Man, that stuff with Rooster Teeth really came out of nowhere, huh? If I'm being honest… it was bound to happen eventually. They've been in a downward spiral for a while now for a multitude of reasons, but I'm not gonna get into that. As for how RWBY is going to go on from here, I have no idea. Still want to continue this story, though, I've put a lot into it both written and unwritten. The main question is if there's no Volume 10, I wonder how it's going to continue from there? Eh, cross that bridge when we get there. Without further ado, here's the beginning of Volume 4. As always, messages and reviews are welcome, but no pressure lol.
. . .
Volume 4
Weeks have passed since leaving the Xiao Long house, and for the most part it's been entirely uneventful. It was fun in the beginning, camping out in the woods around a fire and having only themselves for entertainment. They'd stop in villages along the way to remind themselves of the comfort of civilization, even if it was for something as simple as a hot meal and a shower. But after a while, the five of them were in a near constant state of fatigue from the long journey. Sera was the most irritated by all the walking, but she tried not to complain too much.
True to his word, Jaune kept his mouth shut about what he'd been told of the Maidens and Beacon's underground chamber. The thought hardly left his mind, though. Every day, his thoughts turned to that night and when Professor Ozpin had tried to inject Sera with the aura of Amber, the Fall Maiden.
To make a bit of extra Lien, they solved local problems. A pack of Beowolves here, a Beringel or two there. Simple, easy work to help out the villages and make some extra money to pay for food and other necessities. You would not believe how valuable things like toilet paper or wet wipes became during the trip. Food too, of course. There was one time where Sera decided to pick some of the local berries to stave off hunger. Little did she know, those berries contained some of the most potent hallucinogenic qualities of any wild foods. That experience ended up with the white-haired girl giggling like a maniac while she navigated through a sea of bright colors and distorted shapes. The others had to call it a day at just three in the afternoon to let the berries lose their effect. That was by far the funniest thing that had happened during their journey so far.
The next day, Sera woke up feeling sick, and that slowed their progress even further. Finally, they reached a rather nice village bustling with activity. Villagers crowded the markets happily and conversed with each other, and a dozen concession stands were scattered around the town that sold all sorts of exotic foods, drinks, and various goods and trinkets. Flags and streamers hung from the many buildings and strings of lantern-like lights hung above the stone streets. The village looked rather exotic as a whole, and the foreign clothes the many people wore reminded her of Ren. In fact, the further they got towards Mistral, the more the people seemed to change in appearance and customs. There was just a bit of culture shock, but Sera adjusted to it quickly.
Truthfully, it was a nice change of pace in comparison to the rather dreary towns they'd visited previously. This village looked rather happy and full of life, and that alone could be enough to keep Grimm away. Still, Sera spotted a sizeable number of sentries patrolling the outskirts of town.
"What's going on?" she looked around the town. Children ran through the streets playing games and flying all sorts of kites in different shapes and colors.
"I dunno," Ruby shrugged. "Ren?"
He'd pretty much become a sort of tour guide for navigating these villages, especially since he and Nora were apparently from a village not too far away. Ren gave a muted sigh and walked ahead of them. They followed, walking close behind the tall boy. "It looks like some sort of festival."
"Duh!" Nora laughed and nudged him. "What kind, though?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
Someone new stopped in front of them and froze them in their tracks. Sera blinked at the strange smile on his face, but the guy looked friendly enough. Just like the others, he was dressed in a brightly colored robe called a kimono, as Ren had told her.
"Welcome!" he said. "I'm guessing you five are huntsmen, right?"
"Uh, yeah," Ruby replied. "We're just passing through heading to Mis—"
Sera nudged her to shut her up. With a forced smile, she said, "We're just travelers. What's going on here?" She gestured to the festivities around them.
"Oh!" he smiled. "It's our annual summer festival to celebrate a good crop harvest. Please, do stay and enjoy. There's going to be fireworks tonight, and I'm sure you all are tired. Kyomo is what, a five-day journey from the way you came?"
