A quick apology to anyone who's been waiting for this. I know I took my damn time and I'm sorry for it. It's been close to 3 months of me not updating. College has kept me unreasonably busy. With that said. I think things have calmed down again. It'll take a little while for the next chapter to come out, a little over half a month.

Now, I was meaning to ask. Would you readers prefer if this story turned to M-rated? I try to write this story to suit a more mature audience, although I am still unsure if it should be M-Rated. It would be great if you could leave me your opinions.

I'll stop blabbering now, enjoy the chapter!

Memories of a Future

Chapter 3: Diving Under the Rocks.

She'd lost count long ago.

This could have been anywhere between the two and four-hundredth Grimm she'd slain on this bloody night. And yet they still kept on coming, more of them, always.

More.

And more.

And even more.

They just wouldn't end, they had no damn limit! Beowulfs, Ursas, Deathstalkers, Nevermores, Nuckleavees, Griffiths, more types than she could name.

Taking the brief moment of respite, Weiss looked around. They had been fighting for nearly five hours straight, their numbers were dwindling slowly but surely, the same could not be said for the Grimm, they were absolutely unrelenting.

Her rapier's tip quickly found its way into an Ursa's skull, the foolish creature thought it could sneak up behind her just because she was slightly out of focus.

That was the biggest problem, it thought.

These Grimm were smart, not necessarily old, but at least old enough to think before charging mindlessly into the fray. How on Remnant did Salem manage to have so many of them?

A golden flame contrasting the darkness of Grimm suddenly came into Weiss's view, rising high in the air before plummeting down with the force of a thousand huntsmen, sending Grimm flying in every direction.

Yang was still kicking ass, apparently.

That move was always a favorite of hers, and Weiss could see why. Not only admittedly visually breathtaking, but also extremely effective.

Weiss noticed a change in the air after Yang's spectacle, the huntsmen around saw what she had done, and no matter how minor it may be, it gave them hope, it reminded them that they weren't alone, that they were fighters.

The former heiress took a deep breath and steadied herself again, if she were to die here, she wouldn't do so before taking down another thousand Grimm with her.

"You're absolutely insane, you know that, right?"

"I'd be insane if I sit around and do nothing."

"There has to be a better plan than throwing yourself into a death arena!"

Alright, maybe Weiss had a point with that remark, still, that wouldn't even put a grain of doubt into Blake's mind, she had to do this and could not come up with any better ideas.

"I still don't understand why you want to go alone," Jaune added from the other side of the room, finally mustering up enough courage to interrupt the argument between the two of them. Who could blame him? Weiss was terrifying when angry whilst Blake never relented if she knew she was right, an argument between them was a true recipe for disaster, even the gods would tremble at the sight.

Or at least that's what Jaune told himself when Blake's eye suddenly focused on him.

"Because you're still healing, and so Weiss needs to stay with you."

"That is the single most stupid reason I've ever heard!" Weiss snapped, Jaune mentally thanked the gods for the fact that neither Jade nor her son were here to witness this.

Yes, even the poor need to make money somehow, turns out that Jade worked as a housekeeper for a few of the well-off locals. They'd discovered that during the past four days, which had gone by quite fast. Her son, on the other hand, had school to attend.

Well, they call it a school, but from Jaune's perspective, it looked more like a small and barely-maintained building where children would go with their books- or what remained of their books so they could study.

With all that said, Jaune couldn't help but agree with Weiss, Blake's reason was pretty damn stupid.

The problem here was that Blake isn't stupid, which led him to question this whole situation, was Blake hiding something or merely looking out for them? A few years ago, he'd have opted for the first option for sure, but now? He'd be more inclined to believe the latter.

"I'm with Weiss on this one. That's no reason for you to go alone. Besides, my leg is almost back to normal, I can take care of myself." Jaune spoke out again, Weiss stood next to him, arms crossed and nodding her approval to his words. Blake, on the other hand, couldn't help but sigh. She was going up against a gang, or maybe even a cult, all while she only knew the bare minimum about them.

Their numbers could be in the dozens or hundreds, hell, would it be too much of a stretch if she said a thousand? They had to be a lot to cover all of Vacuo, after all. She also had no idea how well they fought. Sure, she already fought a couple and they were below par at best. But could she judge all of them based off of the couple she's fought?

There was still a chance that those were merely the rabble. What if they had training regimes, like in the White Fang? They would pose much more of a threat if that was the case.

Then again, they could also be pretty weak. They do kidnap the homeless, poor, or children. In other words, those who cannot defend themselves. Wouldn't that be an attestation to their weakness?

Blake snapped herself out of her own thoughts, it was no use thinking about all of that, better to go in blind and cautious than assume the good and go in brashly only to have it all snap back right at you.

