Arc 2 - Chapter 13 - The Kingdom of Always Summer

The mean-looking guard on the right side of the gate raised his gray bearded chin dutifully against Jaune's pleading request, intoning quite weightily, "Don't know how it is where you come from, boy, but here we have laws. It is the Warrior-Princess's express command that no foreigners are to be granted refuge within the city at this time. Not without licenses for barter or otherwise express permission from the princess herself." and he snorted with poorly-veiled annoyance, like a bull completely fed up with the cape flapping in its face.

The kind guard on the left, young and looking bored, gave them an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, friend. Used to be that we'd let any folk in, so long as they were devout to the All-Mother. But these is uncertain times, lately, here in the Kingdom of Always Summer. Everyone's all troublin' themselves about spies and all."

"Could be spies all around us, in front of us, even." grumbled the Mean Guard, glaring balefully at Jaune. "These are the times."

"And this winter too, can you believe it? They say the world's done a full thousand turns 'round the Sun since last there was a winter. Ain't seen a speck of snow once in my whole life! Now it's everywhere north of the forest. And all on account of this wolf-devil scraping at our walls!"

The Mean Guard hawked up some phlegm and spat it spinning away and into the bay. "Bastard wolf-devil. Would kill him myself if I got the chance, then we can all be done with him."

"Easy there, old man. Leave the fighting to those knowing how."

He grunted but did not argue. "Point is, these are the times now. As such, neither you nor any outside folk may be permitted." He tapped the butt of his spear on the ground with a hint of threat. "Best move on now, boy. You and your fancy-looking friend."

The young guard rubbed his chin. "How's he get his hair that way, do you suppose? All styled up? He a nobleman, do you think?"

"Ain't no nobleman that ain't got no permit. Stand up straight, you young fool. You gotta look fierce at your post."

"Right y'are." And he straightened, though that hardly helped his intimidation factor. He looked all the sillier actually, pretending to be serious when it was clear he was lazy and uncommitted. "Luck to you, though, friend. Stay away from them beasts out in the wood if you can. Frightful things. Took a chunk right out of my uncle's arm, you know."

"You're too nice, boy." grumbled the mean guard.

"A stranger is only a stranger till you make him your friend. Ain't that what you're always sayin'?"

The two had resumed their conversation right where Jaune had previously interrupted, leaving Jaune with little else but to return to where Neptune was sitting by the wharf. He dropped next to him with yet another sigh of defeat, watched as some carts were allowed through the gate, carrying various cargo from different shipments. He could hardly fathom it. Trade and commerce and economy all in circulation around him in what was supposed to be a weird meta-universe that did not obey traditional rules, existing beyond concepts of dream and reality. This was a bustling, booming, bombastic world full of people and things that could be logical somehow. I need a damn bartering license to get into this city, while I literally walked into Alter-Neptune's territory without so much as an invitation. Unbelievable.

"Did your charm didn't do us any good?" asked Neptune, looking at him.

Jaune shook his head. "No foreigners allowed."

"Shit," Neptune scratched his chin, then glanced at the guards, seeming to weigh them up and down like he was guessing at their quality. "Should we try, you know?" And he punched a fist into his open hand.

"We're in a city now, surrounded by people and law enforcement. We'd better not draw attention to ourselves. At least not yet."

"Can't say I have any ideas, then. We're stuck."

Jaune looked around, trying to think it all out. Was there a way somehow to sneak into the city? He looked around wondering if there might be a cart they could hide in. Most were either too small or stuffed to capacity with cargo. His head turned at a loud ringing, sounding a lot like a great bell. So loud it seemed to echo, the sound causing the docked ships to sway, the water to ripple.

"That's the Praying Bell," said Neptune. "I talked to one of those sailors." He pointed at a woman by the dock who pulled a rose necklace from her shirt, kissed it, raised it toward the sun, and muttered something. "Guess that's these people's god."

Gods now? Whole religions? What in the world was going on in this place? Neptune's heart hadn't been half so put together, not a quarter so detailed. His world had been strange and terrifying in many ways. Chaos given form and lacking logical consistency. At least, that's how it had been when he last saw that museum.

Jaune directed a question at Neptune. "Have you ever gone into your world by yourself?"

"Couple of times, yeah." Neptune rubbed his nose with an embarrassed grin. "Kinda hard not to when you have a whole dimension inside yourself. I got curious."

"What's it like? I mean, now that your Alter is subdued?"