They nodded absently in response. He was right, their clothes were dirty, their hair was messy, and clearly they were exhausted. A good night's rest was sounding really nice right about now.
"What do you guys think?" Jaune asked.
"Food," Nora said hopefully. Her stomach promptly rumbled.
"A real bed," Ruby added.
"All of the above," Sera agreed.
The villager chuckled and folded his hands into the long sleeves of his kimono. "Glad to hear it. Enjoy the festival!" He bowed his head slightly and walked away, leaving them behind in the street.
The students looked at each other rather excitedly. For the first time since leaving Patch, they had the opportunity to have some real fun. First things first—Sera wanted to take a shower.
After navigating through the village, which they learned was Asoko, Ren found them an inn to stay for the night. The girls took one room, and the boys took the other, and Sera was first in line for the shower. Only, she found that there was no shower, and instead the inn had a spacious bathhouse. It was jarring, but she hesitantly went inside to finally clean herself. After stripping down, the huntress shyly headed for the large pool of steaming water.
Whenever she sank into the hot bath, she never wanted to leave. Sera leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes to just enjoy the water. After a moment, she washed herself until she was squeaky clean and allowed herself to relax.
She nodded off at some point, slumping against the wall of the bath with her head leaned back. Her dreams were uneventful, thankfully. She wasn't sure of how long she was asleep, but when she woke up, her skin was pruned and her hair had dried. Sera yawned and stretched her arms before climbing out of the bath to get redressed. She felt good, better than she has in weeks, and it brought a warm smile to her face.
Once she was outfitted in a clean set of clothes, the amnesiac set out to find her friends. It was dark outside, and they weren't in their rooms, so she naturally assumed they were out exploring the festival. According to her scroll, they weren't far away. That was one thing she was secretly thankful for with scrolls: even with cross-kingdom communication down, they could still maintain signal with each other within a certain distance. For instance, she called Ruby to see where she was.
Her friends had gone in separate directions to find food and entertainment, so Sera just decided to spend the rest of the night with Ruby. They ate all sorts of strange food that she'd never even heard of, but there wasn't a single thing she didn't like, so she had no complaints. That is, until Ruby tricked her into eating some gross-looking green substance called 'wasabi.'
Sera proceeded to chase Ruby through the streets of Asoko until she could whack her on the head with Jupiter.
Apart from that little incident, the night went great! Villagers asked them what their stories were and why they were traveling through the area. The teens and younger kids were the most interested in them, with them being huntsmen and all. They crowded all of them with tons of questions, and they did their best to answer. The kids wanted to see their weapons, and while Ren and Jaune were hesitant, the others were eager to show off. Sera grinned when she displayed how Igni could catch on fire, and when she held Jupiter aloft, the teens and kids stared in wonder and said "Oooooh…" When she played a power chord on the guitar, they cheered and clapped for the violet guitar's capabilities. Of course, she had to oblige them with a song, too. The huntress stood on a raised platform and played a handful of various tunes from memory.
Sera ate and drank until she couldn't move, and even tried some slightly bitter liquid Ren gave her called Sake. It was smoother than the rum Junior had given her so long ago, and by the time Ruby forced the ceramic bottle away from her, her cheeks were tinted red, and her mind swam though a pleasant fog of warmth and dizziness.
She was playing with a group of children when the others pulled her away to take her back to the inn. Sera was clumsily kicking a rubber ball back and forth between herself and the kids and showing off by bouncing the ball on her shoulders and head. She was about to kick it back to them when someone suddenly grabbed her by the hood and dragged her down the street.
"Wha-? Hey!" she fought against the firm grip while her lower half slid along the ground, but she was far too gone to do much more than aggravate her captor.
"Would you knock it off?" Nora asked. When Sera stopped struggling, the hammer wielder rolled her eyes and just kept pulling her along the ground. "I thought you hated drinking. So why are you all messed up from that sake?"
"It tasted good," she grumbled and crossed her arms. The world spun and shifted around her, and she could barely even feel herself being dragged from how the alcohol numbed her body.
