Hello there, I'm The Royal Protector and you're reading the nineteenth chapter of The Silver Eyed Prodigy. At this moment I have nothing to say apart from that this story is now officially in the top 100 stories in the RWBY category based on follower count. This is a huge achievement and I can only thank you guys for carrying the story this far.

Thanks for Ikasuki for Beta-ing this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, if I did, I wouldn't be writing this.

Chapter 19: Veritas

The small girl's blade sailed slowly towards her. Her eyes tracked the attack without problem as expected and allowed Raven to see the many faults in its execution. Overextended arm, unstable footing and too much force applied to a single strike. All amateurish mistakes that could leave her open to any semi-competent opponent if her attack failed and could very well cost her life in a true engagement.

Fortunately for the small girl, this was anything but a true battle.

Raven caught the speeding blade with her own and deflected it aside. Caught off-guard, the girl let out a strangled yelp as Raven's elbow caught her in the jaw and sent her sprawling to the ground in a pained heap.

Simple training or not she wouldn't go easy on her either.

"Ow, how did I do this time?" Lily, the young Spring Maiden, asked as she climbed to her feet while caressing the sore spot on her face. Raven stopped to think about it for a moment before listing her observations in a deadpan manner.

"You're still not used to your weapon well enough to make full use of its capabilities. Your technique is unrefined, raw and full of holes that anyone with half a brain could exploit if given the chance. You don't know your limits and so subconsciously tap into your powers to compensate when you do overreach them. That in and on itself wouldn't be a problem, but your control over them is awful, meaning that they just become a hazard to everyone present, yourself included. You also can't rely on your instincts to guide you in engagements simply because you have next to none." She saw the young Faunus wilt more and more with each point she made. She silently collected her blades and settled into a somewhat competent stance her godson would call 'a work in progress'.

"I-I understand. I'll try harder this time-" "-But better." Her interruption made the disheartened girl perk up and regard her with wide eyes.

Raven rolled her eyes inwardly at the reaction and let out a suffering sigh. "Compared to the abysmal performance you showed when we started, you have made notable progress. Not the greatest I've ever seen, certainly not like the progress the brat made in a similar time frame, but it's not negligible either." Honestly, even she would admit that using the insane growth the young Rose showed as a comparison to measure one's ability was just cruel, but one couldn't argue against the drive it provided, especially if said person was a close friend of that particular Rose.

People could call her teaching methods whatever they wished, but the fact of the matter was that they worked. Despite her harsh sounding words, Lily was… passable, not up to the standard she held for the role of future right-hand Raven had envisioned her as, but she could survive Beacon's initiation without trouble and could maybe thrive in the Academy as she was now. What others needed four years of training to even attempt, Lily could very well accomplish in half that time and at half their age.

And it was all thanks to her teachings and the spark the brat gave the young girl.

Even her criticisms could be remedied with time and effort, none of which the girl was lacking in. Awareness of one's boundaries and full confidence in one's style would come with experience and the lack of instincts just meant that the girl was like a blank canvas, ready to be developed in whatever way the girl desired so.

Lily blinked at her words before a small, fragile smile spread across her face and she nodded to herself. "T-thank you, ma'am." With that she settled back into her stance, smile still in place but with a more fitting look of determination visible in her eyes.

"Don't let it get to your head," Raven warned and crossed her arms. "You have potential but overconfidence will be the end of you if-…" Her eyes widened and the words died in her throat when she felt something she hadn't felt in years.

Desperation.

Not her own, but she felt it all the same. Just like three years ago, her Semblance alerted her that one of her bonded people's life was in jeopardy. She had her reasons for not interfering last time, well founded ones that still held true even now and encouraged her not to act this time either, however…

"Ma'am?" Lily inquired when she noticed her attention focused elsewhere.

"Why not just admit that you wouldn't care in the least if either of us died?"

"Practice's over for today. I have an urgent matter to see to, you're in charge until I return," she cursed under her breath and grabbed her weapon. With little flourish, she opened one of her portals and briskly marched towards it.

That obnoxious brat knew nothing of what he spoke of, but his words still cut all the same.

"Wait, what-?!" She managed to catch the beginnings of the small girl's cries as she passed through to the other side. It was a risk letting the young Maiden lead her men for however long this would take, but it was a calculated one. A trial by fire that would showcase her leadership skills in the event she took longer than expected, it was also a practical lesson for the time she would serve as her right hand. She pushed aside these thoughts for the time being as she emerged on the other side, hand on her sheathed sword she took in her surroundings with a sharp glance.

Summer stood guardedly not far away with her weapons up in a defensive stance. She was visibly exhausted; her shoulders could be seen rising and falling even through her cloak. Her attention was focused on the man before her, tall and built like a brick wall, various Dust crystals sprouted from the figure's arms as the two stared each other down in what she assumed was a momentary pause in their engagement.

Raven quickly realized that it wasn't to last as another, much leaner scorpion Faunus dashed behind Summer, intent on taking her down with his extended blades. Her ex-leader wouldn't be able to react in time, tired as she was and with her attacker coming up in her blind spot.

Her Raven's feet blurred and several blades clashed against each other as she appeared right at Summer's back and blocked the man's strike. Her unexpected arrival proved to be enough of a surprise to allow her to deliver a powerful kick to the shocked man's chest and force him back. Summer jolted behind her and whirled her head around to see what was going on, only for her eyes to widen in shock at seeing her old friend, Raven could also make out a glint of something appear in her silver eyes.

"Rae? What are-" "We'll talk later, focus on them for now!" Raven cut her off as the two moved to stand back to back. Their opponents also collected themselves and were now prowling around the two.

"I know, it's just… I'm glad to see you," Summer said as she stood a little taller than before.

"Save it for later," Raven allowed a roll of her eyes.

"Fine, Black Knight!" Summer called out and charged at the larger man before her. Raven found herself falling into that familiar attack pattern all too easily, for all their differences they operated entirely too well with each other. Summer struck the man's raised arms and Raven appeared from one of her portals at his side to deliver a precise quickdraw before he could even attempt a counter. "White Knight!" This time it was Raven who took the man's attention by attacking him head on while one of Summer's white petals floated behind him. The white clad Rose flashed into existence and delivered a lightning enhanced blow to the man's back. The pincer attack forced the man back several steps and allowed the pair of Huntresses to take the initiative.

The fight might as well have been settled by that point. The original three participants were all winded this late into the fight while she was as fresh as could be. Coupled with their somewhat rusty, but still overwhelmingly effective teamwork, the seasoned ex-partners were able to make short work of their opponents.

That is until she appeared, Raven recalled bitterly.

She called herself Konan, but Raven had seen fit to call her by her title instead; the Summer Maiden.

She wasn't well versed with Ozpin's and Salem's war as well as she once was, but even she knew that the Summer Maiden had been unaccounted for decades. Looking back, it only made sense that Salem was the one with that power hidden under her thumb.

Fighting her and Salem's other two agents at the same time was an uphill battle and it quickly became evident that it wouldn't end in their victory. The Maiden shrugged off all of their attacks like they were annoying bug bites while her cohort took opportunistic shots at them from the sides.

Let it be said that Raven knew when to cut her losses and abandon a hopeless cause.

She focused much of her remaining Aura into her blade and opened one of her portals. The portal itself technically connected to Summer, but was pushed almost beyond its range limit. It was the only sensible choice, opening a direct route to either her tribe or her ex-team would be too dangerous with a Maiden and two of Salem's agents on their heels. Once they put some distance between themselves and their attackers, she could take them back to her tribe safely, but no sooner. With her mind made up, she grabbed a caught off-guard Summer by the shoulder and pushed her through the red portal with the intent to follow.

Summer hit the sandy ground on the other side with a surprised grunt. Her body was an aching mess, but she forced herself to sit upwards and wait patiently for her wayward friend to follow after her.

She had no delusions about the impossibility of her mission, but she owed it to the world, her family, to try anyway. It could very well have been suicide, that's why she headed out alone, she wouldn't let anyone else sacrifice themselves for what was her duty as one of the last people on Remnant who could bring that wall of flames down and prevent Salem from acquiring what was inside.

She hadn't said any goodbyes, she knew that her team and family would try to stop her if they realized the true nature of her mission, with the exception of Caryll of course. She remembered his plea all those years ago all too clearly and it still hurt her physically whenever she thought about her abandonment of that promise, but bringing him along would have defeated the purpose of her mission. So no, she decided that she would bear that pain and whatever label Caryll would put next to her name. In the end it was their wellbeing that mattered, not hers.

So, she set out into this hellish graveyard on her own, committed to bringing an end to the atrocities her kind suffered for decades. She arrived just in time to witness the execution of one of her distant relatives. The sight of a human being used as a simple tool that was used once and then tossed aside like simple trash made her feel like her stomach was filled with lead. The thought that that person was one of her relatives she could have had the chance of meeting, and maybe connecting to caused her heart to skip several beats. Her mind, momentarily clouded as it was, couldn't keep up with her feet that were already sending her to engage the ones responsible.

It didn't take long for her senses to come back under control, but by then she was already participating in the most heated battle in her entire life. If nothing else then Salem chose her followers well, the two men she faced were a menace to fight against even for someone like herself. In one on one engagements back to back she supposed she could take them down, but the two of them at the same time? She was slowly whittled down by their numerical superiority and downright ferocious fighting styles.

The thought that 'this could be it' occurred to her somewhere during the fight and she found it hard to disprove that possibility…

But then something unexpected happened, Rae came to her aid.

Over the years Summer had realized that she wouldn't be able to rely on her partner anymore, so she learned to plan her actions accordingly. But then Rae did come to her aid when it mattered. The thought caused a small, silly smile to spread on her face. It felt good to be able to rely on her friend again.

Not that these revelations would prevent her friend from receiving her fist in the gut for leaving in the first place, but it was progress on her part.

