Capítulo 66: And More Questions...
A/N: More answers only raises more questions...
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As Jaune is still grappling with his own reaction to Salem's revelations, Kali switches from angry to incredulous. It was a testament to how swiftly the Chieftainess of Menagerie had bounded with them both that she had actually believed Salem instinctively, but now that the initial moment of trust has passed, Kali is slowly beginning to shake her head.
"But… that doesn't make sense. I would not call you a liar, Salem, but dozens of Menagerie's best medical professionals were at my husband's side for the entire week that he was dying from his illness. Every possible test that could be ran on him was ran on him, every treatment tried. Even some that would have flushed poisons out of his system. If this were a poison, I'm sure it would have been discovered. Every doctor said the same thing. It was a mysterious illness they could not cure, but it was an illness nonetheless."
Kali's hands clench into fists at her sides and her jaw clenches as another thought seems to strike her.
"Unless you're saying there was a conspiracy to kill my husband that had every single one of the people trying to save his life in on it…"
Before Kali can fall down that particular rabbit hole, however, Salem shakes her head and holds up a hand to forestall her.
"No. I highly doubt that your doctors were complicit in your husband's murder. At least not all of them."
Menagerie's Chieftainess flinches at having her husband's death so bluntly called a murder. Salem huffs, even as she continues to stare at Sienna Khan.
"The doctors could not discern the poison used to kill your husband, nor figure out how to cure it… because they were simply unequipped to do so. Because the poison used on Ghira Belladonna and now Sienna Khan… is magical in nature."
Jaune's eyes widen at that, even as Sienna and Kali's brows furrow. Magic. Magic like Salem has. Only, magic doesn't really exist on Remnant anymore. Not outside of a few select cases. There's Salem, of course. Her magic is strong as ever, perhaps the strongest source of magic on all of Remnant. Then there are the Relics. The God's last gifts to humanity before it all went to shit, as Salem described it to him. Four powerful, magical artifacts. Could one of them have been used to poison Ghira and then Sienna? Jaune honestly wasn't sure.
Then, there were the Maidens. Theirs were elemental powers, but very much magic. Each Maiden was host to vast power in fact… all derived from Salem's ex-husband, Ozma. The very same man who had been slowly descending into madness these past couple of years, sending more and more of his tools and weapons and people at Salem in increasingly desperate efforts to try and destroy her once and for all before she could succeed at 'whatever she was planning'.
But… there was no way, right? There was no way that…
"Magic… isn't real."
Sienna's doubtful, incredulous tone pulls Jaune out of his thoughts and makes him focus back on the matter at hand. The seated, dying High Leader of the White Fang has her nose scrunched up in what would have been a somewhat adorable manner if not for the intense and serious circumstances. Still, as she expresses her doubts at Salem's diagnosis, Kali looks like she wants to agree with Sienna but at the same time doesn't. She clearly doesn't believe Salem either.
Salem just huffs, rolls her eyes, and points. A laser of pure magical power explodes from her fingertip, taking a chunk of the wall with it and making Sienna and Kali jump at the casual destruction. No one comes running however, because Salem had wordlessly blanketed the room in a piece of muffling magic as well so they would not be disturbed.
Neither Sienna nor Kali notice this, too busy staring at the wall for a long moment before Sienna finally looks back to Salem.
"That… was your semblance."
Salem smirks.
"I do not have a Semblance. I do not even have my aura unlocked. But if you will not take me at my word, believe in your own established sciences. A semblance can only do one thing, yes? Then if my semblance is destruction, what is this?"
She reaches down and then pulls her hand up and out of the floor of the room, grass and flowers sprout to life, creating a small patch of greenery and color in the otherwise dark throne room. Sienna and Kali's eyes go wide all over again at this display, but Salem isn't done yet. Next, she gestures to Kali… and the Chieftainess of Menagerie squeaks, her hands immediately going to her head to feel for cat ears that are suddenly no longer there. She does the same to Sienna a moment later, leaving both faunus suddenly a little upset and outraged.
