Rite of Passage

AN: I'll be frank, events over the past few months have distracted me from my writing; career, graduation, Endgame, Season 8 of Game of Thrones… I'm going to do my best to write more chapters more often, but I can't make promises, you guys. Writer's Block hits me hard sometimes.

Anyway, enough about that, let's get to the REAL reason why you are all here.

Hours has passed since Weiss' 'trip' through the Palantir. They had already informed King Theoden, Eomer and the other squad leaders of what had transpired the previous night.

Theoden called for a meeting in the throne room. All the squad leaders and a few other members were present, Ozpin included. Weiss was still in shock from the event; she was sitting on one of the benches in the hall, a blanket over her shoulders, with Blake and Nora sitting on either side of her to provide what comfort they could.

Ozpin answered the one question Theoden had on his mind the moment he heard that Weiss was in contact with Salem herself, "I can tell you with absolute certainty that Weiss did not attempt to betray us. Her experience with the Palantir, if anything, was more beneficial to us than to Salem."

Robin Loxley didn't seem convinced, "How do you know?" Some of the people in the room turned towards him as he continued, "You seemed certain that Saruman wouldn't betray us…"

Pyrrha glared at Loxley, "Weiss has been fighting with us since Beacon, Robin. She's one of us." He then bowed his head in understanding.

Ozpin continued, "Weiss said nothing to her, but she heard plenty."

"From what you say, our victory has done nothing in Salem's grand scheme…" Eomer spoke aloud. "We saved our people and our kingdom, but we've only prolonged their suffering… How long before they set their fangs on Mistral again?"

"I'm more worried about what the Winter Witch was tasked; Stone's Throw?" Grun asked with nervous curiosity.

Robin answered, "It's a military base at the base of a mountain, built beside the village of Harebell."

Theoden squinted his eyes, trying to remember the details of the base, "It's one of the first forts, if I recall, back when Mistral was in its infancy." He then looks to Ozpin, "Why would she send a Nazgul there?"

Ozpin's eyes widened, "There is something there," He looks to Jaune and Grun, "And I think the two of you should go there as well."

Jaune looked confused, "What's there that we need to get?"

"I'll explain later," Ozpin states as he projects the holo map of the world using his scroll, "right now, we have other matters that need to be addressed." He points to Atlas, "Salem intends to make Atlas her first major victory. Saruman failed with Mistral, which didn't seem to faze her in the slightest, but it would seem Atlas was her primary target all along."

Coco raised her hand, "Why Atlas? Strategically speaking, it wouldn't give her as much of a foothold in this war as Mistral or Vale."

"The last time Salem lost the war, it took all the kingdoms to unite and a Zenith Star Knight to lead them…" Ozpin glanced at Jaune briefly before looking to Theoden, "Since Atlas is now the closest to fall at this point, Salem will devote whatever resource she can to ensure it falls before the new Zenith takes command of the Armies of Remnant."

Cardin then raises his hand, "If she wants to finish off Atlas, where will she go?"

"The capital, Minas Tirith." Ozpin stated, he then turned to face Theoden, "If the Beacons of Marathon are activated in the Towers, Mistral must be ready to join the war."

Theoden crossed his arms, "Tell me… Why should I give aid to those that did not come to ours?" Everyone glanced at the king as he finished, "What do we owe to Atlas, after they abandoned us?"

Jaune had been pondering in deep thought over the whole thing, he opened his eyes and spoke out, "JNPR will go to warn them."

"No." Ozpin said faster than anyone else could say a word, "As I said, you need to go to Stone's Throw."

"But someone has to warn Atlas about what's coming," Weiss stated as she lifted her head up.

Everyone then turns to her, seeing that she looked better than she did before. Ozpin began to smile a bit, "Indeed. I was planning on going, I wouldn't mind having you come along as well, Ms. Schnee."

Weiss nods and smiles in agreement.

Ozpin then addressed the others, "As my sister would often say, 'things are set in motion that cannot be undone'. We all have our part to play in the coming battle, Ms. Schnee and I have our part, it is up to all of you to fulfill your own."

