My last Thursday employed at my normal job.

It doesn't even feel real that I'll be quitting soon. I guess it hasn't sunk in yet. xD

I do have quite a busy last few days at work, though. Need to finish off every bit of work I can and prepare people for my absence. I'll force myself to write despite that, but this one will be a smaller chapter. Doesn't help that I was off sick from work so more piled up.

Cover Art: Curbizzle

Chapter 95

Ruby, Weiss and Blake had been spared. Or rather, the Grimm had been so focused on hunting him and Cinder down on Salem's orders that they'd ignored the three passed-out huntresses by the docks. They had survived only by virtue of Salem's obsession, because Jaune could see prints from Grimm in the area that proved they'd been here. Salem could have stopped and killed them but hadn't wanted to let him and Cinder get further away.

He'd just about roused Blake by the time Qrow Branwen came sprinting out the trees. His clothes were soaked but the blood of the Grimm he'd killed had long dissolved, leaving him dishevelled.

"Ruby!"

"Alive," Jaune croaked, offering the man a tired smile. "They all are. How is Beacon?"

"It'll be fine." Qrow rushed past him to check on Ruby anyway, then picked her up in his arms. "Where's Yang?"

"We split up so she could lure Salem away. It worked for a while. A friend of mine saved them along with Roman. Can you call a Bullhead? I think I'm going to have to explain some things to Oz— to Oswald."

Qrow finally took a look around the ferry. At the burning wreckage of a Bullhead in the trees, the cracked roof of a warehouse, and the churned-up ground that indicated an absolute swarm of Grimm had been there minutes before. Finally at them, all safe and sound.

Somehow.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a good shout."

/-/

Beacon stood.

The school was a mess, covered in broken glass with its lawns and fields turned to swamps from the pounding steps of a thousand Grimm. Doors hung off hinges and walls were damaged as if it had played host to the most violent rave in human history.

But there was no blood. No bodies. No grieving students.

Instead, students milled around with a helpless sense of shock, as if they weren't sure where to begin the cleanup operation and whether they wanted to try at all. A couple moved with binbags picking up broken windows, but just as many simply stood and stared at the devastation and wondered how they had come out of it alive.

Jaune wondered if they were shellshocked. If there'd be serious PTSD issues after this.

Better that than death.

Glynda met him outside what was officially her office and ushered him inside to speak with Oswald, leaving to take over cleanup. Ozpin would normally have been sat behind his desk but he stood now, staring out the window. He looked fine for a man who had left to fight a million Grimm or more.

When he turned, Jaune noticed the smile first. It wasn't gentle. If anything, it was manic. Brimming with excitement. This wasn't Ozpin, the old man who had lost most of his power and been backed into a corner. This was Ozma. He stood strong and tall, no longer needing his cain, and as he marched away from the window and cracked his neck, Jaune could tell the man had enjoyed his fight.

"Mr Arc!" He even sounded cheerful. "Good to see you alive and well. I hear the others are doing just fine."

"What were our losses here, sir?"

"To death? None. Many injuries, some bad, but we're talking missing a year of study to recover rather than losing their careers. It could have been much, much worse. Salem was fixated on you and abandoned her attack on Beacon the moment she realised you weren't here. Glynda told me the Grimm became disorganised and erratic after that. It was practically a rout. Over 90% of the Grimm that attacked Beacon went after you."

That was a relief. The attack had been for him in the first place so he'd have been directly responsible for any deaths. As for those hurt, well, maybe he could use his Semblance to help them out.

"Sir, there are things I need to tell you."

"I'm sure. How you survived and escaped for one. Where Salem is now. Why she let you go." Oswald gestured to the desk. "Take a seat. I expect this will take a while."

It did. Jaune talked for well over fifteen minutes, doing his best to recount every little thing to the immortal. Not only Salem, but the ever after, this new world the Brother Gods had originated from, and the creatures that lay within it. Oswald started off strong, but he soon became wary, then haggard. The more he learned, the more it seemed to shake him.

"An entirely new world created erratically by the gods. That should surprise me and yet it doesn't. When they left us, it reeked of a child taking his ball home and refusing to play. We always assumed they were just waiting for us to gather the relics and bring them back, but that doesn't make sense. Why wait? They're probably off creating a new world. Remnant 2.0. One where they can try again learning from the mistakes they made with us."

"The cat suggested they never actually made us."

"It wouldn't surprise me. In fact, it would answer a lot of questions. If the God of Darkness only served to destroy, then how were we created in the first place? If they found Remnant and took over, none would know. The same as how we never knew of this ever after this feline spoke of. Do you believe he told the truth?"

"Yes. His power was identical to mine. Almost."

"Almost?"

"The way he explained it, his power wasn't to enter dreams like mine is. His power was to be able to shape reality in his world. Technically, that's what my Semblance does as well. It shapes reality in their world. And it just so happens that the act of dreaming takes our souls and consciousnesses into the ever after where I have power."

