Kapitel 85: 85
"And just what do we have here?"
The Arcana dug through the ruins, huffing as a large piece of ancient stonework was lifted and tossed out of the way without care.
"I'll need more than the Bolt to drive the wedge deep. I need something Jaune wouldn't hand in, something he might decide best that he keeps. Something that'll rankle at him. Hmmmmm."
Salem killing Ozma's incarnation as The Great Conqueror of Animus had been a part of the old man's plans back then. His rare instance of a gamble made against his once-wife that had ended in a success, even if he'd inadvertently made a mistake in the big picture.
Sure the Four Kingdoms were united on the surface, but discontent and disharmony always boiled under the surface.
Vacuo had been left to mostly rot in ever-expanding desert sands as a result of whatever Ozma had done with the Relic of Destruction (according to mother Salem, it was once a verdant land, just like Vale), while Atlas, formerly Mantle, mined out its Dust entirely. The Kingdom was more or less a sandy husk.
Vale was almost a subsidiary to Atlas, only Ozpin's own influence and friendship with the General of Atlas prevented the allied Kingdom from being subsumed. Mistral was always secretly warring with itself under the surface, a veneer of peace hovering over blood-soaked alleys.
Were three sickly heads and one healthy one working together truly as good as the near dozen Kingdoms that had once existed, all healthy but in disarray? Hmmm. Perhaps that would be an answer that could never be answered.
Still, despite having been overrun with Grimm a long time ago, that wasn't any issue to The Arcana of the Queen.
"I do wish mother had tried to at least to preserve something from Ozrai's old palace, if just to keep something to hit his future allies with. She really did try to have it all burnt down, didn't she? At least she even kept the Bolt as a spoil of war." The Arcana tapped muttered quietly, a slim finger tapped thoughtfully on the chin.
But at least the palace hadn't been built tall, but wide. Locating the central complex was enough to hopefully dig up something new. Something that Ozrai's retains wouldn't have been able to when the Grimm invaded shortly after his death.
Really, what a stroke of luck it had been for the man to awaken within the Prince of Vale during that era. The absolute luck of the man.
It couldn't possibly have been planned for, but it was honestly a stroke of great fortune indeed.
Rotted and mangled remains of wood and wool was swept aside as the flesh of The Arcana's arm expanded rapidly into black Grimmflesh and knocked it all aside, reverting back into a normal pale arm.
"Now if I were an undying parasite, how would I hide my goodies?"
The stone tiles were worn with age, but thick and sturdy. Yet they cracked as hands slammed down like hammers following a whistling tune.
Eventually one tile under where the massive ruins and rotted remains of the emperor sized bed had been collapsed revealing a bit of a cavity. A large object remained, roughly rectangular, browned from craggy rust. The bottom was covered in a foul moistness from leaking rainwater, and a thin sludgy mud made of crumbling dust, but the remains of a small iron safe was safely excavated.
"Ooh. Jackpot."
With some effort the object was cracked open, any mechanisms that might have acted as a safeguard had clearly lost efficacy over almost a century of being left in suboptimal conditions.
Still they had caused the contents within to have remained relatively intact, only having suffered a minimal sort of damage from the flow of time.
"...I can't read this. This isn't even a dead Mistralian language. Ozma must have noted this down in something from the Era of the Brother Gods. Hmmmmm. Well, if it's Jaune he might still get something out of this. I'll just package it up and make sure he receives it after the Festival."
The Arcana stretched, letting out a yawn.
"A bit lucky it was this easy to find."
"Another morning, another free pull." Jaune yawned sleepily, his hand cranking the golden arm of the Gacha.
The bright, cherry red body of the machine hummed as the three slots in the front slowly churned giving him that LIE that was a 777. It rolled that even when it gave him literal trash, the damned thing.
The multi-colored plastic balls shook and rattled inside the glass case on top of the Gacha as it dispensed a-
"Gold!" Jaune hissed excitedly, before catching himself.
He coughed into his hand, turning to see that Ren was still sleeping in his bed in their shared hotel room.
"Whew."
