arm failed entirely and he dropped the thermos onto the shores of the Grimm pool, he simply picked it up with his tingling right arm.

A button switched Doctor Oobleck's thermos into a flamethrower. Jaune took aim at the crystal of Dust nearest him. Death was calling to him, but at least he would get to go out on his own terms.

Salem turned away from a Deathstalker she'd just incinerated and met Jaune's eyes. For a moment, he almost thought that he saw recognition in her eyes.

For Remnant.

For Team Adventure.

Jaune pulled the trigger with a smile on his face.

Next Chapter: Callback – In which Bronzewing loses yet another partner, Raven takes bad news poorly, and a scroll call changes it all.

Omake

Penny: Why are we going to Atlas, Friend Ruby?

Ruby: We need allies, Penny, and I know for a fact that the most daring, epic, world-shaking hunter team is in Atlas. They are the stuff of legends, each one immortal fighters in their own right. If we are to stand a chance against Ozpin, we will only do so with their aid.

Penny: Who, Friend Ruby?

Ruby: None other than the one, the only, the invincible Team Fucky!

Omake 2

Kraken: Where are we going?

Ruby: Argus.

Penny: What's in Argus?

Ruby: I dunno, but it feels like we're supposed to go to Argus after Haven and before Atlas, for some reason.

Author's Notes

Oobleck's thermos-flamethrower is the weapon to land the final hit on Salem and Jaune. Even from beyond the grave, the doctor carves his place in history.

Remember that in Ozpin's mind, he's just a devout follower of benevolent gods. He still sees himself as the good guy and think that he's just doing bad things for a good reason. Even though he's in the wrong and is a manipulative bastard, he still loves Jaune like a son after all the time they spent together. And from Jaune point of view, it's the same thing – he sees Ozpin as a trickster who did horrible acts of evil but all to save the world. In his final moments, he chose to part ways with Oz amicably and thank one another for the good they both did together (as, in their eyes, it was good).

The saddest part of this chapter, for me, is Jaune dying thinking that he's nobly sacrificed his own life for the greater good. Maybe its better than having his delusions shattered and realizing it was all for naught, but in my mind, living and dying in ignorance sounds like a horrible way to go.

It's so awkward for Penny, to have to call Ruby 'Friend Queen Ruby.' Salem was never a friend but a boss – same with Ironwood back when Penny was on Team Ozpin before being 'hacked.' Penny still doesn't know how to separate work-friends from friend-friends.

I think a lot of people know how the rest of this story is going to be going from now on. Warning you all now in case you don't: expect some more RIPs. Not everyone's going to last. Remember how last time I massacred my characters, we lost Neo, Oz, Pyrrha, Russel, and Blake in the same night? Well, the new purge has begun, war is brewing on the horizon, we've already lost Jaune, Ozpin, and Salem, and it's only going to get worse.

And yes, Jaune is dead this time (for those of you who remember the ocean fakeout). I know it's not explicitly said, but he and the Evernight Castle (and a few miles around them) explode from the raw Dust stockpiles, with no survivors. He is not coming back, no joke or nothing.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!