Her smile however became weaker and weaker as the seconds ticked by and Raven still hadn't appeared on this side. A pit of dread slowly formed in her stomach when the portal began to fizzle with no sign of Raven. Thinking quickly, Summer quickly created a white rose petal out of her rapidly diminishing reserves, stuck it to one of her blades and threw it back through the portal with panicked motions. The petal barely made it through the red event horizon before the portal cut off entirely and left her alone in the dead silence of the desert graveyard.

Summer channeled all her strength into her legs and got to her feet, hissing and grunting thanks to her failing body, she forced herself to walk in the direction she could sense her petal slowly fade away. The panic and desperation was slowly leaving her system and were gradually replaced with the determination to attempt yet another impossibility and acceptance that her fate was all but sealed.

Rae had come to save her and now she was in even greater danger then herself. What kind of leader, Huntress, friend… or person would she be if she turned the other way and ran for her life? She wasn't sure of the exact answer, but she knew very well that person wouldn't be Summer Rose. She would ensure that both of them walked away or that at least she died trying.

She had little strength remaining, she would even have to physically get closer to her petal to attempt to switch places… But it did leave her some time to fulfill another one of her duties at least, one final time. Her hand reached for her Scroll and she began recording.

Back then she didn't know that it would surely end this way, but now…

"Tai, Qrow, I wish it hadn't come to this, but it looks like I can't make it back home this time… Despite trying my hardest, I hadn't managed to change anything at all… All I can do now is apologize and say goodbye…" She hissed quietly as a sore spot on her side flared up. She did her best to ignore it and push onwards. "Tai, dear- I'm sorry I have to leave you alone, but please don't lose your light. You'll make it through this, you're strong and I believe in you…" She trailed off as she could see tears blurring her vision. "Qrow, whatever happens after this, please take care of yourself. I know that I've spent a good few years beating this into your stupid head, but I want to say it again one last time; you're a good person and others love you for it, just make sure that one of those people is yourself, okay…?"

Her finger pressed down on the send button and she started a final recording for one last person.

"Caryll, sweetie… I-I have so many things I want to say to you and not enough time to say even half of it, but I have the feeling you already know some of it, so I'll just focus on what's important," she found herself letting out a pained chuckle, he always seemed to know more than he let on, not that it she ever minded it. "I-I've done a lot of things and I wanted to do even more with you, Yang and Ruby… See you three grow and achieve your dreams, start families of your own and so much more… But it looks like life decided that this would be it for me. I still remember how you described your version of the afterlife and I lived a very eventful life, so I think I'll like it there," she laughed weakly and sniffled. "B-but before I go there, I would like to have a final request if you don't mind, I know it's a long shot and I know that I'm probably not deserving of it in the slightest, but I think it would help me rest," she paused for a moment and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Please forgive me…" For breaking her promise and for leaving them alone. She could bear the resentment of her son without question, but it would ease her rest if he forgave her once.

"I already sent a message to Tai and Qrow and this is my last recording, so I'll say it to you and the girls one last time… I love you three more than anything in the world… and that I'm… so sorry." She cut the message off there as she found it hard to keep her breathing in check. With one final push of a button, she sent the message and stood a little taller. Just in time, as she finally felt comfortable with switching places with her current reserves.

She focused on her Semblance and disappeared in a white flash of light, leaving behind a single white rose petal fluttering in the desert landscape.

Time slowed to a crawl upon her arrival. Taking the current situation in, she saw Raven fighting for her life against three of Salem's agents. Her friend was in a bad spot as she tried to fend off two of their attackers at the same time while the third was charging at her back with his wrist blades extended- No!

Summer could recall that man's Semblance, the ability to completely bypass Aura was a horrific tool and could spell the death of her friend in an instant.

She summoned the last of her strength and threw a petal along with one of her blades at Rae's back. Drained as she was, the action was enough to make her stumble and almost fall over, but she persevered and observed her blade's and that scorpion Faunus' race to Rae's unguarded back in slow motion.

By some divine intervention, her blade overtook the wicked man and allowed her to appear between the two fighters just as the man was about to strike. She raised her blade to block and deflect-

The man's glowing wrist-daggers slid off her blades and disappeared somewhere below her field of vision. For some reason she was pushed against Rae's back and she felt a sharp stinging sensation coming from her abdomen…

"Oh."

Realization dawned on her a few instants later and she slowly looked down to see the dual wrist blades stuck in her chest with copious amounts blood spreading from the wound to cover her black and white clothing. She felt her muscles slacken and her eyes widen in muted shock. Funnily enough the man seemed as surprised as she was, and judging by the sudden complete silence around them, so was everyone else.

"Summer!" Was that Rae? Huh, such a weird tone coming from her. Summer was sure she had heard it once before, but she wasn't quite sure when…

Her friend quickly moved to drive the Faunus back, but all it achieved was making the man forcibly rip out his blades from her body, giving Summer a very detailed view of her own blood splattering over the sands around them. Before she knew it, her legs gave out and she fell to the ground, face staring at the sky and the distressed expression of her friend… It was kind of hard to tell because her vision was getting hazier by the moment, but she could swear that those were tears in Rae's eyes…

Heh, so she cared after all…

With those thoughts, she let darkness take over her vision.

I stared at the Scroll in my hand as the recording reached its end again. Everything was silent for a while if one were to discount the campfire's occasional cracking, letting me and Raven reflect on what we had heard from each other in peace. The sun was finally coming up again, signaling morning and the coming of the new day.

"Thank you…" I said quietly, not quite looking at Raven. She had taken the time to dress her wounds while we recounted the events of the week from our perspectives and was just in the process of putting her shirt back on. All in all, we got off relatively lightly; she had multiple of her ribs broken with little internal damage and my right arm was also broken in several places. With my arm in a makeshift sling and with bandages visible under Raven's shirt, it was needless to say we weren't ready for any kind of serious engagement for some time to come.

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked back while wincing a little, it no doubt hurt her to talk with her chest injury.

"…I know that you're not the kind of person that goes out of their way to help others, let alone at a risk to yourself. But you helped Mom even despite that, so thank you," I explained with a sigh and stashed away my Scroll.

Raven looked away with a scoff, "don't thank me, she was still taken."

"Yeah, but you tried. That's what matters." I raised my head to look at her.

"To whom?" She shot back skeptically.

"To me, Mom, everyone…" I shrugged, making Raven look back at me with a sigh similar to my own.

She didn't feel fit to say anything back and let a contemplative silence that lasted a few minutes.

"How… are you feeling?" To my surprise, Raven broke the silence with the words I've never expected her to say. Looking at her with surprised eyes, I was mildly shocked to see Raven having a somewhat vulnerable if a bit awkward expression and air around her as she regarded me.

"I'm… fine. Why are you asking?" I blinked in confusion.

"The Summer Maiden," Raven said unsurely, as if that explained anything.

"What about her?" I responded obliviously, making her bite back a small groan.

"That woman… She was your first, wasn't she?" She said slowly.

What was she on about? And why the awkwardness and everything? I-

…

Ohh.

"I'm okay… It had to be done," I shrugged equally as awkwardly as her, finally catching on to the meaning behind her words, albeit still a bit surprised at having that conversation with Raven of all people.

"I'm aware of that, but know that it's… alright to feel unsure about yourself or the world after you first take a life. The sensation will fade overtime and-" "I'm fine, really," I cut her off. Raven frowned annoyedly at my interruption, but actually took a moment to observe me a bit closer. I didn't budge under her gaze and her frown was slowly replaced by mild surprise as the seconds ticked by.

"You're actually serious. Don't you feel remorseful?" She said disbelievingly.

"I guess not in the way you would describe it, I feel… bitter and disappointed, I guess," I confessed uncomfortably.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm bitter because even though I gave her every chance to back down, she still made me kill her in the end," I explained. "I'm disappointed because even though she was a menace that needed to be put down, I couldn't end it in another way. No, I don't feel sorry for taking her life, I just feel bitter because it was a waste to kill her." The experience of being dead put a lot things into question, especially when the afterlife I'd experienced was a comfortable one, but experience told me life was still worth living. What good is rest if you're not even tired in the first place? Life was precious, killing was a waste.

"You really don't feel any remorse about killing her?" Raven pressed again, expression more aghast than I've ever seen from her.

"Why do you care? Of all the people I expected to have this conversation with, you're nowhere near the front of the list," I argued guardedly, not really sure where all this questioning was coming from.

"Brat, I'm just try-… You know what, forget it," Raven bit back on whatever she was trying to say and opted to just shake her head and brood in silence. I stared at her questioningly for a while before deciding to just leave it be for now; I've had enough things on my plate as it was.

Contrarily to what I'd expected, finally getting the full story about the disappearance of Summer didn't bring me any clear cut answers or clarity. It only served to pose even more questions than I already had.

If Salem already had a Maiden in her service for this long, why did she wait on enacting her plan of collecting the Relics for another eleven years?

What was so important about those flames?

If those flames were so important as to commit genocide over, why wasn't Ozpin aware of it, or if he was, why wasn't he doing something about it?

Why did it have to be Summer who decided to do something about it?

Why didn't she bring me along?

I got up from the ground without a word and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Raven called out to me as I marched towards a particular destination.

"Checking out what exactly Mom thought was worth dying over. Please, open a portal to me if I'm not back in around eight minutes," I responded without looking back.

At least I could find out the answer to the first question if nothing else.

It didn't take long for me to reach the violet firestorm that stood like a dark monolith in the middle of this desert graveyard. I stopped just before the wall of flames and observed it thoughtfully for a moment. Its surface shifted and pulsed just like a star, ever changing yet stable.

This thing has been standing here for almost half a century. Did Salem try to break through it for that long? Had everything she tried to send through become a pile of ash? Was it really impossible for nearly everyone to survive this obstacle? To be forced to resort to sacrificing an entire bloodline just to brute force their way through it?