Coco looked to Cardin and whispers, "Ozpin has a sister?" Cardin shrugged his shoulders, just as confused as her.

After the meeting, Weiss sent a message through the CCT network to Atlas. The Network was still severely damaged, thanks to Saruman's virus, but her message was small and simple enough for it to make it through and get a response from the Atlas Sky Knights. A shuttle would arrive by the afternoon to pick them up and take them to Atlas. Jaune and Grun agreed to set out on their mission the following morning, that way their teams could be prepared for whatever they would found at Stone's Throw.

Meanwhile, as the day went on, more and more shuttles arrived from around the kingdom. Some being refugee ships, while others were resource shuttles to provide relief to any and all that came to the capital for sanctuary.

Jaune and Pyrrha were helping the dock workers with the unloading due to them getting overwhelmed, a lot of the other squads did the same. One of the shuttles that arrived at noon dropped off a few people that caught Jaune's ear the moment he heard a little boy call out to him. "UNCLE JAUNE!"

Jaune turned to the sound of the voice and ended up getting nearly tackled to the ground by the six-year-old Adrian Cotta-Arc. Jaune looked down and picked him up, "Adrian! What's up, little brawler?"

Adrian and Jaune hugged briefly as he pointed to where he had run from, "We came when we heard you were still in the castle city! Momma-Saph wanted to surprise you."

Jaune looked to see Saphron and Terra walking up to them. With Adrian in his arm, he side hugged them both, "I am so glad you two are ok. Because the tower, I had no idea if you guys got the recall order or not."

Terra smiled, "Luckily Argus was safe enough under the Atlas defenders that populous didn't want to leave."

"We heard about Helms Deep… I'm glad you made it out of that alive." Saphron said as she hugged Jaune again, this time a bit tighter. She opened her to see Pyrrha standing behind him. "Oh, Pyrrha! So good to see you!"

The two hugged briefly, "Still keeping my gullible baby brother out of trouble?"

"No more so than usual," Pyrrha smiled with a bit of a chuckle.

"Oh, ha ha ha." Jaune sarcastically laughed as he set Adrian down.

Jaune was about to say something but another shuttle, with Vale symbols on it, caught his eye in the distance. What made it stand out was the second emblem that was on it, a Star Knight emblem. Saphron looked ahead of him and saw the same and followed him to it. As they approached, the main ramp opened, and they saw a tall woman walk out. She looked down on them and smiled, "Hey, kids."

Jaune and Saphron both yelled at the same time, "MOM!" Both ran up the ramp to hug her, even little Adrian ran up behind them. After they let go, Adrian jumped up and was caught by her, "Grandma-Kida!"

She gave him a strong hug and smiled at her children, "I am so happy you area all alright. I would have come sooner, but your sister Carol needed me in Vale."

"Well, you're here now," Saphron said as she walked with them down the ramp.

Pyrrha and Terra watched the four of them walk down the ramp, Pyrrha glanced at Terra, "Arcs, always loud during reunions."

Terra chuckled, "No kidding."

Pyrrha motioned for them to follow, "Come on, we can all stay in the castle."

Saphron got confused, "Wait, we can?"

Jaune nervously chuckled, "Oh, did I forget to mention… Pyrrha is related to the king." Saphron and Terra both gave him a blank face, their minds having been blown by the revelation. Adrian, however, was oblivious as he continued to play with Kida's long white hair.

Kida chuckled, "Come on, it's been a long plane ride and I'm in the mood of hearing the stories my kids can share about what they've been up to lately."

While the Arcs had their little family reunion, Weiss and Blake started packing. Weiss could feel the anger radiating from Blake as if she were radioactive. "If you're going to yell at me, get it over with now, before we're on the 5-hour flight to Atlas."

Blake through her cloths on the bed hard, "Why the HELL did you look into that thing?! I mean what did you THINK was going to happen?"

Weiss turned around, "I thought I was going to see RUBY!" that quickly shut Blake up, she continued, "Saruman used that thing to track us all the way from Rivendell to Moria… I thought I could use it to find Ruby, wherever she could be…"

Weiss sat down on the bed, putting her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, "It's been almost four months since we got separated, I'm worried about them."

