The Knights of Grimm - Act 4 - Whispers of Arkhonex

Chapter 55 - The Great Oak

Jaune

They did not know what to say...

...they had just learned the truth of what happened to the Nikos Legacy, but more horrifyingly what Ares Nikos had to do to the Faunus and the Varr Skaal Family in Menagerie. Blake collapsed to the floor and she was leant up against the wall with her hands clasped together, shaking slightly. Jaune was also sat down, they all felt the silence and his gaze was focused on the blade of Crocea Mors as the ancient hieroglyphics of Arkhonex glowed upon it.

So many people...Spartans...of Nikos...died so then a sword could be forged.

Pyrrha looked at Blake where she sat, she saw how broken she looked. She hated hearing about how her people were butchered in any way, the stories of the Congregation of Dawn horrified her...but learning that Pyrrha's Ancestors had caused the largest number of death for her people in history...that haunted her. But she knew that Pyrrha was not the same, and even then she was questioning if it was worth it.

Ozpin stood by Oscar who looked at him with a concerned look in his eyes, he still did not know if he could trust him. He hid the most important secret from him, the fact he was never naturally born, and that his aunt was manipulated just as he was. Ozpin did not look at him, he just looked ahead with his hands placed atop the cane he had beneath him, his brown eyes seemed so focused yet distant at the same time.

Pyrrha stood up as she looked at Blake and she walked over to her, and crouched down before her. She held her hand in both of hers, which made the shocked Blake look right at her. "I'm...I'm so sorry." She apologised tearfully to her friend, but Blake did not know what to say. It was nothing to do with Pyrrha or even Ares...it was more to do with whether or not she believed he did the right thing. Was it worth it in the end?

"Was it worth it?" Blake asked them all, and then she looked straight at the Survivors of Arkhonex. Kragen was the one to answer the question for her.

"If Horridus Morbus managed to spread beyond Arkhonex and across the whole world...none of us would be standing here." Kragen said to her as he shrugged his shoulders, and Blake stared at him with fearful eyes. They all knew that despite his kindness towards them, Kragen – and the other Arkhoni – were all very cold towards such things. But they could understand why, at the end of the day they witnessed their entire civilisation crumble and had to watch whilst the next one was born...and theirs was completely forgotten.

It was not exactly ridiculous for them to view things in such ways, but Blake did not see it that way, her kind had always been living under the Executioner's Axe, so whenever she heard about her people being slaughtered in such a way...it hurt.

"But Arkhonex fell anyway." Blake pointed out, and Kragen nodded his head.

"Our fate was sealed...but if Ares did not do what he had to do...there would have been nothing to come afterwards. He had to stop it from spreading any further, Menagerie was one of the biggest spots of trade, especially for raw minerals. Imagine how far it could have spread if he did not kill the source?" Kragen asked her to imagine it, and she pictured the Map of Remnant. It would have all been smothered in red, people and wildlife would have been wiped out in weeks if he did not do it.

"I don't think I wanna even try and picture that." Oscar said with a nervous chuckle as he walked away from the man who created him with the Relic of Creation. He crouched down beside Ruby who walked over to Blake and comforted her.

"But...the Faunus...they deserve it." Blake sadly said, and the Arkhoni all shook their heads in agreement with her.

"No...they didn't. Vyrryk promised he would keep the Varr Skaal safe, but he couldn't protect them from Horridus Morbus, or Ares Nikos." Yenna stated as she walked over to the area of which the holographic feed of Ares Nikos was stood. She wiped the dust from the lens and she sighed. "But it doesn't matter anymore...we can't change the past." She stated.