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Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 71

"Goodness. Look how you've grown!"

He was the headmaster of Beacon. He was – some claimed – the hope of humanity. He was Jaune Arc, leader of the defenders of Vale and technical hero of the battle of Atlas. All that should have spared him the pulling of the cheek routine, but it absolutely didn't. The very second his mother saw him, her fingers gravitated to the skin of his cheek and yanked it out in what had to be the primary attack of mothers everywhere.

It was super effective.

"Mooom," he whined, horrified that she'd do this in front of Ironwood, Roman and Neo. He couldn't think of three people more prepared to hold this over his head until the day he died. "It's not even been a year. I haven't grown an inch."

"You've grown a beard."

"I've what-!?"

"Here. See." Juniper picked at something on his chin and he felt a tugging sensation. Beard, it was not. A single strand of curly hair bravely poking its way out a face as otherwise smooth as a baby's bottom. "The first brave beard explorer."

Someone kill me now.

Neo was there immediately, up in his face with narrowed eyes as she tilted his head to the side. Mismatched eyes burned angrily as she pulled a knife out of her belt and brought it to his neck. "I wasn't serious!" he yelped, only to cut off as she laid it against his skin, slid it up maybe a tenth of an inch, nodded and put it away with a happy smile.

Mom was grinning. "Not a fan of beards, I take it?"

Neo huffed and climbed off him, shaking her head.

"Mmm." Juniper leaned into her husband's shoulder and rubbed a hand over his coarse blond beard. "Your loss. I love a man with rugged texture."

He was rushed by his sisters before he could think to comment on that, and Neo abandoned him as might be expected. Questions flew from every angle while hands rubbed, poked and tugged on his coat, armour, sword – he slapped Amber's hand away before she could draw it – and ears.

"Ow. Why the ears?" he whined to Jade and Hazel.

"Making sure you're not a faunus."

That provided exactly zero context. "Why!?" he tried again.

"It's a question the movie crews asked."

Jaune blinked. "Movie crew…?"

"Oh, did mom not mention that?" It was Sable who spoke this time, giggling faintly as she pulled his shirt out his pants and then started to tuck it in again properly. He thought he heard a muffled gasp from Ironwood and spared a glare his way. They were his sisters for crying out loud! Sable continued speaking as she made sure he was properly tucked in and then fixed and adjusted his collar. "With all the crazy things going on around you lately, you've become something of a big figure in the world. People want to know about you."

"What does this have to do with movie crews?"

"Well, they were really more a documentary crew." Apparently happy that he looked professional, she petted his chest and stepped away. "The narrator guy had a really soft voice. I can't wait to watch it."

He had a sinking feeling. "Watch what…?"

"Your documentary of course. The story of Jaune Arc."

"We helped!" Lavender said proudly. "They said they wanted an idea of how you were in your home life before Beacon, so we showed them your room and your games consoles and your bed-"

"And the magazines you hid under your bed," Coral said slyly.

Jaune whimpered.

"-and then mom got out the family albums and showed them pictures of you as a baby," Lavender continued, either ignoring or failing to hear the strangled sound he made. "And we told stories. Like the time where you let us dress you up as a girl and that guy from school professed his undying love for you. They seemed really interested in that kind of stuff."

"W-Why did you tell them all that!?"

"They said they asked your permission to do the documentary," Saphron replied. "We thought you sent them there."

His expression said it all.

Juniper giggled. "Oops? Well I'm sure it won't be a problem. You looked very dashing in those photos we took of you in your onesie. No one could look at that and not see the hero of Vale."

Not the onesie. Anything but the onesie.

Lisa Lavender. He didn't know how, but somehow this was her fault. Her or Roman, probably both. There would be much vengeance once Salem was dealt with. He would become a dark lord himself and bring ruin upon the world.

"They seemed really interested in your love life too," Coral remarked. That she was the one to bring it up had his body freezing up. "I told them a couple of things."

"What did you tell them!?"

"Like I said, a couple of things."

"Coral…"

"Jaune…" she echoed with a smile and a flash of her glasses. "Mom, Jaune is threatening me."

"What? No I'm no-"

"Jaune, don't threaten your sisters."

"But they're being mean!"

