The Grimm Prince (RWBY)

A/N: Reminder that this story ends on Chapter 81. Three chapters remain!

In which Jaune and Salem have a frank chat about plans of mice and men.

-x-X-x-

“Explain.”

Jaune’s clipped and demanding tone betrays his anxiety as he narrows his eyes at his Queen. In response, Salem raises an eyebrow and smiles at him placidly.

“I’m not sure what there is to explain, my King. You had me use magic to disguise Winter Schnee as her fellow Specialist so that she could get in contact with General Ironwood and provide him with evidence, also manufactured by my magic, of the very real plans that Ozma had in mind for replacing the Grimm with the White Fang and the Faunus as Remnant’s boogeymen. Did you forget?”

Scowling, Jaune shakes his head.

“No, I did not forget.”

It had only been a few days after all, and Penny hadn’t been THAT good. Salem just smirks at him though.

“Well it worked. The whole plan went off without a hitch. Winter contacted Ironwood in disguise and he bought it wholesale. The good General did not see through either the disguise or the evidence. Perhaps because even if the evidence was fake, Ozma’s actions were not.”

Salem shrugs as if that part is inconsequential, before continuing on.

“Either way, he made Winter wait a day before giving her new orders… she, or rather her disguise, is to join up with a group of Atlesian Specialists on the border between Vale and Atlas, at which point they will infiltrate Beacon with the intention of assassinating Ozma.”

Jaune processes all of that for a long moment. Winter as Harriet had done her job to a tee. He couldn’t fault her for that. And yet… he was still left with so many fucking questions. All of which he found could be distilled into two words.

“But… why?!”

It’s a loaded question with multiple meanings. And he knows that Salem knows that. She, however, chooses to pick the simplest meaning, raising another eyebrow at him in amusement.

“Because he found out about Ozma’s plans, of course. Why else?”

Alright, he’s given his sassy Queen a lot of slack so far, at least in part because he hadn’t intended to spend several days fucking a robot and he felt a little bad about getting tied up with all of that. But at this point Salem is pushing too far. With a growl, Jaune grabs the Queen of the Grimm by the neck and pushes her up against the wall, holding her firmly. He’s not hurting her in any way… he’s merely reminding her of her place.

“No more games, Salem. Explain properly.”

Judging by the glint in the Grimm Queen’s red eyes, she’d wanted something like this. Sure, she probably didn’t expect him to bend her over and fuck her for her impertinent behavior so soon after he got done with a proper sex marathon, but not all domination has to be sexual in nature.

Letting out a breathless sigh, Salem smiles.

“Mm, yes my King. Simply put, General Ironwood has decided that with the Grimm supposedly gone, the war with Mistral almost won, and Ozma’s dastardly plans exposed… that he’s better suited to usher in the next era of Remnant than the immortal Headmaster pulling everyone’s strings.”

Jaune slowly blinks at that.

“But… he’s Ozma’s man, isn’t it? I mean, I hoped that letting Winter disguised as Harriet report in might begin driving a wedge between them, but I didn’t think Ironwood would flip this hard, this fast. Isn’t he loyal to Ozma?”

Salem shakes her head at that, as much as she can anyways with Jaune’s hand on her neck.

“No. He might know Ozma’s secrets and be trusted as a close confidante… but you misunderstand their relationship, my King. General Ironwood is loyal to himself and Atlas above all else. He is a man who believes himself to be of principle and conviction… and that sort of man is very dangerous indeed. He is Ozma without centuries and centuries of life. He believes himself righteous… and that means he’s capable of anything.”

Capable of anything. Like ordering the assassination of a long time friend and ally a mere day after finding out that he’d tried to betray you. It wasn’t like Ironwood’s reaction was THAT surprising, but the swiftness with which he’d decided that Ozma was a loose end who had to be tied up WAS. It was almost like Ironwood had already been planning something like this. Or at the very least like he’d been thinking about it for some time and just needed a reason to act on his thoughts.

