Unlike the city who sat towering at the center of this wasteland, the plains of the floating isle gave way for my approach. No monuments Atlas's arrogance stood in my way, and soon enough I stood before the black giant who held within the only being capable of sating my thirst for knowledge.

"She has yet to land. Pity, I figured our presence would coax just that."

"She does what she wants, when she wants. All buckle to her whim in one fashion or another; they just don't realize it."

"If that were true, we wouldn't be here right now, and neither would she."

He was right on that front. Despite everyone and everything being mere playthings against her strength, the brothers were a brushstroke not by her hand. Belief, disbelief, truth and lies: it was all just a constant web of questions seeking to direct everyone. Now, whether people were guided to their goals or turned away and obscured from their journeys was up for debate.

However I was not here for debate.

Salem, the once queen of Mobius and now the Grimmlands: she would tell me what I needed to know; that, I had faith in. The dark divine knew better than anyone that obstruction would only hinder momentarily, and while it may serve to protect those who would stand against me, it would not change the outcome.

I had this considerably obtuse urge to turn away. Not quite heeding, and yet also not denying, I rolled my vision over the view of Atlas so far back. Once upon a time I heard stories of a kingdom whose castle stood atop a floating isle, and yet here, the traveler's tails which had once intrigued me had been trumped by the reality I'd landed in. How long has it been since my arrival? I could scarcely recall, but it felt as though an eternity had passed.

Maybe that was just my mind's replacement for the vacancy of emotion; this puddle-deep awe which distracted me from time to time. It whispered confirmations that I was still myself, even if every part of me felt hollower with each passing second.

"Leave them be. They're not our focus."

"You say that like it's simple."

"It is. Just settle your headspace back into the mission, and the rest will fall in place."

"And what if I don't want to? What if I want more than just answers?"

"Before you start wanting more, you should focus on getting the allotted portion first. Salem won't be the end of us, this I can guarantee. If you so desire, you may turn around immediately after getting her to talk."

"Unlikely." He wouldn't fool me this time, not after so many others. "You've been pressing me to see her endlessly; something's going to happen, and you know it."

"I have a hunch, but not outright confirmation. We may be powerful, but we are not omnipotent. The future, even if we read the signs perfectly, is forever malleable. All it takes is a crack in the glass, and the waters of time will displace themselves, fumbling the measurements and throwing everything out of order, even if only by a few millimeters and temporary."

"With how you act, I figured the resulting chaos would be welcomed in your eyes."

"Oh believe me, it is, however ours is a noble purpose. With everything important to not only us, but your friends as well riding on this, our victory needs to be certain."

"You spoke before as if my input was limited, and our purpose guaranteed."

"And that is still true."

"Then why rush?"

"Because the longer we take, the worse off everyone will be." There was a stark stretch of silence to follow, and while I didn't immediately have a retort, that didn't stop him from rowing the boat. "You didn't honestly think this was just for 'me,' did you? I told you before, we are one, and while you cannot fully grasp what's going on yet, I can. I know the secrets you do not, and I know the speed and ferocity of the river we row down. Remnant is relentless in its pursuit of maintaining the proper order of things; this world's rules and regulations. The strength of the rapids keeps us from docking on any shores, near endlessly pulling us downwards."

"You say this, but then you promise me things. How can we have any real effect on anything if it's all inevitable to begin with? Why would our involvement matter?"

For a while he was silent, and when he spoke up again it was with a story that, as usual, made no sense to me.

"Because Remnant's changes and growth is... unnatural; forced, and against the world's will. In ages forever forgotten at this point, there sat a grand ocean in the midst of an endless plane. The earth which made up the submerged basin and surrounding infinity was Remnant itself, and the rough, ravenous waves and waters who flowed where they pleased atop was time."

Most people wrote of time as a river, flowing endlessly onwards; or so I recalled. This was, oddly, the first instance of anyone I'd come across saying otherwise; perhaps due in part to that someone being me - or so he still claimed. Annoyingly, I was finding the idea harder to deny every time it was brought up.

"The waves were thoughtless, tossing to and fro with little concern for where they ended up. Nothing stood in the way of the ocean; nothing dictated the waters of the wild. One day, however, a tremor rocked the seabed, and a gargantuan shift tore open a chasm through all that was. The once untamed flow was sucked deep inside, until it shaped and poured throughout its new prison, creating a river, yes, but a vast and unyielding one across the whole ocean floor; wholly and utterly absurd, and certainly not of Remnant's desire. This shift, both unstoppable and cruel, forced the world to concede to powers beyond itself, lest it shatter entirely. New offshoots and branches would pop up in the predictable self-feeding flow, threatening this riled up state of balance. And so the land ripped whole riverbeds of its own, leading time back to the new path and keeping the flow alive, which mocked and mimicked the shapes of the chasm before."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"This world we find ourselves in: its rules are not what they once were. But, you'll discover that yourself soon enough. Look."

