Empyrean 21 - Life On The Other Side

Empyrean 21 - Life On The Other Side

Cardin POV

“Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what the hell are you doing here, Jaune?”

Jaune had fallen into step with them after devouring his breakfast faster than Cardin had ever seen anyone eat anything. He wasn’t saying a word, just following them, always maintaining a three step gap, just… trailing behind them with a satisfied smirk on his face.

“Well, I was on my way to Vale to meet someone. Tie up some loose ends, you know how it goes.” Jaune replied. 

His voice had changed, or was it the newfound confidence that came with the overall upgrade his erstwhile friend had gone through in the few months Cardin hadn’t seen him? For fuck’s sake, Jaune was taller than him, his frame was more filled-out than him, and somehow, even his facial features looked better. 

He was still Jaune Arc, still the same man who Cardin had befriended in the most turbulent test of his life, but he was also more.

“I’ll be honest with you, you really should get out of here fast.” Cardin commented with a grimace. “You have some training, you should be able to beat out the migration if you move now.”

“No!” It was Velvet who shot up. “The risk is too high! There’s fliers in the horde!”

“Vel, look at him.” Cardin sighed, gesturing towards Jaune, who was still trailing behind them. “There’s no way he’s going down into the shelters with the rest of them.”

He saw Jaune raise an eyebrow, a challenging smirk appeared on his face, every action was unlike the Jaune Arc he knew, but somehow, it felt natural.

“Oh? And why would I do either of those things when you two can use my help?” He asked.

Cardin sighed in response. As dumb as he looked, he could put two and two together. Jaune’s growth came from tutelage. Maybe a private huntsman, maybe the Arc family. He wasn’t sure where the training came from, but even weaponless, Jaune radiated the same confidence that he’d only seen on the faces of accomplished huntsmen.

Or overconfident trainees. He’d know, his old team had been that way.

“You did a pretty convincing job of moving the civilians into the shelter. The mood of the town is dour, sure, but is this really enough to divert an entire migration?” He asked.

“The migration was diverted weeks ago.” Velvet explained. “The damage was done before we could even try to mitigate it.”

Jaune looked at her thoughtfully, “And what exactly happened that caused something like that?”

Cardin pointed to the left, towards the fields next to the road they were patrolling, towards the crops, or more accurately, the empty, browning husks that could barely be considered crops by someone with a visual impairment.

“Crop failure. Two harvests in a row.” He commented. “Nothing we could have done about that.”

He watched as Jaune’s eyes finally took in the scene around him. There was a muted sense of surprise, almost lost beneath the calculating gaze of what he could have sworn was an experienced huntsman.

“Are you sure this was natural?” he asked.

Cardin nodded. “Yeah. This town has been a farming settlement since people first arrived here. This isn’t abnormal, and there’s no sign of foul play, just the gods being shitty twice in a row.” 

Jaune looked at him, then at Velvet, then back to him. “So, you guys know there was a crop failure.”

“You guys know there’s a migration of Grimm headed straight towards this town.” He continued, and Cardin, for reasons he couldn’t explain even if he tried, felt like he was being interrogated by a commander, a leader of men.

“So why is it that you two are the only huntsmen of note here?”

Knowing Jaune as he did, even the idea of such a thing felt absurd, yet, the way Velvet snapped to attention next to him made it feel all the more real. 

“We only discovered the fact that the migration had shifted because me and Velvet were in the forest.” Cardin replied, hoping to god Jaune wouldn’t ask why they were in the forest.

“As for why the two of us are here.” Velvet spoke up. Her voice was muffled, but still very much audible.

“We’re on holiday, and I really wanted to see where Cardin grew up.” She commented, and Cardin watched as Jaune’s expression ran a rapid roulette from confusion, to understanding, before finally landing on a sly smile.

“I suppose congratulations are in order.” He spoke, patting Cardin on his shoulder. It was a thoughtless gesture, but the little movement had enough force in it to almost buckle Cardin’s knees. 

What the fuck?

“Oh, sorry about that!” Jaune gesticulated, frantically moving his arms in denial. “Sometimes I forget that I’ve uh, gone through some changes.”

