RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

by UGX7

In the wake of the fall Team RNJR sets out to bring Cinder Fall to justice while the new Fall Maiden overlooks her master's plan in Haven City. Meanwhile Weiss tries to help a friend, Yang struggles with the loss of her arm, and Blake deals with guilt over the White Fang. Meanwhile someone from Cinder's past returns and Salem's newest pawn rises. Arkos, WhiteRose, SunnyBees, Renora

25. Aftermath

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late and great Monty Oum.

Read, review, and tell me how I can improve, what you liked and what you didn't. Your feedback is appreciated, thank you! Thanks to all the reviewers, I appreciate all your kind words and thoughts. Seriously, you guys keep me going so share your thoughts. Please try to spread the word about this story so it gets more attention.

RWBY: Destiny of Remnant

Chapter 25: Aftermath

After Ashe had left The Nikos family, along with Jaune, retreated back to the library to continue the reunion. After waiting for news of the school being cleared and Ashe pursuing the surviving gang members they decided to do something to take their minds off of the newest crisis as it happened. Pyrrha had insisted that her parents go first so she could try to get her own story ready so they went on for a while about how they had handled losing her; their depression, the brief rift between them, how they cried, the lack of sleep, the anger and regret that haunted them every single day since the fall of Beacon.

This of course made Pyrrha feel even guiltier over her choice, but her parents and Jaune kept assuring her that it was not her fault. They had managed to cope with the apparent loss together, but now they had her back. The Nikos family was finally whole again. Once they had no more to tell it was finally her turn.

"I... honestly do not know where to begin. It would seem that I have two different sets of memories, maybe even three." She said.

"What?" Zeus asked, baffled.

"I can remember darkness and hearing... Jaune. Somehow, some way that shouldn't even be remotely possible, something of me, be it my soul or my aura, resided within Jaune." Pyrrha explained.

"I don't understand." Hera stated.

"Neither do I. I remember it being quiet, except for Jaune's voice every now and then, but it became more common and easier to hear as time went on. I can remember the first time I spoke to him..." Pyrrha began.

"When I jumped over the street, right?" Jaune asked.

"No, it was in one of your dreams." Pyrrha revealed.

"Oh..." Jaune said, a little worried about what that meant.

"After I... 'died' Jaune had very dark dreams, dreams driven by anger and a lust for revenge. I saw him murder Emerald, and then Mercury, from afar and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't talk to him. The final one of these dark dreams was him killing Cinder Fall herself; he fought her until her body was a broken and bleeding husk and then he threw her off of Ozpin's tower where she was impaled by a spike. I managed to speak to him and discourage him from the violent path, even if it took every ounce of strength I had, leaving me exhausted for weeks afterwards." She said, smiling a bit as Jaune placed his hand on hers.

"Don't think any less of yourself for some revenge fantasies, boy. I had plenty of them after we lost her." Zeus said reassuringly.

Jaune smiled at the older man as Pyrrha continued. "For months on end I resided within Jaune, regaining my strength so I could speak to him, and when I could it was only in his dreams or when he was focusing on a difficult task. Once Cinder had captured him it was easier for me to communicate with him, especially within dreams. But once I found out what they had done to my body..."

She stopped, afraid to tell her parents the truth about what had happened to her physical form and what it still suffered from.

"What? What did they do?" Hera prodded nervously.

Pyrrha looked at them with fearful eyes and asked "I... will you still love me if I tell you the truth?"

Her parents were naturally shocked and confused by the question.

"Of course we will! What kind of question is that?" Hera cried.

Pyrrha looked to Jaune and he nodded as her father said "Tell us what happened, we promise nothing will change between us."

"The turned my body into a Grimm Hybrid." Pyrrha finally revealed.

She closed her eyes and heard her mother gasp in shock. She was afraid of what their reactions would be; would they hate her? Fear her? See past the Grimm and still love her?

"Wha... how?" her father asked.

"A man named Giger who worked for Cinder's master, he had turned three others into Grimm Hybrids to lead the Grimm into battle, Pyrrha was the fourth and I was the fifth." Jaune said calmly, hoping they wouldn't freak out.

Pyrrha buried her head in her arms and repressed a sob as she tried to continue. "Cinder didn't incinerate my body, she teleported me to her master where I was healed and brainwashed into thinking I was someone else named Fotia Drakos, a girl who hated the world for the abusive life she had and wanted to make the world a better place under a dark rule." She told them as she refused to look at their faces.

Jaune, however, did not look away. Had they been his own parents he couldn't have faced them either but right now Pyrrha was afraid so he had to be brave for her for once. Zeus Nikos had a look of fury and woe, but he was not mad at his daughter, he was seething with hatred for the people who did this to her and woe for what had happened to his little girl. Despite being what some would call a stereotypical man he let his tears lose without hesitation.

Hera Nikos had tears in her eyes as she could only imagine the horrific torment her daughter must have gone through and the horrors that she had been subjected to. She was no fighter but right now she wanted to grab the nearest minion of Cinder Fall and rip their throats out for what they did to her baby.

"You... you don't look any different." Zeus pointed out.

"We have the crystal to thank for that, it couldn't cure us but it did restore our physical appearances so no one would freak out at a girl who looked like a Grimm." Jaune explained.

Hera got up to walk over to her daughter, whom she captured in a comforting hug. "Oh Pyrrha, we don't care if you're a human, a Faunus, or a Grimm! Nothing will change the fact that you are our daughter, our baby! It doesn't matter what they did to you or how much you've changed, I will never stop loving you." She said before she kissed Pyrrha's cheek and pulled her close.

Pyrrha sobbed happily as she hugged her mother back, overjoyed that she didn't hate her for her Grimm half. She felt her father hug her from the side and said "So you can control Grimm?"

Pyrrha shrugged and said "I haven't tried it since the other day... but I suppose I still can."

Zeus smiled, "My girl always could do the impossible." He said proudly as he hugged her tighter. They were safe from the truth of their darker halves getting out, since Argo had promised grave consequences should any of his students breathe or text a word of it to anyone, so they were safe for now.

"So, you're both okay with... me being part Grimm? The very thing that the entire world hates?" she asked.

"Oh honey, we could never hate you! What's important is that you are you and any Grimm within you is controlled, and I know for a fact that you can control it." Hera said proudly as she squeezed her daughter a little tighter.

"Thank you!" Pyrrha cheered as she hugged her parents back.

Once they separated from the hug Pyrrha decided to continue. "When I discovered what had became of my body and that they were planning to do the same to Jaune I used as much of my aura, or power, or whatever you wish to call it, into keeping most of the Grimm essence from taking root inside Jaune. It only worked a little, but I managed to stop him from becoming a full hybrid. After that Cinder's master forced us to fight to the death." She noticed the furious look on her father's features and the horrified look her mother had. "But I used all my strength to help Jaune fight and overcome my body and defeat Fotia, then Jaune used his Semblance' greatest attack in reverse to remind me of who I was while the part of me within him went back into my body and just like that I was myself again." She finished.

"You beat Pyrrha?" Zeus asked Jaune, stunned.

"Well I had her help the entire time and I don't think 'Fotia' really knew all of Pyrrha's moves and I won't lie; I got my butt kicked but yes; in the end I won the fight." Jaune answered.

Zeus smiled at the young man and said "I think the relationship between you and my daughter is going to be very interesting."

Jaune blushed and sunk back in his chair while a blushing Pyrrha giggled.

"What about your second and third sets of memories?" Hera asked.

Pyrrha concentrated, trying to separate one set from the other and said "The third set of memories is vague but I remember being locked away within my own body while this Fotia Drakos took control, I could do nothing at first but as time went on I gathered strength and tried to speak to her, trying to convince her... myself that I was being lied to. During our fight I helped Jaune out from within myself as well to hold me... her... myself back so he could have a better chance."

"So all three different sets of memories combined into one?" Zeus guessed.

"I think that is accurate, it's all so confusing..." Pyrrha said.

"And what of the second set?" Hera inquired.

"I can remember Fotia Drakos, who she was, the things she liked, her thoughts and desires... I remember everything about her, even the heartbreak she felt when she realized that her entire life, the last four months, had been a lie to turn her into a tool for evil. I can remember training to control Grimm, training and bonding with the Wyvern and Cinder watching over us so it wouldn't burn me... I can remember her growing paranoia when I began to speak to her and I can even remember... how badly I wanted to be accepted by those horrible people." She finished, remembering the man Salem had forced her to kill, she had yet to mention it to anyone, anyone at all and she was too afraid to do so now.

Her parents looked amazed; their daughter could not just control the creatures of Grimm, but a Wyvern?!

"One thing I don't understand though..." Jaune began.

"Only one?" deadpanned Hera.

"...how did some of your aura... soul... whatever, end up inside of me? You said it could have been unintentionally done it when you kissed me but I don't think that it makes sense." Jaune pointed out.

Pyrrha sighed and confessed "To be honest I... I don't exactly know how I came to be within you."

"Maybe it could have something to do with you unlocking Jaune's aura?" Hera speculated, remembering when her daughter told her about what happened in the Emerald Forest.

"Wait, what?!" Zeus cried in surprise.

"You never told dad?" Pyrrha asked her mother.

"It... must have slipped my mind. Zeus, am I..."

"You unlocked his aura?" Zeus asked Pyrrha dead seriously.

"Yes, during the initiation at Beacon. He told me his was still locked so I released it for him. Is mom right?" Pyrrha asked.

Zeus glanced at his hands and muttered "I never thought it was anything more than just a legend of our family, I thought it utterly impossible..."

"What?" Pyrrha asked.

Zeus didn't answer her until Hera firmly grabbed his chin, forced him to look her in the eye and said "Love, tell us what you think happened."

He nodded and began. "It was something I had forgotten about to be honest, I hadn't even thought of it since I was a boy but my grandfather told me that a when a one unlocks their partner's aura they form a bond that will last forever, even after death because in unlocking the aura they give their partner a small fragment of their own. While I have never doubted that I did question what he claimed about our family, he said that if they were on the verge of death or if they had been mentally enslaved an evil force then their partner could use the aura within them to revive them and bring them back. I... I never thought it anything more than a myth." Zeus finished.

"Mr. Nikos, trust me when I say that if there's a myth there is probably some truth to it." Jaune said with a smile.

"So what led to you being the guardians of this Aura Crystal?" Hera asked as she gestured to the crystal that sat on the ground at Jaune's feet.