"Girls, don't be mean to Jaune. He's the headmaster of Beacon."

That didn't make it any better! Ironwood was laughing. Ironwood! He wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole. A tug on his ear brought him back and had him forcing Jade and Hazel off him indignantly.

"I wasn't a faunus ten seconds ago and I'm not one now. Let go."

He twisted away from Lavender and again had to ward Amber's hand away from the hilt of Crocea Mors. He tried to pull away from Sable, but she was trying to dust a mark off his blue coat and yanked him back into her care with a reproving frown. To his horror she then spat on his coat and used her sleeve to try and rub the mark out. It was probably blood.

"Dad, help!" he whined. "I have a reputation."

Nicholas Arc looked more fondly amused than helpful, but he shooed the girls off with a few slow bats of his hand, practically bowling through them to free him. None of the girls were hurt and it was sometimes the only way he could get them to stop.

"Your brother is right, for once. It wouldn't do for the leader of Vale's defence to be seen coddled over by his sisters."

"Eh. They'll probably think we're his harem," Coral said. "At least from what I've heard, that would fit the narrative."

Everyone ignored her.

"Ansel has been evacuated," Nicholas went on. "We made sure to sweep all the basements and bunkers just in case, but everyone agreed with the call to come to Vale once it was explained they wouldn't be coming to the epicentre of the crisis but would instead be evacuated to Atlas."

"Ironwood has shelters set up," Jaune said. "Apparently, they're pretty swanky."

"Good. I'll be staying here to fight of course."

"Nicky will be keeping an eye on you," his mom said. Without words, she mouthed something to him and pointed to her husband, nodding quickly.

Maybe it was living with Neo that did it, but Jaune had no trouble translating the gestures. Nicholas was coming to look over and protect him, but Juniper wanted him to do the same for his father. Make sure he didn't do anything reckless or try to sacrifice himself to protect them all. Jaune nodded back to his father but kept his eyes on his mom, agreeing to both. Juniper winked back, clearly relieved.

"I'll mostly be staying out of the worst fighting," Jaune told them. "Which means dad will be as well. Ironwood seems to think people would be demoralised if anything happens to me for some reason. I'm in the command centre."

"It's definitely for some reason," Ironwood said loudly. "Insanity being the reason." He stepped up and bowed his head toward Juniper. "I shall take personal care to ensure your son comes back to you safe and sound, madam."

"Oh my. How dashing."

Jaune glared at the General, who didn't seem to realise he'd done anything wrong. It was the beard. It had to be. It didn't help that a few of his sisters were also looking quite enamoured. The age difference would obviously prevent that, but Jade and Hazel definitely liked what they saw, and if the way Lavender blushed as she hid behind him was any indication, they weren't alone in it.

Better Ironwood than Roman. Though only barely.

"Mom and the girls can stay at Beacon tonight," Jaune said.

"What about the evacuation?"

"Ironwood is sending people by aircraft, but we're also using portals to cut the weight of the work. What's the point of being in charge of all this if I can't cheat a little? They can step through the portal tomorrow and save a day's flight time along with the risks involved."

Nicholas nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Leaving Juniper alone to handle all seven of your sisters in a cramped airship on her own. I don't think she'd thank me for that once this is all over."

"You're damn right I wouldn't," Juniper said, leaning into his arm. Quieter, she said, "And I'd like the chance to spend tonight together. It's going to be hard enough leaving tomorrow without being rushed into it now."

Jaune gave them their moment. They weren't the only ones being forced to confront separation. Huntsmen en masse were staying, including students, and it couldn't be hard for those civilian parents of huntsmen children to be told they had to leave and stay safe while their children risked their lives. It'd been easier in Atlas because they hadn't been his people and his responsibility. He felt a fresh respect for Ironwood having dealt with it all and taken charge.

Unlike him, Ironwood hadn't been faking any of it. He really had led his entire Kingdom, taken every decision, fought on the frontlines and faced the Grimm. As much as they might have argued in the past, he was glad the man was in Vale.

"Will we have time to spend together?" Juniper asked. "All of us?"

"Of course." Jaune paused as Ironwood coughed. "Tonight," he promised. "I need to do more with the evac today and then talk to the Council, then I have a meeting tonight between the leadership – but I'll be free after that. I can't say when that'll be, but even if it's late we can spend a few hours together."

