Chapter 33: Secrets Revealed

The forest was silent as everyone took in Salem's appearance. There was a soft click as Winter released the second blade of her weapon and Pyrrha shifted her sword into its spear form, attempting to use it as a crutch as she fought to stand.

"Stop," I said softly, holding my hand out to the duo. "Pyrrha, you need to keep still for a while. You don't want to open that wound again."

"But…" Pyrrha attempted to argue.

"No," I shook my head. "This isn't a fight. It's more of a… social call. Please just trust me on this. I'll explain everything later."

"What the hell is that?!" Yang asked, stepping back when Salem turned to stare directly at her.

Qrow stepped in front of his nieces with his blade shifted into its scythe form. "That's as far as you go."

"Please, we both know that there's nothing you could do to stop me," Salem hummed amusedly, before directing her gaze at Yang. "And you shouldn't be asking what I am, dear. Instead, you should ask who I am, I'm certain that your uncle or the Calavera boy over would be able to tell you all about me."

Yang shot an accusing look to her uncle's back, frightened and unsure of what to make of the current situation. "You know her?"

It had only taken a few words for Salem to unsettle everyone and cast doubt on Qrow and to a lesser extent, myself.

"You sure know how to make an entrance," I said, stepping forward, stopping in front of the self proclaimed Grimm queen. "I wasn't expecting to meet you so soon, Salem."

"I thought that it was about time that I met Ozma's new champion," Salem replied, leaning down so that we were at eye level. "And you haven't disappointed. It would have taken quite a few capable Huntsmen in order to kill my little experiment and yet it barely took you any effort. I'm almost tempted to send more."

But she wouldn't. The Tyrian Grimm she had sent was clearly her prototype for the Hound. If she had another one, it likely would have been here as well, helping Tyrian fight.

Deciding to defuse the situation a little, I reached up and poked my hand through her head, partially dispersing the black mist that formed it, causing Qrow to choke in the background.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," I smiled, seeing the unimpressed look on Salem's face as her head reformed. "I just wanted to see how solid your body was. It's a pretty interesting use of a Grimm… Using it as a way to communicate across long distances, although, it feels a little pointless. You could have just called me on my Scroll instead of going to so much effort… Unless… Don't tell me, you don't have a long distance coverage plan?!"

I was starting to catch on to her little intimidation act. There was a time where she could have scared me, but that time has long since passed. In truth, I was more worried about Pyrrha and her wound than Salem's appearance… Although explaining everything afterwards was going to be a massive headache.

"I see. You put on a brave face so that others may feel at ease," Salem speculated. "I came here to..."

"One second," I interrupted her.

Passing through Salem's Grimm form, I stepped over a few pieces of bone and came to a stop in front of Tyrian's remains, black liquid oozing from his form. Reaching down, I dodged to the side and grabbed his stinger, burying it into his own chest, right where an eye had been implanted.

Tyrian's body lashed out, its bladed arms thrashing wildly, attempting to inflict whatever damage it could, before it perished. However, it ultimately failed.

Without the silver eye implant, Tyrian's body had nothing to protect itself from the corrosive black fluid. His body began to break apart, evaporating not unlike a Grimm, until there was nothing left but a skeleton.

"Not an ounce of hesitation," Salem noted. "I must admit that you're quite the curiosity. Despite all your skills and achievements, not much is known about you. The earliest information that can be found on you is your arrival at Argus some months ago with nothing prior to that. You are a mystery."

"If that's the whole reason why you decided to come here, then you're going to be a little disappointed," I said. Grabbing my abandoned sword, I flicked it, removing any dirt that remained on it, before sheathing it. "There's really not much to tell. I fought Grimm and trained in the woods, that's pretty much it."

"I feel that you are leaving something out, but that is not the reason why I came here tonight," Salem replied, offering an almost motherly smile, as if she had just caught her kid lying about stealing the last cookie. "I have come to make you an offer to stand at my side."

