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Chapter 142: Return Of The King
Despite the loss of countless Creatures of Grimm, many of them by their own action Pantheon, General and rightful ruler of the Grimm by right of conquest had been victorious and that victory had given them the impetus to power onwards in pursuit of their goals.
On the surface it would be easy to see their attempts to intervene in the battle between Gestalt-Prime and their freakish, empty parodies of true Creatures of Grimm and the Hunters that had already been taking place as a total failure; some notable injuries had been inflicted and yet they would amount to little in the long run, not one amongst them had been laid low permanently and any opportunity to form a new Spawning Pit in the area would likely be snatched away by increased patrols and bombardments on the Kingdoms.
And yet none of that mattered.
The true goal had been to deliver a message and it had been done in an exceptional fashion.
Since realising a fundamental truth of things when the Megalodon had consumed one of their Spawning Pits, allowing Pantheon to see the place where it's primal, ravenous psyche should have resided and find nothing at all, that truth being that despite being a usurper with some vision and intellect of their own Gestalt-Prime was truthfully little more than a servile tool, a cog in the machine of some human act of ingenuity the Grimm General's plans had revolved around a single idea; to draw Gestalt-Prime to them so that Pantheon could not only tear the foolish upstart asunder and feed their remains into a Spawning Pit to be remade, but also so that every iota of useful information about the Cyber-Grimm and the minds which had created them could could be ripped free.
The cycle of creation and destruction was sacrosanct and Pantheon would ensure that both it and their own place within it remained unchallenged; by seeing that any Grimm or human who challenged it was eradicated along with every last scrap of what they had built.
Several hours had passed since Pantheon had issued their challenge to Gestalt-Prime and whilst they knew that their would-be usurper would be unable to muster any real answer for some time after being impaled, crushed and doused in acid until they were a barely mobile, crumpled wretch of a thing the Grimm General had still been eagerly and ceaselessly preparing themselves.
The next stage of the plan was one that had already been put into motion beforehand and would reach its' conclusion in mere moments; massive aquatic Creatures of Grimm had been sent out into the seas and oceans of Remnant to harass shipping lanes and cause chaos but, more importantly to dismantle Spawning Pits that had been scattered across the seafloor and rooted on small, remote islands so that raw, protean material could be brought back to Pantheon's fortress.
Now the Grimm General stood within a part of the lair which they very rarely had cause to visit, it was one of the original portions of their fortress which had been present when they had first found the place after being cast into the sea by Hunters in the final battle against Salem; it was a truly colossal Spawning Pit from which vast mounds of solidified, crystallised and violet-hued Grimm tissue erupted to form both a barrier against the magma which seeped up around it like pus from the wound the Pit had inflicted on the world and as the root of the whole structure.
Whilst there were other dedicated Spawning Pits for creating new Creatures of Grimm or designing new templates to be disseminated to other Spawning Pits; this was was what remained of the original Spawning Pit Pantheon had found and it was responsible for creating and maintaining their fortress.
"Perfect" they snarled out, living cape made of atrophied wings pulling itself around them more tightly and claw-tipped tail swishing as the Grimm General watched the final stages of progress from a gangway of dark crystal; vast serpentine Creatures of Grimm writhing their way through the spires and magma to vomit forth unspeakable quantities of the same roiling, living darkness which made of the Spawning Pit itself only for that same darkness to spasm and lash out, ensnaring the monsters which had carried it thus far and drag them down into the swirling depths of the Spawning Pit which seemed bloated and overfilled.
Exactly as planned.
"Now, now it is time" Pantheon murmured to themselves before thrusting out, their clawed feet, each of their four arms and their tail burying themselves into the crystal around them and using it as a conductor; the six eyes of the Grimm General glowing brightly as they sent a single impulse to the Spawning Pit below them and through it to their fortress as a whole.
Grow.
The changes were near instantaneous, the crystal spires of Pantheon's seafloor lair surged upwards at a rate of meters per second whilst that same forceful growth caused their surfaces to crack and splinter; allowing liquid Grimm tissue to pour from within and begin taking the shape of flesh and bone which rapidly began shaping and knitting itself into new walls and structures. The secondary Spawning Pit which created monsters was similarly stimulated and overfilled, the additional matter forced into it being transformed immediately into a freshly birthed tide of living horrors; many of which were of entirely new designs which Pantheon had prepared especially for an eventuality such as this.
For a time when the fight might be brought to them.
The effects stretched far out beyond their own domain, the fortress grew in all dimensions and in doing so sent tremors through the ground and displaced water in such massive amounts that it sent titanic waves out across the sea which could be seen from multiple coastlines.
And then the sight of Pantheon's lair breaching the surface could be seen as well.
Jutting spires of crystallised Grimm tissue cloaked thinly in layers of bone, muscle and stretched, flayed skin erupted from the depths in a colossal ring wide enough for all but the largest of airships to be landed and the centre was a gaping maw ringed with teeth and thrashing, spiked tendrils which would see any would be invader eviscerated. Other spires and battlements came up from below, growing and shaping themselves as they did so and unleashing tides of Grimm into the air with them in a display which sent palpable waves of terror across Remnant which Pantheon could physically feel in the deepest pits of their being from the their place on the seafloor.
It was at this point that a change came over Pantheon themselves.
A small thing, simply a restoration of what had once been as their body reverted a part of itself to better suit a purpose to which they would be returning. The living cloak which had served as their means of interfacing with their throne and through it and their Synapse Grimm interacting with the larger Hive-Mind tore itself apart; new muscle and bone began to spear its' way through the ragged and vein-littered flesh to reshape it until after a few moments of agony Pantheon reared up to their full eighteen feet and unfurled a pair of bat-like wings.
And then the Grimm General took flight.
There could only be one destination, they soared upwards through the innards of their massively expanded living fortress until they reached its' highest spire and the living, weaponised implements which filled it withdrew and made way for their master to pass.
And then Pantheon burst into the sunlight in all their terrible glory with a single war cry escaping their monstrous and skeletal maw.
"FACE ME, GESTALT-PRIME!"
Winter Schnee had been running on fumes several hours ago and now even the last of those metaphorical fumes had been expended, her eyes were bloodshot and framed by dark rings, her own skin made uncomfortable for her to inhabit by both clamminess and an unshakeable prickling sensation whilst going for so long without sleep or even any appreciable rest to speak of had left her contending with a headache, faint nausea and a ringing in her ears that had nothing to do with having been involved in battles where large laser weapons were being fired.
And still she pressed on.
It had been the dead of night when the five student Hunters, her niece, Athena's team and Zirconia Shadowmoon had been rescued from the bloodbath that the tundra had been set to become and it was now early afternoon though, given her prior deployment to the area where she had initially hoped to catch Nero's forces off-guard Winter had been awake for several days at this point but simply could not bring herself to stop; there was too much to be done.
The hours following the rescue had been critical, with the first and most immediate of the General's concerns being to get those who had been found the proper medical treatment and assess the full extent of their physical injuries; with the mental trauma the event had undoubtedly left them all with being a matter for another time. The second and third issues to be tackled respectively were to send her warships into the airspace of the Mantle Freeholds, now with their permission and help to not only bolster the independent settlements' defences but to begin searching for the Megalodon which had engaged its' stealth capabilities and become impossible to track during its' retreat and also to ensure that the rescued Hunters, as much as possible received a debriefing so that Winter and her allies could better understand the situation.
