Chapter 8

With Team Hearthstone.

"According to the map, we should be getting closer to our location. Anything we should avoid, Emerald?" Issei called out while Emerald was leaping across the trees before looking through some binoculars.

"No, but I see the ruins up ahead! And there's definitely something shiny in there," Emerald said in excitement before she ran towards the ruin with Henrietta behind her. Issei groaned at having two people excitedly charging into the unknown, and Roane was enjoying the chaos that came with the orientation.

"This is definitely going to be fun."

"I'm so glad you are enjoying this." Issei groaned while Roane smirked in response.

"Thank you."

"I was being sarcastic!"

"No! You are supposed to use a sarcastic tone! Now I'm going to look foolish."

"Can we please hold this off until we get the relic?" Issei asked before the duo entered the ruins, hoping that their teammates wouldn't get killed.

While this was happening, the danger was looming nearby. Changeling smiled, looking at the group entering the ruins in hopes of searching for some artifact. This worked out perfectly for her since her prey would now be in a closed-off area, giving her the advantage since she could become even the smallest creature to hunt and stake out her prey.

'Perfect. Now that they're looking for some artifacts, I can take them out one by one and have a wonderful feast!' Changeling smiled as she became a small fly and entered the ruin where her prey was now before becoming a lizard and scaling up the rock wall while keeping an eye on them.

The loud one was arguing with the green-haired woman while they were fighting over whoever found a King chess piece, while the brown-haired one, who seemed to be the most level-headed, was trying to break them up. The crazy one, well, she was just being crazy since she appeared to be testing something on the rocks.

Changeling's eyes then went towards the bracelet on the level-headed one's left arm, making her smile grow as she recognized the White Grimm within it.

'There you are.' Changeling said, hurrying towards the boy while sticking to the shadows until she was close enough to reach out a claw that was about to touch the bracelet.

'Almost!' Changeling shouted in her mind until the gauntlet manifested and slapped Changeling away so far that it shocked the girls and Issei as Changeling reverted to her true self and glared at them.

Issei then summoned a spear made of Fire Dust and threw it at Changeling, which forced her to dodge the weapon before she charged up her horn and fired a beam of Magic at the four.

"Scatter!" Issei shouted, making Henrietta and Emerald run with the relic on Emerald's person before Issei picked up Roane and used a chain to pull them away from the beam.

"Roane! How many bombs do you have?"

"Enough to blow up Beacon. Wait, why do you ask?" Roane asked before Issei whispered something into her ear, which made her grin even more while she rubbed her hands together.

"Please marry me so I can make so many explosions," Roane said in a serious tone while Issei rolled his eyes.

"Later. Can you do it?"

Roane didn't say anything as she pulled out her bombs before speaking to him.

"Give me five minutes."

"You got a deal, Pyro-Chan," Issei said before dropping Roane in a hidden part of the ruined cave. Then he went back to Emerald and Henrietta, who was struggling to hit Changeling due to her shapeshifting abilities and playing keep away with her beam attack from her horn.

Emerald dodged another blast from Changeling's horn, frustration evident on her face. "We need to come up with a plan, fast!"

Henrietta nodded, her eyes darting around for any possible advantage. "Issei, any ideas?"

Issei glanced around the ruins, his mind racing. "Roane's setting up explosives. We need to hold out until she's ready."

"But how do we deal with her shapeshifting?" Henrietta asked, frustration creeping into her voice while the trio were behind the rocks within the ruins to protect themselves.

Issei's eyes narrowed as he watched Changeling darting between forms, her movements fluid and unpredictable, while he fired at her with different kinds of Dust's far-reaching weaponry. "We need to force her into a form where she's vulnerable."

"Not exactly easy with her slipping between large and small," Emerald said as she tried to fire at Changeling, but the envious Grimm laughed at them while flying around with amusement in her eyes.

"Aw. What's wrong, humans? Can't hit a moving target?" Changeling asked, making Henrietta bite her tongue as she pulled out a fire crystal and was about to throw it until Issei stopped her.

"What are you crazy?! You'll blow us up!"

"Well, we can't just waste ammo like this. We need action!"

Changeling laughed at their futile attempts until she hissed due to a stream of fire hitting her back before Roane flew out of wherever she was and dropkicked Changeling, causing the Grimm to yell as she collapsed on the ground.

"Let's go!" Roane shouted as Issei nodded before grabbing both Henrietta and Emerald while running to the exit. Changeling groaned as she slowly stood back up.

Changeling then heard some beeping as she looked around and saw multiple bombs above the ruins, which made her eyes widen to dinner plates before she tried to flee the ruins.

