Glynda Goodwitch

A/N: Just a reminder, the release of this chapter means a new chapter over on P atreon as well, where my patrons are voting on the future direction of the story!

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Glynda Goodwitch had dedicated her whole life to fighting for humanity. From a young age, she'd known that her place… her place was on the frontlines, as a bulwark against the Grimm. Born to a pair of loving parents in a border town, Glynda's story was not unique or even all that rare… but that didn't make it any less tragic.

Her parents, along with their entire town, had been killed, wiped out in a Grimm attack. Glynda was the only survivor, orphaned when she was still just a girl. As everyone else had ran and been hunted down or fought and died all the same, Glynda's parents had hidden her away, had made her stay very still and told her under no uncertain terms that she was to stay where she was until help came.

In truth, it probably wouldn't have been enough to save her if that help hadn't arrived in the nick of time. Hiding rather than trying to flee or fight had meant she was merely the last of the villagers to be sniffed out by the Grimm. Just as her hiding spot had been discovered by a Beowulf, just as her young life had been about to be ended… he had appeared.

Ozpin, or as she'd come to know him, Ozma. He'd still been relatively young in this latest life of his. A full-grown Hunter wracking up quite an impressive resume and success rate on his missions. He was the rising star in Vale, someone that everyone looked up to and admired because despite his relative youth, he always got the job done.

Of course, later on when she was brought much further into his confidence, Glynda had found out the truth about his incredible skill and amazing competence. This was not the first life Ozpin had lived, nor would it be the last hopefully. For it was Ozpin, or rather, Ozma, who had been humanity's greatest protector for centuries on end. It was Ozma who had shouldered the weight of the world and the knowledge of the truth of the Grimm, all this time.

For Glynda, he would always be the man who saved her life, who was there for her when no one else was. But he was so much more than that as well. And to see him completely lost and confused… it caused her so much pain.

All her life, she'd strived to live by his example. As Ozpin, he had gone from a rising star of a hunter to the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. When Glynda had followed in his footsteps and become a capable and accomplished huntress in her own right, receiving the invitation to teach at Beacon from her savior had been one of the happiest moments of her life.

… And yet, part of her had always rankled a little at the state of things. It wasn't that she'd blamed Ozpin, never Ozpin… but the world just wasn't fair, and she'd always hated that. In a fair world, they would be able to tell everyone the truth and rally humanity behind Ozpin to defeat Salem once and for all. However, there was a reason that the knowledge that the Grimm were controlled by an intelligent being was a forbidden fruit of sorts.

Ozpin had told her what had happened in the past, when he'd attempted to rally humankind against Salem. Her armies of Grimm and Darkness would overwhelm any fighting force of mortals he could put together, no matter how strong their conviction, no matter how varied and versatile their semblances. Aura, the light of one's very soul, was a powerful tool against the Grimm… but not powerful enough.

In the end, Ozpin had eventually discovered that Salem would let the remnants of humanity remain in a certain small area. Compared to the vast totality of Remnant itself, the Four Kingdoms were taking up a truly miniscule amount of space. But far from there being the potential of other peoples and other civilizations elsewhere on their world, Ozpin had made it abundantly clear that it was just endless tides of Grimm in every direction for as far as the eye could see.

That was how powerful Salem, Queen of the Grimm was. She held all of that under her control. Land that humanity could have used, could have expanded onto and flourished, was instead infested with too many Grimm to be counted… until two years ago.

As the bullhead that Glynda is currently flying finally crosses into the Land of Darkness, Glynda's breath catches and she has to steady her heart for a moment, hands tightening up on the controls and jaw clenching. Looking down at the sensor readouts, her eyes narrow as she looks for any sign that the Grimm are just laying in wait, ready to tear her to pieces.

But… there's nothing that she can see, at least not at first. No flock of Nevermore comes pelting towards her vessel. No packs of Beowulf roam down below. The land is surprisingly… empty. Almost… pristine in a way. Looking out the window, Glynda's breath hitches at the sheer beauty in these outermost parts of the Land of Darkness.

