An important A/N has been added at the bottom.

XXXXXXX

Chapter Twenty-Two: No Hero in the End

The Scroll's screen turned on, revealing America's smiling face.

"Hey Mattie. It's me! Obviously." He gave an awkward laugh. "I just… wanted to record this for you in case… Well. In case I'm not…" His eyes did not quite look at the screen. "…around. I hope you don't accidentally stumble on this message. That'll be hard to explain! Haha..."

America cleared his throat, shifting slightly and making the camera bounce. "I, uh— guess I should explain what this is about. I'm Vale. Or… I'm part of Vale. Vale as in the nation's personification. Remnant has nations, bro!" For a moment he sounded so excited, but his tone quickly grew somber once more.

"I don't know if you remember but we went through some stuff and some creepy dudes transferred part of Vale's Aura to me. It was that or let her attackers get it. Vale's a girl by the way. Her name's Amber. Remember that for me, would you?" His voice cracked.

America rubbed his hand over his face shakily. "This… isn't how I meant for this conversation to go. I'm not making much sense, am I? But I don't want to say too much in case someone bad finds this… I guess I'll just get to the point. They— Ozpin, Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood— need me to accept the rest of Vale's Aura. But if I do... I m-might not be me anymore."

He took a shuddering breath, fear flashing through his expression, but he covered it with a smile. "They haven't done something exactly like this before so they don't know what's going to happen to me. But I have to do it. They say I have a choice but what other choice is there? Let some random human try it and die? Let the power go to Amber's assailant? I can't let that happen. What kind of hero would I be if I did?"

His grin faltered. "I'm not sure if I'll emerge from the transfer… as myself. At best, I'll be merged with Vale and I'll be a little… different. At worst…." His voice grew softer, more somber. "I'll lose my identity completely and only Vale will remain. I know what you're thinking. 'How could the Hero lose? He's too strong for that!'"

He forced a heroic tone and laugh. It faded pathetically. "But… I'm not oblivious. I can already feel changes from the small bit of Aura I already have. It's not that Vale is stronger than me, but she's… desperate. She doesn't want to die or lose herself any more than I do. I think when the time comes she's going to fight me."

America's shoulders hunched. "I'm scared, Mattie." He admitted in a whisper. "I could lose everything I am. I could wake up and not be me anymore. My body will be alive, but I might be dead. W-Why did this have to happen to me?" His voice shook and he rubbed at his eyes furiously. "Come on, no crying. Heroes don't cry."

When America lowered his arm he was smiling again. "I don't want to do this, but no one else can. So I want to prepare for the worst. If I wake up and I'm not… me anymore, please pass these messages onto the others for me, okay? Tell Arthur he was always my brother and I missed him. Tell Kiku he's the best friend I could ever have. Tell Toris— Tolys? Damn it I still always mess that up… Anyway, tell him he's an awesome guy. Tell Francis thanks for all the advice, even if some of it was a little weird. Tell Ivan I did see him as a friend, and Tony I'm sorry I didn't come back a-and—"

His teeth clenched and he composed himself. "There's… so much I want to say. But Ozpin is probably getting tired of waiting for me. I hope all of this is for nothing and everything turns out fine but…" He shook himself, looking straight at the camera. "This is your message though, bro. I made it for you, so I should tell you how amazing you are, right?"

Another smile came back, so fragile and strained but also warm. "And you are amazing. You're the best, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We may have fought sometimes and we definitely got on each other's nerves, but you're my family, my brother. Even after everything, we've always had each other's backs. We've always protected each other…"

America sniffed, but maintained his grin even as his blue eyes filled with tears. "I hope things work out but if they don't I just want you to know I'm sorry I left. I love you, Mattie."

The image froze and the screen went black.

Canada let the Scroll slip from his fingers, landing roughly in his lap. He leaned his head against the wall behind him and stared at the ceiling with stinging violet eyes. The nation had no more tears to shed, having spent them all while screaming at Qrow a few days prior.

It had been three weeks since the attack on Vale.

They had yet to find America.