With all that said, Blake knew how dangerous her plan was, and how absolutely maniacal it must sound. She wouldn't- couldn't drag Jaune and Weiss into this. Not just for them, but for all of Remnant.

Blake wasn't naive enough to think that this will be a walk in the park for her. She knew the dangers and accepted them, she was also sure that both Jaune and Weiss would accept them if it meant that they could watch her back. That, however, was the only problem she had.

The three of them were the only ones to know about the future and the only ones with a chance to change it. Meaning that if the three of them were to die, it would be the same old future all over again. She couldn't let that happen.

So, these two would have to suck it up and accept that she's going alone, for the sake of Remnant. Even if it is going to take a lot of convincing.

Blake took a deep breath, might as well just tell them why she really wants to go alone and get this over with.

It was late in the evening when Jade finally returned from her work, her son with her.

He always came back with her, even with the fact that he finishes school late in the afternoon. The trio of huntsmen could understand why he returns with his mother, though. She was grateful for their help so far, that much was obvious, the problem was that they were still strangers to her for the most part, and although they were definitely on her good side, she still could never leave her son alone with them.

Understandable, he was the only family she had. Thankfully, the nature of her work helped her out a lot with keeping an eye on him.

She'd always try to clean two different houses each day for more pay, that meant that she had the opportunity to finish cleaning a house, go to her son's school to pick him up before going to another house and cleaning it as well, all while she could keep an eye on him. Then she'd return home with him.

The trio was never sure if that was necessary, but if it was what made her and her son comfortable then who were they to speak?

Jade closed the door behind her after making sure her son was inside as well, it didn't take her long to notice the thick air.

And the fact that Weiss was pissed off, like a lot.

"Hello... is everything okay?" She dared ask.

Weiss- who was sitting on one of the beds pondering her frustration- gave no answer, Blake was sitting next to her, looking sort of tired, but not the physically tired kind of tired, she just looked... mentally exhausted, like she had been arguing all day or something. Jaune, on the other hand, was the only one standing up, he took a moment but he was finally the one to reply. "Everything's fine, we were just planning things, you know, huntsmen stuff gets exhausting after a while."

Alright, well, there was nothing wrong with that then, was there? Jade told herself, she didn't really know if that was all there is to it, but she needn't ask more. "I've brought the ingredients for tonight's dinner, I'll prepare it right away." She said, attempting a smile to cheer things up.

Jaune smiled back gratefully, Jade might be shy but she sure as hell had a good heart. She'd insisted that she needed to repay them all somehow.

Lien was definitely off the table, they could never take money from someone already struggling so much to begin with. Besides, Weiss managed to make a decent amount of Lien doing minor tasks around town, slaying a few Grimm and such. It was enough to pay the hotel owner so they could stay for long without worrying and also to buy the supplies Jade used to make food.

Turns out, she's a damn good cook. Even if all they had to cook the food was the barely working kitchen in the hotel, which wasn't even in their room. Instead, it was all the way downstairs and next to the reception.

"Mom, can I stay here, please?" Armani spoke out, tugging on Jade's sleeve. He had expressed his dislike of the kitchen before, said it was always so hot in there.

"Armani, I-" Jade looked towards the trio, she knew she might be paranoid, they've never even shown the slightest of interest in doing anything malevolent to both her or her son, in fact, it was the exact opposite, they mostly tried to make them feel as comfortable and safe as possible.

Still, to leave her son alone in any place that wasn't school? She didn't know if she could, even if she was still going to be in the same building.

"We can watch over him," Blake spoke out, getting off the bed. "You won't be that long anyway, right?"

Truth be told, Blake was desperate to do anything other than... well, doing nothing. Weiss has been silent for a while, which probably meant she was brewing up some new arguments in her mind, Blake wanted nothing to do with that, she'd already made it clear she's going alone. Weiss could come up with all the clever arguments she wants, it's not gonna matter. And if babysitting Armani for a while might save her from hearing those arguments when Weiss finally decides it's time for another round, she'd do it gladly.

Jade, though, was unsure of what to say. What on Remnant can she even say? That she doesn't trust them enough to watch over her son for a while even though they'd saved both of them and provided them a place to stay? It sounds like something a huge and unappreciative jerk would say.

Then again... this was her son.

Jade let the voice of reason take over her mind for a moment, there was no way these people were bad. "Alright, but please take care."

The voice of reason wasn't wrong, thankfully. Jade came back into the room holding a hot pot of spiced rice with meat, only to find young Armani sat down and speaking with the trio, he was asking something about Grimm at the moment she walked in, curiosity filled his eyes. It looked like even Weiss was dragged into the conversation.

"I'm back." She spoke out, earning their attention.

Armani was quick to smile. "Mom, they were just telling me that there are different types of Grimm!"

Jade- although just a little suspicious of why they'd be talking about Grimm- still wondered how her son didn't know that fact already, was she supposed to have told him somehow?