With the results of Winter's efforts being what she now planned to discuss with her fellow headteachers.
"Holy shit, you look like death" Coco noted without preamble as the head of Breaktide Academy on Menagerie's face and torso flickered into view; though Coco herself look similarly worn down albeit to a lesser extent after spending the last several days mitigating the effects of Nero's escape from Jidhir Town and the wave of attacks across Menagerie that had coincided with it. A moment later Lie Ren appeared on the screen in a separate video feed, a faint glimpse of Nora's scarred features and cybernetic eyes being visible before the deputy headmistress and combat instructor of Halo Academy slipped away, offering a vague wave in the screens' general direction as went to ensure that the academy and its' attached orphanage were running smoothly.
"Perhaps you should rest?" Ren asked gently but with a directness which took Winter aback and forced her to accept that her current state of fatigue was noticeable and likely made worse by the fact that she chosen to dim the lights in her office aboard her flagship upon returning to it, their brightness making her head hurt even more.
"No time" she answered, resigning herself to her current ghoulish and wasted away state "Adel….I've found Team MARS….And Zirconia Shadowmoon"
"You've….They're all-" Coco paused, taking a moment to fully process the statement before letting out a slow wavering breath "They're all okay? I'll tell Ruby and Penny….Send Shadowmoon over when you're done, after what she did to my son I still wanna-"
"They were all injured, badly. My niece is suffering from blood loss, the effects of sustained Aura strain and depletion, exposure, several broken ribs, internal bleeding and damage to her right lung. Stygian Blue lost his right arm"
"That's…." Ren trailed off for a moment choosing his words "How secret are we keeping this Coco, his old partner will want to know"
"We say nothing for the moment" Winter answered with a faint shake of her head, focused on her goals no matter how much she might understand the positions of her peers "As for Shadowmoon, she is being taken into protective custody by Atlas at a classified location-"
Coco snorted derisively at that in a way which made Winter glare though the younger woman paid no heed; the two of them had served together in the first war again Salem and Coco knew immediately exactly where the rogue Grasshopper Faunus would be hidden to prevent any enemies from reaching her and could only keep her anger at being denied a chance to dispense justice for her son at bay by fondly imagining the Ire of Weiss Schnee.
"Shadowmoon has agreed to offer up information and cooperate with us to stop Nero's plans" Winter continued "It was her help that allowed Team MARS to escape the Megalodon, Nero's Cyber-Grimm airship….And that thing really does defy description. He needs to be stopped before he can put more of them into production"
"He got away?" Coco asked with clear disappointment.
"Do you trust Shadowmoon's word….She already managed to convince us all for two years" Ren murmured with a look of quiet concentration and thoughtfulness on his face; clearly grateful for whatever part the young rogue had played in the rescue of his own former student but unwilling to forgive her out of hand.
"I handled her debriefing personally" Winter admitted, head sagging forwards as she averted her tired eyes "I was thorough. I wanted to make sure that I believed her and so I did everything in my power to break that girl….She was already broken. I am….not proud of the things I did and said"
"Okay" Coco breathed out, unable to hide a slight shudder at the thought of whatever Winter must have allowed herself to do to reach a point where even she, a hardened member of the Specialist Branch was disquieted by her own actions "Did she have anything useful….Like where Nero plans to land his Grimm-ship?"
"Not that specifically" Winter admitted "But given the list of its' capabilities, including how it feeds and uses destroyed Grimm tissue for raw materials we can make educated guesses as to its' likely destinations. Shadowmoon also gave up details on Nero's long and short term goals, including potential uses for the Aura Transfer Machine he has been seeking and will almost certainly continue to seek….Especially in the face of the most recent developments"
The way Winter trailed off and wore a haunted expression with those words sent chills down the spines of her fellow members of the shadowy cabal.
"What happened Coco?" Ren asked, adjusting his glasses and brushing gently at the faint scar which ran along his cheek as he braced himself.
"Gestalt-Prime was present. As were several instances of Grimm capable of speech" Winter began, choosing her words carefully "Though unlike our previous encounters with talking specimens this seemed to be the efforts of one Grimm, not on on the battlefield speaking through others-"
"Puppeteering them?" Coco arched and eyebrow.
"Or something to that effect" Winter nodded "Which would lead me to believe that our previous theory, that the Grimm attacks across Menagerie being the product of a single, focused effort are-"
That an interruption in the form of an urgent message came at that very moment seemed almost contrived in its' convenience.
That all three of the headmasters, each of them amongst the most qualified and capable Hunters in their respective Kingdoms and each of them a figure of some standing and authority received the exact same notification at the same moment made it somewhat unsettling.
A sensation which spiralled into deep-seated dread as the three of them regarded the message.
"I presume that the two of you are seeing this?" Winter asked, voice shaking with a faint trace of fear that she had not thought herself capable of feeling, much less expressing for some time.
"The Grimm-castle that just burst out of the sea, yeah I see it" Coco breathed out "Is that….Bigger than Salem's old fortresses?….Wait, that Grimm at the top-"
"I recognise them" Ren answered, rare anger and loathing seeping into his words "They've changed but I remember them; how could I not….They were held for study on my Academy under Glynda's orders, your people studied that thing Winter and my niece and her friends had to fight it"
"Pantheon" Winter nodded, her own nephew having been a member of the same battle "Salem's successor….This is the Grimm moving against Nero and Gestalt-Prime"
"So if they're fighting each other then where does that leave us?" Coco asked, unwilling to be reduced to inaction but entirely lost in the face of such a new and unexpected reality.
"Have Ruby on standby" Winter answered reflexively before taking a moment to rest her head in her hands and ponder her next move.
"In the meantime….We have to make some adjustments to our strategy"
The pale and weak Atlesian sun had already begun to descend from its' zenith by the time the five Hunters arrived at what would be their new base of operations, whatever those operations might be at mid-afternoon.
Most of them had managed some degree of rest in the intervening hours, though it had been far from enough and far from refreshing. Each of them had been rushed to the medical wing of the first airship to rendezvous with General Schnee's where they had been stabilised and each given enough Aura stimulants and medications to ensure that they were in no immediate danger, whilst at the same time leaving them nauseous and struggling to focus through a haze that settled over their senses; this had made the ordeal of debriefings somehow both more difficult and at the same time more manageable for most of them. From there each of them had managed some small amount of rest, flitting in an out of consciousness whilst ignoring the world as it continued on around them until finally Weiss's parents had gathered the five of them and explained that they would be taken to the only place Winter deemed secure enough and free from any potential spies or listening devices to entrust with the task of keeping Zirconia Shadowmoon safe from any attempts to recapture her that Damascus Nero and his allies might make.
Schnee Manor itself.
"Heh….AJ I think I've seen your house before, was it ever in the movies?" Regalia asked, words slurred and mumbled; her voice having the quality of someone with a blocked nose in the wake of her injuries. The comment itself managed to get a small chuckle from not only Athena herself, but also from Weiss and Gangrel, Athena-Jade's parents who were returning to the manor with them whilst Arctus and Diamond had already departed earlier to go on ahead.
"I think it's been in a few background shots, usually edited at least a little bit" it was Gangrel who answered; the older Bear Faunus having an arm wrapped around his daughter who was still somewhat unsteady on her feet and found breathing in the cold air at the top of the towering mountain of Eisenstadt Prime to be uncomfortable with her ribs in their current condition, though Athena did speak up.