I took a step forward and did something that possibly hundreds before me couldn't. I entered the storm unharmed.

I reappeared in the Kamui dimension and began walking forwards at a sedate pace. I walked, I walked and walked even more as the seconds and minutes ticked by. By the third minute, I decided to pick up the pace just in case I misjudged the distance and ended up running out of Aura, right in the middle of literal hellfire.

Thankfully, I found myself returning to the real world by the fourth minute of my journey. I quickly cut off my Semblance to preserve what little Aura I had remaining and observed my surroundings.

The air was stale from the lack of wind and only weak and violet tinged light filtered through from above, but it was still enough for me to traverse this… tomb? My thoughts trailed off as I caught sight of a figure laid against a large rock not far in front of me. I carefully moved to close in the distance between us, mindful of any other lethal surprises until I got close enough to fully make out the sight that was in front of me.

It was a skeleton garbed in tattered clothes and a cape alongside somewhat rusted looking plate armor. In one of its dead hands lied a short staff that didn't look like it was designed for combat and on its head rested a golden crown decorated with intricately carved gems and other precious stones. My hand reached for the crown and gently took it off the skeleton's skull.

"Osborne, the Last King of Vale, I presume," I murmured. "That's right, this was the site of your last battle and these must be the coronation jewels…" I trailed off as I glanced at the other trinkets made out of precious metals and jewels on his person.

"Worthless scrap metal," I declared in a bored tone and tossed the crown back at the skeleton's ribs before moving onwards.

…

What? I wasn't on this journey for the treasure and it's not like Salem wanted some precious metals from her ex-husband, so she must be after something else that was inside. Besides, how exactly would I be able to sell them? I doubt even Raven would touch them just because of how notorious they were.

I glanced around the dimly lit tomb while walking towards its center, taking in the signs of battle around me; broken boulders, fissured ground and solidified glass surrounded me from all sides. It must have been a battle to see, just from the damage to the environment I could see that they likely held nothing back-

A faint glow captured my attention from further ahead, it looked to be coming from behind another boulder. Curious, I quickly moved to get around the upturned earth and all my thought processes crawled to a sudden halt as I rounded the corner. My breath hitched and my eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

There, in the middle of a small clearing, free from rocks lied another corpse. The clothing on it had tattered and its coloring had almost completely faded away thanks to the passage of time, but I could only presume that the person I was looking at was none other than Arren Gehrman, the First Hunter and one of the greatest traitors of humanity according to stories.

However, that wasn't what held my attention so absolutely.

It was the ethereal looking topaz and gold sword sticking out from his stomach. Its blade emanated a weak glow and produced a constant but gentle humming sound as it stood like an artifact of legend.

My body moved automatically and my feet carried me closer and closer to it until I was directly standing in front of it.

The Relic of Destruction.

It was impossible, I didn't want to believe it, for a moment I even entertained the possibility that this was only a dream, not reality, but then I remembered my mantra. I saw the Relic in front of me, I heard its barely noticeable, gentle humming, smelt the stale smell of decay around me and…

My hand reached for its golden handle and before I knew it, the Relic was firmly grasped in my hand. I pulled it out of the decaying body and held the blade before my face… This was really it, no question about it, but how? Why was this here and not under Shade?

As if reacting to my presence, I felt a quick electric jolt travel from the Relic through my arm and body. It forced my silvery Aura to the surface before disappearing as fast as it came, leaving me at a loss as to what that was.

"I-" I was cut off as the storm of flames around me lost their intensity and then simply faded away into thin air, revealing miles of desolate wasteland around me, I could even see our camp in the distance.

The storm was gone? What others had to suffer for decades I did just like that?

I looked back in the direction of the king's corpse and then back at Gehrman's, my mind was slowly kicking back into gear as it finally had the missing pieces to solve a number of mysteries. I thought back to my meeting with Ozpin and the tale he told Yang and I.

"They dueled here with everything they had, for Ozpin that included the Relic… But they both died and the site of their battle was obscured by fire until today, meaning…" I trailed off with wide eyes. "The Relic was never in the vault under Shade. It remained here with nobody being able to retrieve it…"

So this was it, the reason why Salem wanted to get through those flames, why Ozpin warned me against looking too deep into the story, why Silver Eyed Warriors were hunted until near extinction… Why Summer left on her suicide mission, she wanted to retrieve it and put it back into the vault, out of Salem's reach.

I slowly looked back down at Gehrman's corpse, there was little this place could offer me besides the Relic, but I had to check before moving on, I had no intention on lingering here any longer than I had to. A shattered sword lied by his side alongside a faded satchel bag not too dissimilar from my own. I planted the Relic into the sand beside me for a moment and bent down to take a closer look. I gently opened the bag and took note of its only content; a surprisingly well-preserved journal. I paused for a moment before stowing it away into my own bag, call me overly curious but I remembered Nicholas' words; if I wanted to succeed then I had to learn from the mistakes of my predecessors.

One of Raven's red portals snapped into existence beside me and I took it as my clue to leave this place, there was nothing of value here anymore. I took hold of the Relic again and made to walk through the portal in front of me.

"Brat, what happened to the-" I emerged on the other side just in time for the beginning of another small interrogation from Raven, but the words died in her throat when she saw what I was carrying in my hand. She gaped at the Relic as I made my way to her, where I sat down beside the still burning campfire.

"Did you know about this?" I asked once I settled down and placed the Relic in my lap.

"How-? Why is it-…?" Her face went through a myriad of emotions as she struggled for words. Finally, it settled on rage. "That bastard! That thing is supposed to be in the vault, not in this backwater hellhole! How many other Relics aren't in their vaults? How did he expect us to die to protect these when he even lied about their location? That lying little piece of-"

"Okay, I'll take that as a no," I cut her off before she could lose herself in a tirade. "That means Ozpin didn't tell this to you guys…" I trailed off with a thoughtful frown.

"No, he did not. And the others were too eager to take everything he said at face value," she spat angrily, but I didn't pay much attention to that. Why wouldn't he tell his circle about it if he employed them solely for its protection?

"…Because it was already protected," I muttered with wide eyes. "Ozpin didn't tell you because the Relic was still protected in a vault, just not where everyone would expect it to be. By deceiving you he could divert everyone's attention from the real vault to the decoy vault under Shade. Everyone would struggle to crack open that vault while none being the wiser that the Relic was hidden somewhere else…" I explained out loud, it was ingenious if a bit underhanded, exactly how I would expect Ozpin to handle things.

"All those lies and convoluted schemes, a fat lot of good they did in the end," Raven grumbled while motioning to the camp around us. She was right, Salem somehow caught wind of the ruse and-

"That's why Salem didn't start collecting the Relics even though she had an eligible Maiden. She knew that the vault opened by the Summer Maiden was useless, so she didn't even try unlocking it. She would need to wait until she had a shot at grabbing all of the Relics one after the other… but to do that she would have to first start with the most problematic one…" I rambled loudly until my gaze found the sword in my lap.

"The Relic that you just happened to nick from its real vault," Raven supplied sarcastically, but even I could feel the subdued apprehension showing in her voice. She wasn't an idiot either and knew exactly what it had meant. By irreversibly opening the vault and bringing the Relic out in the open I just managed to speed up the timetable by several years. Maybe the firestorm would have been on the brink of collapse in the future and that's why Salem gave the go ahead to Cinder and the others to start with their plan, but now…

I just gave the all-clear for the possible apocalypse to happen as soon as Salem found another Maiden candidate to open the other vaults with.

"We have to make this right," I swallowed audibly as I looked back up to look Raven in the eye. Raven similarly narrowed her eyes at me.

"What are you planning-" She was cut off by the Kamui portal sucking the divine Relic into my right eye.

…

"What did you just do?" Raven asked slowly, tone incredulous.

"Our only option," I answered with an uneasy expression. "The firestorm is a bust. We can't recreate it and I doubt Ozpin could either. His powers have been dwindling for decades, who knows how much he actually has left after giving you and Uncle Qrow the ability to shift into your namesakes." Cinder, a newly realized Maiden at the time could handily kill him and then go to casually do the same to a prodigal Huntress without breaking a sweat. "We just killed the last Summer Maiden, we don't know where the current one is, I doubt the Maiden herself knows she's one at this point, so Shade is out. The Winter Maiden is too old and sick to move freely, so we can't open the Atlas one either. I'm not willing to put an even larger target on Lily's and consequently your entire tribe's back than you already have and I doubt you know the location of the Beacon vault," I listed with a bitter tone, Raven's increasingly sour expression mirroring my voice.

"It's complicated… but it's out of our reach for now," she grumbled begrudgingly, I gave a grave nod in response.

"This is the only option," I pressed. "Vaults work by containing the Relics in isolated pocket dimensions, just like my Semblance. But it's infinitely better than them. I can be mobile, only I can access it and when I die there will be no successor to my Semblance, my vault will be locked for all eternity with the Relic forever out of Salem's reach," I reasoned.

"Bra-… Caryll, if you do this…" Raven regarded me with a strange expression.

"I will draw the full attention of Salem and her followers for all my life or however long it will take to figure out another solution," I nodded in understanding. "Once word gets out, there is no going back from this, I know."

"But-, you'll be drawn into that damned unwinnable war for all your life-, you're usually smarter than this, just use that damned brain of yours and see-"

"Auntie Raven, it's fine. I never intended to just sit on the sidelines anyways. Please trust me, I can do this." I looked at her imploringly, but even with that she still looked visibly upset.

"You and your mother are just so eager to commit suicide, aren't you?" She said distastefully.

"Do I really have to repeat myself again?" I countered expectantly. The reminder made the older Huntress click her tongue and shake her head.

