The Grimm Prince Ch. 73 (RWBY) (Patreon)

A/N: Deja Vu until it's not.

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SLAM!

“Enough is enough! Ozpin has clearly gone insane! He needs to be dealt with, like we discussed months ago!”

Harriet Bree, member of the Ace Operatives within the Atlesian Specialists, has finally come to a simple, inescapable conclusion. She’s in over her head. She’s SO in over her head it’s not even funny.

“I must concur with Summer. Even I did not think he would stoop this low. We’ve done all we can to protect those who might still be in his crosshairs… it’s time to remove his influence from Remnant once and for all.”

She wasn’t sure anymore what she thought she would be achieving by going to Menagerie to try and hunt down and rescue Weiss Schnee and Ciel Soleil. But in the end, her whole plan had been built on incredibly faulty information. She’d gotten captured by the White Fang for literally no reason, putting herself in harms way when Weiss and Ciel weren’t even on Menagerie.

“Can’t believe that manipulative bastard has actually become worse than the thing he sought to fight, heh. I always said he was going to waste our lives, Summer.”

“Shut up, Rae. Fuck…”

And yet, despite that, despite her idiotic decision-making… her plan had somehow still led her right to her quarry. Weiss and Ciel were both in this palace, she’d seen them earlier. They were also both in good health, which Harriet supposed was good… better than them being tortured or killed by White Fang Captors, she figured.

“I don’t think anyone believes that Headmaster Ozpin is worthy of redemption or forgiveness at this point. Everything he’s done, everyone he’s tried to sacrifice… even in the most generous interpretation of his actions, he’s horrendously misguided and impossible to reason with. Taking him out of play is the best thing for Remnant. For all of us. However… what about General Ironwood?”

Harriet tenses at the mention of her commanding officer. General James Ironwood. The man who’d sent her to pick up Weiss in the first place. The man she’d not checked in with before running off to go AWOL in Menagerie. She’d thought she had good reasons for her actions at the time, but now… she realized they probably didn’t even know she’d gone off the reservation.

They probably had her labeled MIA or KIA from the altercation with the ‘White Fang’ who had turned out to not be White Fang aboard the train.

“What about him? He is just as bad as Ozpin, is he not? Moreso, maybe. He enjoys persecuting the war against Mistral. Even as the Mistralian Military loses more and more ground, he has not stopped. He likely won’t stop until Mistral ceases to exist as anything more than a subjugated state under the boot and heel of Atlas.”

That… that wasn’t fair. Mistral started it. Atlas was just moving to finish it. What, were they supposed to just forgive Mistral for starting a war with them and Vale, for starting hostilities where they shouldn’t have been any? Harriet doesn’t speak up though. She knows better.

“Ozpin wouldn’t allow that. He considers four kingdoms to be a perfect balance of things. Four Kingdoms, Four Maidens, Four Relics. It’s got a certain synchronicity to it, one that he works tirelessly to maintain. Perhaps that’s why he made this ploy with the Faunus…”

That part was still hard for Harriet to wrap her head around. Headmaster Ozpin had apparently tried to undermine the White Fang from the inside, scheming to turn them into a bunch of war-hungry invaders that would try to sweep over the human kingdoms as some poor replacement for the Grimm.

“Well, it might have worked as he intended, depending on how much support he was able to give them. The White Fang mobilize and militarize all of Menagerie and strike at the human kingdoms before Mistral can fully fall. In response, Atlas, Mistral, and Vale are forced into a ceasefire until such time as the White Fang and Menagerie are both destroyed. By the end of which, Ozpin was probably hoping that everyone would forget Mistral’s war mongering and Atlas’ heavy handed response. And the end result would be Four Kingdoms. Just like he wants.”

Harriet wished she could say that wouldn’t be how it would happen. But the Faunus Wars were still fresh in the minds of many, especially those in power. If Ozpin’s man in the White Fang managed to take control and turn Menagerie into an entire kingdom of terrorists, then it would only cause the human kingdoms to think they’d made a mistake in giving the faunus the land in the first place. The resulting fighting wouldn’t end without one side completely removed from the board. Faunus Rights would probably be set back centuries too.

