Chapter 72

"You guys seriously didn't think that Salem was immortal?" Roxas asked as they stood in the Cotta-Arc house.

"You knew?"

"I thought it was obvious?" Roxas stated.

After being denied entry into Atlas, Qrow went for a drink, then everyone asked why he was in such a bad mood. They explained the truth of Salem, which shocked everyone, but Roxas.

"She's been around for thousands of years and the grimm don't just listen to anyone," Roxas reminded, "I thought that was obvious."

"How can you be so relaxed?' Pyrrha asked horrified, "Xion died because of her."

"I know," Roxas looked down for a second, "But when we beat the organization, we'll find a way to beat Salem."

"Does that mean," Riku interjected, "The organization has a plan to defeat Salem?"

"Xemnas probably does," Roxas thought, "He never shared it with us, but I'm pretty sure he had a plan for her a long time ago."

"How could you keep this from us?" Pyrrha turned to Oscar.

"Pyrrha, Ozpin locked himself inside, Oscar's head, he can't-…"

"I don't care, if he can hear this then I want him to," Pyrrha snapped, "I took the powers of the maiden to stop both the organization and Salem. If she's immortal, what's the point."

"I have an idea," Sora said, everyone looked at Sora, "We can just lock her up."

Everyone went silent for a moment.

"Sora," Weiss said, "I love your simplicity sometimes, but how are we supposed to do that?"

"We use the relic of creation to create a super powerful prison of course," Sora suggested.

Everyone was still silent.

"Sora," Ruby spoke up, "I don't think the General is going to let us borrow it."

"That's what I said," Fern commented.

"Well, my Keyblade is supposed to be a magic key right? We can just- ow!" Weiss grabbed Sora's ear.

"Sora, we're going to have a talk about stealing from the Atlas Military," Weiss dragged Sora to another room.

Pyrrha decided to storm out of the door.

"Pyrrha wait," Jaune and his team ran after her.

"So, how do we get into Atlas?" Heather asked the remaining members.

"Well, I think we might get Sora in if he marries Weiss," Fern looked towards the room where Weiss dragged Sora too, "But I don't think they're ready for the plunge."

"We're not!" Weiss called from the other room.

Pyrrha walked to her home. She grew up in Argus, her family was there. In fact, she was staying with her family while they were there. Jaune stayed with his sister and her wife. Pyrrha entered her childhood home and walked into the living room.

Surrounded by old photos. Her as a kid. Her graduation at Sanctum, one of her victories at the regional tournament.

Pyrrha thought back to when she first fought Cinder at Beacon. She was convinced that was going to be her last fight. Cinder just stole the maiden's power. She was so powerful, and bloodthirsty. It took everything Pyrrha had to stay alive for so long. But her aura still broke.

The arrow still lodged itself into her ankle. Pyrrha knew she was going to die, she was supposed to die. That arrow was supposed to strike her heart.

But Xion was the one who took it. Then she was gone.

Pyrrha trained, she adjusted her shields and weapons. She learned more creative tactics, then when the rematch came. Cinder truly fell.

Not that Pyrrha felt any satisfaction. She now had the power of the Fall Maiden, but she didn't fight for that power. She wanted to stop a dangerous enemy before she could destroy Haven like she destroyed Beacon. She wanted to avenge Xion… but Xion was still gone.

"Pyrrha," Pyrrha looked up to see her mom. Her mom was wearing her green parka and jeans, holding some read lilies.

"Hi, mom," Pyrrha got up to help her mom. She went to the kitchen to get their vase and fill it with water. Once it was filled, her mom put the lilies in.

"So, what's on your mind?" Her mom asked. Pyrrha sighed, she always knew when Pyrrha was troubled.

"Xion," Pyrrha said.

"That girl who saved you."

"Died in my place," Pyrrha looked at the top of the table the flowers were on. Her mom placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you feel like it should have been you."

"It should have been me," Pyrrha confirmed, "I'm starting to think Xion made a mistake saving me. I'm starting to think I can't do this…"

"Pyrrha," her mother took her into a hug, "You know that's not true. You've trained your whole life. You've always shined brighter than those around you."

"Well, what if I come across an enemy I can't defeat. One I know needs to be defeated! One that will destroy everyone I've love if I don't win?" Pyrrha asked, "Real combat isn't a tournament where you can just try again after you are beaten."

That's right. Pyrrha had won so many tournaments. But when she fought Cinder, none of that mattered. There was no trying again if you lose. There wasn't a shiny trophy if you won. It was life and death… and the fate of the world. And Salem, the one who needs to be defeated most, was immortal

"Do you remember when you first called me from Beacon?" Her mom suddenly asked.

"Yeah?"

"You told me about your team," she reminded, "You told me about how Nora loved pancakes. How Ren helped you meditate. And you just wouldn't stop talking about Jaune…"

Pyrrha separated from her for a moment and looked at her while she continued.

