章節 43: What Comes Next
A/N: Just a reminder, new chapter here means four more chapters over on the P atreon, where my patrons are currently voting on the future direction of this story!
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As the impromptu council discusses the matter at hand, Jaune finds himself pondering their points of view. He sympathizes with Summer, truly he does. And in fact, a part of him even agrees with her. Removing Ozma from the board, killing Ironwood… it would be oh so satisfying, while also getting rid of two of the only men who know about him and his Queen's existence.
However, he's not an idiot. He understands what sort of power vacuum would result from such drastic actions. In the end, Ozma and Ironwood represent the devil he knows. If they were removed, Jaune can't say what would rise in their place. What would the humans do next, if they suddenly lost two of their leaders like that?
There was a time when Jaune hadn't cared about the humans. Or rather… he hadn't wanted to care. Back when he'd originally woken up as Salem's latest attempt to solve her eternal loneliness, when he'd realized what she truly wanted from him and given it to her… Jaune had tried to put humanity out of his mind. He'd made Salem pull back the Grimm and had every intention of never interacting with humankind again.
After all, he was an inhuman monster. He was no longer Jaune Arc, not truly. It wasn't his place to live among the humans anymore, or so he'd told himself. In his mind, he'd imagined humanity freed of the Grimm starting a new utopia. Of the Kingdoms coming together, even Menagerie. Of faunus and humans realizing there wasn't that much different about them and joining hands in harmony.
He'd envisioned humankind spreading across the surface of Remnant, their population blowing up in size without the threat of the Grimm lingering over their heads any longer. And he'd imagined that he and Salem would eventually have to retreat, forced to pull back as an unsuspecting, encroaching humanity spread out in all directions to claim the untamed wilds that had once been populated with Grimm.
… Obviously, he recognized now that he'd been an absolute fool. But even Jaune hadn't realized that rather than turning outwards to take advantage of the opportunity afforded to them, humankind would turn inwards and use the reprieve brought by the Grimm's absence as an excuse to fight each other instead. It was mind-boggling, but the proof was in front of him right stinking now.
His so-called 'council' had women from almost every Kingdom sat upon it. The only Kingdoms not represented here were Vacuo and Menagerie. And yet… and yet, even if they were all working together, under him, they represented the war that even now was raging across Mistral. Mistral might have instigated hostilities, but it was Vale and Atlas who were perpetrating a war against the large Kingdom.
And he'd started it by taking Boudicca and Pyrrha. He couldn't bring himself to regret claiming them, necessarily. But there was still no denying that without their Queen of Victory leading them in battle, Mistral had suddenly seemed weak and all too ripe for the plucking. With General Boudicca MIA, Atlas and Vale had been emboldened to attack.
Jaune didn't know what part Ozma and Ironwood had played in starting that war. But he also couldn't say for sure what would happen regarding the war if the two of them were removed from play.
Part of him is tempted to just unleash the Grimm on the problem. Use them as a peacekeeping force and force everyone to lay down their arms under threat of annihilation. But Jaune felt like that was his Grimm memories talking. Millions of Grimm had gone into his creation, and even now they lingered in the back of his mind, always threatening to weasel their way in, always making him that little bit more inhuman.
Jaune lets out an explosive sigh as he comes to a decision. He would cling to his humanity for as long as he possibly could… even if everyone else in the Kingdoms of Remnant seemed to insist upon throwing theirs away. Holding up a hand, he silences his 'council' as the women all turn to look at him. Even Summer turns her head in his direction, her Aura brushing against his hopefully.
"I understand full well your anger, Summer. What Ozma tried to do to your daughters demands an answer."
Summer perks up at that, but Jaune shakes his head to show she's not quite going to get what she wants.
"Unfortunately… it cannot be immediate. Salem is right. We must have patience. After all, there's something none of you are considering, I think…"
Summer looks mulish, but as he trails off, he can tell he catches their attention. Salem even tilts her head to the side, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"And what is that, my King?"
Smiling slightly, Jaune leans back in his chair.
"Simple. Ozma has every reason to currently believe that his gambit worked."
There's a pause at that, before a ripple spreads across the room. In the end, it's Winter who hesitantly pipes up.
"What… what do you mean?"
Jaune gestures to Salem.
