The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Bed Rest

Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one! Your level has increased by one!

You have defeated the boss monster Conquest! You've obtained the title 'Grimm Reaper'!

The windows appeared in a sudden surge, the sheer number of them hiding my father's head and most of his body from sight. I didn't dismiss them immediately because I could see dark smoke beginning to rise from his corpse as grim armor began to slowly dissolve. What it left behind of his flesh…

I exhaled and knelt silently, reaching out to close my father's eyes. As I did, there was abruptly something beside me, resting on the ground by my knees—the other rewards for my father's death. Or…perhaps my father's last gifts? That was a more pleasant thought, if a harder one to believe.

Either way, I picked them up. The top most one was something like a golden plate, with complex symbols appearing on its surface at my touch. The markings on it seemed built around a series of concentric circles, building towards the outline of a person. At first, I didn't have the slightest idea what it was, but when I touched it, a familiar window appeared.

You obtained the skill book 'Psychokinesis.' Would you like to learn this skill?

A skill book? I frowned, tilting the play again and scanning the symbols on it, trying to make sense of them or what they meant, but it meant nothing to me. I…suppose the skill book itself wasn't surprising, as my father had been a telekinetic, but it was so oddly shaped…

I traced the symbol at the center of the circles, the man within, and thought of my father. The plate fractures into pieces of light and I closed my eyes for a minute and paused as if sighing.

You have obtained the skill 'Psychokinesis.'

Whatever it had been…

"Thanks, Dad," I muttered.

Beside the plate was another skill book, this one an actual book.

You obtained the skill book 'Trespasser.' Would you like to learn this skill?

I flipped it open and glanced over the contents of the first page. Once again, the language was meaningless to me—but at least I recognized it this time. The book was written in Babel and I flipped through it quickly, glancing at the pages for any sign of…anything that might tell me something about the language, really. But no, they were just letters on a page, completely meaningless to me. I looked at every page, flipping through the book in a few seconds, and it told me less than picking it up had. I guess that was a problem that wouldn't be solved today.

'Sighing' again, I closed the book and devoured it, tearing it to pieces of light to learn the skill. All that left was a blank, eyeless mask, an almost delicate-looking chain necklace, and a lot of money.

You have obtained 1270000 Lien!

You have obtained the item 'Apsinthos.'

You have obtained the item 'Kronos.'

I stored all of the items in my Inventory and then rose.

"Jaune…" I heard my mother say as I turned around and went to her side, lifting her from the ground. The Regeneration I'd given her had closed her wounds, but it didn't seem like a single use would be enough to regrow her arms. Reattach them, perhaps, but…well, that wasn't really an option. Wordlessly, I drew one of my last blue crystals from my Inventory and healed her again. With my mana regeneration as high as it was, I could heal her every second of the day without needing to worry about the cost—and I would, if I had to. But for the moment…

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, drawing on Levant again. "I couldn't save him."

"Oh, Jaune," She said, her voice sounding agonized. Even so, I was pretty sure she'd have wrapped her arms around me if not for the fact that she was, well, armless. She tried her best to lean her head towards me but couldn't do much else; I took a bit of comfort from it regardless. "Are you…"

She trailed off, probably realizing that it was a stupid question.

"I," I stopped myself and took shook my head. "Not really. But there's still work to do and…one sec. Ozpin needs to hear this."

I gestures at Levant and she picked up my scroll from where she must have dropped it when our connection had been briefly severed, if not earlier in the fight, and ferried it over to me. It wasn't particularly damaged, which was nothing short of miraculous given the forces that had been thrown around during the fighting. Even Ozpin's face was still visible.

"Jaune," He said, sounding both confused and relieved. The confusion was probably because I was a giant, glowing tiger-man, or because my mother was a leg short of quadriplegic, or maybe just at the general situation, but the reason for the relief was obvious. "I heard sounds of fighting but I couldn't see anything. Are you…"

It was his turn to trail off as he also probably realized that was a stupid question—my mother and I were missing three limbs and a body between us. Still, I didn't waste any time commenting on it; whatever happened next, I couldn't risk losing the information I'd discovered. There could be other traps, something could attack, I just didn't know, which is why Ozpin needed to.