The city was too vast and damaged to do a thorough search, and the school grounds were completely overridden by Grimm. They could not even get close. It did not help that the Grimm Dragon was still circling Beacon, constantly dropping more Grimm, though it only seemed interested in the school for some reason. As each day came up with absolutely nothing, Canada had come to suspect that his brother was no longer in the city. That meant he was either wandering somewhere alone or possibly in enemy hands. Canada could not decide which scenario was worse.

Qrow had finally taken him aside and told him the truth about Vale and what Ozpin and the others had planned a few days ago. Thus came the shouting and crying session. Now Canada was too drained to do much of anything. His last attempt to join the search party had ended with him nearly getting impaled on a measly Beowolf's claws and he had been banned from going again.

So he sat in his and England's guest room at Yang and Ruby's house, and watched Alfred's last message to him over and over. Italy had been sobbing when he had given Canada the Scroll after the attack, tearfully explaining that he had been carrying it the entire time and apologizing for doing so. Canada had been unable to find the will to console him, too caught up in his own shock and grief to even think about anyone else's.

Because he had killed Cinder. He had released Vale's Aura from her body. He had made it go to America.

He might have essentially killed his brother.

That was why Canada refused to speak to anyone, even England and France, so caught up in his guilt and grief he could barely function. He could not believe how badly he had failed. Not only to help his brother, but to even notice something was wrong. How many times had he failed to see how sad and stressed America truly was? How often had he dismissed his brother's attempts to talk to him, falsely believing America was just being his ignorant self? It was almost too much to handle, and Canada could not face people like England to tell them what he had and had not done. There was only one notable exception to his isolation.

Someone tapped on the door. Already knowing who it was, Canada spoke. "Come in."

Ruby entered, dressed in black pajamas and with her left eye bandaged. The blow her enemy had landed on her had taken her eye, but if not for the wrappings one would be unable to tell from Ruby's still-cheerful attitude. The first few days after she had woken had been a mess of shock and confusion, with the girl unable to comprehend what had happened, but she had rapidly regained her optimism and gotten back on her feet.

"Now I get to wear a cool eyepatch!" Ruby had claimed, seemingly unaffected by her ordeal.

Either that, or Canada suspected she was just pretending to be fine to try to get her sister out of her slump. Yang was not dealing with the loss of her arm well. She had fallen into what could only be described as a depression, sitting in her room and being cold and distant to everyone, even Ruby. Canada had a feeling part of her problem was Blake's departure. The Faunus had left without saying goodbye to anyone, inflaming the abandonment issues Yang already possessed.

Weiss was gone too, having been taken back to Atlas by her father. Canada could not blame him, and could only hope the Heiress was okay. Team RWBY was in shambles, yet despite that Taiyang had opened his home to his girls' friend and his family and allies. Canada had not wanted to intrude but could not deny that he preferred being on Patch instead of inside the ruined Vale in shelters with other evacuees.

"Hey Ruby." Canada said.

The girl sat next to him. "Hi. The others should be back again soon. Maybe they'll find something."

She sounded so optimistic. Canada knew better. He nodded anyway. "Maybe."

Ruby shifted, leaning her head on the wall. "So… I was thinking. I want answers."

Canada shot her a confused look. "About what?" he asked cautiously.

Qrow had not told her about the nations, America, or Vale. In fact, even among the nations Canada was still the only one aware that he was Mantle and America was Vale. If the Huntsman had not told them all the truth, Canada certainly was not going to. It may be selfish but he did not want to complicate things further.

More importantly, he did not want to potentially start a war between their worlds.

"About all of this." Ruby gestured vaguely at the air. "The attack on Beacon, Cinder, why she did all this… She was stopped but I bet she wasn't alone."

Canada's thoughts instantly turned to Emerald and Mercury. He suspected they were little more than glorified grunts but one should never underestimate opponents. "What are you saying?"

"Uncle Qrow and I talked about some things. Everything seemed too… too big to just be Cinder's idea." Ruby commented. "If she was the biggest bad guy, why would she do things herself? The leaders of bad organizations don't do that."

Canada's eyes narrowed in thought. Now that he looked back, Cinder's actions did seem like that of a higher-ranked underling rather than the mastermind. Was a greater threat out there? It was too bad Qrow had left yesterday. Otherwise Canada could demand answers from him.