"Here it comes, the supervillain lair jokes" she wheezed out with a pout before taking a moment to study the conditions of her various friends. Regalia was trying her best to display as much of her usual personality as possible though it was clear that she was shaken and her face was a bruised and battered mess that had been stitched together in multiple places.
Astra was, despite clearly wanting the comfort of physical contact with Regalia a short distance away; their face similarly bruised and sporting a left eye that would not open but still finding the fortitude and willpower to take Zirconia's wheelchair and held her along, the Grasshopper Faunus herself having had her cybernetic legs removed so that they could be repaired or replaced.
It was Stygian however who drew Athena's attention the most.
The Mouse Faunus trudged along the faintly snow-dusted pathway leading to the enormous house, one which dwarfed any structure that had existed in Pikesreach, his lightning blue eyes downcast and unfocused, his tail coiled tightly against his body and the remains of his right arm held against his body in a sling, the limb having been further amputated at the elbow so that a cybernetic replacement could be more easily fitted. It was clear that the dark-skinned young man was not faring well and upon seeing him give into a fit of shivering which was likely unrelated to the cold Athena gently nudged at her fathers' ribs in order for him to release his grip on her so that she could limp and stagger towards her partner.
"Hey Stitch, are you….No, no not even gonna ask that question. Sorry"
"I….We all nearly died AJ" he croaked out "And if it hadn't been for me we wouldn't even have been on that airship in the first place, I got you hurt, it's 'cos of me everyone nearly died and I couldn't even do anything….Those things took me apart and-"
"Hey, hey, hey" Athena panted the words out, unable to put the emotion behind that she had wanted to without breaking into a coughing fit "We did it. We made it okay. If thing didn't go the way they did then we might not be in such a good position to stop Nero now; all of his people are injured as well. And your arm…."
Athena found herself trailing off and looking around her with a silent, pleading expression directed at those present who had already lost limbs in the hope that any of them might offer up some words that would mean more than her own. She felt a stab of gratitude upon seeing Zirconia indicate to Astra that they should turn her wheelchair so that she could go to the Mouse Faunus's aid, the Grasshopper Faunus who seemed to have regained some place amongst them was pre-empted however by the looming shadow of Gangrel Slate falling over both his daughter and her new partner.
"Kid, you did everything anyone could ask from you" the towering Bear Faunus said bluntly, flexing his own cybernetic left arm to drive home his next point "Only person I know who can stay conscious and keep fighting after losing a limb is Winter and she's always been scary. You didn't run, you didn't quit, you kept fighting until you couldn't fight any more and everyone got home….You helped get my daughter home, you did enough"
"Pretty sure my Mum didn't do much fighting for a long time after she lost her arm!" Regalia called over, the addition settling the matter in her mind as surely there would be nobody brave or foolish enough to regard Helms-Woman and Elder of the Aiktishaf Sward Russet in the way Stygian was thinking of himself.
Stygian looked almost ready to burst into tears at that moment and Athena leaned into him, pointedly ignoring any knowing looks her father might be giving her.
"We'll call your Mum when get inside" she offered "I know she knew that we were leaving the academy but she should know about everything that's happened since"
"Good idea" Astra chimed in "I'm gonna call home as well….My folks are actually gonna kill me. Regalia, you wanna see if you can get word to your people?"
"Heh sure"
There was a brief flurry of chatter as they made their way up the stairs towards the main entrance, Regalia making to help Astra with Zirconia's wheelchair only for the matter to be made more simply by Weiss forming a glyph beneath the aid and lifting it; something which Zirconia tried and failed not to visibly flinch at. Hearing the talk of homes and families going on around them and seeing Zirconia's visible discomfort was enough for Athena-Jade to once again limp over to a friend and partner who needed someone.
"Hey, do you-"
"Athena I don't think anyone's call home would be improved by my presence"
"Hmm" Weiss simply hummed wordlessly through pursed lips and it was enough for Athena to shoot her mother a single glare which Weiss held with ease; the moment ending as the group reached the large double doors to the manor.
"I've asked Arctus, Diamond and Coral if they would be kind enough to prepare rooms for you all" Weiss began "Astra, Regalia, Stygian you are free to help yourself to anything you need or want….You Shadowmoon, I don't want to see you unsupervised in the manor-"
"Mum!"
"Given your history and the fact you have hurt my daughter" Weiss powered through the objection "I think I am being more than reasonable by insisting that you don't wander around without someone to keep track of where you are and what you're doing. My daughter might well be willing to forgive, but you have done nothing to earn my trust or my respect and frankly I don't want you in my house"
There was a moment of heavy, lingering silence which followed until Zirconia nodded her head and kept her mismatched eyes downcast.
"I completely understand"
"Good" Weiss sniffed before turning away to open the door "Then in that case, Athena I trust you can take her to the guest rooms on the west wing before you and Stygian make that call?"
"Sure" Athena nodded before taking Zirconia's wheelchair and murmuring in her former partners' ear "We'll check your room for traps or pranks…..If Coral knows you're coming she probably did something"
"Thanks for the warning" Zirconia finally managed a weak smile "I might just let your sister have that win"
With that Zirconia and her former, possibly current team-mates entered Schnee Manor.
Carmesi's entire body was in pain, though it was concentrated primarily within his skull and more specifically still in the place where his right eye should have been; with that particular loss being far more insistent in its' misery than the ragged wound along his left flank which his rejuvenated Aura had already allowed to close into the beginnings of new scars.
He had been left reeling, in a way that felt symptomatic of the entire situation and state of the plan at large.
After collapsing into the snow from his injuries shortly after the opening salvo of the Megalodon upon its' arrival the Komodo Dragon Faunus had begun to lose track of the events around him, with that being exacerbated when the Cyber-Grimm had carried him from the battlefield and what little he had managed to learn since waking up aboard the Grimm-vessel doing nothing to reassure him.
The Megalodon itself had taken fire and was damaged to some extent despite its' shielding, likely, Carmesi presumed in the places where the retreating Cyber-Grimm had been attempting to make their way back aboard.
Gestalt-Prime's injuries had once again been significant, with something having occurred in the final stages of the battle which had seen the loathsome creature skulk into darkened recesses of the Megalodon and cast themselves into a sealed, regenerative cocoon with an attitude not unlike a sulking teenager.
Though most damning of all to Carmesi was the fact that his mission had been an abject failure, he had failed to recover even one of the escapees he had been sent into the tundra to find despite having been on the cusp of victory and now all of them were in the hands of the Atlesians.
It was this last admission to himself which had seen the burly rogue Hunter abandon the bed-rest that a doctor whose qualifications were likely suspect had tried to impose on him and make his way through the narrow and misshapen hallways which no longer conformed to the original airships' design. His destination was Nero's office and quarters after learning that Damascus himself was no longer aboard the ships' command bridge and as he finally reached it the Komodo Dragon found himself pausing, wavering with a rare uncertainty as he struggled to find a way to explain his failure, an equal rarity which did not sound as though he was simply grovelling and trying to excuse himself. After a few moments of awkward silence Carmesi simply growled to himself, quieting his troubled thoughts with an imposed sense of resolute certainty as he decided to simply accept whatever came to him and rapped his bruised and bloody knuckles against the door.
"Come in"
Carmesi did so, striding into the office as the doors hissed open only to come to a stumbling halt as he took in the sight of Nero's quarters where the desk the man sat at had been moved, after being upended in a fit of anger if the scattered paperwork on the floor was any indication whilst bookshelves and other decorations remained strewn about and the door leading to Nero's private quarters remained open to reveal similar vandalism beyond.