"…There's just one other thing that I don't get though," I began uncomfortably as a somewhat disturbing question popped into my mind.

"What is it?"

"You said that you didn't know about the Relic as Ozpin kept the knowledge of its real location away from you and from what Konan had said, the only other person that knew the secret was Salem." Raven nodded in confirmation and motioned me to get on with it.

"So then how did Mom knew that the Relic was here?"

I could see the cogs turning in her head and she adopted a similarly conflicted expression. We sat there in tense silence as the dilemma weighed heavily on us. How did she know? How could she have known? Why didn't she tell others?

"…Of all the people I have expected to keep secrets, Summer would be nowhere on that list, not with something so big, something so crucial," Raven muttered under her breath with narrowed eyes. "Since when did she know? Was it after or before I left?" She looked down at the ground with clenched fists. "Why didn't she tell us? Why didn't she tell me? Did she risk our lives for nothing?!"

"Hey, I'm sure she had good reasons," I interjected weakly before she could make any further assumptions.

"More like suicidal reasons, knowing her," she rebutted with a scoff, "I knew she was careless, but this?" She hissed sharply.

"Well, we can get an answer out of her personally," I reasoned. "With you freed, we can rescue her any time. Though the sooner the better, with the Relic out in the open, they may have no reason to keep her alive anymore…" Once they find out about the storm's end, they'll have no use for her anymore and may just kill her.

"No."

The curt statement left me startled for a good few moments before I collected myself and guardedly looked at her.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I have no intention of participating in that damned war, never again." Raven's eyes found mine and we stared at each other with nearly equal amounts of determination and frustration. Of all the times she could have picked to be her stubborn self, why did it have to be now?

"But you came back, you tried to save Mom. You took down one of Salem's agents already with me," I argued with a hard gaze, making her snort humorlessly.

"Need I remind you of what happened to me because of that? I was trapped inside a block of ice for an entire week, completely at the whims of a deranged lunatic and used as a lowly bargaining chip! I interfered once and was nearly killed for my efforts in a war that wasn't even my own!" She growled heatedly.

"How isn't this your war? We are already in this fight, me, Mom and the others! I know you care about us in your own convoluted way so please, help me," I kept my rising irritation in check and tried convincing her calmly.

"Everyone seemingly needs my help to get what they want. The tribe, Ozpin and now you apparently." Seeing that I was about to interject, she doubled down on her point. "No, I'm tired of being the sacrificial piece whichever side needs me to be in a never ending war. Even with this situation, Ozpin will just figure out a way to keep the status quo as he always does. Sacrifice a few lives and pull a few strings here and there and things will return to how they were before and what they will always be."

"…When I heard Mom's message I set out after her without a second thought. I crossed half the world on my own to find you two and I would gladly cross the other half alone if it means getting her back," I spoke after a while and then stared at her resolutely. "I don't need your help, but I do want it. And you know full well that I would never treat you like that." My words did seem to have some effect on the older Huntress, but to my annoyance it didn't seem to be enough.

"My answer remains the same, but even if I were to agree to this, we aren't in any shape to rescue her," she stated and when she saw that I was about to argue she cut me off before I could even begin. "We just took on one of Salem's followers and this was the result. What do you think would happen if we were to fight even more as we are now?"

"Leave that part to me," I stated confidently without pause. However, Raven seemed far from convinced as she shook her head at me and looked away, content to let an uncomfortable silence linger between us.

"Stubborn mule…" I grumbled under my breath.

"What was that?" Apparently not quietly enough.

"Nothing, just that this conversation is far from over. I'm just taking a minute so both of us can cool off a little." Oh, she was definitely glaring at me now, well, normally I wouldn't be avert to playing that game, but I did have a handy distraction from this argument on me. I reached for my bag and took out the journal I've grabbed from Gehrman's corpse.

"Just so you know, this is Gehrman's journal, your grandmother's team leader's. I've found it beside the Relic. I can read it aloud for you if you're interested." The offer shook her out of whatever thoughts she was wrapped up in. With a dismissive wave of her hand she gave me the go-ahead. Nodding in confirmation that I had her attention I settled the book in my lap and opened it.

…

…

"Well, what does it say?" Raven prompted impatiently.

"Nothing," I said, blinking in confusion as I began flipping pages one after the other. "It's all blank." I held up the book for her to see, apart from slightly yellowed sheets of paper, there was nothing inside the book, no text nor any pictures.

"What moron would carry an empty journal with themselves into battle? Clearly, he really did lose his mind as they say," Raven scoffed disinterestedly, but I wasn't about to be dissuaded just yet. I stared at the strange book in my lap with a thoughtful frown.

"…Maybe it was written with some sort of invisible ink? The kind that needs UV light to be visible?" I theorized out loud, but Raven immediately shot that idea down.

"Again, what idiot would carry a book and a UV light to read it with to battle? Just forget it, the man was an unstable psychopath." While what she said was true on a lot of levels, it still wasn't enough to deter me.

According to Nicholas, Gehrman wasn't an idiot, a menace yes, but not an idiot. He wouldn't make mistakes like this. But assuming that if he did use an invisible ink, how could he utilize it? The point of invisible ink was that it would only appear under specific circumstances. It was used to keep confidential information between those select few who had the means to read it. That would mean that he was able to read it somehow, but how? Apart from the book itself, there was nothing else on his person-

It was maybe because I was tired or distracted until now with the back to back revelations of today, but just now I could feel a weird tingling sensation brushing against my hand, it was a very familiar feeling.

It was Aura. The book was imbued with Aura, quite a lot actually.

In any other case, I would have been a bit freaked out, knowing that Aura eventually faded without a living person to cling onto. But seeing the man's decayed corpse for myself did wonders to assuage my worries that a nearly unstoppable mass-murderer was somehow still alive and on the loose. No, the only logical explanation would be that the Aura in the book still managed to cling onto it for half a century after its owner's death.

It might have been some Aura technique or just a simply exorbitant Aura level at the start, but it did manage to impress me nonetheless.

Intrigued, I rotated the book in my hand and was perplexed to feel different amounts of Aura brushing against my fingers at different parts of the journal. I would normally chalk it up to the effects of decay, but something just simply didn't add up.

"Why infuse a book with Aura?" I muttered out loud. Weapons and armor I get, but why a simple book? And why was it the only distinctive thing about this journal? It simply made no sense… Unless.

A metaphorical light bulb went off over my head and I closed my eyes momentarily.

"…You remind me of someone I've met a long time ago. His eyes were of the same brilliant silver color like yours…"

I opened my eyes again, but this time they were glowing warmly at the hard-cover book before me. To my sudden elation, the previously unseen Aura I felt was now visible in what looked like a bowl of glowing crimson spaghetti. I quickly reopened the book on the first page with excited movements and wondered at what I was finally seeing.

Words, paragraphs and actual text alongside drawings. All in the red color of the First Hunter's Aura.

"The madman wrote with Aura!" I declared to Raven, who was now paying attention to me again. "He must've infused Aura into a pen and wrote with it. The perfect invisible ink that's only visible to people with Silver Eyes!" According to Nicholas, the only other person with Silver Eyes in their group was my great-grandfather, someone that Gehrman must have trusted enough to use this method. Otherwise the number of people who could read it even back then were few and far in between. Today I was likely one of the few people still alive that could read it.

"Congratulations on having been born with a flashlight in your head, now read it already," Raven drawled sarcastically, ignoring her tone and settling back to my spot, I did just that.

"To whoever may be reading this, I'm Arren Gehrman, licensed Hunter and leader of Team ASHE. What you're holding in your hands right now is… Truth be told, I have no idea what this is. My lost attempts at self-reflection? A repository of my findings and knowledge? Or simply my efforts to stave off boredom that's sure to come?

Or I suppose I could call this the truth. I'm aware that we've grown to be well-known figures over the years in many different ways and that our sudden disappearance will surely be noticed. Now more than ever, I'm uncertain of what the future holds but I'm sure that there will be many variations of our tale going around. This mémoire of sorts serves to give you the truth, the unfiltered and unedited version of it from our perspective.

You may wonder then as to why I'm writing this with Aura if that's my intention. Well, the answer is rather simple; I have nothing else to write with, with maybe the exception of my own blood. But I suppose this would work out as well, if you are able to read this, then you are one of my kind, in which case you'll be likely to end up in Osborne's employ anyway. If that comes to pass then you'll especially need to hear our story, our mission to find and safeguard the Fountain of Youth from Her forces.

Or as I've recently learned its real name, the Domain of Light." I trailed off with wide eyes. My fingers automatically moved to the next page where I saw something that made my breath hitch.

It was a rather detailed drawing of an underground lake with a strange tree standing in the middle of it, as seen from the sandy shore.

My eyes darted to Raven, only to see her looking confusedly at me and the book. That's right, she didn't know the significance of that place, what had transpired there or its still present danger… Honestly I've forgotten about it too, which is a grave oversight from my part. That place is almost a bigger threat to humanity than the Grimm! If anyone were to find it still standing they could become immortal just like Salem!

"I suppose I should begin with the war, the last battle specifically. I still find it ironic, but it turned out all of what would later become our circle fought there, albeit on different sides. I've even met Henryk and Kara at one point now that I think about it. Probably some of the others too, but it's hard to tell, it was chaos on the battlefield until Osborne stopped the fighting all by himself. A few days later we've been formally introduced to each other and agreed to work together. At first there was little trust thanks to having come from different sides of the war, but we made it work out of respect and loyalty to Osborne. Thankfully, trust came with time and soon we've learned to rely on each other like he hoped we would. And so Team ASHE was born.

Our time in Shade and Karnacca is well known, so there is no point in reiterating it now. Instead I'll continue with our mission given to us by Osborne. He told us the truth of the world, told us about her and her intentions…. needless to say, after experiencing death and destruction all our lives we were determined to put an end to it and ensure this peace would endure. We unanimously agreed to help him and he told us about her immediate goal of finding the legendary Fountain of Youth, our goal would be to find it before her and protect it at all costs. All the while being assigned a Relic for safekeeping until the Academies and vaults have been built.