There wasn't any point being too excited about any Gacha item. At least not REALLY, as a lot of items had odd qualities, even as gold SSR Rarity items or abilities. Sometimes it was up to him to find a way to make it useful and there were times when it wasn't worth the trouble.
He had plenty of silver SR Rarity items that were just borderline cursed like the Race Change Card that Ruby had accidently used and ended up becoming something that wasn't even what the card promised. And despite the promised power of an SSR Rarity, some such items, abilities, and equipment threatened (they weren't written like threats, but if you thought about the consequences, they could be quite dire) to change him or the world around him on a fundamental level.
The Gacha was out to get him as much as it was to help him.
Still, an SSR was still pretty rare. That was enough for him to take a proper look.
He cradled the golden plastic ball in hand, Jaune quickly shuffled off silently to the bathroom, having no intention of waking his brother.
Big Brother Juniper included. He was… well he was currently hibernating in the corner of the room, a hand placed over his heart, focusing on whatever warmth within gave him some small share of comfort in his diminished state.
Really, he was pretty sure that the way the SR Rarity Summon: Spirit of Hindsight wasn't meant to be kept around like this, always intended on a temporary entity. Probably merely to impart advice and then choose to fade into oblivion.
But for some reason Juniper had taken pity on Jaune (turning into proper brotherly affection rather quickly) and stuck around. It might have only been because he'd once been turned into a temporary Servant that he was even able to stick around longer.
One day he might have to say goodbye forever.
He really didn't want that.
Jaune closed the door to the bathroom, letting the gold plastic pop open and dissolve in his hands.
A new object appeared in his Inventory.
SSR Rarity Equipment: Serpent-Hunter
Origin: Volcano Manor Mt. Gelmir of The Lands Between #DSL007
Description: This ancient weapon may serve as both Greatsword and Greatspear. The intent of the weapon's creation was for the sake of hunting an Immortal Great Serpent of the distant past of the Origin of this blade. As such when facing an enemy that simultaneously carries the Traits of Immortal (Real or Fake), Serpent, and Giant, this weapon may reveal its true power.
Even so, the nature of the weapon has been steeped in Astral Weight through the Trans-Dimensional Ultimate Gacha. Though fierce stormwinds will yet answer your call as this weapon is wielded, the great God-Slaying Blade formed by the Serpent-Hunter will be formed instead of Astral Energies and the Color of one's Soul. Additionally, energy must be expended to spark this weapon's true might.
When a mighty Empyrean's heroic aspirations degenerated into mere Greed and Powerlust, his men searched for a weapon with which they might halt the Evil their Lord had become. Though their story ended in failure, without even the use of this blade, their wishes came true by means of a nameless, graceless warrior.
Jaune determined that by the amount of slots the item filled up it must have been a rather large item, deciding to not pull out the weapon inside the bathroom.
He tip-toed out of the bathroom, poking up at his Big Brother Juniper, attempting to wake him up.
"Mmmrrgh?" Juniper groaned, "What is it, Jaune?"
"Uhhhh just have to ask. Salem is just a normal sized woman, right? Not like a giant snake lady? Or snake-like at all? Because I can force giant size onto things."
"...No?"
"Drat. Go back to sleep. I got trolled by the Gacha again." Jaune sighed in disappointment.
Juniper just chuckled, ruffling his head.
"We'll get something eventually, Jaune. Don't worry."
"I mean we have some things that are promising, just don't know for sure they'll work."
"That's true. Still, you can worry about it more when you're older."
"...I guess."
"Ground rules, Miss Polendina. You are to stick by young miss Soleil at all times. Even to meet Professor Arc." Ironwood reminded the young girl, seeing the younger Nikke drone body of Penny Polendina bounce in place excitedly.
Ciel Soleil's hand wrapped around her wrist like a handcuff.
"Yes, of course General!" The girl bounced in place, looking like she was ready to explode from excitement.