Blake sat down beside Weiss and put her arm around her teammate, "I'm worried about them too… Grun puts on a good front but I know he's deeply worried about Yang. They're engaged for Oum's sake! I can't even imagine how he feels."

Weiss lifts her head up from her knees, "Then maybe you should stay…"

Blake looks down, "What?"

"Right now, Grun needs something to keep him together, and right now, you and Jaune are it." Weiss states as best she can, "I mean… I don't want to Atlas alone… but I think Grun needs you more than I do right now. He just got you back."

Blake nods her head, "Yeah…" she looks to Weiss, "Who'd thought that the 'big brother' would need the 'little sister' in this regard?"

The two share a hug, and as they let go, Blake stood up from the bed and was about to walk away, but then Weiss remembered, "Oh, here. You can have this back." Weiss took off Blake's bow and handed it back, "Neptune was able to fix my hair piece yesterday, I kept forgetting to tell you."

Blake held it in her hand, as she looked at it she remembered the words Treebeard said, "How can they possibly accept you for what you are if you cannot accept yourself when around them?"

Weiss cocked her head, "What's wrong? I didn't get it dirty, didn't I?

Blake snapped out of her thought, "No." She then began wrapping it around her head.

Weiss gave it some thought, "Now that I think about it, maybe you don't need to wear it anymore."

Blake shook her head, "Unfortunately, I've still been getting dirty looks by some of the refugees. Turns out White Fang soldiers raided various villages both during the recall order and after some of the villagers returned home." Blake finishes tying the bow, "So for now… the bow stays."

"I hate looters…" Weiss stands up and adjusts the bow a bit, once it was on straight, she stopped, "There we go. If you want, I could find you one with a few drawings on it."

Blake smiles, "No, but thank you."

They hear a knock on the door and hear a soldier speak through it, "Ms. Schnee, your shuttle has arrived."

Weiss and Blake look at each other, each with nervous looks on their faces. Weiss grabs her bag and Blake follows her out the door.

Weiss and Blake walk to the air field and see Ozpin standing by the plane, they even see Penny on the ramp, talking to Jaune and Grun. The two start running towards them with a bit more joy in their spirits.

Penny saw the two coming and ran between Jaune and Grun and ran to the two. She was about to tackle them both but quickly remembered the last time she rushed a hug too hard. She stopped and let them come to her and hug her first. "Weiss, Blake it's good to see you!"

"What are you doing here?" Blake exclaimed with joy.

Weiss added, "I thought you'd be back home, helping with the defenses?"

Penny let them go, "I was, but then Ozpin called General Ironwood that he needed a VIP to be brought to Atlas. Do you guys know who I'm taking?"

Weiss slowly raises her hand, "That would be me…"

Penny nodded, "Well, we better get ready to leave."

The three walked towards the plane, Penny walked up the ramp first to talk to the pilots. Ozpin appeared to have been talking with Jaune and Grun as the girls were talking. The looks on their faces appeared to be both in shock and confusion.

Ozpin puts a hand on each of their shoulders, "I am trusting in you both to secure it… And I know you two can get it done."

Grun looked the most confused, "Why would she go for it now? Why not when Saruman was taking the kingdom with ease?"

Jaune answered for Ozpin, "Because it was going to be his job, until we stopped him." Ozpin nodded in agreement.

Ozpin walks past them and walks up the ramp, before making one last look to Grun, "You know what you have to do…" he then continued up the ramp and sat down in a seat. Jaune looked to Grun and saw him show a very serious look, he looked both mad and certain that whatever Ozpin was referring to, it had to be him.

Blake and Weiss hugged briefly and let go, Weiss smiled a bit, "I'll see you in Atlas."

Blake nodded, "Don't win the war until I get there."

Weiss smiled back, "Never."

Suddenly, Blake remembered something. "Oh, I wanted to give you this before you left." She handed Weiss a bag of coffee beans, "It's the last of the coffee. You'll need this more than I do when you get there."

Weiss smiled brightly, "Thank you…" She hugged Blake one more time, squeezing her tightly. She then picked up her bag and walked up the ramp and sat down next to Ozpin.