Alright, I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting Salem to make an offer like that. If anything, I thought she would continue to play into her intimidating presence and try to cause conflict between everyone.

"Ozma has told you about me, about how I should not be trusted, but he has left out much about himself," Salem continued, sounding a little mournful. "He has likely informed you about how he reincarnates with every death. What he intentionally left out was how he consumes the soul of his host over time, erasing them from existence. I believe that you are his next host."

I saw how it was. While she was technically telling the truth, she was twisting it in a way that suited her. I wasn't going to be intimidated like Lionheart, so she was trying to scare me into abandoning Ozpin… Scaring me into needing her help.

Pyrrha looked horrified while no less disturbed by what they'd just heard. The only ones that appeared calm were Qrow, who already knew and probably figured out what happened to the host and Winter who was doing a remarkably good job at keeping a cool head.

"Yeah, I doubt that," I replied.

I wasn't Ozpin's next host, but even if I was, I still had a few things that that worked in my favor, namely the Iron Soul status effect which kept Tyrian from being able to tear through my Aura and the shadow that was following me around that could apparently follow me inside of my soul.

"It is quite the gamble," She hummed. "I could help you and all I would need in exchange is a single name. All I need to know is the name of…"

Salem's head burst into black mist as a scythe passed through it.

"Huh, that normally kills things," Maria said, turning to watch as Salem's head reformed. "So this is the big bad that Ozpin warned us about… I'm surprised that you haven't tried to kill her yet."

"She's not actually here," I shrugged. I glanced back to Pyrrha, clutching her stomach as she used her spear as a crutch. "You mind helping Pyrrha out. Her wound is closed, but I'd feel better if she had it disinfected and bandaged as well. I'll wrap things up with Salem."

Maria sighed as she lowered her scythe. "Fine, just hurry up already. That Grimm wrecked our Bullhead. It's getting late and we're gonna need to figure out where we're sleeping tonight."

"The answers no, by the way," I gave my response to Salem. Despite the horrible things Raven had done in the past, selling her out to Salem was not an option.

"A pity," Salem remarked, looking unbothered. "But it's not an insurmountable problem. The offer still stands, Coal. If you join me, I will teach you the truth of this world and inform you of everything that Ozma has hidden."

Yeah, I already knew everything there, so joining her wouldn't really offer me anything new, besides her side of the story which she was bound to twist in order to make herself look innocent, or at the very least, less guilty than Ozpin.

"No thanks, I try not to join cults that attempt to massacre entire Kingdoms by pissing an Ancient Grimm off," I replied. "Thanks for the offer though, but I'm going to go in a different direction."

"In time, your strength will falter and you'll come to see things my way," Salem hummed, unbothered. "After all, you were reciting one of my stories, albeit, unknowingly."

So she had already been listening in back then already. In hindsight, the story of Pandora was fairly similar to Salem's own story.

Both had unwittingly unleashed something onto the world. Pandora released the evils of the box and Salem had ended up angering the god of darkness, pushing him to the point where he decided to just wipe out humanity.

"It's a story I heard quite a while ago," I shrugged. "So it might be about you, but if it was, you should know what remained in the box."

Salem smiled softly, confident that she knew the answer. "A gift from the brothers that they forgot to take back… Magic."

"Nope," I replied.

"Oh," Salem hummed, surprised to have gotten it wrong. "Then perhaps it's the relics?"

"You were closer on your first guess," I replied. "The power that remained behind is very real, it's something that everyone possesses, although, I doubt you'd ever figure it out. It chose to stay behind in order to help Pandora and the rest of humanity with the evils that had been released."

Salem leaned in with interest. "And what is this mysterious power? Aura? A Semblance?"

"I could tell you… But where's the fun in that," I chuckled as I unsheathed my blade.

With a hissed breath, I brought my bright red blade down, cutting through Salem's form, igniting the black fog comprising her body. A few moments passed before the fog finished burning, leaving the forest in silence.