"A minor inconvenience is all" Nero breathed the words out unsteadily as he sat at the desk "Things got the better of me for a moment there is all"
"I see….Mister Nero are you-" Carmesi had been studying Damascus himself rather than the room, the older man visibly at the end of his tether and looking decidedly worse for wear despite the efforts he had previously taken and it was this attention which allowed him to see the glass of something amber in Nero's hand, kept just out of reach and trembling with barely suppressed emotion.
Until it was hurled directly at Carmesi's face.
"MY DAUGHTER CARMESI!" Nero screamed, unbothered by the way Carmesi sidestepped the incoming projectile with ease "MY LITTLE GIRL, YOU HAD THE CYBER-GRIMM TAKE HER LEGS YOU MONSTER! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME? I TRUSTED THE TASK TO YOU, YOU OF ALL PEOPLE….My daughter was so desperate to get away from this, from me that she did all of this and now she's in the hands of General Schnee herself….Where did I go wrong?"
"You were-"
"Tell me I was too soft Carmesi, I want to hear you say it….I swear on what little I have still got left that I will throw you into the next Spawning Pit we find with your hands tied and wearing an anchor!" Nero spat, rising to his face and barging his desk aside until it sat sideways so that he could close the distance between the two of them entirely, standing almost nose to nose with Carmesi.
Only to break down crying and fall into the younger man who quickly realised that he might be among the last people in Nero's life that the man could trust.
It was an honour, but not once Carmesi was prepared for.
"You were too focused" He admitted with a low rumble, seeking out words even as he uttered them "You never wanted her to play a part in this and then when she insisted you cast her into a long-term deep cover operation without any backup or oversight, you were too preoccupied when you should have delegated jobs to Albion, to me or Grapeshot whilst he was still with us" Carmesi took a deep breath and found it shuddering with his own emotional turmoil as he grasped Nero's shoulders and drew back to meet his quartz-coloured eyes before voicing his own deep-seated concerns in a way which did not come naturally to him.
"But right now I, we, Remnant needs you to focus" he rumbled softly "Because I have trusted you, followed you and helped build our bright new tomorrow ever since you found me….You gave my life a purpose Mister Nero and right now I don't know what to do, because it feels like we just lost everything"
Nero let out a weak, watery chuckle at that and it cemented in Carmesi's mind that the older man had drunks several glasses of alcohol before the Faunus's arrival.
"And you have done everything I asked of you before now exceptionally, but it seems that the price of so many victories is that you're too unused to failure; like one of my old business partners' little brats hearing the word 'no' for the first time"
"You have a plan?" Carmesi asked, choosing to ignore the comparison from the tipsy and overly emotional man to which Nero nodded faintly before making his way back to his desk and rapidly typing on the keyboard of his computer whilst waving Carmesi over with his free hand.
"It seems that we might yet snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, although it seems we alone cannot take credit for it. I don't know how much you saw….Or were aware of, my apologies"
"I've still got one good eye" Carmesi grunted, refusing to linger on the matter.
"Gestalt-Prime was issued a challenge it seems. The very same Grimm which controls a swathe of the Hive-Mind, the one which attacked us at Jidhir Town was responsible by the Grimm which attacked you in the tundra and at the conclusion of the battle they used the remaining Grimm to speak" Nero's words came more rapidly now and Carmesi was forced to both listen intently to understand him and keep his own disbelief in check "That Grimm has been busy with plans of their own it seems, come, look at this"
Carmesi drew closer and studied the screen, his remaining eye narrowing and then widening as he took in the sight of a living fortress of bone, crystal and obsidian flesh rising out of the depths of the sea.
"Where is that?" he managed to breathe out, forcing himself to skip over less relevant questions such as what and how.
"Open waters, not a great distance away from where Salem was finally defeated" Nero answered "Which means that it's now everyone's problem, which means Winter Schnee and the rest of Qrow Branwen's old followers will be involved"
"And that helps us how?" the Komodo Dragon Faunus asked, admittedly too weary and in too much pain to make the clear connections that Nero seemingly already had.
"I have no doubt that Zirconia, in her efforts to have me see sense or bring me down from the ledge that she believes me to be standing on will tell General Schnee everything she knows" Nero sighed at that, taking a moment to steel himself and clear his head before pressing on "Which, given that the General undoubtedly heard the challenge to Gestalt-Prime might actually work in our favour. She still has the Aura Transfer Machine after all"
"I still don't see" Carmesi admitted.
"Of course you don't" Nero snorted before forcing aside any traces of his intoxication and seemingly commanding himself to be sober through sheer will alone "But you will. With Gestalt-Prime indisposed I'll need you to prepare yourself to accompany me, though you'll have time to rest and prepare yourself before then. I need to ensure that word is delivered through a suitable amount of proxies first, then we need to locate a Spawning Pit so that we can repair the Megalodon, no matter how minor the damage is it won't do"
"Are we planning an attack?" Carmesi asked, seeing it as the most plausible understanding for needing hasty repairs "A variation on what we originally intended, take the Aura Transfer Machine"
"Of course not" Nero chided "We're going to be negotiating and I can't have us appearing weak when we meet with the General"
"I just wanna talk to her, no AJ it's cool I promise, I just wanna talk-" the sting of assurances which Athena-Jade herself did not believe in the slightest continued to spill from Coral Scylla as the Crab Faunus, her adopted sister marched through hallways of Schnee Manor with a sense of purpose, a gleam in her eye and an incessant clacking of her powerful pincers which made her true intentions easy to read.
There had once been a time when Athena would find such behaviour adorable, now however Coral was a towering mass of a young woman and the mixture of playfulness and utter menace in her voice left Athena worried for Zirconia's safety.
Some time had passed since the five Hunters had arrived at Schnee Manor, enough time in fact for Athena-Jade to have not only been present for some of Stygian's call with his mother before stepping away to give them a much need opportunity to talk in private, but to then briefly check up on her other friends to ensure that they were settling in before finally making her way to her own bedroom, the space feeling at once familiar and entirely alien to her now where she had finally managed to drift off to sleep for at least a few hours; the various painkillers in her body allowing her to forego the mental trauma of processing the previous nights' events for just a little longer.
By the time Athena-Jade had awoken again it was already growing dark outside though this was less important to the Bear Faunus than the incessant growling of her stomach as she realised that she had subsisted on little more than a salvaged can of soup for at least an entire day; she had naturally made her way through the corridors of her childhood home towards the kitchen to rectify this and it was here that Athena had first encountered her sister, with Coral clearly heading in the general direction of Zirconia's guest room.
As the towering Crab Faunus continued onwards, still insisting that she only wanted to speak with the Grasshopper Faunus despite everything about her demeanour being to the contrary Athena-Jade realised that her youngest sibling would not see reason and that she would instead be forced to act.
Fortunately however, for all of her size and bravado Coral was not much of a fighter.
"Ouch! What the heck AJ?" the younger Faunus let out a surprised yelp as Athena ran up behind her and kicked her in the back of the knee to buckle her leg, evading Coral's blind retaliatory flailing and calmly dropping her into a headlock before rubbing her knuckles' against her adopted sisters' rose gold-coloured hair and scalp.