Well, when she thought about it, it was no surprise he knew so little, he never actually saw a Grimm. And he was most fortunate for that fact.

He'd asked what Grimm looked like before but she gave him simple answers, such as that they resembled scary versions of animals he already knew, and that they were big, muscly, dark, and bad.

"Well, maybe you could tell me about it later?" Jade replied with a slight smile, setting the pot down on the table but not before placing a rusted trivet under it to refrain from burning said table. "Everyone, help yourselves." She added, smile widening a little further.

And they did just that, soon enough, each had a plate of the food. Sadly, the table was not big enough for them all to sit down and eat, nor were there enough chairs, and so they just opted to do like the last few days and spread out over the room. Jaune sat on one bed, next to him was Blake, she had one leg over the other and set her bowl on it as she ate. Weiss took one of the two empty chairs while Jade and her son found their spot on the other bed.

Weiss's mind was elsewhere while they all ate, she was frustrated with both the fact that Blake was going alone and the fact that none of them knew exactly what she'd be up against, it was all so reckless.

It seemed that she was also failing to hide her concern even now, as she noticed Jade look her way, seemingly concerned but too shy to ask what is wrong. Weiss tried to smile to wash her concerns away, although she seemingly failed, as it didn't take long for Jade to muster up the courage to ask.

"Is there something bothering you, Weiss?" She spoke.

Weiss didn't know if she should actually give an answer to that. It might look like she was frustrated but she was honestly more worried than anything else.

Evidently, she didn't need to give an answer, as Blake took that responsibility on herself. "She's frustrated that I'm being reckless."

Jade blinked twice, confused. "Reckless?" She simply asked.

Right, they didn't really tell Jade about this whole thing yet, they didn't want to until they had a plan they agreed on. Now that the thing stopping them from telling her was out of the way, she probably would appreciate knowing.

"I'm going to infiltrate the Ntah's hideout," Blake spoke.

"Y-You'll what?!" The usually calm and temperate woman seemed to lose her grip on her voice as she practically yelled in surprise.

"Someone's got to put an end to them," Blake said, maintaining composure.

"N-no, you don't understand. You can't, there's too many of them, that isn't reckless, it's- it's suicide."

Well, that just means Blake's got another mission to add to her already illustrious list of suicide-missions. Great.

Besides, at least now Jade confirmed that their numbers are indeed huge. Maybe Blake could ask more things about them? Just to be ready.

"Those are the kind of things I'm trained to do, Jade. Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"Well, I for one completely agree with Jade, it is-"

Blake interrupted Weiss before she could continue. "Weiss, don't start again, please."

The former heiress harumphed in disapproval.

"Jade, what can you tell me about the Ntah? Things that could help me out, preferably."

"No- no, you can't-"

"Please, Jade, I'll be going no matter what anyone says," Blake said, interrupting once more.

Jaune spoke his mind. "I mean, if even Weiss couldn't convince her then I doubt anyone can. It's a waste of time to try and change her mind." Was what he said.

Despite Jaune's words, Jade had half a mind to simply protest again, although a look from Blake that was somehow both sharp and pleading convinced her to do otherwise. "W-well, assuming you're inside their... well, wherever they hide. You'd need to watch out for the ones with blue tattoos on their arms."

"Why them especially?" Blake queried.

"We don't know exactly what's the difference, but it is rare that we see the ones with the tattoos on the surface, all we know is that when they do come out and 'recruit' they are a lot tougher to deal with."

"So they are most likely trained in some way or another?"

"I don't know exactly, but that might be the case. The tattoos could be signifying a higher rank."

Well, it was beneficial even if it wasn't exactly the case, what Jade said won't only let Blake keep a mental note of who to watch out for more in her mind, it also- assuming that it was true, told her that there was a good chance that there is some form of organization and order in the Ntah, This could also mean that there are different ranks among their members. Similar to the White Fang.

"What else could you tell me?"

"Not much, sadly. I've already told you most of what I know about them before." Well, there may actually be a few things she's forgetting, but she was not to blame, she was still having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that Blake is planning to take on the most dangerous people in Vacuo on her own.

But, not wanting to disappoint, Jade spoke out again. "Well, m-maybe you should wait a while, I could try to learn more about them for the next few days, you'd at least be more prepared." Was her suggestion, not only did it make sense in her mind, but it would also give Blake a little more time to think this all through, maybe she wanted to back out but didn't realize it yet?

"Mom, is she going to look for dad?" Spoke young Armani before Blake could answer, his words caused an understandable shock to the trio of huntsmen, Jade looked speechless as well, which was strange because, despite her shyness, she always had a tendency to answer sooner rather than later.