"Penny will behave." Specialist (officially a Master Sergeant) Elm laughed as the larger Nikke gave the smaller Nikke a rough but friendly ruffle of the head, her bright blue Victory Wing uniform was worn open, revealing a dark green armored undershirt. The gold accents of the jacket's trimmings shone in the internal lights of the Bullhead. "She's just excited to see Jaune."
Her weapon Laplace hung from her back, the experimental weapon currently in its Plasma Rocket Launcher state, though the barrel with golden fins had been pulled back and compressed for easier carrying.
"Isn't that part of the concern?" Specialist (Sergeant First Class) Annette Lyons chuckled as she flipped through a bit of leisure reading, her gold-amber eyes glowing faintly, "She gets like this because everyone spoils her outside of her being kept holed up in a secret bunker situation."
Her High-Charge Laser Sniper Dwarf propped to her side, close at hand and ready for use at any time. Though Ironwood was glad that she'd found something to read rather than insist on being allowed to ride on top of their transport and find any flying Grimm in a five kilometer range for target practice.
"It's because of her lack of personal freedoms that it's important that she is granted a bit more leeway when we can afford to give it." Ironwood sighed, feeling responsible for the young girl's unnatural isolation.
Jaune had been right that no matter what her physical age appeared like and how her baseline 'maturity' was initially coded and made to develop, she was still a rather young intelligence. Even if she could develop her morals and personality much more rapidly than a human or Faunus could, it did not change the fact that she needed social interaction to do so, which was something they struggled to provide for Penny, due to her importance.
It was why he'd approved for her to finally receive a 'social handler' roughly Jaune's age. Someone that he hoped in some part Jaune would develop a friendship with, just for further ties to Atlas. The other side was in part of the guilt he felt at being unable to assist Jaune much in the political aspects for Menagerie.
It was partly his own fault that Jaune couldn't put his whole weight into association with Menagerie, as doing so would complicate his relationship to Ironwood, who was expected by Atlas to maintain 'control' over Jaune Arc. The boy looked up to him and didn't wish to make things more difficult for Ironwood himself, and so Ironwood had used his influence to affect what he could.
Even so, without taking some sort of totalitarian control over Atlas, Ironwood couldn't legally assist further as he'd already made plenty of his own enemies during his political career. Plenty of people that would say no to what he wanted simply because it would trip him up.
Despite his own allies (and blackmail ready in the wings) he himself only had two of twelve votes on the Atlasean Council, after all.
"But General. Was it truly necessary for all of Victory Wing to come join you for this Vytal Festival?" Specialist (Sergeant First Class) Mercedes Lyons inquired from her cousin's side, her blonde hair braided down over her left shoulder, a much paler gold compared to the bright gold trimmings to her neat azure blue uniform. "Won't Mistral see it as an aggressive act?"
"Regardless, Atlas only has come with a total of four people to guard their General. No matter your name and reputation, that isn't a fact they can handwave away. It will be alright." Ironwood declared, knowing that there would be some whining and complaints about the firepower of their Atlasean designation, but it was no different than what Atlas dealt with every Vytal Festival that they did not host. "I have reason to believe that your presence might become necessary, though I pray it doesn't come to that."
After all, Salem's forces had been spotted in Animus, even settlements in the north being lost to Grimm. There was something afoot, and it was something that he agreed with his old friend Ozpin on.
And they could take no risks when Jaune Arc would be present.
Not only that but this would be the year when the CCT updates all finally came to a full update, the whole of it currently contained in a spare Dust State Drive within Penny's drone body.
Victory Wing's leader, the Specialist Captain (Master Sergeant) Soline Squall didn't add any input, her uniform was the only one of Victory Wing that sported black in contrast to the usual azure blue, her fingers tapping at the container that held Penny's main body.
Drake Trigger, her experimental Valean Gunblade acted as a resting post, the tip buried in the floor of the hold, the curved handle coming up to her shoulder as she rested her wrist against the weapon's hammer.
Her orders were to act as the main guard for Penny's body as well as a battlefield commander should the worst come to light, being the only member of Victory Wing who had been trusted enough to learn a small part of the true war that they were fighting.
Gold-amber eyes glimmered behind long warm brown spiky bangs as they inquisitively met Ironwood's own.