"When we escaped from the factory Cinder tried to shoot me with an arrow, meaning to kill me for good but Jaune pushed me out of the way, taking the blow for me." Pyrrha explained, noticing the shocked looks on her parent's faces. They both looked to Jaune who nodded and showed them the scar on his chest. "Once we escaped Ashe said that the only way to save him was to use the Aura Crystal, but it would only work if Jaune was its guardian and even then he needed help so I took him up on the chance to save Jaune. The crystal deemed us both worthy in the end and it saved it, but we are now bound to be its guardians, together." Pyrrha finished.

The older couple looked at each other, unsure.

"So is this bonding crystal thing like a marriage?" Zeus asked.

Both of the teens blushed but Pyrrha answered "If it is Ashe did not tell us about it."

"And you're sure that if this Ashe fellow doesn't survive this battle with the cyborg the knowledge he gave you will suffice?" Hera asked Jaune, who nodded.

"I think so, but I hope Ashe comes back, we'd be better off with an adviser then doing it alone." Jaune stated.

"Well, this does create an issue for us." Zeus said.

"Such as?" Pyrrha inquired.

"We're going to have to move to wherever the Arcs live or they'll have to move to us." He said.

Jaune nodded, "Makes sense, but I don't know if my parents will be up for it."

"What of your parents, Mr. Arc? Do they know what you've been through?" Hera asked.

"A little, my sister Sienna called them this morning and filled them in on the basics and Professor Goodwitch has sent a bullhead to get them, but I'm kinda dreading the freak out my mom will have once she knows the whole story." Jaune admitted, getting a laugh out of Pyrrha's mom and dad.

"Well, whatever the case may be I'm just happy we got our daughter back, more than happy really, I feel like the gods themselves have blessed us. And I don't know the full extent of the romantic situation you two obviously have, but it has my full approval. If you wanted to be married here and now I wouldn't object." Hera said, making the two blush.

"While I wouldn't go that far... yet, I feel like I am in your debt for saving our daughter from those monsters. If you ever need us to do anything for you we will try our damnedest." Zeus proclaimed.

"Thank you sir, but you don't need to thank me for saving Pyrrha..."

"The hell we don't! You nearly died to save her, you almost gave up your own life so she could live! We owe you so much, more than we could ever repay." Hera said sternly. "So do not argue with us, young man. We owe you for saving our daughter's life, end of discussion."

Jaune was silent for a minute before he finally said "Okay..."

Pyrrha laughed and said "I swear they're less intense in normal circumstances."

"Jaune, be honest with me, what does my daughter mean to you?" Hera asked importantly.

Jaune looked the woman straight in the eye and answered "She means the world to me. I hated myself for not realizing her feelings for me until it was too late I... I had a lot of issues after the fall, I never felt such self hatred before in my life but now that I have her back I will never take her for granted again. She... she's more precious than any sum of money or gold in the world to me. I nearly died for her last night and I would gladly do it again because she proved she would do the same for me."

Pyrrha stared at Jaune in amazement. She was overjoyed that he now returned her romantic feelings but what he just said was... she was at a loss for words. Hera smiled and said "Pyrrha, you found a keeper."

Just then there was the sound of an explosion. "What was that?!" cried Zeus.

"Ugh! Knowing the last few days probably something to do with us." Jaune groaned. They left the library, with Zeus staying behind to look after the crystal, and walked down the halls, following other people who would do double takes at the sight of them until they ran into Ren.

"Jaune, I don't know what has happened but Oobleck says you need to see it."

Jaune nodded and followed Ren to the hallway where many students had crowded around to try and see the source of the commotion while Dr. Oobleck, Professor Echo, and several other members of Haven's staff kept them back.

"Mr. Arc, Miss Nikos, please come this way!" Oobleck called. The three teenagers and one adult managed to easily get through the crowd, since most of them seemed wary of Pyrrha they quickly made way for the small group. Jaune walked out the doorway first and glanced around to see Ruby crying in the combined arms of her team and Penny while Velvet was crying into Yatsuhashi's chest. Nora, Coco, Fox, Sun, and Reese were all present as well, hanging their heads sadly while Qrow and Glynda were huddled around something on a bench.

"Guys?" he asked, alerting everyone to his presence. They all looked up and over to him as Qrow got out of the way, revealing to Jaune and the other new arrivals what was on the bench.

"Oh my god..." Pyrrha whispered in a shocked voice as Jaune went silent with wide eyes at the sight of Ashe's dead body.

"Wh... wha...?" he tried to ask as Pyrrha grabbed his hand to keep him steady.

"A Grimm Knight brought his body here, with a note attached to his sword." Qrow said as he handed Jaune the note. Jaune took it and read it, clenching his fingers tightly as he did so.

"She killed her own brother..." he said.

"Cinder did this?" Pyrrha said, shocked.

"Yes, as evidenced by the hole burned through his chest." Glynda said sadly.

Jaune fell to the ground, shuddering as he cried. Pyrrha wrapped her arms around him and whispered comforting words to her boyfriend. She didn't know Ashe that well but could tell that despite everything he was a good warrior who had given his all to help them and to make up for what his sister did. And his sister killed him for it in cold blood.

Qrow watched the young couple as they cried in each others arms while Ren went to comfort Nora. Ruby and the others managed to make their way over to Jaune and Pyrrha where they enveloped the two in a mighty group hug to comfort one another. He sighed and looked up to a window overlooking the courtyard they were in and saw Ozpin watching the scene unfold. Qrow glared at the older man and knew they needed to have a talk.

Jaune leaned into Pyrrha and his other friends as Ren and Nora joined in the hug. Jaune couldn't help but wonder if he could have done something to save Ashe, there was this feeling in his gut, not unlike what he had felt when he thought Pyrrha had died; a good friend was dead and he had failed to help him. Losing Cardin, whose parents had been informed of his death, was bad enough but this... was almost as bad as losing Pyrrha again.

---

Ante looked over the catwalk as Tom-Tom, Little Steve, and Merrick all carried Jude's body towards the giant furnace. Jude's dead, eyeless head still had that look of pure horror on its face. This was too much, it was better than this asshole deserved. What he deserved was to be left on the ground for someone to stumble across, to let the bugs and birds and other scavengers have at him, but he knew Salem wanted the cyborg incinerated so no one could trace them.

He looked over to see Trooper and Lao walking towards him while Fireball turned up the power on the furnace.

"We got the guards out to the edge of town by the woods to dig the graves for Zhan and Douglas. We'll lay them to rest before we leave, right?"

"Yeah, that right Trooper." Damien answered only to get an unexpected response.

"Only call me that in combat situations or when we're working. The rest of the time it's just Alexander." He said.

Damien nodded and said "Okay Al." He looked down to his men and yelled "Toss him in!"

The three heaved back and forth before the body of Saul Jude was flung into the furnace. The smell of burning flesh could be picked up instantly as the sound of burning metal combined with sparks of the cybernetic implants bursting due to the heat. After the organic half had been burned away they were to flood the furnace with water so the metal half would crack, so it would be damaged beyond repair.

"Burn in hell, asshole." Tom-Tom spat.

"If Kasai was speaking the truth then something much worse awaits this man's soul." Little Steve said as covered his nose to block out the disgusting stench.

"Let's speed this up." Fireball murmured as he turned up the flames to burn the body quicker.

After a good twenty minutes the organic part of the body was burned away, leaving nothing but bones and half of a robotic skeleton.

"Douse it." Ante ordered. Fireball nodded and pulled a lever on the control panel and a huge torrent of cold water poured onto the flames. Steam rushed out of the vents as the sound of cracking, bursting metal could be heard from within.

"Okay, I'll have the mooks grab the scrapheap and smash what's left of it, now let us get out of this city while we still can." Ante said as he walked down the catwalk to the doorway. The others followed him, the three down below climbing up the ladder as Alexander took one last glare at the furnace, sighed, and followed his comrade out of the large room.

---

Emerald stopped telling Mercury what had happened while he had been out and the pain of losing his leg to Yang was replaced by the shock of what he had missed. He had only recently woken up after Sherizawa had given him another new leg and now that he was off of the pain killers he could listen to Emerald tell him what had happened.

"No way! Rose didn't! There's no way a weakling like her could ever..."

"She did. She caught Cinder's fireball with her blade and then slashed her across the face. I know it's hard to believe, I know it sounds impossible but I was there, I saw it!" she insisted.

Mercury wiped his brow and whistled. "I'm actually kinda impressed. What happened next?"

"Well Cinder's brother sent her flying with one of those... power blasts of his and then they all started shooting at her. Ziz and one of Ante's men managed to get her inside right before Nikos slammed all the Grimm Knights down on us, wrecking what was left of the factory." She said.

"And Arc?" Mercury inquired.

"Don't know, but I doubt he survived Cinder's arrow. It was on fire after all."

"Good. Serves that bitch right for betraying us, hope she watched him die." Mercury said darkly.

"Well anyway we got away, Grimm and all, on the ship and Salem wasn't happy to say the least. She put a bomb in Ante's head which she said she'd detonate if he steps out of line." Emerald revealed.

"I would have paid good money to see the look on his face when that happened." Mercury bemoaned.

"I wanted to record it, but I didn't want to risk ticking Salem off. Cinder... she got it bad." Emerald said with a sigh.

"What did she do to her?" Mercury asked, a little nervous.

"She branded the scar Rose gave Cinder onto her face and said she'll only remove it if and when Cinder redeems herself." Emerald admitted.

"...Holy Crap." Mercury whispered.

"I know." Emerald said with a nod as she glanced down. "Mercury... do you ever think we're on the wrong side?"

"Us? No way. People might say we're the bad guys, but remember what Cinder told us; we're what this world needs if it's going to survive the evolution." Mercury said confidently.

"Yeah, but does it need to evolve?" she asked.

"Look at my legs. Remember what your life was like before Cinder found you. The world needs to change and if it refuses we will make it change. Now that I know Neo was the one helping Nikos out I gotta say... sorry." He said.

"You thought I was the one helping her?" Emerald asked with a blink of surprise.

"Yeah, Cinder told me to keep an eye on you. Guess that silent little minx fooled us, huh?" he said with a laugh. Emerald glared at him so he continued "Look, I know you don't really like me much, or at all, but let's face it Miss Master Thief, we're in this together, like it or not. And... thank you for making sure I got out of there." He finished as he held his out to her.