"Whatever, rockstar," Nora chuckled. "Come on, let's get you to bed."
"Nooo…." She whined and weakly tried to pry Nora's hand off of her. They were almost to the inn, and Jaune, Ruby, and Ren were standing in front of its door expectantly.
"We still have a lot of walking to do, missy! When you wake up feeling awful, it'll be your own fault," she said pointedly, but with clear amusement in her voice.
Jaune rolled his eyes with a sly smirk on his lips. "What's up with her?"
"I have no idea," Nora sighed, exasperated. Sera was still trying to claw her hand off of her hood while the redhead pulled her up the steps to the inn.
"You guys are no fun…" Sera slurred.
"I think you've had a little too much fun," Ruby giggled. She held the door open for Nora and ushered them inside. "I'll get her some water, you get her into bed."
Nora nodded and glanced back at Sera as she pulled her along the floor. The amnesiac was humming a tune to herself and mimicking playing a guitar in her hands. "Gods, you're weird," she cackled.
Sera lifted her hands and fired off her finger guns. "Ayyy…"
The redhead rolled her eyes and dragged Sera into their room. She pulled her jacket off and helped her get her boots off, and once Ruby was back with a tall glass of water, they made the white-haired girl drink the whole thing. Sera collapsed into her bed, the room spinning around her like she was on some carnival ride.
"W-Whoa…" she held her hands up in front of her face while her head swam.
Nora raised an eyebrow. "What's up with her?"
Ruby shrugged. "The room's probably all spinny and stuff. It happens to my uncle a lot."
Sera chuckled incoherently and snuggled into her bed, trying to ignore her drunken state. Ruby sighed, her shoulders sagging as she walked over to her bed utterly exhausted from the long day they've had.
The amnesiac faded into unconsciousness, her head still swimming. She stayed that way even in her dreams as she floated through that same endless void she despised so much. When she suddenly found herself with her own body, she laughed giddily and swayed on her feet. She didn't feel Salem enter her mind, but all of a sudden, the woman's voice shook her from her thoughts.
"Hm," the sinister woman scoffed. "And what have you gotten into tonight, Kassandra."
Sera waved her hand as if to push Salem away from her. "I don't wanna talk to you right now. So just go away." She swayed on her feet, nearly falling over.
"This is just precious," she laughed. The noise echoed through her dreamscape and rang in her ears annoyingly.
She frowned and tried to glare into the darkness, but it probably just looked silly from the witch's perspective. "Get outta my head, ya fuckin' spooky bitch."
"Is that any way to talk to the one who made you who you are?" Salem mused. "You know what, I'm feeling generous today. This should be entertaining. Any question you have, and I'll answer it."
Sera's frown deepened at her words. She didn't care about any of this right now, she just wanted to lay down. Even if she was technically asleep. "Fine," she said. "Even if you're going to lie."
Salem chuckled sinisterly, and it sent a chill up the huntress's spine. "My dear, I do not lie."
"Whatever you say," she scoffed. "Who am I?"
"I thought you knew that already. The fabled Kassandra Kallisto from the old stories. Slayer of the Minotaur and savior of… people."
She'd said 'people' like it was the most generous term she could think of.
"That's fuckin' ominous," she hiccupped. "Then again, this is you we're talking about. Okay, Salem. How am I still alive? If it isn't some sort of trick, I should be dead for like, hundreds of years."
"Isn't it obvious? I took you. And now, you're here, free to roam Remnant as you please. For now, at least," she said, then a particularly evil laugh reverberated through the fog.
Sera frowned. "If you mean that mind control crap, that is not going to happen again. I won't let it."
"Whatever you say, Kassandra," she laughed again. "Anything else?"
She thought for a moment, but the state she was in made it rather difficult. "Do I have parents? Or family?"
"Who knows? I surely don't. If you do, they're long gone by now."
Sera exhaled. "Yeah, I figured…" She mumbled. "What about that guy you showed me that memory of?"
"Hmm…" Salem mused. "A friend of yours."
