The Celestial Huntsmen Lord 3
Disclaimers I don't own RWBY or Valkyrie Crusade please support any to all official releases.
After a short ride from the temple where everyone had survived the trials, Jaune, along with the insisted company of his team and sister team stood before Ozpin.
"Students, thank you all for joining me once more after the trials" said Ozpin, "You've got some balls for trying to brush it off with a smile you jerk" said Yang as she was held back by Ruby and Nora.
"Miss Xiao Long, while I don't disagree with your reason to resent Ozpin, I must insist that you sit down and remain calm" said Glynda, "It's all right Glynda" said Ozpin as he began to focus his attention on both Jaune and Petitrite.
"Jaune, I want to congratulate you once more for not only surpassing the trials, but also thank you for stepping up to bear possibly one of the biggest responsibilities you're about to face from here on" said Ozpin.
"Exactly, what sort of responsibilities I'd be bearing" asked Jaune as this was bothering him in the back of his mind, "Jaune, what I'm about to tell you and your team must remain confidential between us, as I fear that should this knowledge reach the masses this would provoke world wide hysteria and chaos" said Ozpin.
"When I first told you students about the story of the first Celestial Lord, I told you that some legends are indeed more than that, many of these stories are factual evidence of things that our world is litter with" said Ozpin.
"Ok, can you tell me one that's true besides the Celestial Lord legend" asked Jaune as Ozpin did not hesitate to lift his tablet and lower the back drop screen behind him to show his students a video monitoring the vitals of the recently attacked maiden, Amber.
"Are you familiar with the tale about the old wizard and the 4 season maidens" asked Ozpin, "I am, sir, that is to say" spoke up Ruby as she felt awkward for getting his attention.
"Well, what you students are looking at right now is the fatal condition of one of the 4 season maidens, I believe Amber was the Fall Maiden if I'm not mistaken" said Ozpin.
"This can't be real" Blake said under her breath, "Dear god" said Ren as everyone said something under their breath.
"Professor Ozpin, what is going on" asked Weiss, "What you're witnessing right now Ms. Schnee is the reality, and the reality is that the power contained inside these maidens are in danger of falling into the hands of a rival of mine that's been going on for a very long time" said Ozpin.
"You students have taken the next step further in what's truly the ultimate climatic battle between good and evil, and as it pains me to admit it, every now an again, mankind has been forcibly pushed up against a wall by the creatures of Grimm, the evil queen who commands them along with her most loyal followers who'd betray mankind" explained Ozpin.
"I won't sugar coat it, the journey you're about to partake Jaune is one that's not going to be easy, but it's one that must be taken, for it was the power of the Celestial Lord that helped us push this evil so far back that it gave mankind the breathing space needed to help us progress this far in life, and yet I fear it's not enough" said Ozpin.
"Sir, I don't know if I can do this" said Jaune, "If you fear for your wellbeing, please keep in mind, you'll not be entirely alone on this endeavor, you'll of course be accompanied by these Celestial Maidens, who are more than willing to build you up as not only a hero, but an immortal legend" reassured Ozpin.
"What about the rest of us" asked Pyrrha, "That does leave a big question now" said Ozpin.
"Students, you've still got a choice in the matter, you can of course accompany Jaune here in his quest, or you can continue to remain here at Beacon Academy and continue on your education and training to be the huntsmen of today" said Ozpin.
"Hell to the no!" exclaimed Yang, "Yeah, freak that professor" said Nora.
"I figured you'd all band together" said Ozpin, "Not to mention how the likelihood was that after what we experienced through, we'd either choose to drop out and transfer far away from" said Weiss with a little bit of sass at the end.
"Your words do have merit, I'll give you that" Ozpin said as he began to put the screen away and began to adjust himself.
"Granted I would've encouraged that at least Ms. Rose and Ms. Nikos would tag along with Jaune in this adventure, but as they say the more the merrier" said Ozpin.
"Ok sir, you've been telling me an adventure for like the last hour, exactly where are you sending me off to" asked Jaune, "You'll be going to the abandoned kingdom of the previous Celestial Lord, from their you'll be indoctrinated by the Oracle, Alchemist, and High Pixie as they all look after and took care of the land since the Celestial Lord's absence" said Ozpin.