Neptune thought for a moment. "Frankly? Kinda boring. That museum is still up and running, and there isn't much beyond that ocean. Alter-Me spends a lot of time in that theater room, piecing together some puppets the last time I saw him."

"You've met your Alter?"

"That's one of the first things I did."

They were veering off topic, what with the mission at hand, but Jaune could not deny his curiosity. "What was it like? Talking to him?"

"Weird, at first. Gotta get past that whole I'm talking to another me phase, but once you get used to it… it's like talking to some Joe you met randomly at a park. I mean, he's me, but different too. I guess he has my personality, just more… exaggerated?"

True enough, Jaune had to admit. Neptune himself had a moderately inflated opinion of himself, but his Alter had been a different beast entirely.

"It's pretty eye-opening, though. Seeing what you're like for yourself. Like looking in a mirror, only it reflects back everything, including the stuff you don't acknowledge is inside you. It's made me think, you know? I still go see the other me sometimes. Just to check on him. Or I guess myself since he's supposed to be my heart or something. I don't really understand a lot of this, so sorry if I'm not making sense."

"You're fine," said Jaune. It did make sense, but at the same time not at all. It's no help in making sense of Ruby's world, that's for sure. I still see no way inside the walls. Not unless we brave the water and swim there… wait…

Jaune looked at the water. Specifically how it spread far toward the edges of the quay, circling wide across the port for hundreds of ships to dock. Stone walls stretching up from th4 tops of molded, crusted wedges, la-Ed by gentle waves. People galavanted at the quayside. In various states of business. Little she-resting them but a small fence that kept people from pitching into the water. A far distance to swim, no doubt. For a normal person.

"What are you thinking?" asked Neptune.

Jaune intoned deeply, "I'm thinking we wait until nightfall so no one sees us," And he glanced sideways, an anticipating glint in his eye like some student who'd aced the end of term test and now waited for the surprise of the teachers. "I've got a plan."

Neptune rose up from the water without so much as a sound. So smooth, so practiced, as if he had simply materialized into solid form as he left his domain. With a proud grin, he said, "Well, water in this world works like normal. I can get us across in thirty seconds easy."

"I don't have to worry about you running out of breath?" Jaune jabbed.

"I could hold it for five minutes back home. More than anyone on my swim team. I tried it in my world and I didn't need to hold it at all. I took a nap at the bottom of the ocean, you know."

"Try not to fall asleep while I'm in your care. I'm sadly not as talented in water as you."

Neptune shook his head. "We can't all be as great as me, I guess. You ready?"

Jaune stood and took a few steps back in preparation. Gods, he still hated water. Especially big bodies of it. "As I'll ever be. Make some room."

Neptune ducked back into the water and Jaune sucked in a breath before jumping after him. One weakness of his Reflect spell was that while it kept almost everything out, it also trapped whatever was near him inside the barrier. He'd learned this the hard way in a bad fight with some Sabers.. That was the main reason he developed Reject, which was essentially a reversal of his original technique. Instead of conjuring energy outside to protect everything inside, he projected energy from inside outward to repel close attackers. Different, but sharing similar purposes. There'd been no Grimm so far he hadn't been able to repel.

But water was not a Grimm, so far as he could tell. Would Reject be able to repel the water around him? He was about to find out.

Jaune threw his arms wide and released his power outward, felt the water around him shift away at high speed, bubbles everywhere. Then he was floating in air, able to breathe for just a moment as the laws of physics seemed to be put out of play for the briefest moment. Such laws would not be denied for long. He conjured a small barrier around himself just as the water began to rush back. A little leaked in, sloshing around on the round surface at his feet, but not enough to drown him unless he tried.

He almost smiled at his success. Almost, but Neptune had that part covered. He floated in the water before Jaune's barrier, illuminated by the light. He raised a questioning thumbs up, and Jaune returned it.

And then they were off, with Neptune's enhanced swimming capability, he pushed Jaune through the water like a hamster ball fitted with a car engine. They speared through the bay, water streaming around his barrier as Jaune tried to maintain it. He could hold it for a good while so it wasn't too hard, though water had weight to it and that made it hard to push against. Then they started to rise up and Jaune knew they'd reached the docks. He burst from the water, shooting high into the air and above the gated wall that led into the city streets. He landed, tucked and rolled to cushion his landing, then shot up right to his feet all in one swift motion.

Neptune then landed beside him, smiling successfully. Both of them soaked to the skin. He raised his wet hand up. "Good job, partner."

In a rare moment of agreeability, Jaune decided to humor his offer and high-fived him. He'd never do it again, but one time was permissible. "Sorry about your clothes."