Yet again, I wasn't sure why I expected this time to be any different, but I didn't have a chance to complain about his lack of simple explanations. Turning my eyes skyward, I saw the colossal beast hovering closer than ever. It was descending, fast, but not close enough to really bother me. Summoning my shell, I anchored my boots to the unsteady dirt as the dark comet fell, masking everything near in the previously unbothered dust planted across the field it crushed. Even with it being a good two minute dash away, the flood of rock and shattered stone tore at my armor. But the bones infecting my skin were better than the earth which gave way to the beast, and thus I held an audience with the nightmares of men.

And as if it were a hatchling egg, across its surface broke out a crack.

No teeth to speak of, although considering the creature it was modeled after, I wasn't at all surprised. One point of interest, however, was the flooding of a deep colorless liquid, and as it drew close I prepared to leap. But, as if sensing me, the tsunami of molten twilight, nearly identical to that which tinted me white and accented my veins a sickly shade, split apart, dodging me altogether and eventually making way to the inner maw.

I waited for the tide to die, and once it laid flat in a series of puddles and runoff across the jagged rock I began my approach, all the while howls and screeches ripped up the peace native to the empty edge of the capital. From the corners of my eyes, creatures of all shapes and sizes clawed themselves free from the muddy residue, ready to march upon the hapless innocents I was leaving behind.

Not a single one turned to me.

.

.

"They're finally here."

Upon hearing that, a sliver of ice ran along Pyrrha's spine. Out on the front lines like all the rest, there was no shortage of manpower. But compared to the torrents of monsters slowly rising up upon the horizon, she could tell they were outnumbered. There weren't enough people in Atlas or Mantle combined to come even close to matching the armies of Salem.

Turning around, the nameless commander of their specific assigned unit cut through any murmuring that had even begun to crop up.

"You all have your orders."

Wordlessly, everyone nodded, even Pyrrha herself and the rest of team JNPR. Within their hands were what looked like miniaturized RPG launchers, but the explosives within were designed with a purpose. According to the short briefing they'd been given while suiting up, these cannons could fire up to the same distance as a standard Atlas grade RPG; or, roughly five-hundred meters. While the max distance would result in an automatic discharge from a regular explosive shot, the pows loaded within this custom variant would instead be triggered via entering close proximity of the Grimm.

Or, put simply, if they didn't go far enough, the pows would remain intact and inactive until the Grimm entered into range.

The original plan, to their knowledge, was to get as far out into the field as they could before launching the pows. They'd followed through on that idea until they could somewhat decently spot the outline of the whale, and it was a giant even from the distance they settled. Atlas was a good fifteen minute drive back, and ironically, they'd need to wait fifteen minutes after the first assault. The pows in their arms would stun the Grimm for an hour, but after the first wave, they'd need to shoot off the misdirection pows fifteen minutes after, and then haul back to aid the citizens in the city.

During their stalling, RWBY would be brought inside the whale to hopefully rescue V, all the while she herself awaited her doom.

It picked at the back of her mind by now, this incessant notion of death around every corner. She was never supposed to make it this far, and she knew she wouldn't last much longer either. Even though she wasn't asleep, every now and then a thought or bit of understanding would temporarily wedge itself into her brain, and she'd recall truths and experiences of various other Pyrrha's.

But she, unlike them, remembered and knew of these other experiences.

Throughout the bits of information that didn't die a few moments after it arrived, the flighty one's she'd been allowed to keep, Pyrrha had come to realize that all these other versions of 'her,' and maybe everyone else too, were completely blind to what their souls had lived through countless times before: the rehashing of events continuously remixed by the world they lived in. Maybe this was again destiny's doing, but destiny was concise in concept, and realistically could not allow such faults to exist.

Either their notion of what fate was had been grossly misunderstood, or the concept was more Human in its workings than they realized.

"You there, Pyrrha?"

Jaune had once again been the one to pull her free from her dark cavernous musings, and she pursed her lips with a thankful smile at being handed a light.

"Yes. Sorry, I've been thinking a lot lately."

"It's okay." He soothed, forcing out an almost fake chuckle, but it broke off into a more realized and candid sigh. "Everyone's been doing the same anyways, so it isn't anything worth apologizing over."

"Maybe so, but I'm afraid it's a touch different for me."