Ozpin looked down at Weiss and saw tears dripping down her face, "You'll see them again."

"How do you know that?" Weiss asked without even looking at him.

Ozpin leaned his head back, "Because your team is that strong.

Blake watched as the shuttle took off for Atlas. Grun walked up beside her and put his arm over her shoulder to help comfort her.

Blake feels tears drip from her eyes, "When we started helping out in this war, I was always afraid our team would get separated. Then Ruby and Yang left to make sure our mission could be fulfilled. If that weren't bad enough, now Weiss is gone."

Grun held his little sister tightly, "If I've learned anything from you and your team, you always find your way back to one another."

Blake looked up at Grun, "The worst part of it is waiting for that to happen. If it's going to happen."

Grun wiped the tears from her cheeks, "It will." He then kissed her on the forehead and then pulled her along as they walked away from the airfield. She wrapped her arm around him and squeezed as tight as she could with that arm.

Two hours after saying goodbye to Weiss, Jaune and Grun gathered their teams for their next task. Jaune ordered a shuttle to take them to the village of Harebell and the military base of Stone's Throw.

As the plane flew, pulled up the last recorded hologram of the village and base. Jaune zoomed in on the base, "Stone's Throw, a base that's dated back to the formation of Mistral. Seen as many commanders come and go as there were Kings sitting on the throne."

Blake loaded her belt with fresh magazines, "So why are we going there for?"

Grun walked to the hologram and points at the mountain that the base was built into, "There is an artifact hidden inside the mountain. An ancient and powerful one."

Pyrrha started loading her rifle, "Like one of the Relics?"

Jaune looked to Grun so that he could answer her question, "Sort of. Not as old but can be just as dangerous if placed in the wrong hands."

Nora put her hammer over her shoulder, "You'd think something that important wouldn't be some place more… I don't know, secure?"

Jaune chuckled, "Technically it is."

Grun continued, "According to Ozpin, there is a temple inside the mountain. 'They whom enter must be of Blood. Only one may lay claim. All Challenges must be answered.'"

Ren looked confused, "Of 'Blood'?"

Blitz guessed, "Blood relatives. But to whom?"

"The Brothers…" Jaune answered, "Meaning Salem and Queen Maleficent."

Grun zoomed out the hologram, "If we're lucky, we can reach the base before she has a chance to enter."

Pyrrha shifted the map to the village, "We should also ensure the civilians in the village are safe."

Jaune nods, "Agreed. Grun and Blake, you're with me. We'll move in on the base, and if we're lucky, we can get the troops mobilized in time. The rest of you will land in the village and protect the civilians. Jadis is said to be one of the most ruthless of the Fallen Maidens… no telling what kind of Grimm she brought with her."

"Commander, we are approaching the base," The shuttle's pilot said on the radio.

Jaune put his finger into his earpiece, "Hover over the air field. No higher than 100 ft."

"Yes, sir."

Just as Jaune opened the hatch, Pyrrha yelled over the roaring winds, "Be careful." Jaune turned to her and winked, then he stepped off the plane and fell.

Blake walked to the edge and looked down, where she saw Jaune using his wings to slow his decent. Then she looked to her right to see Grun holding his hand out to her. She looked on his back and saw nothing there, "Where's your jetpack?"

Grun smirked, "Come now, Blake, you know I don't need one." She took his hand, and he pulled her to him, put her hands over his shoulders and held tight. Grun then leapt off the plane with Blake on his back.

As they fall, Grun thrust his fists downward and used his semblance to slow their descent.

Inside Stone's Throw, Jadis walked through the main courtyard. She walked until she reached the part of the base that met the mountain. She looked up at the peak looked down at the roots of the mountain.

She knelt down to one knee and extended her hands out to touch the granite but stopped when she heard an engine roar echoing in the air. She turned around to look up and saw nothing but the blizzard cover she made on her way in. She looked to her left at a black figure, "Looks like we'll have company. Call your pack in the village and tell them to finish off the civilians. And if any come here, stall them."