Neptune snapped his fingers and suddenly all the water in his clothes began to spill out, quite as if some invisible force was pulling it all out. They went from wet, to damp, to perfectly dry almost in an instant. He flipped his wet hair back and that sent a slush of water flying, his now dry do back to its usual style. Neptune adopted that kind of grin like he was absolutely loving himself.

"Show-off." said Jaune.

He nodded sagely, while at the same time making Jaune's clothes dry out too. "Don't hate."

"I'm not hating."

"So much hatred right now."

Jaune turned away so he didn't see him grinning and headed off. "Let's just get to looking around."

The first strange thing they encountered… was the fact that they had encountered no one and nothing. There were no people outside. Not one. No one in the streets or the alleys, not on balconies or in shops. Few lights were even on. The neighborhood was silent as the dead. Even the wind was tame here, barely making a whisper as it swept through, rustling the planted trees, the rickety window panes, making the water hiss.

"I know it's late, but is everyone asleep now? Maybe it's just this part of town?" whispered Neptune.

Jaune was about to respond, but was stopped by a strange distant sound. A howling, like a wolf. Only it was very clearly not a wolf, and rather someone attempting to sound like one. It seemed so far away that he could not tell where it was coming from. "What do you think that is?"

The howling seemed to go on and off as they continued on, nothing but empty streets and no one around to question. Finally they decided to stop and reassess their plan.

"Start knocking on doors, maybe?" Neptune suggested.

Jaune was considering it. "Maybe? But then what would we say? Why is everyone inside? For them this is likely normal and we don't want to stand out yet."

"I get being careful but at some point we gotta take a risk. We'll be here for weeks playing it safe like this."

"You got a date or something? We could be here for a year and only a week would pass back home."

"Don't be a jackass. You know what I mean."

Jaune scratched his head in thought. "Maybe—"

The two were spooked when something heavy dropped down behind them with a great crashing sound, kicking up a cloud of dust and sending bits of cobbled road spraying. The surprise wasn't that it was a Yeti, but rather that it was here in this heavily populated area. And there could only be one reason for it. The monster gave a savage roar and that put Jaune to action.

He was just about to summon his shield and club it across the face… when someone else did it for him.

Someone had come from out of nowhere and punched the towering beast straight in the jaw. Slugged it as easily as a boxer might a sandbag. For a small moment, Jaune saw the side of its face cave in, its bottom jaw snap and twist unnaturally, its teeth break into fragments, before it was launched bouncing down the street like a wayward ball.

With no consideration of their shock, the beast's attacker strode up to them, and with no moon out or street lamps, the darkness of the city should have made it hard to see them.. But this person, this warrior, radiated her own light. A great lion's mane's worth of golden hair. No, not hair. Fire. An intense, crackling, spitting mane of fire. Jaune began to sweat just standing near her, and not solely due to the heat.

The person before him was Yang.

She was covered in top heavy golden armor overtop brown leather. A shining breastplate and shoulder guards, hefty steel gauntlets that were entirely too big for her hands and looking like they weighed a ton each. Yet she put her hands on her hips like it was nothing at all and the two fools before her were a greater weight of responsibility by comparison. The bottom half of her was a simple flowing leather skirt with metal bracings and leather greaves, her thighs bare. Jaune noticed then, that she had a circlet around her head with a bright purple jewel in the middle. She looked like a warrior.

She looked like a princess.

"What is the meaning of this!?" She snapped, going instantly from seething calm to frothing fury, her voice powerful enough to send soundwaves through Jaune's bones. "All citizens are to be inside by sunset. Am I to believe you broke curfew, in spite of my direct command? Shall I have you hauled to the prisons? Or thrown into the forest at demon's mercy?" She stomped the ground and it cracked as easily as glass. "I will have your answer and by the All-Mother, it better be good!"

Jaune looked at Neptune, who looked just as lost and shocked and scared as he did. Damn it, he needed to say something.

"We're sorry, my lady!" Neptune attempted a bow of the deepest respect, but it was a poor one, as Yang's curled lip so revealed. "M-my friend here, he's new to the city, you see. He doesn't know our ways. I dragged him out for a walk, but I should've known better. It's my fault."

Jaune blinked at him. He probably wasn't;t pretending that fear, but it worked to their advantage, as Yang's coiled muscles began to ease. This didn't temper her anger, however. "Return to your homes. The demons prowl in the night and will have no mercy for your foolish actions. Go on now!"