"Sir, I have something I need to tell you before we do anything else," I said. "I encountered the source of the Grimm."

My mother took a sudden breath while Ozpin blinked rapidly several times before furrowing his brows.

"Um…perhaps you should start from the beginning?" He suggested after a moment. "In fact, where are you? Your body, I mean."

"It was turned into a Pandora Shell," I said. "But that's not important."

"It was what?" Ozpin's eyebrows rose even further.

"I just said it wasn't important," I brushed it off, continuing. "What is important is that after I possessed…actually, maybe it is a little important. Okay, going back a little further then, after my body was turned into a Pandora Shell, I separated my soul from my body, which is why I'm currently like this."

I gestured at myself, showing him the form I'd assumed using Bai Hu, too which Ozpin merely tilted his head to the side.

"Then, Conquest and I fought a little bit more and he tried to blow himself up. Mom stopped him, converting the Dust he'd carried inside his body into a gaseous form—"

"Is that what happened to you, Isabelle?" He wondered, peering at her.

"No, that was just the arm," She said before pausing and wiggling her stumps. "Well, one of the arms. Though I suppose technically it was why I lost both arms…and the leg was…"

"I severed the arm she used to stop him, because it was infected," I clarified. "I then had to gather the gaseous Dust before it could infect her. While I was doing that, Conquest smacked me away and grabbed her leg—I had to remove it to free her. Mom then converted the gaseous Dust to a liquid form and then solidified it to make a small amount of white Dust, but then she had to remove that arm, too, because it was also infected. So I suppose that, yes, that was what happened to her."

My mother bobbed her head to the side, conceded the point as Ozpin frowned at us.

"I took the white Dust and used its power," I continued, ignoring the look. "Conquest was being a sore loser and trying to kill my father so we couldn't save him, but with the Dust, I managed to possess Conquest and dive into my father's soul."

My mother blinked and tilted her head back to look at me.

"Oh, is that what that was?" She asked, too which I could only shrug a shoulder.

"Possession," Ozpin sighed. He looked down and nodded to himself. "Okay. And this is how you found this…source?"

"Not yet," I shook my head. "I saved my father and we fought Conquest, first; he tried to play some mind games, but we managed. We beat him and I used the Dust to…I'm not sure what happened to him, honestly. I tried to sever the connection I told you about, Ozpin—I found it after my father and I beat him—which I figured would destroy him. And maybe it did, or at least that iteration of him, but maybe he was just possessed in turn. Whatever the case, when I tried to destroy the link, the source responded. And…and it was a person, sir."

Both of their eyes went wide at that.

"A person?" Ozpin asked, sounding stunned. "Are you…are you certain? That he was behind the Grimm?"

"I'm pretty sure," I nodded. "He called them his children and the link led back to him. And from the power he had, Ozpin… I believe it. If not for the Dust, he'd have killed my father with a thought—might have any way if I hadn't put myself in the line of fire. And he…he had a soul, I'm sure of that much, but I don't know what he really looked like. When I first saw him, he looked like a small black hole with a person-shaped event horizon, but then he took on my form, except more dickish. He also claimed to…know me and admitted that he was behind the strange Grimm behavior, at least concerning me. He admitted to Crom Cruach, Ziz, and the Goliath, at least, but following that pattern…"

Ozpin swallowed slightly and pursed his lips, nodding to show he understood. He'd experienced some rather strange behavior himself, after all. It was possible, maybe even probable, that the cause had been the same. My mother just stared, eyes and mouth opened wide at the sheer scale we were talking about here—a guy who had the greatest creatures of myth and legend at his beck and call. It was as humbling as it was terrifying.

"This is…enormous, Jaune," Ozpin said after a moment. "It changes everything we…everything thought we knew."

