Author's note: This is another short chapter, and closer to the average length of most future chapters.
At noon, on the second day of their journey to Argus, Blake heard distant screams and looked out the window. Ruby walked over to her.
"Blake, what's wrong?" Ruby asked.
"I heard something," Blake answered, "Take a look." She pointed in a certain direction, Ruby grabbed her weapon and looked out the window through the sniper scope. She spotted several Grimm, grabbed her scroll and contacted her friends.
"Grimm attack inbound, three thirty, approaching fast," Ruby said, put her scroll away again and dashed out the window and onto the train cart. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Dee and Dudley climbed onto the cart and looked in the direction Ruby was aiming. Dudley activated the train's turret guns to help fight the Grimm.
"What are we dealing with?" Jaune asked.
"Mostly Manticore," Ruby answered, "But a few Sphinx are there, too." Ruby began shooting at the Grimm, occasionally hitting one. The closer the Grimm got, the more she hit them, but she still wasn't satisfied. She took a deep breath and used Ilia's semblance on the bullet in her weapon's chamber, making Grimm feel about it the same way she felt about chocolate chip cookies. She fired the bullet, and the Grimm immediately homed in on it. One Manticore was hit in the head, and Ruby used Cinder's semblance to make the bullet explode.
"Alright, our turn," Dudley said as the Grimm got close enough. He took a deep breath and focused on the aura around him. He sensed a build-up in power in one of the Manticore, and fired at its mouth just as it was ready to launch a fireball. The fireball exploded, blowing up the Grimm's head and killing it instantly. Blake and Ren began shooting at the Grimm as well, covering each other's backs.
"Let's fight on their turf," Weiss said, looking at Jaune. Jaune used his semblance on Weiss, who summoned half a dozen full-sized Queen Lancers to fight off the enemies.
"Focus on the ones up front!" Ruby shouted and adjusted her aim to drive the Grimm away from the people. Yang and Nora got ready to fight the Grimm with all they had, smashing their skulls as soon as any managed to get close enough. Dee swung his mace, creating short-lived electric barriers around him to block the fireballs. Whenever a Grimm got too close, he smashed its head with his mace, using the built-up momentum for massive damage.
"Guys, tunnel!" Blake called out and pointed forward. Everyone hurried to the spaces between carts, still fighting off Grimm for as long as possible. Ruby loaded steam-goo rounds in her weapon and used Ilia's semblance again to make them attract Grimm. She fired into the forest below the train tracks, causing the Grimm to abandon the train in favor of what they perceived to be at least three relics. Before the train disappeared into the tunnel, Blake shot a lightning-dust round into the steam, electrocuting every Grimm standing in it and killing several of them.
"Good thinking," Weiss said.
"Thanks," Blake said, "But I don't get how it killed them. It was just a regular dust bullet, and most of them hadn't been hit before."
"Who cares why they're dead?" Ruby asked and said, "What matters is that they're dead."
"So, what now?" Jaune asked.
"Well, this thing will keep attracting Grimm," Blake answered, looking at the relic hanging from her hip.
"What's that?" Dee asked.
"None of your business," Qrow answered.
"I have an idea," Ruby said, "But you might not like it."
"Whatever it is, we're with you," Jaune said. He, Ren and Nora gave Ruby a reassuring smile.
"Thanks," Ruby said, turned more serious and said, "Dudley, deactivate the turrets. We don't want them drawing the Grimm to the front. Jaune, Ren and Nora, you three stay with them. We'll move the passengers to the front cars, cut the connection, and then Jaune and Ren hide everyone's negativity while my team and I stay behind to deal with the Grimm."
"Are you really saying we should split up?" Jaune asked, sounding both hurt and worried.
"We have to protect the people," Ruby answered, "But we can't do that if we have this Grimm magnet with us. Besides, we'll meet back up in Argus, I promise."
"Alright," Jaune said, and he and Ruby shared a brief hug. Ruby turned to Dee and Dudley.