"Is… Is she gone?" Ruby asked nervously.

"Yeah, she's gone," I replied.

"Good," Yang shivered. "What the hell was she and why did she know the two of you?"

Qrow placed a comforting hand on Yang's shoulder. "Yang, why don't you take Ruby back to the cabin while I…"

"NO!" Yang snapped, her eyes flaring red. "I… We saw her, you can't just hide this from us. She was some kind of Grimm… And that other thing was a human once before." Yang's gaze locked on to mine. "You recognized him… You knew him!"

"Easy there," Qrow said. "I know that this is all scary and new, but you need to calm down."

"Calm down!" Yang's voice began to rise.

Yang's attitude was understandable. It had been a long and stressful day for her, starting with learning about her mother. In the span of a single night, her entire world had been violently turned upside down and she had come face to face with Salem. She was scared… They all were.

"Tyrian Callows," I announced. "That's the name of the man that was a part of that Grimm. He's a known serial killer and he worked with Hazel Rainart. They both work for Salem… Well, Hazel still does."

"Coal," Qrow said warningly.

"You're not exactly going to be able to keep this from them, sonny," Maria said, helping support Pyrrha. "The worst thing we could do is not tell them what's going on, especially since they've seen the big bad queen herself."

Looking between his frightened nieces, Qrow sighed. "Damnit, fine. This is such a clusterfuck."

He could say that again. Salem knew exactly what she was doing when she decided to show her face. Ozpin and Ironwood were going to have to be informed about her appearance.

Slipping my Scroll from my pocket, I found that I had no signal. It seemed that Salem had been thorough and ensured that we wouldn't be able to call for help when her pet project attacked… Not that it would have helped. We are fairly far from civilization right now.

"Why don't we move this conversation inside," Maria suggested. "It's getting a little… Corpsy out here."

Looking out at the various bones that were splayed out across the forest, I found myself nodding in agreement.

…Breathe…

A short trip back to the mine camp revealed that it had been completely undisturbed. The workers likely heard some of the fight, especially the Bullhead being destroyed, but they stayed out of it, leaving their safety in the hands of the Huntsmen… Our hands.

The once cozy cabin that Yang, Ruby and Qrow were occupying had been packed with more people than it was intended for as our combined group squeezed into the small lounge I had found myself in a few hours earlier.

Those that didn't know anything about Salem were sitting on one end of the room, with Pyrrha laid on a bundle of blankets to avoid aggravating her wound.

I wasn't exactly sure how to begin this. Ozpin had done a pretty good job of explaining Salem's existence, but I doubt it would work here. They'd seen Salem first hand after all.

"Sir," Winter called out, raising her hand.

"…Yes?"

"Is General Ironwood aware of that… Thing… Salem?"

"Of course that's what you would be more concerned about," Qrow sighed, before taking a sip from his flask. "All that matters is if your General is informed. Try and…"

Maria slapped the backside of Qrow's head, silencing him. "Time and place."

"He is aware of her… All of the headmasters are," I explained, ignoring Qrow's complaint. "They've all been working on ways to stop her."

Winter nodded, satisfied with the answer. She had been trained as a Specialist, so knowing that her General was aware of the situation and actively doing something about it must have been comforting for her to know.

"That's all well and good, but what is she?" Yang asked, having calmed down from her earlier outburst.

"That's a bit of a tough one, not much is known about Salem," Qrow replied. "She's the leader of the Grimm and she's ancient. Beyond that, there's not much information on her. The only thing I can tell for sure is that she can control Grimm and that she's got an interest in the kid over here, it's anyone's bet as to why."

There were a number of reasons that would draw Salem's attention, now that I thought about it. I had killed Tyrian along with the Ancient Grimm behind the dam, fed Lionheart false information that identified him as a spy to Ozpin and screwed over Cinder's plan, most of which happened in a single day.

"…Yeah, it was really only a matter of time until Salem made a move, now that I think about it," I hummed.