It was a complicated task, the lamp's last question had been used by Kara back in the war and it wouldn't recharge for some time, but we weren't deterred. We split up and scoured the world for any clues we could find. The others searched through historical records, folk and fairy tales and the like, while I took on a more hands on approach. I searched long abandoned ruins to find anything that could be of use. In my investigation of Grimm infested lands, I've uncovered older and older ruins until I've found one that stood out from the rest.

Some ways south of Karnacca, beneath hundreds of meters of sand and stone, I've found an anomaly. A city older than any other civilization I've ever heard of, relatively well preserved and easy to explore. That wasn't the most unexpected thing about it however, it was the Dust crystals jutting out from the underground chamber's ceiling and the layer of ash covering every single street.

I've found my first clue there and we've soon learned to focus our search on places like these; unrecorded and buried ruins unlike any other.

We've come across many during the years but we still weren't fast enough. On one occasion Eileen and I ran into one of her agents during an exploration of a ruin. We've fought and won handily but not before they revealed something disturbing.

We were focusing on the wrong enemy for all those years. They weren't Salem's followers, or at least not anymore. Upon learning of her immortality and being denied the opportunity to achieve it themselves, they defected and begun searching on their own. What's more, by that time they did manage to find this place, but excavating it took time. I don't know exactly how long, but it was enough time for us to gather the others and head out after them. If we had a direction in the first place, that is.

That's when I took a gamble, there's an ancient legend surrounding the Fountain I've learned from studying one of the ruins. I don't really remember the actual story, it told of a person on a path of revenge or something along those lines. But I do remember a particular trait of theirs that was crucial to the story. They had drowned in its water and they were blessed with eternal life.

The only immortals I knew of were Osborne and Salem. Osborne denied knowing of the Fountain's location and I believed him, that meant the only choice I had left was asking her…

Finding her had been easier than I'd imagined, surviving an audience with her not so much. Her thinly veiled hostility to my kind however quickly disappeared upon hearing the details of my mission. After some strange questions that I'd answered to the best of my ability, she surprised me by not only admitting to knowing of the Fountain, but actually pinpointing its exact location. She then let me go, when I'd asked her why she was so helpful she just replied that it was time mankind left that wretched place alone, alongside its curse. She cast that place into the depths for a reason, she said.

I didn't understand what she had meant at the time, so I left without a word and with the others made our way to the Domain of Light.

And this is where you would likely hear of us last. We stormed this place just in time to see the defectors finish their excavation. We'd fought, we'd killed most of them and then proceeded to make our way towards the underground lake with Osborne remaining on the surface and dealing with any stragglers. We'd arrived by the fountain to witness their leader jump into the lake and then drown themselves in it. That person then walked out to shore and engaged us.

It was something else, fighting what was essentially a walking god. We fought, we struggled and then… we died.

We died, but not for nothing. We weren't Team ASHE for nothing, I've eventually found out a method to take away their immortality by separating their "curse" from their soul for a time, effectively robbing them of its benefits for a little while.

But before I could do anything, the way back to the surface collapsed. It wasn't natural, nor was it a freak accident, it was intentionally blocked off by what looked like magic… by Osborne.

It eats away at me even now. Why did he do it? Did he think we were dead? Or that our fight was a lost cause? That maybe he could trap that person down here for all eternity? Whatever he thought, by trapping us down here, he just as good as sentenced us to death.

Henryk was the first, then Eileen, followed by myself when I implemented my idea and was then cut down immediately after. Kara was the last when she managed to take down that person, though she bled out soon after I think.

How am I writing this if I'm dead, you wonder? Well, I wasn't the only one who heard the legend about the Fountain it seemed, because Kara tried something that not even the legend said anything about.

Before she died herself, she pushed my dead body into the water.

Being woken up to feel yourself drowning in an underground lake was the most jarring and disturbing experience of my entire life. After managing to drag myself out of the water I promptly passed out on the shore, only to reawaken sometime later.

And that brings us to the present. With no real way out and only a slim chance at rescue, I took the time to lay the others to rest and write this journal. I don't know what else I could do, I won't revive the others because… What I saw in my last few minutes alive and resurrection have consequences. My eyes have changed somehow, I don't know how, but I can feel them. My body feels like its submerged in water, all the time. I can hardly sleep as every time I dream, I find myself in that dark and warm place, only to be ripped back to reality upon awakening.

Being alive feels unnatural… wrong. I wouldn't wish this upon them.

But I've decided that I would get out of here, not so I could live, but because I can't rest until I know what had happened and why. Asking Osborne is out of the question, I don't know if I'd be able to trust him even if he seemed truthful. No, the only way I can get an answer is by asking the lamp. By my count it would recharge in five years' time. Meaning I'd have to wait until then.

I'd have to live until then…" I read in a subdued tone and then looked at the other pages. There were countless illustrations and theoretical works spanning almost the entirety of the book; Aura theory and applications, notes on Silver Eyes, the Relic of Destruction and the like. I skipped all of those and arrived at the last page of the book to see another message.

"I've finally managed to dig myself out, now I'd wait and then receive my answer." I paused for a moment as another paragraph followed, but the small and neat handwriting that I have gotten used to by that point was replaced by messy and large letters. "I have received my answer. I now know everything about those two monsters… I knew that we had somewhat differing visions, but to resort to this? He never intended to even take us or our ideals seriously! He just took them for himself and twisted them into his own image, just so he can have his readily disposable peacekeepers! He would have them dedicate their lives to the protection of mankind while putting a damned leash around their necks! He'd set them up for-… He had set us up for failure.

This- this horrifying system can't stand…

I've grown to abhor living, but for the sake of the others who'd died, for the sake of those he would trap in this system, for the sake of the world this can't be allowed to continue. It makes me sick to my stomach, but I only see one way to end this. Peaceful talks won't work, Osborne made that abundantly clear when he betrayed and murdered us… Even if I've tried, he controls everything, he would brand me a lunatic and silence me again… No, all that's left is war.

After all this time, I have received my answer, now they will hear my response," I finished reading and found ourselves sitting in uncomfortable silence. I didn't know what to say, I knew that there was probably more to their story than it seemed, but this? How could Ozpin do this? As much as a shadowy figure he was, outright betrayal and murder wasn't like him…

"Do you understand now?" I heard Raven say quietly. I looked up to see her not quite looking at me with a bitter expression. "Salem can't be beaten and Ozpin would never stop this senseless war. He'd rather use and then discard us to keep this illusion of peace going on. We are nothing but expendable pawns in their schemes, if only the others could see it too."

I received her words with silence, opting to instead study the page before me. Did Ozpin and them have different views on what Hunters should be? Why was it so important to have escalated to this? And what did he mean by "set up for failure"…? My fingers traced the edges of the page as my thoughts drifted to Gehrman specifically.

I remember Ozpin telling me that I somewhat reminded him of Gehrman, but reading his thoughts and experiences now…

He saw everything. The lamp showed him the truth, that's probably why the Jinn only had two questions left in the future. He had died and was pulled back into the world of the living against his will. He'd tried to make the world a better place…

"He really was just like me…" I mumbled quietly with soft eyes.

"What did you just say?" The words pierced through my heart and my eyes darted back up to find Raven staring straight at me with hard eyes.

...How much of that did I say out loud?

If one were to wonder about Raven's relationship with her godson, they would soon find out that the answer to that, along with most things concerning her, was rather complicated. Perhaps the best way she could explain it is by starting at the beginning, around the time she realized she was pregnant.

It came as a shock to her at the time and for a while she was plagued by indecision on what she should do. Her decision to leave was made even before she figured out her condition, but the question remained on what she should do with… her child. She disliked children and Raven was no fool, she knew she wasn't cut out for motherhood, she knew that her… unique upbringing was far from normal. Their mother had died in childbirth and their father neglected them all their lives, leaving her with little to no positive idea as to how a parent should be. In fact, she grew to loathe her father with a passion that simmered even to this day. Not to mention that children simply didn't last in the tribe. Not in the sense that they were left behind or something similar, but because the nature of their lifestyle killed any children in short order and replaced them with adults.

No, she decided that she would leave the child behind, they would only get in the way otherwise. It was best for everyone involved.

And it's not like the child would be left completely alone. Raven only had to look at Summer and her brat to know that the child would be in good hands.

That was the decision she made back then and stood by firmly for years.

But then that damned brat had to get involved.

She had interacted with him before her departure for a while and had grown to get along with him on some level. He was very odd for a kid and maybe that was what had gotten her curious about him and what eventually led to her making the mistake of taking him to the tribe one day.

She still doesn't know whether to curse that day or not.

But the fact remained that after that day, she was forced to interact with the brat on a nearly daily basis, thanks to his little friendship with the annoying Spring Maiden and her promise of training him in exchange of his promise.

She taught him. He did his best to get under her skin by casually insulting her on a regular basis. She returned the favor by doing the same and regularly beating him into the ground. They had discussions over tea and did many other simple, meaningless things until one day when he left to go back home, she felt something that terrified her to the core.

A part of her looked forward to seeing him again.

She, Raven Branwen, accomplished Huntress and leader of the Branwen tribe felt herself caring about someone for the first time after cutting away all of her bonds. It was so shocking in fact that she needed an entire hour to get her thoughts in order.

She looked back on their relationship up to that point in detail and found herself appalled. The brat constantly sought her company on his own accord, forcing her to spend time with him. Gods, he even reminded her of herself in some ways. The stubbornness that was a different brand form Summer and more like her own, the cunning and underhanded ways he used to get his way… Did he learn that from her? More importantly, she had realized that the way a part of her felt about him was like…

It felt like the brat was her own.