“But don’t you see? All of that means that Ozpin probably didn’t tell Ironwood anything. At least not about this latest plan. The General would never go along with allowing the faunus to launch a surprise attack against the human kingdoms, not when so much of Atlas’ Military is already tied up in Mistral. Ozpin is planning on blindsiding his closest ally just as much as he’s planning on blindsiding everyone else.”

Blinking, Harriet realizes that might just be true. It made sense, in the end. General Ironwood would never sign off on something like that… or so Harriet liked to think. Truthfully, she’d learned a lot about the General since arriving here that she almost wished she could unlearn. A lot more than she’d ever wanted to know.

“… You want to use the General against Ozpin. Turn his greatest ally against him.”

“Can you blame me? It would certainly remove some of Ozpin’s options from the board and-!”

SLAM!

“No! I refuse to let that man walk free after he signed my daughter’s death warrant. And don’t forget, he signed yours as well! And yours! And even yours, Rae! So no, fuck that!”

Harriet bites her lower lip, even as silence falls for a moment. As that moment stretches, she finds herself properly taking stock of the situation she finds herself in… and more specifically, in the company she finds herself in. Crazy as it is, Harriet Bree recognizes everyone in the room. And that’s terrifying.

First, there’s the woman that keeps slamming her fists on the table in anger. Now, this one is a particular deep cut, but Harriet had once seen a picture of Summer Rose. She was one of Beacon’s best graduates, one of the strongest huntresses that the Vale-based Academy had ever produced… and also she was very pretty.

Even with her eyes lost and a blindfold covering them, Harriet recognized the slightly older woman for who she was. She was still tough as nails too.

Second, there a woman that Harriet has only seen on bounty boards. Raven Branwen of the Branwen Tribe. An exceedingly dangerous woman who actually came out of the same team of Beacon Graduates as Summer Rose. She’d taken her training from Beacon and instead of applying it to the honorable and noble profession of a huntress, she’d gone on to lead a bandit tribe through raiding and looting towns all across Mistral.

She was also visibly pregnant at this point, much to Harriet’s surprise. But then, the fact that she was pregnant was only as baffling as the fact that she was even here in this place to begin with.

Third is Glynda Goodwitch. Now there was another huntress of no small amount of renown. Also Ozpin’s right-hand woman… until she’d disappeared on a mission a while back. Apparently, the true story was more sinister, having to do with her being sent to hunt down Ozpin’s greatest enemy, even if it was a suicide mission, and ultimately failing but being rescued by that very same enemy.

It was telling that the blonde woman was more than willing to throw Ozpin under the bus now.

Fourth was Boudicca Nikos, Mistral’s very own Queen of Victory. Harriet was aware that General Nikos had gone missing, but not to where. No one had known exactly where she’d disappeared to, though there were rumors that she’d taken her daughter and fled upon looking into the future and realizing Mistral was doomed no matter what they did.

That seemed to be partially true, given where Harriet had found her.

Fifth… and sixth… were the most shocking and honestly worrying of all. Willow Schnee and Pietro Polendina sit side by side, the head of the SDC and the head of the Atlesian Military’s robotics division looking surprisingly at home with the others at the table, despite the circumstances. They seemed… not quite happy to be there, but more than content from what Harriet was seeing.

That was bad. That was very bad. For General Ironwood to not know about the traitors under his very nose…

After Summer’s latest outburst where she pointed at Willow, Pietro, and Raven while declaring that Ironwood their daughter’s death warrants, it winds up being Willow Schnee herself who lets out a sigh and leans forward.

“I am not suggesting that we let Ironwood live, Summer. I am not suggesting that we spare his life when all is said and done. I am suggesting that we use him as a resource against Ozpin, if at all possible. He can receive his comeuppance once Ozpin is removed from the board.”

The idea sends a shiver down Harriet’s spine. She’s found herself amidst a conspiracy. There’s no other word for it. And yet… these people, each powerful and influential in their own right, aren’t even the scariest people in the room. No, not by a long shot.

Slightly mollified, the sightless Summer Rose leans back in her seat, but still scowls a bit.

“Would that even work? We have no evidence of Ozpin’s actions. His patsy is dead.”

Adam Taurus. Supposedly the patsy of Ozpin. Who was supposedly a wizard capable of making magical poison that gave the appearance of a swift illness that had killed Ghira Belladonna and would have done the same to Sienna Khan as well. On the one hand, Khan wasn’t the peace-loving woman she might have tried to portray herself as. So if she died, Harriet wouldn’t have shed a tear over it. On the other hand, from everything Harriet had seen so far, Taurus would have been much, much worse.