"… It's not just you anymore Pyrrha. You have friends. Friends who can support you for your short comings. And yes, even you have short comings Pyrrha. You have to keep moving forward, because you know in your heart you have a duty."

Pyrrha smiled at her mother's words.

Weiss walked out of the room after she finished yelling at Sora. She glanced out the window into the backyard to see Ruby talking to Maria. Maybe she was teaching her how to use the silver eyes?

Weiss also noticed how small the backyard was… or was that a normal sized backyard. She didn't know, her family's backyard was huge. As was their house.

Weiss looked around the house she was currently in. It was smaller than the Schnee mansion, but it didn't feel empty like it. She noticed a photo of Jaune's sister, her wife, and their cute baby son. This was their home for this family.

Weiss couldn't help but wonder. Would she and Sora have a home like this one day? Where would they live?

"Weiss have you seen Oscar?" Yang approached Weiss looking worried.

"No," Weiss shook her head.

Everyone began to search the city for Oscar. Sora searched with Weiss and Ruby.

"What's wrong with my plan?" Sora asked.

"There's nothing wrong with trying to keep Salem contained Sora, but we can't steal the relic of creation," Weiss reprimanded.

"Well, what else should we do?" Sora asked, "Salem is powerful, she has magic. She'll just burn down any prison we get her in."

"Maybe we can talk to the General," Ruby explained.

"Yeah," Sora didn't look convinced, "The General seems… nice, but I don't think he'll help us with that."

"He's going to want to protect the relic."

"He's also… something else."

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"Look I know he was just trying to help, and no one should blame him, but he went overboard with the security during the Vytal Festival. And because of that, Salem took advantage of that. He goes overboard."

"He's also trying to help, he helped Winter get her position."

Sora went quiet at the mention of Weiss's sister.

"Sora?"

"Did Winter really just… leave you there? With your dad?"

"Sora, she couldn't do anything."

"She was a huntress and a member of the military. Not to mention an adult," Sora said, " She could have taken you and your brother from him."

"Father wouldn't allow it, his lawyers wouldn't allow it," Weiss said.

"She was a victim of him too. You told me that. She could have…"

"You know guys," Ruby quickly intervened, sensing an argument coming, "Apparently my eyes come from the god of light."

"What?" The couple asked in unison.

"Yeah, I talked to Maria," Ruby said, "She thinks my power comes from the god of light. Remember what Jinn showed us? The god of light had silver eyes."

"That doesn't explain how you got it though," Sora said, "Sure you got it from your mom but, humanity was wiped out. How'd it come back and how come some of them had silver eyes? Jinn didn't show us that."

"There's also the other Ozpin," Weiss said, "The one that steals bodies instead of reincarnating with them. We don't know where he is or what he's doing. We don't even know if he's alive."

Sora glanced at the lantern, "Maybe we could aske Jinn."

"I think we should hold off on asking the last question," Ruby said, "It will be another hundred years before Jinn can answer anymore."

"Will it?" Sora asked.

"You heard Jinn confirm it."

"She said, 'she can answer this era,' but when does 'this era' end?" Sora asked.

"I don't know," Ruby said.

"If Ozpin asked the first question almost a century ago, it might not be as long a wait," Sora thought.

"That's a good point Sora, but we can't ask Ozpin right now."

"Even if we can we don't know if we can trust him," Ruby reminded.

"You know, he wasn't trying to hide that stuff to hurt us," Sora said.

"We know, but he should have told us," Ruby said.

"Should he?" Sora asked, "Think about it. How long has he been doing this; fighting Salem? He must have tried to get help from others before. Hoping they could help him put an end to her reign of terror, but they all died. Either in their fight against her or from old age. Let's not forget what Professor Lionheart did. He didn't just betray Ozpin, he betrayed Haven, Mistral, Remnant."

"I see what you mean Sora," Weiss said, "But it's still upsetting."

"Why does Salem want the relics so bad now anyway?" Sora asked stretching his arms behind his head looking up. Heather told him you need to ask questions when you're confused, "She can't seriously want the gods back? Is she trying to get rid of her immortality? Ozpin told her that if they came back and humanity was still divided, they'd wipe us out."

"Maybe she's doing all this to spite him," Weiss stated.

"I don't see the point."

"Salem, did all this to get Ozpin back," Ruby said, "Then she got him back, but then he left her."

Sora put his hands back down. He looked down at the ground as they walked, "If she thought he wanted any of this, then she didn't know him… or love him. You live for your loved ones. Even if they die, they are still a part of you. You live for them, that… is how you honor them."

Weiss held Sora's hand, she couldn't help but wonder, how many times Sora told himself that when Kairi died.

I know it's short, but the Argus Arc is hard to write about, especially since I made Pyrrha live.

Stay safe out there guys. I know things have gotten scary with the pandemic and the riots. Stay strong, we'll get through this, Sincerely your favorite talking appetizer.