She sighed. "You know what? If you're going to keep being vague and bitchy, you might as well just leave me alone. Because I certainly do not like talking to you. Even drunk me knows that."
A wave of anger rolled through the foggy dreamscape, but Sera just smirked at it. Salem used to scare her. She used to terrify her. But after all these weird interactions, dealing with the witch was almost fun. She liked to taunt her, to get a rise out of the evil woman that was supposedly trying to destroy the world. She'd already dedicated herself to taking her down, so why not piss her off as much as she can before she finally reaches that goal?
"You're not going to like it when I catch you again, Kassandra. This time, it will be much more painful than your first experience."
Sera scoffed. "I don't even remember my 'first experience,' so give it your best shot. Until then, how about you kindly fuck off and stay out of my head?"
The rumbling anger only intensified until the entire dreamscape shook as if from an earthquake. Then the woman's presence faded from her mind, and Sera let out a triumphant laugh at her small victory.
"That's what I thought," she murmured.
. . .
The next day, she and her friends were walking down the long narrow path that would eventually bring them to their destination. There was still a long way to go, but Sera was confident that they'd reach it in time. They had to.
The scenery was nice, at least. But then again, it looked pretty much the exact same as when they'd made it off the island of Patch. Dense forestry surrounded them, with thick trees as far as the eye could see. Small animals scampered through the bushes and birds sang high above them in the trees. All things considered, it was starting to grow on Sera. She liked exploring the countryside, even if it was taking goddamn forever to make it to Mistral.
Nora was holding a large map in front of her and turning it this way and that, trying to figure out where exactly they were. "Okay," she announced. "If we keep going this way, we should reach Mistral in, oh… a month?"
"What!" Sera exclaimed. "A month?! How long of a walk is this?!"
"Is it seriously a month?!" Ruby moaned.
"…How long did you think it would take to get there?" Jaune raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I don't know!" Ruby threw her arms in front of her. "Like, a week?"
"…It's been four weeks," Ren said plainly.
"Okay, two weeks!" she exclaimed.
Sera blinked at her. "Okay, I'm not as delusional as her, but come on! A month?"
Nora sighed heavily. "It'll go faster if you two stop complaining."
The amnesiac kicked a rock off the path. "I'm not complaining…"
Jaune chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. "You kind of are. Come on, if we get a move on, we could make some real progress."
He walked ahead in a rather confident stride. The others had to speed up to keep pace with him. After a few minutes of silence, Nora laughed to herself and glanced over at Sera.
"What's so funny?" she narrowed her eyes.
"Nothing. Just thinking about all the wacky stuff you did last night."
She sighed and ran her hand through her white hair. "Can we stop talking about that already? I didn't even do anything that crazy!"
Ruby cackled. "I'm just surprised you didn't wake up all hungover and stuff. You just jumped out of bed!"
Sera faltered. "Y-Yeah. Crazy dream. But… Yeah. Not hungover, I think. Maybe I just don't get those," she laughed it off.
"That'd be kind of amazing, to be honest," Nora commented.
Hours later, night had fallen on them rather quickly. None of them were tired enough to stop, so they just kept going to make as much headway as they could. Who cared if they slept a little later the next day? Sera certainly didn't. But once the others were asleep while she was on first watch, she grabbed Jupiter and headed into the woods.
She stood in a small clearing and held the weapon with both hands, eyes closing as she exhaled. Then she jumped into a fighting stance and swung Jupiter, transforming it into an axe mid-swing. The wide head halted at the end of its journey before she went into another attack pattern. She fought an invisible opponent, anticipating false incoming blows and blocking them in succession. Jupiter was a blur, swinging in elaborate motions while she darted all over the clearing and fended off the invisible foes.
After ten minutes, she was panting heavily and covered in sweat, but she kept going. She quickly put away the axe and drew her Igneous Amethyst from her back, the familiar weight of the sword brought comfort to her. Gripping it with both hands she went back to one the many training sessions she'd had with Pyrrha.
'I have to get better,' she thought as she deflected an attack. She somersaulted to the side and brought up her sword in a deadly arc, as if a pouncing Beowolf was after her and she'd driven the point of her sword into its belly.
