Arc 3: Demons and Monsters

Chapter 17: Trapped

Disclaimer: I do not in any way or form own Gate: Thus the JSDF Fought There or RWBY. They belong to their respective owners, Takumi Yanai and RoosterTeeth Animations respectively.

The ashes stirred and began to pulse. Drawn by an unseen force, the ashes began to swirl, spinning themselves into a single form. As more and more of the black ash consolidated, a screeching cry split the air.

The Grimm Phoenix rose from the ground, taking to the skies once again.

Beneath it, Salem walked up to the Gate, uncontested. The Grimm bowed and stood aside for their queen.

She could not push through. The Gate acted as a bottleneck for her infinite numbers of lesser Grimm, and her greater forces were too large to pass through. Furthermore, for some reason, she herself could not enter. Perhaps Emroy had altered the Gate. Perhaps it rejected her darkness.

No matter.

Placing her hands on the stone, Salem drew upon her ancient magic. Magic, combined with the eternal life of the God of Light's fountain and the God of Darkness' Grimm pool, seeped into the very structure as Salem sought to corrupt it for her own use. From her hands, black veins began to spread across the Gate, slowly expanding in a network of lines.

Something cracked.

"No!"

The Gate began to crumble and shake, pieces of it falling apart. Rock fell, sending up bursts of dust.

"No!"

Salem pushed more magic into the rapidly deteriorating Gate, forcing her tendrils to spread more quickly in an attempt to hold the Gate together.

The portal began to flicker.

"No!"

A pair of Beringels charged into the dying pathway between worlds, attempting to force it to remain whole. Salem growled as she tried to force it back open.

The entire structure collapsed, the portal vanishing. The Beringels were cut into two. The rumble of collapsing stone was quickly drowned out by a roar of rage that struck fear into even the Grimm.

"No!"

"Where is General Ironwood?" Winter demanded.

"No one knows. He didn't make it over to this side of the Gate," a soldier replied. He was on edge, as were most of those who had fled when Beacon fell.

The Alnus base was in chaos - the influx of refugees, the Gate needed to be constantly monitored and now the General was MIA. As Winter was a specialist in the army as well as Ironwood's trusted advisor, many of the Atlesian soldiers had turned to her for leadership.

As well as she could, Winter tried to bring the base in order. She sent soldiers to guard the Gate, organize the refugees, resupply their weapons - menial tasks, anything to keep the forces focused. Like Winter herself, they had temporarily lost the ability to return home. For the sake of everyone in the base, the soldiers had to keep going, or despair would set in. Even now, Winter could feel the desperation beginning to build in the air.

She also recalled all the Atlesian forces currently scattered around Falmart undergoing various missions. She would need all the manpower she could get.

After hours of frantic activity, Winter finally sorted out the important issues in keeping the base running. Several warehouses of food had already been prepared, which could feed everyone for a while, even including the unexpected number of refugees. At least Alnus Town nearby was always expanding, providing a good source of housing and jobs. Trade was flourishing there, guaranteeing a constant supply of food. Winter had been unsure when, weeks ago, she had recommended setting up that temporary settlement. Now, however, it had grown into a vibrant community, one that may be a key piece of survival for Alnus base.

However, there was a critical problem. Dust. Cut off from their supply, the base had only a very limited supply of that valuable resource. With so much technology relying on Dust, it became a top priority to find a new source of it. Seeing as how they were on a different planet, that seemed unlikely. As such, Winter had sent off a number of scouts to find an alternative energy source that their researchers and scientists could adapt their technology to.

Now finally free, Winter barely managed to catch her breath before a messenger came to her. "Team RWBY and Rory want to speak to you."

Winter came to meet team RWBY soon after the request. They met within sight of the Gate, where there was currently an uneasy stalemate. Any Grimm that tried to enter was immediately torn apart. Any machine that tried to return was also torn apart.

"Uncle Qrow! You made it!" Ruby cheered, dashing over to hug the elder man who had also come to see them.

"Heh, no Grimm invasion will stop me from making sure you don't get into trouble," he boasted.

"Where is everyone?"

Winter was the one to reply, "Your father was on a mission but on his way back now. The princess and her aide are safe and preparing to return to their capital. Lelei is resting. Tuka..."

"What happened to her?"

"She was separated from us on our way here. Ariel went after her, but... I've got no news from either of them."

Ruby seemed to deflate at the news. "We must get her back!"

"No. We cannot risk going back," Winter shut her down.