“I see you’re beginning to understand, my King. A man like General Ironwood… all he needs is the right excuse.”

Hissing through his teeth, Jaune grits them for a moment before asking the next obvious question.

“But… why assassination? He knows Ozma will just come back.”

Salem hums and inclines her head in acknowledgment.

“I’m sure he does. But you fail to realize how weak Ozma’s base is right now. His support structure has never been more frayed. General Ironwood is one of the people Ozma trusts to track down his next incarnation, meaning that the man knows everything to look for. And if the Specialist Team pulls off their attack as they’ve been instructed, Ozma quite literally won’t know what hit him…”

Jaune blinks at that before understanding dawns.

“… Meaning that Ozma’s next reincarnation will still trust Ironwood, and the General can do whatever he wants with them at that point.”

Salem smiles and nods. Jaune can only shake his head in incredulous disbelief. It’s… not a bad plan, truth be told. For them, trying to catch Ozma’s next incarnation would be a pain in the ass, mostly because the reincarnating immortal would be on the look out for strangers trying to hunt him down. That’s why catching him and putting him in a coma for the rest of his natural life span was probably for the best, since it would give them the time needed to prepare for wherever his reincarnation might show up.

But for General Ironwood… well, if everything went according to his plans, then Ozma would walk right into his arms without a second thought. Hell, Ozma would probably seek Ironwood out in the end, and the Atlesian General wouldn’t even have to hunt him down in the first place. From there, Ironwood could do whatever he wanted with Ozma.

“There’s more, of course.”

Jaune jolts, looking at his Queen with a frown.

“What? More… what more could there be?”

Salem sighs.

“Winter took a risk when Ironwood gave her these orders. She asked questions. To be fair, between her disguise and my watchful eye, she wasn’t in true danger at any point… even still, she wanted to know what Ironwood was planning… and funnily enough, he was in a talkative mood and told her some interesting things.”

For a moment, Salem waits. Jaune growls impatiently, prompting her to continue explaining.

“… The war with Mistral is almost won. Vale was slowest to take to the field, so Atlas stands to gain the most from the conflict. And because much of their armies are mechanized, they didn’t actually lose much at all in the way of manpower. When all is said and done, General Ironwood will have the biggest seat at the table when it comes to discuss what peace between those three Kingdoms will look like.”

Salem smirks.

“Of course, due to Ozma’s nature and their alliance, my ex-husband would likely have an equal seat at that table… if he were still around when peace talks finally started. If he’s dead however, then the good General becomes the single biggest dick in the room, and everyone winds up dancing to his tune. He’s not just planning to remove Ozma from the board so he can control the next incarnation of my dear ex-husband… he’s getting rid of Ozma so he can make a play for taking control of all three Kingdoms.”

… Well shit. Unfortunately, it made a lot of sense. Of course General Ironwood would make a play like that. It was like Salem had said. He considered himself a righteous man. He believed himself a man of principle and conviction. If not him, who else? Certainly not Ozma, now that he’d learned what he had about the other man’s plans for the White Fang. No… Ironwood would take control not because he wanted to, but because he felt he had to. Because it was necessary. Or at least, that’s what he would tell himself.

Jaune grits his teeth, releasing Salem’s neck so he can curl his hands into fists at his sides and begin pacing the length of the room. Over on the bed, Penny is still shut down. It’s just the two of them talking about all of this. Him and Salem. King and Queen of the Grimm.

“What will you do, my King? Shall we warn Ozma of Ironwood’s ploy? Perhaps pull Winter back at the same time? What do we hope to gain from setting them against one another? What is the end goal?”

There’s no judgment in the Grimm Queen’s voice. Only curiosity. And yet, it doesn’t matter because Jaune is currently judging himself. He’s judging himself most strongly. Because Salem’s words… they resound through his head. He finds himself looking back on the span of his life as a Grimm, on everything he’s done, on all of the actions he’s taken. And… he finds himself lacking in so many instances that it’s not even funny.