It made her sick in the stomach. Not because she disliked him, but because of the can of worms the thought opened.

Despite his countless attempts to annoy her and generally make her life miserable, that part of her enjoyed having him around. And even if he was strange for a kid, there wasn't anything overtly wrong about him, despite continued exposure to her for years. It made her wonder if she made the right decision back then-

No. That couldn't be. Her reasons were valid back then and they still were. The brat was just a weird exception that didn't make sense in the circumstances, he seldom did. She did her best to squash that specific part of her, even if it proved to be a surprisingly persistent thought and moved on. She made the right decision and that was the end of it.

At least that's what she thought it'd be, but the brat caught her off guard yet again.

That obnoxious little bastard forced her to acknowledge him- and his declaration after, just like his mother… She doubted he even knew it, but that was enough for that part of her to come back with vengeance and this time there was no dismissing it.

And so, she was forced to begrudgingly accept the presence of that part of her, leaving her conflicted on what to think for years.

She cared about him like he was her own, but she also resented him for making her doubt herself. The thought that she could have made the wrong decision about something like that was just unimaginable.

But she decided to try to be something she wasn't anyway. If the brat wouldn't leave her alone, the least she could do was try and minimize the damage her influence could have on him. She owed it to Summer to try. She, Raven Branwen, tried her hand at being an at least somewhat responsible parent.

And that's how the last few years have gone by. With each passing year and no visible negative effect on the brat, that part of her grew more and more vocal, making her more conflicted than ever before…

Then this day happened. The two of them fought one of Salem's agents and killed her. More specifically, the brat killed her, marking the first time he took someone's life. Raven knew that this occasion was crucial to the person involved and how damaging it could be if handled incorrectly. She knew that first hand because she didn't receive any words after her first time, apart from her father's neutral gaze and quickly uttered "be faster next time".

The bastard.

So, with the simmering fury of that memory and her silent promise to Summer in mind, she pushed aside her pride and awkwardness and tried to console the no doubt conflicted brat.

Except he wasn't conflicted at all.

Surprised and a little bit wary, she pressed on and shortly found out that he didn't need help at all. The brat was fine, fine enough to make a jab at her that in the current circumstances actually hurt her.

It appalled her.

Was this her influence finally showing? Was she messing up Summer's brat? In a weird way she didn't know what answer she would like to hear. If it was her fault then it proved that her decision was the right one, but meant that she had failed Summer in her promise. The other option was equally worrying, if in different ways…

Being a parent made Raven want to tear her hair out in frustration…

Alongside the other, unpleasant revelations the day has brought for her so far, it was safe to say that she wasn't in the best place as of this moment. The image she held of her best friend has become hazier. Hiding something of that magnitude from them for who knows how long? Who knows how many other things she kept from them? How many times she told them everything was fine, when in reality everyone's life was in jeopardy? And then finding out that her grandmother also followed Ozpin, then promptly paid the price for it left her in bad spirits to say the least.

And then the brat just had to choose this day to catch her off guard again.

"What did you just say?" Raven asked suspiciously upon hearing her godson's words. Caryll's eyes shot up to meet hers. Expression filled with momentary panic, he struggled for words.

"I-I…" Upon finding none, he swallowed and looked back at the ground resignedly. "Have you ever wondered how the world would be if you've never existed?" She found her eyes narrowing even further at hearing those words.

"What are you getting at?"

"Unlike others, I don't have to wonder. I know exactly how it would be… How it will be." He said uncomfortably, his eyes not willing to meet with hers.

"Brat, just what do you know?" She pressed again, not satisfied with that vague answer in the slightest.

"A possible future. A horrible one, one I'd swore to prevent," he answered and looked through her distractedly. He then let out a humorless chuckle, "I guess that's something common in me, Gehrman and Ozpin. Aside from having been ripped back from the afterlife."

"I don't know how it's possible, but this is my second life; I've lived one before where I've learned what was to happen if I didn't intervene," he said at last as he finally collected himself enough to hold her gaze. Raven let a moment pass to process the information, then her eyes widened in understanding.

"How did you- No, why didn't you tell me?" She cut herself off, opting to focus on what was important right now. She schooled her expression to her practiced neutral one and watched as the brat shrugged.

"Because it doesn't matter."

And just like that, it suddenly got a lot harder to maintain that façade.

"…What?" She said slowly, voice dripping with skepticism.

"I've learned that the future isn't set in stone. Knowledge of a future that I'm hell bent on changing means nothing. I've already made positive changes that ensure our future would be at least somewhat better than the one I saw and I'm nowhere near done making changes," Caryll explained, however it only served to convert that doubt to irritation in her.

"So, you've lied about yourself for years just because you thought it didn't matter?" She questioned dangerously. Did the brat honestly see no problem with what he was saying?

"That knowledge doesn't change who I am. I'm still the person I always was," he defended, posture beginning to slightly mirror her own. Raven stared at him hard for a few moments before laughing humorlessly to herself.

"I can't believe it; you even deflect it like he did… and your insistence on making me rejoin this war. You're just like Ozpin." That got a reaction out of the brat as he looked genuinely offended to be compared to the reincarnating wizard.

"I've reincarnated like him, but that's where our similarities end-"

"If lying your whole life doesn't change who you are, that just means you're a two-faced bastard who has no qualms about misleading others," she cut him off with a venomous glare. Her explanation actually got him to shut up for a moment as he found himself at a loss of words. "No, you two are only similar in the things that matter," she leered at him for a bit before standing up.

"I-" he scrambled to say something, only to cut himself off as he noticed that she was walking away. "Where are you going?" He called out and likewise got up to follow her, much to her annoyance.

"Away from this pointless discussion. I have nothing to say to you." With those curt and cold words, she opened one of her portals back to the tribe.

"What, you're going to run away from this, just like with all your other problems so far!?" She heard him yell behind her, but she ignored the stinging feeling they caused with practiced ease and stepped through the pulsing red portal.

Only to find the brat on the other side, already glaring at her determinedly.

"Leave me alone," Raven growled and turned away to open another portal. Damned brat was a lot faster than her in her current condition.

"I've told you that I'd follow after wherever you'd run to. Look, I hate seeing us arguing like this just as much as you do, but we need to talk about this.," he declared to her retreating form. She was having none of it however and prepared herself to step through the red event horizon.

Only to see the portal warp before her eyes in a whirlpool of air and then disappear into thin air. She paused in momentary confusion, but then cursed under her breath as she saw the brat standing with his hand extended where the portal once was.

"Aren't you stubborn," she stated more than asked with unrestrained contempt.

"Yeah, I learnt it from you," the brat countered with hard eyes before adopting a somewhat softer expression. "Please, we have to talk about this," he pleaded.

"I have nothing to say to you. Now leave me alone!" She spat and turned around to walk away. Upon doing so she noticed most of the tribe staring at them like they were that night's entertainment, she also noticed the young Spring Maiden falling into step beside her and animatedly trying to catch her attention, rambling about how difficult it was keeping the camp together and how glad she was to finally see her. Raven subtly glanced around the camp, everything seemed in order and the girl was still in one piece, which was to be commended. She sent a warning glare around the camp, which got everyone to look everywhere but at her. Good, she even managed to keep them in line-

"So that's how much our oath means to you!?" The brat yelled at her retreating back. She grit her teeth and yelled back.

"Bonds based on lies mean nothing to me!"

"Fine, if you won't listen, then I will have to make you listen," Raven heard him say, followed by the sound of a mecha-shift weapon being drawn. That got her to stop in her tracks and turn around, only to see the young Rose holding his weapon in a one handed stance. She was momentarily baffled by his sheer audacity before she collected herself and faced him with crossed arms.

"You have some nerve, threatening me in the middle of my own camp like that," she decided to call out his bluff. There was no way he would risk fighting her and the entire tribe while injured. Heads swiveled all around the camp in the direction of the brat, not all of them were comfortable with the idea of fighting with him, they had seen what he was capable of over the years, but most were.

"Not if I'm challenging you to be the next leader," he countered seriously, making her expression sour even more. Damned brat, only he would use that as a pretext to force her to listen. It wasn't like she could deny him either, by all rights he was entitled to a duel with her. The crowd looked back to her as one, awaiting what her response would be.

"Stupid brat… Into my tent, now," she growled after a few seconds of tense silence and then turned around to march into her tent, not even bothering to see if he was following her. Fighting as they were now would be just an exercise in stupidity, which was more up Qrow's alley than hers.

Upon entering her tent, she unclasped her weapon and threw it beside her bed with all the finesse she could muster at that time, which was to say none at all, and sat down on the edge of her bed with her hands already on her temples.

This day had, without a doubt, etched itself into her memory as the worst day in her entire life, and it was still going downhill. Just how many more disturbing revelations was she going to have? How many unsettling secrets would she have to hear before it was over? Maybe it would have been better I she hadn't done things halfway back then and cut all contact with her old life.

Maybe remaining as involved as she has been was a mistake…

"Why did you come after us? What do you have to gain from going against Salem?" She said out loud when she heard the flaps of her tent open and the sound of light footsteps coming closer to her. The irritation and outright anger she felt was nowhere near gone, but she did her best to keep it in check for now. She heard him come to a halt not far in front of her, followed by a few moments of lingering silence that made her frown.

Why wasn't he answering? Was he thinking up a convenient lie or something? She adjusted one of her hands to allow her to look up at him with one eye-

His face was red, not overtly but it would get there in time. He turned his head away a slight bit in what was probably a contemplative gesture, but Raven wouldn't be surprised if he did that to hide his face from her.

"I have nothing to gain from going against her. I just wanted to find Mom and you. You know that," he answered and tried to hide a sniffle. And now she found herself questioning this change in attitude. Was it another ploy to get her sympathy or something similarly futile? Her godson knew her, being this pitiful in front of her would only get under her skin, nothing more.