"You really are busy now, aren't you?" Sighing, Juniper gave him a tired smile and waved his sisters away. "Go on then. We've been to Beacon already and the sooner you get your work done, the sooner we can all talk."

/-/

"Immortality."

Jaune wrote the word out on Peter's blackboard. One might have expected a more serious place for a meeting between the finest of Vale and Atlas combined, but since Ozpin's old office had been destroyed and the school was playing host to a lot of people waiting to be shipped to Atlas, they had to make do with what they had.

So was it that Jaune, Ozpin, Glynda, Peter, Bart, Ghira, Ironwood, Roman, Winter, Cinder, Taiyang and even Raven of all people were sat on the front row of seats like naughty students while Jaune splatted his piece of chalk against the board. Qrow would have been there as well if he wasn't acting as an anchor for Raven's Semblance in Atlas. Neo was off with his family for some reason. Juniper had called it Neo's way of `getting a leg up on the competition`.

He didn't dare question that.

"immortality," he said again, indicating the word – both to drive it home and because his handwriting on a board was shit. Writing that big with chalk was harder than it looked. "What does it mean? How does it work? How do we get around it?"

"You don't." It was Raven who spoke, feet up on the desk like an angsty teenager. "You can't kill an immortal. Trying is pointless."

"It's never pointless to try!" Taiyang argued.

"Listen to yourself. There's bravery and then there's stupidity. She. Is. Immortal. It's not courageous to try your best or fight the good fight. It's suicide. You may as well save her the trouble and hang yourself now."

"Are you suggesting we give up?" Glynda asked frostily.

"No." Raven rolled her eyes. "I'm saying that going in with the idea of killing her is stupid, and that anyone who takes that attitude might as well kill themselves now. That woman is about as killable as Ozpin is. Even less so. At least in theory eradicating every human on the planet would mean that parasite has no one left to infect. The same wouldn't work for her."

Sensing an argument coming, Jaune slapped his hand on the board. It was a mistake as clouds of chalk dust billowed out and into his lungs, leaving him hacking. That at least silenced them, though more in the sense of Glynda standing up to see if he needed help.

"Fine!" he coughed. "I'm fine." He drew a breath and stepped away from the blackboard. "A-Anyway, let's cover the issue directly. Ozpin. What is immortality? How does it work? There are different kinds of immortality, right?"

"If you're referring to the difference between `not dying of old age` or `not dying from debilitating injury` then yes." Ozpin spoke from Oscar's body, the boy having given him free reign to control it for this meeting. "Salem's immortality was granted by the Brother Gods, however. That complicates matters."

"How?"

"Gods are… well, they're Gods. They are power on a level not understood by human minds and that means human concepts as well. Immortality is one such concept. Salem does not die of old age, but since the spirit of the Gods' curse was to punish her by denying her death, I expect there is no way to kill her either. She's less immortal and more `unending`. Constant."

"There has to be a loophole," Ironwood said.

"No. There doesn't. The Gods were… It's impossible for you all to understand for none of you had known them. You've seen mere remnants of their power. The Relics and the Maidens. Even the latter is nothing compared to them. I made the Maidens, yet I could not hold a candle to the power they wielded. The power to bring the dead back to life and deny the living the right to death. Loopholes are a human problem. Human error or the inability to see every possible path a person might take to work around them. If a God declares something, it is declared. There are no loopholes. No way around it. If they say Salem cannot die, then no amount of clever action on our parts will kill her."

"What about the Relic of Destruction?" Winter asked. "It's a Relic that contains their power."

"Loopholes again, I'm afraid. The God of Light dealt with all creation. The God of dark dealt with all destruction. If they declared that neither shall be within her grasp, then that is all there is to it. To find a way around that would be to prove their word false, and that can't happen when their power is so all-encompassing. Even if we were to find a magical dagger of `kills any immortals` and use it on her, the God of Light's curse would ensure she didn't die because that's what it does. He refused to allow her death. No amount of wheedling, word play or clever tricks on our part will change that. Jinn confirmed it."