"Yeah, I guess it is." He seemed reluctant from a glance, and that was proven when he finally spoke up about what was on his mind. "You know, there's been something I've wanted to ask you for a while, but I'm not sure if I should."

"Hmm?" Pyrrha focused on him, and realized, yet again, what had attracted her to Jaune each and every time they met.

He was doing that thing again, the timid act of being his soft little self. Sure, he was taller than most people in their collective circle, but he was certainly the most civilian of the group. And, while that may be seen as a detriment to many other hunters, Pyrrha couldn't help but appreciate how easy it made his presence feel; he was the spitting image of those hunters like themselves fought to protect, and yet his place within their ranks was a reminder that anyone could find the strength needed to save themselves.

In her eyes, this made him endearing, and with another easy going look, she prompted him to continue.

"Whatever it is, I'll be happy to answer."

Jaune still appeared a bit iffy on the idea, but he soon cleared his throat and spoke up.

"I probably already know the answer, but it's been on my mind on and off constantly. When we first got the whole gang back together and found V, he said something to you. You both got talking about destiny and all that." She could tell where this was going, but she was set to let him finish; Pyrrha wanted to hear the question through Jaune's own voice. "I've never focused on it too much before, but whenever you speak about anything, I sometimes think back to that moment, and begin linking the two together."

Her leader, partner, and friend fumbled with his words for a second, trying to string them together in a way that made his question clear. After a little trying, he managed to do so, just as everyone else was finishing the final checks on their gear. Team JNPR had dealt with theirs on the way, so they were just waiting for everyone else, and the only reason they could do so was because, unlike the soldiers around them, they had nothing extra to lug around.

"Does the idea that there might be some grand purpose surrounding our lives really bother you a lot?"

Pyrrha sat on the idea in her head, but unlike before, she needed no preparation time to formulate an answer. If anything, this was the easiest question she'd ever received in her life, because her response was second nature.

"It does, but not in the way it would most other people. I believe in destiny, and I have my whole life. Ever since I was a little girl, my family always told me I had a bright future ahead of me; that I was given my gifts and skills for a reason. I eventually came to believe this too, because why else would I be capable of things most other hunters are not?"

"Because you earned those skills." Jaune spoke up, somewhat upset - even though she knew it wasn't directed at her, but rather the implications she'd made. "You trained like heck to get good at that, didn't you?"

"I did." She'd not deny. "But lots of people train just as hard, if not more than me. With that in mind, why are they not just as good, or even better, than I am?"

Her partner seemed at a loss for words, very obviously wanting to say something, but unable to come up with anything. It was disheartening for her, because she hadn't meant to upset him. And so, she leaned in, taking his free hand in hers. She may not have been able to clear his heart entirely, and she'd not claim it for her own this time around, but she could at least ease his troubles.

Because his issue with what she said was based in the misconception that she felt her skills were cheaply given.

"Destiny giving me these gifts and a purpose doesn't bother me. I'm okay with knowing that my success was due solely to what I've been born into Remnant to do, even if I do not know what that is."

"But... isn't that like saying your efforts are pointless?" Jaune was confused, but that was okay - the innocence attached to that only strengthened her respect for him. "You fought so hard, harder than anyone else ever would, but you're making it sound like that doesn't even matter."

"Not at all." Pyrrha slipped on a happier grin. "It just means fate is there to cheer me on and pick me back up when I fall." She settled on a thankful expression. "It's... 'nice,' to know that there's something at my back watching over me. Even if the idea of destiny ends up being false, I still feel comfort in the idea of it. It brings me peace of mind and gives me the strength to keep going even in my darkest moments, because with fate at my back, victory is sure to be found."

"I... wow." Jaune stammered, bewildered. "I've… never thought of it like that."

"People often see destiny as a force that takes away choice and control." Pyrrha said softly. "But I've always seen it as a guide helping us live our best lives, and righting our mistakes so we can keep moving forward."

"Put like that, I guess it doesn't seem so bad." That tiny, relaxed grin stretching out the corners of his lips was the sort of thing Pyrrha lived for. They shared a few seconds of silence, enjoying their new understanding in each other, and Pyrrha felt genuinely happy even in these darker hours.

Looking into his eyes, she nearly lost herself, until a small force pressed against the back of her head. Turns out, this was less an instance of her mind feeling conflicted, and a literal push against the back of her skull. Pyrrha was inched forwards towards Jaune, who'd been experiencing the same thing. And looking at him, she saw the arm leaving the back of his head, and following it, she saw Nora right beside them.

