AN: Basically, a restatement of my chapter length policy seems to be required based on the amount of questions I get. The rule is, a minimum of 1000 words per chapter. In practice, the average is more like 1500 per chapter. Generally I end each chapter on a scene change or the end of an episode.

Chapter 76 - Mortem Pacis

Markus knew something was up with Pyrrha. Even a child would have been able to surmise as much. She had left seemingly without any reason. All of his instincts that he had relied on for so long to accomplish all he had in the wastes were urging him to trail her. However, there were two issues that prevented him from doing so. And one was far more talkative than the other.

For once, it didn't matter that he could become invisible. There was no way that his absence would not be noticed. Functionally speaking, he was stuck in this room until at the very least, both Nora and Ren fell asleep. And it was highly likely that they would wait until Pyrrha came back.

This was highly frustrating. The Courier had literally no idea what Pyrrha might be doing. He hoped that it was simply something personal and innocent she was hiding. He knew that any information that he could use would save lives; he knew this without a doubt. Therefore, he considered the acquisition of this information his moral duty.

Now, he was stuck in this dorm, trying to prepare for everything. If one were to ask anyone who knows about this kind of thing, they would tell you that the very notion of trying to prepare for everything was a futile endeavor. Markus knew this, but in his desperation did so anyway. It was a vain hope that at least one of the things he had done would help.

As he could not acquire information, he returned to his preparations with feverish intensity. Over the course of the next hour, he sent the order to manufacture night vision goggles and have them shipped to Vigiles. The White Fang, being Faunus, had near perfect night vision. He intended to even the playing field as much as possible. He spent the rest of the time fleshing out various aspects of the company, such as creating false identities of various obscure figures of importance but had no direct interactions with the company. He quickly made something of a logo by taking Ulysses' symbol and putting it on a rich black background with the name of the company underneath. Both the name and the company were in white. It was minimalist mainly for efficiency purposes. The Lone Courier was not an artist by any means.

After the hour had passed, it was getting late, and both Ren and Nora appeared to have given up trying to see when Pyrrha came back. As they turned the lights off and settled down in bed, the Courier did the same, but he had little intention of sleeping. He listened carefully to the breathing of his teammates, waiting for the regular rhythm that indicated sleep. It was agonizing. It was rare that he had to demonstrate such patiencience for something potentially so strategically important. It was well within his skillset to stay still for painfully long periods of time.

Nora and Ren's breathing patterns had finally become rhythmic. He waited a couple minutes to ensure that they were both fully asleep. Just as he was about to switch into the stealth suit, the door opened. He was too late. Pyrrha had returned before he could leave. It took a few moments for his vision to readjust, after the brighter light of the hallway ruined his night vision. He saw Pyrrha sitting on her bed, staring at the wall. While he could not draw any conclusions from this, it was enough to worry him. Before she left, she had seemed relatively carefree. Now... well, there wasn't anything he could do now. With Pyrrha having gone to sleep as well, he no longer had any reason to stay awake. Besides fear of his dreams, that was.

As the last vestiges of natural light faded from the sky, the unnatural light of flames was the sole source of illumination in the rubble strewn street. All through the city streets fared no better than this one. The fires were not an inferno, nor a single enormous firestorm. No, they were isolated, small but numerous affairs, not long for living. It was down one of these streets the Courier walked, holding his ACR in a low ready position.

He was wearing his elite riot armor, its red lenses reflecting the flickering of dozens of fires. He walked slowly and deliberated, seemingly oblivious of the carnage the people around him were desperately fleeing. Their screams seemed muted and remote to him. In fact, all sound did. This was destruction on a scale he, personally, had not seen, and likely last occurred in Earth's Great War, when billions burned.

The destruction of a what amounted to a pre-war city was mesmerizing in its horror. The once majestic buildings were humbled, their crowns in ruins. There was the occasional bloodied figure, almost indistinguishable from the rubble that covered them. The civilians, even in their terror, gave him a wide berth. He could see the fear in their eyes, see it in their screaming mouths. He continued to walk forward. The crowd thinned as the distance from the city center increased. The bodies increased. Grimm sublimated upon their death so there was never any indication of how many had fallen in the desperate defense of the city. No piles of bodies as testaments to the valor of the defenders. Only the soldiers and civilians were among the dead. A White Fang soldier attempted to flee from an Ursa, far ahead of him. The attempt was in vain as the beast mauled him, quickly overcoming his Aura and removing his organs from his chest cavity. Without stopping the Lone Courier fired into the head of the beast before putting a double tap into the head of the Faunus.

In the skies above, far in the distance, he saw the long recoil of the Atlesian airships firing, the world too muted and the guns too far away for him to hear them. Flocks of giant Nevermores could be seen in the sky. The creatures were perched on the dilapidated ruins of buildings, like vultures, ready to tear apart the dying carcass of a kingdom.

In the distance, the shattered moon rose behind Beacon. A flock of Nevermores momentarily obscured the sight. He watched as the green lights of Beacon slowly winked out, one by one even as the city's flames did the same.

"But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life." - Sun Tzu