"So you don't think this is over?" he asked carefully. "You think someone else is pulling the strings?"

She nodded firmly. "Yeah. That's why I want answers."

"Do you know where to find them?" he questioned.

Ruby's reply was instantaneous. "Mistral. Uncle Qrow mentioned it and that's where Cinder said she was from. I don't know if she actually was but it's a start."

Canada felt like his head had broken the surface of the water he had been drowning in. His mind cleared and he sat up straighter, looking Ruby right in the eye. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as Team JNPR gets here." Ruby said. Her eye looked down and to the left, either sorrowful or ashamed. "Yang… won't come."

Canada was unsurprised. Yang had not taken the loss of her arm well. At all. He had not conversed with the girl at all since coming here, and her door always remained closed, telling others that their presences were not welcome. Only Taiyang was allowed in as far as the twin could tell. Ruby had gone in exactly once and come out looking close to tears.

"I'll talk to Arthur." Canada said. "He'll come with us. The others will too."

The nation was certain about that. The enemy might have America, and if they did, there was a chance of finding them in Mistral. It was the only clue they had, and Canada had to follow it. He had to find his brother and make amends, to help and protect him like he had failed to do before. And if America was not himself anymore…

Canada did not notice when subtle hints of frost gathered on his shoulders and his eyes glowed, making Ruby shiver and lean away.

If America was gone and only Vale remained, he would make those responsible pay.

XXXXXXX

Roman Torchwick tripped over another tree-root, cursing up a storm. It was obvious the criminal was out of his element, preferring concrete to dirt and buildings to trees. He heard Neopolitan snicker as he walked into another tree branch, which promptly smacked him in the face a second time for good measure.

"Why the hell are we doing this?" he snarled, shoving the branch out of his face and grimacing as it tore at his hair. "I hate nature!"

"If you want to walk back to Vale, be my guest." Mercury Black snapped. "I, for one, don't want to get killed."

"The Grimm have probably been cleared from the main city by now." Roman growled, flicking dirt from his previously-white coat.

"The Grimm aren't the problem and you know it." Mercury snapped. "Let me remind you of our situation again since you seem to have forgotten the only reason I'm sticking with you two: Cinder may be dead but we're not in the clear."

"So what? We're running to hide in Kuchinashi because a ghost is after us?" Roman hissed. "The fire bitch is dead. We're free to go."

Mercury glared at him. "You really think that Cinder was the sole orchestrator of all that? News flash: She's not at the top of the totem pole, not by a long shot, and if you think the others are going to leave us alone, you're sorely mistaken."

Roman ground his teeth audibly. "Fine. We have to run to survive. Got it." His voice dripped with loathing. "So why do we have the dead weight?"

He gestured at the person Mercury was carrying. During the attack, the two men had stumbled upon each other and Neo, who was dragging Alfred F. Jones's unconscious body around Vale. Rather than leave him as Grimm chow, the girl had been adamant about taking the teen with them. Roman did not understand it, but when Neo showed a typed message to Mercury on her Scroll— deleting it before the orange-haired man could see it— the assassin had been all for carrying the comatose teen.

The criminal loathed the idea that he was being kept out of the loop, but learning too much had been a consistent cause of problems for him as of late so he was content to remain ignorant for now. Though he did have to wonder how the hell the kid was still alive after three weeks with little food, while traveling in the woods, while in a coma.

"He's our leverage if we run into trouble." Mercury explained shortly. "If the Huntsmen catch up to us, he's a hostage. If our dear associates catch up to us, we can pretend we were bringing him to their allies in Mistral."

"How devious of you." Roman said, almost approvingly. "That's why I like working with you better than the street rat."

None of them knew what had happened to Emerald. She and Mercury had separated during the attack and the assassin had not been bothered to find her once he found out Cinder was dead. Roman honestly did not give a damn if she was alive or dead or off running on her own somewhere. It was not his problem. All he cared about was looking out for Number One— with Neo as a cautious Number Two on that list.

And if that meant lugging around a dead weight through the forests of Anima while trying to get to Kuchinashi and its criminal underground where they could disappear and recuperate, so be it. A part of Roman hoped the teen stayed unconscious, to be honest. He did not want to deal with another hero-type who would be a thorn in his side instead of being a good little hostage.