However, just as she neared the exit, a wall of fire cut off her escape route. Her eyes looked to see Roane's trap she had laid out for Changeling, causing her to yell in rage as the team got out of the ruins.

"Now!" Issei shouted with Roane smiling as she tapped a button that caused the ruins to become a mushroom cloud, with Changeling yelling from within as the flames engulfed her being until the team looked back to see the flames and the falling ruins, making Issei sigh in relief.

"Okay. Looks like we took care of that, but do we still have that relic?" Issei asked, making Emerald grin as she pulled out from her bust the King piece before tossing it to Issei, who caught it and nodded in her direction until the group then heard some panting from the flames as Changeling emerged from the flames with barely any energy while the flames licked her skin.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Changeling yelled as she ran towards Issei, her eyes bloodshot with rage until she hit an invisible wall, knocking her out before Issei stopped Henrietta from finishing off the unconscious Grimm Titan.

"It would be a shame if we left a potential threat to roam freely, but we don't know why she's here or what she is, which is why I have a better idea," Issei said before tapping on his bracelet to summon Shirō, who was hissing at Changeling but surprising both Henrietta and Roane until the small dragon leaped onto Changeling's head. A pure white aura left the dragon as Changeling groaned while feeling cleansed of her rage, disgust, and fear towards humans until Changeling's body was now changed thanks to the White Grimm.

The White Grimm were beings who were able to let go of their rage and negative emotions, which made them slaves to the Witch and her followers. This is why the White Grimm had the power to cleanse the souls of the Grimm, change them to be free, and reveal their true selves.

"Woah. Is this the same Grimm as before? She looks more like royalty than a Grimm." Henrietta said, shocked by what she witnessed, while Emerald was amazed by the Changeling's new appearance.

Changeling retained her slender, insectoid form but with notable changes reflecting her newfound harmony. Her once-dark chitin now gleamed with a soft, pearlescent sheen, reflecting the colors of the rainbow. The sharp edges of her horn and wings have softened, now adorned with delicate patterns reminiscent of butterfly wings. Her mane and tail, once jagged and spiky, now flow gracefully like strands of silk, shimmering with iridescent hues. Changeling eyes, once cold and calculating, now hold a gentle warmth, mirroring her transformation from a sinister ruler to a compassionate leader.

Changeling then looked at Shirō before bowing her head in respect to the white dragon.

"Thank you, the great dragon, for freeing me of my life as a servant and darkness," Changeling said before looking up at Issei and his team and apologizing to them as well.

"My apologies for my behavior towards you all. I was hungry after being sealed away for hundreds of years. I ask for your forgiveness." Changeling said as she bowed her head to them until Henrietta replied for them.

"We forgive you, plus I think this suits you better than the black skin you had before the whole rainbow style," Henrietta said, making Changeling giggle. The group turned to see Ozpin approaching them with Glynda, who seemed worried but held her desire to rush towards Issei and check on him, along with a Bullhead behind them.

"Congratulations on finding the King Relic, but I'm afraid we must take Changeling in for questioning since she is still a Grimm," Ozpin said, causing the group to react with shock.

"Hold on! She didn't harm us, so why must she be punished?" Henrietta asked in disbelief.

"She's a tough woman and helped us work as a team. Queenie has respect in my book." Roane said before Issei spoke to Ozpin.

"I'm sure she did kill some of the others, but you said it yourself that not everyone would survive, and now that her negative emotions no longer influence her, are you still going to question her now that she's free of them?" Issei said before Emerald was about to voice her own opinion, but Changeling stopped them as she walked toward Ozpin.

"Do not worry about me, young ones. This is the cost of what I've done as my other self. I'll gladly accept punishment for my actions." Changeling said, much to the group's shock, before Changeling spoke to them.

"For what it's worth, you four will become a great team. Granted, it was a bit tough for a while in ruins, but you all have the potential to become great defenders; all that I ask is that you find my brothers and sisters and purify them from their wounds as well." Changeling said before Glynda led the team away to Beacon Academy in the Bullhead while Ozpin led Changeling to a closed-off area of the forest.

Shirō whined about this turn of events because he thought he'd no longer be alone, but Issei held Shirō from flying towards Ozpin because the boy had a feeling about what Ozpin was going to do with Changeling.

"Hey, Issei," Henrietta asked, causing Issei to look at her and see her sad eyes before she continued. "Do you think Changeling could've been our friend?"

Issei looked at the others, who seemed to have the same question before Issei replied to them.

"I believe Chrysalis would've been happy to actually have friends who could've helped her have a better life," Issei said while looking back at the forest where they not only gained a friend, but Issei had a feeling they wouldn't be seeing Chrysalis again anytime soon.