"Ozma and Ironwood's plan assumed that they were sending you all on a suicide mission. Salem has told me just what she thinks the blast radius of Ruby Rose's explosion would have been. Salem?"
The Grimm Queen grimaces and then nods, clearly beginning to come around to his way of thinking.
"The entire Castle would have been erased if the girl had exploded as Ozma intended. Where we sit now would have been a few hundred feet up in the air above a massive crater."
That startles Winter, Glynda, and Boudicca… but it makes Summer bristle even harder as she grits her teeth in anger. Jaune sighs and tries something he hasn't done before… he reaches out with his own Aura. He knows it's not a common ability, but he's watched Summer do it for years now. He tries to prod his aura out from his body, out from his skin, and succeeds in creating a small protrusion that 'bumps' into Summer's aura, for lack of a better word. The blind woman jolts and then 'looks' at him, before the corner of her mouth twitches upwards in a very small smile.
"We have the element of surprise right now. As far as Ozma is concerned for the moment, no news back from the strike team is good news. He will, for a little while at least, believe that Salem is dead. Of course, given how he seems to have unraveled since the disappearance of the Grimm, I don't think he'll continue believing that forever. Eventually, he'll convince himself that she somehow survived. And then he'll start looking for another way to 'stop her'."
Jaune shakes his head.
"But for now? For now, Ozma just used his last Silver-Eyed Warrior in a final Hail Mary. He HAS to believe that the ploy succeeded. He HAS to believe that Salem is… if not dead, gravely injured and incapacitated. Right now, he thinks he's won. Which is why we need to take this opportunity to remove any more innocents from the line of fire."
There's another ripple across the room at that, even as Jaune gestures to Winter.
"Winter has a sister. Weiss Schnee. She's your daughters' age, Summer. And right now, she's on the frontlines of Mistral, fighting for Atlas without any idea what General Ironwood has done to her sister. I have promised Winter that I will retrieve Weiss Schnee and make sure her sister is safe from any further machinations on the part of Ironwood. So that's what I'm going to do. Before anything else… Weiss Schnee will be secured."
His tone brooks no argument, as he rises to his feet and holds out a hand to Summer.
"Will you help me, Summer?"
He's well aware that he's using emotional blackmail on the blind huntress. He's also well aware that he's twisting the truth something fierce here. Winter hadn't extracted a promise from Jaune to save Weiss as soon as possible. Rather, she'd 'sacrificed' Weiss to him, offering up her younger sister on a silver platter in exchange for him eventually retrieving Penny Polendina's creator so they could fix the ensouled android.
But Jaune is all too happy to twist the truth a little bit. Summer needs a cause. She needs a reason not to immediately run off and try to kill Ozma and Ironwood herself. Jaune can tell that she might very well do it, if she's left to her own devices. He'd rather head that off at the pass right now, because Summer showing back up alive is a surefire way to alert Ozma and Ironwood to the fact that their plan to kill Salem hadn't worked.
Luckily, Summer only hesitates for a moment before nodding and rising from her chair as well. Letting out an explosive breath, she takes Jaune's hand in her own.
"… Very well. But when the time comes… I deliver the final blow to Ironwood. Ozpin… Ozpin can go on some machine that keeps him alive and in a coma. But I want blood, and I will have it."
Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned. Jaune smiles and nods, having no problem making Summer that promise.
"Deal."
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"Mmmph~"
Weiss covers her mouth with one hand, even as her other hand grips tightly at the short hair of the woman down between her legs. Her eyelids flutter and her eyes threaten to roll back in her head from the pleasure, even as she bucks her hips up into the mouth and tongue going to work on her sopping wet snatch.
… War was Hell. Weiss hadn't understood that before. She'd not really understood what she was getting into when she'd defied her father's wishes, going behind his back and enlisting in Atlas' army under a false name. It hadn't worked of course. She'd been caught almost immediately. But she'd been caught by General Ironwood, and he'd gone to bat for her, refusing to let her father pull her from basic training.
Weiss had been grateful to General Ironwood for that. She wasn't so sure she was as grateful to him now.
