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The Grimm Prince Ch. 80 (RWBY)
🕑 Added 2024-08-20 14:43:31 +0000 UTCA/N: The Councils of Three Kingdoms come together for an unprecedented peace conference...
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It was the largest diplomatic meeting between the Kingdoms of Remnant to take place since The Great War. Only the fact that Vacuo had stayed out of it this time meant that it couldn’t measure up.
Still, with the sudden disappearance of Headmaster Ozpin and the brutal demise of General Ironwood, things weren’t quite as clear cut as they’d been originally. Originally, one could assume that given Mistral was well on its way to suffering an ignoble defeat at the combined forces of Atlas and Vale, this was going to be a rather lopsided negotiation.
However, James Ironwood wasn’t just an Atlesian General… he was THE Atlesian General. The man might not have ruled Atlas with an iron fist like his detractors wished to claim, and he’d always bowed to the Council of Atlas’ whims if they stood united on a certain issue. But he was still their foremost military commander, the one nominally ‘in charge’ when it came down to brass tacks.
And he was murdered, with his assassin in the wind. That would have been bad enough, but then Headmaster Ozpin went missing as well, with the only sign that his disappearance hadn’t been voluntary being the destruction of his office. Now, while the Beacon Headmaster didn’t hold quite so direct a position of authority as General Ironwood had, he’d held an awful lot of soft power and political influence.
So much so that some didn’t even really realize how deep Ozpin’s influence ran until he was suddenly gone and the vast majority of them no longer knew quite what to do.
And so what should have been a one-sided diplomatic beatdown ending with huge concessions on the part of Mistral, if the Kingdom even got to continue existing after this, was suddenly a far tenser affair where instead of it being Vale and Atlas standing united against Mistral, all three Kingdoms were left on edge, wondering where they stood with one another now, and where they would stand with each other by the end of this summit.
Sitting in a large room at a round table, the three delegations all fidget and squirm in their chairs, before finally, one of the Atlesian Council members stands up.
“Well? I think it’s time we get started, don’t you? Seeing as it was Vale who brought us to this table, I believe Vale should go first!”
A Valean Council member immediately rises to their feet at that, squawking a bit out of both indignation and nervousness.
“A-Ahem! Vale did no such thing… we merely accepted the invitation from the Kingdom of Mistral to discuss peace terms! As such, it only makes sense for Mistral to start us off. Perhaps with an apology?”
The Mistral side looks at one another for a long moment, before a spokesperson is chosen to stand up. Despite Mistral getting their asses handed to them in the war that THEY started, the Mistralian Council member stands tall, back straight and shoulders squared.
“Ahem. Mistral is willing to acknowledge that… certain factions within our government pushed us into conflict that no one of good sense or moral fiber could countenance. Since the war’s inception, those factions have lost power and been summarily deposed by the Council Members you see with me today. That said! Mistral cannot take credit for calling for this peace summit. Before we could open diplomatic channels, Atlas reached out to us first.”
“What?! We did not! It was Vale!”
“I demand you cease spreading spurious statements, it was Mistral!”
“Atlas!”
“Vale!”
“Mistral!”
“ENOUGH!”
Everyone freezes as a strong, feminine voice comes from the Atlesian Contingent. Sitting on the edge of the Diplomatic Party from Atlas, in a position that puts her as close to the ‘head’ of a table as one can get with a round table that has three factions sat at it… Willow Schnee rises to her feet, hands clasped behind her back.
“That is enough. You’re all wrong. None of you called for this summit. This meeting, as it stands, is happening because his Majesty requires it to happen.”
There’s a pause at that, a ripple of confusion going through the room. His Majesty? Who could the Schnee woman be talking about? None of the assembled Council Members have any idea, leading to them all looking at each other baffled. Finally, the Atlesian Councilor coughs into his fist.
“A-Ahem. Mrs. Schnee. What are you…?”
He trails off however, because even as he’s speaking, portals are suddenly opening up all throughout the large room. Portals… that disgorge hulking, monstrous examples of Grimm.
Now, the meeting hall is not in any way unprotected. Each Kingdom has brought their fair share of bodyguards and security measures. Unfortunately for them, the Atlesian Contingent’s security measures are entirely robotic and inorganic in nature. And those robots, rather than fight the Grimm that have just appeared, fight ALONGSIDE them instead.
The ensuing mayhem is controlled chaos in its finest form. Weapons come out as Hunters and Huntresses hired as bodyguards try and fail to protect their charges. Screaming comes from the soft-bellied Council Members who rule over their respective Kingdoms but have, in most cases, never seen a single day of conflict in their lives.
Retreat is made impossible, the doors already sealed and barricaded by more Atlesian androids. Finally, the fighting ends after just a few short minutes. Though… there’s a lot less blood staining the walls than anyone is probably expecting.