But now? She looked absolutely lost. As if she could give no right answer. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Weiss, Blake, and Jaune dared not speak. She eventually managed to force the words out of her throat. "N-no, sweetie, I'm sorry but I don't think Blake can look for daddy. And she doesn't know what he looks like so I doubt she'd recognize him."

The kid let out a low disappointed sigh as he looked back down to focus on his bowl of food. By now, the trio was even more speechless than before. What happened was pretty obvious, Jade's partner didn't die or just leave. He's one of the unfortunate victims of the Ntah.

Blake couldn't imagine just how hard it must have been on Jade and her boy. Those Ntah were a damn nightmare, to separate a family heartlessly like that...

This only fueled Blake's anger and told her that this should be done sooner rather than later. The longer she waits the more families that will end up this way or even worse. No one deserves that fate.

No one at all.

Another two days passed as Blake edged closer to the time she's supposed to 'Infiltrate' the Ntah hideout. In fact, the date was today, or, to be more precise, tonight.

She'd done her best to prepare, her body was in better shape than before and her mind finally started to come to terms with the fact that she is in a world where she wasn't even born yet.

Not for a few months, anyway.

The most shocking part of acclimatizing to a new world is actually how easy it is. There was nothing world-shattering about it. She was here, alive, and all the world didn't really care.

Well, to be honest, she did sometimes feel considerably weird, as if she didn't belong, but the reason for that was most likely related to the great difference of technology between this age and hers.

She'd gotten used to living without technology, she had to. The last few months of the fight against Salem saw all power plants in the cities crumble, anything electricity-related was no longer an option.

Although that didn't make her life now any less weird. Technology was something Blake associated with cities and civilization, she could get used to it not being there if those two things did not exist. But now? She was very much in a civilization, yet she saw nothing of the technology she associates with that word. The closest thing to what they had in the future was what looked like a prototype of the scroll.

It was small, had no colors, and wasn't even touch screen. It used buttons.

Buttons!

Gods, that's just horrible.

But, to be fair, all the crucial technology from her time was already present, which made sense. Cars were there, although they were a pretty rare sight thanks to the conditions in Vacuo. The CCT towers were obviously there, and many other things. Everything was fairly normal, it made adapting easier than she'd have thought it would be.

It didn't, however, make the impending feeling of doom feel any less.

Blake stood in the house, running the plan through her head for the final time. It was all so reckless, every single detail about that plan is absolutely ridiculously reckless. She tried to not think about that as she finished reciting it for the final time.

Weiss stood close, possibly more nervous than Blake herself. She might not be coming to face the Ntah with her, but she still had her role, and it was a pretty damn important one.

Jaune looked out of the one window they had, keeping an eye out for any Ntah, they should be out by now, as it was nearing midnight.

"Alright, let's do it. I'm ready." Blake spoke out, much to the frightment of Jade- who was sitting on the bed waiting as the unnerving situation ate away at her composure.

Weiss was, by now, fully committed- for how can she not be? Her friend's safety was on the line. She'd already tried to talk her out of it but failed, the next best thing is to be committed to do her part and do it flawlessly, that's all she could do to make sure Blake was safer.

"Okay, I'm ready too," Weiss spoke, she switched her eyes to Jade. "Be safe until I'm back, Jaune will watch over both of you." She said before her eyes darted to Jaune, he gave her and Blake a reassuring nod.

"Kick some cult ass for me, Blake." He added jokingly. Blake nodded slightly and switched her gaze to Jade, she didn't really know what to say to her, she was never good in these kinds of situations. And so, she settled for a wave. Thankfully, Jade didn't seem to mind and returned the wave, rather shakily, though. She was still wavered by all of this, unsurprisingly.

"Tell Armani I said goodbye," Blake said before making her way out of the room. Weiss followed behind her.

It really didn't take long, not at all. The duo could spot a group of armed men in the distance. Weiss didn't waste any time, quickly disappearing behind a nearby dumpster. Blake stood steadfast, even as the group of men in the distance spotted her.

Thankfully, Weiss was fast enough to hide before they could spot her as well.

Blake checked on Gambol Shroud, it was strapped to her belt. Still broken, but it did make her feel safer.

The men approached, there were nine, four of which had rifles.

"Would you look at that, a stray cat. Should've stayed in your little hotel." One of the men spoke, his rifle pointed towards Blake. She resisted frowning on him calling her a cat.

Actually, she didn't bother speaking in general. What could she say that would match her plan? She could never stress how bad she was with words, anything she would say in this situation would result in a fight breaking out.

Thankfully, Blake knew that aspect of herself and therefore resisted the urge to speak.

"And is that your... what is that thing? It's cute." The man ridiculed as the tip of his rifle pointed to Gambol Shroud. "So tiny, but it's sharp, so we can't have that." His rifle made a ticking sound as he turned the safety off. "Throw it away."