Emerald smiled and accepted his hand to shake it.

---

Cinder stood in her small room before a hologram of Salem.

"You have done well, my disciple. With your brother dead you have finally severed all ties to your family." The Mistress of Grimm said.

Cinder flinched at the mention of her now dead brother. On the table behind the hologram the photo of Ashe and Mila sat upside down so her master, despite not facing it, could not spot it. She knew it would be better to just incinerate the picture but she couldn't bring herself to do it. "But what of the Aura Crystal? He spoke of two new guardians, ones I already know so who could they be?" she asked.

"We shall deal with that once the time comes. Right now both sides are in disarray; Ironwood is injured but recovering, Cy ended his usefulness to me, Ante has told me that Jude's body has been destroyed, so if we keep it up we can recover from this disastrous defeat fairly quickly." Salem stated.

"Good. What of Nikos? Any word of her?" Cinder asked.

"Yes, a spy I sent to Haven Academy tells me that not only is Nikos alive and well, but so is Jaune Arc." Salem revealed.

"What?!" cried Cinder in astonishment.

"I know, your arrowhead should have ended him, but he lives. Most... odd." Salem stated.

"Can your spy end them?" Cinder asked.

"No, attacking them now would bring unwanted attention. True it would be easy to strike while they are tired but he would be surrounded by an army of Hunters young and old and could be captured. I am not in the mood to risk another defeat at the moment." Salem said darkly.

Cinder nodded and said "Understood, we shall continue on course to the island."

"Safe travels... oh and Cinder?" Salem began. Cinder looked up at her master before she continued with "Do you think you have redeemed yourself enough for me to remove your scar?"

---

Qrow walked into the small one person guest room Argo had given Ozpin to see the older man sitting down in an armchair, at first Qrow thought the old headmaster was contemplating something deep within his mind to the point where he didn't even realize Qrow had entered the room, but upon further inspection the old wizard had fallen asleep

"Wake up!" Qrow shouted, startling Ozpin awake and earning a laugh from the dusty younger Huntsman.

"Ah! Qrow..." Ozpin muttered as he stretched his arms out. "Forgive me, this is the first chance at sleep I've gotten in over a day."

"I know that feeling, haven't gotten much sleep myself." Qrow said with a small smirk. Truth was they were all tired and he personally looked forward to a good night's sleep.

Ozpin looked up to his agent and inquired "What of Ashe's body?"

"Argo had it taken to a morgue, Fall was kind enough to tell us the village his lover lived in, out of the way place called Otium. Oobleck is going to call the village and have them prepare a grave for him next to his would-be wife. Sorry about your cane by the way, left it back at Vale." Qrow said with a dry smile.

"I wondered what happened to it, but I can manage without it for now." Ozpin stated.

"Oz, I've been thinking about what you said this morning in Argo's office about giving up. So right now I need you to tell me you weren't being serious about quitting." Qrow said with a dead serious look in his eye.

Ozpin sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry Qrow, I truly am, but I need to quit. Too many lives have lost or ruined because of my failings. They deserve someone better."

"Bullshit." Qrow snapped, taking Ozpin by surprise. "They have you, despite all the mistakes you've made you can't back down like this. It's a disgusting way for you to get away from your responsibilities and you cannot do it. So you failed, so what? We all fail; you just have to try again." Qrow said.

"Try? TRY?! Look at what 'trying' got me, Qrow! In a coma for four months and once I was conscious I was locked in a cell with an inhuman serial killer from my past! My failures not only got Amber and countless other killed but Ironwood under Salem's control, Pyrrha and Jaune turned into Grimm Hybrids, and unbelievable trauma to the children I was supposed to protect! And in the end I not only got many children hurt and one of my own students killed but your sister is dead because of me as well! Why are you objecting? You shouldn't want me anywhere near your nieces." Ozpin spat angrily.

"Get the hell over it! My sister and Winchester didn't die just so you could give up. You are not just some teacher, you are a soldier! All of those kids and teachers at Beacon, countless people across the planet all look to you for hope and leadership! You can't just quit, you have to soldier on! The only way I will let you quit is if those council assholes fire you. Not before or after." Qrow shouted, a fire in his eyes.

"Are you threatening me?" Ozpin questioned with a harsh edge in his voice as he clenched his fist.

"No! Yes... maybe. Listen Oz, you have to rethink this and see how wrong you are. So you made mistakes, we ALL make mistakes! Look at the Arc kid, he was a royal screw up but he did his best to make up for them! You..." Qrow sighed and sat down on the bed. "You can't do this to us Oz. It's not right."

"I'm sorry Qrow, but giving up my position is the only way to set things right." Ozpin said grimly.

Qrow's head snapped up and glared at Ozpin. "You damn coward!" he shouted. He dashed in front of Ozpin before the older man could move, picked up his old mentor, and slammed him into the wall. "You think the right thing to do is to run away from your mess and let everyone else right your wrongs?! What the hell is wrong with you?! I can't believe I ever looked up to you!" he yelled before Ozpin managed to force the glaring Qrow back.

"Don't ever put your hands on me like that again, you pathetic drunkard!" Ozpin scolded as glared at Qrow with just as much intensity.

Qrow couldn't take it anymore, he snapped. "I'm pathetic? ME?! Yeah, I'm a drunk and can be a fuckup sometimes but I never quit like you are right now! I may have bitched about the missions you sent me on, some of which were practically death sentences but I never backed down! Neither did those kids for Oum's sake! Nikos went up to that tower to face Fall after she beat you, knowing she would probably die! She was ready to throw her life away because it was her duty! Ruby, Arc and what was left of his team went after Fall to make her pay, Schnee and those kids all risked their lives to save Penny and Winter was in jail because she chose to save me, Yang forced herself out a depression, Belladonna wanted to take on the White Fang alone, Glynda, Oobleck, Port, they all took risks to come out here and fight but the did it anyway because it was the right thing to do! Ashe Kasai went to his own death to save a bunch of strangers because it was right and here you are backing down like a coward! If my adorable little nice and an emotionally unstable blonde dope can make it out of that factory alive then you, the veteran grand headmaster of Beacon Academy should be able to resume his duties no problem. So before you call me pathetic, Headmaster, look in the mirror and ask yourself one question and think real hard about it: Is your decision the noble thing to do?" Qrow finished, taking breaths to try and calm himself down.

Ozpin slumped back into his chair and sighed as he removed his glasses. He looked up to Qrow and said "What if I make another mistake? One so bad that I can never make up for it?"

Qrow looked at his old mentor, a man who had given him a chance to be one of the top Huntsmen in Vale despite everyone telling him not to, the man who he admired like no other; he was the man who sometimes had to keep the very fate of the world on his back alone.

"We all make mistakes, but that doesn't mean we can't fix them alone." He answered.

Ozpin began to realize how right Qrow was, how foolish he was being, he was being the pathetic one. He shook his head and said "You... you're right. I... I have made a mistake, I was wrong to even consider forfeiting my power my own. Giving up would mean giving in to Salem and I was a fool not to see that until now. Thank you for talking sense into me... I would have made a horrible mistake."

Qrow nodded and said "Just doing my job, Oz. We need you and you need us, don't ever forget that. Drink?" He offered his flask to the older man.

"I shouldn't... but what the hell?" Ozpin said with a shrug as he took the flask and took a drink from it. He looked over to the door which was now opened with Glynda standing in the doorway, nodding at the sight. "Glynda, I take it you heard our little spat?"

"I did, I had to use all my effort to not to storm in and slap both of you." She said with a small smile. Ozpin quickly realized she had been listening in on the conversation the entire time.

Qrow laughed out loud at Glynda, before he realized she wasn't joking.

"Well at least I talked some sense into him; you wouldn't have been so harsh. I mean you're harsh with students and with others but no with Oz and he needed someone to pound reality into him." Qrow pointed out.

Glynda sighed, she knew Qrow had a point but didn't want to admit it. "So Ozpin, are you sure this nonsense about stepping down and handing the reigns over to me is over and done with?" she asked.

"Yes. I will step down only if the Vale council forces me to step down, but I do think I would like to take your ideas and criticisms into consideration more, Glynda. I need the people I trust to make sure I don't make anymore costly mistakes." He said as he handed Qrow's flask back.

"I think that would be a wise move, professor." Glynda said with a kind smile before she hugged him.

"Here's some more good news to make this happy bit even happier, before we came up here Chamberlain told us that Ironwood's okay and will make a full recovery, just needs to sleep for a day or so." Qrow said.

"Thank the gods." Ozpin said in relief.

"Oz, just to be sure... there's no bad blood between us, right? That... it was something that needed to be said." Qrow said.

Ozpin nodded and said "It was not a pleasant confrontation, but as you said it is what was needed."

Qrow smirked to his old mentor and walked out of the room.

---

A few hours later Ruby followed Penny and the rest of her team out to the landing pads as an Atlesian ship landed down. She had shed her tears for Ashe and had cried with Jaune over the loss of their friend, she knew that Ashe was a loss that they couldn't get back; Penny was a robot, Pyrrha's return had been a miracle, no way they were lucky enough to bring Ashe back.

Despite that her friends tried to cheer her up, since they hadn't known Ashe as well as she had but once Professor Echo told them that Winter and Dr. Polendina's ship was approaching the school she knew she had to go with them.

Weiss stood as still as she could in proper fashion, knowing that's how Winter would want it while Penny fidgeted nervously.

"Calm down Penny, it's just your dad." Yang said encouragingly.

"I know but... it's been, well, crazy, you know? I just hope he's okay." She said innocently.

"I'm sure he's fine." Yang assured her as the ship's ramp went down and two passengers, flanked by four Atlesian Knights disembarked from the ship.

Winter and Dr. Polendina spotted their respective loved ones immediately and while Winter simply strolled down calmly Polendina did not wait, his old age did not hold him back from sprinting down and capturing his daughter in a hug.

"Penny! Oh thank goodness you're safe!" he sobbed as he held her to him.

Penny returned the hug as tightly as she could, easily picking him up with her strength. Had she the capable of crying she would have burst out into happy tears then and there.

"Daddy!" she said as she buried her face into his chest.

Ruby, for the first time since seeing Ashe's body, smiled at the sight of the reunion. Her friend was back to normal and reunited with her creator, no, her father.

"Penny, I was so afraid for you! I... what's this? Battle damage?!" he cried as he saw the wounds Cinder had inflicted on Penny's arms.