Jadis then then placed her hands on the granite and began spreading ice over the rock as if fresh water was spilling on it, except it was going upward and seeping into the cracks in the rock. She intensified her ice to the point that the ice began pushing between the cracks and forcing the large granite to shatter under the pressure.

Jaune and Grun make their landing a mile away from Stone's Throw's outer wall, they ran to a nearby hill and hid behind it.

Blake found Grun breathing heavily, "You ok?"

"You're…" he pants, "not a little girl anymore…" He then groaned a bit as he set her down.

Jaune crawled to the top of the hill, on his belly, and looked ahead at the base. It looked to be a well-maintained castle, even for today's standards. The outer wall was made of granite, most likely from the mountain. Jaune could see some of the lights on along the ramparts, but saw no movement.

While Grun and Blake perked their ears up as high as they could, Jaune turned around and slid down the hill and looked at them as he asked, "Well?"

"We seem to have stumbled upon a cliché…" Grun said quietly.

Blake put her sword over her back and ran over the hill and started running towards the wall. She moved fast and quiet and was half way up the wall in a minute. Once she was at the edge of a rampart, she looked over to see what was going on inside the base. She quickly jumped down and ran back to the others.

"Well?" Grun asked.

"Did you see them?" Jaune asked as well.

"Yes…" Blake said with a pale face.

Jaune didn't understand the look on her face, "What is it?"

Blake gulped, "They are just sitting there… surrounded by Grimm…"

Grun's eyes widened at the realization of what was going on. He ran to the ramparts and started to climb up the side of the wall, Blake climbing up behind him and Jaune standing guard at the bottom. He looked left then right, squat down, put some aura into his legs, and then jumped with half his strength.

As Grun and Blake reach the top, Jaune reaches the edge and almost misses. Grun caught him by grabbing his arm and pulled him up. They all hid under the opposite side of the rampart and looked down and saw what terrified Blake.

Grun grit his teeth at the sight of them, "Apathies…"

Jaune looks to Grun and whispers, "Well, brother, you're our 'Wild Grimm' expert here, how do we deal with these ones?"

Grun shrugged his shoulders, "Best way would be an air strike… but given our limited resources; I count at least six, that amount alone should send a field of depression that could surround the castle. That's their passive ability… if enough of them focus on us at once, shriek at us, we'll become vegetables in seconds."

Blake then saw a few Beowulves walking though the courtyard, looking to be selecting their kills among the men in the center. "And with those Beowolves here… this might be a problem."

Jaune lowered his head, "Stealth then. Kill as many Apathies as you can before they notice."

Jaune was about to reach for his sword, but then remembered the sound of it being pulled out would alert the wolves. His gun would be no help either. He then saw a hand holding a knife move to his chest, he looks up to see Grun holding it, "I'm going to want this back." Jaune rolled his eyes.

The three broke off and walked along the walls. Blake jumped down to the ground level and moved along the wall. She drew her sword and switched it to its Kusarigama mode.

Blake waited until one of the Apathies was separated from the group, she threw Gamble at its head and stabbed its blade through its skull.

Grun stood at the top of the stairs and looked down on an Apathy and a Beowulf beneath him, right beside the stares. Grun squat at the edge, draw his arm blades quietly and leaped off. Before the two Grimm could react, Grun's blades buried themselves into their necks as they were forced to the ground quiet enough that the sound barely reached one of the other Apathy's ears.

Jaune appeared to have the most trouble of the group, sneaking around was never his strong suit. Once he reached a hallway door, an Apathy slowly walked past. He ducked behind the doorway and held his knife in a tight grip, as the creature turned its head away from where Jaune was, he moved in and stabbed it hard in the back of the head.

What Jaune didn't notice until it was too late, a Beowulf witnessed the whole thing and let out a howl. Jaune rolled his eyes, "Damn it."

With the other Grimm alerted in the base, Grun and Blake dropped the stealth and proceeded to mop up the rest of the Grimm.

Inside the mountain, Jadis continued to break as many walls of granite with her ice. She kept going until she reached a stone door that her ice could not cover at all. She began to smile, "There we are."

She approached the door and discovered a symbol, it appeared to be two dragons circling four spheres. One dragon resembling a serpent, while the other had bat wings and a shorter body. Jadis placed her hand on the symbol, a symbol on the back of her hand began to glow blood red, it appeared to be Salem's symbol.