“Fucking hell, did you unlock a strength semblance or something?” Cardin grunted, giving his shoulder an experimental rotation. Nothing seemed to be broken or dislocated. 

No harm, no foul.

“Or something.” Jaune replied with a cheeky smile. “So, what were you two even doing in the fo-”

“Moving on.” Velvet all but squealed. “We’re requested for backup over the CCT, but due to the yearly Beacon holiday, not many huntsmen are available on short notice. Headmaster Ozpin is trying to corral a force from any off-duty huntsmen, but he said it would take at least a day.”

Jaune raised an eyebrow at that. Cardin was just happy that his mind was off their activities in the forest. 

“I assume we don’t have a day?” Jaune asked.

Velvet shook her head. “The rest of my team should be arriving soon, but other than that, unless a miracle happens, we aren’t expecting any more reinforcements till it’s all said and done.”

“So, I assume we’re measuring our remaining time in hours, not days.” Jaune asked, and all Velvet could do was nod. 

“So you guys moved all the civilians into the shelters. Good thinking.” Jaune spoke. “Why aren’t you joining them?”

Cardin sighed. “The only way we can make sure the civilians are safe is to divert the migration away again.”

Jaune looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “Are you stupid? Neither of you is fast enough or stealthy enough to give the migration the slip, unless you’ve somehow unlocked a second semblance based around speed since we last met.”

“That would have been nice to have.” Cardin acquiesced. “But no, it’s really the only way I can see out of this.”

“All you’re gonna get out of such a plan is death.” Jaune shot back. “It’s a fucking migration for god’s sake. You might be able to pull a few away, but the rest are still going to barrel straight though the town.”

“That’s why he isn’t the only distraction.” Velvet spoke, stepping forward. Her hand snaked its way into Cardin’s own, a gentle squeeze, her way to show her solidarity, her conviction.

“Even if your entire team and Cardin can distract the majority of the migration, some will still make it to the town.” Jaune countered.

“And they’ll find the local militia waiting. As long as they don’t make it to the shelters, our job’s done.” Cardin commented, steel in his voice.

There was an exasperated silence as Jaune caressed his headache, likely developing a migraine.

“It’s a fucking stupid plan.” Jaune finally broke the silence, glaring daggers at Cardin, and he was right. It was a stupid plan, consigning up to five huntsmen in training to death. There was no guarantee that the plan would even work. What if the Grimm didn’t take the bait? What if the negativity of the militia pulled them back?

What if the civilians grew antsy? What if they gave up their locations?

“It’s all we have.” Cardin replied.

“You’re gambling your fucking life for a ‘maybe’!” Jaune hissed. 

“That’s what we do. That’s what we’re training for.” Cardin shot back. “If I can’t even put my life at risk for my home, what right do I have to be a Huntsman!”

He realized too late that his raised voice had attracted onlookers. Militiamen patrolling the streets stopped, their gazes moving over to him, a mixture of concern, fear, hopelessness, each a beacon for the Grimm.

Jaune noticed quickly, he quickly put an arm around both of them, forcing them to keep walking while shooting a cheery smile at the onlookers, a visual conveyance of the fact that it was all fine, that it was just a disagreement between friendly hunters that had gotten slightly out of hand.

At this point, Cardin wasn’t even questioning how Jaune was this good at behaving like a seasoned huntsman. 

“If you’re going to go through with this stupidity, then count me in.” he whispered, just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

“This doesn’t concern you, Jaune.” Cardin shot back. “It’s my home, this is my cross to bear.”

“And I still have to repay you for being one of three people who were still by my side when all of Vale wanted my head on a pike.” He shot back. “Now, accept my help or you’ll regret it.”

“Regret it? What’re you going to do? Fight me?” Cardin scoffed.

“No, I’m just going to let Velvet’s team know that you discovered the migration while bumping uglies in the forest.” He countered, and in all honesty, that was a bigger threat than violence.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Velvet hissed. It would have been adorable, had the stakes not been so high.

“Welcome to team expendable, then.” Cardin shot back, quickly offering Jaune a handshake, which he readily took, almost crushing his hand in the process.

The pain was nothing compared to the fate that would befall him if team CFVY found out both him and their beloved Velvet had moved to third base.

LB

Coco POV

“Give me a status report.”