"Do I? Right now, I don't really know what to think with all the secrets I'm hearing from people I suspected the least." She wanted to hear him say it. Admit that he had some ulterior motive like seemingly everyone else had in this shadow war. Why would he be different form the rest? Caryll visibly flinched at her words and let out a remorseful sigh.

"I-… You're right, I'm sorry. Even if it didn't matter to me, I shouldn't have expected others to feel the same way," he admitted ashamedly, making her bite back a nasty sneer of her own.

"Oh, look at that quick change of heart. I wonder what happened to being righteous and stubborn?" Her head rose to stare at the young Rose critically. Showing such obvious weakness to her and then quickly changing angles? Just why-

"Right now, I don't care about being right. I just don't want to lose you." Oh, that would explain it. "Please, I know you're upset, but we can't stop now. If we do Mom dies and Salem will go after the Relics-"

"Salem can't be defeated. It's pointless to try and stop her. You would only send yourself and others to death." Even to herself she sounded like a broken record, but he needed to hear this and he needed to understand it. She would say it as many times it was needed to get the point through his thick skull.

"...When did you forsake yourself?"

"What?"

"This isn't you. I know you're troubled and that you have your own set of glaring flaws, but despite that you still have admirable traits that I've grown to look up to over the years. But then every time Salem or the war is mentioned, it's like you're a different person, one without those redeeming qualities. Worse, I see that fake you more and more. You allow her to make all the decisions in your stead. She's ruining you and it's painful for me to watch. So tell me, when did you give up on yourself and allow her to take control?"

"I didn't give up anything-"

"-Then why are you here in the middle of nowhere, hiding in the woods? Why did you leave us? Why aren't you willing to save your friend?" His tone wasn't accusatory, but rather genuinely confused as to what she thought she was doing. For that she did her best to reign in her frustration, somewhat.

"Are you really in any position to lecture me? I'm not a coward, a liar, a traitor or anything you think I am! I'm only doing what's necessary to survive and get away from that pointless war!"

"I can understand not believing in any side of this war… After learning what I have today, I'm not really sure what I should believe either, but this war isn't simply about deciding which underhanded immortal we should sell our souls to or about killing whoever stands in our way in someone else's name. We can fight on our own terms, we can fight not to achieve their goals but to keep each other safe… Their war will soon grow to embroil the entire world and you'll be dragged back no matter how much you'll try to struggle. Then the only people you'll have left to watch your back will be us."

"But it doesn't have to get to that point. You know my Semblance, even if she is immortal I can imprison her permanently and no amount of magic will be able to help her. I can stop her, I can end this before it even begins, but I can't do it alone and-… and you don't believe any of the words I say, do you?" He desperately tried to convince her, only to suddenly lose all of his momentum upon noticing her entirely indifferent expression.

"If you hadn't slipped up just now, how long did you plan on keeping the truth from me?" She asked with false calmness. Caryll tried to form words, only to come up blank. His shoulders sagged and he looked ashamedly at the floor as tears formed in his eyes. Raven took the silence as confirmation enough and shook her head with a dismissive scoff.

"I-I understand… If I can't convince you to trust me, then there's only one person who can," the brat wiped his eyes with the fabric of his cloak and then turned to the entrance. "Lily! Come in, please!"

As if on cue, a surprised yelp could be heard from just outside, followed by the entrance of the flustered young girl into her tent. "Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but be curious after the scene outside…" She explained sheepishly, but stopped herself upon seeing that neither of them were in the mood. "…So anyways! How can I help?" Caryll took the cue and turned back to face her again.

"Do you have any bonded people near Mistral?"

"Even if I did, why would I tell you?" Raven rebuffed dismissively.

"One last favor if I can't change your mind, please," he smiled at her. It was a weak and fragile one that was so unlike of him. It just served to make her day even more miserable than it already was.

"…Qrow's in Haven currently, why? What are you planning?" She said at last, giving in to that side of her again. As to why her brother would be there of all places, she wasn't sure. Maybe he was betting on finding her and then asking her to take him to Summer, asking Leonardo for any clues could lead him in the right direction eventually. Meaning she would have another annoying relative visiting her sooner or later…

"Something that I should have done ages ago…"

Reality warped before her eyes and soon she found herself back in the real world alongside the young Spring Maiden. A quick look around showed unfamiliar surroundings; a wide pathway led towards a large golden doorway and a tree in the middle of what seemed to be an underground cavern. Beside the pathway laid darkness, though the quiet sound of moving water from down below confirmed that it wasn't a bottomless drop. A final glance behind allowed her to see the elevator shaft leading back up to the surface, the elevator itself was nowhere in sight.

Raven had never seen it with her own eyes before, but she could only guess at where they were currently at.

"Is this the Haven vault?" She turned to look at the young Rose. He looked a bit more collected than back in the tent, but his normal confident nature was still nowhere to be found.

"Yes, getting through security is surprisingly easy with my Semblance, but I'm sure we have tripped a silent alarm or something by now, so we'd better hurry," he shrugged weakly and made to walk towards the giant golden doorway.

"Why are we here?" She asked cautiously and made to follow a few steps behind. She already had a pretty clear idea, but one couldn't afford uncertainty in matters this important.

"Looking for the only person who may be able to convince you of my sincerity," Caryll sighed tiredly. "Lily, could you please place your palm on the door and flare your powers?" He asked when they reached the strange doorway that sealed away the Relic she spent years protecting. She only now realized how bitterly ironic it was that she had no real idea what it even looked like.

"Oh, sure," the up until now quiet Faunus spoke and walked up right to the magical seal as asked. "Like this?"

It took a couple of seconds, but the action did have an effect. The magically sealed lock unraveled before their eyes in the form of folding flower petals. After the process had taken its course, they were greeted with the visage of a strange desert land unlike the one they came from. The air seemed warped; grains of sand hovered in clusters at seemingly random locations and the area was illuminated, even without any visible light sources in sight.

In the center of it all, hovering upon a small pedestal was the Relic of Knowledge.

Caryll wasted no time and marched straight through the threshold, only to come to a halt immediately after and then lift a hand to carefully caress his right eye.

"What is it?" She asked cautiously and made sure to stay away from that strange place. Who knows what magic Ozpin built into that place?

"Nothing, just my Semblance acting up," he answered after a few moments before shaking his head. Disregarding his unreal surroundings, he walked straight up to the lamp shaped Relic and snatched it off of the podium. He then returned to them, just outside the still open vault and stopped right before her.

"You know what this is."

"Yes."

"Ozpin didn't tell you what it could do."

"No, he did not."

"…Seeing that you don't trust me at all now, all I'll say is that her name is Jinn. Say it to summon her and she will tell you the rest," he sighed and held out the Relic for her to take. "Ask her if you could… just ask her whatever you think could resolve this between us." She said nothing and slowly extended her hands to take away the ethereal lamp. She stared neutrally at the glowing artifact in her hands for a few minutes, not sure what to think at this point.

Her godson broke into a vault and stole a Relic just to give it away to her as an attempt at reconciliation. He did it because of her… Fine, let it be said she risked getting burned one final time.

"Jinn."

As soon as the word was uttered the world around her stopped. The sound of water dripping ceased and the Maiden and the brat stilled as if they became overly realistic statues. Her eyes darted around the cavern to find whatever had caused this, only to feel the lamp slowly float away from her grasp and release a turquoise mist from itself. The mist swirled around and then coalesced into a cohesive form, one of a naked woman. The transformation left her mesmerized. She had witnessed some accounts of magic in her time, transformations more so, but this one felt… different. The ghostly woman stretched and moaned in pleasure upon being released before turning her attention to her shocked self.

"Hello, I am Jinn. A being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge. I've been graced with the ability to answer three questions every one hundred years. You're in luck, as I'm still able to answer two more questions this era," the floating giantess explained and looked down at her, patiently awaiting her response. Blinking away her shock, Raven quickly looked around to see if anything had changed or that if it was just some prank played by the brat. Sadly, the situation wasn't quite simple as that.

"This is real…" Raven muttered after pinching her skin once, just to be sure.

"Of course it is, dear. Hmm, I can tell your thoughts dwell on this boy. He's such an interesting anomaly, isn't he? Having managed to slip between the cracks separating worlds on his own, even if he didn't do it on his own volition? In any other case I would have called it the work of the divine… Oh, but I'm digressing, tell me, what knowledge do you seek? I can guarantee on the authority of the Gods that you will receive nothing but the truth." Jinn regarded the young Rose like one would a particularly interesting puzzle or mystery before turning her attention back to Raven, who was similarly staring at the young boy, albeit with more conflicting emotions.

She didn't doubt the spirit's claim, living inside the Relic of Knowledge and made by the very Gods themselves served as a good enough resume in her book, but it posed another troubling thought to her. The brat wanted her to ask how they could fix this, how she could trust him again. He wanted to use one of those questions so they could reconcile.

Raven clutched her head as she felt a migraine setting in, why couldn't he and his damn mother make sense? One minute he does something she'd never expected him to do and in the next he's back to his self that she'd gotten used to over the years, why couldn't they just be like everyone else and stay consistent?!

…

It might just be that part of her again, but for some unfathomable reason she wanted to forgive him… He was remorseful about lying, even she could see that now with the proof he presented, and was genuinely trying to make things better between them.

But forgiving him was equal to her joining the fight again, there was simply no in-between. If she relented then she would have to help Summer and get wrapped up in this fight. Worse, if he ended up being right about Salem, then she would be inevitably wrong, and that was inconceivable. But if she didn't help then her godson would resent her for all his life. The first option was suicide at best with other similarly disturbing implications added in and the second greatly upset that part of her again.