The door opened slowly, she walked in and it appeared to look like a temple of sorts. As she continued to walk inside, she saw two statues standing on either side of a large diamond pillar. Each statue appeared to be similar to the dragons in the symbol from before, one a serpent dragon with whiskers and horns like a deer, the other more like a drake with goat like horns and bat wings.

"WHO DARES ENTER THE TEMPLE OF THE BROTHERS?"

Jadis was nearly startled by the sudden voices calling out to her. She looked up to see the two statues eyes beginning to glow bright. The serpent dragon's eyes glowed yellow, while the other glowed purple.

"SPEAK." They both called out in unison.

"I am Jadis, the Winter Witch, who are you?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

The serpent statue answered, "We are the Guardians, I am of Light."

"And I am of Darkness," the other continued.

"While the world shifts to light or dark, we remain in balance here," the Light Guardian stated. "This temple is older than the Kingdoms that have come and gone over the millennia. We stand guard over the artifacts that exist in this temple."

"All whom enter must be of Blood to our creators…" The Dark Guardian stated, "You may not be of blood, but you bare the seal of Salem, you are permitted to enter."

"What reason do you have to be here?" the Light Guardian asked.

"I have come for the Magus, under the orders of my queen Salem of Mordor," Jadis said with pride in her tone.

The guardians were silent for a brief moment, then the Dark one spoke, "Then claim it." After saying that, bricks that made up the floor began rising up to the diamond pillar in the center of the room. Jadis looked up to where the stones lead up to, like stairs, and saw the Magus inside the diamond.

As she was climbing the steps, she heard the guardians speak again, "WHO DARES ENTER THE TEMPLE OF THE BROTHERS?" She turns around to see the three hunters enter the temple.

The three of them look up to see the large dragon statues staring at them. From the start they knew whatever was in here would be a surprise, just not this surprising.

Blake huffed, "Talking statues… that's a new one."

Jaune chuckled, "Yup."

"ANSWER!" the two shouted in unison.

Jadis scoffed, "Like it matters? They have NO RIGHT to this book." She was about to take the first step up the brick stairs, but then Grun shouted at her.

"I have more right to it than YOU!" Jaune and Blake could see the look of fury on Grun's face. He was extremely angry.

Jadis turns around and gives Grun a mocking look, "You have a right? Who are you? You're a NOBODY!"

Grun steps forward and stands up straight as he exclaims, "I am Grun, only son of Queen Maleficent of Amazonia." Jaune and Blake both were shocked by the sudden reveal. Now it made more sense to Jaune why Grun got so worked up when he learned Ozpin was Maleficent's brother. Blake knew Grun her whole life, but she never would have guessed that he was her queen's long lost son.

"You claim the right for the book?" The Light statue asked.

Grun looked up at it, "I do."

The bricks that lead up to the book dropped back to the ground. Jadis turned around sharply, "What is the meaning of THIS?! You'd accept the claim of a Bastard?"

"The Bastard has the right, and therefore the challenge must be answered," The Dark statue replied

Jadis scowls, "Very well… But ONLY him…" she then looks to Jaune, "No Zenith's allowed."

Grun walked towards the center of the room, and as he does the bricks on the ground began to rise and form walls around Grun and Jadis. The walls cut off Jaune and Blake from the arena, but they were lifted just high enough to see the inside.

Jadis and Grun circled each other around the arena. Grun extended his claw blades, while Jadis formed ice swords in both hands.

Grun started to take a more aggressive stance with his claws up, "Just so you know, Ice Bitch: you have caused me a very difficult discussion after I get done tearing you apart. And I am not looking forward to it."

Jadis smirked, "Let's see what you have, Bastard."

Grun extended his chains down to the floor and began spinning them. He slung his right blade, then the left hard, using his gravity semblance to enhance their velocity at Jadis. The Witch stepped to her right and the first blade missed and then formed an ice wall in front of her.

"Oooh, quite a temper. Not the way of a royal." Jadis' acts of teasing him proved to be working as Grun's fists clench.