"What… w-what have you done? This is no illusion! Where are my ears!"
"My ears as well! And my tail!"
Rolling her eyes at what she no doubt views as theatrics, Salem waves her hand again and returns their true forms to them.
"No. Those were not illusions. Those were transformations."
Between such a display of magical power and her no-nonsense, completely confident tone, Jaune can tell that Sienna and Kali are starting to believe his Queen now. They both take a moment to process this abrupt change in their worldview… before Kali once again begins to get angry.
"Then… then my Ghira WAS murdered! It WAS poison! Magical poison, no doubt! Why?! Who would do this? I would have pointed the finger at Sienna before today, but why would she poison herself a few months after poisoning my husband?!"
Sienna squawks indignantly, hissing as she begins to rise from her throne in outrage… only to collapse backwards a moment later, taken by another coughing fit that releases more blood onto her hand. When she's done, she glares weakly at Kali.
"W-Why would I poison Ghira at all?! My position as High Leader of the White Fang is completely secure, and I was even given a position on Menagerie's Council against his and your wishes! You were, hack, both toothless and, ah, harmless long before your husband's demise!"
Kali scrunches up her face, clearly not pleased to hear that… but in the end, she looks to Salem, not even dignifying Sienna's words with a response.
"You can do magic. You recognize this poison as magic. Can you trace it back to its source."
Salem… hesitates. Jaune raises an eyebrow at that, not used to seeing his Queen hesitate on anything. Then, she does something even more interesting. She lies.
"I… can, yes. It would take some time however."
The Queen of the Grimm does not often lie. She has no need to. Outside of lies by omission such as them lying about their true nature right now, what purpose would Salem have in telling lies? But she lies here and now. She lies to Kali and Jaune immediately picks up on it even if the widowed cat faunus does not. Kali looks… not happy maybe, but at least satisfied for a moment. Salem, meanwhile, looks less certain than ever.
Stepping up beside his Queen, Jaune places his hand in hers and gives it a comforting squeeze. That seems to open up the floodgates, because Salem's voice echoes through his mind a moment later.
Jaune… this was Ozma's work.
Jaune's lips thin out at that. He'd wondered about that. Ozma was the most active magic user on Remnant after Salem. But he was by and large far weaker than she was because of how much of his own magic he'd put into imbuing the Four Maidens all those thousands of years ago. Even still… was Salem sure?
Yes, I'm sure. I can feel his touch on Sienna Khan. I can feel his signature on this poison. It's something I could have created at the drop of a hat but for him… it might have expended whatever magic he had left. I just don't understand why. Why would he poison Ghira Belladonna? Why would he poison Sienna Khan? What purpose does Ozma have for any of this?
Those were very good questions. That Ozma was involved was apparently undeniable according to Salem and Jaune trusted his wife. But WHY? Why would Ozma start murdering faunus in Menagerie, the fifth unofficial Kingdom of Remnant? What purpose did serve the immortal man?
"Then what do you need to do so? To examine Khan, perhaps?"
Suddenly, Kali is looking at her fellow cat faunus rather… hungrily. Certainly predatorily. Sienna stiffens on her throne, taken aback by the intensity that's being directed her way. Jaune himself is a little taken aback but he supposes it makes sense. It's one thing to lose your husband to illness and have to deal with your grief and move on. It's another entirely to discover after the fact that your husband was murdered.
If Salem had told Kali to cut Sienna open from throat to groin in that moment, Jaune is pretty sure that Kali Belladonna wouldn't have hesitated. And judging by the way Sienna is starting to look more and more alarmed, she realizes that too.
"N-Now… wait… hack, wait just a second. If you can… diagnose me… s-surely you can, ah, remove the poison as well. You can… save me…"
Sienna tries not to look too pleading as she gazes at Salem, clearly attempting to still negotiate from a position of nonexistent strength that they all know she doesn't really have. Salem raises an eyebrow, but it's Kali who scoffs and responds.
"And why should she? When you drag her out of bed in the middle of the night, sending my own daughter to do your dirty work. And for what? It wasn't as though you even knew that Salem could potentially help you. You didn't even know that I would invite myself along, Sienna! What was all this for, exactly?!"