"Now do you see why I left?" Raven said. "This man would lead us against Salem despite knowing full well she can't be beaten, only pushed back. And that means anyone he sends against her is being sent to their deaths."

"She can be beaten!" Glynda said hotly.

"Beaten," Oobleck mused. "Yes. Defeated." He hummed loudly, tapping his fingers on his mug. "If we were to take her death out of the equation then she could be beaten in terms of objectives. We can achieve alternate goals to win a technical victory."

"That's assuming she'll just tut, snap her fingers and walk away when that happens," Raven fired back. "Her goal is the destruction of Vale. Even if we killed every Grimm and every person who works with her, she can keep coming. Keep fighting. We can't pick up the city and carry it out of reach of her like she's a naughty child."

"No, but we could remove her…"

"Hah." Port laughed. "Kill the Grimm, let her come, throw a net on her and have Atlas airlift her out to the middle of the ocean."

"She'd swim back," Cinder said.

"Then we take her out again. And again. She may not be able to drown when her energy flags, but she won't be able to destroy the city if she spends the next thousand years swimming laps of the ocean."

"An ocean full of Grimm – and how many times do you think she'll allow it without killing someone? Who would be given such a thankless task?"

"No, Peter has a point." Jaune silenced them. "Maybe not the specifics, but he's thinking outside the box and that's what we need. We can't kill her. As Raven says, there's no point trying. If we take that objective away, we might be able to win another. Maybe to capture her."

"How powerful is she?" Ironwood asked Ozpin and Cinder. "On a personal level, I mean."

"Salem was never a warrior in our time," Ozpin said. "As a ruler, she was just and intelligent, not to mention empathic to an incredible degree. She could see the root of a person's problems and convince them of the best way to fix them. She could disarm quarrelling landowners and turn any enemy into an ally. The fighting was always left to me."

"I never saw her fight personally," Cinder said. "It was also using the Grimm or ordering us around. That said, I expect she has some ability now. She's had all the time in the world to learn."

"Wouldn't she have magic like you used to?" Taiyang asked.

"Some," Ozpin said. "It has all of it waned and part of me creating the maidens was to push that further and deprive her of some power. I'm not saying she wouldn't be able to defend herself, but it also wouldn't be impossible to defeat her in battle. Impossible to kill her, but not to incapacitate her for a time."

"Honestly, let's just get the shit out the way," Roman said, standing. "Typical immortality questions. What happens if we cut her head off? Can it be cut off? Does she bleed? Does she feel pain? Do both parts of her body gain independence if she's bisected, or would one side grow a new body?"

"I… well…" Ozpin looked stunned by the barrage of odd questions. "I know she feels pain," he eventually said, "And I did manage to wound her once – there was blood, but the wound sealed with unnatural speed. I've never heard of her losing a limb. I know it wouldn't kill her and I'm sure it would be re-attached if she held it in place, but I've no idea what happens if she's cut in two, except to say I highly doubt it would form two of her."

"But she can be cut!" Roman said victoriously. "Even if it healed, it was still a cut. And she probably can't heal around something blocking her skin coming back together."

"You're thinking a trap of some kind," Ironwood said, rubbing his bristly jaw. "Some kind of giant blade to cut a limb or bisect her, but which would be large enough to seal the two parts away from one another and prevent her healing. Like a guillotine."

"Then we shove her head in a secure containment unit and her body in another," Winter said, equal parts excited and disturbed at her own words. "In theory, we could repeat the process as many times as needed."

"Are we really talking about cutting a woman into bits and scattering her to the four corners of Remnant?" Ghira asked.

"Yes we are," Jaune said, writing `drawn and quartered` on the board with a fresh bit of chalk. He even drew a head with an unhappy face trapped within a box. "Okay, that's one idea of how to deal with an immortal. See, Raven. We're adapting."

Raven hummed noncommittally but she didn't give them shit either. Knowing what he did about her, that was probably as close to a compliment as one could get. How to achieve all this wouldn't be quite so easy, but there was always the fall-back plan of just killing all the Grimm and then dealing with her.

"Any more ideas? Come on, people. We're the brightest minds of Remnant and one idiot. Think."

"Ha." Taiyang leaned over toward Raven. "He called you an idiot."

"He was referring to you, idiot!"