Damned if she did, damned if she didn't, she started to doubt she even wanted to ask anything…

Her eyes wandered to Caryll's frozen ones and studied them closely. There was hope in them, but there was also something else. Resignation? Did a part of him doubt her?

"What, you're going to run away from this, just like with all your other problems so far!?"

…No, she was stronger than this. She was a survivor; she could survive whatever answer she received. She always did. She let out a resigned breath and steeled herself for the truth, whatever it may be.

"Can… Can he really do it? Can he really stop Salem?" She whispered quietly, gaze fixed on the Silver Eyed boy.

…

…

"Hmm, he has a better chance than anyone else so far."

…

The words quickly registered in her mind and shock overtook her. She whirled around to voice her disbelief to the hovering spirit, but the world around her came back to life and the spirit returned inside the lamp in the blink of an eye. She was left there stunned with her jaw loose and mind a whirlwind of incoherent thoughts.

…He was right? She could be stopped?

"Well?" Caryll asked expectantly. Raven let out a shaky breath and clenched her fists. She desperately tried to focus her mind on the here and now, doing her best to shove aside the other devastating implications that statement had about her and her entire life.

"Prove it."

"What?"

"Prove it to me that you're different from those two. Prove it to me that you want to fight for our sakes and not just for your own self-interest." If she were to join again, she would only do it if there was someone worth fighting for in that war. No games, no deception, just truth and honesty.

"How can I do that?" A valid question all things considered, fortunately she had just the idea. Raven turned to look at the younger Hunter and her eyes bore into his.

"Kill yourself and in exchange I will rejoin the fight and free Summer."

…

"W-what? How does that make any sense?!" It was Lily who voiced their concerns about her proposition. Caryll seemed similarly caught off-guard by the request, but quickly reigned his surprise in.

"You've told me that you don't know how you reincarnated, which means it might not happen again. For all intents and purposes, you are just as mortal as we are. If you're really fighting for us, then giving your life for our sakes shouldn't be that hard, should it?" Raven explained with crossed arms. Capability to win this war or not, she still had no make sure he had no ulterior motives and that he really fought for them. She also didn't miss the spirit's ramblings; his rebirth was not intended by anyone.

"M-ma'am you're acting ridiculous, Caryll, please reason with her-"

"If I do this, will you rescue Mom?" For a moment, his eyes seemingly shined with understanding as their eyes remained locked with each other. She nodded slowly in confirmation.

"Don't tell me you're actually considering it?!" Lily exclaimed in disbelief. Caryll turned to briefly address the distressed girl.

"She isn't wrong. My plan doesn't need me to be carried out, only my Semblance. There is still a large amount of my Aura left in Zwei, you can use him to trap Salem. I know you can do it if you work together, and if this is what it takes..."

"Fine, I'll do it on one condition," Caryll sighed and took out one of his throwing knives. "If… you somehow can't save her. Take care of Yang and Ruby, please," he requested softly as he reversed his grip on the knife and lifted the blade before his chest, right over his heart.

"I can't believe this, both of you are insane!"

"You have my word," she nodded in agreement. If it really did come down to that, it was the least she could do to make up for her… absence.

Caryll held her gaze for a bit before nodding to himself. He then closed his eyes and with a swift motion, plunged the knife towards his heart. Lily cried out and tried her best to intercept the speeding blade, but he was much faster than her, even when injured.

And so, the blade sailed forwards unabated and pierced fabric, skin and flesh.

…

"You're hopeless," Raven berated sufferingly, her hand gripping his and stopping the knife from digging further. Blood was drawn, but the knife hadn't sunk in beyond a mere few centimeters. "Never lie to me again," she sighed tiredly and let go of his hand, allowing Caryll to lower the knife. Lily wasted no time and slapped the knife out of his hand before embracing him tightly.

"You idiot! Never scare me like that again!" Even Raven could see that it was an awkward hug, especially because the kid just realized that he was about to commit suicide right before one of his friends.

It was times like these she wondered if he even thought things through, or if he gave things too much thought and forgot little details like that as a result.

"Sorry," he winced uncomfortably. "It won't happen again, promise." He briefly returned the hug and they separated with Lily watching him like an angry hawk and a lowly muttered "It better not," and a grumbled string of curses she undoubtably picked up from the tribe. He flinched shamefully under her gaze before returning his attention to Raven.

"So does this mean…?" Hope blossomed on Caryll's face as tears pooled in his eyes. Raven rolled her own in response.

"Let's go protect what's ours-"

"Thank you!" She was assaulted by her short, obnoxious godson. His arms wrapped around her mercilessly and he buried his teary face into her torso. Raven stood there awkwardly for a few moments before allowing her posture to ease up and place a hand on his head in what accounted to her best attempt at being affectious. She let this go on for a bit until she realized he had no intention of separating any time soon.

"Alright brat, you can let go-" "Shut up, you're ruining the moment." Her attempt was squashed before she could even finish. Unsurprisingly he still held no respect for her, that was an annoying constant in their relationship.

At least she could be sure that was Summer's bad influence showing, not hers.

Wording people, it saves lives!

Raven's and Summer's team attack is named after the chess piece and is based on the knight's unorthodox movement patterns.

Ahh, I love it when little plot seeds I planted so long ago start to grow before everyone's eyes. I wonder how many of you could already guess what was behind the wall of flames before the reveal. Please, a round of applause for our Silver Eyed boi for kicking off the apocalypse a decade before it was supposed to happen.

So, is this fic bashing Ozpin? No. Do I intend to? Not really, I'll just say that there is still one more account we hadn't heard the tale from.

So, I've finished Fate/stay night and I must admit… Shirou has somewhat redeemed himself in my eyes in the final episodes (which were great, easily the best in the whole series). He still isn't my favorite by far, but by making the right choices in the end he had pushed himself up considerably. As for the anime itself; it was good, it has aged visibly and that took away from the enjoyment somewhat, but the world and plot was still good enough to make it worth the time.

But I couldn't help myself during watching it but wonder about the fourth war, it was mentioned a ton of times and I got curious, curious enough to hop straight into Fate Zero just yesterday.

…I was not ready. I expected something like the previous series, but in all honesty my expectations were blown out of the water. Maybe it's because I always preferred overarching drama to romance, but I enjoy FZ much more than I did FSN. It's my personal opinion, but FZ did a much better job at presenting everyone's side/motivation and conveyed the severity of a war fought for an omnipotent wish granting device that's supposed to even be able to destroy the world.

So all in all, IGN 10/10; would see a flexing contest with Gilgamesh again.

Also regarding omakes; I won't bother to make promises I can't fulfill anymore. Honestly if my free time would allow me to, I would make them, but I simply don't have the time while making the main story at the same time. Maybe when we'll finish Act 2 I'll take some time to write a bunch of them, but not in the near future I'm afraid.

Reviews:

NobuNepu: I looked up a guide since I like to watch series in chronological orders and started with Fate/stay night 2004. There will be another 3-4 chapters spent in Vacuo before we move on elsewhere, so there will be a lot of exposition and plot going on, though mainly in a specific region.

ChangeMe4574: Summer's situation will be "resolved" in the next arc, so you needn't wait for that long*.

*terms and conditions may apply.

Hmason: Her name is the gender-bent version of Conan the barbarian. Though obviously I twisted the trope a lot to make her character.

sevae: I'm curious, are you new to this fandom? Because I've never heard of that comparison before. Maiden fights in the show are somewhat like the one I depicted in the last chapter, so I don't really see where this comparison comes from.

RTNK: You might want to check out the one-shot one my profile, it's about a potential future for TSEP and Caryll does use a specific ability that was heavily inspired by Naruto.

LostBastille: I know Kishimoto liked to play loose with the rules of Kamui, but in this fic Caryll can only transport someone if they are in direct contact with each other. In the engagements Caryll participates in, every split second is crucial. The maneuver you're talking about is very risky, he would have to first weave around whatever Konan is attacking him with and then touch her. Sure, it can be done, but if Caryll messes up his timing even by an instant he would be blown away and nearly KO-ed instantly. It's just a risky move with a too narrow margin of error and catastrophic repercussions.

fuyuki365: Kaguya. No contest. The two universes just have a hugely different power-scale. Canon Salem simply has no feats comparable to Kaguya aside from being equally as immortal. TSEP Salem still holds no candle, but you could imagine her boss battle like a culmination of all other previous fights, only taken to the next level; The Iratus Queen's mental abilities? The Queen still listens to Salem at the end of the day. Konan's power and versatility? Salem stalemated an Ozma with four times the power of Konan with many more years of experience etc. etc.

undefinedforever: Usually, I'm one of those people from the Batman-is-the-biggest-idiot-ever camp, so I get where you're coming from, but you have to look at it from another angle. What is the difference between Raven and Konan? It's very important because Caryll gave Raven a second chance, if there is no significant difference between the two and he still refuses to give Konan a second chance then he runs the risk of being a hypocrite and thus severely weakens his own moral standing. So, what is the difference? Kill count? Raven has also undoubtably racked up quite a lot, either directly or indirectly. Allegiance? Konan openly admitted that she only works for Salem because it benefits her to do so, not out of any form of 'true' loyalty. Raven would also do something similar in the future with Cinder, meaning that she has the capacity to act in a similar manner. Mental health? Perhaps this is the crux of the matter. Konan is a psychopath with masochistic tendencies yes, but she is a functional one with at least a minimal understanding of societal norms; shown when she offers Caryll a chance to leave without conflict and when she readily gives up information because she gave her word. Does that make her "redeemable" or at least susceptible to be swayed from Salem's circle? Perhaps, individuals like her are liable to change quickly into varying directions.

Personally, I would say that it's in a very grey area and that ultimately I think this is up to the individual to decide as even I admit that is a very subjective matter with the amount of characterization I've presented for her.

notvisiulebliss: Apart from Salem herself, yes. She was the strongest individual on Remnant.

Until next time.