"And you two," Ruby said, "I'm about to do something awesome. If you want to tell anyone about it, better record it, or noone will believe you." She and Jaune went to the back of the train, standing on the platform and waiting for the train to leave the tunnel. As soon as the turrets burst to life, Dudley deactivated them and Ruby rushed to the top of the train, while Dee and Dudley pulled out their scrolls to record what was about to happen. Ruby unleashed a burst of light and petrified the surrounding Grimm, but passed out from it. Jaune caught her and carried her back into the cart, where he handed her to Yang. Jaune, Ren, Nora, Dee and Dudley then went to tell the passengers in the last three carts that they needed to move their belongings to the front, and Blake went to cut the connection between the carts. Jaune checked the signal of Ruby's scroll, and as soon as it disappeared, he told Ren to hide everyone's negativity and amplified his aura. Just as the last three carts started slowing down, another Sphinx tackled them, causing them to derail.
~o~
Sirena sat in an office room in the SDC warehouse while people worked on the turrets she had designed. It was a simple design, just a pyramid with four anchor bolts at the bottom and a top that could lift up to reveal a double-barrel gun. All four sides could be removed to reveal an opening to refill the turret's dust reserves, and they served to enhance CCTS signals. It wasn't useful this close to the city, but would allow long-distance communication via the local mode once the turrets were distributed throughout the kingdom.
"Excellent," Sirena said, tapping her fingertips together and smiling creepily, thinking she was alone.
"Is… everything alright?" a woman asked, standing in the door and holding a report on the day's progress.
"Yes, everything is fine," Sirena answered, "I'm just happy that we're done with the turrets."
"How did you know that?" the woman asked, clearly surprised.
"I'm a huntress, it's my job to know things," Sirena answered.
"Alright then," the woman said and asked, "Anyway, where do you want the turrets to be placed?"
"On the wall," Sirena answered, "Place them between the battlements."
"Very well," the woman said, put the report on the desk in front of Sirena and left the room again.
"Now, to fulfill Ruby's request," Sirena thought. She went to Haven Academy, took the elevator to the vault and jumped into the pool of water under the bridge. She dove down until she found Emerald's lifeless body, removed the belt with the holsters holding the weapons, opened a portal to Ruby and tossed the belt through. Sirena then returned to the SDC warehouse, where she had her own room. The caged Beowolf in the corner whimpered as she returned, and she used her silver eyes to forcibly fuse with Cinder's soul.
"And just in case any Grimm think this city was for them…," Mithala thought and used her silver eyes to petrify the Beowolf. Her aura was drastically overcharged as a result, and she used it to fuel her semblance, making the turrets harm any Grimm within a distance equal to three quarters of Mistral's diameter, and made the effect last for fifty years so she could increase the damage per second to be equivalent to the damage needed to kill a Goliath. The aura replication modules in the turrets saved her aura's frequency to replicate the semblance's effects at the press of a button, albeit much weaker. Mithala used up all her of aura and reverted back to just being Sirena, who fell onto her bed and fell asleep from exhaustion.
~o~
After the train crashed, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Qrow and Oscar got back up. Weiss had used her glyphs to use the train carts as a battering ram to kill the Sphinx after pulling it to the ground.
"Is everyone alright?" Qrow asked.
"Yeah, just a bit shaken," Blake answered. Yang went to pick Ruby out of the snow and used her maiden powers to keep her warm with a small flame.
"Wait, where is the relic?" Ozpin asked.
"I got it," Blake answered, created a shadow clone next to the lamp, switched places with it, picked it up and switched places with her clone again.
"I… still don't quite get how you do that," Qrow admitted.
"It's easy," Blake said and explained, "I tied a strand of my hair to it. My hair holds my aura, meaning that I can sense its exact location within fifty meters around me, and can create a shadow clone anywhere within half a meter around it. And thanks to Argent's training, I can now switch places with my clones as well."
"Looks like he really taught you a lot," Yang said. Suddenly, a door on one of the train carts opened, and everyone turned to see what was going on and saw an elderly woman with prosthetic eyes walk out.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," the woman said. Everyone was shocked to see that they had forgotten one passenger, and one so vulnerable as well. However, Yang saw the woman's aura pop up in her augmented vision, and the combat assessment system told her that this woman would absolutely destroy her in a fight.