The Hunters and Huntresses, rather than being shredded by their Grimm opponents, are taken down nonlethally, disarmed and pinned in place. And the Councilors from the three different Kingdoms, who had scrambled to hide wherever they could once they realized escape was impossible, are pulled out from under tables and stuffed back into their chairs.
Finally, silence having fallen, Willow Schnee remains the only one standing… until, of course, through the portal behind her steps a pair of monsters that terrify and horrify the Council Members in equal measure.
Grimm but humanoid, the two sweep red and black eyes across the entire room. Dressed in the garb of monarchs, with crowns atop their brows, it becomes all too clear who exactly Willow Schnee was talking about when she said ‘His Majesty’… especially as the male Grimm steps forward, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Greetings. I am the King of the Grimm. Address me as Grimm King, Your Majesty, or Sir… it is your choice. This is my Queen, Salem. You will address her with similar respect, or you will lose your tongues. In case it needs saying… we control the Grimm. All of them.”
That part is rather obvious, given the state of the room at this point. However, those last three words… ‘all of them’ certainly sends shivers down the spines of the assembled humans.
The first Councilor to gather enough confidence to speak is from Mistral, as it so happens.
“Why… why are you here?”
The Grimm King’s eyes gaze upon this particular Councilor intensely, making them shrink back in their seat.
“Almost three years ago now, I gained control of the Grimm. I made the decision to pull them back from your lands, to allow the Human Kingdoms the opportunity of unprecedented expansion and growth. I sought to give you all a chance to prove you could work together to build something amazing, to create instead of destroy, once you all no longer had your backs up against the wall.”
No one dares interrupt as the King of the Grimm speaks, despite the numerous outrageous things he says. Maybe it’s his voice, maybe it’s the circumstances, but the assembled leadership of three Kingdoms finds themselves hanging off his every word.
“Clearly, you failed that particular test. Just under a year ago, you lot decided that war was more appealing to you. Even though you had so much wild, untamed land no longer infested by Grimm to expand into, you looked at your neighbor and coveted what they had instead.”
There’s some guilty shifting at that, and not just from Mistral. Sure, Mistral might have been the ones to start the saber rattling and eventually the war, but Atlas and Vale had still been just as eager. So eager, in fact, that even Ironwood and Ozpin, for all their influence and power, hadn’t been able to stop their respective Councils from going to war in the end.
“It is obvious now that a hands off approach doesn’t work. I considered simply taking over publicly instead, and disposing of all of you while my Grimm occupied your Kingdoms for years to come.”
Everyone seated at the table freezes at that. They had, of course, understood before that they were all at the Grimm King’s mercy. But having him so casually talk about ending all of their lives makes it so much more real. More than one whimper leaves those sitting at the table, and more than one Councilor suddenly needs a change of underwear.
“I’ve decided to shelve that option… for now. I’m going to give you all one more chance to do right by your citizenry.”
Hope wells up in quite a few chests at that, only to dim slightly as the King of the Grimm sweeps his intense inhuman gaze across all of them, narrowing his eyes.
“However, I’m not going to leave you all to your own devices again. Consider this your notice… you all now work for me. And if you continue to show lackluster performance in your duties, then you will find yourself answering to me.”
That gets some more shifting from the silent audience, this time in the form of indignance. Not that any of the cowards dare to say anything.
“Of course, we all know you’ll fuck up. I’ll be watching, and the Grimm will always be lurking, but you’ll convince yourselves that you’re safe and in the clear if you don’t have constant reminders. As such, I will be instituting… minders for all of you.”
The Grimm King snaps his fingers, and portals around the room that had disgorged Grimm at first before becoming pinpricks, suddenly swirl back to their full size again. Out of them step multiple women, each familiar to at least someone in the room.
Willow Schnee pulls away from the Grimm King to stand next to her daughter Winter behind the Atlesian contingent. Winter Schnee has her arms clasped behind her back and is standing imposingly. The Councilors from Atlas know her as General Ironwood’s protégé, his right hand woman and obvious eventual replacement. But now she’s here, working for the Grimm King apparently.
Meanwhile, behind the Valean Contingent, Glynda Goodwitch and Summer Rose step out of the portal, looking down at the Council Members from Vale like a pair of disapproving schoolteachers. In the case of Glynda Goodwitch, that was very much the case, given her position as Deputy Headmistress. However she was supposed to have disappeared months and months ago, before the war even started. But here she was now, as imperious as ever.
And finally, behind the Mistralian Contingent, Boudicca Nikos and her daughter Pyrrha Nikos step out as well. The Queen of Victory had been thought dead and gone, lost to some freak occurrence on the battlefield. After her ‘death’, there had been many who disparaged her track record and her good name. Now that she stands tall and proud in her full regalia however, not a single Councilor from Mistral dares to so much as look in her direction.