"Alright, alright you win!" the Crab Faunus exclaimed, throwing her pincers up in surrender before muttering "You suck, you suck so bad-"
"The suckiest" Athena interjected with a snort as she stepped back to allow Coral up "Come on, I need to eat something. You're coming with"
"Unbelievable" Coral huffed, pincers clacking and holding over her chest even as she took a once familiar position of trailing a step or two behind Athena "After everything she's done. After what she did to you, my big sister I'm supposed to-"
"Coral….I get it, I appreciate it….It really means a lot to me; but can we please just not do this" Athena sighed, each syllable filled with a heaviness and a deep-seated, unfathomable tiredness that Coral was brought to a momentary halt and silenced. The Crab Faunus lurched back into moment soon enough and caught up with Athena whilst smoothing a frilly dress with pincers that contrasted sharply with the garment, the two of them making their way through the vastness of Schnee Manor in a silence that was almost peaceful save for a slight note of tension between them until Coral finally spoke up again just the pair of the reached the main stairs which led down to the entrance hall.
"I missed you. I was worried about you, we all were" the words sounded small, making Coral sound closer to the much younger version of herself that Athena-Jade seemed to default to in her own memories and upon hearing the quiet admission the pale Bear Faunus let out a slow breath and halted, sitting herself down on the stairs and patting at the empty space beside her to gesture for Coral to join her.
"I know" she finally murmured as Coral sat beside her "And believe me, Mum and Dad have already told me, at length and in detail just how stupid and reckless they think my teams' plan was"
"But you already knew they'd say that and you still did it" Coral noted, brow furrowing into an annoyed expression at the utter lack of concern in her sisters' voice "Even though you got hurt-"
"Yeah and I'd do it again" Athena answered without hesitation.
"Why?"
"Because this is who I am. This is who this family are and what we do. I saw a problem and I saw that the people who were supposed to be fixing it weren't getting anything done" Athena answered, a toothy smile splitting her weary features as she puffed up with clear pride and added "It's the same reason Dad joined the White Fang as a teenager, then left it when Adam Taurus went nuts, the same reason Arctus and Diamond and their team did so much crazy crap as students….It's the same reason you wanted to try and mess with Zirconia, let's be honest"
"I guess" Coral mumbled "And 'cos she's a-"
"Don't" Athena interrupted firmly before reaching up and attempting to ruffle her sisters' hair, a gesture which Coral batted aside with a single pincer.
"Get off, do you know how long it takes to do my hair without hands?" she huffed before shooting Athena a confused look "Seriously, after everything though….you and her"
"There is no me and her" Athena answered, the words feeling as though they cut at her even as she uttered them "I don't think there can be….I don't know"
"Still sounds like you're thinking about it" Coral noted "Which is weird, because the way you and your other ridiculously hot partner; with the great hair and tattoos were leaning in to each other when you got here, the way you've already met his Mum-"
"Okay first of all stop that" Athena-Jade gasped, utterly aghast "The whole team knows Stitch's Mum. We saved her from Grimm and helped her get furniture and stuff for a new apartment….But, how did you see that? Were you-"
"Watching from a window? Yeah" Coral shrugged "I was waiting for you to get home, I fell asleep in a chair at the window….It sounded like you were really hurt and I was worried"
"Adorable" Athena grinned "Even when you are a pest. But Stitch and I aren't….Well I mean-"
"No way" Coral gasped out, pincer flying to her mouth and eyes wide as she stifled a laugh upon deciphering the meaning behind Athena's sudden change in tone and inability to look her in the eye "You've slept with-"
"Will you shut up you pest" Athena hissed, hands flying out to clamp over the younger but taller girls' mouth; mortified at the idea that she might be overheard by either her team-mates or worse still her parents "Do I stand at the top of the stairs and yell about yours and Henry's business"
"There's nothing you know that I'm ashamed of" Coral countered with a smile "I love him and we're happy"
"Yeah well, my life's a little more complicated than yours" Athena muttered, a small amount of bitterness creeping into her tone "It happened once okay, it just happened and we spoke about it afterwards but it can't happen again….Not while everything's a mess like this. Stitch is great, he really is and I think I…."
"Say it" Coral cooed, leaning forwards and resting her chin on the tips of her pincers whilst wearing a smug grin "Go on say it-"
"Coral-"
"It'll be easier once you've said it" the younger Faunus taunted in a singsong voice.
"I think….." Athena trailed off, swallowing thickly and running her hair whose length suddenly bothered her as she summoned up the nerve she needed "I think I love both of them. Coral and Stygian"
"Oh wow" Coral breathed out, clearly doing her best not to laugh; an effort Athena was grateful for even if it was unsuccessful.
"Yeah" Athena nodded glumly "Because things weren't complicated enough"
"Well, whatever happens I'm rooting for you AJ. Always have been" Coral assured her with an earnestness which saw the pale Bear Faunus turn and pull her sister gingerly into a hug, taking care to avoid jostling her healing ribs as she did so "Just try not to get your ribs smashed again"
"I won't, pest" Athena chuckled weakly "And I'll try not to get stabbed as well"
"You got stabbed!" Coral demanded, utterly outraged by this new information and responding to it by leaping to her feet and dragging Athena along behind her
"What're you doing?" Athena asked
"We're getting you some food….And then ice cream, or a cake, or something. You've clearly earned it"
Athena could only laugh hysterically at that, her sisters' presence and the familiar back and forth between them; coupled with the knowledge that the people who mattered the most to her were all close at hand and safe allowing her to feel more relaxed and more like herself than she had for some time.
In one of the many guest rooms of Schnee Manor Astra Mars was laying flat on their back on the largest and most comfortable bed they had ever encountered and yet they were still unable to sleep.
Their sense of time and natural sleep pattern had been thrown entirely off-kilter by the recent days' events which left the Deer Faunus in a half-aware daze which seemed to persist throughout the day and evening whilst their mind was kept occupied by their subconscious need to replay and process those same events, determinedly seeking out each and every thing that Astra could have done better, every choice they could have made differently which might have seen their team-mates less badly hurt. Compounding those surging and spiralling thoughts was also the simple fact that Astra was suffering from a level of background pain which had subsided into a dull but ever-present ache in their chest, joints and skull; particularly around their left eye which even Aura had not yet healed where their face had been reduced to a swollen mass of discoloured skin and several blood-vessels in their eye had been ruptured during the beating they had received from Carmesi to leave sea-green framed by vivid red. Worse still was that this bruised and bloodied visage had been on display during their call home to their parents, no doubt exacerbating what would already have been a tearful reunion where Myrtle and Redwood Mars's blissful relief that their child was alive and once again able to make contact with them and their horror at the injuries both Astra and Regalia had suffered were matched only by their anger at the young Deer Faunus and eagerness to tell Astra exactly how foolish and dangerous they considered their actions to be, jeopardising their future as well as their life until Astra had explained their reasoning and exactly what was at stake.
It had been a difficult and emotionally draining talk which had left Astra feeling hollow; but it had been needed and overall they felt far better for it.
As they stared up at the ceiling and stretched out on the double bed, clad only in a pair of sweatpants that had been found for them during their medical inspection as their outfit had been largely ruined Astra allowed their mind to wander to less serious subjects for a moment, such as whether their sleeveless leather jacket might be salvageable; a vain concern but one the leader of Team MARS could not disregard entirely given how much sentimental value the garment now had to them. These thoughts were in turn intruded upon by a knock at the door.
Astra could tell, simply from the tone of that knock and the weight of the shuffling, uncertain footsteps outside that it was Regalia.