When it came down to the individual, he’d done a halfway decent job he liked to think. He’d separated right from wrong, saved those who deserved to be saved, stopped those who deserved to be stopped, and altogether proved to be a net positive in the lives of everyone who encountered him except for the biggest pieces of scum.

However… zooming out to look at the larger picture, Jaune realizes he’s failed the world.

“… No. We won’t tell Ozma anything.”

Salem pauses, perhaps noting something in his tone that causes her to tense up.

“My King?”

“… You’ve tried to tell me so many times, Salem. And I never listened to you. All of your experience, all of your centuries of life, and I ignored you time and time again to try and do things my way. And where has it led us? A world at war. Men playing with the lives of those beneath them while jockeying for power. No more.”

Now Salem actually looks a little worried.

“I don’t understand, Jaune…”

Smiling wanly at his Queen, he reaches out and pulls her into a hug, kissing her forehead as he holds her close. His voice is barely a whisper when he answers her.

“I’m done. We tried leaving them alone and refusing to play the game. And when that failed, we tried playing the game their way as well. I tried so hard to understand them… but I realize now that it’s impossible.”

In his arms, Salem stiffens up and looks at him, worried.

“Jaune… my King… you have taught me that there are many humans worthy of life. I hope you do not intend to do anything rash.”

Jaune blinks and then chuckles throatily as he realizes what his Queen’s concerns are.

“Not to worry, Salem. I’m not planning on wiping them out or anything like that. But also… this has gotten ridiculous. They’re like children. And we don’t let children govern themselves, do we? We certainly don’t let them live on their own.”

Understanding dawns on Salem, her red eyes widening.

“You mean…”

Smirking a bit, Jaune nods.

“Yes. We’re going to do what we should have done from the beginning. We’re going to take over.”

For over two and a half years, the Grimm had not been seen on the face of Remnant. And what had the Human Kingdoms done with that reprieve? They’d gone to war with one another, of course. People were so petty. So childish. So… unimaginable arrogant and convinced of their own superiority.

Enough was enough. Jaune had already promised Ironwood’s life to Summer. He’d already deemed it a necessity for Ozma to be captured and kept in a medically induced coma so that the reincarnating immortal, who had clearly gone insane after centuries of fighting Salem, would no longer be such a looming threat to his loved ones.

But if there was one thing that his attempts to understand humans had taught Jaune this past year, it was that power abhorred a vacuum. Killing Ironwood and removing Ozma from the board wouldn’t do anything but see them replaced by men just like them, possibly even worse.

They were too entrenched, Ozma most of all, and with nothing else to replace them, the only real choice was for Jaune and Salem to do it.

Maybe they wouldn’t go all out. Maybe the average citizen wouldn’t need to know that they were in charge. But the Councils would most definitely need to be informed of the change in management. And those who thought themselves in power, who thought they were in charge, would need to learn that Mommy and Daddy were home and not playing around anymore.

First though…

“We’ll take over the world once Ozma and Ironwood are dealt with. First, we need to neutralize both of them or who knows how they might destabilize things.”

Salem hums, nodding along as she rests her head on his chest, still hugging him. The Grimm Queen seems rather relaxed now that he’s come to a decision… though he can feel her vibrating a bit as he holds her. She’s excited, even if she’s trying to hide it.

“Who shall we deal with first, my King?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? Technically Ironwood already had a plan, so it would be relatively easy to just take that plan and rework it. However, there was always the possibility that might backfire, and Ozma might wind up dead still.

On the other hand, killing Ironwood before taking down Ozma would almost certainly alert the crazed Headmaster to the fact that something was wrong.

Handling them both at the same time was a distinct possibility, but Jaune couldn’t be in two places at once. Then again, he HAD told Summer she would be allowed to kill General Ironwood, when the time came…

[X] Try to set things up so they're dealt with at the same time - 67%