"Okay. Just take it easy... I'll throw it away." Blake spoke, slowly moving one hand to untie her weapon while her other was completely visible to show that she isn't planning anything. A moment later, her weapon was on the ground.

"Good, now hand behind your head and down on your knees. Quickly now!" The same man ordered as all of his group approached menacingly, one of them taking Blake's weapon off the ground.

Blake complied with the order, they quickly surrounded her. It didn't take long for them to tie both her legs and arms, then they taped her mouth shut. "Jonah and I will take her back to the base, you take the rest and search the building." The leader spoke, raising his rifle high in the air.

Blake's mind was a mess in that exact moment. Everything was going according to plan, but then he just had to order that they search the building.

She had two options, either to completely ruin the whole plan by resisting now or to trust Jaune to be able to protect the hotel.

To make it all worse, she had a split second to decide, as the leader's rifle was coming down to crash against the side of her head, undoubtedly to knock her unconscious.

In the end, she trusted Jaune and concentrated all her aura away from her head so it would be vulnerable. A second later, Blake was on the ground, senseless.

Weiss noted that Blake wasn't shying away from the plan and decided to do the same. She watched as two of the men stuffed Blake into a large sack, the others made their way inside the building, she silently prayed that Jaune's leg was fully healed. There was no going back now.

The two men started moving, Weiss followed suit silently under the cover of darkness. Like a snow wolf chasing its prey. They were not getting away from her.

Jaune was ready. He saw everything through the windows, taking slight comfort as he spotted Weiss following behind Blake in her unconscious state. Such was the amount of trust Blake was willing to give to her friends. And Jaune knew she would be in safe hands, Weiss would, as always, do her absolute best to deliver.

Now, though, was his role in the plan. In an ideal world where everything went exactly to plan, the leader of the group wouldn't have ordered the building to be searched and would have been satisfied with Blake as his catch of the night.

But this wasn't an ideal world, no world is ever ideal. And so the group had made preparations for things to go south, just in case.

Those preparations consisted of a tall blond guy. Jaune himself. He was to stand in the Ntah's way should they dare let their curiosity get the better of them.

Well, they just did.

Jaune made his way down the stairs after advising Jade to remain silent no matter what and to keep her sleeping son from doing anything but the same. He was met with seven men, three of whom had rifles. His hand took comfort in his sword's grip.

They had their weapons aimed at him, and the ones without ranged weapons took a ready stance, there was collective anger when they noticed Jaune's Atleasian uniform.

"Atlas scum, eh? You've about three seconds to get on your knees and start giving me reasons not to kill you right here right now." One of them spoke, probably second in charge after the original leader left.

"Sorry, but I won't be doing that," Jaune replied, a year ago, one would most likely think that his voice was too scrawny to sound threatening. Now, though. Well, there was a more than considerable difference.

There was weight to each word that escaped his mouth, filled with confidence backed with the seriousness of his tone. "You might want to get out, though."

"Heh, think you can give me advice? Last I checked, we had the guns here." A tick followed his sentence, coming from his rifle. Meaning that the safety was off.

"It wasn't advice," Jaune said, his hands reached to his side as his blade slid through its hilt, he extended it forward and took his stance. "It was a threat."

This must be one well-hidden base, why else would the men have moved through the towns and into the deserts of Vacuo?

Weiss cringed as the sack containing her friend kept thumbing on the rocky ground, thank the gods for aura, without it, Blake would wake up with one hell of a bruising problem.

It was very challenging to follow them, though. Sneaking through the desert was no easy thing, especially when it is at night, meaning that Weiss could barely see in front of her.

Still, Weiss managed to keep up until the very end. That was when they reached an oasis with a small, even tiny lake. Weiss watched carefully as the two men stood, doing nothing. A few seconds of silence later and she could hear a strange sound. As if something was being drained.

She focused harder, trying to make out more in the darkness. That was when the former heiress noticed the water in the small lake disappear. They had a draining system!

Forcing herself to sit tight, Weiss watched as the two men went down into the hole that just a few seconds ago contained water. She lost sight of them but could hear the sound of creaking coming from bellow, a door or something of the like was opening then closing. Finally, the drainers turned again as the water level started to rise.

So that was the entrance to their hideout? No wonder they were never caught before, this was genius! Well, if the term was put loosely, that is.

Weiss forced all the thoughts back into her head, she needed to focus. Now her part was done, she'd followed Blake and made sure to find the entrance to the hideout. Now she had to make her way back to Jaune and share the information.

And so, the White-haired woman begrudgingly left her friend behind, wishing her good luck. She was now to proceed with the other parts of the plan.

The parts she hadn't told Blake about.

"I give you twenty-four hours, Blake. Anything more and I swear I'm following you inside."