"Who… are you?" Yang asked in disbelief.
"My name is Maria Calavera," Maria answered.
"You're the Grimm Reaper, right?" Qrow asked, and Blake immediately sensed the tension rise as Maria prepared to defend herself.
"We're not here to fight you," Blake said.
"Yeah, it wouldn't even be a fight anyway," Yang said, "You'd mop the floor with us."
"Come on, we could probably put up a fight," Weiss said, "Not that I'd attack a defenseless old woman, but theoretically speaking, we could probably do it." Maria chuckled a little.
"Well, it's been a long time since anyone called me Grimm Reaper," Maria said, "But yes, that's me. In the flesh. But I'm not defenseless. Just a bit hard of hearing. And blind without these eyes. Which need to be fixed soon."
"Don't worry though," Qrow said, "We're not here to harm you. Besides, if anyone tried anything in that direction, the Shark of Sanus would be here in the blink of an eye, if she takes her time." A short moment later, Ruby started to wake up again.
"Hey guy, what'd I miss?" Ruby asked.
"We found your new mentor," Yang answered and let Ruby down.
"Who said anything about that?" Maria asked.
"Wait, you're the Grimm Reaper?" Ruby asked and said, "Please, teach me to use my silver eyes like you did."
"You have silver eyes, too?" Maria asked and said, "Well, maybe later. We should first get somewhere warm."
"Now that that is settled," Ozpin said, "Blake, please let me take the relic."
"Why?" Blake asked and said, "I thought we agreed that I could keep it."
"You lost it," Ozpin answered, "It is safer with me."
"I just lost hold of it," Blake said, "That doesn't mean I didn't know where it was. I'm keeping it."
"No, it is safest with me," Ozpin said. He dashed towards Blake, extended his cane and snatched the lamp from her waist before he jumped back again. Everyone looked at Ozpin in shock, when he suddenly froze in motion and Oscar tried taking control again.
"Ruby… Jinn… Say her name… to summon her..." Oscar said, struggling to stay in control of his body.
"Oz?" Qrow asked, not knowing what was happening.
"He's trying… to stop you… from finding out… what he's hiding… Quick," Oscar said. He held his body in place long enough for Ruby to rush in and grab the relic. When Ozpin tried to grab it, he only grabbed a vague shape that quickly faded into nothingness.
"Was that my semblance?" Blake asked.
"Ruby, please hand it back," Ozpin said. Weiss, Blake and Yang walked over to stand next to Ruby, glaring at Ozpin.
"I was right, wasn't I?" Weiss asked, "We can still ask questions, correct?" Ozpin sighed in defeat.
"I know I cannot take the relic from you. All I can do is -" Ozpin said and dashed forward, trying to grab the relic. Instead, his hand got stuck in an ice sculpture of Ruby, and the team appeared a few meters behind their ice clones.
"True, you can't take it from us," Blake said, and Ozpin got pulled to the ground when the ice statue of Ruby tipped over.
"Now, are you going to tell us what we want to know?" Ruby asked, "Or do we have to ask the relic?"
"You can ask it all you want," Ozpin answered, "Just please, for your own sake, do not ask any questions you are not prepared to learn the answers to." He managed to break free from the ice statue, but still had a small chunk of ice stuck to himself.
"Alright," Ruby said, looked at the relic and said, "Jinn." Suddenly, time seemed to stop entirely, and Blake felt that the air was filled with a strange energy, though she couldn't tell whether it was good or bad.
~o~
Argent and Trifa were sparring behind the Belladonna's house, with several guards watching on their break. Trifa tried to slash Argent with her knife, but he blocked it with his studded bracer. Argent tried punching her. Trifa dodged and shot a silk string to grab his fist. Argent was pulled along and got kicked in the stomach. Trifa followed up with several slashes, though most of them were blocked. After another flurry of attacks, Trifa stopped and had to catch her breath.
"I feel like I've gotten much stronger already," Trifa said.
"Seems like it," Argent said, "Anyway, let's take a break for today."
"Alright," Trifa said, and both went inside. They sat down in the living room and Argent curled up his tail to sit on it.
"You know," Argent said, "You should really work on unlocking your semblance."