I was referring to myself, but I retract the statement, he thought. Brightest minds, a fraud and two complete morons might be more accurate.

"Targeted charges to blow her body apart," Ironwood said. Now that one idea had been proposed, he seemed a lot more interested. "The Gods may have made her unable to be killed and she may well survive any payload, but if her body can still be damaged even temporarily then she can, with enough force, be blown to pieces. We could then collect the pieces."

Jaune drew a cartoonish circular bomb with a lit fuse.

"Or we could keep doing it," Winter said. "Explosives or a flamethrower to keep reducing her body to ash, then doing the same when she reforms. If the fire was hot enough, it might even burn away the oxygen. Does she breathe?"

Cinder had clearly never thought to ask. "I… I'm sure I saw her chest rise when she talked. And she talks, and speech requires air in the lungs, does it not? I don't know if that's a necessity or a habit, though. It's possible she might be rendered unconscious without oxygen, even if she wouldn't die."

"We'll keep it in mind," Jaune said. He drew a fire and wrote O2 above it.

"Other ways to knock people unconscious," Port crowed. "My girlfriend has all kinds of drugs to do just that."

Half the room looked nervous until Glynda said, "He's dating a doctor. It's okay."

"He dates?" Raven hissed, not quite as subtle or as quiet as she thought she was. "How?"

"Personality, dear." Port winked at her. "You might want to look it up."

Jaune hid a snicker, though Taiyang had no qualms leaning over and holding up a hand for a high-five. Raven stewed in silence.

"Drugs might impact her," Jaune said. A picture of a tranquiliser dart joined the board. "We can't say for sure, but it should be relatively inexpensive to try it. If her body still has its inner workings, we might be able to knock her out with gas."

"Or make her high as a kite," Roman said. There was a long moment of silence. "What? It's a legitimate idea. You think how much easier she'll be to deal with if she's drunk off her ass and slurring every other word."

"He..." Ozpin sighed. "He makes a valid point…"

A pair of mushrooms with question marks in them were drawn under the picture of a stick figure's face with swirls for eyes and a crazy smile. The board actually had a few ideas on it now, despite the fact the battle was – as many had claimed – hopeless.

Immortality didn't mean invincibility.

More came. Pictures of a stick figure behind bars, of one launched out a canon into the sky and even being thrown into a volcano. As Cinder explained, Salem might not find it possible to swim her way out of molten magma. She pointedly ignored Ozpin's suggestion of chucking her in afterwards.

He was still holding a grudge apparently.

There were stupider ideas that somehow also made the cut. One showed a stick figure's arms and legs sticking out from under an anvil. Roman had called it `The Jaune Method` and said they could drive another battleship into her. While Ironwood was justifiably against the idea, the theory that Salem might be crushed and unable to move if pinned under enough weight was feasible enough to make the cut.

As was Oobleck's rather mundane solution of slapping her in enough straightjackets to form a veritable cocoon, then toss her in a mental asylum and bury said asylum underground. Immortality, eternal wisdom and incredible magic might not mean much if you were unable to move a muscle. Ozpin and Cinder couldn't recall a time where Salem had ever implied or shown she had anything akin to super strength, so, in theory, enough physical force could restrain her.

Before long, the blackboard was full of ideas on how to debilitate, trap, trick or seal away something that couldn't be killed. Vaults, prisons, containment units, even amulets to be passed down through the generations - Jaune nixed that one in the bud; it sounded far too open for a disaster later. As the meeting went on, people started to lean forward and debate, argue and come up with new plans.

Ironwood and Winter discussed loudly on what Atlas could bring to the table. Ozpin theorised on ways to trick her as she had been before this. Raven brought her feet down and chipped in with her own, suggesting portals to split her body in two; two pieces and two continents at the same time.

"All of this is only going to be possible if we can deal with the Grimm around her first," Jaune eventually said, saying what they all already knew. There had to be a reminder, though, lest they spend the whole night devising ways to lock her in a kettle. "Salem can be dealt with. We've proven that here. The Grimm need to be destroyed first."

"We can deal with Grimm," Ironwood said. "We've been dealing with them for millennia."

Jaune chuckled and put the chalk down. "Then the future isn't quite as doomed as it looked to be this morning."