Jaune dodged swiftly to the right, sparing himself from the incoming club strike. These men were bad, very bad at holding their own. But he couldn't deny that they definitely had some sort of training, even if very bare.

He could make that fact out of their stances alone. They knew how to take an appropriate combat stance, yet it wasn't natural. It was as if they forced their bodies to obey them. Their own confidence in their skill was limited, too. That was evident thanks to the look of shock on their faces when Jaune knocked their leader out first.

And it wasn't even anything deadly, he broke both his kneecaps. That's all.

He'll live.

Their strikes were not clumsy, just very... unsure. The technique was there but it was hindered by their hesitation. Jaune noted that as he elbowed another right to his nose, it broke immediately and the man fell flat on his back.

At first, they were too hesitant to open fire with their rifles. Now, though? The sheer panic they felt as they saw him easily surpass their second partner was close to forcing the first echoes of gunfire.

Jaune didn't want to give them the chance, though. He took a hold of the chair next to him with his free hand, he pushed all his weight into the throw. The chair collided with one of the two remaining gunmen's chest with force enough to send him over the counter behind him.

The other gunman seemed to panic even more, figuring out that he was the next target. His finger pulled the trigger without much care, blasting in Jaune's general direction. The huntsman rolled out of the way easily, even if he could have just tanked the bullets with his aura, it would really sting.

Jaune found himself behind a table, he flipped it over to use as cover before he pushed it forward, charging towards the gunman. The bullets pierced the low-quality wood but that still managed to reduce the damage. Jaune grunted as he clashed against the gunman, throwing him against the wall with enough force to immediately knock him out.

Finally, now there were only four left. None of whom had firearms.

The blond man cut them down one by one, he wounded them badly but did not take it as far as killing them. One received a stab to the thigh while another suffered a deep slash across his shoulder, the last two shared a similar fate, as Jaune managed to cut off a finger or two from their hands when he deflected their strikes. Their sword technique was truly horrible.

Finally, it all came to an end and Jaune could see them all scurry off, some with broken bones and others with deep cuts, they all had one thing in common.

It was that they were hurt.

A lot.

And from Jaune's perspective, they deserved even worse. They got off easy for bastards who take it as far as kidnapping children.

With all that said, he couldn't help but sigh when he took a look around the place. It was a mess. The little furniture that the hotel owner had was mostly broken, blood covered the walls and floor alike all while he could see a couple of fingers lying about.

It would take a while to clean this place up. And a good portion of money, money that the hotel owner definitely did not have. Meaning that funding the repair of this place was now their responsibility, as they were the ones responsible for destroying it in the first place.

"Gave you any trouble?" A familiar voice spoke to Jaune, he looked towards the entrance to the hotel and found Weiss coming inside.

"Not at all." He replied, sheathing his sword. "How were things on your end?"

"Quiet and smooth, interesting, as well."

"Good, tell me what you've learned." He paused and looked around. "Can you help me clean this up first?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You did this."

"C'mon Weiss, don't be like that."

"Fine, I'll tell you as we clean up." She gave in, kneeling down to grab the chair on the ground. It was a miracle that it wasn't broken already, although she could feel it wobbling in her hands. "How hard did you throw this thing?"

Jaune ignored the question as he looked around for a piece of cloth to wipe the blood with. He found one soon enough. "So, where are they hiding?"

Weiss switched her attention to the broken lantern on the floor, she knelt down to pick up the broken shards of glass. "It's no wonder nobody ever found them. They're not underground, they are underwater." She started explaining, Jaune gave her a confused look. She decided to elaborate further details before he would ask for it. "Well, not exactly underwater, I'm not sure of that part yet. The lake is more likely there just as cover."

"You're losing me. What lake?"

"A small lake, almost too small to be natural, it's right in the middle of the desert. I'm thinking that it isn't natural because there's no oasis around it." She explained before adding more. "They stood in front of it for a little while, then something started draining the water."

Jaune nodded, thinking that he got the just of it. "So they most likely have some sort of tunnel system that leads deeper underground. They'd need to if the whole fighting arena thing is true." He spoke as he finished cleaning all the blood, he took a bag and went to collect the fingers on the floor.

Weiss noticed as he picked them up and nearly gagged. "Disgusting."

"I mean, I honestly didn't even mean to. They were just so nervous they practically ran into Corcea Mors." He stated, throwing the bag outside the window and into the garbage bin outside.

"Well, let's hope all of them are that horrible at fighting, for Blake's sake."

Jaune nodded, although there was still a certain thing he couldn't refrain from asking about. "So, you're planning to let her get comfy in there?"

Weiss looked away, concentrating her gaze to the floor, as if looking for something. "Whatever do you mean by that?" She replies.

"Look, Weiss. There's no way you're expecting me to believe that you aren't going in after her sooner or later."