It certainly doesn't feel dark to her. Rather, nature has clearly had a chance to reclaim these lands over the past two years. Without humans or Grimm both, the world… it's almost like the world itself is healing.

No more is this clearer than as Glynda flies further in. A half hour later, and her eyes widen as she sees natural, above-ground Dust Crystal Formations. They're still relatively small, but the largest is almost as large as her bullhead, sprouting out of the ground completely naturally, like it doesn't know that it's humankind's most valuable resource.

Ozpin had told Glynda once that dust crystals used to form naturally on the surface or close to it at least, appearing in surface-level caves and everything. But Glynda had never had the chance to witness it with her own eyes, had never gotten to see it herself. It was… beautiful, in a way. And also made Glynda's heart soar, giving her hope for the future. Humanity truly could flourish, if it was allowed to expand into these lands.

But that was the kicker, wasn't it? The big 'if', as it were. Ozpin was convinced that this, all of this… was a trap. The past two years had been a strange, if hopeful time for all of them. But Glynda had practically been raised on Ozpin's stories. She'd been tempered by his iron will. If he said that this was all to lull them into a false sense of security, then Glynda believed it.

After all, it sounded like something a board immortal Evil Goddess of sorts would do. Even if Salem wasn't technically divinity, she was the closest they had at this point. A Mad Tyrant with the entire world in the palm of her hand. She hadn't ever wiped out humanity, despite decidedly having the ability to do so. Ozpin's greatest efforts weren't enough to stop her, and yet she'd never taken that final step and just… ended it.

It spoke of a mad woman playing with her toys. Ozpin, Glynda, the rest of humankind… they were just curiosities for her at this point, things to poke and prod at to see their reactions. At least, that was what Glynda had always assumed from what Ozpin had told her. Keeping that in mind then, was there any other explanation besides the one the Headmaster had come up with? The Grimm Queen was playing them all for fools. She was letting up just so they would be at each other's throats.

Sure, she might give them a generation or two of peace from the Grimm, but how many hunters and huntresses would instead die on battlefields between Kingdoms as predatory practices and greed won out and all out war broke out across Remnant? How much talent that could have potentially been used against Salem herself would die before they could ever be discovered and cultivated by Headmaster Ozpin?

… Glynda knew she was probably going to her death. Even if there still weren't any Grimm on her radar, even if the wild expanse of gorgeous, untamed nature still continued on in front of the bullhead, she knew that she wasn't likely to survive this. That was why Ozpin had given her the tools he did. He'd made sure she was equipped with the long-range transmitter that would allow her to send back images and maybe even video via her scroll, even from far outside of the range of the CTT network.

They would be the first images ever recorded of the Land of Darkness, and if Glynda succeeded in her task, the first images ever recorded of the Queen of the Grimm as well. If she could just get Ozpin, the proof he needed… whatever happened to her next would be worth it. It would be fine. She might be going to her death… but in truth, Glynda should have died a long time ago, when she was just a little girl, and the Grimm were bearing down on her hiding spot.

Every moment of her life since then had been committed to Ozpin and his cause. She'd sacrificed all personal desires, all her happiness, to make sure she gave her all to that cause. She'd taught at Beacon when she would rather have been on the frontlines as a huntress. She'd worked herself and her students to the bone, rather than pursuing romance or companionship.

Glynda Goodwitch had spent her entire life paying Ozpin back for saving her that day. She wasn't about to stop now. She-

BREEEEP! BREEEEP!

Eyes widening, Glynda is torn out of her inner monologue by a sudden alarm from the bullhead. Before she can even react to the sensor readouts, something slams into her vessel, sending it reeling to the side and jarring her in the pilot's seat. Crying out, the Beacon Professor tries to get back control of the bullhead… but it's already too late. An entire wing has been torn off, and the engines are already sputtering to a stop.

She plummets, and all she can do is focus on wrapping herself in her aura as she grabs what supplies she can grab and prepares for impact.