… Actually, that was a good point. They'd gotten a bit away from things, hadn't they? Why HAD Sienna sent Blake to 'invite' him and Salem to meet with her tonight if not because she hoped they could cure her? But like Kali said, she shouldn't have known they even COULD cure her.
Sienna… Sienna grimaces as she shakes her head.
"It was never my intention for my illness to be brought to light. But I needed to see these two for myself before… before Taurus got his hands on them."
Kali narrows her eyes at that.
"Adam? What about him?"
Sienna laughs, but that just results in another coughing fit. Once she calms down, she smirks dryly.
"The boy has gone insane, Kali. He's convinced himself and the handful of Fang who will follow him that he's been Chosen by the Gods themselves."
Jaune feels Salem stiffen in outrage at that beside him, giving her hand another comforting squeeze to remind her that he's there and supporting her.
"He goes on and on about prophecy. Something to do with dragons, but I never really paid much attention. My spies among his supporters say that he claims he will one day be High Leader of the White Fang."
Sienna scoffs, but that leads to more coughing.
"… He never says outright that he intends to depose me, mind you. He leaves out any mention of what would happen to me first before his ascension. But one thing is certain, he isn't just spouting lies. All of my people report the same thing. He believes every word that falls from his fool mouth."
Silence falls for a moment as Jaune and Salem exchange a knowing look. And they're not the only ones who pick up on the obvious either.
"Adam… he's our chief suspect then."
Sienna herself just nods warily, leaning back in her throne as she lets out a shaky, rattling sort of sigh. There's blood around her lips at this point, staining her skin.
"It is… likely, yes. But first… cure me. I will give you anything you want if you can relieve me of this poison."
Those last two sentences are directed at Salem, making Kali stiffen up as Sienna bypasses her once more. But this time around, the widowed cat faunus doesn't say anything. She stays quiet, waiting for Salem to give her own response. Salem hums briefly, before tilting her head to the side.
"Why should I? There is nothing you can offer that I do not already have. Nothing you can give that I could not just take either."
Sienna grits her teeth, her hands clenching into fists on the arms of her throne.
"You two… who even are you? Where… where did you even come from? How do I know you aren't both working with Taurus? How do I know you aren't the ones who poisoned Ghira and I?"
Kali jolts as if she hadn't thought of that, but also seems to dismiss the accusation out of hand in a moment, sneering at Sienna for her paranoia. Salem, meanwhile, is distinctly unimpressed. Even more so when the High Leader leans forward.
"All I have to do is give the signal and this room will swarm with White Fang who will slaughter you in my name. If you try to leave without my permission, or kill me and then attempt to depart, the same thing will happen. Save me… and your lives will be spared."
Of course. A woman like Sienna Khan wasn't used to begging. And when cajoling didn't work, she was so quick to turn to threats. She was too used to being in charge, to being in control. She hated the loss of control that she was feeling right now. In a way, Jaune could almost pity her. But at the same time… he was not amused by the threats. Nor was Salem. Though he has to admit, he's rather impressed that Salem doesn't immediately just kill the woman for her impudence. It shows a remarkable amount of growth on the Grimm Queen's part that she just smiles and tilts her head to the side again.
"Very well, call them. If they come to your aid, I and my King will simply slaughter them all. Or did you forget that I have magic?"
Salem raises a hand at that, allowing some of her power, pure and barely tamed, to coalesce in her palm. Sienna's lips thin out and her fists unclench to grip at the arms of her throne as she refuses to call for the White Fang. Not that it would have done anything anyways. Salem's magic is still muffling all noise in and out of this room, so nobody would have come for Sienna anyways.
Still, as silence falls… Jaune finds himself wondering just what to do. And everyone else is clearly in the same boat, because nobody speaks for a moment. Finally though, Salem takes charge as is her disposition.
"The solution here is obvious."
Sienna tries to hide how she perks up at those words, even as Salem smirks viciously.
"Submission."
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