"And this abandoned kingdom is located where" asked Blake, "You can't find it on any map, for it's true location remains hidden and unreached by society, unless of course you've been invited or are the Celestial Lord himself" said Ozpin.
"Then how are we supposed to get their in the first place" asked Yang, "I'd start headings west towards the Kingdom of Vacuo, you're to journey towards the furthest west of the kingdom towards it shores, where you must first arrive towards the kingdoms historic peninsula, followed by taking a trip towards the heart of the peninsula where you should find an island known as Strange Bird Island, from there the Oracle shall be awaiting for your arrival and lead you into the abandoned kingdom, where your true journey starts" instructed Ozpin.
"Fear not students, I've taken the liberty to mark the location on your map, and if you were to give me a few days to prepare you all with the necessities and essentials for your journey along with a commendable pilot, you'd be able to arrive their in about 18-20 hours" said Glynda.
"We don't have time for all of that Glynda" said Ozpin, "Then make time, I've already entertain you enough for today, right now these children are about to set off an adventure and take on the biggest responsibility you've ever assigned anyone sir, so please do not disagree with me" said Glynda as she pushed her glasses up and began to grip her crop with an iron grip.
"All right Glynda, they are still your pupils till they depart" said Ozpin, "Thank you sir" said Glynda.
"Until then children, I'd advise you all take the time to either prepare or even reconsider what to do with your lives now, Jaune I'd advise you to get familiar with that relic and with the young maiden who's accompanying you" said Ozpin.
Finally free from chatting with Ozpin, what's left to do now was chat about what everyone was planning to do next.
"Geez" said Jaune as he looked up aimless to the sky as he began to ponder what he's gonna do now that he's the Celestial Lord.
But that moment of brood was over when he felt Petitrite gently holding onto his hand, and bringing him back with present company.
"Everything all right master" asked Petitrite, "Yeah, everything's gonna be fine" reassured Jaune as he smiled back at the young maiden before looking at his friends.
"I'm only asking this because I want to hear it from you guys, but are any of you interested in following me in this quest of mine" asked Jaune.
"Jaune, you've always got me and Nora's support on this matter, no questions asked" said Ren, "Yeah, besides we're both orphans with nothing better to do, other than me pressuring Ren to pursue his dream as a successful baker, but it can wait a little longer" said Nora.
"And you've got my support as well Jaune, after all I did made a commitment to follow your lead when we became a team" said Pyrrha, "You sure about this Pyrrha, I mean you can always continue the path of being a professional huntress" asked Weiss.
"I am sure, but please by all means follow your own path friends" said Pyrrha as this was an opportunity to break free from all of this and possibly help Jaune cope through that feeling when all eyes are on you and are expecting you to do good in life.
"You might as well get use to seeing me shadowing you now Jaune, since I think my tenure as leader is now over" said Ruby, "She's not wrong about that, but she did forget to mention you got the 2 of us following you now" said Yang.
"Make that the 3 of us. I've got a feeling that Beacon Academy might not be around for long, plus I really got nowhere left to go at the moment" said Blake.
"So that's it, everyone of you guys are going to follow Jaune on this crazy quest of his, just like that" asked Weiss in disbelief, "Sounds like an adventure of a life time that I'd be a fool to miss out on" said Yang.
"Plus none of us are forcing or pressuring you to join us, so you can do you" said Blake, "Though we will miss you, or at least I will" said Ruby as all eyes fell on Weiss as she began to sigh in defeat.
"Fine, I'll tag along, but only because you people need more sensible people like me in order to survive" said Weiss as they finally reached the bottom floor.
As the group began to make their way to their dorm rooms, they couldn't help but notice that many of their fellow first year classmates were leaving their dorms with their belongings, for reasons that don't need to be questioned.
"I feel bad for them" commented Pyrrha, "My advice, I say go into Ozpin's office and land a kick square in his nuts" said Yang.
"Please don't" said Jaune as they all decided to wait out in team JNPR's room for the time being.
"Well here we are Petitrite, home sweet home, at least for now" said Jaune, "This looks nice master" said Petitrite.
"Glad to hear that you like it" said Jaune as he sat on his bed, "Before we get comfortable, I think it's best we take the time and inquire some questions from Petitrite" said Weiss.