-x-X-x-

"Look, darling, she's fine. And now we have a few more days to decide how to approach the problem."

Sitting at the head of a long table, Jaune looks up from the modified Seer's projection of Glynda Goodwitch shouldering a backpack and beginning to make her way deeper into his and his Queen's lands with a determined look on her face. Looking to Salem, he gives her an unimpressed gaze that makes the Grimm Queen wilt a little.

"And did I ask you to do that, my Queen? Did I ask you to unilaterally decide to crash her bullhead for the sake of 'giving us more time'?"

Salem winces… and drops to her knees, bowing her head submissively.

"No, my King. You did not. My sincerest apologies…"

Jaune doesn't speak and after a moment, Salem climbs under the table and takes out his cock, eagerly slipping it into her mouth and sucking him off as further apology. Honestly, there was a half-decent chance that she'd done this just so she could have an excuse to 'apologize' in this manner… Jaune would have to look into that to make sure that wasn't the case. But for now, he had more important things on his mind.

Two years. It'd been two years since Jaune had become the Grimm Prince, two years since he'd found himself taking up the mantle of Salem's King and taking on the hefty responsibility of keeping her under control and… excising her most terrible impulses. She had come a long way in the last two years, but it was still a short time compared to the centuries and centuries she'd existed alone, without him.

He'd probably be spending centuries more unraveling her specific bundle of fucked up mental shit. For now, though, he had a decision to make. And it was probably one he shouldn't make alone.

After all, look what his last major decision had led to? All had seemed to be going just fine at first. Pulling the Grimm back, but not revealing his and Salem's existence, had seemed like a great idea. Sure, it had taken several months for even the most ambitious and reckless people in the Kingdoms to actually take advantage and start making new settlements outside their borders, but those settlements had flourished, and things had really started to take off from there.

Except now, two years later… there was talk of war. Jaune couldn't believe it. Maybe it was naïve of him, and in all fairness in hindsight it decidedly WAS naïve of him… but still, he hadn't expected things to degenerate so damn quickly! Where did Mistral get off, making plays for the other Kingdoms when they had plenty of formerly Grimm-infested land to invest in first? Admittedly, it wasn't like they were ignoring their possible expansion… they were simply trying to do both. Making new settlements where it had once been unviable because of the Grimm, while also making obvious pushes on their neighbors' lands.

Jaune didn't know what was going through the minds of the rulers of Mistral, but he did know that something had to be done about it. He just wasn't sure that he was the person to be doing that something.

At the same time, Glynda Goodwitch was… Ozma's pawn. And now that she was here, he had to decide how to deal with her. Killing her was out of the question, he'd already made that decision. But still…

With a sigh, Jaune pulls Salem off of his cock, using his grip on her hair to force the Queen of the Grimm to look up at him.

"I need your advice, Salem. How should we handle this? We didn't declare ourselves, so it's not like we have any political recourse to her invading our sovereign territory or anything like that. She's heading towards us though. Maybe not straight towards us… but she'll come upon the castle eventually at her current rate. So… what do you suggest?"

Salem ponders for a moment, and he's pleased to see she doesn't immediately call for Glynda's death. That's progress. In fact, it's evidence of even more progress when she gives him two very different options without really advocating for either one.

"Send one of the women to her, I suppose. Cinder would be the Hard Sell, given how she is. Summer… the Soft Pitch. Either could be sent to feel Ozma's pawn out and see if there's any reasoning with her, my King. Alternatively... both could."

Slowly nodding, Jaune looks away for half a second in thought… and Salem eagerly takes advantage by diving right back down his cock. With her piece said, the Grimm Queen seems eager to return to her nonverbal 'apology', bobbing up and down his dick quite eagerly as Jaune sits back in his chair with his chin resting on his fist.

Cinder with the Hard Sell or Summer with the Soft Pitch. Heh, considering how the two of them got along like a house on fire, sending them both was probably a really bad idea. Still... decisions, decisions…

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