"Come in" they called out to her, with the door opening a moment later to reveal the Racoon Faunus herself; her grey-brown streaked and shaggy hair cascading freely down her back and her light brown skin covered by an extremely fluffy bathrobe and, unless Astra was mistaken very little else. Astra's eyes drifted upwards and aware from their girlfriends' figure however and instead they studied her face, even more severely injured than their own. Regalia's left eyebrow and the space around her upper lip had required stitches although her Aura seemed to be making some headway towards repairing the damage, several teeth had also been cracked, chipped or knocked loose by the force of the Cyber-Grimm's blows against her face though once again her Aura, combined with a quirk of Faunus physiology would see them regrown. What was far less likely to heal neatly was the gash which ran horizontally from her left cheekbone, through the bridge of her nose and partway through her right cheek; that particular injury having taken the medics aboard the Atlesian warship some time and skill to contend with, the result being that Regalia sported deep, messy bruises beneath both eyes whilst her broken and mangled nose was both swollen and partly covered where it had been reconstructed and set.
"Hey….Are you okay?" Astra asked gently, pulling themselves into a sitting position as she made her way into the room, closing the door behind her and taking her hands as she drew close; finding them to be shaking slightly.
"Heh, it's still too cold here" she murmured, words slurred slightly by the treatment for her injuries as much as the wounds themselves "You couldn't sleep either?"
"My head's all over the place" Astra admitted before snorting "And it hurts like hell"
"Yeah" Regalia nodded in agreement, taking a seat on the edge of the bed "And I just don't like sleeping alone….Heh, I know it sounds dumb but I'm not used to it; even at Breaktide it was-"
"It's not dumb" Astra assured her, leaning over to kiss her cheek "Stay here tonight?"
"Do you think AJ's parents will mind?" Regalia's hands slipped from Astra's as she rubbed them together nervously, the robe she wore shifting as her tail moved beneath it.
"We just fought Nero's best people and then a Grimm attack right after. AJ's parents can cope" Astra grumbled, not wanting to seem rude or ungrateful in the slightest but also being unwilling to be denied something so basic as a chance to simply fall asleep holding their girlfriend because of someone else's hang-ups.
Regalia paused and considered for a moment before a small, shy grin crossed her bruised features at which point Astra hastily began rearranging the covers they had been laying on top of so that the two of them could wrap themselves up in the sheets, that motion distracting Astra for a moment and leaving the Deer Faunus caught momentarily by surprise when they saw that Regalia had shed her fluffy robe to reveal that she was in fact naked beneath it.
"My clothes were ruined….I don't like wasting things but they were covered in blood, from everything not just the last fight" Regalia explained.
"Babe, I can promise you I am not complaining at all" Astra assured her, doing their best to keep their eyes on hers but failing spectacularly and simply drinking in the sight of their partner and girlfriend as she clambered into the bed and shuffled close to the Deer Faunus, her leg wrapping around their waist, arms looping around them and her chest pressing into them distractingly as she made herself comfortable and snuggled closer for warmth.
To Astra cupping Regalia's cheeks and kissing her slowly and gently was the most natural progression of events in the world, though things were prevented from progressing much further no matter how much either of them might have wished to as the kiss deepened, Astra's hands cupping Regalia's breasts whilst hers gripped at the waistband of their sweatpants only for a pained, whimpering sound to escape the Racoon Faunus as a sudden movement jostled her uncomfortably.
"Oh shit, are you okay"? Astra panted out worriedly, pulling away to take in their partners' face as she rubbed at her freshly scarred and swollen features.
"Heh, I'm sorry"
"Don't apologise, it's fine; what happened?"
"Pulled something in my face, chipped tooth twinged as well" she answered before letting out an annoyed huff "Still, I least I'm gonna look bad-ass right?….Right?"
"Babe" Astra leaned forward, taking care to angle their antlers away from their partners' face as they kissed her forehead before reassuring her "You're gonna look like an action movie star….And ridiculously hot"
"Thanks" Regalia chuckled weakly, it was rare she allowed herself to care deeply about her appearance or how others perceived her in terms of attractiveness but the sight of her face so badly torn open had shaken her and the assurance of her partner helped greatly.
"Any time, I love you" Astra murmured, pressing another kiss against her forehead as their hand drifted lazily along her thigh and a faintly hopeful note crept into their voice "Wanna try again?"
"Heh, nah….That kinda ruined the mood, sorry" Regalia admitted, smile widening to a mildly painful extent as a thought occurred to her "It'd probably be weird right, us actually having sex in a bed….We did almost everything else in your truck"
Astra had no words and could only laugh in response to that.
From there the two of them simply took in one another's presence and allowed themselves to relax in a way that they had been unable to achieve alone, drifting further into a half-aware haze that had almost been sleep even as they talked about anything and everything in a semblance of the normality which both of them found that they would be eager to return to once Remnant was no longer in immediate danger from the efforts of Damascus Nero. It was here that one of them had sleepily suggested turning on the television that it was in the room if only to provide some noise that might help them sleep; with neither Faunus fully able to trust the silence any more.
Turning on the television however had stripped away any sense of normality and with it any chance of rest for the two of them.
Immediately Astra and Regalia had been confronted by a breaking news article and it was here that they learned of the emergence of living fortress of Grimm tissue out at sea; with both of them immediately seeing the connection between it and the talking Grimm in the tundra.
Following the revelation that Pantheon, former herald of Salem herself was not only still alive but also that the sentient Grimm had spent the last decade dwelling at the seafloor gathering power and spreading their influence to seemingly every corner of Remnant, making them an enemy to both the efforts of Damascus Nero but also to all of Remnant and those who sought to protect it Winter Schnee, along with presumably every other Hunter and official of any standing in their respective Kingdom had been on high alert.
Which meant that the General's chances of finally being able to rest and recover were snatched away and dashed as duty continued to call.
For several hours the terrifying reality that Damascus Nero and his Cyber-Grimm had managed to make their way onto the continent of Solitas aboard his monstrous airship became of secondary importance; a testament to the scale of the threat Pantheon's reappearance posed to all of Remnant and something only made tolerable to Winter by the knowledge that Nero's forces had been forced to retreat in their last encounter. Instead Winter had focused her efforts on preparing Atlas's official response to the emergence of a living fortress of Grimm tissue in open waters, liaising with both her own Kingdoms' council and the individuals who had found themselves in charge of the hastily drawn up efforts to muster the Hunters and defence forces of the other Kingdoms and also the more clandestine efforts of her fellow shadowy cabal members to gain more information about what was going on, with questions such as whether this was Pantheon's only emerging fortress and if attacks on populated areas were imminent being of paramount importance.
All whilst in the back of her mind Winter considered what she had learned from Zirconia Shadowmoon about Nero's plans.
Circumstances had forced the General to reorganise her priorities however when she received word from trusted members of her Specialist Branch that a message had been sent to her through covert and encrypted channels which seemed to request a parlay; the methods chosen seeming to suggest that the sender, whom Winter had no reason to doubt the identity of had people at their disposal within the ranks of her military.
She had known that of course, but now that she was no longer using that knowledge to her advantage it troubled her far more.
The message had come in the dead of night and whilst the Atlesian military was a well-oiled machine which could be brought to bear against its' foes at any time and in any place Winter had found herself taking a more cautious approach; answering the message her Specialists had found and agreeing to parlay before contacting her brother in law, the former head of the Specialists and one of the few people she would trust in a situation such as this who was not already busy elsewhere.