"Agreed, Ozpin did say try bonding with her now" said Pyrrha, "You're right" sighed Jaune as he got off his bed as everyone circled around Petitrite in the center of the room.
"So Petitrite, I know for the time being you're the first maiden I've acquired, but how do I acquire the rest" asked Jaune, "If I recall from our previous master, you're going to have to fiddle with that smartphone on your wrist" said Petitrite.
"If it's all right with you, I think I'm gonna call this thing the relic, cause calling it anything else seems to undermine it" said Jaune, "Hey, I've got a question, you and Ozpin have talked about the previous Celestial Lord, without telling us anything about him, I mean does he even have a name" asked Yang.
"I… I can't remember" admitted Petitrite, "That's concerning to say the least" commented Blake.
"What I'm curious to know, is what ever happened to them, like why did they suddenly disappear" asked Weiss, "The old master had died, from a broken heart, and when he died, it seemed like everyone and everything he did up until then was just suddenly forgotten" said Petitrite.
Hearing this really soured the mood and got Jaune concerning if he might wind up being forgotten as well.
"Surely there's gotta be some sort of record of him, or at least someone might know him" said Ren, "No, the only ones who remembered the old master besides us maidens, is the evil witch Salem, and the great wizard Ozwaldo" explained Petitrite.
"And even then, no one remembers his name" said Ruby, "Man, that don't seem right" said Yang.
"Can you tell me a little bit about you maidens" asked Jaune as he wanted to change the subject.
"Of course master, there are about close to 10,000 of us maidens, and only about a fifth of us aren't maidens, but additional relics that might help some of us evolve and grow or for other uses" explained Petitrite.
"What do you mean by relics and other uses" asked Jaune, "Well you've got Slime maidens, they're a dime a dozen when it comes to the quantity of maidens, and they're generally used as tribute to help us other maidens grow" explained Petitrite.
"Used as tribute? That seems a bit questionable in terms of ethics" said Blake, "The wouldn't want it any other way, according to them and the Great Slime Queen, in fact they pretty much live for it" Petitrite in a matter of fact tone.
"Otherwise you got maidens like me, in the sense that we're part of the Cool attribute and element" said Petitrite, "Did you say Cool attribute" asked Nora as this sounded very familiar.
"Yes, there's actually 4 types of elements between us maidens, which are cool, passion, light, and darkness" said Petitrite.
"So basically our 4 stage trial we were forced into, was a type of allegory of you maidens" asked Yang, "Something like that" reassured Petitrite.
"And based on your element, your either stronger or weaker compared to other" said Ruby, "Yes and no" said Petitrite.
"What you mean yes and no" asked Jaune, "As I mentioned, I'm a cool attribute maiden, meaning I'd have a better time fighting against passion attribute maidens, but the same could be said the other way around, of course, our tier ranking also matters as well" said Petitrite.
"What do you mean by tier ranking" asked Jaune as Petitrite took out her potted plant and began to water it a few times to show a better visual example.
"So on top of our elemental attribute, our tier rankings also factor in in regards to how tough we are when engaging in combat, and before you ask, I know what your next question is" said Petitrite, "What are the tier rankings" said Jaune as Petitrite nodded in agreement.
"So look at this dark and muggy crystal that I'm holding, you've all probably seen these many times over and don't think of them fancy; think of this as a reputation as normal tier maidens" said Petitrite.
"Now this one, this very clean, very clear crystal, that holds a very high value in todays market; this represents the most highest tier of maidens you can acquire known as Legendary tier, with that said, there is one more tier of maidens that there's not a single crystal that compare to not only their beauty but power known as Valkyrie Rare" explained Petitrite.
"How powerful are these Valkyrie Rare maidens" asked Jaune, "I was getting to that, so look at this crystal here, this crystal represents me, and my tier of Super Rare maidens" began Petitrite.
"Now for me to go against a maiden from my tier is anyone's fair game, while say if I were to go up against lower tier maidens, I have a better chance of survival be it 1v1 to 1v2 to 1v3, and at the same time, I will definitely be in a pinch against a higher tier maiden if by myself, while it's pretty much suicide to go against the top dog by myself" continued Petitrite.
