Embrace of Light and Dark

by Knight of Crows

Chapter 45.

Cassiel POV

The first thing I did before anyone made a move was use Nightfall to lock all the doors. Don't need people who might shoot me barging in to help Sienna or kill her with all the chaos going on. With the exits blocked, no one who can't blast through walls is getting out. I looked at the still unnamed man, Lionheart aimed at him and Nightfall turned into a scythe.

"So what do you have to gain from working for Salem? Cinder had to want either power or destruction, and Adam had to want either revenge or Faunus supremacy. What is it you hope to achieve?" I asked him. That Dust has to be doing a number on his body, his aura has to be rapidly depleting to maintain this level of pain tolerance or whatever is enabling him to stab literal handfuls of Dust into his body with nothing holding him back.

"I have my reasons, boy, just as you have your own." His voice definitely changed. He sounds two-toned, almost demonic. I shot hIm a few times as Sienna leaped over him to lash his back. He blocked my shots, but he bled a little. That's strange. When Sienna tried to go for his feet, he stomped on her whip and pulled her to him. As he was about to slam her into the ground, I threw Nightfall as a shuriken at his feet, causing him to lose his balance a little and let go of Sienna, who was thrown across the room. I recalled Nightfall as wingblades and flew to Sienna, catching her and dropping her close to the ground.

"Okay, that was a bad idea- OH SHIT! BARRIER!" The man jumped a good 30 meters to us and impacted the shield with his fist. "Aero!" I blew Sienna away Aero as he broke through the Barrier on his second punch and carried that momentum to me. I was barely able to activate my armor before he hit me, launching me into a pillar near the wall.

"It didn't need to be like this." He cracked his knuckles. "I had no desire to harm anyone."

"*cough*..." A little blood, but not much. "Cure." I healed myself before throwing my mask near the throne. "Didn't need to be like this? No desire to harm anyone?" He can't be serious about that. I put Lionheart on my back, changed Nightfall to a bow, and fired a few arrows at him. Each one barely penetrated his skin. "You want to use the White Fang to attack Haven. Your group destroyed Beacon. Adam nearly killed me and hurt people I love! Cinder and her partners destroyed Penny and killed Pyrrha!" I felt the Darkness seeping out of me, it hurt a little, but it's a negligible pain. I changed Nightfall into a scythe and airstepped past him, letting go of Nightfall as it imbedded itself into him.

"RAH!" He shouted as he ripped it out, it disappeared on it's own. "You're going to pay for that." He growled. I looked to Sienna, who was waiting for a good opportunity. No matter how it's used, a whip is going to hurt her more than him, she needs to stay back anyway.

"I don't care about Vale or Beacon. I didn't care about Salem when Ironwood tried to recruit me. What pisses me off is the fact and why The Fall happened! What pisses me off is a true Huntress died knowing she couldn't win against Cinder! What pisses me off most is that my sister was forced to watch two of her friends die on the same night and another sister lost her arm to my girlfriend's psychotic ex who stabbed her as well after nearly killing me!" I shot him four more times with Lionheart before airstepping to him and slashing him repeatedly. He tried to punch me and slam his fists into me while I was attacking him. I was barely able to avoid most of his attacks, but a few grazed me, giving me a painful shock each time. His wounds are still healing quickly. I used Aerora to distance myself from him as I felt myself slow down a bit. He tried to grab my leg, but a few lashes from Sienna stopped his attempt.

"Could you keep the talking to a minimum, Cassiel?" I ignored her.

"Salem and her underlings made it personal when you hurt the people I've come to love more than I hate myself and the rest of our pathetic race!" I was about to airstep to him, but Sienna started doing some work. I take back what I thought earlier, she can make that whip work. It reminds me a bit of Blake when she's using Gambol Shroud as a scythe, maybe Sienna helped train her?

She was able to quickly and efficiently change the range of her whip by wrapping and unwrapping it around parts of her body. That would definitely be tricky to deal with. The man wasn't able to catch her weapon this time, and he's too big, too slow to avoid it. Every time he tried to attack, Sienna was able to stay out of his reach and make him regret that decision. She jumped over him, lashing his front twice on the way up and twice on the way down, but he caught her whip again and pulled her close before punching her back to her throne. She should still be fine, but that had to hurt anyway.