"Shouldn't you be a little more worried?" Yang deadpanned. "I mean, I know that you're strong and all, but this all seems really serious."

"Worrying about her isn't really going to do me any good," I shrugged, remembering when Maria offered me the same advice when I was worried about the shadow that was stalking me. "Besides, now that I've met her, she doesn't seem so scary."

"How?" Yang squawked.

"There's the fact that she decided to have the Grimm equivalent of a Scroll call which makes me think that she's not exactly confident in her ability to fight," I pointed out.

Something else that I had been thinking about was the fact that Salem didn't control the Ancient Grimm herself. There were more than a few of them spread across Remnant and each of them was powerful enough to destroy entire cities. I'd only managed to stop one and I needed to be taken to a hospital afterwards.

It should be a simple thing for Salem to set them loose on the world… There wasn't really anything stopping her, unless she couldn't control them either. She had to have her followers rile them up for her after all.

Hazel and Tyrian needed to blow up the dam and cause enough stress in Mistral to properly wake one while Cinder would have needed to cause a massive amount of panic in Vale to wake the one slumbering in Mount Glenn.

Salem was still an immortal threat that's ultimate goal would result in the end of the world, but, the more I learnt about her, the more I felt that she was manageable.

Ozpin had managed to keep her at bay with regular Huntsmen. I was confident that I would be able to help him push her back even further and possibly put an end to this shadow war.

…Breathe…

"Sir… Coal, can I talk to you," Winter asked, glancing between the pair of sisters that were starting to doze off and Qrow who was in the process of refilling his flask. "In private."

"Alright," I nodded, leading Winter outside of the cabin.

After discussing Salem with the group, it had been decided that all of us would be spending the night together, regardless of how cramped the cabin would be.

Stepping outside, the cool night air greeted us. The camp was illuminated by a few dull lamps and the shattered moon above.

"So, what's this about?"

Winter took a slow breath before steeling herself.

"I think that it would be for the best if you dropped me as your student," She suddenly announced. "I can recommend someone to take my place. I believe that Clover Ebi would be a more than suitable replacement for me."

"Woah, slow down," I said, taken off guard, I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. "I won't force you to learn Total Concentration Breathing, but can you at least tell me why you don't want to learn it?"

"I… Am not making much progress with it," Winter admitted. "I was content to learn at my own pace, but now that I am aware of Salem, it would be selfish of me to continue to take up your time while there are others out there that would be more suited to it."

So she was quitting out of a sense of duty and progress instead of fear.

"I don't think you should quit just yet, the only thing that's slowing your progress is your stressed body and that's slowly improving each day."

It was a bit of a slow going process, but it was working.

"Unless there's some method you could use that would speed that process up, I feel that you would be better off teaching someone better suited than me," Winter replied.

I hummed in thought as I considered what she'd just said. "I think I might have an idea that could do just that," I said, much to Winter's surprise. "But it might put you in an uncomfortable position."

"I have been through far worse back in the Academy. If you truly feel that you have something that could help, I would be more than willing to try it."

"…We can try tomorrow," I continued.

I hadn't been expecting her enthusiasm, Winter had always acted fairly stoically. She'd made her decision to stop learning Total Concentration Breathing out of sheer pragmatism, but it seemed that she was happy that she didn't have to give it up just yet… She still had a chance to learn it.

Hopefully she kept that enthusiasm for tomorrow. What I had in mind wasn't exactly groundbreaking or extreme in any way, but it was something that I was fairly certain she had no experience with.

…Breathe…

Laying down on the wooden floor, I folded my arms under my head, staring up at the ceiling. With the cabin as packed as it was, there wasn't much room to sleep.

Maria had fallen asleep in the comfiest looking chair while Winter took to sleeping in the room with Yang and Ruby, leaving me with very few options. Namely sharing a bed with Qrow who might end up throwing up due to how much he drank tonight or on the floor.

My choice was easily made.