Glynda speaks up next, seemingly warming to Willow’s idea of pitting Ironwood and Ozpin against one another.

“We still have the rest of Taurus’ little cult to give their own testimony, right? And we have Salem’s magic, don’t we? If we need to fabricate evidence, we can do so with ease. It just so happens that the evidence will have the benefit of also being the truth.”

Her scowl reduced down to a frown, Summer huffs.

“But do we know for a fact that Ironwood knew nothing of Ozpin’s plan for the White Fang and Menagerie? And can we say for certain that he could be swayed even with evidence?”

There’s a pause… and then Boudicca Nikos, Queen of Victory, suddenly turns intense green eyes in Harriet’s direction.

“That’s why this one is here, is it not? To give us her insight.”

Suddenly, every eye in the room is on Harriet. The gazes and attention of some of the most powerful people she’s ever met hit her and the Atlesian Specialist almost feels her knees begin to buckle. Then, a hand falls upon her shoulder, causing her to look up into the eyes of a smiling Winter Schnee. Leaning down, the white-haired woman whispers into Harriet’s ear.

“Don’t worry. I’ve been right where you are now. Just tell them the truth and it will all be alright.”

… What? Harriet can’t help but look at Winter somewhat incredulously. She’d been where Harriet was now? In this exact situation? How the fuck had that happened? No, more than that… why had Winter caved? Harriet was still a proud member of the Ace Operatives, damn it! She might have gone AWOL, she might be thought MIA, but she wasn’t going to break because of a few intense gazes! Even if-!

“Enough.”

A shiver runs down Harriet’s spine and she has to bite back hard to keep the whimper from leaving her lips as one of the two scariest individuals not just in this room but on all of Remnant finally breaks his silence. She’s been avoiding looking in their direction until now, but now Harriet is finally forced to confront the truth.

The two ‘dragon faunus’ that had swept into Menagerie like a storm and reworked the entire way the White Fang functioned in just two days, on top of snatching her away from her White Fang captors and bringing her here… weren’t faunus at all. Nor were they human. Instead, two pairs of red and black eyes set into chalk-white skin stare at Harriet from across the room.

Grimm. Jaune and Salem were Grimm. Specifically, they were the King and Queen of the Grimm. They were the reason the Grimm hadn’t shown up in years now. They were the reason that the Kingdoms were currently at war. And they, somehow, had the complete loyalty of every person in this room, including Winter Schnee.

The Grimm King shakes his head with a sigh.

“That’s enough. You’re all laboring under the misconception that Specialist Bree is going to drop all of her previous loyalties right here and right now to sign on with us.”

Thank you! Why was the literal King of the Grimm the most reasonable one here?! The others all look surprised for a moment at this assertion, and some of them look at her as though SHE’S the weird one! Sure, she’s glad that Weiss and Ciel are alive. And sure, she’s happy Winter survived her mission as well. And yet, it sounds like Headmaster Ozpin has maybe gone off the deep end a little bit and needs to be reined in by someone.

But she’s not about to betray General Ironwood and Atlas! Certainly not to the fucking Grimm! Even if the Grimm had seemingly vanished off of the face of Remnant a few years back, Harriet had still grown up in a time when their threat was very real. She’d become a Specialist to help protect Atlas from all threats, Grimm included.

Funnily enough, the Grimm King’s common sense statement gives Harriet the strength she needs to glare back at some of the very powerful women giving her strange looks like she’s a weirdo or something. She won’t break! She won’t crack! Not for anything!

“Winter. What can you tell us about General Ironwood? Would he sign off on this sort of thing from Ozpin? Would he turn on Ozpin if someone gave him evidence of the Headmaster’s wrongdoing? Or is it not even worth trying?”

Wait, what? Harriet belatedly realizes that she’s not the only Atlesian Specialist in the room in that moment. In fact, one could argue that despite Winter having been MIA for a while now, she was closer to Ironwood before her disappearance. Harriet throws an askance look up at the taller woman, hoping Winter won’t just give them what they want. But while the Schnee looks apologetic at her for a second… it’s only a second.

Then, she looks to the Grimm King and opens her mouth to speak.