"I know," I replied. "Which is why I had to make sure somebody else knew. Just in case something happens to me. My father…he stayed behind so that I could…"

"Then he's…?" Ozpin whispered.

"Dead," I stated. "I retreated from his soul, but he wasn't in control, so I…I killed him."

"Jaune," Ozpin said, closing his eyes for a moment and looking truly pained. "I'm so sorry."

"It's…" I made it sound as though I were taking a breath and nodded. "It's not your fault. I know it's not mine either, even if it hurts more than I thought anything ever would. It's their fault; Conquest, his master, and all those monsters. But I was able to speak to my father, in the end, after we fought together and he…he was himself. And I have that memory, at least, along with his last words; that must be more than most have."

"Jaune…" My mother said, sounding pained.

"That doesn't mean you don't deserve to grieve," Ozpin said. "Pain isn't something that's defined by how it compares to a standard. It—"

"I know," I nodded. "But there's still a lot to do, isn't there? Until your team gets here, I have to keep this town safe, along with my mother."

Ozpin opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed it, nodding minutely.

"It'll be another ten minutes," He said. "Fifteen, perhaps. They've been making good time."

I nodded.

"Then I'll remain here until I spot them, at least," I said.

"And then?" My mother asked.

"I'll go to sleep," I said truthfully, though that wasn't what she was truly asking. "It's the only sure way to fix my body. After that…"

I looked up and didn't bother forming the sounds of a breath. For a moment, I simply stared at the sky above us. With the storm gone, the sky was clear and bright.

"I'll keep living, of course," I stated at last. "That's the best way to honor his sacrifice, right? Don't worry, mom. I'm not okay, but I will be someday. I'll keep going and I'll get better. I'll heal you and the others, protect everyone I can, and…I'll make sure this doesn't happen again. Okay?"

I looked at Ozpin, who met my eyes and nodded slowly. My mother had simple shut hers and leaned her head on my shoulder, looking like she was about to go to sleep.

"Okay," Ozpin said. "I'll see you soon, Jaune? Just…stay safe."

True to Ozpin's word, we only had to wait a short while and nothing particularly exciting happened. I stayed beside my mother and allowed my Elementals to roam the town freely, searching for and dealing with any threats that presented themselves. Tyrian and Castanea were still no shows and with them out of the way, there were nothing but infected civilians and Grimm milling about. I kept an eye out for any more survivors, but at this point…well, I didn't expect anything, nor did I find it.

In the end, I simply stayed by my mother's side and waited. When I saw the ship approaching, I dismissed Bai Hu and became a mere Projection, standing watch invisibly as they drew nearer. They didn't land, but instead took several wide sweeps of the village, probably to both scan the area and to mark the underground locations of the civilians.

Then they started to destroy the town. Fire and some kind of green ray of light fell from the airship, the latter of which seem to cause organic matter to decay rapidly. The Grimm that were capable of it tried to attack the airship and were promptly reduced to little more than paste by some unseen force. I saw the figures in the ship but they were wearing what looked like the love child of armor and a hazmat suit, eyes scanning the entire area. With the advantage from above and the major threats dead or gone, they didn't seem to have much trouble.

I watched anyway, just in case. After everything that had happened so far, I wouldn't forgive myself if something went wrong now and cost my mother's life. I remained observant, prepared, and ready even as buildings fell one by one and the town was systematically leveled. The team took careful runs of the town, erasing sections before swinging around to slay anyone who tried to flee.

After perhaps twenty minutes, there was nothing but scorched earth where the town had once been. After forty, even the scorch marks were gone. At some point, what appeared to be earthen walls began to rise around the town's perimeter, though I couldn't tell if it was Onyx's work or someone with our reinforcements; regardless, it seemed to be more about marking the area than actually keeping anything in or out. The ships and lights came our way a few times, dropping off a pair of individuals that moved carefully around the area with a set of devices. They scanned my mother's still form about fifty times and then started cleansing the area around us, too, moving out from my mother slowly. One released ripples of blue light, the other shined what seemed like a red spotlight on the area, revealing patches of various colors.