"Right, yes, my lady." Neptune took Jaune by the wrist and dragged him off. Jaune looked back, but was thankful to find that Yang was not watching them anymore and instead had darted off the other way at great speed.

Once they were far enough away, Jaune said to his partner, "We'd better find somewhere to hide. And fast."

"Whatever we can, sir. We'll do anything you ask. It's just for a night or two." Jaune clasped his hands together. "Please, sir."

The innkeeper, a thin elderly man with thin eyes, did not look ready to budge, especially since the currency they used in this world was not at all like the kind they used. Figures. Seemed they were lucky tonight, for with a sigh he gave in to Jaune's plea. "Alright. I'll have you two fix up some rooms for me. Stay as long as you need."

Jaune let out a breath if relief. "Thank you. You're really saving us here."

He chuckled. "You two get caught by one of the Blessed?"

"Blessed?" Jaune asked.

"By the Mother, boy. You really are from out of town. The Blessed are our fair city's warriors, do you see? They were given the All-Mother's divine gifting, and can draw upon her powers. Most especially Warrior-Princess Yang." And he dipped his head respectfully.

Those guards at the gate had mentioned a warrior-princess, and Jaune couldn't deny the presence she'd made of herself. He'd already been putting it together, but hearing it straight from a citizen's mouth didn't make it any less of a surprise. Then, the orders to keep out foreigners were hers. Maybe even this curfew she mentioned is her doing.

"Is the curfew because of those demons?" asked Jaune.

"Aye. Bastard's have been thorns up everyone's asses these last few years. Used to be many of them, whole droves constantly at our walls, killing more and more folk by the day. The Blessed have been working hard though, as they've cleaned most of 'em out. Some still come up at night—more annoyance now than anything else. But Princess Yang don't take risks, so curfew is still in place."

Jaune nodded slowly, starting to wrap his head around it all. He spied Neptune off in the foyer area, flirting with some woman in scanty clothes. He turned back to the innkeeper and decided to venture an assumption based on everything. If Yang was a princess in this world… "I heard there were two princesses here in this kingdom."

"So you ain't totally ignorant. Yes, Princess Ruby. Heir to the throne on account of her mother's divine blood. They say she's purer than the finest diamond. Least that's what they used to say. Now, she stays up in the high tower of the castle for months on end. I heard she never eats what's brought to her, and that even her own sister sees her quite rarely. Barely comes out, on account of going mad."

Neptune and the woman tittered over something in the background. "Mad?" Jaune questioned.

"Lost her wits, they say. Up in that tower, she howls in the night like a wolf. You must have heard her not long ago."

That had been Princess Ruby? Now that he thought about it, that had been the sound he'd heard back in the forest before they'd found her. Never left the tower very clearly wasn't true, but then that beckoned the question of why she left the city when Grimm were out an about, and by her expression of them finding her, she very clearly wasn't supposed to be out. Had she come to that little snow patch simply to howl? To cry out for her love?

"Why has she gone mad?"

"The Queen-Mother's death. The avatar of the All-Mother herself," The innkeeper sighed. "It was a sad day for the whole city. I swear, the king himself wept in the open for days. That's when it all started going wrong. The demons came and they hounded our city for years. Not long ago, we'd had the worst insurgence in a long time, but of course the Blessed protected us and now the city is slowly becoming safe again. Right in time too, I've been missing going to the pub with the lads."

That at least seemed straightforward. It was an approximate parallel to how Summer's death had affected her and her family. Which meant Ruby had been fighting despair for a very long time, with the Blessed acting as a manifestation of her heart's defenses. Strange, but it made sense.

"Course, we've got bigger problems now. This invader whose been attacking our walls. He's blessed like our princesses, but he's no friend, that's for damn sure. He brings the cold and the dark and moon with him wherever he goes. None of which belong here in our beautiful land. Madder than mad, they say. They call him the Mad Wolf."

Jaune whispered the word. "Mad Wolf?"

"Aye. And you'd be right to fear him, boy. He's been at our gates for weeks now and looks no closer to giving up. We can only hope our Blessed will get the better of him." The man pulled a key from his drawer and waved it at Jaune. "But enough horrors for the night, eh? You boys better get some rest. I'd save your friend though. Willa's a dirty one. Gave my friend the cock-rot."

"What-rot?"

"Cock-rot." The innkeeper leaned in close to whisper. "Wilts like old lettuce, then falls right off if you catch it."

Jaune took the key, hurried over to rescue Neptune who had this Willa on his arm, having her laughing at something. Strangely, Willa had dark hair and golden eyes. It reminded him of Cinder somehow. Or maybe he was just imagining it.