He retracted his blades back to his arms and started running right for Jadis. She stabbed both her blades into the ice wall and formed spikes on the opposite side and then kicked the wall forward. The spiked wall started moving at Grun almost as fast as he was running at it. Grun formed a strong gravity field around his right hand and punched the wall, it shattered to pieces.

Jadis backed away from the broken ice shards as they flew towards him. She then raised her arms up and formed icicles in midair, swung her blades, and threw them at him. Grun swung his arms fast at the oncoming ice and broke them to pieces.

Grun extended his chains again and swung them toward the witch, accelerating its momentum with his semblance. The blade was about to reach her, but she stabbed the first chain link with her ice blade and pinned it to the ground in front of her. She then placed her foot on the chain and began freezing the chain all the way back to Grun's left arm.

Grun pulled hard on his chain and freed it from her freezing attack, as his blade returned to his arm. Then he saw her charging at him with two ice blades, forming ice beneath her feet and using the expanding ice to propel herself forward. Grun lifted his right arm and blocked the ice blades, then pushed her back with a shockwave, to which she used to send her a few feet back.

Jadis formed a cold air current beneath her feet and levitates in the air, then held her hands out towards her opponent. Ice shards the size of knives started coming out of her hand and flew towards Grun at high speeds. Grun saw the blades coming, but knowing there were too many for him to break on his own, he started running.

Grun ran as fast as he could, sprinting in a large circle to avoid the ice shards. Jadis began to get annoyed by this game of chase, so she pointed her left hand straight down to the ground and began freezing the floor.

Grun ran until the ice reached his feet and he slipped, causing him to slide for almost a yard before he reached the wall of the arena. Blake began to get worried for her brother and Jaune looked at Jadis with a very angry glare. He slowly reached for his pistol, but then the Light Guardian's eyes began to glow, "There will be no intervention, Zenith." Jaune rolled his eyes and moved his hand away from his gun.

Grun stabbed his claws into the ground to gain some stability on the ice, as he sat up, he saw an ice block falling from above him. He pushed off from the wall and evaded the large block, but then another one fell from above, this time he couldn't evade, so he raised his arms up and caught the block before it landed on him. His arm blades dug so deep into the ice that his knuckles were touching the ice, pressing hard against the joints in his fingers.

Grun attempted to use his semblance to lift the ice block off his arms, but he wasn't able to form a strong enough field to carry it. He looked around and saw what appeared to be fog waist high around him. He looked to his left as he heard the sound of tapping, and saw Jadis walking on the ice. She was dancing circles around Grun and the boulder.

"Your semblance is gravity manipulation, if I remember correctly." She stopped when she reached Grun's front and lowered down to look him in the eye, "It's getting heavier, isn't it? You'd be surprised how difficult it is to focus on anything when you're suffering the early stages of Hypothermia."

Jadis then stood up straight and tapped on the block of ice, Grun then fell backward as the block of ice leaned back. He tried to pull his hands out of the ice the moment the block landed, but then a layer of ice formed over his midsection and surrounded his arms, leaving him wide open for Jadis.

"If you have any words left to say, best say them now, Bastard," Jadis said as she formed an ice sword in her right hand.

Grun looks Jadis in the eye, "I'd rather die a bastard than live as someone else's pet."

Jadis raises her sword up and swings. The blade shatters just as her cutting motion finishes, Jadis looks at her broken ice sword and then looks to Grun and she saw what appeared to be black spikes protruding from Grun's neckline.

Grun opened his eyes and looked down and saw the spikes, "What the f-?" the ice around his body quickly shattered and his hands were freed from the ice.

Jadis backed up in shock, "No… no, not you… that is my QUEEN'S GIFT! Damn you, BASTARD!" she then pushed her hands forward and formed a block of ice and launched them at Grun.

Grun saw the oncoming ice and simply reacted, swinging his left arm fast and cutting the block in half, with each side sliding beside him. Grun looked at the end of his arm blade and saw black lining on the edges, "Ok, this is getting crazy."