Weiss bit her lip. She wasn't one to lie when caught in a trap. "Yes, I will go after her at some point, I have to. And it isn't because I don't trust her to-"

"I know, I know," Jaune interjected, he didn't doubt that Weiss had the utmost trust in Blake's abilities. With that said, he himself is starting to get sick at the idea of Blake running into more trouble than she could handle. "I was asking because I want to come too. But I'm guessing you weren't planning on telling me, were you?"

Weiss sighed. "No, I wasn't."

"Why?"

Weiss tried to find a way to say this without sounding like a hypocrite. Sadly, it didn't seem like there was one. "If something goes wrong in there with Blake, there's a good chance it does with me too. I don't want to expose you to such danger, you'd be the last hope for humanity..."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Your reason sounds very similar to the one Blake had for going alone." He sighed. "I understand why you're thinking like that. But Blake is my friend too, I need to come with you."

"Hey, wake up. Can you hear me? Wake up." Someone spoke, Blake could hear the words but she didn't register them, still half unconscious. "Wake up!" The same voice said, this time followed by the slightest of touches to her shoulder.

Blake's eyes snapped open, she immediately tried to roll backwards, only to find that she was sitting with her back against a wall. She did the next best thing, quickly rolling sideways, she stood up and took a careful look on whoever it was that got too close to her in her vulnerable state. She saw a man with a thick beard, a bit on the old side.

"Hey, hey! Calm down." The man spoke.

"Who the hell are you?" Blake replied, tense. "Where the hell are we?" She added.

"Calm down I tell you, you're going to bring the guards!"

Blake looked around, finding the answer to her second question on her own. They were in a cell. A very large one, containing at least twenty people by the looks of it.

"I am Gavin. We're stuck underground. Happy with the temporary answer? Now sit down and let me talk."

Yeah, no sitting down just yet. She wasn't sure if it was safe to do so. Although admittedly, the most likely scenario is that the majority of the people inside the cell are just like her, prisoners. They were most likely harmless. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

She was, however, willing to hear him out. "Go ahead." She said, taking a cautious step towards him all while scanning around her more closely. Most of the people did indeed look harmless enough, but looks could be deceiving, plus, there were definitely a few rough faces about.

"Sit your ass down or I'm not explaining anything, you're lucky enough I woke you up before some guard decided to throw you in the arena while you're half-conscious." He said sternly.

"Arena? So the rumors are true, there's a death arena here?"

"Keep your voice down, idiot! You're gonna get our whole cell killed." Was his answer. "Sit down, shut up, and let me talk. Don't say another word before I'm finished."

Blake resisted the urge to ignore the request and ask her own questions instead. But the guy seemed serious, he wouldn't bother with her anymore if she didn't listen. Besides, he's offering to talk anyway, maybe she'll get what she wants out of him.

And so she swallowed her curiosity and sat down on the floor, the wall against her back. She kept her guard, just in case.

"Good. First off, watch what you're saying around. You saying 'death arena' could have very easily gotten you and several people killed. These people, the Ntah. They're not a gang, not crime lords, not slave traders, they're a cult. All of them are insane, they call their arena the 'cleansing grounds' and if they hear you call it anything other than that, they'll kill you. They take that shit seriously."

Blake nodded along. It was as she feared, this is no ordinary gang. "Cleansing grounds, why call it that?"

"Because that's exactly what they consider it, a cleansing. It happens twice every day, they-"

"All right, everyone, it is time to choose the most fortunate of you!" A voice rang from outside the cell, Blake looked to the source. Five men were coming towards the cell door. One of them had a huge scar running across his left cheek, he was leading the other four. "Turn the power off!" He says out loud.

Blake notices a red bulb outside turn green after that. The man immediately inserts a key when it happens.

"Stay silent and they might just ignore you," Gavin whispered to Blake, eyes fixed on the ground.

"You, get up! You are fortunate!" The scarred man yells, almost in joy, all while he points at the person he was talking to with his rifle.

Blake sees the person getting off the ground without showing any form of resistance, he slowly walks to the door, where the other four armed men waited.

Their leader, though, was moving slowly around the whole cell with a huge smile on his face. She could notice the pure horror on some of the people when he so much as gazes their way. It was like watching a crime lord in a movie. His movement alone made everyone uncomfortable.

"Who might be the other three who are most fortunate today...?" He said loudly, she wasn't sure if he was trying to scare them or just felt like saying that.

"You!" He suddenly points to a big man. Broad shoulders, definitely over six-and-a-half feet tall. Very stocky. "I like you, you are most fortunate today." He says. The huge man did a pretty good job of hiding it, but Blake could feel the fear taking a grip over him. She wondered if the scarred man could too, as his smile only grew wider when the man he chose stood up and walked to the door.