"I was slightly wounded in battle, but I am fully functional. Daddy, I would like you to meet my best friend, Ruby." Penny said as she gestured for Ruby to come forward.

Ruby walked forward and said "Hello... uh, Dr. Polendina. I guess you already know who I am."

"I do indeed and I can only say thank you, Ruby Rose. You were the first since me to know Penny was a robot and see her as a real, sentient being despite the quirks. You helped her so much, in ways that I cannot describe. I... thank you so much for inspiring my daughter, Ruby." He said with a tearful smile.

Ruby nodded and said "Hey, why wouldn't she be any less real than me just because she's made of nuts and bolts?"

"Why indeed. Now Penny, are you alright? The memory reintegration sequence preformed correctly I assume?" he asked.

"Yes daddy, I remember everything." Penny confirmed.

Ruby looked over to see Weiss and Winter had reunited so she left the father and daughter alone for now as she walked over to the rest of her team. She stood next to Yang and Blake and asked "So what's happened so far?"

"Nothing besides hugging." Blake informed her.

"The ultimate Schnee affection." Joked Yang as the two sisters before them separated.

"Well done Weiss, I am so proud of you, you saved this city, possibly even the world." Winter praised.

Weiss tried to hold back the tears, but failed to do so as she smiled. "Thank you, it means so much coming from you."

"Just wait 'til you hear the juicy details of our harrowing adventures." Yang said cheerfully.

"Winter, you already know Ruby..." Weiss said.

"I do indeed; it is good to see you made it out safely Ruby Rose." The elder Schnee said.

"It's good to see you too... uh, so you went to prison for this to happen?" Ruby asked awkwardly.

Yang burst out laughing while Weiss scolded "Ruby!"

Winter smiled with a bemused look and said "Yes, and from what I can tell a small handful of days in the stockade was well worth it if this was the end result."

"Okay, so now that you're reacquainted with Ruby, this is her older sister Yang..."

"What up?" Yang asked.

"It is good to meet you properly, Miss Xiao Long, I am sorry to see that your new arm is damaged." Winter apologized.

"Eh, it'll be okay. Compared to the last arm injury I got this is a paper cut." Yang assured her cockily.

"I'm not sure that's that an accurate comparison but it is good to see you in high spirits."

"...and this is Blake." Weiss finished as she pointed to the Faunus girl.

"Nice to see you are alright, Miss Belladonna." Winter said as she shook Blake's hand.

"And you as well, I am glad that you were released. I must be honest I did not expect any Schnee other than Weiss to be so noble." Blake confessed.

"Well... I know our family name is not the purest, but maybe we can try to change that." Winter admitted in return. She looked at the four girls, odd misfits who made up a team shouldn't have been able to work, and yet Team RWBY worked better than anyone could have guessed. She remembered when Weiss was demanding to become a Huntress and to attend Beacon and while Winter was not opposed to it she didn't think it would work out in the end. Oh how wrong she was.

"Now then, I hope you can tell me what I missed out on in greater detail. What little my escort has been able to fill me in on has left me... rather confused." She said.

"You are in for a long story." Yang joked.

Winter looked up to see Qrow approaching them. "Hey there Ice Queen!" he called, causing Weiss to turn her head, looking irritated at the nickname.

"Hello Branwen. It is good to see you alive and well." She said.

"Why so formal? Come on Schnee, I'm happy to see they let you out." He said as he held his hand out to her, which she accepted without hesitation.

"One does have to keep up appearances. So Qrow, do you plan on telling me how exactly you escaped from Atlas?" she asked, making the four younger girls look at him.

"How... did you escape?" Weiss asked, just now noticing that question had never been answered.

Qrow smirked and said "Magic."

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby and Yang scolded.

He laughed and said "Sorry, but tricksters like me need to keep the details of their tricks a secret, right?"

"I suppose so." Winter said with a smile. "Any word on General Ironwood's condition?"

"He's out of surgery and Chamberlain said he'll make a recovery, but the mental damage will have to be determined later on. All in all things are okay, we lost people and things could be better, but we're lucky we made it out as okay as we are." Qrow stated as they began walking back in to the school.

Ruby looked back to Penny and Dr. Polendina. "You guys coming?" she asked.

Penny smiled at her and said "We have some catching up to do right now, see you soon Ruby."

Ruby smiled and with a nod jogged to catch up to her family and friends as Penny and her father went for a stroll around the school grounds.

"Winter, a friend of our lost his arm in the battle, his family is not very rich so I was wondering if..."

"If our family could pay for a cybernetic prosthesis as a way to thank him for his efforts?" Winter correctly speculated.

"Well... yeah." Weiss confirmed.

"Oh, I think that once our father understands just how wrong he was he'll be rather eager to make it up to us, I think paying for a stranger's surgery is something he would easily pay for." Winter said with a smile, "Now, how about you fill me in on everything I've missed?"

---

A while later Jaune stood against the railings of the balcony and looked out to the city of Haven as the sun set. It had been a rough day to say the least. There were, however, positives to take from the events of the last twenty-four hours. He was back with Pyrrha and his team, families were being reunited, Ironwood had been saved from the mind control, the traitor had been unmasked, Salem's forces were in disarray with some dead and some injured, the charges against everyone involved with Penny's rescue had been dropped, Ozpin was saved, a lot of innocent lives were saved because of Ashe, and most importantly he got Pyrrha back.

But every battle had its failures; a lot of the good guys had been injured, they didn't know if Jude had been killed, and Cardin, Raven, and Ashe were all dead.

Ashe had been killed by his own sister, a heartless witch who was only powerful because Jaune got distracted. Maybe if had sacrificed himself Pyrrha would have become the Fall Maiden and would have crushed Cinder.

He looked to his feet and the case that Ross had returned to them after he and the cops found it in the alleyway. It once again housed the Aura Crystal, the thing that had saved his life.

Maybe...

"Jaune?"

He looked back to see Pyrrha entering the balcony. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, Bianca said you wanted to be alone for now but I believe that is a mistake." She said.

"You're right, as usual." He admitted as he beckoned her to come. She walked over to him and hugged him from behind.

"I am sorry about Ashe, I know I was not very familiar with him but he seemed to be a good man." She stated.

"He... he could be a jerk at time but I guess anyone who is willing to die to save people they don't know has to be a good person right?" he asked.

"Obviously." Pyrrha said in agreement.

"I keep thinking that I could have done something, maybe if it was you, me, and Neo with him we'd have stopped Jude there at the school, together. I just keep thinking what-ifs lately, you know? I keep thinking if I was better the people I care about would never get hurt."

She sighed said "Jaune, you can't blame yourself for his death, the only one to blame is Cinder and that monster Jude." She then considered what she would say next, but threw caution to the wind and asked "Jaune, when we talked with my parents you said you had some issues, self hatred... when I was within you I was too out of it to fully understand or know what was going on so please, tell me what you did to yourself."

He looked at her hesitantly. "Pyrrha I..."

"Please be honest with me, I will not think any less of you, no matter what you tell me. We have already been through so much that... we need to be honest with each other, okay?"

Jaune sighed and said "Okay. After I lost you, before we set out with Ruby I... I hated myself I hated myself for never noticing your feelings or just how perfect you are, how everything about you is beautiful... I hated myself, blamed myself for what happened to you. I looked into the mirror and told myself I deserved to die for what happened to you." He noticed the sad and distressed look on his love's face but continued. "I cut my arm at night when no one else was awake, forced myself to feel the pain I must have inflicted on you because of my stupidity. I used a kitchen knife to cut my arm in the downstairs bathroom and told myself it was for how I hurt you, for how letting you die, for how I dragged you down, for breaking your heart, and for everything I never gave you. I looked at myself with disgust and... loathing. I washed away the blood and always put the knife exactly where it had been and my aura healed me. No one noticed, no one else knew until now."

Pyrrha looked at him with a horrified and devastated face. He had been that harmed by what she did? Oh gods above...

"How long did you do it?" she demanded.

"Only for a week, I quit if after that so no one would notice, Ren suspected but wasn't sure. I haven't done it since." He assured her.

Well that was a relief, but it didn't change the fact that what he had just told her was disturbing.

"Did you ever try to take your own life?" she inquired.

"No."

Thank goodness.

"But... I was tempted to."

Oh no...

"What happened?" she asked gently.

"It was after we set out from Patch Island, about two days into our journey, we made camp on a cliff by the sea and I had the first watch. I looked out to the sea and looked down the cliff-side to see the waves and the sharp rocks below. A part of me wanted to jump down and get it over with, let the rocks break my body and the sea take me... but then I thought of you." He said.

"Me?"

"Yeah... I thought about how you would never give up, how you always kept going no matter what. You could have ran with me back at Beacon, just let Cinder go without a fight but you didn't. I knew I'd disrespect you if I took my own life so I decided that no matter what I wouldn't give up, I wouldn't let Cinder win. I prayed to whatever god would listen that we'd beat Cinder and that someday we'd be reunited. I guess someone answered my prayers." He said with a sad smile as he leaned into her hug.

"Jaune, please promise me that you will never even think about hurting yourself again." Pyrrha said.

"It won't even cross my mind, I think I've had enough punishment to last a life time. But I want to thank you again Pyrrha, you saved my life even when you weren't around." He said with a small smile.

Pyrrha returned the smile and said "Now, if the nonsensical self-harm ideas are out of your head for good perhaps you can join our friends in filling in my parents and Winter Schnee on the finer details of our adventure?"

"I'd love to, my beautiful goddess." He said as he took hold of her hand. Pyrrha blushed madly and couldn't deny that she loved that. The couple walked back into Haven Academy together.

---

Alexander stood in front of two graves in front of the forest outside of Haven City; one for Zane Zhan and the other for Douglas Bade, both freshly dug and filled up. He stood silently with the other enforcers who were all saying their own individual goodbyes to their dead comrades. He didn't really pay attention to them, he just stared at the graves.

Soon enough it was time to go. "Okay boys let's get to the ship, sooner we're out of here the better." Ante stated.

"Hey uh... just give me five more minutes I... need to say something in private." Alexander said.

Ante nodded, "Fine, let's go guys." While Ante and the other enforcers walked away Alexander took two of three items out of his pocket; a cigarette and a lighter.