"Then it was never dreams at all. Your Semblance is reality-bending, just extremely limited in scope."

"Yes. It's a fluke."

"Hm." Oswald leaned back. "And that was the beast we saw in her dream. There is a certain sense to it. We spoke of how strange it was that the beast had failed to find and take over Salem despite how long it had been with her. If it were in her head, you'd think it would find her sooner. It wasn't, though. If Salem crossed into their world every night for a few hours, then the cat would have to locate her. It would have eight hours or so to search an entire world for one person."

No wonder it had taken so long. Jaune wouldn't have been able to find a single person in Vale in that time, and the ever after was presumably a lot bigger than a single city. When Salem dreamed, she'd crop up in a random part of it, and then the cat would have a limited timeframe to try and find her.

"Did I make the right decision?" Jaune asked.

"It's impossible to say." Oswald took his seat and leaned his elbows on the table, for once looking like Ozpin. "It's never easy to predict these kinds of things. While it would have been tempting to be rid of Salem, we'd only open ourselves up to a new threat. And she wasn't wrong to say gathering the relics would likely end with our deaths. The gods were ever childish, and if they truly have moved on and made a third world then perhaps it's best we let them entertain themselves there. With any luck, they'll have forgotten about us as they have the ever after and the creatures within it."

It felt like the best they could hope for. His Semblance would of no use against two beings of such power. Jaune wasn't sure if they were truly divine or not – as it seemed they'd just found humanity and established themselves as gods. It didn't much matter. The power they held made them untouchable by human hands.

They couldn't fight the gods if they came back and decided they wanted to destroy Remnant, and they probably wouldn't be able to reason with them so long as Ozma and Salem still lived – and neither could be killed thanks to the gods' own curse.

So, what were their options? Summon them and hope for absolution? No thanks.

Oswald was right. Their best hope was that the gods had gone off and found a new world, or made one of their own, and begun the cycle all over again. The ever after was existing just fine without them and so would Remnant.

"It's funny how they left someone cursed in both worlds," Jaune said. "You and Salem in this one and the cat in theirs. In both cases, the gods didn't think their actions through and just left someone to suffer."

"What should gods care for the pain of mortal men?" Oswald quoted. "What would they even understand? Eternity is a powerful concept to those such as us, but it's nothing to them. I doubt they even understand how this is a curse. They probably see what they did to me as a blessing. The same for this Curious Cat, I'm sure. If he has the power to rewrite elements of his world then he might have been left as a caretaker."

"If so, he's gone rogue."

"Hmm. Yes." Oswald sighed. "We should worry about this, despite that we've won ourselves a reprieve from Salem. If he takes over her, he'll surely want to wreak vengeance on you – and he'd want to do it in this world. You're a match in his, but you're helpless here."

Jaune had thought the same. The Curious Cat wasn't dead or gone; Salem had simply woken up and ended the dream. He would have more chances. Theoretically, an infinite number of them. He could keep trying and trying until he eventually caught and consumed Salem. Or until he found someone else to inhabit. There was no guarantee it had to be Salem. The Curious Cat just saw her as a better host because her body could contain his chaotic energies. Someone else would decay and die, but that might buy the cat time enough to kill him.

There was only one solution.

"I want to try and hunt it down."

Oswald stilled. "Oh?"

"It's a threat to our world. It'll be a constant danger. A world-ending one if it wants to bring the gods back."

"And do you believe you could kill it? Your powers would be matched."

"I'm a huntsman, sir. Not a very good one, but I still am one. If our powers negate one another, that still leaves a trained huntsman against a cat."

"Hmmm. A good point. And can you bring yourself to kill it from an ethical standpoint?"

He'd have to. The cat was not unlike Ozma and Salem except it had been left with a mental impulse it could never satisfy or get rid of. It was being driven to insanity, if it hadn't already been driven to it.

What must it be like to be cursed with curiosity in a finite world? What happens when it exhausts it? When it knows everything the ever after holds? The curiosity wouldn't end. It'd still haunt it. It would be like having an addiction to a drug that no longer exists.

In a word: torture.

Its existence was tortured and ultimately doomed to pain.

"The right thing to do is put it down," Jaune decided. "Give it peace."

"And how will you do it?"

"According to the cat, everyone's consciousness breaches from our world into the ever after when we dream. That means I can go there every night."

"But haven't you said before that you can't stray far from the dreamer? The world becomes hazy. Indistinct."

He was right. That didn't make sense if he was crossing over, although maybe it was to do with the manner in which he did it. If he was tagging along with others, then they might have become anchors in a sense. If he was seeing the ever after through their eyes, then he couldn't move far away from them.

"Then I'll have to recruit someone to work with me. You…?"

"It's a big risk," Oswald said. "The cat already wants Salem. It would jump at the chance to get me. My soul was essentially twisted by the God of Light. I, too, would be a fine host to contain the cat's soul."

"Cinder…?"