I threw Nightfall as a shuriken at him as I shot him with Lionheart. He smacked Nightfall away before charging at me, I could feel his fists impact the floor. I jumped backward and lost my footing because of a bad landing, I had to recall Nightfall as wingblades to rebalance myself, but he was close enough that I didn't have the time to use Barrier or Reflect, so I was stuck blocking the normal way. He easily broke through my guard and grabbed my head, slamming me into the ground several times before Sienna struck his back, her whip repeatedly lashed his back as fast as my shuriken would finish a rotation. As he let go of me, I healed her and myself before putting Lionheart on my back and recalling Nightfall as a twinblade. As he charged towards Sienna, I casted Barrier in front of him, then Graviga. He was able to move, but was heavily weighed down. I airstepped past him, to Sienna, slashing his arm along the way.

"So it doesn't look like he'll be going down any time soon." I said to Sienna as the man was still pinned. "You wouldn't happen to have any poison, would you?" I pulled Lionheart back out, loaded it with fire, lightning, and gravity Dust, and aimed at the Dust in his arms, but he was moving erratically enough that I'd just be wasting ammo.

"Unfortunately, no." She answered. "How is he still standing?" She asked as Graviga ended and the man leaped at us. There was enough force in his attack that even though it hit the floor, it still blew us both away. He grabbed my foot before I could react and slammed me into the ground again before throwing me towards Sienna. She was able to catch me without cutting me with the MANY blades going up her whip. As she pulled the rest of the whip back, her back turned to him and the man back-handed her into a pillar, grabbed her whip AGAIN (bad weapon choice), pulled her back, and punched her as she flew past him, into another pillar. She still had her aura, but she was struggling to stand. I am feeling dizzy still because of what he did before she caught me.

"This doesn't need to go on." He said before stabbing 2 fire Dust crystals in his arms. "If you continue, I can't promise you won't be taken, beaten and broken." I recalled Nightfall as a twinblade and readied a shotlock.

"Are you saying that because you don't want to fight, or because you're reaching your limit?" I asked. "Using your aura to almost instantly heal any injury I would expect to be quite draining. That's not taking into account the fact you're seemingly, if not immune to pain. You may be able to tank almost anything and hit harder than most, but the difference between us is that I learned to properly ignore and inflict pain." Ready. "And you're about to feel a lot of it even through your Semblance." I finished charging the shotlock, the result was Light shooting out of both ends to form the shapes of both blades, the range was increased by at least 20 meters on each blade and I felt physically stronger while using this.

I swung sideways, cutting right through a few pillars, mini blades of Light trailed behind each end of Nightfall as he ripped out the crystals before blocking. Interesting... He really can't defend himself while fighting like he was, and this also means he believed this was a threat. The mini blades got a few strikes on him before he was launched towards the wall, I thrusted the other end of Nightfall into him before he impacted it and held him there. As he was struggling with being pinned while the mini blades were striking him, I finally decided to use my Semblance to punish him more. The copy jumped on top of the giant blade and started beating him. After a few seconds, it jumped off and I pulled back before swinging upward, launching him into the ceiling.

"Graviga!" I casted it repeatedly as he fell and hit the ground. After the 6th or 7th cast, his aura was finally broken and the shotlock ended. Definitely a long and deadly one.
"Aero." I flipped him over so he would face me.

"You're no novice... I can see why Cinder had so much trouble with you." He said as I walked towards him.

"This adds another to the list." I reverted Nightfall to it's original form and held it over his chest. "Thanks for the info, by the way. Now I know to watch out for a 'Tyrian' and you've given me a few ideas of how the attack on Haven will play out. Now I'm ripping out that heart of yours!" I plunged Nightfall into his chest, he screamed as I made sure it hurt unlike the other times. Sienna watched as his biody faded and his heart appeared. I grabbed it before it rose to high.

"Dark Firaga." It took longer to destroy his heart than Adam's, but it still worked.

"Now you owe me some answers!" Sienna said as she approached. I looked at her before falling onto my knees.

"Just... Just give me... A moment." My breathing became heavy, I got it under control after about a minute. I tried standing, but I struggled in doing so, so I decided to just sit down. "Screw it. What do you want to know?"

---

(Many explanations later)

"You expect me to believe all that?" She looked at me like I was crazy. I let some of my Darkness out.

"I can show you that I can tame most Grimm I've encountered, the most dangerous so far being Nevermores and Deathstalkers. Beacon fell mostly because of the inaction of Ironwood and Ozpin. I'm telling you what they told me when they tried to bring me into their 'inner circle', what they tried to practically force upon Pyrrha Nikos, and what I've speculated. Besides, in regards to the magic, I can guarantee the only Dust you'll find on me is my ammo for Lionheart, and that copy I made of him was my Semblance." I answered. "If not magic, then how did I do even half of what I did?"

"You're asking the White Fang to assist you in a war that you believe to be impossible to win and no one knows about? What even is this Salem's objective?" She asked, fearfully.

"I don't know. I do know that with the Fall Maiden's power, Cinder's fire was significantly more powerful than mine if I'm not combining it with Darkness. Adam did essentially recruit the White Fang to Her side anyway, and I doubt treachery in any form sits well with Her. I have no reason to believe she won't target the White Fang eventually," I warned. "especially after we killed that man. Whatever She wants the Maiden's powers for, I don't know. It's safe to assume though that each kingdom has a Maiden, and I'm guessing the power is a key for something under each academy. No reason to have a basement THAT size unless you're hiding something, especially when securing the Maiden's power was prioritized over what's under the school." I explained.

"If what you say is true, then why do you insist on fighting Her? Vale was essentially a warm up, and you think Haven will fair any better against an insurmountable foe? It's suicide!" She shouted.

"I don't specifically remember saying the war can't be won. I remember saying to Ozpin that strength would not bring victory. The main reason the schools were founded was to fight Salem, but only a few people are trusted with knowledge of Her existence, essentially giving each nation a small army of skilled fighters in the form of monster slayers, and that's all the students and the public know. Or at least, that's what I've speculated, I know Pyrrha didn't learn about Salem before she died. This war can be won, Ozpin was just fighting it wrong." I really wish I could punch him a few times.

"As if a child would know how to fight a war! Vale fell easily, Haven will fa-"

"Strength will not bring victory. I never said anything about unity and strategy also failing. Silver eyes are a threat to Grimm, enough so that to my knowledge, that Dragon is still frozen on top of Beacon! A 15 year old girl did more damage to that thing in 5 seconds than the entire school and the Atlas fleet there would have done in 5 minutes! The silver eyes hurt ME because of my powers and usage of Darkness! The eyes are a threat to Her, I can guarantee it! If there's anyone in the White Fang with silver eyes, they are potentially your best fighters and leaders if what Qrow Branwen said is true!" She closed her eyes and clenched her fist.

"Then how would you fight Her? If She can be defeated, how?"

"A united front, each nation fighting for survival with the powers under each school. The Maidens, silver eyed warriors, and seasoned Huntsmen and Huntresses lead the assault. I can tame Grimm, turning Her weapons against Her. If that's not enough?" I summoned Nightfall. "This, and another weapon I haven't been able to use for a little while are weapons born, not forged, born from Light and Darkness, which is why they cut through Grimm like a hot knife through butter, because they are creatures of Darkness. And you saw what I did to that man, his body faded away, and that heart you saw? That was basically his soul that I destroyed. I have no reason to believe this can't kill, or at least seal Her away for eternity. If all else fails, I can just pull Her into a Dark Corridor and essentially remove Her from this plane of existence."

"..." She turned away, she appeared indecisive.

"..."

"..."

"..." The decision isn't really that hard.

"... I'll need some time to think on this. You can rest here for the night, or return to Menagerie if that portal or whatever it was really does connect to Blake Belladonna. I'll have an answer by tomorrow." She offered.

"I trust you not to kill me in my sleep, can't say the same for everyone else here though." I said. "Actually, I'll take you up on that. I'll be fine." I stood up again. "As a reward for their efforts in the Great War, the Faunus were given Menagerie. A slap in the face for many, but it was a start towards a better future. If the White Fang save Haven, that can only benefit the Faunus in general. How do you think the world will respond when it's the White Fang, the Faunus, who first officially take up arms against Salem? If becoming the world's saviors doesn't secure your place as humanity's equals, if not their superiors, then either humanity should just press that shiny red button that says "global thermonuclear war" or I can take you all someplace without humans, and significantly less racism and prejudice to my experience." I offered.

