Yo! Not a ton to say. Let's get into this chapter! Penultimate chapter in Haven!
Start Chapter 11
"Yang's gone!"
"Yes, Ruby, I can see that!"
They were holding up alright, all things considered. Mercury and Emerald had evidently been holding back even during the Vytal Festival, because they were both leagues better than they'd shown there.
Emerald was fast, and elusive, and persistent, whereas Mercury was fast, and elusive, and hit like a damned truck. It felt annoying to Weiss that they were both fast, and able to track and keep up with Ruby unless she was blitzing around with her semblance. They'd already knocked Yang out of the fight. If this kept going…
"Thou appear to be losing."
"Yes, Jaune, thank you for the very helpful comment."
"Truly, tis' nothing."
She would slap that man one day.
One day.
"Y'know," Ruby brought up again, and instantly, Weiss knew she was going to say something super dumb. "You should just give them that mirror; that would really make things a lot easier!"
"Did you not hear me when I talked about the whole 'not giving the evil mirror to the evil people' thing!?"
"Oh, right."
"How did–" Weiss took a shaky breath. "Alright, Ruby; how about for right now we focus on beating these idiots–"
"Hey!" Mercury called out.
"–and worry about this whole mirror thing in a bit?"
Ruby considered that for a moment.
"…I guess."
Weiss groaned. "Finally."
/
Outside the main hall of Haven Academy, Blake Belladonna was watching as the entire White Fang stood in stunned silence.
Their leader, Adam Taurus, had just been socked across the face.
She'd sort of expected them to open fire; that would've made the most sense. And yet, it seemed they were content to wait for Adam to issue orders on what to do. They turned to him, even sprawled out on the floor, and awaited his command.
"How'd that feel, asshole!?" Yang shouted out, a grim pleasure hanging about her crimson eyes.
Adam shook his head, massaging his jaw with one hand as he pushed himself to his feet. He glanced over at Yang, and then said, "It hurt. Quite a lot actually."
"Oh." Yang didn't really know what to say to that. "I'm uh… I'm glad. That's good."
"I'd prefer it if we could talk this out, instead of resorting to violence." Adam said, going against everything she'd ever known the man to stand for.
Yang's eyebrows traveled quite high on her head, and she turned to look at Blake in confusion.
"I don't know either."
"Uh, okay…" Yang pursed her lips. "So, uh… are you just like… chill now, or?"
"In a manner of speaking, I suppose you could say it that way." Adam spoke, although he was still massaging his jaw, opening it and closing it. Yang had probably fractured something there. He was taking that remarkably well. "I have found myself much slower to anger these days. Much quicker to set aside pain, and recognize the joys in life. But I would say that, ultimately, I have simply obtained a new perspective through which to view the world. I recognize that humans and faunus are not so different. That we share much in common. The same Remnant. The same air. The same sky."
"I feel like I've heard that quote before…" Yang's eyes narrowed.
"And in the end, that is what matters." Adam concluded, and it was a wonderful sentiment, just… not something Blake ever thought she'd be hearing from out of his lips. "But frankly, we needn't have such a discussion. Blake, you've shown that you're able to get over your prejudices quickly, and without hanging on to them like many people do."
"I didn't have any–" Blake stopped herself, and took a breath. "Y'know what? Sure, you're right."
"And Yang, I assume based on the fact that you and Blake are so close that you do not carry any such prejudices towards the Faunus?"
"Huh?" She looked around, seemingly caught on how odd a topic change this was. "Uh, no, of course not. I grew up in Patch; we had a pretty healthy faunus population."
"So, you were taught from a young age that faunus are just people, like you?"
"Yeah." Yang laughed. "Well, I mean, I never really had to be taught. There were faunus kids in my classes growing up, and we played and hung out the same as we did with the human kids. Plus, my dad was a Huntsman, and he never let anyone say anything bad about our faunus neighbors. Someone moved in and tried it once, but he got a whole group together and basically threatened to throw them all out on their asses if they didn't cut their shit out."