"Gods give me strength. Zhan... I'm sorry you died, you stood up to that maniac after we... we would have just done whatever he asked. You... shit I'm no good at this. Here's to you man." He said as he lit the cigarette and put it in his mouth. He would normally never do this due he was now as a way to honor his dead friend. He inhaled the smoke and quickly coughed it out. "If I get lung cancer from this shit man I'm kicking your ass in the afterlife." He rasped. He looked to Douglas' grave and said "I didn't know you that well but seemed like a smart, okay guy, although you did enjoy fighting a little too much for a techie but hey, what can you do? You... you both deserved way better. Here's to us, the criminals." He finished as he took another puff of the cigarette.

He threw it to the ground and stomped on it as he took out the last item from his pocket; Ruby's scroll. He had taken it from her during the battle at the construction site while he injected her with the tranquilizer so Jaune couldn't use it to call for help. He had kept it on hand and had told no one, especially not Cinder. He had no idea why he had kept it this entire time, maybe to use it for leverage for Cinder in the future or to trick Rose's friends but he had nearly forgotten about it. He looked up a number on the device and sighed, he knew this could be a very bad idea but those kids deserved to know how Kasai died. They deserved to know what happened. He pressed a button to send a call.

---

Ruby smiled as Yang excitedly described how she and Team SSSN fought the White Fang forces to rescue Blake with Neptune and Scarlet occasionally chiming in to remind her of details she forgot. They were in a lounge room with Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, and SSSN along with Winter, three of Jaune's sisters and Pyrrha's parents, and Taiyang who listened to their rousing tales of adventure as part of filling everyone in on what had happened.

"And then there just this one skinny guy left, all I had to do was say boo and he was out like a light!" Yang proclaimed.

"She's not exaggerating about that part." Sage stated.

"That's my girl." Taiyang said proudly. Qrow was not there to brag about his niece as he had left to talk with Ozpin, Argo, and Glynda about how they would deal with the councils.

"Man, those White Fang guys must be desperate if they let wimps like that in." Violet stated.

"Yang was just really intimidating that night, trust me, I was there." Scarlet said.

"So after handing over the captured White Fang troops to the police you came here?" guessed Winter.

"Well, we did consider going ahead to the White Fang's main base to take Adam down, but we decided that helping Ruby was more important." Blake admitted as she noticed Ruby's happy smile.

"We I'd say you made the right choice." Bianca said with a happy smile.

Just then Weiss' scroll began to ring. She took it out as Winter asked "Is it father?"

"No, it's... Ruby's scroll, audio only, it seems that video has been disconnected." Weiss said, very confused.

"Ruby, do you remember what happened to your scroll?" Sun asked.

"No, it was just gone when I woke up, I guess they took it from me." The small girl answered.

"Answer it and see who it is." Yang suggested.

"That doesn't seem very wise." Ren pointed out, but before Weiss could agree Yang snapped her scroll away from her, ignored her protests, and answered it.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey... uh, look, I don't know who this is but I... I'm one of Ante's enforcers, I was there when your friend died." Said the voice. Yang's eyes narrowed as she put the voice on speaker. "Look, I know you have no reason to trust me..."

"Damn right we don't." Yang snapped.

"Who is this?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm Trooper, one of Ante's men."

"I remember you, we fought you in the Seras Kalifa, you're the guy who tranquilized Ruby and... when Ante and his thugs were torturing me you left the room. I was in a lot of pain, but even I saw you and that bald guy leave." Jaune said, getting shocked looks from his sisters when he mentioned torture.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I... never approved of torture and they were getting a kick out of it. I couldn't stop it but at least I didn't add to your pain." Trooper said.

"What do you want?" Jaune demanded.

"Nothing, but I feel like you kids deserve to know that Kasai didn't go down without a fight. He and Jude had one hell of a final battle and he won, big time. He used some weird power that just overwhelmed that sick maniac Jude and killed him. We... we even helped him out."

"Why would you help Ashe?" Bianca questioned.

"Because Jude wanted Zhan, our illusionist, to create a vision of something, something so bad that Zhan wouldn't do it so Jude killed him for refusing to do his bidding. He shot him in the heart." Trooper revealed.

There was a small silence after that, one of Ante's men had moral standards? That was hard to believe.

"Well, I'm sorry about your co-worker and I guess if you guys helped Ashe out..." Ruby began before Trooper cut her off.

"Jude had managed to hang Kasai up and was whipping him, when he killed Zhan we shot Kasai free of the cable and distracted Jude for him so he could prepare the final blow. Once Jude was dead Cinder came out of nowhere, a Grimm Knight had been following Kasai ever since he came to the school and Salem apparently wanted him dead, as proof that Cinder was still loyal to her." Trooper elaborated.

Jaune grimaced and clenched fists while Ruby had a mixed look of sadness and anger, as Trooper had just confirmed Cinder had murdered her own brother.

"And if that wasn't enough she also killed another one of us to make a point; if we ever step out of line again she will destroy us all." Trooper finished gravely.

"Why did you call us? What was the point of this?" Blake inquired.

"Because I think you kids deserve to know that Ashe Kasai didn't die a poor death, he defeated his enemy and accepted his death honorably. Hell maybe in a different time he and I could have been friends, he seemed like a decent guy, point is do not let his sacrifice be in vain, if you wish to honor his memory keep fighting Cinder, Salem, and us."

"Why would you wish us luck? You are our enemy." Pyrrha pointed out.

"Who ever said I want us to win? I'm leaving now so if Rose wants to get this scroll back you can track it easily; it's in front of two graves outside the forest. Over and out." Trooper said as he ended the call.

There was another brief silence, they were all confused as to why an enemy, one of Ante's thugs no less, would tell them about Ashe's death. Winter remained silent about the fact that she recognized the voice.

Jaune and Pyrrha squeezed each other's hands, a little comforted by the fact that Ashe had won his battle as was Ruby who decided to speak her thoughts.

"I guess... they're not all bad." Ruby said, making everyone look at her. "While I was her prisoner Cinder kept telling me that the world simply isn't black and white, that most of the time you can't divide between good and evil and I guess she was right."

"How so?" Weiss inquired.

"Well Neo for one, hi by the way." Ruby said, making everyone's head turn to see Neo standing in the back of the room.

"Hey guys, don't mind me." The multi-colored girl said.

"As you were saying?" Blake said to Ruby, who nodded and continued.

"Neo betrayed Cinder to avenge Roman but she still helped us out a lot! She didn't have to help Ashe but she did anyway. Remember when we were getting out of the factory and those guards caught us? The Ziz woman saved us and let us go." She reminded them.

Pyrrha nodded and said "She said that she wasn't lying about liking me, maybe she did consider me to be a friend."

"Well if one of those full-on Grimm Commanders helped you escape then I think the complications of you being hybrids are a little less serious than we initially feared." Hera said with relief.

"We'll figure that out as we go." Jaune stated.

"Anyway!" Ruby exclaimed to get the attention back to her, "As I was saying, that Cy guy was being forced to betray Atlas and Trooper didn't have to tell us about Ashe but he did anyway. So sometimes there are good people and evil people, but there are those who you can't judge like that. They might do bad things for good reasons or good things for bad reasons but... I guess what I'm trying to say is that, if given the chance anyone can be good."

"Wise words, but that may not apply to everyone, Cinder Fall is clearly beyond redemption at this point." Yatsuhashi stated, to the agreement of everyone.

"No argument there but maybe some people who work for them aren't bad, just misguided or slaves like Pyrrha was. I guess... I don't really know what I'm trying to say here, but I just want to... uh..." Ruby struggled to come up with the words.

"You lost it, didn't ya?" Yang said with a small smile.

"Yeah." Ruby admitted with a sigh of defeat.

"Well I think we understand you Ruby, and I agree with you. We all make mistakes and most of us can make up for them, but some have done things that can never be forgiven, like Cinder." Blake said as she put a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Thanks Blake." Ruby returned.

"Well, speaking of morally gray I've decided it's time for me to leave." Neo announced, making everyone look at her.

Pyrrha quickly got up to approach her friend. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?" she asked.

"No, Goodwitch and Ozpin can't keep me arrest-proof for long, I was a thief long before I was forced to be a terrorist and no matter what I did to help you guys out is not enough to make up for what I did in the past." Neo stated.

Pyrrha nodded before she hugged the smaller girl. "Thank you Neo, for helping me discover who I truly was."

"No thanks needed." Neo said as she returned the hug a little awkwardly before she accepted the gratitude of the Nikos parents.

Ruby and Jaune both shook her hand as they said goodbye.

"We owe you a lot Neo, if you ever need our help just call us." Jaune said.

"But if you want us to help you pull of a heist you're out of luck." Ruby joked, getting a laugh out of the older, but smaller girl.

"Hey, I guess you're alright." Yang admitted as she slapped Neo on the back.

"I suppose you are too." Neo agreed as she began walking out of the room.

"Any idea of where you'll go?" Nora asked.

"To wherever the wind may take me or something romantic and sappy like that. See you around." She said as she walked down the hall and turned around the corner.

"Think we can trust her?" Blake asked.

"We can trust her not to go running back to Cinder, that's for sure, but she'll be okay for a while. Besides, I think the cops can afford to give her a few days head start." Jaune said with a smile as Indigo appeared around another corner of the hallway, running towards the lounge.

"Indigo? What's wrong?" he asked, but she didn't answer as the other Arc sisters looked up to her.

She made it to the doorway and stopped to catch her breath before she said "Mom, Dad, and Azure are all here! They just arrived."

"Oh boy." Bianca muttered.

Shani looked to the group and said "Looks like we'll have to hear some of these stories over again for our family's sake."

They walked out to the landing pads where the bullhead Glynda had sent to collect the rest of the Arc family, sans Olivia, Shani's twin, who had a husband and child of her own in Cadia. Teams RWBY and JNPR, along with the Arc sisters, Pyrrha's parents, Winter, and Taiyang, walked out to the landing platform where Sienna was talking to her parents and youngest sister.

Joanne Arc was a woman in her late fifties and while she did not look to be that old she was clearly not a young woman, giving birth to eight children over the years could do that to you, but she was attractive for her age. Her eyes were filled with worry as Sienna tried to assure her that Indigo was getting Jaune and the rest of her children and that everything was okay. It did little to assure the nervous mother, who had been praying for her son's safety ever since he left for Haven.

Jaune's father, a man with graying blonde hair who was also in his late fifties, was named Andre Arc and while he did seemed to be a little worried over the situation he was nowhere near as stressed out as his wife was clearly distressed. He looked over and spotted them.