"Yeah, I know," Trifa said and asked, "Anyway, what do you think of these faunus purist movements?"
"Same as with everything," Argent answered, "As long as they don't use it to justify killing people, it's none of my business what they do or believe in."
"Faunus purist movement?" one of the guards asked.
"Yeah," Trifa answered, "Some faunus don't want to date faunus of others types, and think that we should only date faunus of our own type."
"Why?" the guard asked.
"No idea," Trifa answered, "But I heard there is research that suggests that this could lead to a secondary trait developing somewhere down the line as the gene pool gets over-saturated with genes for the same kind of traits."
"Actually, that's exactly what would happen," Argent said, "One of my team members, Sirena Blue, apparently grew up in a society where there were only fish faunus with gills for a trait, so now she has some bone spikes on her forearms and small poison glands on her back, though neither trait is visible, or useful to her. I also noticed that Blake has an additional vertebra at the bottom of her spine."
"Wait, really?" Trifa asked and said, "That's incredible."
"Yeah, really," Argent answered and said, "Still, it'll take some time for a secondary trait to fully manifest. I mean, Sirena's people have been isolated for so long that they still believe in magic, and she's just now starting to show signs of a second trait."
"And what about Blake?" Trifa asked.
"Maybe I can explain," Kali answered and walked into the room, "My family has always had this idea that we should only date other cat faunus, to the point where my great-grandparents accept an alcoholic nobody rather than someone who actually loves my grandma. I don't know how far back this goes, but on my side of the family, it's all cat faunus for as long as I know." Suddenly, Argent looked toward the ocean and got up.
"I have to go check something out," Argent said, "I'll be right back." As he left the house, Trifa followed him.
~o~
Ruby's friends watched as the relic was pulled from Ruby's hands by an invisible force and light blue smoke began emanating from it. completely covered the area, and a semi-nude female figure appeared hovering in the air. Her skin and hair were light blue, and she wore small pieces of jewelry resembling the relic. She stretched and yawned, as if she had awoken from a deep slumber.
"Wonderful," Jinn said, "I am Jinn, a being created by the gods to aid mankind in its pursuit of knowledge. I was gifted with the ability to answer three questions each century, as long as they are about the present or past. You are in luck, as there are still two questions remaining."
"I knew it," Weiss said.
"So, go on," Jinn said, "Ask your question, send me back into this thing, be unhappy with the answer and blame me for your inability to handle the truth. Trust me, it's not nearly as spacious as you think. But, you know, there is nothing more fun than witnessing all of human society without being able to interact with anything. I don't even get to choose who to appear to. It's always just some nobody with the wrong questions, or some wannabe hero with the right questions but no ability to actually use the answers I give him correctly." Everyone noticed that Jinn looked directly at Ozpin, and Weiss took a step towards her.
"There has to be a loop hole," Weiss said, "There always is."
"And you just found it," Jinn said happily, "As long as noone asks any questions directly, I can just talk to you. If I happen to reveal something you didn't know, that's not my problem. Talia actually made me realize how much fun it is to just talk to people."
"Wait, you -" Ruby began, but stopped herself and said, "I didn't know you met Talia."
"Who do you think hid me in cyberspace?" Jinn asked and said, "That's a rhetorical question, I know you knew it was her, you just didn't know that I taught her how to do it. I edited a lot of things before the CCTS collapsed. All those needlessly precise measurements on weapons, vehicles and whatnot, that was all me. Pretty great, right? No need to answer, I already know I'm the best. But I still want to hear it. It's just so fascinating to ask a question you already know the answer to, just because you want others to come to that same conclusion."
"You're… more talkative than I remember you," Ozpin said.
"I'm just happy, that's all," Jinn explained, "Talia sort of tricked me into thinking about what would make me happy, reasoning that I should know because I know everything. Turns out I just want to talk to people."
"That's both impressive and terrifying," Qrow said, "Not even omniscient demigods can avoid going mad if they're exposed to Talia for too long."
"True," Jinn said, "But we have to get going again, so you'll have to ask me a question sooner or later. So, go ahead. Also, after you got your answer, I'd like Ruby to carry me."
