章 65: More Questions

A/N: A decision is made. But as it turns out, not everything is as it seems...

-x-X-x-

Admittedly, Jaune already knows what he wants to do. But he still gives Salem a look, silently asking for her opinion. She gives it without reservation of course.

We will have to go with the girl, I'm afraid.

Jaune can't help but raise an eyebrow at that. He'd come to the same conclusion, truth be told. The only downside would be the blow to their pride in 'attending' to another ruler instead of making her come to them, but it was better that than turning this into a full-blown brawl that might result in Kali's home being destroyed. Still, he would have expected Salem of all people to argue otherwise.

Even if we did reject the offer and fight off this Sienna Khan's lackies tonight, she would just continue harassing us for the rest of our visit to Menagerie, my beloved. This is supposed to be a vacation, so it's far better to nip this in the bud now. Besides, if we have to deal with Khan in a more permanent fashion, we might have to do the same to Kali's estranged daughter. Best to do that out of her sight, given she already lost her husband.

Ah. There was the callous, inhuman monster he knew and loved. Jaune gives Salem a pointed look and very deliberately focuses on his response to that. They were not, under any circumstances, going to kill Blake Belladonna. Not after they just fucked the girl's mother. Salem rolls her eyes at that but nods her head infinitesimally in agreement with him.

This all takes about a second, and Blake and Kali are still engaging in a stare down that looks like it's going to ramp up into a full-blown family fight when Jaune turns back to them and cuts in with a smile.

"Very well. We'll come with you, Blake Belladonna. We'll meet with this… Sienna Khan."

Both Blake and Kali jolt in surprise at that, with Blake looking pleased after a moment.

"Good. High Leader Khan will be happy to have you."

Looking between them, Kali looks ready to protest… but then at the last second changes her mind, an expression of pure determination spreading across her face.

"Fine then! I'm coming too!"

Blake looks alarmed by that.

"What?! Mom, you can't!"

But Kali is already getting her coat, her mind made up.

"And why can't I? Are these not MY guests? I've welcomed them into my home, given them food, and offered them a bed to rest their heads. I am responsible for them, Blake. And besides, whatever Councilwoman Khan has to say to these two can be said in front of me. I am the Chieftainess of Menagerie, after all."

There's emphasis placed on 'Councilwoman' that makes it clear Kali doesn't have any respect for Sienna's position within the White Fang… nor does she have any respect for the White Fang themselves. Blake frowns but doesn't look like she knows how to convince her mother to say. Truth be told, Jaune would have preferred Kali have stayed home as well… but at the same time, perhaps her presence would keep Salem from going full Queen of the Grimm if Sienna turned out to be too much of an uppity bitch to be reasoned with.

"Fine!"

Blake bites out her response, throwing her hands up in the air as she finally gives in. At the end of the day, she's still completing her mission after all. Jaune and Salem follow Blake and Kali out of the house and into the cool night air, with Jaune himself feeling a mixture of amusement and bemusement over the situation.

The bemusement definitely overtakes the amusement a moment later however, when they find themselves stopped by Blake's backup. Or rather… what Jaune and Salem had ASSUMED were Blake's backup all this time.

"What… the Albain Brothers? What are they doing here?"

Blake's whispered words, which don't go missed by Jaune, Salem, OR her own mother judging by Kali's twitching ears, make it clear that he and his Queen's assumption was completely wrong.

"Corsac. Fennec. What are you two doing here?"

In front of them, a pair of faunus wearing white and black robes with red hoods block their way. The two definitely look similar enough to be brothers, but that could just be the fact that they're dressed identically save for Fennec's faunus traits pushing out of the top of his hood in the form of large animal ears, while Corsac doesn't seem to have the same.

Both men have matching smiles on their faces though, with Corsac being the one to step forward. With his arms clasped behind his back, he offers them all a bow.

"Apologies for the intrusion, but we're here to take these two off your hands, Blake. We'll be sure to get them where they need to go from here."

Soft-spoken. That's the first impression Jaune gets from the male faunus. And yet… he can tell that it belies something deeper within. Something darker. Blake, meanwhile, furrows her brow in consternation.