Nods. Silent nods around the room. Quiet and respectful, but with a hope that hadn't been there before. An immortal enemy wasn't just a concern, it was a terror, but it was only Salem that had that trait upon her. The Grimm, along with Tyrian and Hazel, could be killed. And without their support, without her army, she was but one person against many.

"I'll be speaking with Pietro," Ironwood said. "If there's anyone who can think up some way to trap and contain her, it's him. Winter, I want you to acquire as much dust from the remnants of the SDC as possible. We'll focus on the engineering side," he told the assembled leaders. "Come to us if you have need of equipment or machinery."

"Menagerie shall handle manpower where needed," Ghira declared. "Our battle shall be on the waves, but until then use us as you see fit."

"And the huntsmen of Vale shall be the ones to thin the horde," Ozpin said. "As it has always been. We have our positions, ladies and gentlemen. Miss Fall will be departing on her own mission deep into the heart of enemy territory. Let us all hope Team RWBY comes back safe and sound."

Cinder laughed darkly. "Surely you mean Team RWBY and me come back safely."

"I know what I said."

"It was an old body. You got better."

"He was more than just a body, though I would not expect you to understand that. He had a life once."

Cinder smirked. "Before you came and stole it."

"Enough." Jaune stepped in before it could get worse. "We've all got our positions and I'm sure everyone is tired. I still want to spend the night with my family, so let's call it here for now and meet tomorrow night. We'll cover any developments we've made, new ideas and any problems we've run into. Winter, can you have an update on the Grimm for us by then?"

"I shall."

"Good. Then that's goodnight from me."

/-/

Jinn found him before he could leave. The Spirit of Knowledge had always been there but hadn't spoken in the meeting since without questions this century, there was little she could offer. She held an arm across his path when he made to leave, however.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"You know I cannot answer that question," she replied with an amused smile. "But there are things I can say – knowledge I can give freely and without consequence."

Jaune frowned. "Since when? Didn't Ozpin just get done explaining how the Gods don't make loopholes?"

"It's not a loophole nor is it a design flaw. It is an intended feature of my creation, you might say. After all, how foolish would it be if I was made to aid humanity with three answers and the questions I receive every time are, `who are you`, `what Gods` and `how many questions do I get`?" Jinn giggled lightly. "That would be rather embarrassing, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess that makes sense. You told us your name for free. That's information."

"Precisely. I was created to serve a purpose and there are… not loopholes, but caveats placed into my being to better enable my purpose. One of those is that I can speak of myself. I cannot lie, which made infiltrating Menagerie a little complicated, but I can freely mislead so long as it's with the truth."

"Right." He nodded. "And there was something you wanted to mention now?"

"Yes. I am created from the God of Light. I am of his being. I was granted freedom to speak of myself, but `I` do not exist as my own entity, at least not in any way mortal minds would understand. I lack a soul."

"You feel like your own person…"

"I am. I have my own thoughts, desires and even my own twisted sense of humour." Her teeth flashed brightly. "But the soul isn't quite what you mortals think it is. I can't explain," she said before he could ask. "Even if you wasted a question on it, I'm not sure you would comprehend the answer. It involves the building blocks of creation itself. Things that only a God could understand. The point I am making is that I can speak on myself, and I am a part of the God of Light."

Therefore, you can speak about the God of Light!" he realised. "You can tell us about him? Uh. Her. It?"

"It would be the correct term. A God does not exist as a human does so notions of gender, identity or even self don't really apply. You might as well be applying gender to the air, sky or sunlight. And naturally I couldn't grant you information on how to harm the God of Light. If you for a moment thought it even possible, or a good idea."

It hadn't crossed his mind to be honest. Jinn knew that.

"I do." Her smile grew. "What I can say is that the Gods are watching."

Jaune tensed. A creeping sensation of dread crept over his shoulder like cold hands on his skin.

"Not like that," Jinn said. "They aren't particularly focused on you or goings-on here. They aren't even paying any more attention to Remnant than they were any of their other projects. Omnipotence means that they are always watching, even when they don't mean to be, and things such as attention span and multi-tasking are human concerns and concepts. They could be fielding a million worlds such as this and they could still give each the attention it deserves."