When she heard the sound of leaves crunching under boots, she straightened herself and held Igni at her side.
"Not bad, kid," a gruff voice said.
Sera turned around to find Qrow Branwen standing at the opposite side of the clearing. In the dim moonlight that filtered through the trees, she could see an amused smirk on his lips.
"About time," she sheathed Igni beside her shotgun and took a moment to catch her breath.
"It takes a while to cover the tracks of five teenagers in the middle of the woods," he chuckled. His hands were in his pockets and Harbinger sat behind his waist, where it usually stayed. "Next time you wonder why you all haven't been attacked by Grimm, you can thank me."
Before she and Ruby left Patch, Qrow pulled her aside to explain his master plan. In summary, he was going to follow them along their journey. Sometimes, they met up at night to discuss future plans, as well as train in secret. She'd promised not to tell the others about it, because what was the point, really? Having a huntsman watching them might make her friends a bit nervous, apart from Ruby of course.
"So, what's the scoop, old man?"
Qrow grumbled and crossed his arms. "Same as before. Just basic Grimm in the area, and you're makin' pretty good time. And would you stop calling me that already?"
"Hey, you keep calling me Snowball, I keep calling you a geezer. Life is funny that way."
He chuckled dryly and put a hand on Harbinger's hilt. "You gonna keep talking smack, or do you wanna fight?"
She grinned and drew Igni once more. Qrow pulled his own sword from behind him and let it expand to its full size before getting into his signature fighting stance. Sera allowed Igni to dip to the ground, her free hand balled into a fist.
Then they ran at each other and she gripped Igni's hilt with both hands to strike Harbinger.
Qrow smirked and pushed against her, the amnesiac taking a step back to steady herself while their swords were crossed. "You should consider carrying one weapon. Then you wouldn't be weighed down so much."
She shrugged, still holding her sword firmly against Harbinger. "I like having options. Plus, I like to think of them as a sort of weighted training gear to make me stronger."
"Eh, not bad," he tilted his head slightly. "But it also makes you slower!"
He shoved her hard and dislodged their weapons. Qrow swiped Harbinger at her side in the blink of an eye, but Sera was quick enough to block it on the edge of her sword. They separated again attacked, catching each other's weapons in another brief power struggle.
Sera kicked at his legs to imbalance him, but Qrow sidestepped it easily and twirled to slam his foot into her chest. She grunted at the impact and landed on her butt, then looked up to find Qrow bringing his sword down on her. She spread her legs in an instant, just in time for Harbinger to just barely miss her and cleave into the dirt.
"Hey, watch it!" she said indignantly and jumped to her feet. The huntress leapt into the air over him in an attempt to bring Igni into his back, but Qrow twisted and caught her sword on the hilt of his own.
He laughed and glanced over his shoulder. "Not bad, you're still pretty fast even with the extra baggage."
She tightened her jaw. "Jupiter and the Boomstick don't even weigh that much." It was true enough, but combined, they added almost thirty pounds of extra weight onto her. Normal guitars weighed about ten pounds, but those were largely made of wood. Jupiter was crafted from a durable alloy and added at least another ten. She'd never really put much thought into it, but she probably would be faster without the extra weight.
Qrow jumped away and pressed his feet into the dirt, then lunged at her way faster than she anticipated. Sera yelped and brought her sword up in an attempt to block it, but the huntsman had already made it past her guard. Harbinger cleaved into her aura and sent her to the ground in a groaning heap of white clothes and angry eyes.
"That hurt," she picked herself off the grass.
"Sorry," he shrugged. "Gotta be quicker than that."
"Yeah, yeah," Sera raised her sword.
With a smirk, he surged forward and brought Harbinger down onto her head. Igni moved in a flash to deflect the blow, and Sera bent down to slam her shoulder into Qrow's gut. His eyes bulged at the impact and he doubled over, and Sera capitalized on the opportunity to bring Igni into his side.