"Sienna didn't tell me anything about this. She gave me specific orders; I'm supposed to deliver them directly to her."

Fennec pipes up next, proving to be just as soft-spoken as his brother.

"Orders change all the time, Blake. You don't need to worry. Just pass them off to us and spend the rest of this evening with your mother."

Jaune tilts his head, nonplussed. What was this, exactly? An internal power struggle with the White Fang? And with them caught in the middle of it. How annoying. Salem clearly agrees with him because not only can he feel her irritation through the magical connection she's forged between them, he can also feel her reaching out with her magic.

The other eighteen faunus surrounding the property haven't moved yet, even though it's obvious now that they're Corsac and Fennec's backup, not Blake's. That doesn't make Salem any less aware of them and the threat they pose, however. Not to her and Jaune of course. They pose absolutely zero threat to the pair of disguised Grimm Humanoids. But with Kali and Blake potentially in the line of fire…

Jaune nods his head ever so slightly in approval as Salem magically puts all of the Albain Brothers' back up to sleep, making them all slump down in their hiding spots and begin snoozing. No muss, no fuss. Meanwhile, back with Blake…

"I'll have to call this in then. Confirm with Sienna that this is okay."

"That won't be necessary."

Corsac's reply is immediate and while still relatively soft-spoken, it's also definitively sharper than before. Blake's eyes narrow as her suspicions are confirmed.

"Sienna didn't send you at all! This has Adam's mark written all over it! What does he want with these two, huh? What did he promise you both for helping him? Sienna is still High Leader of the White Fang, last I checked! You owe her your loyalty before Adam Taurus!"

Corsac and Fennec exchange a glance at that before letting out matching sighs.

"Blake… you're letting your paranoia get the better of you. Please be reasonable."

At the same time that Corsac is speaking, Fennec is making hand signals behind his back clearly intended to alert their backup to start moving in for a takedown if need be. And it certainly looks like they'll need it, because Blake is hissing and spitting like a cat who just got tossed into water.

"I AM being reasonable! It's you two who have bought into Adam's bullshit!"

Corsac and Fennec's smiles remain on their faces… but slowly become more and more fixed in place as nothing happens despite Fennec's signaling. After a moment of silence, the Albain Brothers glance around for a moment, their brows furrowing in confusion and consternation. When absolutely nothing continues to happen on account of their goons all taking a nap on them, they slowly begin to tense up.

After all, without their backup… well, they're quite outnumbered here. Four on two is a lot better odds for the four then four on twenty is, that's for sure. Fortunately for the brothers, Blake gives them an easy out, her hand dropping to the weapon holstered at her waist.

"Get out of my way you two. And tell Adam that Sienna WILL hear about this."

Exchanging one last set of glances between them, Corsac and Fennec adopt pained smiles as they step aside, backing down.

"You're being ridiculous, Blake."

"Taurus had nothing to do with any of this."

"We're all loyal members of the White Fang at the end of the day."

"Don't let your paranoia divide us."

Blake snarls at the two of them and keeps her hand on her weapon even as she leads the way past them. Jaune eyes the two brothers, both with his real eyes and then through Salem's magic once they've walked past, half-expecting them to try something even now. But no. They're too cowardly to do that from the look of things… either that or they aren't committed enough to risk it.

Still, that WAS interesting. Blake had really come alone on Sienna's orders with no backup to force the issue if Jaune and Salem said no. He wondered why that was. And he wondered what would have happened if they had said no now. Would Blake have left and then Corsac and Fennec would have tried their hand at convincing them? Well… it didn't matter now, Jaune supposed.

Unbeknownst to Blake, Salem had just saved her from quite the battle, salvaging her mission. Now it was time to meet this Sienna Khan at long last. It didn't slip past Jaune that after performing a false flag operation as White Fang, he was now meeting with the White Fang's High Leader. This was going to be… interesting to say the least. What sort of woman was Sienna Khan, exactly? What could they expect to find at the end of this rabbit hole?

-x-X-x-

"High Leader Khan! The two faunus you requested. And…"

Before Blake can introduce her mother's presence, Kali does it for her, stepping forward with eyes narrowed and hands on her hips.