Well, that was terrifying to consider. Not only such ridiculous power, but the idea that Remnant might be one world among thousands. Utterly replaceable and not nearly as special to the Gods as it was to the people living there. It was cruel.

"Human concept," Jinn pointed out. "Gods are not human and do not feel human emotions, though one could make an argument that they feel things of their own. Things that you might liken to human emotions and not be entirely incorrect to assume. The Gods would not have been angry when Salem defied them to bring back Ozpin, but what was felt might reasonably called `anger` if it helps you understand. The reality is far more complex, but the simple analogy isn't far off enough to be called wrong."

"I understand. I think…"

"You understand as best you can," she said.

"Is there a reason you're telling me this? If they're watching then there's nothing we can do about it, especially if they said they'll only come back if the Relics are united."

"That is what I wanted to mention. I am part of the God of Light and can speak in some regard for him, and while your human emotions don't fully apply, the closest that could be attributed toward the God of Light's thoughts of Remnant even now are… confusion." Jinn said it uncertainly, as if even she wasn't fully sure of it. "Confusion and… frustration."

"They cannot understand why you have not brought the Relics together," she continued. "They may know all, but just like a man might know how a machine is put together, they don't understand how it works. They gave you the tools of their return and your salvation, and yet they remain unused. They can understand why Ozma would not use them." Jinn looked to him, and he had the strangest feeling he wasn't just talking to her. "But not you, Jaune Arc. If you summoned them, they would bring an end to Salem."

Jaune drew a deep breath and let it go, nostrils flaring. "And then what?"

"And then they would return. Remnant would be whole once more."

"Under their leadership?"

Jinn didn't answer.

Jaune laughed. It was a soft and short thing and he turned away, looking out over the empty classroom, and beyond it, out the windows and into Vale and the wider world. It was strange to think he was here potentially conversing with a bloody God when he was just one random kid from Ansel who faked his transcripts.

"I was never a religious person," he admitted. "I liked to believe there was something out there, but I didn't really worship anything. Mom used to tell stories about fairies and Gods and stuff. You know, typical children's stories. In those, a God was usually shown as kind, benevolent and all-knowing. They created you, loved you and forgave you for your mistakes, even if you didn't forgive yourself."

"They were bigger than us, and I guess that's why it always felt like forgiveness and love were the obvious facets. Why would a being that powerful and that important waste energy feeling anger toward little people like us? What's the point? We must be like cute pets to them, and you don't hold a grudge against a harmless animal." He closed his eyes. "I liked that idea. Wish I could still believe it."

Jinn frowned.

"The Gods that created Remnant fail to live up to that ideal. They may think they're benevolent and they might believe that, but the second someone wronged them, they cursed her to eternity and then cursed her dead husband as well. Maybe it's the lack of understanding and emotions that makes them think that's okay, so in that case I'll say is straight so there's no Godly confusion out there."

He raised his voice, all but shouting at the empty room and the fragment of a God.

"I'll never bring the Relics together and so long as I live, no one shall. Remnant needs a lot of things, but the last of those is a pair of childish Gods spitting their dummies out and splitting the moon in half. If I had to pick between them and Salem, I'd pick Salem." He spat on the floor. "At least we can fight her. At least she has reason to hate us. Stupid as it is, it still makes more sense than their reasons."

"I see." Jinn sighed and let her eyes close, chest deflating. "That is… disappointing."

"Yeah." Jaune leaned forward to say, "Now you know how I felt when I learned the truth about the Brother Gods..."

He stepped back and away, squeezing out the final word in the full knowledge they would hear it.

"Disappointed."

Got to say I was pretty disappointed hearing the tale of the Gods in canon too, though that's more disappointed in the Gods as deific figures than in the writing. They just came across so petty and lame. They could have been the good god figures like, well, God, or they could have been the cool and dramatic evil ones like Molag Bal – something to become a huge evil entity later in the series.

Instead, they kind of come across like spoiled brats squabbling together, maturing enough to make a planet and then squabbling after before spitting their pacifiers out and running away. Maybe that's the intent, though. Maybe the suggestion is that they were childish Gods or even Godly children (however that works).

There could be some weird and applicable way of Rooster Teeth making that work.

Next Chapter: 13th August

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