"Now if for some odd chance I was to engage battle with a Valkyrie Rare maiden, she doesn't need to even lift a finger to land killing blow on me just to take me out, in fact send her an army of all the normal or rare tier maidens and she'd defeat them all by just breathing on them" said Petitrite.
Seeing how powerful the maidens they were dealing with in the trials was challenging enough, they could only fathom how tough the fight would've been if dealing with a much higher tier maiden.
"Yikes, I can't even imagine" said Jaune as he was blown away, "Look at the bright side vomit boy, the fact we managed to hold our own against maidens the same level as Petitrite, shouldn't deter us from having to face off these powerful maidens until much later, and even then what are the chances of us dealing with them" said Yang.
"Actually, you should all know that up until the last trial you were all competing in, the maidens you were fighting were actually classified as either normal or rare tier" said Petitrite.
"Come again" asked Weiss in disbelief, "Yes, the maidens you and the majority of your classmates fought against were on the more bottom tier section of this chart I made" said Petitrite.
"You mean to tell me I got bested by a rare tier maiden" jeered Weiss as she held her head in disbelief, "Technically you got bested by a normal tier maiden" pointed out Petitrite as Weiss groaned in humiliation.
"Accept for these 3, they were all taken out by Ultra Rare maidens who barely broke a sweat when facing them" said Petitrite as she pointed towards Yang, Pyrrha, and Blake.
Truthfully, neither one wanted to admit, but their fight against the last maidens really pushed them past exhaustion, as they were at these maidens mercy when they took them out and to hear how they didn't break a sweat made them realize just how in comparison their strength was to these maidens, meaning they weren't even close to ready and they could only sweat drop in fear at the thought of facing those maidens again or anyone much more stronger than them.
"Well it stands to see why Ozpin is putting the pressure on Jaune to take on this quest, I mean if you think about an army of these maidens could easily swipe out a Grimm raid or infestation with the hour" commented Ren.
"And after hearing how strong these Valkyrie Rare maidens could be, they could easily put a stop to possibly the entire Grimm population within a single kingdom by themselves" said Pyrrha.
"My biggest concern is do we have to battle them" asked Jaune, "No, the Valkyrie Rare maidens would never turn or disobey you master, they will however not present themselves until you've proven your worthiness" explained Petitrite.
"But Jaune is the Celestial Lord, doesn't that make him by default worthy" asked Ruby, "The thing about the Valkyrie Rare maidens, they were all so very special, that when they were finally came upon us, instead of our last master sending them all to battle, he instead encourage them to live their life and enjoy free will. I've only got to see them once when they carried out master away from the battle field and bury him in his kingdom" said Petitrite.
"Well at least we know where to find them" said Yang, "Yes, but it seems they have a strong fondness for their last master, that trying them to follow Jaune's lead might not be possible" said Ren.
"Depending on how you can look at it, it might be considered an even better option in some cases, I mean who knows, people and faunas alike get intimidated by powerful individuals to the point they might feel provoked" said Blake.
"Wouldn't have thought or considered that type of possibility when facing a powerful being" said Ruby.
"Ok guys, we get it, these Valkyrie Rare maidens, are power times infinity, but if anyone can sway them, Jaune's the man" said Nora, "Thanks for the voice of confidence, but if it's all right with you guys, I think it's best if we kept our distance from them and discuss other matters" said Jaune.
"Like what" asked Pyrrha, "Like how do I go about recruiting maidens, and convincing them to join us exactly" asked Jaune.
"Master, you have a means to do so on your wrist" pointed out Petitrite as Jaune looked at the smartphone on his wrist.
"Care to explain" asked Jaune, "Well you unlock maidens by either exploring through the lands created by the Celestial Lord, through achievements, events, purchasing these maidens based on either quarterly or event based sales or through either a draw of the day to even draw of the week" explained Petitrite.
(Just wanted to pause here and say that, everything Petitrite had explained up until now was actually some of this games features and mechanics, and not being something made up as I go or being ripped from these most recently abundant and quite frankly over saturated manga and manhwa stories that people do video essays and recaps on; While I'm on the subject of discussing the game features of Valkyrie Crusade, it should be mentioned that this game was free to play, but unlike most modern mobile free to play games where you get at most 3 turns to do something or to complete a level, followed by five 30 second long ads in between, Valkyrie Crusade was a traditional Free to Play game, where you didn't have to worry about watching some shitty ad for either Amazon, or Crunchyroll, rather they'd just notify you with either a daily gacha, this quarter long event, or even a collaboration they did, one of them being characters from the Disgaea anime and game, so yeah the more you know)
"Really, it's that easy" asked Weiss in disbelief, "Yes, all though we can't explore any lands till we make it to the abandoned kingdom, along with participating in most events or raids" said Petitrite.