It was a beautiful little town. Quaint, sleepy, magical in the way that farming settlements usually were. Great for small siestas or fashion shoots. It was her kind of place, which not many outside of the fashion sphere would understand.

Just the idea that such a place could be flattened by a migration of Grimm made her angry, even more than the fact that this was Cardin’s hometown.

“We’re expecting first contact at 11 PM tonight, give or take an hour.” Cardin answered, and she couldn’t help but feel proud of how well the troublemaker of a boy had straightened up under her personal tutelage.

Gone was the brash, rough piece of shit that he once was. In his place stood a man worthy of being called a Huntsman. It was a shame she was unlikely to see that promise fulfilled, given the current circumstance.

Still, she expected nothing less from the man who had dared to date her beloved partner, no matter for how long.

“Are we still going forward with the plan you proposed on the CCT call?” She asked. She hated this version of her. She preferred to be the fashionista, not the commander that she had to transform into on the field. 

Sometimes, she wished that she’d asked Yatsu to be the group leader. His temperament fit the role better, even though he would disagree, saint that he was.

“With some light alterations, yes.” Cardin spoke, laying out a printed map of the town in front of her. Yellowing paper, probably looted from the local archives. An antique, and a prized one no doubt, not that the owner would have the time to miss it if their hail-mary of a plan failed.

“Explain these ‘alterations’” She commanded.

“Well, for one, after due consideration, we’re decided to engage the horde three miles north of our initial proposed location.” He pointed to a marked out cross on the map. 

“Why?” She asked.

“It’s beyond the town’s visual range.” Cardin spoke. “It’s a gorge, a natural choke-point. We could lay some explosives, shock and awe, and the sound and tremors wouldn’t reach the town.”

“Minimising hysteria at the cost of denying us milita backup.” Coco commented. “Risky, but then again, nothing about this plan isn’t.”

Cardin gave her a mirthless chuckle. “As for the explosion itself, our new, sixth runner will manage it.”

“Can this person be trusted?” Coco asked.

“I’d hope so.” A clear baritone cut through the silence. She shifted her gaze to the speaker, and for a second, her heart halted. He looked like an adonis, that much was true, but it wasn’t his looks that shocked her. After all, she’d seen enough gorgeous men in her fashion career.

It was Jaune Arc. The bumbling, scraggly blonde that had been kicked out of Beacon last year. Even that wasn’t the surprise, neither was the fact that the kid seemed to have undergone a glowup so severe that stories could be written about it.

What surprised her was that she could swear she’d seen him days ago. It was right there in her head. The posture, the gait, the utter and complete confidence he exuded. It was familiar and recent, yet, something was missing.

She just couldn’t place it, so she decided to stop thinking too much about it. There were more important things at stake here.

“You sure he isn’t bullying you into this, Jaune?” Coco gave him a sly smirk, slipping back into her real persona, her safe space.

“More like I bullied him into letting me help.” Jaune shot back. Gods, even his voice had gotten whatever upgrade package his body had. The boy was dangerous.

“You do know we’re marching towards certain death here, don’t you?” She questioned.

“Just another Tuesday, then.” He joked back. Coco considered himself a good judge of people, it was a skill that had seen her through many things in her career, both sides of her career at that. 

She could smell fear. Whether it was fear for one’s life, or fear resonating from an impending action, be it the fear of walking the ramp at a fashion show, be it the fear of possibly losing one’s life.

There wasn’t even a whiff of fear on Jaune.

Just what had happened to him to change him to this extent? 

“I see you’ve developed a sense of humor. Girls love that, you know?” Coco joked.

“Sorry, I’m happily committed.” Jaune shot back. “Anyways, getting back to the point. I’ll handle the explosion.”

“Do you have a secret stash of dust that we’re not aware of?” She asked.

“Something like that.” Jaune replied with a smirk. “The explosion will happen, and there’s gonna be a lot of Grimm chunks. Let’s worry about the Grimm that I don’t manage to liquefy.” 

“I’ll take your word for it, then.” Coco commented. Jaune didn’t have anything to gain from sabotaging them. Worst case scenario? He failed, and they’d go back to their original plan.

Run at them and make ‘em hurt.