"This feels like a trap" Gangrel noted in his place beside Winter as the transport craft began to lower itself to the ground "I swear if I get captured by the same people we just saved my daughter from-"
"It's not a trap" Winter murmured quietly, having no need to raise her voice given that the only occupants of the aircraft were herself, the Bear Faunus beside her and a cluster of Atlesian Knights of the latest model "I cross-referenced this location with all relevant records. You might not have been made aware of it during mission planning for students but there was a Spawning Pit here; one that was not a priority for elimination"
"So Nero's walking us into the Grimm" Gangrel's amber eyes narrowed, the truth of the matter slowly coming into focus; though not before Winter explained it for him more thoroughly.
"He's walking us out into where the Spawning Pit used to be. That airship of his can produce Cyber-Grimm, but it needs raw material" Winter paused and waited for disgusted look on her brother in laws' face as he processed the information "It's a show of force, which I find reassuring and suggestive that Nero is genuine in his request to negotiate"
"He's posturing" Gangrel snorted, bitter derision mixing with a genuine loathing for the man whose actions had done so much damage, to say nothing of the hurt they had caused his family. Any further discussion was halted by the faint impact of landing gear against compacted snow and a moment later the hatches of the transport to slide open with a hiss of compressed air; with Winter leading the way as strode purposefully into view, her glyphs flickering around her to create a protective shield whilst her hand remained deliberately at her sides and away from her weapon. By contrast Gangrel stood at her right hand, barely a pace behind her with his weapon held at the ready and followed by a group of similarly well prepared machines; the entire group marching in formation into the designated meeting place.
Where Damascus Nero and his delegation was already waiting for them.
The monstrous, hulking forms of the Cyber-Grimm were a stark contrast to the practical and minimalist, largely humanoid designs of the Atlas Knights and despite her pride in her Kingdoms' machinery and the skills of its' scientists and engineers Winter had know delusions about how her own automatons would fare in a direct confrontation.
Stood amidst the snarling, pacing abominations however was Damascus Nero himself and Winter could not help but allow herself a faint, sneering smile at the sight of the man and how inferior the reality of him seemed in comparison to the image she had built of the twisted mastermind in her head; he was tall and slender yes, but also pallid and frail looking with a commanding air that could only work when bolstered by his monstrous creations rather than his own power, a fact further highlighted by the way his lack of Aura left him visibly shivering in the snowy night air.
Beside Nero was Carmesi Hueso however and everything that his master lacked the Komodo Dragon Faunus boasted an abundance of; a powerful and menacing presence even whilst wrapped in bandages from the previous nights' violence, including one wrapped around his head to cover the right eye that he had lost. Despite his injuries the burly rogue Hunter still had enough Aura to use his Semblance and halted Winter and Gangrel's advance with a row of crimson spikes, keeping his shotgun at the ready to answer Gangrel and only releasing his Semblance when Winter lowered hers.
"That's far enough" the rumbled out before nodding to Nero and stepping back respectfully to take his place at Nero's right hand; the two men observing Atlesian formalities and etiquette rooted in the customs of duelling and similar challenges to ones' honour which Nero had no doubt learned whilst dealing with businessmen from the Icy Kingdom.
Winter would be happy to show either man the original intent behind their gestures and the hateful expression on Gangrel's face told her that he felt the same.
"I see that you currently have only the specified delegation present with you" Damascus noted conversationally as he adjusted his tie and cufflinks "Though I am somewhat disappointed, if unsurprised by the fact that several Specialists disembarked from their own transports some time ago and moved into positions, all of them carrying sniper rifles or similar weapons"
Winter was unsurprised to hear that Nero was aware of her contingency plan and in fact smiled wider as the admission inadvertently gave her more information to work with.
"And you only know that because your airship is cloaked and waiting above us" she challenged "Presumably with newly prepared Cyber-Grimm ready for deployment"
"I see Zirconia has given you some actionable information, though the fact you haven't elected to simply open fire on the place you suspect the Megalodon to be is….Reassuring, if I'm generous with words" Nero's tone took on a cutting edge for a moment before concern filled his dark eyes for a moment "My daughter is unharmed?"
"She received medical treatment for her injuries" Gangrel interjected before Winter could answer, his words a threatening growl "As did mine"
"My apologies. I have no specific ill will towards Miss Slate, she is a remarkable young woman" Nero bowed his head and let out a long, weary sigh "But circumstances seem to have run away with us….With this latest development only proving the point further"
"Pantheon" Winter stated bluntly "And their direct challenge to Gestalt-Prime"
"Precisely" Nero agreed "And you'll notice that Gestalt-Prime is not present to speak in this parlay-"
"Because they were a ruined mess barely a day ago" Gangrel challenged.
"Admittedly yes" Nero gestured vaguely "But also because it is not their place to be here, for all their aspirations and scheming the fact remains that they are a tool, to be used until they no longer serve their purpose-"
"Hardly an appealing beginning to a parlay, casually announcing your intentions to betray one of your own" Winter noted.
"And yet anything else would be pointless and we wouldn't believe each other" Nero answered with a shrug "Come now, we know where we stand with one another and we know that we are both only entertaining the idea of a parlay or of ceasing the hostilities between one another so that we can tackle a greater threat-"
"Even if tackling that threat was already part of your plans" Winter noted coldly "Zirconia told me exactly why you planned to obtain Atlas's Aura Transfer Machine and that any alliance between us would only serve to benefit your goals. I'd be trading one problem for another"
"Only my goals?" Nero scoffed "Is protecting the people of Remnant not your goal as well? If that's the case then you prove everything I have ever accused Hunters of-"
"Don't play words games with me-"
"No, of course not" Nero laughed, arms splayed wide "I do detest the theatrics, public speaking and everything like it is a burden I have to suffer through. But let's speak plainly shall we?"
"Let's" Winter scowled "You want me to enter into an alliance with a man who wants Hunters dead and the institution which protects Remnant to-"
"To be replaced by something more suitable to the task" Nero countered "And I am offering you, admittedly out of necessity on my part a chance to prove that you care about duty and the good of Remnant more than clinging on to your own power and status….As I said in my broadcast to Remnant, I am willing to sit down at the table and negotiate"
"With the Creatures of Grimm" Gangrel sneered, remembering the words he had initially dismissed as insanity.
"And once again you fail to grasp it!" exclaimed "Look at the behaviour of Pantheon, of Gestalt-Prime, or Salem herself or any of the other thinking Grimm that you have covered up! If they can reason and communicate and plan then they are not 'Creatures', they are a people….Right now the sole reason we are still embroiled in this struggle when there must be ways to avoid it is because nobody is willing to sit down and discuss an alternative! I plan to change that!"
"A coup" Winter stated flatly, having already understood the basics of Nero's master plan but still dumbstruck upon discussing it openly "You want to use Gestalt-Prime to stage a coup amongst the Grimm?"