"That doesn't look very comfy," Pyrrha whispered from her spot next to me.

"It's not the worst," I hummed. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I have a lot on my mind."

I nodded. Learning about Salem would do that to most people.

"It's just… Every time I close my eyes and start drifting off, I get flashes of her," Pyrrha said. "I know it's stupid and you said that she's not that scary when you really think about it, but I can't help it."

Sighing, I rolled onto my side. "Being afraid is… It's a natural part of life. We don't really have power over what scares us, but we can confront it if we ever need to. For example, I… Really don't like spiders, especially if one crawls on me. The first time I killed a Deathstalker, a spider climbed onto my back. When I found out, I freaked out and ran around, trying to get it off."

"Really?" Pyrrha asked, stifling a giggle.

"Yep."

We laid in silence for a few moments, before Pyrrha hummed softly. "I've been thinking about that story you told us earlier, trying to figure out what remained in the box, but I just can't figure it out."

"Do you want me to tell you?" I asked. Continuing once Pyrrha hummed her 'yes.' "Try not to be too disappointed, alright. The last thing that remained in the box was hope."

"Hope?"

"Pretty cheesy, right?" I chuckled softly. "It's not anything we can touch or physically hold, but we do have it. It's the last weapon we fight with when all else is lost. So long as a person has hope, they can weather any storm."

"I don't think I've ever thought of it like that before. I think it's a wonderful metaphor," Pyrrha said. "You have some truly interesting stories, it's a wonder that I've never heard of them before."

"I have quite a few more that I could tell you," I replied. "But I think we should try getting some sleep. It's been a bit of a stressful day."

"I think you're right," Pyrrha yawned, shifting in her makeshift bedding. "Hey Coal. Do you think that I could ask you a… Mutually beneficial favor?"

I shot a glance towards Pyrrha that went unseen in the dark. "Okay."

"While I do feel better after our talk, I still feel a slight sense of unease," Pyrrha began. "And you're stuck sleeping on the hard floor…" She trailed off, shifting her blankets to the side.

Oh… It seemed that the night was determined to catch me off guard one last time. I really hope that I was reading this right, because it would be extremely awkward if I was wrong,

"If that's alright with you." Sitting up, I shifted through the dark and laid down beside Pyrrha as she threw the blanket over me. "Good night."

"You're really warm," Pyrrha yawned tiredly. "Good night."

Closing my eyes, I slowly began to relax, before a lights suddenly flickered on.

"Damnit, gotta take a leak," Qrow murmured. Staggering out of his room, he froze when he caught sight of where Pyrrha and I were. "Oh great, don't tell me that the two of you are fu…"

"Finish that thought and I'll make sure there's not a drop of alcohol left in this entire camp," I threatened. "We're three hours out from the nearest town and that's by Bullhead and we don't have one of those right now."

"Jeez kid, there's no need to turn into a friggin monster now," Qrow muttered, retreating back into his room.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yes, thank you," Pyrrha hummed, her face remaining a bright red as a look of confusion came to it. "Wait, I thought he said he needed to use the restroo…"

"Hah, there you are," Qrow cheered triumphantly, his muffled voice coming through the door. "Sneaky little bottle. If you can fill my bladder, you can empty it too. Now hold still, I've got to aim this just right."

Suppressing a laugh at the look of horror on Pyrrha's face, I stretched my arm under the pillow. Yep, I'd definitely chosen the right place to sleep tonight.

In which Salem proves to be extremely manipulative, Coal hangs up on her, Winter attempts to give up her spot with learning Total Concentration Breathing when it seems she can't learn it and Qrow really knows how to ruin a moment.

When it comes to Grimm, anything that predates Salem is outside of her ability to control, specifically the Ancient Grimm of Remnant. There's a lot of prep work involved if she wants to use them.

Anyways, I'm up to chapter 38 on the P word website.

P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.

Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.

The next chapter will be posted on the 16th of December.
See you all then my dudes and dudettes.
Have a great day/night.