"But-"

Nearby, the Gate shook, sending a rumbling shock though the ground. Dark veins seemed to spread through the stone before it began to crumble. Before their eyes, the Gate cracked and crumbled, collapsing into a pile of dust.

That settled that argument.

Honestly, after the mysterious woman and the Fall of Beacon, even the collapse of the Gate didn't faze Winter. They had been unable to return due to the Grimm, anyway. Winter sighed and began to consider ways to reallocate her forces and find some other way to return. Maybe someone in the Empire could try to reopen it...

Team RWBY seemed to freeze as the consequences of the Gate's collapse began to sink in. Unfortunately, Winter had no time to let them think. "Why did you ask for me?" she tiredly asked, "I'm going to be very busy."

"We want to know what happened! The place was chaos. Why did the robots attack us? Who was that woman?" Ruby blurted out. "And now what? Without the Gate..."

"Unfortunately, information about that attack is lacking. As for the Knights, there was a virus in our systems, but we've purged it and patched the vulnerability up. As for that woman that Rory fought... no one seems to know anything about her, or how she's controlling the Grimm," Winter sighed, "And now with the Gate destroyed, we can't even send scouts back through to find out."

"I know who she is," Qrow said.

"You?!"

"What I'm about to tell you is confidential... but at this point, I might as well just tell you. Her name is Salem. As Rory can attest, she is immortal. She can control the Grimm. Apart from that, though, not much is known about her."

"And her purpose? Why did she attack Beacon?" Winter demanded.

"That's an even longer story. One that Ozpin wanted to keep secret."

"The Headmaster? Where is he now?"

Qrow grimaced, holding out a cane. "Dead. But he had a mission, one with its origins in legend. Not many people are super religious these days." Reattaching the staff to his side, Qrow pulled out his flask and took a sip. No-one stopped him. "This world's been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real."

"They were brothers," Qrow began. "The older sibling, the god of light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the god of darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the god of darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. But life always returned.

"So one night, the younger brother went and made something—something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything."

Ruby's voice was quiet but rang with understanding. "The creatures of Grimm."

Qrow nodded. "You guessed it." He continued the fable gradually. "The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation... together, something that they could both be proud of: their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed.

"This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow - the path of light or the path of darkness." A grin still tickled his lips whenever he heard the last part. "And that is how Humanity came to be."

"I have little time for fairy tales, Qrow," Winter interrupted, "Get to the point. What does this have to do with us?"

"Well," Qrow replied soberly, "that's the kicker. See, the four gifts to mankind - knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice - aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world. And that's exactly what the enemy wants.

"The Huntsman Academies were created to train generations of Humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose - guarding the Relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools, he built them around the Relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep mankind from using them against itself... and, of course, keeping them out of her reach. Salem wants the relics. We don't know why, but if she gets them, it's not going to end well." He paused for a long moment, letting them absorb the information.

"And do you have any proof of this?" Winter asked.

Qrow looked at her incredulously, "Did you not see Salem just walk into Beacon with an army of Grimm behind her, throwing magic left and right? What more proof do you want?"

"Why tell us this now?"

"Ozpin wanted this to be kept secret... but for the first time in a long time, Salem has personally come out. To look at the Gate, no less. She usually works in the shadows, subtly manipulating things, but she just launched a full-scale invasion. Whatever this Gate is, and this world, she is interested. And that, well, that's not good."

"I am Specialist Winter Schnee. Until the Gate is reopened or we can find another way to communicate with Remnant, we are cut off. As the highest-ranking officer of the Atlesian Army, I am taking full command of all operations on Falmart."

Her position now made official to the entire base, Winter called Qrow and the top-ranking members of the Atlesian Army into a meeting. There, to incredulous and begrudgingly accepting looks, they explained what they knew of the situation to the high-ranking Atlesian Officers. The Gate's collapse for unknown reasons, Salem and the relics. All the information that Ozpin worked so hard to keep secret, Qrow told them all. Was it the right choice? With Salem already coming in force, it was only a matter of time before they figured things out anyway.

As professional soldiers, they took in the information relatively quickly and immediately began making plans, both to return to Remnant and to acquire the relics. The problem was that no one had any idea of how the Gate worked in the first place. Despite great effort to study it, information on the mysterious structure was scarce. And without a way home, the second objective was impossible.

Some time into the planning, Rory burst into the meeting room, startling all within.

"Why are you here, Rory?" Winter asked, "We're busy at the moment." With so much to be done, she more pressing issues than a single person - even immortal - and her icy tone reflected it. The disapproving looks of her advisors were similar.