"Kinda sounds like I'm stuck with either doing the daily lotto or buying things" sighed Jaune in defeat as he didn't really have spending money at hand.
"No worries Jaune, I can help pitch in for a maiden this time around" said Pyrrha, "Pyrrha I couldn't" said Jaune.
"It's fine, if it's not money coming from me, it's money coming from Weiss, either way, if there's a means to grow your roster and help us reach our ultimate goal to destroy the Grimm, we shouldn't wait" said Pyrrha.
"All right Pyrrha, I'll kindly accept your offer" said Jaune as Pyrrha handed her credit card as Jaune attempted to use it to purchase a combo deal of one Legendary Rare and Ultimate Rare maiden combo, but unfortunately the card was denied.
"Pyrrha, it's not accepting your card" Jaune said sheepishly, "Then use mine, while Pyrrha tries calling her bank or manager to figure out what happened to her funds" said Weiss as she handed Jaune her card, but only got the same results.
"That's impossible this card is brand new and my bank account is full" said Weiss, "Maybe it's not a denomination issue, but rather a monetization issue" said Ren.
"You think this device won't accept our currency" asked Pyrrha, "It's a theory" said Ren, "Jaune check to see what sort of funds this devices of yours takes" asked Weiss.
"Weird, according to the relic, the only known currency it takes is something called, USD, JPY, KRW, and CGC" said Jaune, "I've never heard of such phony currencies" Weiss said in a huff.
"Guess that means we gotta rely on your free gacha pull" said Ruby, "Which unfortunately won't start until tomorrow" said Petitrite, "Why tomorrow" asked Yang.
"I'm considered his ultimate freebie gacha pull the moment I agreed to serve by masters side" said Petitrite, "Makes sense to me" said Nora as everyone sighed in defeat, before Nora's stomach began to rumble.
"Who's hungry" asked Jaune, "I can eat" said Ruby as everyone got up and headed towards the mess hall where they saw the last bit of students gathering their belongings and leaving this school behind.
"Hey Jaune" called Russel as he waved at his fill in leader, "Hey Russel, what you doing" asked Jaune.
"Well if you haven't noticed a lot of the first years are pretty much ditching this place to do whatever" said Russel, "I take it you're jumping ship too" asked Jaune.
"Not at the moment, if anything Cardin wants to gather some of the remaining students and asked them all to testify when he ultimately gets his dad to sue the school and Ozpin" said Russel.
"Remind me to hand Cardin the number to my attorney, he's never failed my family once" said Weiss, "Noted, by the way, is that kid-" began Russel as he was curious about Petitrite.
"Hey Russel, any luck recruiting more people to stick around sue that prick Ozpin" shouted Cardin as he and the remaining members of his team approached the group.
"Yeah, Weiss actually agreed to even get a professional attorney for us" said Russel, "Cool, cool. So… Arc, you're the lucky guy who became the Celestial Lord. I don't see it" said Cardin.
"Watch it buster" warned Yang, "I'm just saying, out of everyone here, I'd figure that title would've gone to miss champion and future huntress diva of tomorrow" explained Cardin.
"I can't say I disagree with you there, but… yeah I've got no excuse" said Jaune, "Whatever, anyways aren't you suppose to be surrounded by a harem of hot chicks or something" asked Cardin as he looked around and behind the team before them.
"Not exactly, I mean I've got her" said Jaune as he introduced Petitrite to Cardin.
"I don't know whether to laugh or be concern and call the cops on you" said Cardin, "Oh god know, it's not like that" said Jaune in a panic as this does paint him as a shady character.
"Haha, just busting your balls, though gotta say this squirt doesn't look like much" said Cardin, "Don't be fooled, I've seen this kid drag Jaune and hid him behind a wall of crystals, and they all looked pretty tough" said Russel.
"If you say so" said Cardin as he eyed Petitrite for a minute before looking back at Jaune.