Jaune snatched Neptune by the arm. "Time for bed, charmer."

Neptune grinned over at Willa. "We've got one waiting for us, don't we babe?"

Jaune pulled him out of Willa's grip. "Too bad. I need someone to cuddle with and you'll have to do."

Neptune's jaw dropped. "Dude, come on!"

Jaune dragged Neptune after him despite his protests, while Willa waved an entertained farewell.

"I mean, aren't you curious?" carped Neptune.

"No."

"How could you not be?"

Because he was trying to take this little adventure of theirs seriously. Jaune didn't bother saying it, though. Neptune could have all the wonder and awe of experiencing a micro-universe. Jaune was not nearly so curious. He sat at the window of their little room, small and quaint, illuminated by a single bright candle, casting heavy shadows in the corners. Only one bed too. It was the best the innkeeper could give them so it would have to do. Neptune laid on the bed now, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling as he babbled about his topic of curiosity.

"I mean, I bet someone's done it before. Had sex inside a heart world?"

"I wouldn't know."

"But it has to have happened, right? You'd be surprised at the places people will do it. My question is, do you think Hunters bring people from the real world? Or do they bang the people inside the world? Is it even possible?"

Jaune was trying to work together the mechanics of Ruby's heart world, and for the most part it was coming together, but he still had questions. Despite some bad things having happened, the world was structured and logical. There were Grimm about, but not many since these Blessed had been clearing them out. But there was this Mad Wolf person causing trouble? Who or what was he?

"Can they get pregnant? What happens if a heart world man impregnates a real world woman? Be pretty hard to get child support out of him, huh? What happens if a woman gets pregnant in a heart world and then returns to the real world? Is it like a hard reset? And then there's the time difference! We don't age in heart worlds, so say a girl is pregnant. Does it just stay in the womb forever and then start growing again in the real world? Dude, what the hell…"

Was this Mad Wolf a Grimm, possibly? The innkeeper made it sound like he was a person, but in the bestiary some Grimm took on human-like shapes, though they were often twisted and malformed. That seemed the most likely case for this Mad Wolf. Perhaps it was a manifestation of despair. Perhaps, specifically, the despair that had leaked in from Qrow, and had taken form as a particularly dangerous Grimm. If it was attacking the city, then that meant it was after the Alter. Ruby's heart was still in danger, despite how peaceful things seemed.

Neptune sat up suddenly like he'd just uncovered a horrific truth. "Oh my god, can you get an STD here too? Jaune, can we get STDs here!?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Just asking. I'm curious!"

Jaune palmed his forehead. "I'd think about our mission if I were you. We still need to figure out how to get to the Alter."

Neptune pursed his lips to the side. "I'm not sure how we're supposed to do that. We're kinda commoners. And commoners don't meet royalty very often."

"No… but we can fight. We have powers."

"Magic."

"Whatever. And the keeper mentioned that the Blessed got their powers from this All-Mother. They think this Wolf is also blessed like them, so I guess anyone who's got supernatural powers here is considered that."

"What are you thinking?"

Jaune glared out the window at the darkness-heavy night. "We find one of the Blessed. We show them we can fight. They're having trouble with this Wolf guy, so maybe they could use the help."

"How do you know they won't think we're working with the Wolf? They could think we're spies or assassins, like those guards at the gate said."

Jaune hadn't considered that. "You said we have to take a risk."

Neptune frowned at him. "Fine. But if they kill us, I'm strangling you in the afterlife."

"I'll let you." Jaune got up from his seat. "Anyway, that's the best chance we have. We help them with this Wolf, and use that position to get close to the Alter. Try to find a way to get her alone. One step at a time. Now scoot over, let's get some sleep."

Jaune slipped in beside him, them both back to back. Silence for a while, besides Neptune's unending curiosities, which Jaune contributed to more and more rarely as time went on. Still, it wasn't so bad as a sort of background noise. Eventually, Neptune did start yawning, then eventually fell still, then to sleep. From the bed, Jaune could still see the high tower of the castle, even far away and drowned in shadows. He watched it all night, even as he began to drift off.

Occasionally, the Mad Princess's howling would reach his ears, a shrill and echoing call. Like a plea for help. Jaune wondered, as he began to drift to sleep, if he'd heard a deeper howl answer the princess back.

Maybe it was himself.

Wow, I'm impressed by the response to the previous chapter. Glad to see you're all loving it and I'm loving the theories too. Well, see you in the next one.

ISA