Rory pouted a little at the cold reception, "So I guess you don't want to know who can reopen the Gate." Suddenly, all the high-ranking members of the Atlesian Army were very receptive to hearing from her.

"Do tell us."

"Hardy, the Goddess of the Underworld, was the one who opened the Gate. She can make another," Rory confidently said.

"A goddess? Why would she even open it in the first place?"

Rory shrugged, "Who knows? Bored, probably."

"Your armies invaded our home because a goddess got bored?!" a captain exclaimed.

"Not my army," Rory hissed. The captain gulped and remained quiet. Then, Rory drew back and shrugged, "But yes."

"Where does she reside, Rory? We must prepare a team to reach her immediately."

"Nope," she denied, smiling. A wicked look in her eyes, she said, "I have a few conditions."

The officers looked worryingly at each other. "What are they?" one asked cautiously.

Rory grinned. "I will lead a team to Hardy's shrine to ask her to reopen the Gate for you. But. I want team RWBY with me. Your boss put some ban on them from meeting me, right? Seeing as how you're in charge now, that nonsense ends."

With them all now trapped on Falmart, that ban was pretty much already void anyway. "That can be done," Winter replied, "But only if they agree to go."

Rory shrugged. "Sure. Oh, and no soldiers. I don't want some stupid military guys telling to what to do."

The Atlesains took offense at that but wisely decided not to speak up.

"Fine, but I will send someone I trust. Still, any reason why you specifically want RWBY? They're still young, and not the most... responsible."

"They're fun," Rory replied, grinning, "Unlike all these boring soldiers. Also, I want a gun. Not one of the useless ones your guys use. I want one a big one. Explodey one."

"A gun. A-" the captain did not even try to contain his incredulity, "Why would you even need a gun?! You're immortal!"

"Because they look fun to play with. So, deal?"

The Atlesian commanders came to the conclusion that, with her already extensive combat abilities, giving Rory a gun - even a rocket launcher - wouldn't really affect much. So, they agreed.

"Great! Tell me when you get some guys ready, and I'll bring them to Hardy," Rory concluded happily. "Bye."

"Please wait, Ms. Mercury. I heard your god helped during the battle?" Winter asked.

"Ah, yes. Emroy decided to check out what was going on. Why?" Rory asked.

"Can you describe exactly what happened?" Winter questioned, "Perhaps it will help us understand the situation."

"Eh? Sure. But, you owe me a favor," Rory said.

The army leaders looked apprehensively at one another. Owing someone like Rory a favor was never a good idea, but the information was very valuable. "Deal," Winter agreed.

"I felt the power coming from the woman... Salem? I felt that she was somehow wrong, as though her presence was corrupting the land. So I attacked her with your headmaster Ozpin, but you know, she's immortal. And has some crazy powerful magic."

Rory frowned as she recalled what happened next. "Salem overpowered us. She tried to do something to me, like clawing through my memories, and Emroy did not take kindly to that. Then my Semblance was unlocked and I allowed him to take almost a physical presence here, to fight with me. Oh, and Ozzy died. Emroy seemed to know how Salem became immortal, but before you ask, he didn't tell me. Salem was pissed when he tried to talk to her, and then we fought. It was epic, but a draw. The end."

There was silence as the information was processed, then Winter spoke, "Thank you for the information, Rory. Is there anything else?"

"Nope."

"Then would you please leave the room for a moment? I would like to discuss this issue, and your offer."

Rory shrugged and left.

Sometime later, they called her back.

"Alright. I've discussed this issue with the officers, and we have come up with a proposal. Along with team RWBY, Taiyang Xiao Long, the princess, her aide, and my diplomat, you will first travel to the capital of the Empire. There, find Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck and Miss Vela Fauxen. I presume you still remember them?"

"That doctor is on drugs."

"...I will not comment on that," Winter decided. "Find them. Give them this message," she said, holding up a scroll, "They will escort you to Hardy's shrine."

"Aww... Don't you trust me?"

"No offense, but no. Furthermore, team RWBY needs supervision. As you know, they're not always the most sensible," Winter explained.

"Aw, you're no fun. Fine, I'll find the babysitters. When do we leave?" Rory asked.

"First thing tomorrow morning. Get some rest, prepare whatever you need. A vehicle and supplies will be provided."

In a quiet room, Cinder put down her suitcase and opened it up. Beside her, Emerald and Mercury could not help but recoil as a tentacled, jellyfish-like seer Grimm floated out. As Cinder gave a bow, Salem's face appeared on the bulbous head of the seer.

"Well done."