"Precisely!" Nero grinned wildly, quartz-coloured eyes gleaming in the moonlight "Gestalt-Prime is a vehicle for my great new tomorrow! Once they have, with our help defeated this Pantheon creature the true bright new tomorrow can begin"
"The Aura Transfer Machine-"
"Will be used in tandem with the work of the late Aefen Cruor to remove Gestalt-Prime's consciousness from the equation once they have served their purpose" words fired from Nero at a breakneck pace, animosity forgotten as he shared his vision "Grimm, humanity, machine and the soul all merged in a way which takes the largest swathe of the Grim species and puts it squarely in human hands, under the control of a being with a soul; imagine General….A world where Hunters are no longer needed, because the Grimm are simply another resource and problem elements are processed and remade in our image before they can become a problem"
Silence rained in the empty stretch of tundra for a few moments, with Winter's initial urge to dismiss the man's words as unhinged ramblings being halted by everything that he had accomplished thus far; including the elimination of the Spawning Pit whose footprint they currently stood in.
The silence wore on until Nero eventually let out a weak chuckle before speaking again, much more reserved now.
"I know, It's a lot to take in and we have little reason to trust each other, but what I'm offering is a better future for the world both of our families' live in" he paused and considered his words
"You've been a soldier for most of your life General….Be brave enough to choose peace now"
Author's Notes:
And that, ladies, gentlemen and others is the end of Vol.08.
Vol.09 is the penultimate chapter of this entire story, we are heading towards the endgame now.
Also, I'm writing this roughly three months before when I'll post it so it won't make a difference to anyone reading but as always I'm probably gonna need a few days to a week to plan out at least the first half of the next volume.
But anyway, let's summarise shall we?:
Y'know when the giant monster considers a situation where they had literally no pieces left on the board to be a win that something big is coming.
So yeah Pantheon's plan is straightforward; draw Gestalt-Prime out so that they can be separated from Nero and more importantly the Megalodon, take away their ability to repair themselves and break them apart.
I already mentioned that Grimm had been sent out to collect raw Grimm material for something bigger.
So yeah, we have out obligatory giant Grimm fortress; one that's designed specifically to get the attention of Gestalt-Prime and Nero.
Also Pantheon's got their wings back and put in a public appearance.
Let Winter sleep; just that brief recap of what she's been doing should tell you how exhausted she is.
Yeah Coco absolutely want to beat the stuffing out of Zirconia and that's honestly understandable.
Ren is once again a voice of reason.
Coco knew exactly where they were gonna put Zirconia to be safe, because seriously….Someone always ends up being kept at Schnee Manor for their safety.
Can you imagine multiple Megalodon, a fleet of them.
Winter absolutely crossed lines in that debriefing.
An urgent message came at that very moment seemed almost contrived in its' convenience. Consider that a fourth wall break.
And now everyone knows about Pantheon, because there is no way that can be kept quiet.
Schnee Manor being a supervillain lair at the top of a mountain is one of my favourite recurring jokes.
That's just a quick glimpse at how utterly fucked up everyone was in that fight.
Stitch needed that reassurance there….Also yeah, Winter lost her leg and was back out fighting again the same day without a prosthetic; she cut the leg off of an Atlas Knight and then summoned the leg.
Zirconia is definitely gonna jump at glyphs for a while, especially since she's seen just how crazily powerful Weiss actually is.
Also "Athena I don't think anyone's call home would be improved by my presence" it's harsh but it's not wrong.
Weiss was not out of line at all, given Zirconia's history of spying and sneaking around would you let her wander around your house unsupervised?
Coral is not a Huntress but don't think for a moment that she'll take anyone hurting AJ lying down.
Headache is an understatement after Carmesi got his eye ripped out.
"A minor inconvenience is all" in response to having utterly trashed the place, in my head it had perfect comedic timing as well.
Okay of all the things that I've said weren't out of line….Throwing a glass at Carmesi might actually have been out of line.
Although there was almost a moment of genuine self reflection from Nero there.
It's an interesting thought, how different would things have gone if Zirconia had been more closely watched and checked in with earlier in the story.
This is the most vulnerable we've ever heard Carmesi be and Nero makes an interesting point; it's because Carmesi is so good at his job that he has no idea how to process setbacks or failures.
'How much you saw' is no better than offering to give Stygian a hand.
Nero still has enough people elsewhere to be able to hear about Pantheon's appearance.
And once again we see the ability to adjust and adapt plans on the fly which makes Nero such a formidable villain….They do with master plans what Astra does with individual, small scale plans.
Has anyone else ever had an "I just wanna talk to 'em" moment with a siblings' ex?
Ah siblings, who else can get away with that shit.
Well look at that, "This is who I am, this is who this family are and this what we do" AJ is now completely at peace with the idea of living up to the family legacy.
Coral has the unnatural ability to pick up on who her sister is/was into; seriously Coral figured out AJ liked Zirconia before AJ did.
The fact she waited at a window is sweet.
"I think I love both of them. Coral and Stygian" life's never simple for AJ is it?
If you get stabbed you get ice-cream…..The spirit of Neo Politan lives on.
Oh yeah, Astra's parents absolutely gave them the business and can you blame them?
Astra's jacket has to survive.
Firstly, Regalia had already given her poncho-cloak thing to AJ, so she was in the tundra in just a tank-top when she got her face ripped open, so that top was ruined with blood. Secondly….Given Regalia's height and who actually lives in the manor; that's probably either Gangrel or Arctus's bathrobe.
Thinking about it, I don't think Regalia has ever actually slept in an empty room before.
Let Astra be horny, they just survived hell….But also yeah, make-out sessions with busted teeth can go wrong easily.
Regalia's scar is probably gonna be a more off-centre version of the one Winter should have kept in canon; seriously we were cheated.
And we end the scene with Astra finding out about Pantheon.
Yeah Nero is honestly probably the more immediate threat, but Pantheon is a much bigger and much more public threat.
Yeah Winter knew that Nero had people in her ranks, that's how she got him to take the bait and come looking for the Aura Transfer Machine; those same people have been used by Nero to call for a face to face meeting.
Gangrel Slate hasn't been the head of the Specialist Branch for roughly a decade, but he's still part of the Atlas Military through his position at Atlas Academy and is still a qualified Hunter; he's also just who's available given the circumstances.
Winter makes sense, you don't make a show of force before a set-up it defeats the point.
Honestly the whole image in my head of Winter, Gangrel and the Atlas Knights facing off against Nero, Carmesi and the Cyber-Grimm just felt like it would be iconic if this was actually animated; especially the ways Winter and Carmesi used their Semblance.
Of course both parties took precautions.
The whole parlay/negotiation was definitely fun and interesting for me to write, it's the first time Winter and Nero have directly interacted; Winter being only the second member of the Cabal to deal with him.
"Grimm, humanity, machine and the soul all merged in a way which takes the largest swathe of the Grim species and puts it squarely in human hands, under the control of a being with a soul" there it is, that's what we've been building up to. Nero's big plan is to have Gestalt-Prime take over the Hive-Mind and then use Aefen's research and Aura Transfer Machine to replace Gestalt-Prime's consciousness with a human-Grimm hybrid with a soul; meaning that the largest chunk of Grimm Spawning Pits on Remnant can be converted to Cyber-Grimm production facilities.
"Be brave enough to choose peace now" felt like the perfect line to end this volume on.
Thank you to MajorBrony95 for their review on the last chapter.
No spoilers lol.
I don't think Stitch is gonna be calming anyone in that situation, it was his arm.
Pantheon has made their move, but Gestalt-Prime is their main enemy here; old grudges are a background thing...On the other hand, considering that by the time this chapter is posted I will have finished writing Vol.09 and likely at the very least planned Vol.10 I can promise you that there's some brutal fights coming.
As you saw, you were correct...Zirconia is not exactly a welcome guest.
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.