"There is still one more thing I'd like to know," Qrow said, "Namely, what Niob's semblance actually is." Jinn suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable.
"Well, it's difficult," Jinn said, "He did actually tell five women about it. Francis Alkali has talked to them recently. Well, four of them. One killed herself. You and Yang can use Raven's semblance and Talia's device to contact Taiyang and ask him to ask Francis about those women when he arrives in Vale tomorrow. But… you definitely won't like it."
"I thought you didn't know the future," Yang said.
"I can't answer questions about the future," Jinn said, "But in a game of billiard, if you know where each ball is and how strong it is hit from which direction, you can tell where they're going to end up. It's the same with life. I know everything. I know everyone's personality, skills and so on, I know where they are and where they started, so I know where they'll end up. I just can't tell you how things will play out. However, I do know for a fact that, if you were to learn of Niob's semblance, none of you would like it. It's just based on your respective personalities and his semblance, really."
"I really don't like the idea of everything being set in stone," Weiss said.
"I knew you'd say that," Jinn said, "But don't worry, there is always a small chance that something random happens. Over time, these chances add up, making it more difficult to predict the distant future."
"I see," Weiss said, "Anyway, I think we're ready to ask our question."
"Good, me too," Jinn said and looked at Ruby. Ruby looked at her team, who all gave her a confident and reassuring smile. Ruby then looked back at Jinn.
"Jinn," Ruby said and asked, "What is Ozpin hiding from us?" Just as she asked this, everyone found themselves in a white empty space, with light blue smoke filling the air and creating a grassy field with a single ornate castle, and Jinn began telling a fairy tale.
~o~
Argent and Trifa made their way through Kuo Kuana, alerting quite a few faunus with how serious they looked. Trifa was ready for everything, and saw that Argent looked like he knew there would be trouble.
"So, what are we dealing with?" Trifa asked.
"You'll see," Argent answered, "Be ready." They took a turn through an alley and headed for a more secluded part of the shore, where they spotted a petrified Sea Feilong and a seemingly unconscious boy. He appeared to be about eight years old, wore a blue t-shirt with the back side cut out and black cargo shorts, had black hair and, according to Agent's seismic sense, four eyes and a set of gills on his back. Trifa gasped when she saw that the boy had not only fins on his forearms, but also a tail that ended in a flat, vertical bone spike. His fins were black, darker than anything Trifa had ever seen, and had small spikes on the edges, while his tail was covered in large black scales.
"What? How?" Trifa asked and stepped closer to the boy. She kept one eye on the Grimm and reached for her knife, ready to fight if it started moving again. Suddenly, her aura-based spider sense told her that something was coming her way, but as soon as she realized it, she was hurled backward. She looked at where the attack had come from and saw a man in a light gray pullover seemingly stand on the water. Three men wearing studded armor walked out of the water, also seemingly walking on it, and the one who had attacked Trifa walked over to the shore. The three other men all pointed their weapons at Trifa and Argent, and defensively positioned themselves between them and the boy. Argent noticed that all the guards had silver eyes.
"What is going on here?" Argent asked, "Are you from Soraklia?" The guards pointed their weapons at him.
"Hold up," one of the guards said, looked at Argent and asked, "Are you an ally of our queen? What is your name?"
"I am Argent Star," Agent answered, and the guards lowered their weapons.
"It is an honor to meet you," one of the guards said, now much friendlier, "I am Acquarone, a scout for the Soraklian royal guard. Her Highness speaks very highly of you, and I always wished to meet you."
"Focus, soldier," another guard said, pointed his weapon at Trifa and asked, "What about her? Is she an ally as well?"
"Yes, she is," Argent answered.
"Sir, with all due respect," Acquarone said, "But Her Highness accepted to follow this man's orders while on the surface. As such, we have no right to speak to him in such a manner."
"I… you're right," the apparent leader of the guards said, "Please, forgive me."
"It's fine, don't worry," Argent said and asked, "But what's wrong with him?" He nodded to the boy still lying on the ground. The guards exchanged some looks, then Acquarone turned to Argent.