Making a point to stay out of the spotlight, I retreated quickly back to my shell, watching the proceedings continue from atop my mutated body until I was sure my mother was safe. After perhaps an hour, the entire area was clear and Levant alerted me that our reinforcements had made contact with the civilians. I waited a bit longer as they went about insuring that the civilians were all clean, but when they began to allow people back to the surface, I allowed myself to relax a touch.

They'd likely spend the next few hours making absolutely sure everyone and everything was clean, but soon they'd send word back how that this place was safe. Ships would head in over the next few hours, ready to transport the wounded and homeless back to Vale, and my mother would likely be one of the first on board. I'm sure Ozpin had told the team to be prepared for anything and had also likely given orders on how to deal with me, but…

It was probably okay.

At last, I slipped back into my twisted shell and slept for the first time in months.

XxXXxX

I woke up in a room I didn't recognize and had my senses running full blast the moment I opened my eyes. It took me perhaps a second to realize I was in a hospital room from the remnants of disinfectants and the sterile smell, but I continued to allow my senses to expand, Elementals flowing invisibly into the world around me. My Empathy made me completely aware of the grief and anticipation that seemed to cloak this place, shot through with far lighter emotions at seeming random, but that wasn't enough. I marked every person within range of my elements and traced my immediate surroundings with invisible hand, searching for something in particular. By the time I finished drawing my first breath, I knew that my mother was a floor below me and down the hall, as well as the exact locations of everyone and everything in a fifty meter radius.

Including the man sitting in the chair beside me.

"Sir," I greeted, rising as I did. "I hope I didn't keep you long."

"Not at all," Ozpin shook his head, tilting his mug my way. "Given the nature of recent events, I've spent most of the day in this hospital, moving through rooms. I just made a point of checking up on you every hour or so."

I nodded. It had been about six hours, going by the hands of the clock behind me, which was about what I expected. I took a moment to focus on my mother's heartbeat, which was slow, but she seemed to be sleeping. Feeling out the room around her, I noted that she was hooked up to an IV and several types of medical equipment I wasn't able to identify from the currents running through them. There were bandages and steel implements on the table beside her, but that was to be expected given her condition. All told, however, she seemed to be okay.

Releasing a breath slowly, I shifted my attention. It was a bit harder to recognize the others without actually being able to see them, but I found Ren by the stump of his hand and Onyx by his missing leg, separating them from the few others with similar missing limbs by their body shape. Both were alive and searching the area around Ren I found a small figure I assumed was Nora. I didn't really know anyone else.

"Thank you, sir," I said after the brief pause. At last, I took a moment to glance down at myself, confirming everything was in working order and then lifting my gaze back to his eyes. "I went to sleep after the area around my mother was secured. I take it everything else went well, then?"

"Better than could have been expected, thanks to your efforts," Ozpin said. "Considering the circumstances, an astonishing number of lives were saved."

I nodded once. A hundred and thirty-seven that I remembered, which meant a pretty horrific number of casualties, but…yes, under the circumstances, I suppose it was rather amazing. That wasn't all that comforting, but I knew it was the truth, logically speaking.

"I sense my mother and Onyx, but what happened to Tyrian and Castanea?" I asked, moving on regardless. Ozpin's eyebrow twitched upwards at that statement, but then he took a deep breath.

"I cannot say, as of yet," He replied. "As I mentioned earlier, I had some idea of what could be the cause of their apparent absence; the two of them have been paired together for quite some time now as a result of an unusual interaction of their abilities. When used together, the barriers they create can…well, to be truthful, we don't know precisely how it works, but you could think of it as rather similar to your Inventory. Anything within the crossed barriers is temporarily removed from this world, reappearing after anywhere from sixteen to thirty-one hours, at least according to our testing. In an emergency, they can use this ability to suspend a threat long enough for reinforcements to arrive—our do the same to a wounded or endangered ally. As far as we can tell, no time appears to pass within the barriers during this period, so it has a fair number of uses."