They were in Mistral now. Rather than being the ones defending their homes from Mistralian Aggression, like Weiss had originally thought they would, they were the invaders. They were the aggressors. It made sense on paper, she supposed. Mistral was weakened. Their strongest General had gone missing, and her army had been routed and scattered by a group of bandits of all things apparently.
There was a whole lot of rumor, and Weiss couldn't say for sure what was and wasn't the truth, but by and large, it seemed like the people at the top had decided it was time to invade. Mistral's hostile actions could only be taken as provocations of war, and it was deemed better by the Vale-Atlas alliance to strike first and strike hard, before Mistral could get their routed army back together, before they could find their missing General.
Unfortunately, Mistral's numbers, even with their woes, were no joke. Despite Atlas' Military being heavily reinforced with mechanical troops, despite being far more technologically advanced in every way compared to Mistral, the advance into the Kingdom had stalled. They were being held back by a combination of Mistral throwing bodies at the problem, and the commanders of the Atlas and Vale Armies balking at the idea of killing so many young people sent to their deaths by Mistral's leadership.
Weiss couldn't help but agree. She… she'd killed Mistral Soldiers at this point. She hadn't wanted to, but it had happened. And even now, she couldn't get the image out of her head. The life leaving their eyes… it was horrible. She'd originally trained to fight Grimm oh-so-long ago. But now all of her hard-earned skills were being put to use against her fellow human beings. She hated it.
There was one bright spot in all of this though. Looking down at the woman kneeling between her legs, Weiss makes eye contact with Ciel Soleil as the dark-skinned beauty continues to eat her out to an oh-so-satisfying climax. The hand over her mouth protects her from being too loud as she cums, the squeal cut off by her palm as she shudders and quivers in abject pleasure.
"Mmmph~"
Ciel sups of her pussy juices as they flow out of her, and then when Weiss is done climaxing, she pulls away and helps Weiss fix up her uniform. Weiss has to admit… she'd be far more worried for her sanity, if she didn't have Ciel. As it is, the two of them had latched onto each other something fierce. Ciel was the perfect friend in a place like this, and Weiss couldn't deny that she was glad to have the other woman at her side. Both as friends… and as lovers.
As they fix their disheveled appearances and step out from behind the storage shed, Weiss looks left and right to make sure no one has noticed them exiting. Unfortunately, while this gives her a second of forewarning, it's only that second.
"Weiss Schnee?"
Weiss freezes as a woman wearing the uniform of an Atlesian Specialist strides up to her, having seemingly come from nowhere. In reality, she was just walking incredibly fast and with purpose, having started moving in Weiss' direction the moment she clocked her. Weiss blinks, taking in the woman's military demeanor and no-nonsense attitude. With dark skin and her hair shaved on the sides of her head, her dark pink eyes are undeniably intense as Weiss gulps nervously.
"U-Um… yes? I mean, yes ma'am, s-sorry ma'am!"
The Atlesian Specialist just nods, her own hands going behind her back in parade rest.
"At ease, soldier. You may address me as Specialist Bree. I've been dispatched by General Ironwood to bring you to him post-haste. You've been recalled."
Weiss blinks owlishly at that, somewhat surprised.
"R-Recalled? Whatever for? Why would General Ironwood pull me away now?"
Here, Specialist Bree hesitates for a moment, her eyes flickering over to Weiss' companion, Ciel.
"That's… need to know I'm afraid. I can tell you only that it's about your sister and that's all."
Weiss' heart sinks at that. Her sister? Winter? Before she can formulate a response however, Ciel speaks up from her side.
"Winter Schnee? What about her? Her last mission was with a friend of mine. Penny Polendina. Are they alright?"
Weiss blinks. Wait, Penny? Ciel had talked about the other girl before, of course. She'd spoken about Penny as a wonder. The first robot to somehow awaken her aura… to have a soul. But the way Ciel spoke about Penny… she was only a prototype. Why would she be on a mission with Weiss' older sister of all people?!
Specialist Bree's jaw tightens and she narrows her eyes at Ciel.
"That is classified information. You should not have been aware of Specialist Schnee or Asset Polendina's mission. I would suggest that you put it out of your mind and focus on the fight at hand, soldier."
Then she looks at Weiss, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"With me."
But Weiss hesitates. Leave Ciel behind? Abandon her without even trying to fight for her? It went against every fiber of Weiss' being…
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