"Honey, it's okay, there they are." He said as he pointed towards them.

"Oh thank you gods above." Joanne muttered as she began running towards her children.

"Hey mom, sorry if I scared you." Jaune said meekly before his mother, despite being five inches shorter than her son, managed to pick him up in a crushing hug.

"Jaune Arc! If I wasn't so happy that you're alive I'd ground you for life!" she scolded. The Arc sisters all giggled at that until she glared at them and added "Don't laugh, that goes for all of you too." That shut them up.

"Sorry mom." They all said at once.

She looked into her son's eyes and said "Please never scare me like that again."

"I'll try not to." He promised. "I'm sorry mom and dad, but it was something I had to do and... it was the right thing to do."

"We're so happy you're okay Jaune, but if what half of Sienna told us is true then we want to hear the full, unabridged thing from you." His father said as he hugged his son.

"Trust me, you'll wish you hadn't asked that." Weiss muttered as Azure hugged her brother.

"Hey Jauney! I knew you could pull it off." She said.

"Really?" he asked as he returned the hug.

Jaune's mother looked at Pyrrha and said "So... I can tell that you are Pyrrha Nikos... Sienna didn't exactly explain how you came back."

"We'd be happy to tell you Mrs. Arc, please don't be mad at your son, he did so much for me and for everyone." The Spartan pleaded.

"I'm too happy to see him alive to be mad at him right now, but I am also glad to finally meet you in person Miss Nikos, when you were attending Beacon he wouldn't stop going about how wonderful you were." Joanne said as she shook Pyrrha's hand as she blushed.

"Yes, well it is nice to meet you as well... uh these are my parents." She introduced as Hera and Zeus came forwards.

"It is nice to meet you, I'm Hera Nikos and I implore you not to punish your son, without him I might have never gotten my daughter back." Hera said as she shook Joanne's hand.

"Well... I don't think I could ground him even if I wanted to, if what Sienna told me is true he helped save thousands of lives last night." Joanne stated.

"He did indeed." Ren said with a nod. "You should be proud of him."

"We always were. So, are we going to get the full story of what happened here?" Andre asked.

"Very much possible Mr. Arc, I suppose some of us would like to hear the same story twice." Winter said. She glanced up and something caught her eye, a shuttle was departing from the Atlesian flagship, the one used by General Ironwood.

She heard rushing footsteps behind her and turned to see Qrow, Glynda, Ozpin, and Argo all rushing out of the school.

"What's happening now, Qrow?" Taiyang asked.

"Ironwood's coming down to see us, Chamberlain's with him and said he woke up half an hour ago, once we told him that Schnee and Polendina were here he wanted to see them right away." Qrow answered.

"Wait, what's wrong with General Ironwood?" asked Andre.

"Well... you see he might have been controlled by Cinder's forces for a while but he stopped himself by shooting himself in the head." Nora answered.

The shocked reactions on the faces of the Arc parents and Azure were priceless.

"I hope James won't do anything too rash." Glynda muttered to Ozpin as she gripped her wand.

"If he is free of the control I doubt we need to worry about his actions and more about his health." Ozpin replied as the Atlas shuttle touched down on one of the landing platforms.

The ramp came down and General Ironwood, leaning on a cane to help steady himself, as he was still shaky from the incident that occurred that morning, disembarked from the ship with Chamberlain and several guards.

Taiyang spoke up "Mr. and Mrs. Arc, Mr. and Mrs. Nikos, I think we should step back for the time being."

They agreed so the five parents, along with the six Arc sisters, all stood back while Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, Winter, and Argo went forwards with Teams RWBY and JNPR. Ruby noticed the serious look on Ironwood's face and hoped he was doing better and that he wasn't angry at them for what happened. She looked over to see Professor Echo leading Penny and Dr. Polendina forward and quickly noticed the nervous look on Penny's face, afraid that Ironwood would do something to separate her from her father and friends. Ruby wouldn't let that happen no matter what.

Once the two group were close enough General Ironwood was the first to speak. "Chamberlain here has filled me in on the finer details so I pretty much know as much as he does about the situation now."

"And is it to your liking, James?" Ozpin asked.

"Normally it might not but considering what that witch did to me I'm happy to say it has ended rather well, as it could have been much worse. I'm alive, you all made it out with only two fatalities and several injuries; normally it would be much, much worse. I want to thank you all for your bravery; you are a credit to your Kingdoms and your academies. You children have gone up against things most Hunters never do and you did not back down. I am lucky to know you all." Ironwood stated.

"So we cool, Jimmy?" Qrow asked.

"Yes, despite our differences in the past Qrow I admit you were right about a lot of things. I am sorry for what I did to you while under her influence." Ironwood said sadly.

"Water under the bridge, Jimbo. Hey, don't feel bad about shooting me in the leg, I have had a lot worse." Qrow said with a cocky smirk.

"With that mouth of yours I don't doubt it." Ironwood shot back with a smirk of his own before he turned serious. "Chamberlain told me about Raven, I'm very sorry."

Qrow sighed as he noticed a saddened look on Yang's face and said "It'll be tough, but we can handle another loss."

Ironwood nodded and looked to Winter. "Specialist Schnee, I own you a tremendous apology for my actions."

"You were under Salem's control sir; I don't blame you for what happened to me."

"Yes, but you were in the stockade for doing the right thing. You had the courage to stop my plan when no one else did and for that I am eternally grateful, but to further compensate for your inconvenience I will be giving you a promotion, you won't be just one of our top Specialists, you will be among the total elite." He finished.

Qrow, Ruby, and Yang all had to laugh at the utterly shocked look on Winter's face, wide eyes and dropped jaw, she stood there for several seconds before Weiss snapped her out of it with a nudge to the ribs.

"Uh, sir, it's a very prestigious honor that I will take humbly." Winter said with a bow.

"Good to know, you deserve it for standing up for what you knew was right. It is the least I can do to make up for what I did while under her control." Ironwood said before he looked to Glynda and said to her "Glynda, thank you for going behind my back. If you hadn't trusted Qrow over me we'd be in disaster."

"Well I had my pick of stupid decisions; I simply took the less idiotic of the two." Glynda deadpanned with a dry smile. "In all seriousness, I am happy to see you back to your old self again, James."

"Thank you, Glynda." He said as he looked to Dr. Polendina. "Joseph, from what I can remember I said some... very cruel things to you while under her control and I don't think I can ever properly apologize for the horrific thing I tried to do."

"With all due respect sir once I found out what had happened to you I no longer blamed you, after all you did have a point when you said you were only way I could have ever created Penny in the first place. Despite everything general you don't need to do anything to apologize to me as long as I can stay with my daughter." Polendina said as he held Penny's hand.

"How about a lab offsite? One on a nice peaceful island? I understand that Patch is quite a nice place to live." Ironwood said as he smiled at Ruby, whose eyes got big and bright.

"Y-you mean it?!" she cried.

"Yes, I think it would be better if Penny were to stay in an environment with friends." He said with a nod. Before he knew it he could feel himself being hugged and lifted up by the small robot girl.

"Thank you general!" she cried.

"After what I tried to do to you it's the least I can do, Penny." He said.

"Thank you sir, thank you so much." Polendina said happily.

Ironwood then turned his attention to Weiss and said "Young lady, usually I would throw anyone who did what you did in prison, but in this case I will make sure that you and all those involved in stopping me and rescuing Penny get medals for valor."

The look on Weiss' face became a mirror duplicate of the that had been on Winter's just a moment ago.

Ironwood looked at Jaune and Pyrrha next. "I understand you two were... turned into Grimm Hybrids." They both nodded affirmatively, holding each other's hands for comfort and not backing down. "Chamberlain has told me what you two have been through and what this Aura Crystal thing did to help you, I don't think it needs to become public information." He finished with a smile, shocking both of them.

"James, are you sure about that?" Glynda asked, knowing what he would have said a year ago.

"Quite sure, I won't let these kids be harmed for what was done to them, councils be damned." He said firmly, which earned him a grateful smile from Glynda as well as the two young Aura Crystal guardians.

"Speaking of the councils we will have to deal with them to keep this Grimm Hybrid situation a secret." Ozpin pointed out.

"I've already told the students not to mention a word of it to anyone, under threat of expulsion but the councils will be harder to deal with." Said Argo.

"The councils will trust me, and if not surely the word of Ozpin, Glynda, and Argo will make a difference, so let us deal with them together, but we shall do it tomorrow, I still need to recover from my ordeal earlier today." He finished.

"I think that would be most wise sir." Chamberlain agreed.

"I agree. James, it is good to have you back." Ozpin said.

"Same to you old friend." Ironwood returned before he looked to the eight students. "Have a good night's rest, you have all earned it." He finished before the guards escorted him back to the shuttle with Chamberlain trailing behind.

The group watched as the ship took off and Jaune said "So we should probably start telling my parents and Azure what happened."

"And continue filling in my parents on our misadventures." Pyrrha agreed.

"We shall leave you to it." Ozpin said as he walked back into the school, eager to get some much needed rest.

Ruby looked to Penny and said "Oh my gods! He'll let you live on Patch! That is awesome!"

"I know!" Penny cheered in agreement as the kids began to head back to the school.

"Would you like to hear about the young one's adventures doctor? It will keep you entertained for the night." Winter offered.

"I think I'd like that." Polendina said with a smile.

Pyrrha looked back to see Neo about to begin on her travels so she waved to her and before she set off down the giant flight of stone steps into the city Neo waved back with a grin and a bow.

They walked back up to the group of parents and the Arc sisters to see Mrs. Arc fussing over Violet's nearly healed gunshot wound. Bianca saw them coming and asked "Is everything okay?"

"Way better than I expected it to go." Nora admitted. "We'll tell you about it later, right now we should probably start filling in you new arrivals about the crazy stuff we had to do."

"I honestly can't tell whether I'd like that or not." Joanne admitted with a happy smile.

Jaune looked around and sighed happily; he had everyone back; his mom and dad, nearly all of his sisters, his friends, everyone but Ashe was here.

While he would mourn the fallen he knew he was lucky to have as many of his friends and loved one still alive. He placed his arm on Pyrrha's shoulders and she leaned into him.

Ruby smiled at the sight as she walked into the school with her team.

Things weren't perfect, but they could always be worse, so the young Hunters knew to count their blessings. And right now they had a lot of them.