"Who else... who else." He said as he made his way to the other edge of the room. "Who else... who else." He kept saying it, over, and over, and over again. The whole place was unbelievably tense. He suddenly pointed at a woman. "You, you are most fortuna-"

"No, please, no! Not me. Please, I beg you!" The same woman suddenly cried out, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Please, please not me!" She said again, bawling her eyes out.

Blake felt pity wash over her, the woman looked scared, terrified, as if all her reality shattered all of a sudden.

"You- you do not feel fortunate?" The scarred man said, almost shocked and even sad.

"N-no, I don't, please-"

He didn't let her complete the sentence, taking a quick step forward, he knelt down and stared her in the eyes. It was strange, so strange. He looked as if he pitied her. As if he genuinely felt sad for her. He took her hands in his and hushed her gently. "It is okay, it is okay. I understand." He said. "You are not among the fortunate, I appreciate your honesty."

"T-thank you, thank you so much. I-"

What followed her uncompleted sentence was dreadful. Blake saw as the man stuck a huge knife into the woman's throat, he did it so fast and so unexpectedly that a collective few yelped at the sight.

"Shhh, shhh, it is okay. I understand your decision. Sleep now." He said, disturbingly calm, as if he was caressing someone until they fell asleep. The gurgles of blood and final struggles of the woman contradicted his words in every sense possible.

She finally fell dead. The man pulled his knife out and gently laid the woman down on the ground. "You were most unfortunate, but alas. You have made your choice." He said, head turning to look at one of the men that accompanied him. "Take her body and bury it on the surface. She sadly does not deserve a burial close to the holy grounds."

The man complied quickly, scooping the body up in his hands and taking it outside.

"Now, back to the matters at hand." The scarred man spoke out, earning Blake's attention again. She watched as he made his way closer to her side. He stopped midway and looked to a young woman next to him. He knelt down slowly. "Do you feel fortunate?"

This was sick, incredibly sick. Even for someone like Blake who thought she'd seen it all. The woman was obviously terrified, she didn't feel fortunate, she felt trapped. She could either say yes and be taken away or say no and suffer a similar fate to the person before her.

She finally managed to muster the courage to speak. "Y- yes, I feel fortunate."

The man smiled at that, now looking honestly happy. "Yes, yes. Those words are like music to my ears." He extended a hand, the woman took it and he slowly pulled her to her feet. "Please, join the other two." He spoke, gently pushing her in their general direction.

He left her soon after that and turned around once more. "Just one more fortunate soul left here." He said, taking a good look around. His eyes slowly found their way to Gavin. He smiled and made his way to him.

Blake looked at him all the way, he suddenly switched his eyes to her. Only now did she realize that she was the only one without her eyes glued to the floor.

"You, lady. I see pain in your eyes, pain and suffering, exhaustion and self-hate. But no fear." He knelt down in front of Blake, obnoxiously close. "Do you fear me?"

Now that he was this close, his face practically a few inches away from Blake's own. She could get a good look at him. His scar was deep, there was no way it was ever going to heal. He had composed brown eyes and medium-length black hair that was left loose.

Blake gave his question just a moment's thought. "No."

"Yes. Any other answer would be a lie! I could see it so clearly! You are fortunate, so fortunate! Come, come!" He extended a hand for her to grab.

This was bad, very bad. She didn't know enough about this place to already get sent somewhere else. And if her worst speculations are true, she was getting sent to the infamous 'cleansing grounds.'

Still, she didn't have much of a choice, any wrong moves now and she could easily find herself dead. She had no idea how many guards were in the area. And so, even if she was confident that she could take this man and the rest of the guards in the cell. It was practically guaranteed that more would show up if she does try and do anything.

And so, Blake pushed herself off the ground, refusing to take his hand. He did nothing but smile as she stopped next to the other three that were chosen. "Very well, we have chosen four from this cell. I shall lead them to the grounds, you choose the remaining from the other cells." He said, handing his keys to another of his companions.

"Follow me. We must not tarry!"

I sincerely hope you've enjoyed the chapter as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Apologies if anything slipped through the editing. I don't have a beta and I'm too busy to look for one. Although if one is interested, do PM me. (That was a cry of help, please save me.)

In any case. I wanted to thank all followers and reviewers. The reviews on chapter 2 were amazing and I remember having the widest smile on my face as I read them. I love it when people give suggestions and speculate.

Some speculations were sound, others were a bit off. And one specifically made me feel extremely stupid, it was one that suggested Armani actually being Adam. And, to be honest. The reviewer was completely right with all their points. So props to you, and stupid me for creating a perfect setting for such an idea but not noticing at all.

In short, Armani isn't Adam, and I wish I'd have thought of something like that. But I didn't.

That's what's great about reviewers though, they always give ideas. And the writers take inspirations from those ideas more than one would think. (In my case at least.)

Much Love and stay hopeful!