A few of the White Fang in the crowd laughed at that, and while Blake thought that was all well and good, she couldn't help but want to point out that these were the same people who had assaulted Beacon Academy and been a part of why Yang was now missing an arm. That had happened… at most eight months ago?
Was Blake the only one still thinking about this?
It felt like it.
"That's good to hear." Adam spoke, smiling. It was odd how just seeing the man's bare face, without the mask he'd grown so accustomed to wearing, made him look so much less terrifying. He seemed… well, like anyone else. "But I get a sense that that's not what you two really need to be worried about, is it?"
Yang and Blake looked between them, and seemed to both come to the conclusion that neither of them had any idea what the other was talking about.
"…Huh?" Blake muttered
"Yeah, I don't get it." Yang responded.
Adam chuckled. "I thought it would be obvious."
"I'm talking about how you're in love with one another."
/
Ozma bit down on his – Oscar's – lower lip as he deflected Leonardo's discus, Stalwart, from cutting across his face. The edge of it was razor sharp, but that wasn't what made it truly dangerous, no. That would've been the dust layered in the shield, which manifested in a glyph above it, and then fired a blast of dust-powered fire at Ozma's – Oscar's – face.
The fact that it struck him at all was a testament to how out of it he really was. He'd been distracted for days now, ever since he'd felt that sensation yet again, that ever familiar, but deeply tainted magic. Ever since he'd heard of a strange mirror in the possession of one of his students, slowly making its way towards them.
Towards him, it felt like.
He was an ancient enemy; the man pursuing them. Someone who Ozma had all but forgotten about until he'd heard the news. He hadn't believed it at first; no one would. It had, after all, been so long that Ozma had forgotten about it. His and Salem's first ever true battle alongside one another. It had all but faded from his memory, along with so many other memories of better times; of halcyon days.
But what Yang told them that Raven had seen…
It sounded familiar.
Disturbingly so.
He could remember so little of those days; before his death, and revival at Salem's hands. But he remembered that Salem had feared him. That he'd murdered her father, his own brother, in cold blood, and taken over the Kingdom. That he'd locked Salem, a young girl, away in a tower for what was supposed to be the rest of her life.
A man without mercy, or reason. Simply a warlord of death and decay.
/
"Thou shouldst attempt to dodge." Jaune supplied unhelpfully as Weiss took one of Mercury's kicks to the side of the face.
"Jaune," She rasped out. "I'm going to kill you if you say that again."
/
He needed to end this soon. Weiss was here, which meant the mirror was here as well. If the figure within was allowed to utilize the magics they possessed…
Ozma was not sure what the consequences would be, but that they would be bad went without saying.
On their next exchange, Ozma again tried to get through to his old friend.
"Don't you understand that there's more at stake here, Leonardo!?" Ozma shouted as he locked Long Memory against Stalwart, and the two briefly battled in a contest of strength. No matter if Ozma was back in a younger body, he had not yet been able to condition Oscar's muscles. He lost handedly in that particular competition.
Leonardo was older, yes, but he had been a beast of a man in his younger years. That strength had not yet entirely faded away.
Long Memory was batted from out of Ozma's hands, and he swore, even as he jumped backwards, and ran to retrieve it. Before he could make it there, a fist swung for his head from an unexpected angle, and he barely got his aura up in time before he was sent spiraling backwards.
He landed hard on the tile of Haven's floor, but knew he could not afford to stay down. He aura was still intact, and so he pushed himself up, and avoided the follow-up blow from…
"Hazel." Ozma sighed, shaking his head. "So, you're here."
"I am." Hazel didn't look happy. "And you're one to talk about there being 'more at stake'." Hazel swung out, and Ozma barely dodged beneath the swung arm, bulging with muscle. "There's always more at stake! People are sick, and tired, and hungry! There are homeless on the streets you don't do anything for! There are criminal organizations operating right under your very nose! But no, you're only ever focused on the landscape of Remnant! Your head's too high in the clouds to make out any of the people on the ground!"
Ozma gritted his teeth as he was buffeted backwards, though he kept hold of Long Memory this time. "And serving Salem helps these people!?"
Hazel huffed out a breath as he righted himself, and cracked his neck. "She is going to remake the world. One far better and kinder than this one. No more will people need to suffer as they have."