---

The bullhead landed on the outskirts of the village of Otium and a few minutes later the ramp went down to let the ship's passengers off. Team RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, CFVY, most of ABRN, Winter, Penny, Dr. Polendina, The Arc family, Pyrrha's parents, Taiyang, and Zwei all disembarked from the ship while troops from Atlas acted as the pallbearers for the coffin that contained Ashe's body.

Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, Ironwood, Argo, Oobleck, and Chamberlain had all stayed behind to deal with the councils of the four kingdoms while the others performed Ashe's funeral at Mila's village. Many of the other young Hunters, as well as Ross and Dr. Chloris had already said their own goodbyes before the bullhead had departed as many of them were either still injured or refused to leave their teammates for an unknown period of time.

Winter approached the gravediggers of the Otium cemetery who spoke with her and then led the way to the recently dug grave by Mila's, which was a simple marker with her name on it and the word 'Loved by Many' carved below it.

The troops, doing this under orders from Ironwood himself, lowered the body gently into the grave where it settled with a soft thud.

Jaune, holding Ashe's sword as a memento looked on as the troops planed the grave marker Professor Argo had made for Ashe. It read 'Here lies Ashe Kasai. Friend. Warrior. Brother. A True Huntsman.'

Jaune had not been the first to comment it; Blake herself had said "It's unfair that they made him an official Huntsman posthumously."

"Whoever said life was fair?" asked Winter rhetorically.

Ruby huffed grumpily as they all looked down at Ashe's coffin.

"Do any of you wish to say anything? I am afraid I never met him so I cannot speak." Winter said.

Everyone looked to Jaune who said "No, I want to go last. How about you Velvet? You seemed to like him."

The rabbit Faunus nodded and with some encouragement from her team she cleared her throat and began. "I only knew him for a brief time, some would say he was unstable and needed help and he might have but I never once thought him a bad person, a sad man in need of friends, he needed someone to understand him and I guess in the short time that we all knew him we filled that void for him. I hope he's been reunited with his love and is happy, wherever he may be."

She stepped down and let Bianca come up next. Penny had been tempted to go up and speak but she didn't know what to say as she had never spoken at a funeral before and she secretly hoped there weren't more in her future.

"We... didn't get off on the right foot, to say the least. He let it slip that he was Cinder's brother so I kinda snapped. I took my sister's gun and nearly shot him but when I came to my senses I realized I had made him snap. I... felt really bad after that. The next morning we said our apologies to each other and he promised that he'd get my little brother back, no matter what and... he kept his promise." Bianca said as she failed to hold back a sob. She walked to hug Shani as Ren and Nora went up together.

"I must be honest, when we first me him I did not trust him and my suspicions were only amplified when I found out who he was related to, I was ready to write him off as lying, murderous scum but in the end Ashe proved his worth. He was much better than I thought he would be." Ren said.

Nora nodded in approval before she spoke "I trusted him right away, I always try to see the good in everyone and if I can't I... well those who know me know how I am. He could be a jerk at times, no doubts there, but I think he needed to be a jerk. Sometimes when people don't want to be hurt by losing someone they act hostile so people won't get attached to them. Problem was we got attached to him anyway, he helped us out a lot but I think we saved him from a dark place, loneliness." She noticed the looks people were giving her and said "What? I know I act like an airhead but I'm not stupid."

Nearly everyone laughed at that.

Pyrrha went up next, looking to her parents who smiled proudly at her. She looked to Jaune who nodded and she began. "I only knew him for a brief time, we didn't even know each other for a day before he died but in the short time I knew him he gave me one of the greatest gift I have ever received: Jaune's survival. He saved Jaune despite all odds, giving us the power of a relic we barely understood just so one of us could live. I will always be grateful to him for that. He helped Jaune and my friends so much, which led to my rescue so I thank you, Ashe Kasai, for being the warrior you were. May your soul join Elysium and be with your love, among the greatest of Remnant."

She looked to Ruby who nodded and walked forward with encouraging looks from her team and her dad.

"I was the one who ultimately decided to let Ashe come with us, while I had my doubts about him sometimes but I guess that in the end he was a good person. I... I'll never forget what he said to me the night before Jaune and me were captured; he told me things Ember, his mom, and Mila had told him in the past, stuff like 'every cloud has a silver lining even when it rains' which he thought meant that no matter how bad things seem or how hopeless the world looks there is good in it and it is worth fighting for. You just have to keep moving forward. Mil told him that if you ask a writer for a tale of heroes and adventure they'll give you a tale of tragedy, violence, and loss, and yet in those tales the heroes will never truly die, because despite how bittersweet some stories, stories like Ashe's can be really sad but it's up to the people who read or are told these stories how bitter or how sweet they are. A lot of stories are sad Ruby, they are miserable if we let them but there will always be a light at the end. So we can't let ourselves think of Ashe dying as sad, think of it as bittersweet. If we just mourn him and don't think about how happy he is now that he's back with Mila then we're disrespecting his memory. If any of you truly want to honor him, then keep moving forward." Ruby finished.

Some nodded in silent approval while others applauded the young girl. Ruby turned to face her team, all incredibly proud of their leader. She looked to her father who had the proudest look she had ever seen on his face. Deep down Taiyang knew his little girl was growing up, he wasn't a failure of a parent after all.

Jaune stopped clapping for Ruby and stepped up next. "Well there's no way I can top what Ruby just said." he confessed, getting a few laughs before he continued with "But I know she's right. I won't stop fighting Cinder, not until we beat her and I know we will one day. I will keep Ashe's sword and put it to good use to honor his memory. So for his sake and for the sake of all of us we will keep moving forward, you have my word on that."

As the gravediggers began to bury the coffin and the Atlas troops returned to the ship the students stayed and lingered, chatting witch each other.

Jaune looked at the grave as dirt piled on to it. His mother hugged him from the side and said "I can't tell you how sorry I am for the loss of your friend. I never met him but I suppose I am in his debt for how he saved you."

"I guess so." Jaune agreed. Joanne watched as Pyrrha came up, she smiled at the younger girl and left the young couple alone. "Hey Pyrrha?"

"Yes Jaune?"

"I hope, wherever Ashe is right now he's just as happy with Mila as I am with you."

Pyrrha smiled, she leaned in and kissed him lovingly.

A bit away from them Ruby was talking with Penny, Velvet, and Yatsuhashi when Winter called to out "We need Teams RWBY and JNPR in the ship right away!"

Within a few minutes Winter, Taiyang, and Teams RWBY and JNPR stood in front around a hologram projector on the bullhead as an image of a screen containing Ozpin, Qrow, Glynda, Ironwood, Argo, and Chamberlain appeared.

"Our meeting with the council has ended and with much effort and shouting to get our points across we came to an agreement." Ozpin began.

"So are we okay?" Yang asked.

"Yes, they have decided that you eight shall accompany us on a television broadcast tonight once you return and help General Ironwood and myself give an incredibly abridged version of the events that led to where we are now. The councils, even though some among them are unhappy with it, have decided that Jaune and Pyrrha's Grimm halves will remain secret to the general public for the time being, for their own safety and privacy of course." Ozpin revealed, noticing the incredibly relieved looks on the couple's faces.

"So we can leave out the Grimm Hybrids, the Aura Crystal, and we have to leave out Salem, I suppose." Blake speculated.

"Correct, Miss Belladonna." confirmed Glynda.

"But that's not all, Ozpin here has agreed to a full trial and investigation into his methods and ways of running things, some council members aren't convinced he should be in charge anymore." Qrow added, shocking the young Hunters.

"I myself would have agreed with them, had it not been for Qrow here... forcing some sense into me." Ozpin said a bemused smile.

"But they won't kick you out, will they?" Ruby asked.

"We shall see, I hope to see you soon. Has Ashe been laid to rest?" Ozpin inquired.

"Yeah, we just buried him. Can you give us a couple of hours before we start back, some of us need to say our goodbyes in private." Jaune requested.

"You most certainly can." Ozpin permitted as the hologram faded.

Ruby went into the ship to get something she left behind while the others headed back outside.

"Jaune, the truth will get out eventually, you do realize that, right?" Pyrrha asked.

"I know, but it won't be that bad. Whatever they throw at us we'll face it together." Jaune said with a smile as he leaned in and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Pyrrha said with an incredibly happy face, remembering the days she would yearn for him to say that.

Ruby came out of the ship with two red roses and laid them down on the two graves; one for Mila and one for Ashe.

"I hope you guys are happy, wherever you are. Rest in peace Ashe." she said.

---

It had been nothing but a dark, silent void for hours. Almost like sleeping a dreamless sleep. Ashe opened his eyes and looked around. He didn't know where he was, it looked like he was in a forest but not a natural one, it was darker, paler, and a little... gray?

He tried to call out for someone but no noise came from his mouth.

Okay, what happened? Last thing he remembered was Cinder... oh... shit.

He was dead.

So where was he? Heaven? Hell? Purgatory?

He felt a presence behind him so he turned around and saw a familiar figure; the stranger he had met in the Aura Crystal.

All of a sudden he knew he was not in Heaven, Elysium or whatever one wished to call the place where good souls go when they die nor was he in Hell, Tartarus, or whatever one would call a place for evil. This was the place for those in the middle, Purgatory.

The figure nodded, for some odd reason the silence was not an issue, they did not need to speak, they simply knew what they were trying to say. Was it telepathy? Who knew or cared at this point?

Ashe knew he'd never get into Heaven... the good place; the lives he had recently ended were proof enough of that. He had just hoped he was a good enough person to stay out of hell, apparently all his good deeds worked out in the end. He had done many terrible things in his life but most of them were for the greater good, so he and many others could survive. As terrible as some of his sins were he didn't regret the, he did what he had to do and if other, better people than himself could have happy lives because of his choices that was all he needed.

He could tell Mila wasn't here; she was too good for a place like this.

The figure smiled and gestured for Ashe to turn around. Ashe did so and gasped at the very familiar figure he saw.

Mila.

There she was, as beautiful as she ever was, standing there with happy tears and a joyous smile.

He tried to speak but no sound came out of his mouth. He tried to walk forward but he stumbled to the ground, still in shock. He felt someone grab him and hug him as tightly as they could. He looked up to see Mila's overjoyed face, tears still flowing. Ashe forced himself up and his lips crashed against Mila's in a passionate kiss which she eagerly returned.