Ironwood just passed a silent nod and smile before turning back to his young charge Penny.
"So should anything happen, Penny, you are to stick by Professor Jaune's side whenever possible."
"Understood, General!" Penny saluted once again, full of enthusiasm. "I shall not fail!"
"So Qrow Branwen knows?"
"I am sorry. It seems he'd come to his own conclusions as he is very familiar with Faunus due to his close ties to Menagerie. However there's a greater note of concern: Hazel Rainart was not attacked by the Grimm."
Adam paused, his eyes narrowing. That shouldn't be possible.
"...what do you mean?"
"Not only is it concerning that Red Mane has clearly handed over his Tallgeese to others to replicate in what way they could, and they have more resources than we, clearly having built up additional armaments upon their armors, but I mean exactly as I have said. Grimm came to attack us in the middle of our battle and they ignored him."
Adam chewed on the information. Nothing about that made sense. Grimm, like death, was the one true equalizer on Remnant. They did not simply leave people to live once they had them surrounded without a great effort to create enough distance that they lost interest.
Perhaps it could have been argued that he had some sort of Semblance that made him invisible to the Grimm. A few rare instances of such Semblances did historically exist, even currently one such Semblance was known to currently exist now.
He knew Jaune's adopted brother Lie Ren had a Semblance that muted down his emotional state to the point that he could become invisible to the Grimm.
However, The Crown had done a bit of digging on Rainart due to his standing.
The man had plenty of records in Vale where his sister had once attended Beacon. That was why they knew his Semblance was some form of body strengthening or pain killing, as he'd done both legal mercenary work as well as construction work on Mount Glenn before it had been overrun by Grimm.
"Then once you eliminate the impossible, no matter how improbable, only one truth remains. Either by technology or another unreasonably terrifying reality, Hazel Rainart and any possible associates will likely be unaffected by the Grimm. Then do not bother attempting to ever capture him alive. If given the opportunity, we will attempt to kill him. He and any allies are now enemies of our order. If it is a technology, hopefully it can be recovered. If it is not, perhaps we might even have discovered something far more worrisome."
His old master was silent, the audio-only call revealing nothing of his emotional state.
"Then what could that mean? It cannot be technology. If it were so, any Kingdom would be implementing it on a grand scale and pushing for growth and then dominance. Nothing so strange has been occurring."
"Then it isn't technology. It is something else." Adam felt his blood run cold.
What was it that they had discovered? What strange conspiracy?
"...I'm going to recall all the Brigades. This lead is dead to us. We will have to gather information by other means."
"Then… in regards to Branwen. If Professor Arc-"
"You leave that to me. I'll handle it." Adam assured, luckily already having to come into an uneasy agreement with his old friend.
Jaune would likely handle things on his own end and not let it interfere with Adam's business unless he learned something uniquely pertinent that was outside of the Black Knights. Still, he'd warn him about the information that he'd stumbled into. The name and face of the man that could evade the Grimm.
Possibly could even call the Grimm.
They both currently had a pair of burner Scrolls just so that Adam could inform him of any strange actions by The Crown.
Which meant also, that he'd have to inform Jaune that it seemed that Red Mane had either betrayed The Crown himself or The Crown was playing multiple additional angles alongside the oddity that was Hazel Rainart.
But that burner Scroll buzzed without Adam taking the initiative.
Adam glanced down with a chuckle.
It seemed Jaune had already learned of Qrow and the Gold Leo Brigade's meeting. And had questions in regards to their opponent. He did lack the name though.
"I'll call you back, master." Adam spoke after a moment of silence. "I have something to get to."
"Understood. Stay safe, my old apprentice."
Jaune observed the before photo of Harbinger before Qrow had let Haven's Forgemasters perform repairs to the weapon using the blueprints sent via his Scroll.
He felt a little bad about sneaking into Haven in stealth at the dead of night, even asking Trivia to stay up a bit and help him, even though he knew she needed her sleep for the Vytal Festival.