"What exactly is the meaning of this, Councilwoman Khan? Sending my daughter as your errand girl? Dragging us here to this cave? If you wished to meet with these two, it should have been in your office, generously provided to all Council Members of Menagerie. And it should have been in the light of day."

As Kali lays into Sienna, Jaune notes how the other faunus in the audience chamber all bristle in agitation at the disrespect. Sienna herself, meanwhile, remains unmoved at least visually. She sits on a rather large throne at one end of the room, a few steps up on a dais so that she can look down at them all from on high. At first glance, she seems completely in control, implacable even in the face of Kali's verbal diatribe. And yet…

She's dying.

Jaune grunts softly at Salem's words in his mind. Even without her magic, Jaune could have deduced that something was wrong with the White Fang's High Leader. She was sick. It was obvious to someone with his senses. The smell of sickness in the air was faint, no doubt masked by a number of things on Sienna's part to hide it from her faunus brethren… but it WAS there. More than that, while she'd done a good job of covering up other signs of her illness as well, Jaune could see right through them. Her makeup likely wouldn't last much longer before she sweated through the stuff with how hard she was perspiring.

This whole situation got curiouser and curiouser. But before they got to the bottom of things, they had to play out this lovely bit of theater first.

"A coward like you doesn't get to speak to High Leader Khan like that! You and your-!"

"Enough."

Just before the fateful word 'husband' could be uttered, Sienna cuts off the subordinate who spoke up out of turn. The High Leader's hand has come up in a fist, commanding a sudden stillness from the room. Kali, meanwhile, looks completely calm… but Jaune can tell that calm hides a bonfire of rage burning in her heart. If the faunus who'd piped up had gotten out that last word… Kali wouldn't have been able to control herself.

"Leave us. Now."

There's some hesitation at that and yet none of them question her. It's obvious they don't know she's sick, because her rule over the White Fang, at least those in this room, is apparently still quite ironclad. In the end, they all begin to file out, with Blake hesitating for a moment, as if uncertain the order applies to her as well. In the end though, Sienna gestures for her to go and so she goes, leaving the High Leader alone with just him, Salem, and Kali.

The moment that the doors to the audience chamber close, Kali wastes no time in spilling the beans.

"You're sick."

Jaune can't help but be a little surprised by that. He knew how he and Salem had noticed, but how had Kali known when none of the other faunus seemed capable of detecting it? Why hadn't she said something in front of all of the others?

Letting out a weak smile, Sienna Khan opens her mouth to speak… only to launch into a coughing fit that results in her spraying blood all over the fist she brings to her lips. With a snarl, the tiger faunus wipes her hand across her clothes, seemingly uncaring for appearances at this point.

"Of course you would notice. I imagine you're recognizing familiar symptoms, aren't you?"

Kali's eyes narrow and she crosses her arms over her chest. Understanding dawns for Jaune just as she speaks up and confirms it.

"You have whatever my Ghira had. And from the look of things, you've had it for only a few hours. Meaning you have a week left to live."

A few hours? Jaune's eyes widen at that. Kali had told them how fast Ghira wasted away, but he didn't know the illness came on this fast. Really, no wonder the White Fang didn't know yet. It hadn't been long enough for them to catch on. Still, an illness that took someone healthy and in their prime from peak physical condition to coughing up blood in just a few hours… that didn't sound like sickness. That sounded more like…

"You are not sick."

Jaune raises a brow as Salem steps forward, interrupting the other two women. Sienna and Kali both look at her in confusion, causing the disguised 'dragon faunus' to flick out her fingers and scoff.

"You are dying, of course. That's undeniable. But sick? No. You are not sick. You have been poisoned."

Shock ripples through both of the faunus women at that. Sienna's shock and horror have nothing on Kali's slow dawning realization and anger, however.

"But… if Sienna has been poisoned and shares the same symptoms as Ghira…"

Salem nods, surprisingly solemn and even pitying as she gazes at the Chieftainess of Menagerie.

"Yes. He was likely poisoned as well."

Well. Shit.

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章 66: And More Questions...

A/N: More answers only raises more questions...

-x-X-x-

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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