"Though I gotta say, having you both present when we take Ozpin for everything he has, may actually work in our favor Jauney boy" said Cardin.
"Sorry to disappoint you Cardin, but we won't be sticking around for the trial" said Ruby, "What!? You guys mean to tell me that none of you will be there to sue Ozpin!?" asked Cardin in disbelief.
"Yeah, sorry" Jaune said sheepishly, "Come on man, with you there as our witness and with that kid by your side, the case would be settled within the day" said Cardin.
"It's complicated, we're gonna be busy" said Jaune, "Busy doing what, running back home to your mommy" Cardin said in a snide sarcastic tone.
"We'll be busy going on a quest for Ozpin" spoked up Pyrrha as she stood between Jaune and Cardin.
"You're serious, you're still going to follow that… sadistic old goat on another impending death quest" said Cardin, "I am, I mean I have to, I've got responsibilities as the Celestial Lord" said Jaune.
"I don't believe this" Cardin said in frustration as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You know what, fine, be a sheep and walk into the slaughter house, see if I care" said Cardin in a huff before he and his team walked away.
"Well that was intense" said Nora, "Yeah, and that's putting it very mildly" said Ren as the group of friends sighed in defeat and went about to get some food as they all patiently wait and abide their time as they're just about to start their journey.
So this chapter is finally done, and yet the story shall continue, but before that, I wanted to take some time and add my opinion as to recent event.
Frankly speaking, I wanted to wait for a few days after the announcement of Warner Bros. choosing to close down Rooster Teeth and all of its subsidiaries, especially with RWBY.
I think we can agree since after the end of Volume 9, with it being a great season and even a great return for fans who took a break from the series, there was question in the air as to what would become with RWBY since it felt like a Volume 10 was not even gonna happen.
Yes much of volume 9 was rushed, with even uncomplete scenes being made and shown and fully voiced for the fans to get some closure and an idea as to what could've been after the finish product if given more time, though in my opinion, while volume 9 was short, it was, in my humble opinion, a great way to end the season.
As for ending the series, fat chance, since they literally set up the story, the final page for our characters to really band together and put a stop to Salem, more so I heard that according to fans who got around seeing the RWBY x JL crossover film, it does follow after the end of volume 9 in a sense.
Which you know, it also baffles me, that Warner Bros. would willingly shut and pull the plug on RWBY after so many crossover and promos made by Warner Bros. in an effort to like normalize the series as it being part of not only the bigger DCU, but even bigger Warner Bros. property and family, and for what reason, I don't know since even during series dry season, the fandom was strong, the fans wanted more, and they did everything to show their love and support over this medium that has touched the heart of many fans, and inspired many more, myself included.
With that being said, there is definitely talk, at least coming from the mouth Kerry, one of the showrunners producers, that they're doing everything in his power to find the right buyer to make it so that RWBY gets the proper ending it deserves, which you know what, I am confident that will be in the case, and while this is the part where I voice my opinion who'd I like to bare the responsibility and who I wish doesn't get their hands on RWBY, I won't because it's not important.
What is important, is that you the fans must know and will hear it from me, a struggling artist who has gone and published official works for himself, and hopes to someday share the same universe of RWBY, and if not that's fine, because everything is going to be fine.
And I say that because even if for some reason we can't get a studio to fund and produce, the creators will at least throw us a bone and either publish it in an official novel, if not take the internet and outline either a fully detailed to even an abridged version as to how the story might've ended, where we the fans will take the bull by the horns, and use the many tools we have available to really tell the conclusion of this story, be it here on fanfic, youtube, or some fan website that has not only the community, but also the creators approval.
A legend amongst men once said 'Our fans are the best fans in the world, don't mess with them' and 'The fans are the biggest reason we do what we do', and while many fandoms have argued about being the best amongst the rest, very few have put those words to the test, and none so are more true than us, the fans of RWBY.
So say goodbye to Rooster Teeth, say goodbye to Warner Bros., but never say goodbye to RWBY, because we are the biggest and most dedicated fucking fans in the world, and we're irreplaceable, and we fucking rock.
SO until next time, be safe, be good people, and most importantly be humble and supportive to your local and international fandom communities.
This has been your Humble Narrator and official author Tobi Yaza. =3