Almost like his thoughts had jinxed them, Mercury swore. "He's waking up."

The assassin set Jones down and stepped back. The three criminals leaned over the teen, hands on their weapons as they waited with bated breath. He stirred, cringing slightly like he was in pain, and slowly lifted his eyelids.

His right eye was blue.

His left eye was green.

Roman saw Neo grin viciously.

What the hell?

Jones's mismatched eyes flicked from person to person, no recognition on his face. That was good. If he did not know Roman was a criminal, it just might make things easier. Except he had gone to school with Mercury, had he not? Shouldn't he remember him…?

Roman's eyes widened and he glanced at Neo, who smirked back knowingly. The criminal finally understood. She knew the teen would wake with amnesia. Comprehension clicked and he had to withhold his own victorious smirk. Roman was almost proud of her plan and deception.

Jones finally found his voice. "W-Who are you?" He glanced around nervously. "W-Where am I?"

Mercury laughed. "Funny, Al. You can stop pretending."

The look Jones gave him was pathetic, filled with bewilderment and fear. Roman watched the smile slide from Mercury's face, and if he did not know any better, never would have spotted the fakeness of his reactions.

"Al, seriously. You can stop." Mercury said shakily.

Give the assassin an award. He sounded genuinely hurt. Jones looked distraught about hurting his feelings, hands twitching towards the poor sad teen before he withdrew them, pressing them defensively against his chest.

"I'm not… Please…" Blue and green eyes locked on Roman, fearful and desperate and oh so wonderfully unaware. "I don't r-remember anything. Who am I?"

Roman made sure to smile gently, while internally he smirked like a cat with a mouse in its claws. "Your name is Alfred. And you're our friend."

XXXXXXX

Salem was not happy.

Not happy at all.

She sat at the head of the table, hands folded neatly in her lap, and let her red gaze move from person to person. Hazel, Watts, and Tyrian were all present, but Cinder's seat was noticeably empty. She could see her followers were not grieving for their lost teammate.

Watts was openly dismissive and annoyed with Cinder's failure. Hazel kept his emotions and thoughts off his face and to himself. Tyrian was his usually giggly self, though he could see his Goddess's ire and glanced at her with a warped version of sympathy, more sorrowful for her grief than for the loss itself. Salem felt a rush of anger at the thought but kept it contained.

"You all know what has happened at Beacon." She said clearly. "Young Cinder succeeded in taking the school and killing dear Ozpin, but lost the power of Vale and her life in the process."

Watts scoffed. "What a pitiful display. To be taken down by two teenagers and a no-name fool… How disgraceful."

Salem stared at him stonily until he dipped his head, not pleased with his comments about their fallen member.

Watts changed his tune. "This is indeed a great victory, but it has also put us behind schedule. The Relic is in Beacon and the Kingdom of Vale has been dealt a devastating blow, but we lost the national personification's Aura."

"What of the other Kingdoms?" Hazel asked in his deep voice. "Surely one of them could be of better use to us?"

"Menagerie may have sided with us but he is not one of the Four Great Kingdoms. We cannot use him to reach the Relic in Beacon, or any of the Relics for that matter." Watts said dismissively.

"I have located and identified the Kingdom of Atlas, my Lady." Tyrian interjected eagerly. "She's so predictable and easy to track! It's hardly fun." He drooped, twitching irritably. "…but Mistral and Vacuo still elude me."

He sounded so heartbroken that he had failed his Goddess in the slightest way. Salem could not care less.

"They will be found." Salem said firmly. "But Vale was always the strongest, even when compared to Atlas. That is why dear Ozpin chose to stay there." Her lips curled in slight distaste. "We need Vale to ensure our victory."

"Should I start hunting for the reincarnation?" Tyrian asked eagerly, not caring that said reincarnation would be barely three weeks old at this time.

Salem shook her head. "There will not be a reincarnation. I have learned that Ironwood has been quite… unethical as of late. He transferred part of Vale's Aura to a boy, and with Cinder's death, the rest of the Aura has gone to him."