"Still holds the magic of the Fall Maiden. I would rather you not risk that. It is my magic, and therefore close enough to what might be considered divine energy. It might allow the creature to inhabit Miss Fall just as well as it might Salem."

That left plenty of people he could ask for help – his team and Team RWBY – but he didn't want to risk them any more than they already had been. His team and Yang had risked their lives acting as bait, and then the rest of Team RWBY almost died at the ferry.

They deserved a break from this.

"I believe you're thinking too far ahead on this, Mr Arc." Oswald said. "You talk of entering their world and hunting down the Curious Cat, but you would have to locate him just as he has had to locate Salem. There's no use handpicking a team to enter dreams with if you have no way of reaching your target. This world has other denizens from his words. Your first challenge should be to locate and interact with one of these. Perhaps they know more about this Curious Cat."

It was a good point. And put like this, he shouldn't be thinking too hard on who to go into the dream of. All dreams would lead to the ever after and he might as well appear randomly. If he couldn't stray far from the dreamer, he'd have to see if he could find locals while they were dreaming.

That'll be a challenge all of its own. I've never noticed any creatures in dreams that aren't figments of the dreamer's imagination. Do the locals avoid dreamers? To be fair, I've never looked. Maybe they've been there all along and I didn't care to notice.

"I'll let you know how it goes," Jaune told him. The former headmaster nodded. "Uh. Are lessons still on…?"

Oswald took a look to the window, outside to the ruined classrooms and lawns.

"No," he eventually said, sounding exhausted. "No, I expect they will not be on for a few days while we clean up Salem's mess."

/-/

Going from running away from a Grimm queen to picking litter and broken glass was a tonal shift for sure, but it was perhaps one they needed. Nora complained loudly about the boring nature f it, but Pyrrha and Ren – and Jaune, secretly – enjoyed the mundanity. The greatest risk here was stepping on some glass which, after their latest escapades, was a welcome relief.

"We deserve medals!" Nora said. "Trophies! Ooh, statues!"

"You could make them out of glass," Ren said. "There's certainly enough of it."

The Grimm had rampaged through the buildings looking for Jaune, smashing through windows into every dorm they could reach. Salem hadn't bothered to head straight to his team's dorm, if she even knew where that was. She'd just had the Grimm search everywhere.

And the Grimm, being mindless, had taken that very literally. They'd ripped doors off to get into janitorial cupboards just in case Jaune was hiding in there. If a glass pane existed, they had smashed it to see what was on the other side. Be it window, cabinet door, or even a trophy display case for the Vytal Festival.

Maybe he'd been hiding behind those!

"Come on, Jaune. I know you and the teachers had some secret meeting. Give us the real story. What's happening? What's next? Are we marching to war?"

"No. Salem is hopefully dealt with for now."

"You have to give me more than that!" Nora whined. "We risked our lives for you!"

"Nora!" Pyrrha hissed.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just… the truth is so out there. It's so wild and random and I'm not even sure how to start telling you without you thinking I'm feeding you some bullshit story."

His frustration was visible enough for his team to believe him on that one. There was no point not telling them, and he would give it his best shot, but it just wasn't easy. Alternate worlds? Gods? Talking cats? Possession? Things had been complicated enough with an immortal Grimm woman chasing after him. This was taking it even further.

"Is there any risk?" Ren asked.

"I'm not sure. This enemy can't reach us here but it'd love to. The real danger will be in our dreams."

"Nothing's changed there, then."

"It might have. I've found out… ugh… It's so hard to explain. Basically, I'm not the only one with this power. There's a creature which has similar. It might be able to target people in their dreams – any of us. It's been focused on Salem before, but now it has reason to dislike me. I picked a fight with it."

"And it might come for us…?"

"It would if it could control everything but finding a person's dream is as hard for it as it has been for me. The chances of it stumbling upon you are slim – but that doesn't mean I'm not thinking up a way to hunt it down."

"In our dreams?" Nora asked. He nodded. "Like, an adventure in our dreams?"

"Ugh. Closer than you realise. Let's just say everyone may go to the same place when they're dreaming. Our dreams happen in this communal fantasy land, and that creature exists within it and needs to be hunted down and—"

He didn't get to finish.

Because Nora squealed and jumped around.

"You've done it now," Ren said. "The words fantasy land, monster and slay were an unwise combination." He slapped Jaune's back. "I think you'd better try and take Nora along on your first adventure, or she might strangle you in your sleep."

"Quest!" Nora cried. "We're going on a quest!"

Maybe that wasn't a bad idea. He'd find it easier to force his way into the dreams of one of his friends, and he ideally needed the dreamer to be lucid enough to stop imagining up things. If he wanted to find the denizens of the ever after then he needed to not be distracted by the contents of a nightmare.

"You know what… yes. Let's go on an adventure, Nora."

"Best! Day! Ever!"

Glynda Goodwitch's cane smacked down on Nora's head. "Less talking, more picking! We have an academy to clean up and rebuild."

"Awww." Nora slumped. "Worst day ever…"

Next Chapter: 1st May

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