"Plava is just exhausted," Acquarone answered, "He should wake up any second now, though." Plava started moving again and got up, and Argent saw that he did actually have four silver eyes. The top pair was focused on Trifa, who was shocked and speechless, while the bottom pair focused on Argent.
"So, why are you guys here anyway?" Argent asked.
"Orders of Her Highness," Acquarone answered, "We were instructed to help establish a secure route to and from this landmass, and then surround it with outposts to enable permanent protection of this area. Plava here wished to see the surface, and he was simply too fast for us to prevent him from coming here. But, for the sake of this world, we must insist that this encounter is not mentioned to others."
"Alright," Argent said. The guards urged Plava to go back into the water, being careful not to touch him or come off as commanding, and all five people disappeared beneath the waves shortly after.
"What was that?" Trifa asked, still shocked at seeing a faunus with three traits and four eyes.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Argent answered, "But they seemed like trouble."
"What makes you say that?" Trifa asked.
"Sirena told me a thing or two about her guards," Argent answered, "Apparently, they're all like her, in some way. This means that they'll viciously attack anyone and anything that poses a threat to other people of their kingdom. And given what I know about Sirena, we couldn't even hope to scratch them if they attacked us."
"Wait, what?" Trifa asked and said, "But, you're so strong. And you have this training and all these abilities."
"Well, that's the point," Argent answered, "I trained Sirena, she trained her kingdom's combat instructors, and they trained the guards. One core aspect of this training is that the student learns their abilities a bit faster than the mentor learned theirs. Basically, every single one of these people is on the same level as me, and we're too close to the water as well. They'd get us under water in no time, and then we'd be at their mercy."
"Are you serious?" Trifa asked.
"Yes," Argent answered, "Also, their attacks are dangerous."
"Yeah, that concussive blast thing hit real hard," Trifa said.
"It wasn't a concussive blast," Argent said and explained, "It somehow damaged your bones and tissue directly. Without aura, that hit would have turned you into paste."
"Wait, really?" Trifa asked and said, "I didn't feel anything."
"Yes, really," Argent answered and said, "The damage was spread out due to your aura, and it repaired what little damage your body took. You're lucky is was just a warning shot."
"Do you think Sirena can do that, too?" Trifa asked.
"I've never seen her do it," Argent answered, "Also, I have a feeling that he was one of her combat mages she kept talking about. Seems like she really wants this island to be safe from Grimm."
"That's good to know," Trifa said, "I mean, if those guys can kill someone with a warning shot, imagine what they can do to Grimm." Just as she said that, a Sea Feilong rose from the ocean a bit closer to the town. Argent and Trifa wanted to go and fight it, but one of the guards shot out of the water and jumped up to be next to the Grimm. The man snapped his fingers and a sound like thunder rolled over the entire island as a plasma ball erupted between the two. While everyone covered their eyes against the bright flash of light, the Grimm died and the guardsman dropped back into the ocean.
~o~
Tyrian entered Salem's throne room, holding two maroon gloves in one hand, and an old-looking stop watch in his other. Hazel, Mercury and Neo were standing by the wall next to the door. Tyrian placed the gloves on Arthur's chair, and the stop watch on his own before walking back to stand next to Hazel. Salem rose from her throne and formed two balls of red energy in her hands. She flung one ball at the gloves and the other one at the stop watch, and both items were surrounded by a thick, egg-shaped mass of dark red energy. Hazel, Mercury and Neo started in horror, while Tyrian smiled happily at his goddess' display of power.
Author's note: Plava means Blue in Croatian.
If a pistol shrimp faunus tells you his semblance is named Finger Gun, do not, under any circumstance, laugh at him. It works differently under water, because the pressure keeps the ball from expanding too much, and thus limits its area of effect, but this allows the projectile to travel farther before running out of energy.
The way the turrets will be arranged means that it will be impossible for most Grimm to approach the city, and none can stay inside it for too long. If utilized properly, Mithala's semblance is absolutely broken, though it takes a lot out of the fusion to amp up the range, duration and damage all at once, and for so many objects. But in Sirena's eyes, it's worth it, because now Mistral is an impenetrable fortress that no Grimm can enter for the next half century.