Jadis became more frustrated, she held her hands wide and started to make the same fog she used to force Grun into hypothermia. Grun then put his foot on the ground and slowly stood up, he then started to run as fast as he could towards Jadis, his feet didn't appear to be affected by the ice.

Grun closed the distance between them before she could even react, just as she was about to move her hands to block him, he kicked her in the chest with his right foot. She could feel her ribs collapsing as his foot pushed her chest; this would have killed her for sure if she wasn't already dead.

The force from the kick launched her from where she was standing towards wall of the arena. Her body slammed through the brick wall and was sent flying out of the temple.

Grun looked to the ground and saw that the ice on the floor was just as slick looking as it was before, he then lifted his boot and saw small black spikes on the bottom. It would appear that whatever was protecting him was allowing him to stand on the ice. "Huh, custom cleats."

The walls around Grun fell to the ground, he looked up to the two guardian statues and saw their eyes glowing. "The Challenge is complete," both guardians said in unison.

Jadis got back up, stumbling on her feet, she looked down at her chest to see it somewhat caved in. She slowly stood up, trying her best to keep balance on her feet. "You little…" her eyes suddenly widened. Her voice, it was raspy and almost void of her original tone, "No… no… my voice!" she then started coughing trying to clear her throat but it did nothing.

Grun walked towards her, a bit shaky on his feet, but was stable enough to look ready to keep going. "I'll admit… I didn't see this coming…"

"The book is now yours to claim, Son of Maleficent." The Light Guardian said.

"NO!" Jadis said with her damaged voice, "I call for another challenge!"

"You have already been beaten." The Dark Guardian replied, "There cannot be a new challenge for the book between the same opponents."

Jaune and Blake ran to Grun's sides, both of them ready to continue the fight. Jadis glanced at Jaune and then to Grun, "I'm going to make you pay for this, Bastard." Her eyes began to glow, they heard a roar in the distance. Within seconds a Sphinx Grimm landed between them, Jadis quickly jumped onto its back and the pair flew away. Jaune and Blake fired their pistols at them, but the cloud cover above moved rapidly and shrouded the flying beast.

Grun turned around and looked to the guardians, then a brick staircase leading up to the book encased in diamond. Grun slowly walked up the steps and reached the book, the diamond around it began to crack and the book was freed. Grun took it in his hands, he tried to open it but the book appeared to be sealed on its own.

"Be wary, Son of Maleficent. For the book grants you access to forgotten magics and histories the Brothers sought to keep secret, even to their creations…" the Light Guardian warned.

"It grants you great wisdom, but also grants you power over others, if one so chooses…" the Dark Guardian says with an ominous tone.

Grun walked down the stairs and reached Blake and Jaune at the bottom, Grun looked to Jaune and saw he had a bit of a smirk on his face, "What?"

"And here I thought my family history was complicated," Jaune said with a smirk.

Grun chuckled and quickly fell to his knees. "Grun!" Blake exclaimed. Jaune and Blake caught him before he fell on his face, setting down the book and holding Grun up by his shoulders.

Jaune looked at his scroll, Grun's aura level was down to 3% and slowly dropping, "Whoa, how did-?"

Grun lifted his head as best he could, he looked to be struggling, "I think I have an idea of how you felt… after killing Fall…"

Before Jaune could say anything Grun's head fell onto Blake's shoulder, it would appear he passed out. It would appear that his new powers costed him a lot more power than he initially believed.

Blake put Grun's arm around her shoulder, "You think he's going to be ok?"

Jaune did the same and helped lift him up, while grabbing the book in his other hand, "Knowing him… most likely."

The two hunters carried their 'brother' out of the temple and outside to Stone's Throw, there they saw their friends arriving on the plane. They all climbed into the plane and flew away, heading back to Mistral.

"I was wondering if he had it in him," the Dark Guardian said to the Light.

"Now it'll be a matter of if he can control it… before it controls him…" the Light Guardian says with worry in his voice.

AN: Well, there you have it you guys, the newest chapter.
Again, sorry for how long it took.

I appreciate those of you that were patient and didn't hound me on 'when are you going to post?'

I hope to post the next chapter soon, but I make no guarantees or promises on when that will be.
And as always… A.R.K.O.S.