Ozma had heard it all before. Those who swore fealty to Salem – that weren't downright insane like Tyrian – normally had such lofty ambitions.
Of course… "She's lying to you! She's going to destroy the world!"
"This one, perhaps." Hazel, too lost to hear his words, shook his head. "This… remnant of what was before. But in its place, something greater will emerge. A world unbowed by its past; and a world of infinite possible futures!"
The man was completely caught in Salem's ideology; in her lie that she wanted to remake the world after its destruction. She didn't want that at all.
She merely wanted to die, no matter how that came about. She would burn this fetid rock to ash if it carried with it the slightest chance of her end.
But he didn't think he could possibly convince Hazel of such a thing. Not in the time – or lack thereof – that he possessed.
And so, he simply drew Long Memory back up, and waded back into the fore.
/
"I don't like this woman!"
"I'd hope not, Nora; given she nearly killed Pyrrha."
Cinder scoffed. "I did kill Pyrrha. How she's here right now is beyond me."
"I got better!" Pyrrha shouted back.
"Yeah!" Jasmine echoed. "What she said!"
Cinder just rolled her eyes. "You are all entirely ridiculous. You must understand that you children cannot possibly stand against the might of Salem, let alone me."
"Uh, don't you have your order reversed there?"
"No."
"Okay, a bit cocky." Nora muttered. "So, why are you even with Salem in the first place?"
"Power."
"Okay. Don't you have that, though?"
"What?"
"I mean, you wanted to be with her for the Maiden's power, right?" At Cinder's nod, Nora continued. "But now you have that. Do you really care all that much about whatever else it is she wants to do?"
"I want all of the Maiden's powers?"
"Wait, you can do that?"
"Like, just stack them all on one person?" Jasmine cut in.
"You'd think that would be dangerous." Pyrrha commented.
Cinder sat there a moment, thinking about it. "…I suppose I never did actually figure out what the same person having multiple Maiden's flames within them would do."
"So, what exactly is she offering you? Like, outside of you collecting the Maiden's powers, which you can always just do on your own."
"Nora, don't encourage her!" Jasmine groaned.
Cinder couldn't really conjure anything up. "I suppose nothing."
"Okay. And do you like working for her?"
"Define 'like'."
"Are you satisfied out of what you get out of the arrangement? Do you enjoy working with your coworkers?"
"Not particularly, and definitely not. If all of them were killed in a fire, I'd likely celebrate."
"Then why keep working for her?"
Cinder puckered her lips in thought as she rubbed at her chin idly with her singular good hand.
Then, she looked back up at Nora. "Are you… trying to talk me out of working for Salem right now?"
"Is it working?"
"…Keep talking."
/
"So, Yang, how did you feel when Blake left you back at Beacon?"
"Well…" Yang fidgeted in place a bit. "I was broken up, I guess. We'd grown so close so quickly, and I… I was gutted when she wasn't there."
Blake bit down on her bottom lip as she looked over at Yang. "I left to protect you, to–"
"Ah, ah, Blake." Adam interrupted her, holding a hand up towards her. "This isn't your turn to speak. We're hearing how Yang feels right now. Please, continue, Yang."
"Right." Yang licked at her lips, wetting them. "It's just… I was at my weakest, you know? I charged in to save you, and… and the next thing I knew, you were gone. I woke up in that medical camp… completely out of it, high on pain medication, and you were just… you weren't there. It was made worse because none of you were. Weiss had already been taken. Ruby was passed out from having used the Silver-Eyes, Qrow was trying to track down Cinder and finish her off in her weakened state… and there I was, just… left behind."
She met Blake's eyes, and Blake couldn't help but shrink back.
"It's just…" Yang continued. "I don't know. It felt like when you needed me, I was there, y'know? With the White Fang, I was there. At the dance, when you needed someone to talk you down, I was there. When you were fighting against Adam, and you were losing, I was there. And then… then when I needed you, you weren't."
Adam nodded his head. "And how did that make you feel, Yang?"