Trivia and Neo had just been happy to spend a bit more time with him, hanging off his back as she nuzzled into his neck, as he slunk around the famous Huntsman College. Despite the fact she'd need to get rest for the Tournament, tomorrow was supposed to be one of the full team fights, thus she'd have the rest of Team CRXN to cover her back. It would be alright as long as she didn't do anything drastic.
And even then, Trivia was strong.
Harbinger only needed a few finishing touches now, a segment of blade just needing polishing after it had been replaced. Plus whatever internals had needed repair. It had taken quite a beating though, judging from the picture of the weapon's state when it had first been received. It had curled like a potato peel shaving that had been roughly straightened by force, only damaging the internal components further.
His fingers tapped on his Scroll, tapping into a program that would act mechanically like a disposable Scroll and bounce the signal in so many directions it would be impossible to guess which location actually sent or received the message in question.
Qrow was telling him nothing, but Adam more than owed him information on circumstances like this.
Trivia eyed the program with a slightly sleepy curiosity, but at his mention that it was someone that would be helping him investigate something, she lost interest and continued to nuzzle into his neck.
He tried to not get distracted by her warm breath on his neck and the sensation it caused.
His Scroll buzzed quietly in his hands, the light of it hidden from the world by Trivia's Semblance.
At the very least the details he was getting back confirmed two things.
There was another man acting as hands and feet for Salem, Queen of the Grimm. He too had an armor that was similar in appearance, but drastically different from Tyrian's. The fact that the Grimm had apparently ignored him as he fled into the forests of Animus merely confirmed that for Jaune.
But what were they planning?
The Vytal Festival was the time of year that the Kingdom would have the greatest scrutiny. It didn't help Salem's people to perform something covert here, rather it was better to do so anywhere else on Remnant. It would be so much easier. They'd have so much less eyes to be caught by.
So why?
There HAD to be a greater scheme. But he was lacking too much in the way of clues and he was expected to sit back and do nothing. Gahhhhh.
If only he had a Gacha ability to talk to weapons or something, get the truth in secret.
"Yeah, that's right. Just like that, huh? I knew this screw was probably a bit too loose. Everytime I've stopped by Yang's spars that right side didn't sound like it clicked into place right. Meh he he." Ruby giggled as she spoke to Ember Celicas with goggles over her eyes. "And done."
Thank you. The Shotgun-Gauntlet's voice was soft but echoed with the other half, bringing the volume up in Ruby's mind just a bit. She only somewhat recently realized she could listen to objects that interacted a lot with Aura, but it was all sort of in her head. That feels good.
"No worries." She beamed, closing up the weapon, making sure everything else fit back into place properly. "It's totally Yang's fault for not taking better care of you. You're built tough, but she's still super rough."
Our partner and mother Yang just burns hot. The yellow weapon laughed, We are just glad she enjoys fighting with us.
Honestly when Crescent Rose first talked to Ruby, she thought she'd gone crazy.
Maybe she was a bit crazy still, but that was probably because she was a Szentire now (whatever kind of weird Faunus vampire bat thing that was, honestly some of Jaune's explanation had gone over her head) and that came with some odd quirks. But when magic was real, talking weapons just didn't seem like a very big deal.
Rather… wasn't it kind of the coolest thing?
"Yeah, that's Yang. Still, I can't believe she DITCHED me and went to see Jaune without me!" Ruby pouted quietly, holding her sister's weapons in front of her face. "Why?"
Fu fu fu. The weapon giggled psychically, Perhaps you'll understand when you're a bit older, Ruby.
That depends. Crescent Rose drawled in a cool monotone voice, Has your partner gotten to bite father Jaune ye-
"Crescent! Bad!" Ruby whimpered her silver eyes glancing around in case their conversation was overheard. "Also big brother Jaune's not your dad! D-don't say that, that's weird!"
He lent you the tools to craft my early and current iteration. Even suggested my primary form. The Sniper-Scythe reminded so not helpfully, By that logic, he is my father and you are my mother.
"B-but," Ruby blushed, "That's embarrassing!" She whined quietly.