Unfortunately, Qrow wasn't as out of it as he seemed. He ducked under the sword and swung Harbinger upwards to knock it clean out of Sera's hands, and the blade went skittering across the ground.
In an instant, she drew Jupiter and used its wide body to bat Harbinger aside. Sera smirked and tried to slam him in the chest with it, but she'd only succeeded in hitting nothing but air when Qrow jumped to the side. He lunged at her again and they crossed weapons, smirking at each other before trading blows once more.
Time flew by as they sparred in the moonlit clearing. By the time she'd noticed the sun coming up, she was tired and sore from being beaten by Qrow's enormous sword. Sera was breathing heavily, and her arms felt like lead, but she didn't want to stop. In fact, she was rather pleased to see that Qrow looked pretty tired himself. Of course, he hadn't been hit as much as she had though.
"Hold on," he held his hand out, stopping her in her tracks. "We've been at this for hours. I think we should save it for next time."
With a shrug, she put Jupiter away and collected Igni from where it lay on the ground, sheathed it into its scabbard. Her arms were still shaking and she felt like she was about to fall over, but a wide grin spread across her face from the intensity of their training session.
Sera sat on the ground like a sack of potatoes and leaned against a wide tree with her chest rising and falling slowly. Qrow drove Harbinger into the ground and plopped down next to her before wiping sweat from his brow.
"Not bad, Snowball. You almost had me for a second there."
She laughed and leaned her head against the tree. "Thanks. I've been really, really trying. Training with you is even tougher than it was with Pyrrha."
Qrow faltered and glanced over at her. He pulled a small canteen from behind him and held it out to her. Sera raised an eyebrow in question. "It's water," he said. She took the canteen and drank deeply while Qrow watched her with a cautious eye. "You learned a lot from that girl, didn't you?"
Sera lowered the canteen and stared straight ahead of her. "Pyrrha was the reason I was even able to make as far as I did in Beacon. Let's be honest, I was a sloppy mess when the school year started." She swept her hair back to get it out of her face. "I climbed through the ranks of the student body until I was near the top, and it was all thanks to her. Well, mostly. Yang taught me how to fight hand-to-hand, Blake and Ren helped me learn aura management and how to meditate, and the others sparred with me to get a feel for fighting against different kinds of weapons. Hell, Weiss even helped to teach me about all the different properties of Dust."
"Yang taught you how to box?" Qrow guessed.
With a smirk, she looked over at him. "Pummeled that douchebag on top of Beacon Tower pretty good. Knocked him off the damn building." She shook her head, remembering that night. "I still can't believe Weiss was so willing to help me. We hated each other for the longest time."
She handed the canteen back to Qrow, and he took a long drink from it before corking it and putting it away. "That Schnee girl," he shook his head with a chuckle. "If she's anything like her sister, I'm sure she's a handful."
"I kinda forgot you knew her sister," Sera laughed. "You did tear up the courtyard pretty good during that 'conversation' you were having."
"Bah," he chuckled. "I've blown up that courtyard more times than I can count." Then he saw the slightly mournful expression on her face, and his eyes softened. "You'll see them again, kid. Don't worry."
"I hope so," she murmured. Then she cleared her throat and sat forward, bringing her knees to her chest. "What's going to happen when we get to Mistral? Are we gonna just go to class and act like nothing ever happened?"
"Kid, no one is going to be able to act like nothing happened. But you'll be okay. Just try not to think about it too much, yeah? We can't do anything about the past, so just focus on making things better from here on out."
"Ha," she tilted her head back. "It might help if I knew my past."
"That's not what I—"
"I know," she sighed. "I just… I dunno, it's been getting to me. I said I didn't care about knowing who I was before, but I keep thinking what if it helps? What if I know something about Salem that could give us an advantage over her?"
He shrugged, unsure of what to say. "I guess we won't know until you can remember."
She sagged, her arms loosely holding her knees. "If that even happens," she grumbled into her arms.
"Hey," Qrow put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be fine, kid. We'll figure it out."
Sera smirked lightly. "Hey, don't worry about me. They knock me back, and I'll come back twice as hard. Look at what happened to that Magnus guy." She said with false confidence.
"If you say so, Snowball." Qrow ruffled her hair. Sera laughed and gently shoved his hand away. Then he got to his feet and stretched his arms before looking down at her. "I better get out of here. Ruby and your friends are probably gonna wake up any minute now. Just keep it cool, and keep moving. I'll stay in scroll range in case something goes wrong."
Sera nodded absently, and Qrow disappeared into the trees. She sat there for another few minutes before sighing heavily and going back to the campsite.
'What the hell am I going to do?' she ran her hands through her hair. She held it in her hands and brought it to her face, eyebrows raising at the white locks. She wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed before, but her hair was longer. Then again, she hadn't really looked in a mirror lately. The white hair hung well below her shoulders and reached the middle of her back, but still subtly spiky at the top. "When the heck did my hair get so long…?" she murmured.
. . .
Far away in a land of black crags and dark sand, an enormous black castle stood in the middle of a red lightning storm. Bolts of red lighting struck the ground and formed tall, spiky black pillars made of glass.
Deep inside the castle, a man laid in a bed with life support systems attached to his body. He was scarred and bruised, and strips of bandages covered most of his lightly tanned skin. His entire left shoulder was encompassed gauze and bandages.
His eyes blinked open to stare up into the dark, shadowy ceiling. He moved, but when he felt the tubes feeding into his arm and the breathing apparatus on his face, he relaxed into the bed and exhaled deeply.
"Good, you're finally awake," a voice said, and he glanced over to see a slim guy with spiky orange hair leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Phoenix," Magnus Arc said hoarsely.
The orange-haired man, Phoenix, smirked. "Hello, Magnus. Long time."
"Where am I?"
"Where do you think, smart guy," he leaned away from the wall and approached the bed with his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Clearly, he was in Salem's dark castle. How he'd gotten there, he had no idea. The last thing he remembered was fighting that girl on Beacon Tower, then falling. Yes, that was right. He'd been shot in the shoulder by her firearm, and he fell from the tower. If he hadn't used his semblance, he would've died. His entire body felt numb and sore at the same time, as if he'd been shot with anesthesia then sent through a hydraulic press. When he flexed his fingers, they ached dully.
Magnus rolled his eyes and sat up. "How long?"
"A while," Phoenix deadpanned. "Salem is not happy with your results."
"Just what I need," he sighed. Then he looked up at the orange-eyed man with a hardened expression. "How long?" he repeated.
"…Almost two months."
Magnus exhaled heavily. "Fantastic. What of Cinder?"
"Injured," Phoenix replied. "She's missing an eye now, thanks to the silver-eyed girl. It's kind of funny, really. You get done in by a girl with no memory, then Cinder gets beaten by a child." He laughed.
Magnus glanced around the room. "Where's your big friend? I thought you two didn't go anywhere without each other."
Phoenix tensed, a feeling of anger washing over him at the memory of the fight in Patch. The two of them had been through hell together. They grew up together, living in the slums of Vacuo and fighting to survive almost every day. Battle brothers, they'd jokingly called themselves. Then Salem found and recruited them, and their lives improved significantly under the witch's rule. And now, he was dead. Killed by the girl they'd been sent to capture.
"Minos is dead," he said. "That white-haired bitch killed him."
Magnus grunted and yanked the tubes out of his arm, not even wincing as they tore his skin, then pulled the breathing mask from his face before sliding out of bed. He felt weak and tired, but he was strong enough to walk. He was dressed in a simple pair of dark pants and an olive shirt. His bare feet were cold against the chilly stone floor. He towered over Phoenix by a full head, and the orange-haired katana wielder smirked up at him.
"I guess that 'white-haired bitch' is more capable than we originally thought."
He shrugged. "Just another target, but," he drew his sword and held it tightly. "Next time I see her, I'm taking her head."
Phoenix said that Salem wanted to speak with them as soon as Magnus was awake, so the two of them made their way through the winding passages of the castle until they arrived in her throne room. Alpha Beowolves sat on their haunches dutifully on either side of her throne, staring at them with hungry, glowing eyes.
The pale witch was lounged on her elaborate throne with a rather unpleasant look on her face. Her red eyes bored into them and sent shivers up Magnus's spine, but when he and Phoenix kneeled in front of her, she sat forward and regarded them coldly.
"Ah, my failures. It seems you've finally decided to wake up, Magnus. How was your nap?"
His face tightened while he stared at the stone floor below him. "Unpleasant."
"Good," Salem leaned back into her dark throne. "Just as you deserve for failing to accomplish your mission. You were to bring the girl here, and yet, all I've gotten was a pair of damaged underlings."
"Beacon has fallen," he said. "The kingdom has fallen. Professor Ozpin is dead, and Cinder has recovered the full power of the Fall Maiden."
"And where is the relic from the vault? Where is Kassandra Kallisto?"
He tensed.
"That's what I thought," she tapped her black nails on the armrest of her throne. She looked at Phoenix, who had stayed silent ever since arriving in the chamber. "And you. Don't think I've forgotten your unsuccessful attempt to capture her as well. I send two of you, and only one comes limping back like an injured animal."
Phoenix bit his tongue to resist the insult that threatened to erupt from his mouth. "The girl killed my partner, Mistress. Then the Sun Dragon appeared, and I was forced to retreat. I couldn't fight the girl, him, and his daughter at the same time. Not without Minos."
Salem curled her fingers as a look of disdain graced her princess-like features. "Taiyang Xiao Long," she said with distaste.
"Y-Yes, Mistress," Phoenix managed. "Surely, you see that I had no choice but to—"
"Enough," she snapped. He flinched at the venom in her voice. "I do not want to hear your excuses. The fact of the matter is that each of you have failed to capture Kallisto. How do you plan on making up for it?"
They were silent, unsure of what to say. Salem tapped her nails on the throne irritably, and any second now, they expected her to unleash the Grimm onto them.
"I know," she mused. "Both of you will work to capture her this time. Tyrian is on her trail as we speak. It seems she and her friends are on their way to Mistral. You will join him and capture both Kassandra and the silver-eyed girl, Ruby Rose. I do not care how you do it, but if you fail again, the consequences will be great."
Magnus tensed. He was still injured from the Fall of Beacon. Even kneeling like this, he was short of breath and his limbs ached. How was he supposed to effectively carry out this task?
"Yes, Salem," he and Phoenix both said in unison.
A smile crept along the witch's face. "Good. Now, leave."
Phoenix stood to his full height and eyed the Beowolves that were still staring at him. It took a moment for Magnus to stand, but when he did, he looked to the pale woman lounging in front of him.
"What about Cinder? Is she coming with us to capture them as well?"
Salem frowned. "Cinder is not to leave. Believe it or not, boy, she was hurt far worse than you. Until then, I'm not going to risk losing the Fall Maiden we've just acquired. No, she is not going with you."
Magnus's face tightened. With a stiff bow of his head, he left the throne room with Phoenix on his heels. Once they were out and the enormous doors swung closed, the orange-haired man sighed and paced the wide hallway.
"This is just fantastic. I get to hike all over Anima with a freak that can't fight."
"Calm down," Magnus said irritably. "I'm not exactly excited about it either. But until we take those girls back here, we might as well get over it."
"Easy for you to say, you're the baggage on this trip," he scoffed.
Magnus's eyes narrowed. "I'll be fine. Worry about yourself."
Phoenix laughed and walked away from him. "Get your things ready, we're leaving in an hour."
"Fine," he said. Then he went in the opposite direction, heading for his room in the dark castle. His body still ached with dull pain, but he walked confidently as if he was at full strength. All sorts of thoughts went through his head. He wondered which friends his target was traveling with, and if his cousin was with her.
His lip curled at the thought of his family. He was glad to be rid of them. But it did disturb him that he might have to kill the only member of the family he'd even slightly liked.
"Gods-damn it, Jaune," he muttered and walked briskly through the hall.