"Really shit, to be honest?" Yang tried for a laugh, but it was a weak thing, barely there. "I don't know. It felt like… like Blake didn't care about me, or–"
"I do care–"
"I know." Yang stopped Blake from interjecting this time. "I know you care about me. I'm just saying how it felt at the time. I realized you were probably just trying to protect me, or prove something to yourself. You did the same thing back at the docks, running off all on your own and trying to handle all the world's burdens. But… I don't know, I just thought we got past that."
"We… We did."
"Then what happened, Blake?"
"I…" She looked away, too ashamed. "I got scared." Her voice was tiny, barely there, but she had to say it. "And I know that's not an excuse, because you told me – the whole team told me – that we'd handle our problems together, but… I thought… I thought the fact that you got hurt was my fault. I thought that if I wasn't there… then there'd be no reason for anyone to ever try hurting you again."
"Blake, I…" Yang swallowed. "I'd rather lose my arm and have you with me than be perfectly healthy without you."
It was the first time Yang had ever said something quite so extreme to her. Blake hadn't at all expected it. Her breath caught in her throat, and she looked away, trying to regain her composure.
"…I'm sorry…" She whispered, barely loud enough to be audible.
Yang didn't say anything at first. She looked away as well, staring down at the carved stone that they were sat upon. She was twirling a small weed that poked up between two bricks in one finger, trying to find something to occupy herself.
Blake was right there with her.
"Blake, it's your turn, now." Adam said, and she briefly panicked, not knowing what she wanted to say. "Don't worry about trying to get everything right with what you're saying, alright? Just be true to your emotions, and the feelings that lurk within your heart. The rest will follow."
Blake took a moment to gather her thoughts. This was all a bit odd, this whole… what even was this, couple's counseling? They weren't even a couple! But… well, even if it was sort of coming out of nowhere, in the end, perhaps it would end up being just the thing they needed.
"It felt a bit like my time at Beacon was one long dream." Blake began. "I found myself learning to help people, instead of hurting them. I found myself placed on a team of people I came to genuinely care about and adore. I made friends, and for just a little while I was able to forget about the things that I'd done."
"It all came crashing down around me once reports that the White Fang were the ones robbing those stores came out. I realized that I hadn't managed to escape from my sins at all. I'd just been running away. And the moment I stopped running, they caught up to me."
"It was hard to see it as anything other than my fault. Even though I knew objectively that it wasn't, it felt like it was my responsibility to determine the truth of the matter. I was so sure that the White Fang weren't responsible, that someone was pinning the blame on them yet again. But no, it was them. And they'd become almost a mockery of the organization I'd once been a part of."
"It felt like all my worst fears made manifest; that we never stood for anything, that we'd always just been brigands in scary outfits, with fancy ideals that meant nothing. I was worried that Weiss was right. I couldn't rest, it felt like, until I had determined the truth of the matter. Ultimately, you had to be the one to talk me out of that. To save me from myself. When we stopped the White Fang's attack on Vale from Mountain Glenn, it felt like we'd done it. We'd stopped them."
She shook her head.
"And then the attack on Beacon happened."
A few of the White Fang at the back of the crowd shuffled awkwardly. One coughed.
"I probably don't need to say a lot about that. Having the White Fang show up again, and having Adam himself be the one to hurt you…" She looked up at Adam, and the man nodded towards her, as if encouraging her to continue. This was all very weird. "It felt like that was all my fault. It was hard to stay objective in the face of what felt like all of my sins. It felt to me like you were the one facing the brunt of my mistakes. And I just couldn't allow that."
Yang looked at her with teary eyes, but didn't interrupt as Blake had. Gods, but she felt like a fool in the face of those eyes, and that face, and the love – whether platonic or romantic – that she knew Yang had for her.
"I'm sorry." She spoke again, looking away. "I failed you."
"I don't know what to say." Yang admitted after she was silent a while. "I think I forgive you? I mean, I want you back in my life, but I'm not sure…"
"These things are complicated." Adam interrupted them. "There's no need to try and rush yourselves. You won't be able to mend the damage that your relationship has undertaken in a singular conversation. This is only the start."