"Now kiss~"

On the bright side, she'd forgotten most of her troubled thoughts from the sheer shamelessness of Nora's intrusion into their moment of peace. Pyrrha could look at it in good humor, but Ren seemed at least a little adverse to this, and apologized with a sigh.

"Sorry, I didn't see her move." He turned to the spark of their team "Nora, you can't just push them together."

"But they're perfect for each other." The girl whined, with not a hint of remorse in her tone. "Besides, we're facing off against the world. If they don't do it now, then they might never get the chance."

Nora was correct, and Pyrrha took the initiative.

She'd been wanting to do this for who knows how long now, however, she had stopped herself from even toying with the idea as plausible every chance she got. This Jaune and her were close, sure, but not nearly as close as many others. There were lifetimes where they'd been on so many different levels, to the point that if she remembered it all she'd be capable of recalling every small intricacy of his personality and habits. But this was not those times; she'd only known Jaune as a teammate and leader in this string of events. It wouldn't make sense to try for him now, especially with her end kissing up to her heels.

But even so, she bore no regrets about the decision she'd just made.

Firmly soft, with some toughness around the corners where the more sensitive flesh turned rough. His lips were pleasantly squishy, spongey even, but not overly fluffy like a pillow. Pyrrha enjoyed the spring to them as hers wrapped and suckled around. Unlike what she'd read in her fairy tales while growing up, during her off moments and free time, there wasn't any notable taste to them, nor was there any in the spittle breaking between the cracks linking to his inner mouth.

The union stood mostly flavorless, and that was fine with her, because in the end it was a union. Even in this lifetime, and even if she could never have him, Pyrrha was glad to at least join with him this once.

Pyrrha pulled back, observing the frozen face of a man who'd just had his everything shut down. She knew that kiss wasn't the best, but it was her first, and even if a bit sloppy it seemed to have done the trick.

"Woah..." Nora ended up backing off at some point, and Ren had taken his place by her side. "You actually did it..."

"It's as you said: this might be our only chance. No one knows what will happen going forward." Truthfully, she should have been thanking Nora, because without that little jab, she might never have got a taste of Jaune; she'd never have found the time, courage, nor chance to show him just how much he meant to her; even in a lifetime where they'd remained mainly friends.

Ren sighed, although a strange edge simmered atop his voice. "I suppose that's true."

Nora sent an understandably stunned look up at Ren, most likely a little shocked he'd relented and agreed with something she'd come up with as a playful poke. Her own eyes soon widened, and Nora ended up mimicking Jaune when Ren tied a quick, but powerful kiss of his own to her, pulling back casually and leaving her rebooting. Ren looked back at Pyrrha with a steely, but relieved aura.

"Now none of us should harbor any regrets."

"Everyone ready up!" The commander's tone bellowed, and everyone - even the two stunned hunters - turned to face the action. "Our enemy approaches! On my mark we fire!"

"Come on." Pyrrha pulled Jaune into position, as did Ren with Nora. "We're on."

"R-right!" The team, after some jittering on the blushing pair's part, managed to ready up and take aim."

"Hold it..."

The darkness ahead began to slosh and swirl.

"Hold it..."

Thousands upon thousands of crimson eyes growled from the revolting tide, soaking the land it encroached upon. Some of the men grew restless, and a screech promised indescribable torture to all who heard it. A flicker sprang to life in the commander's tone, and he shouted loud, careless towards those right beside him.

"FIRE!"

All at once, every single soldier pulled the trigger, and trails of smoking missiles hurled themselves aloft, marking the sky with a gray rainbow of dirty fire as their rockets propelled towards the enemy. It seemed like no time at all before the mild growls and cries of ravenous Grimm were drowned out by the pounding of explosions all around. A deep, menacing purple seemed to spray across the black, and that's when they knew the operation had commenced. They would need to wait fifteen minutes before firing off the second set of pows to disrupt the Grimm's negativity senses, but that shouldn't have been an issue with the monsters temporarily stilled.

Only, they did not stop. The armies of midnight continued their slog, right through the spreading purple fog.

Author's note

…

So, V's finally taking his first steps inside; what awaits him?

Not exactly a super active chapter, but not slow either. Yeah, technically not much happened, but what did happen matters in quite a few ways. The Grimm, as was guessed, seem to ignore V, allowing an easy entrance, with even the fluid they're born from making way for the black knight.

Along with that, Pyrrha's still predicting doom in some form or fashion, receiving information even while awake; albeit in short bursts. For once, Nora got the best of everyone, even herself; although, Ren might have just been looking for an excuse by that point, or maybe he really believed it when Nora said they might not get another chance.

Anyway, that's it this time.

Until the next chapter.