“From there on, the plan mostly stays the same” Cardin continued, glaring at Jaune, miffed by his playful antics. 

Coco gave him a nod. “Spread out and run, draw them away from the village. Simple enough. Do we have a meetup point assigned?”

Cardin stopped in his tracks, looking at her like she’d just pointed out something he hadn’t even considered.

“Well… I didn’t give it much consideration, actually.” Cardin answered, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. 

‘It’s not like we’re likely to survive this.’ went unsaid, yet both her and Jaune caught on to it. How could they not, after all?

“I propose we reconvene at the town gates next morning.” Jaune spoke up. “If the militia is overrun, we can help. If they aren’t, someone has to be here to update Ozpin’s backup.”

Coco nodded. “Sound plan. I approve.” She stood up. Even in her combat heels, she only came up to Jaune’s chest. 

She also retracted her earlier mental observation, the one about having met men as gorgeous as him. God, the man was beyond gorgeous. Maybe once all this was over and they survived, she’d pester him about modelling for her a bit.

Wishful thinking always helped keep hope up, after all.

“I’ll go and update Fox and Yatsu.” She spoke, gazing at Jaune. Somehow, it felt like she was reporting to him, even though she was the designated officer of this shambolic operation, doomed to fail.

Yet, those eyes of his knew no fear, something she couldn’t claim for herself, trying as hard as she may to fake it. That was the thing about terror. Left unchecked, nothing in the world was more infectious, more insidious. 

She wouldn’t let it show, even though the knowing look on Jaune’s face told her that he already knew. He simply did not care.

Knowing that she was in charge of him did help, even if it was only a little.

“It was good seeing you again, Jaune.” She commented as she passed him by. 

“Let’s try to meet again tomorrow.”

LB

Cardin POV

“Why are you helping?” 

Jaune liked high places. The only reason Cardin knew this was because his old team’s dorm was on the top floor of the student dorm building back at Beacon. Every time someone set foot on the roof, he and his team knew, especially at night, when every footfall resonated in the pervasive silence.

It was where he’d first seen Jaune, distraught, curled up next to the railing, terrified of something he couldn;t understand, on his very first day of Beacon at that.

It was where he’d decided that Jaune would be his target. Bully the weakest, establish hierarchy. Show his year and team that he was a bully, so no one would dare do the same to him.

He regretted it all, he’d regretted it ever since that beating Jaune gave him in Forever Fall. Yet, it was this same knowledge that had helped him find Jaune, perched on the parapet of the town hall’s bell spire.

Jaune looked at him with an inquisitive gaze, like he was trying to understand why Cardin would ask him such a stupid question. 

“Because it’s the right thing to do. The fact that I owe you one also contributed, to be honest.” Jaune stated, almost like laying his life down was equal repayment for the fact that Cardin had tried to back him up when the entire school was against him.

“Dude, you owe me nothing. Any good I did was outweighed by all the bullying I put you through.” Cardin commented, sitting down opposite Jaune, his legs dangling in the air. A fall from this high, even with Aura, could cripple him, but considering what he was going to be doing in a few hours, even this felt safe.

“No, it doesn’t.” Jaune commented. “You knew about my transcripts just as well as Pyrrha did. Yet, you were not the one to snitch.”

“I didn’t snitch because I thought I’d be able to hold it over your head.” Cardin confessed. “You’d do anything to keep it a secret, wouldn’t you?”

Jaune chuckled. “You wouldn’t have told anyone anyways. Hell, you didn’t even tell your team. It’s just not in you.”

Cardin grimaced. “Let’s not talk about those fuckers.”

“I assume they didn’t pass?” He asked.

“Lowest ranked in our year. They’d mathematically become ineligible for graduation before even the Vytal festival.” Cardin chuckled. “It felt good to be rid of them, I’m not gonna lie.”

“So you’re a solo now?” Jaune asked.

“Yeah, all thanks to headmaster Ozpin. Told me that my team was already a lost cause. The only reason he wanted to keep me was because I actively worked on improving myself.” He chuckled.

“I guess CVFY had a lot to do with that, didn’t they?” Jaune chuckled.