"Yeah…" Yang smiled over at her, a metaphorical olive branch. "I think it is."
Blake smiled back, and offered out her hand. Yang took it, and squeezed it with just a bit of force.
It was a comfortable feeling. Blake wanted to lean into that touch. Before she could, though, Yang turned back towards Adam.
"So, just to be clear, you're like… totally cool with me and Blake… y'know?"
"Blake has made her position obvious." Adam spoke. "I do not begrudge her moving on, as assuredly as she does not begrudge me for moving on, either. Am I correct?"
"Uh… no." Blake wasn't really sure how Adam had gone from 'why must you hurt me' and 'I will destroy everything you love' to this, but frankly, she wasn't complaining. "No, not at all."
"Then that is that."
Blake wasn't quite satisfied with that, but it was better than things had been. She expected things to end there, for them to all just… well, walk away, or something, but instead…
"You guys should totally kiss!" Shouted a voice from within the White Fang's crowd.
Both Yang and Blake went crimson at that, and yet, before either of them could say anything in response…
"Yeah!"
"They should kiss!"
"Kiss and make up!"
"Kiss!"
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
"KISS!"
Blake and Yang were both totally overwhelmed as the crowd began to chant the word 'kiss' in unison over and over again. Adam was doing his best to calm them down, to try and stop them from putting pressure on them, but…
When Blake looked over at Yang, she saw the woman who'd been there for her in her weakest moments at Beacon. She saw someone she'd come to lean on, and appreciate, and…
And someone she felt she could very easily come to love. Perhaps someone for whom those feelings already existed.
"I…" Her breath caught. "I wouldn't… particularly mind?"
Yang swallowed visibly, but she had a tiny smile on her face. "Yeah… I don't think I would, either."
They leaned towards each other, and the crowd quieted down in anticipation. Their lips were just inches from one another's, and that distance continued to shrink, until–
The door to Haven exploded open, and Weiss was the one to be thrown out into the courtyard this time. She was smoking, clearly having taken a hit of some kind of dust attack. She brushed herself off with a wince, before looking up at them all.
She looked between Blake, Yang, and Adam, then to the crowd at the back behind them.
"Are you people having couple's therapy right now!?" She screamed, seemingly livid.
"They're not technically a couple yet." Adam clarified. Blake wasn't sure what to think of the fact that his yet sounded very assured.
"GET IN HERE AND FIGHT, OR I WILL PERSONALLY KILL EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!"
Weiss' voice was high-pitched enough that Blake found herself wincing, her faunus-hearing hearing every bit of it in excruciating detail. Adam didn't have the same problem, but he stepped forward and placed a hand on both Yang and Blake's shoulders.
"Good conversation, you two. I think we've made great progress. Keep communicating. That's the most important part of any good relationship. The lack of it was what ultimately drove myself and Blake apart."
It was true, even if 'communicating' really meant more 'Blake not telling Adam that she wanted him to stop killing people'.
"Yeah, uh, thanks, Adam." Yang smiled, before seemingly realizing what she'd just said with a crazed little laugh. "Y'know, I feel like we entered the twilight zone at some point and I didn't notice, but frankly, fuck it."
"Yes. This is certainly… odd." Blake commented.
"Yeah, I mean, first I found my mom sleeping with some girl my age, and now this?"
"What!?"
"Sleeping as in actually sleeping. Like, cuddling up against, not having sex with."
"Ah. That is… really only slightly better."
"I know, right? Like, how could that bitch replace me with some–"
"HURRY UP!" Weiss snapped.
"Right, right!" Yang called back, before leaning in towards Blake, and muttering, "Sheesh, what crawled up her ass and died?"
/
"So, do you have dental insurance?" Cinder Fall, terrorist extraordinaire and current Fall Maiden, asked as she was sat cross-legged on the floor of Haven Academy.
"No, actually, Hunters generally aren't offered that kind of coverage." Nora explained. "The cities are kind of cheap about it. We have life insurance; well, obviously, that part probably goes without saying, and we get pretty good health insurance."