Watts's eyebrows rose. "That's unprecedented. They must have been truly desperate to attempt such a thing. How disappointing."

And hypocritical. Salem was no stranger to the shady decisions Ozpin made in the name of the greater good of humanity. It was satisfying to know that the man had finally sacrificed his own life— for nothing— after sacrificing so many others in his war. But the fool did not matter anymore. Ozpin was dead. He could no longer interfere in her plans.

Vale, on the other hand…

"Tyrian."

The scorpion Faunus looked at her with excited yellow eyes. "Yes, my Lady?"

"Mistral can wait. Find Vale…" Salem ordered. "And bring him to me."

Tyrian beamed, a sadistic smile stretching across his face. "As you wish, my Goddess."

XXXXXXX

A/N: Finally. Finally I'm here. Finally I can do what I want!

In case you couldn't tell, I'm going more AU as things go out. In other words, I will not be following large parts of Volume 4, instead writing a mostly original story. I'm so happy I got to this point!

Now that we're here, I'm going to answer some questions. Please scan through them. Thanks. :)

What gave you the idea for this story?

I watched Hetalia, saw the personifications, and got the idea of Remnant having nations too. I didn't want to use OCs though so I thought about using canon characters, and thought "What if Amber was a nation instead of a Maiden?" From there, more and more questions and ideas came ("How would America and Canada get to Remnant?" "How would Remnant nations work when compared to Earth nations?" "What other Earth nations would get involved?") and this story came to be.

Since there are no Maidens, is Ozpin still the Wizard?

Yes.

Why is America Vale and Canada Mantle? Why those nations of Remnant?

I chose Canada to be Mantle because Mantle has been forgotten by the other Kingdoms. The city is no longer a 'real' Kingdom, and has pretty much been left to rot. To the people involved in the transfer, Mantle was expendable, and they saw Canada as the expendable twin because he was 'weaker' than America. In the prequel (which I still can't post because reasons), I'll go into this in more detail.

As for America… Once I figured out the Amber-is-Vale plot, I knew he had to become Vale because he's a hero (or at least has a hero complex). Once he found out what happened to Amber, he wouldn't let himself do anything other than decide to help and save people, but the stress of the possible consequences of becoming Vale (losing his memories/identity) would drag him down much like it did Pyrrha in canon. Perhaps even more so because he puts literal millions of people at risk while saving millions of others no matter what he chose. And— as you can see from this chapter— he did indeed lose his memory. Though I'll admit part of my reason for doing that is because I wish they'd used that plot with Pyrrha in canon. It would have been so interesting!

What are America/Vale's powers and what are Canada/Mantle's?

America/Vale can manifest and control wind, lightning, fire, and rain, with limited control over snow/ice (He needs to manifest ice around something like pine needles or leaves). Alfred prefers using wind, Amber preferred using lightning, and Cinder preferred using fire.

Canada/Mantle can manifest and control ice, snow, temperature (can only make things colder), and wind.

As for America and Canada's own Semblances… Wait and see. ;)

Does Matthew still represent Canada?

Yes. He is the representative of both Canada and Mantle. Because Mantle was naturally dying when the transfer occurred, there were few side-effects for Canada. He got Mantle's memories, people, Aura, and Semblance, but that's it. For Canada, it's more like pulling information/power from a databank than having another soul. They're practically merged with only slight things from Mantle influencing Canada. Or maybe a more accurate description is that Mantle was absorbed by Canada and Mantle was the one to lose his identity. There is no risk of Mantle's personality/soul erasing Canada's because Mantle was too weak to try.

America and Vale on the other hand… You'll see.

How do Remnant nations work? How do Earth nations work?

I'll give a concise comparison of Earth and Remnant nations here:

If Earth nations get a wound that would be fatal to a human, they fall into a coma until they recover. The only exception is when their nation is on the brink of collapse. In that case, they will die.

If Remnant nations get a mortal wound they die and are reborn.

Earth nations have a healing factor. How quickly it works depends on the situation. For example, if a nation is randomly killed by a human or fellow nation they will heal fairly quickly. On the other hand, if they are killed by a nation they are at war with during a battle they will heal more slowly. Psychological damage can also have an effect on how quickly they recover.