My, my. Then I suppose that makes me your elder sibling. Ember Celica joined in, laughing teasingly, Father Jaune formed our early iteration alongside our partner and mother Yang, only to be perfected by our other mother Ruby who completed us. It seems like our mothers, We too have two moms.
Mmm. Greetings, Elder Sisters. Crescent Rose's voice carried a tone as if it was somehow bowing or curtsying. Glad to finally know that I had siblings. Why didn't you inform me of this, mother?
"Gahhh." Ruby shot to her feet, ignoring her baby's teasing as she pulled the goggles off her head, leaving her private business class booth on the SS. Orange Horizon. She began walking down the aisle to where Yang was resting in their flight over to Mistral. "Yang! I've finished fixing up Ember Celica! Take 'em back!"
She ignored someone in a different booth shushing her as Yang slid open the door to her sectioned off booth.
"Oh, hey, already? I thought you wanted to play weapon whisperer a bit longer after you'd be done." Yang laughed as she pulled out an earbud, a movie still playing on the small monitor in front of her.
"I'm not playing anything." Ruby huffed, ignoring the giggle of her sister's weapons. "And I was until they both started ganging up on me."
Yang just laughed as she stood up to give Ruby a hug, making her fangs itch as she could sense her sister's blood pumping, warm and tempting, under her skin.
"Oh Rubes, never change."
Well it was a bit late for that. There had definitely been some changes in Ruby Rose. For one, she was almost Yang's height and size, although that was, admittedly, been some shapeshifting cheating to do so. The fact her clothes somehow adjusted to her size changes were great.
"Oh, and you're too rough with the unfolding mechanisms. Use your Aura properly from the moment the mecha-shifting starts. The sliding pin's screw went loose because you're being sloppy."
"Oh, huh. Shoot, my bad Rubes. I'll take better care of Ember Celica." Yang slipped the bright yellow bands over her wrists, making sure it still fit snugly before covering the weapon in her Aura and sliding it out in full over her arms. "Yeah, sounds and fits like a dream."
"Of course." Ruby puffed out her chest, hands on her hips. "Weapons are my speciality."
She let out a giggle as Yang poked her belly button.
"Yang!" Ruby crossed her hands over her stomach as she hissed.
"Not my fault you were wide open, baby sister." Yang grinned, "Now go back to your seat before we get a noise complaint."
Ruby grumbled as her and Yang's weapons both bid each other farewell, closing the door to the booth.
"I thought we agreed you'd warn me of any secret attacks." Ruby grumbled under her breath as she got back to her seat, closing the door to her booth.
Aunt Yang's maneuver wasn't an attack. Cresent Rose simply spoke in cool monotone as usual. Ahhh, why did her baby have to be so cool?! Thus there was no need for a warning.
"But what's the point of having a sentient third eye when it doesn't warn me of everything?"
The point is to develop the instinct yourself. Her weapon bluntly pointed out, like an arrow striking into Ruby's heart. Father Jaune would be disappointed in you for shirking that responsibility so easily.
"B-but he'd be more disappointed if I gave up an ability like this for no reason!" Ruby countered, "Fight smarter, not harder, right?"
True, but that doesn't mean that I'm perfect as well- please let me finish, mother. Her baby stopped Ruby as she opened her mouth. Your bias is well noted. However, while I do not perceive the way a human does and cannot be blinded, I cannot guarantee to catch everything either. Thus it is important that you are also able to cover your own back.
"Ugh. I'm going to have to do more blindfolded pentalum training, aren't I?" Ruby groaned as she slumped into her seat, feeling her body shrink as if deflating. "I hate blindfolded exercises."
You've improved greatly, mother. Her baby encouraged. I am proud of your progress. Please continue to do your best.
"D'awww, Crescent Rose, you're the best." Ruby grinned as she hugged her compacted weapon like an infant (it was her baby), rubbing her cheek against the cool painted steel-titanium alloy body. "What would I do without you?"
Hmmmmm. Be horrid at hand-to-hand, I suppose.
"I-I'm better now that I'm a Szentire! The enhanced reflexes help, even if my actual form still stinks."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein