An Anon's Journey: Remnant Act 1

V3E14: Cards on the Table (Volume 3 Finale)

The ascent up the tower was slow, slower than Hope remembered. Maybe it was partially damaged, making the ascent slower than usual. Or maybe the Cosmos was want to make the moment more climactic. Who's to say, really? But it gave the seer from another world ample time to think back over his journey so far. In the end, he came to a simple conclusion.

He failed. He failed to change the story.

Sure, Pyrrha is still alive but a sinking feeling told him that this wouldn't change much. If anything, he's sacrificing himself, taking Pyrrha's place so that she could live and help Jaune conclude his original arc.

"The page will become the knight much sooner..." Hope mused aloud.

He wanted to scoff cynically but a proud smile ended up where a biter frown would be. Sure, the Fall still happened, Ozpin still died and so did Amber.

Yet, he still accomplished much.

The preparations he made for the Fall and the countless lives it saved. Getting Penny to update her self-preservation protocol and in turn saving her life and sparing Pietro from losing more of his soul. Saving Ruby from the Nevermore and pushing her and all the other present Huntsmen into action. Saving May from the talking Grimm. Saving Blake, Yang and Weiss from Adam and showing Blake that there was still hope for him. All of that made all the pain, blood, sweat and tears worth it.

He let out a cloud of cigar smoke as the elevator doors opened and Hope entered the last arena.

The roof of Beacon Tower was one level higher than Ozpin's own office and only really existed because it gives a better view of the sky than the giant glass paned clock that was the Headmaster's office. Hope looked to the skies one last time, the darkness that clouded it now seemed even deeper than before, although Hope imagined that it was because Zadkiel wasn't there to illuminate the skies anymore. He stopped wasting time and walked to the edge of the tower, setting his foot on the railing and taking out his cannon. The Jabberwock looked around in utter confusion and furor, its patience at its end. It was clearly looking for something and Hope had an idea of what it was. He couldn't help but snort at the thought that Cinder, being the predictable dramatic bitch that she was, probably wanted to summon the Jabberwock to her as some sort of intro to her final boss fight.

"It's quite unfortunate then that I have pressed the skip cutscene button."

Hope took aim through Morrigan's iron sights at the giant target standing on its hind legs, looking around. He took aim at the back of its skull, hoping that it would be a kill shot even despite the thick bone plates covering it. Holding his breath, he slowly squeezed the trigger.

A cold wind blew, and the Jabberwock turned around and looked up at He Called Hope.

The bullet ripped through the air with a hyper-sonic crack. The dark beast had no time to react and as soon as it laid eyes on the mortal human standing atop the tower, it went half blind and an unbearable pain permeated its head. The bullet caught on the wyvern's mask where its snout met its brow, shattering that part of its mask and sending tons of shrapnel into its eye.

The beast tumbled to the floor, screaming like a maimed animal, as dark ichor poured from its now vacant eye socket. Hope heard the elevator go down. Knowing that it was Cinder, he completely ignored it and went back to shooting. The seer fired again, hitting the beast right in its chest and breaking its ribcage. The beast stumbled unto its back before quickly rolling unto its legs. It took in painful breaths as it bellowed an ear-piercing roar of absolute wrath. It's only eye locked onto the one responsible for its new infirmity. It galloped towards the tower as Hope fired again, missing his mark. The beast leaped upward with a mighty flap of its wings, making Hope miss a second time. It passed him, unfolding its full frame in the sky before plunging to meet its would-be assassin.