She and the other members of Team JNPR were currently sat down in the middle of Haven Academy in front of Cinder Fall, who was at present discussing whether or not she felt the benefits of leaving Salem outweighed the positives.
For no other reason than self-interest, of course, but then, Nora knew how to play to a crowd, apparently.
"Well, that is a bit of a disappointment," Cinder noted, massaging at her chin. "Salem offers top of the line dental insurance, alongside homeowner's insurance."
"Huh, can't say I really expected that."
"I didn't either, until I developed a cavity for the first time, and it was completely covered." Cinder shrugged. "Apparently, Salem's teeth aren't immortal in quite the same way as she is, so she values taking care of them."
"Wow, I'm surprised they've held up this long."
"As am I. Frankly, I suspect there exists some spell that has kept them in such a refined state. They really are quite a bright white."
Suddenly, a voice boomed from off to their left.
"CINDER!" It belonged to the giant, hulking man who'd been fighting against Oscar for the last little while. "Are you almost finished with those brats!? We've got to retrieve the mirror!"
Cinder paled. "Oh, shit, uh– yeah, totally!" She called back. "I've been fighting them the whole time!"
Cinder shot them a pointed look.
"Yep. She's really been kicking our butts!" Nora covered for her.
Ren sighed, but nodded along. "Indeed."
"Total butt kicking." Jasmine supplied.
"She has us on the ropes." Pyrrha smiled.
Hazel just sighed. "Let's just… grab the mirror and wrap this up. Beating up Ozpin isn't nearly as satisfying when I'm looking at the body of a child."
"Right, well, this has been a good conversation, you four," Cinder stood from her place, coughing under her breath. "I will consider your proposal."
"Can we expect good things?"
"I don't know. Not having dental and homeowner's is a real blow."
"You own a home?"
"No, but I might want to."
"Aren't you trying to destroy the world?"
"And rebuild it."
"Are you saying that Salem would build a perfect world after destroying this one, and that she would seek to re-add insurance companies to it?"
Cinder seemed to think about that for an awfully long time.
"Well, admittedly, that is a decent point."
"CINDER!"
Cinder cleared her throat. "Alright, pretend like I just beat the ever-loving crap out of you all."
Nora shot her a thumbs up, before jumping backwards and hitting the ground hard.
"Gah!" She shouted out. "She's too strong!"
The rest of Team JNPR just looked down at Nora with a hint of genuine disappointment.
And then they, too, did the exact same.
"So powerful!"
"What can we possible do!?"
"Ow." Ren remarked boredly.
"See!" Cinder called out. "I'm handling them!"
"Well, handle the Schnee girl, and get the mirror!"
Cinder nodded her head, before summoning from out of the ether a spear wreathed in fire and death. She held it up, aimed it at Weiss Schnee's back, and then threw it right at her.
She never even saw it coming.
/
Ruby Rose saw the spear as it sailed through the air towards Weiss. She screamed her best friend's name, wondering if this would be the last time she'd ever see Weiss, if that spear would take her life, like Cinder had nearly done to Pyrrha.
It then bounced harmlessly off of the mirror that Weiss was wearing on her back.
"Huh?" Weiss turned around, staring at the now disintegrating flaming spear that was turning to ash on the ground. "Did something hit me?"
"Uh…" Ruby coughed into one hand. "No. It's fine."
/
"Huh." Cinder frowned. "That didn't work."
"Your aim was a bit high." Pyrrha critiqued.
"Pyrrha!" Jasmine hissed. "Don't go giving the evil lady throwing lessons!"
"What did you say!?" Cinder turned back; her arms crossed over her chest. "I didn't aim high!"
"You did, though." Pyrrha said it gently, in a way that only a complete and utter megalomaniac could possibly construe as aggressive.
Which was to say, Cinder Fall.
"You need to aim lower than that when throwing a spear. You're looking–"
"How dare you!?" She snarled, conjuring yet another spear in her hands. "Go ahead; say my aim was too high this time!"
And when she threw the spear this time, into sailed directly into Pyrrha's chest.
End Chapter 11
Alright, folks, that's that!
Pyrrha's dead again. Rip.
...Or maybe she's not dead. Who knows?
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