I nodded again, wondering if they'd tried to use it on the Pandora Shell and failed as I had with Naraka. I suppose it didn't matter now, but it left the question of whether they'd been infected and removed themselves to attack us when our guard was hopefully down, if they'd been infected and were trying to save themselves, or if they'd simply chosen to run when the shell exploded. I supposed time would tell.

Whatever the case, it explained why Ozpin hadn't told me. So long as there was the chance that I wasn't in control, there was also the chance that I might use that knowledge. I wasn't sure if I could come up with a way to subvert such a barrier, but in Ozpin's shoes, I wouldn't have wanted to risk it.

"I understand," I said. "I take it there's a team watching the area, then?"

"Naturally," He said, taking a sip from his mug and staring down into it for a moment before looking back up at me. "Jaune, I took the liberty of calling your sisters and telling them what happened to your mother and father. Roughly what happened, at least; there are—"

"We need to keep some details under wraps," I said. "I figured as much. It's okay."

"Yes, of course," He inclined his head towards me before for continuing. "Regardless, I thought you should know that your sisters will be here soon, but there will be delays. Several of them were on missions outside the kingdom and will require time to make it back, while…Sienna? Was on active duty and needs to make arrangements before leaving. I managed to get in contact with your two oldest sisters and they said they'd get here as soon as they could, but—"

"Bianca's in Vacuo," I said. "And Shani was still rooming with her, last I checked. It'll be hard for them to get back on short notice."

"Indeed," He agreed. "I simply wished to inform you that your sisters may not arrive for several days. Because of that, I spoke to your mother and then contacted your grandmother, at her request. She said that she would arrive within the week, assuming no major delays."

At my mother's request?

…Well, they were probably giving her something for the pain.

"Okay," I nodded. "It'll be good to see them all again. Anything else?"

Ozpin tapped the side of his mug and sighed deeply.

"There aren't any easy ways to say this, but the reason they have been called—in addition to notifying them of their father's passing, of course—is because of a number of rules and regulations pertaining to situations such as these," Ozpin said before pausing. "That is, it's sadly not uncommon for married Huntsmen and Huntresses to lose their partners in battle and to be understandably effected. As a result, it's not uncommon for them to behave dangerously afterwards, especially where their own welfare is concerned."

"Ah," I said, understanding.

"I do not believe Isabelle specifically will suffer in such a manner," Ozpin continued, looking a little awkward. "Nonetheless, this experience has likely been a traumatic one for her, especially in conjunction with her loss of her limbs and of her teammates. As is customary for these situations, she has been given a paid leave of absence."

"For how long?" I asked.

"It varies greatly," He replied. "Barring truly major emergencies, a month tends to be the minimum, and at least three is far more common. It depends greatly on the needs of the person in question and can be adjusted—"

"So until the therapists clear her?" I wondered, tilting my head. Ozpin grimaced slightly before opening his mouth, but then closed it and gave a slight nod.

"There's more to it than that, especially with the matter of her limbs," He said. "But…roughly, yes. It is…highly recommended that this time be spent with family members and loved ones nearby."

I nodded back at him seriously.

"I will be," I said. "We will be."

"I have no doubt about that," He smiled. "I simply felt that I should be the one to inform you of the matter, considering. It's not something that is very publicized, you see, especially when…"

"Yeah," I told him. "I get it."

"Good, good," He said. "Well then, the Head Healer here is a friend of mine and I spoke to him concerning you. Now that you've woken up, you should be fit to leave, if you desire—or, if you wish, you may accompany me as I continue to make my rounds in the hospital. I'm certain no one will object if you chose to exercise your own healing abilities in the process, either."

"Cool," I said, slipping out of the hospital bed. My belt and rings were on the table beside my bed, but I'd probably come in naked otherwise, so I was wearing only a hospital gown. I took it off and reached into my inventory for something more my speed, shrugging it on quickly before giving him a nod. "Lead the way, sir."