“Yeah. Coco will take all the credit, no doubt, but Vel… she makes me want to be a better man.” Cardin commented with a sigh. “She didn’t give up on me, even when everyone else thought I’d go down with my team.”

“Glad she didn’t. You deserve to be a huntsman.” Jaune stated.

“I regret it now, at least to some extent. Woulda saved her from… all of this.” Cardin commented, looking up at the clouds. He was hoping for rain, but the gods were not that merciful. Not today, not ever.

“Don’t ever let you catch her saying that.” Jaune shot back with a frown.

“When we learnt about the migration, my first instinct was to ask her to leave.” Cardin stated. “Can you believe it? Our first ever fight happened over the fact that I wanted her to survive?”

“You said it yourself. This is what we do, this is what we’ve been trained for.” Was all Jaune said.

“I know she’s a huntress. I know she’s going to spend her entire life surrounded by danger. I just… I just wish circumstances were different.” Cardin tried to explain, even as the words dried up in his throat.

“If not here, then it would happen later, in another town, maybe in another nation.” Jaune spoke. “At least there’s a personal reason for her to fight here. No one deserves an impersonal end.”

“We don’t get to decide where we die.” Cardin stated.

“Just like we don’t get to choose where we’re born. Suck it up. She’s chosen to stand with you to protect what you love.” Jaune commented. “If you ever break up with her once this is over, I’m going to find you and beat your ass.”

Cardin snorted, “You’d have to beat Coco, Yatsu, and Fox for the privilege.” He joked. “That, and I’m pretty sure Vel could beat my ass if she really wanted. She’s strong, you know?”

“I get ya.” Jaune chuckled. “Would you believe that I was in a similar situation recently?”

“What? Did the person you love put her life on the line for you too?” He asked jokingly, but his mirth faded as he realized that Jaune wasn’t joking.

“Something like that.” Another deflection. He’d resorted to deflections every time when he was asked something personal. It was controlled, done as a joke, but it represented another new facet of Jaune Arc. A barrier between his associates and his own private life. 

Just what had happened to him in the few months he’d been missing?

“All I can tell you is that you’ve gotta find balance.” Jaune spoke, almost as if in a trance. “They’re huntresses. They’re strong, but that doesn’t mean you get to stop worrying. You just have to find a fine line between protectiveness and trust.”

“Let them do their thing, trust them to protect themselves, but be there before anything can go wrong, else you’ll regret it forever.”

There was a hollow, wistful tone to those words. It was definitely from firsthand experience. Again, the same question rose to the forefront of Cardin’s mind.

“Just what the fuck happened to you, man?”

Jaune chuckled in response. “It’s… a long story.” His eyes brightened, and a mischievous smirk spread on his face.

“You survive this and I’ll tell you everything. How’s that sound?” Jaune asked, throwing down the gauntlet. A bet, survival for a story. A placebo as a prize for an impossible task. 

Truly, Jaune Arc drove a hard bargain. 

“Sure, but don’t skimp on the details.” Cardin laughed. “I don’t want the abridged movie version, Give me the whole-ass novella!”

Jaune chuckled. “Sure, it’s quite a story, not gonna lie. Might even test your suspension of disbelief.”

“Oh please, I bet it’s not even nearly as interesting as the forged transcripts drama.” Cardin shot back.

“Oh Cardin, you’re in for a ride.”

LB

Coco POV

This was it.

It was criminal how beautiful the locale was. The moon, shining bright in all its fractured majesty, lit up two mountains in the distance. The moonlight filtering through the canopy rendered our torches useless.

That was a good thing. It was easy to lose a torch while running, and the Grimm were not inconvenienced by darkness either way. 

She looked to her side. Cardin and Vel stood together, holding hands. Neither was looking at each other, but they held hands. Neither was able to look away from the gorge between the mountains, both trying to act strong for the other. In any other situation, she would have found it adorable.

As it stood, all she wanted to do was to pray they both made it out of here alive.

It was why she had given them the easiest paths. Naturally veering closer to the chain of hills to the south. Easier to hide, easier to give them the slip. Yatsu and Fox had both agreed, and she’d used that agreement to slip them easier routes as well. Not as easy as Cardin or Vel’s, but easier than her own.