Silence reigns for a long moment, as though the Grimm King expects there to be denial, disagreement, and dissent. When no one says a word, he simply raises an eyebrow and continues on.
“Menagerie and Vacuo have both been likewise informed of the change in leadership. The Kingdoms of Remnant at long last have a King. Out of consideration for your experience and skillsets, I have decided in my magnanimity to give you all one last chance to show you are worthy of your positions. Some of you will surely prove me wrong soon enough, and you will serve as examples for the others as to what happens when you bring me past disappointment into anger.”
The corners of the Grimm King’s mouth turn up, but it’s not a nice smile. It certainly doesn’t reach those monstrous eyes of his.
“Right now I am merely disappointed in all of you. You do not want to see what my anger looks like.”
Then, with one last sweeping gaze across the room, he nods to his chosen representatives before looking to the assembled councilors of the three kingdoms.
“Well then. I suppose you all had a peace summit you were here for before my interruption. While the war is obviously over effective immediately, there’s still quite a lot for you all to talk about regarding the final details of a peaceful end to the conflict. So… get to it.”
Then, without waiting for a response, the Grimm King turns and walks back through the portal behind him with his Queen on his arm. All around the room, the Grimm also depart, allowing the defeated but alive Hunters and Huntresses to rise from the floor and shake themselves off cautiously.
As the portals all close, everyone looks at one another, as if they’re not entirely certain that even happened. Until finally…
“Well? You heard his Majesty. Get to work.”
“A lasting peace is not going to establish itself, after all.”
“And trust us. You certainly don’t want to find out what happens if you continue these petty squabbles under the King’s watchful eye.”
The voices of Willow Schnee, Glynda Goodwitch, and Boudicca Nikos ring out through the quiet room… and a moment later everyone at the table is falling over themselves to offer up the most favorable peace terms they possibly can, arguing to try and be seen as the most magnanimous and selfless Kingdom of the trio by giving the most to the ensuing ‘peace effort’.
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Jaune lets out a sigh as he sits down on the bed in his and Salem’s bedroom. His Queen sits beside him, smiling as she leans her head on his shoulder.
“You did well, my King.”
“Mm.”
It had been a long week since they’d killed Ironwood and captured Ozma. First, Jaune had gone and shown both Kali and Sienna what he and Salem actually were, before bringing the two of them in one the plan to effectively force the Kingdoms to cooperate and unify going forward.
Given that those plans involved also forcing the Human Kingdoms to not just recognize Menagerie but immediately build a CCT Tower in the Faunus Kingdom, Kali and Sienna were both very much on board once they got over Jaune and Salem’s true nature.
Vacuo had been next after that. The desert kingdom hadn’t taken part in the conflict that led Jaune to deciding he needed to take over the world, but they also couldn’t be left out to dry either. Fortunately, a show of force after years of no Grimm had been sufficient to cow the Council of Vacuo into submission.
Especially since Jaune was giving them the most autonomy, on account of them being the only children who hadn’t thrown a party while the parents weren’t home. He’d still be keeping an eye on things though, even if they didn’t know it.
And now, finally, the peace summit between Mistral, Atlas, and Vale. Heavy handed? Maybe, but at least they hadn’t killed anyone. And at least it was done now.
Before Jaune can think about it too much longer, Salem suddenly pushes him on his back and climbs astride him. The Grimm King blinks before raising an eyebrow at her, even as he grabs her by her hips. Grinning down at him like an impish mischievous maiden instead of the centuries-old immortal she is, Salem begins to grind their covered crotches together.
“Such hard work deserves a reward, my King~”
Well… he HAD worked quite hard, hadn’t he?
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A/N: This is the final vote folks! Next week will be the final chapter, so bear that in mind while voting!
Comments
Captain-General Kittonius
What about the Arc Family? What happened to his mom and sisters?
JRC
You know what I'd love to see before this one gets put out to pasture, a meet the parents chapter. After all, Jaune and Salem ARE married. And yet, she has yet to meet his family! XD
Kazama
You.... are 100% correct xD
Nanaya7Nights
The story has tied up all loose ends except one: The Arc family Maybe you can add a paragraph in the last chapter or an epilogue showing Jaune reaching out to the Arcs and letting them know he is well. Maybe some of his family will move in to the Grimmlands and/or become friends with members of his harem. No sexy times thanks to the rules but a conclusion all the same. And even if Jaune is hesitant to reach out to his family, there are enough mothers in his harem for them to tell him that his mother deserves to know that her son isn't dead.
Cambrian
The Council of Vacuo: "It's nice to have it acknowledged that we're the perfect Kingdom who has done nothing wrong!" The Crown: *lurking in the shadows with a knife poised at the Council's back, ready to make themselves EVERYBODY'S problem* But that's not something to be covered in this story, lmao
Phraxius
Vacuo's leadership: "We did jack shit in this story and we're proud of it!"