White Fang recruited and another pawn of Salem's dead? These next two weeks are going to be fun if this keeps up.

Author's Note:

There were a few things that confused me with Hazel's fighting style. If I understand how aura works, it's basically a shield, healing unit, and steroids considering all the feats that would be physically impossible without it (such as a person with no visible muscle one-handing weapons that should weigh as much if not more than they do). This isn't taking into account for a Semblance. Hazel seems to only show the healing and steroids in the show.

He stabbed himself with 4 Dust crystals before he joined the fight in the show. Later, he stabbed 2 more, a total of 6 crystals, 4 of which are lightning, 2 are fire. If I'm understanding how aura works, his aura should have been pushing the Dust out, instead it looked to be healing him while his Semblance blocked out the pain. There was 1 interesting scene though, 1 thing to catch my attention when Weiss rejoined the fight. The Lancer she summoned shot him with it's stinger, half of it went right through Hazel before pulling him back into the school, that means 1 of 4 things.

1. While he is using his Semblance, he can't use his aura to protect himself, not that he really needs to when he can't feel pain and the damage heals about as fast as it's received.
2. The protective function was inactive (not inaccessible).
3. Schnee family summons ignore aura (I'd call hacks).
4. Lancers have VERY strong piercing potential.

I would compare him to Nidus and Inaros from Warframe, actually, Krieg from Borderlands 2 would probably be a better comparison. He can take a lot of damage because he can't feel it, he has to have A LOT of aura/ high aura regeneration to maintain his Semblance for as long as he did with 6 Dust crystals in his body, though that was probably draining him more after he stabbed the 2 fire crystals into his arms.

Looking at the 4 possibilities above, I find the most likely to be 1 and 4. He either can't use his aura as a shield when using his Semblance, or Lancers have powerful stingers. We probably won't officially have an answer until season 8, but I thought it was reasonable that he couldn't shield himself during the fight with Cassiel and Sienna. Hazel may be strong, but when he fights by doing nothing but angrily punching everything, it makes me wonder how and why Salem recruited him when everyone else is significantly more of a threat than he is. The only use he really was to Salem was his relatively passive nature when not in combat combined with his diplomacy. Had Adam not opened his mouth, he might have recruited Sienna.

I did want to bring up Ozpin, but I couldn't think of a reason for either of them to bring him and Hazel's sister into this, same goes for Summer Rose.

As for Sienna's fighting style, I thought back to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow's Gabriel Belmont's attacks as a reference. Now, I want to play that again. That was sort of my first time playing the series. I played SOTN, but I was like, 4 or 5. The only thing I remembered was a guy dressed in blue attacking a bigger guy dressed in black, and the first meeting with the Grim Reaper, that was it. I didn't even remember the name of that game until years later.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions for battle music! I'll definitely be keeping a few of them in mind for future battles!

Comments

[Mitril]

then either humanity should just press that shiny red button that says "global thermonuclear war" or I can take you all someplace without humans, and significantly less racism and prejudice to my experience." I offered.

1.
I don't think Sienna understood the meaning of red button because humans didn't create nukes
If they created something similar, it would be called different and made from dust

Which probably would be used by Salem immediately, when planned

2.
The allocation/transport option I think is much better
Transport faunus and humans who want to go and aren't racists

He didn't mean Equestria thought?
The issue I have with "significantly less racism and prejudice to my experience." is with ponies that aren't much different from RWBY humans and his experience wasn't really good so.....

If it has to be Equestria then he should transport them onto a planet on which Eqeustri is located, for example, Equus or Equis, then it would be better to create a new country on the unpopulated continent

Or different place what so ever

He could even transport them on some version of modern earth, something between 2014-now(minus corona virus)
I read once fanfic that did something similar and it turned out good for faunus
The USA also nuked the Atlesian airships fleet after Atlesian traitors (soldiers, generals, etc)were on on the way in them to attack some big city
They were angry on the USA and other countries(NATO, etc) for demanding kingdoms to stop bad treatment of faunus and other things

[DarkKing2]

Good

[Knight of Crows]

10167719
I did mean equestria because he didn't really face any racism, most of the bad treatment he got was because he was an asshole first or broke the law, but got off on a technicality.

[Fluffy-Boi]

Yooo. That is so cool that you used one of my songs I suggested. It made this chapter more fun to read.