Ashe couldn't help it, he broke down crying as he continued to kiss Mila with all his strength and she hugged him, rubbing his back to calm him as she kept returning the kisses.

It was an untold amount of time before Ashe calmed down and looked his love in the eye apologetically, sorry for all the terrible things he had done, sorry for letting her die, sorry for everything.

But without saying a word Mila shushed him and pressed her forehead against his. Somehow Ashe could sense her thoughts and could understand her. She told him he did what needed to be done, he did terrible things only when forced to do so, it would have been a far greater evil to stand by and let terrible things happen then to intervene and do lesser evils to prevent them.

Ashe smiled, thanking her for understanding, thanking her for still loving him despite everything.

She mentally, or with aura, neither of them were quite sure how they were communicating, said that she never stopped loving him because he never fully gave into the darkness, no matter how tempting it could be. She told him how proud she was of him for everything he did, how he struggled on, how he worked with the young Hunters-in-training to save the world, how he sacrificed his own duty so Jaune could live.

He hugged her tighter, overwhelmed with happiness.

They just sat there, kissing in each other's arms for no one knew how long before the stranger made himself known once again.

The look on his face was enough to get the message across. It was time for Mila to go.

Ashe's face showed pure heartbreak as Mila's grip tightened. He looked at her and she showed a fiery determination in her eyes. He told her no, he didn't want her to stay in Purgatory for him but she wouldn't have it.

She got up and glared right at the stranger with a defiant look that said 'No, I'm staying with him.'

The being shook his head and sighed. He didn't want this to be difficult but it looked like Mila needed to make a choice.

There was a quick flash of light and both the stranger and Mila were gone.

Ashe stood in stunned silence before he tried to scream no. He fell to his knees and slammed his fist into the ground, crying tears of anger and frustration. Why? Why were they reunited for a brief time and then separated?

It wasn't fair, damn it!

There was a small part of him that said it wasn't so bad, after all Jaune, Ruby and the others were still okay. Maybe a few of his old friends were here, Kion and such... maybe even his dad...

He tried to convince himself that he'd be alright but deep down he knew he couldn't take this. He got her back only to lose her again.

Then out of nowhere there was yet another flash of light and Ashe quickly jerked his head up to see a confused looking Mila and the strange man standing behind her with a satisfied look on his face.

Ashe ran forward and grabbed Mila, hugging her once again in a powerful hug, this time he was flat out afraid to let go as she might disappear once again. Mila hugged him back slowly, looking a little dazed as she did so.

The stranger looked to Ashe and spoke, the first sound Ashe heard since he woke up.

"She was to return to Elysium, but she refused. She said that she'd never leave you here alone, her bottom line was that if you were denied access to the higher planes of the afterlife then so was she. You have quite a remarkable mate there, Ashe Kasai. Bonds such as that are not common, savor it. You will both stay in purgatory forever, but I trust as long as you have one another I do not think that will be a problem." The man said with a kind smile.

Ashe looked at the man with a thankful look.

"No thanks are necessary, but it's appreciated. Your vocal abilities will return in time, just a side effect of entering another plane of existence. I will leave you two be for now... oh and Ashe, your parents are also somewhere here as well. I trust you will find them in time. Goodbye." The stranger finished before he vanished into thin air.

Ashe closed his eyes and leaned into Mila's hug. There was a small part of him that still wanted to live, a part that wanted to help Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby and the other more, but... he couldn't bring himself to want that. Not when he had her back.

They laid themselves against a tree, resting in each other's arms. They didn't know what they would do now that they were together again, find Ashe's parents, just sit next to each other forever, who knew?

Soon enough Ashe heard her hum a beautiful melody, her voice was back.

He opened his mouth and words successfully came out. "It's... can you please sing to me? I want to hear your voice." He pleaded.

Mila smiled and said "It would be my honor. I love you."

"And I love you." Ashe said as he leaned against her before she started singing to him.

---

That night Salem watched as a holographic screen appeared in front of her throne. One of her agents had been able to tell her about the news report by Ironwood, Ozpin, and Teams RWBY and JNPR themselves about what had been transpiring. Salem had decided to watch it for her own amusment and had told Cinder and various other underlings about it as well so they were most likely watching too.

She watched as Ironwood and Ozpin walked out onto the stage, camera lights flashing and dozens of questions being asked at once by reporters and news anchors. Ironwood made it to the microphone and said "Please, calm down everyone! We will not be taking questions at this time, but we will answer most of them ourselves."

As the audience calmed down Teams RWBY and JNPR walked out, many noticing Pyrrha and Jaune were both nervous and holding each other's hands for support.

'Enjoy your life while you can, children. It will not be happy for long.' Salem thought to herself.

"Now, the first question we shall answer is what happened to me? Simply put, I was defeated by Cinder Fall and teleported to another place where I remained for some time but I escaped through my own resources and the aid of my students. A similar thing happened to Miss Pyrrha Nikos here, she was nearly killed by Cinder Fall but teleported to the same place as I was so she could be healed. She was then brainwashed into being a solider of the enemy but she was freed thanks to her partner Jaune Arc. Ruby Rose along with what was left of Team JNPR went on a journey to avenge their friend they thought dead and ran into a man named Ashe Kasai, who turned out to be Cinder Fall's brother. He joined them help train Jaune Arc and fought against his sister when Mr. Arc and Miss Rose were captured. In the end Cinder Fall brutally murdered her own brother in cold blood because he refused to join her." Ozpin finished as he turned it over to Ironwood.

"Thank you, Professor. I, on the other hand was being controlled by one of Cinder's allies for months on end, who strong-armed colonel Ulysses Cy into being their minion and when he failed them they killed his family for it. Thanks to Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch along with Qrow Branwen I was freed but only after I had been made to make some terrible mistakes. They wanted me to use the rebuilt Penny Polendina to bomb Haven City and it is thanks to Weiss and Winter Schnee, Qrow Branwen, Team CFVY, Flynt Coat, and Neon Katt that their plans were stopped and many lives, including that of Miss Polendina's was saved. The Atlas Military owes them a tremendous debt of gratitude and I hope that Willow Schnee is watching right now so he understands how wrong he was about his daughters." Ironwood said with a small smirk. "Miss Yang Xiao Long was fitted with a new arm and with Team SSSN's help she rescued her partner, Blake Belladonna from the clutches of the White Fang and when united these wonderful students along with Team ABRN, CRDL, NDGO, and BRNZ, along with some wonderful teachers and civilians worked together to save their friends and this city, possibly even the world from Cinder's plots. We were not without casualties, we lost a good agent named Raven Branwen and a brave young Huntsmen named Cardin Winchester, but their sacrifices were not in vain, they won and at the end of the day the forces of evil were defeated, but not for good. They are still out there and we have a message for them. Miss Rose..." he invited as he let Ruby come up to the microphone.

"Thank you General... uh hi everyone, I'm Ruby Rose..." she could hear Yang's snickering from behind and Blake and Weiss scolding the blonde for it. "A lot has happened in the past week or so to say the least. We have all lost family, friends, partners, to the Grimm and other forces of darkness but we can't let that beat us. We will mourn the fallen and soldier on to honor and avenge them. There's someone out there, someone who I know gets nothing but pleasure from the suffering of others and I know they are watching this and I have a message for them; Leave us alone, quit now, run and hide, because if you continue to fight us we will find you and we will beat you. Mark my words, if you want a fight you got one. It's not just us up here, but all of our friends, every Huntsman and Huntress in Remnant, every soldier in every kingdom, I know they will all stand united against you some day. I am Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, leader of Team RWBY, and friend to anyone who wants to be friends and I say this..." she said as her team and JNPR all stood up with Teams CFVY and SSSN along with Glynda, Winter, Penny and Qrow joining them on the stage "if you want to fight us, bring it on. We will defeat you."

Salem listened to Ruby's little speech and could only do one thing: smile.

It would seem that out of all the enemies she had gained in the past week or so, young Hunters who now knew of her existence Ruby Rose was the one that could actually threaten her if left unchecked.

"Very well Ruby, I think this game just got a little more interesting."

Hey everyone, thanks for reading the first twenty-five chapters of RWBY: Destiny of Remnant, it has been a wild ride so far and I want to thank each and everyone of you for reviewing, faving, following, leaving a comment or a kudos or bookmarking this story depending on what site you're on but I need a break.

This story has literally swallowed up my life in the last five months, I have gotten the complete Legend of Korra but because of this story I haven't had time to watch it, I got the first three Metal Gear Solid games but no time to play them, I have been SO busy with this fic that my life has nearly shut down otherwise.

I WILL RETURN so do not be alarmed, as I promise you I won't abandon this fic, I'm just taking a break, okay? I will be back in late July with more chapters that I hope you will enjoy.

Once I'm back I may change the rating to M for violence and reasons you'll see in the future.

Originally I wasn't sure if I would kill Ashe off, maybe I'd bring him back as a brainwashed Grimm Commander, but since that'd be retreading used material I decided against it. So, yeah, he's dead, but happy.

Other Voices

Bianca - Colleen Clickenbeard

Trooper - Steve Blum

Shani - Jessica DiCicco

Sienna - Taissa Farmiga

Indigo - Ashleigh Ball

Violet - Amber Lee Conners

Sherizawa - Troy Baker

Dr. Chloris - Jennifer Hale

Douglas - Grant Goodeve

Merrick - Bruce Spence

Lao - James Sei

Tom-Tom - Nathan Vetterlein

Little Steve - Kevin M. Richardson

Ross - Jeff Bennett

Hera Nikos - Susan Eisenberg

Zeus Nikos - Kevin Conroy

Dr. Polendina- Alfred Molina

I am happy with the amount of attention this story has gotten so far but I think we can do better so I would like it if you, the readers, help out and get this story noticed. Try to get it on the fanfic recs on TVTropes (although I doubt it will ever get on there and if it does I'll eat my hat), mention it on the RWBY Reddit, anything to keep the story going. I need more reviews, more faves and follows, because I want to make this story as good as I can and I want to keep it going but I need more people to read the story because sometimes the lack of attention makes me feel like I have done a poor job at making a good story despite all the work and effort I put into it, so help get this story noticed a bit more, please? I will be forever in your debt if you help make this story more popular. Thank you all so much, you guys rule.

Please leave a review or fave and follow this story if you read in on Fanfiction . Net but if you read this on AO3 please leave a kudos, a comment, and bookmark it if you wish, you feedback is incredibly important to me so leave some. Thank you.