Within the GrimmLands.

"Tch. Classic Ozma. I believe that the Grimm can never truly change despite the White Grimm having such power," Grogar said while Alice booed Ozma as he killed Chrysalis with his cane.

"I still don't understand the White Grimm. Why were they such a threat to the world when the only White Grimm were the dragons?" Alice asked before Grogar turned to her after sending the Seer away.

"That's because the humans and Faunus feared the idea of the Grimm actually being able to coexist with them, especially since the Brother God of Light created the White Grimm Dragons," Grogar said as he tapped a bell on his neck. Then, an image appeared before the duo.

"Many years ago, when I was still human, I had heard of a civilization where the Grimm were white as snow and didn't harm the people who lived near them but instead protected them from the Grimm. Leading the White Grimm were the White Dragons, whose power was able to purify and destroy the Darkness. They cared deeply for the Grimm and wished to protect them from Darkness, so the White Dragons purged their Darkness. Salem was, in fact, going to purge the Darkness from within herself in hopes of being free from her curse after hearing how the White Dragons could cleanse and purify the souls of others; however, Ozma and his group of followers feared the White Dragons thinking they were going to destroy the humans once they assimilated an army."

Grogar explained that his bell showed the dragons protecting humans, as well as the White Grimm, before the humans and Faunus rebelled against them.

"And sadly, I was among the humans who fought against Ozma, who was a brother in all but blood. I tried to convince Ozma that the White Dragons were protecting humans and not trying to harm them. Still, Ozma didn't listen and said that Grimm were beings of Darkness and could never be seen as a force for good or peace, so he and his army attacked the village and killed anyone who stood in their way." Grogar said that as the image changed to Ozma, his group attacked the humans, Faunus, and White Grimm in the villages.

Many of the White Grimm tried to save the humans and Faunus, but the Silver eyes hunted them down and killed them, making Grogar growl before it changed to how the dragons were killed one by one until only two dragons remained with their children.

"The last of the White Dragons knew that they had to protect their children, especially after Salem, who defended the White Dragons, was sealed away. The dragons decided to hide their children in a location where no humans or Faunus would dare tread in hopes of protecting their children from the dangers of Ozma and his army."

Alice was shocked to see this before the image ended there with Grogar walking away from Alice until she caught up to him and asked.

"W-Wait a minute! So you mean to tell me that mom was looking for a way to remove her curse?"

"Yes. Salem believed that if she could remove her curse, she would be able to live her life one last time before peacefully passing away with her children at her side." Grogar said, recalling the woman's goals if she were free of her curse and all of her children were still alive.

Alice then smiled at the idea of her and her sisters being alive as they learned Magic from their mother and played with Grimm, Faunus, and humans. She grew up to see her sisters and mother get married again, only for her mother to grow old and pass on to the afterlife with her children and grandchildren around her bed as her life left her body.

Alice cried as she missed her mother and sisters. They were her real family, and Grogar was more of a father than her birth father was since Ozma always looked at them with fear in his eyes.

"Grogar," Alice said, looking down at Grogar's eyes. Even if we do save Mother, how will we be able to kill Ozma?"

Grogar's smile grew as he then revealed a dagger that seemed to have an ominous aura surrounding it.

"This is the Sword of Destruction, but it was remade into a deadly dagger as a counter to the Sacred Relics, known as Relic Breaker. It also destroys a person's curses or blessings received from the Brother Gods, so say you stabbed Ruby Rose with it; then she would lose her silver eye power or..."

"If Ozma were to be stabbed by the Relic Breaker, would that mean he would lose his reincarnation and his powers?"

"Exactly. However, we have yet to attack Ozma. The man will be keeping himself hidden in his tower, but we will have a chance to attack him when his guard is down."

"The Vytal Festival."

"Correct, little rabbit. Now, let's prepare for the release of the other Titans. My sources tell me that Wrath is within Mountain Glenn after his battle with the old crow and Raven," Grogar said as the duo headed to their table to prepare for the next phase of their plan. Alice was even more excited and ready to kill the man who took away her mother and sisters.

Scene!

I'm sorry that this is a bit shorter than the others. I wanted to show the power of the White Grimm, discuss Grogar's goals, and plan more.

Next time: Thoughts on the Future.

And now, the moment everyone has been waiting for...

Saint Martha is the Rider for the Champions of Humanity, and Medusa is just two votes away from a tie.

Stay tuned for Saint Martha's appearance. As for Berserker, the top three are Florence Nightingale, Frankenstein, and Kriemhild!

Keep voting for who you want to be Berserker. I'm adding a vote to Frankenstein and Kriemhild.

Ta-Ta for now!~