Remnant nations do not have a healing factor. They rely on Aura, but once that runs out, they're like a normal human.

Earth nations age slowly depending on their development, economy, independence, and other factors. They stop aging at a certain point and will live until their country falls.

When a Remnant nation is reborn, they age and live like a normal human until they reach a certain age (usually between 17 and 26). Once they reach that age all of their memories return and they stop aging. They're ageless, not immortal, so if they managed to avoid being mortally wounded, they would live forever (at least until their Kingdom collapses). None of them have managed it yet. If the Kingdom is dying, (like Mantle) the personification will slowly die with it. Once the nation's memories come back, they leave their old families behind and go to those that know about nations (aka their governments and Ozluminati, etc.). At least… that's what they are supposed to do.

Earth nations are capable of having Aura and Semblances. They will have one Semblance (with America and Canada being the exceptions since they are also Vale and Mantle respectively).

Remnant nations' Semblances are the same through all their reincarnated lives, but if their 'human' personality from before their most recent 'recollection/awakening' is different enough from their nation self, they can have two Semblances.

Who are the other Remnant nations?

As you saw, America is now Vale, Canada is Mantle, and Ciel is Atlas. I'm not about to tell you the others though I do know their identities. Just know that all of the nations are canon characters from RWBY. (Except the previous Mantle but he's kinda dead so…)

Why didn't England and the others take America home after he was injured?

I'll go into detail about this in-story somewhere at a later time, but I might as well answer here because it's not exactly a major spoiler.

Basically, unconscious/comatose people cannot safely travel through the portals. This is because if their subconscious desires want them to go somewhere other than their destination (aka America's desire to stay on Remnant) they'll either get ripped out of the portal and land somewhere random or get torn to pieces.

Like I said, this will be explained at a later date. The explanation just didn't fit in this story. :/

Why didn't you save Penny?! ;-;

It didn't make sense to. None of the nations were nearby to change things, and Ruby had no reason to suspect Emerald because Mercury wasn't hurt so Emerald wasn't supposed to be back in Mistral. As a result, Ruby never figured out Emerald was responsible and never fought Mercury. So the only difference was that she was in the stands as a mere spectator (who would see nothing amiss in Penny and Pyrrha fighting in the Tournament) instead of showing up at the last second. And with Yang and Alfred weighing on her mind, she didn't even think about what could happen with 'Polarity versus metal'.

As for Penny herself… The truth is… (deep breath)… I had no reason to save her. The only reason I would save her is because it would make fans happy. That's not how I do things. I don't have a use for her in the future, and I'm not afraid to kill characters I don't need. Because I didn't need her, I didn't feel like coming up with another scenario where she survived.

And truthfully… I have reasons to kill her off which will be explored later.

I'm sorry.

RUBY WTF WHAAAAA?! ;-;

Yeah, I planned Ruby losing an eye from the beginning. A tiny part of the reason was I needed her out of the way in the final battle. I won't explain the full (aka real) reasons here, but there are a few huge reasons for her injury which will be explored in the future.

Why did England ask Yang to go with him?

So she wasn't left with Canada.

You saved Pyrrha! And Roman! :D

Yes, because I have use for them. If I didn't they would have died too. It was pretty close for Pyrrha in particular but in the end I decided to save her.

Yes, I am a mean author like that.

Fear me.

Why did you kill Cinder?

Because I have more interesting story ideas without her than with her. In other words: plot reasons, she'd outlived her usefulness, and maybe out of some vindictive glee because of what she did to Pyrrha in canon.

Is Cinder's soul/memory/personality in Alfred?

No. Absolutely not. Cinder is dead and gone. She was just a human, so she just died. She was not a nation, as much as she wanted to be, so she has no part in Vale's memories or personality. The power was never meant to be hers.

Why did you bring England, France, etc. to Remnant and not (insert character here)?

Again, because I have use for them while I did not have uses for (insert character here). ;)

Thank you for reading. Expect the sequel to be up soon (Could be in a week, could be in a month. It depends on my mood). It will be called "The Shattered Soul". Once it's up I'll put an edit A/N down here.

Please review! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.

Added A/N: The first chapter of The Shattered Soul is now up! See you there.