Jaune had the hardest path. An overnight run through mostly plains and forests, broken up by one tributary. She’d saved that path for herself, but Jaune had practically volunteered, and she’d found it hard to deny him.

Even though he had a grand total of half a year of Beacon training, he was confident, and she was dying to understand why.

“Here they come.” He stated, stepping forward lazily. He stood between Fox and Yatsu. I’f expected Fox to be the one to notice them first. Either him or Velvet, but moments after Jaune’s proclamation, I felt it too.

It began with light tremors. We were almost half a mile away from the Gorge, yet the earth shook. The noises followed afterwards.

There was no rhyme or reason to it. A thousand footfalls of every size, shape, and might imaginable. Grimm that one would never see roaming together slowly came into view. A sea of black, interspaced with white bone. A terrifying image, completed by the glowing red dots that humanity had come to fear over ages and ages of oppression.

It was a sea of Grimm, and try as hard as she could, she couldn’t stop herself from trembling. 

“That explosion better come soon, Arc.” She hissed through gritted teeth, trying her level best to not betray an ounce of fear. How could she? While Jaune looked so… unbothered?

“So, I’ve got to come clean to you guys.” Jaune spoke, taking a step forward.

“There’s no explosives.” He said, turning to face all of them with a smile.

The reaction was instant. A look of betrayal on Cardin’s face, fear on Vel, anger of Fox’s, and disapproval on Yatsu’s.

Coco, on the other hand, simply frowned. It didn’t add up. At this distance, there was no chance any of them could escape unscathed, explosion or not. Jaune had nothing to gain here, neither did he have much of a chance to escape. Even if he hung them out to die, there were enough Grimm in that horde to make his escape nigh on impossible. 

“You have something up your sleeve.” She spoke, her eyes narrowing behind her shades. 

He gave her a guilty smile. “I do, I just had to make sure we were far enough from the town.”  he stated, stretching out his right arm.

“So that no one would see.”

A sword materialized in his hand, a sword too beautiful to have been made by human hands. Radiant, reflecting light that didn’t exist. It was hard to look away from it, but she had to, because his armor commanded just as much respect, and so did the floating blades around his shoulders, mimicking the pinions of metallic wings.

“You’re… from the video.” Coco choked out, her eyes locked on the mask that Jaune Arc held in his hands. 

“I guess I don’t need this tonight.” he commented, and the mask disappeared.

The Empyrean, the man from the video, the man who singlehandedly fought off the invasion of Mantle. A legend so far beyond any huntsman in capability that he could barely be considered human.

Jaune Arc, the kid who had barely made a dent at Beacon, before being expelled in the most public debacle in decades, before Jacques Arc’s war. They were one and the same. She’s even made the connection. Even without his arsenal, there was no doubt he was the genuine deal.

Had she spent some more time thinking about it, had her mind not been preoccupied with the thought of survival, she would have seen it hours ago.

“I’ll be ending this.” he said, as his sword began to glow. Light, pure and scalding, flooded their little hollow. Yet, it didn’t hurt her eyes, all thanks to her shades. 

So she saw as Jaune swung the sword horizontally. One quick swipe, and the light seemed to simply disappear. 

For a second, it felt like nothing happened. Then, she saw it. The glowing line of superheated rock that ran midway through the prominences of both mountains in front of them. It looked like a clean wound, and as the rock cooled, physics took over.

The cut was angled. Not perfectly, but enough that, once friction was lost, once the superheated rock stopped offering grip, the mountain started to slide.

The Grimm got no warning. Stuck in the gorge as they were, they had no reply to the thousand of tons of rock that were sliding towards them. She saw them begin to retreat. The quickest of Beowoves tried to run forward into the clearing.

It did them no good.

The mountains collapsed inwards, shaking the earth harder than the horde ever could. She braced for impact as a wave of sound and wind washed over her. The rumbling only grew as rock formations crashed against the earth and gave way. 

And then, it simply stopped. The only evidence that a migration of Grimm was passing through the land was buried under the world’s largest landslide, and all that was left behind were plateaus where once two mighty mountains stood their vigil.

“Oops.” Was all Jaune Arc could say.

Yeah, fucking ‘oops’.

LB

Another chapter tomorrow or the day after.

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-Cold Daylight