CHAPTER 142

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PYRRHA NIKOS POV

She watched as Jaune knelt down beside the body of yet another child, a blank expression on his face.

His tears had dried up a while ago. The same as her. And now they could only stare at the devastation their actions have wrought on the whole of humanity.

Jaune put his hands over the corpse of the half-eaten child and closed the little girl's eyes. A shudder wracked through his body and she felt a moment of revulsion for himself before his emotions went blank once again.

She would've been worried if it wasn't exactly how she herself felt.

Hollow.

She looked at her other companions. Or those that were still alive.

Ruby and Maria had died in their attempt to halt the advance of the Blind Worm Titan. Their sacrifice allowing them to buy enough time to finally find the Grimm Queen.

When she heard about their deaths, she had been devastated.

…and then the Queen of the Grimm had told them what she had done…

Even with the knowledge that Ruby will return back to them in 3 days, Yang was near catatonic.

In the end, they had won against Salem.

But looking at the indirect results of their actions…

She wasn't sure if the victory was worth it.

Jaune got up and went to the next dead body.

A woman with a deep gash on her side, having bled out while she protected the baby in her arms.

A baby that was now dead as well.

And she felt Jaune's heart shatter once again.

He knelt down in front of the mother and the infant in her arms and… just stared.

The gates opened and she felt a tsunami of guilt wash over her as Jaune buried his face in his hands and fell on the ground in a fetal position.

She wanted to help him. To be there for him. But she didn't have it in her to move from her spot.

She was too tired. Too emotionally drained to handle any of this.

She fell down on her back and stared at the clear sky up above.

The sky… the sky shouldn't be so clear.

So warm. So cheerful.

It should be covered in clouds.

It should be raining.

A tribute to all the people who have died on this day.

To the great evil that they managed to stop with their actions.

Except, the sky above was uncaring of anything and everything that happened to the mortals below.

She thought about asking Jaune to bring clouds to the sky but immediately discarded that idea.

He wasn't in any state to even respond properly let alone use his powers.

She heard a sound and looked above to see a bullhead fly over them and land at the center of the village.

Raven and Neo walked out of it and looked at the devastation around them.

Raven's expression was closed off as she looked at her surroundings with a stoic expression, not showing anything she felt on her face.

Even her Shroud connection was blocked off from others.

From Neo, she could feel sadness. A lot of it.

There was also a lot of guilt in there. But no regret.

She hoped that she could feel the same way.

She hoped that Jaune could feel the same way.

But no.

He saw himself as the person whose actions led to… this.

And the weight of that revelation was killing him.

She couldn't see the twins anymore. So they were probably at home right now.

Raven walked up to Jaune's curled-up form and opened her mouth to speak but then she saw her still form of the mother and the infant and stopped.

She stood there for a while before she finally bent down and picked Jaune up in a princess carry and took him back to the Bullhead.

When Jaune asked to come here to personally see the results of his actions, Raven had been the most vocal against it. Raven and Salem. Salem who had now joined their ranks as Jaune's woman.

But Jaune was adamant about coming here. And now…

Raven came back and walked up to Yang who was at this point simply staring in the distance, focusing on nothing in particular.

Raven took Yang's hand and pulled the girl up before walking the near-catatonic girl to the Bullhead.

After putting Yang in the back of the Bullhead along with Jaune, Raven finally came for her.

She stared at the older woman and they stared at each other for a long moment before she let out a breath.

"Carry me." She said.

Any other time, she would've felt childish about something like this but right now… she felt nothing.

Raven nodded and picked her up in a princess carry as well and took her to the Bullhead where she sat her down beside Jaune's still form.

Then Raven put a palm on the ground and created a portal large enough for the Bullhead to pass through.

Neo flew the Bullhead and passed through the portal, coming out in the Pocket Dimension which was now teeming with Grimm titans.

Titans that Salem had brought from the entirety of Remnant.

Titans that Salem was now trying to put to sleep deep underground in their Pocket Dimension. So that they would never walk the surface of Remnant ever again.

She didn't know how to feel about that so she decided not to think about it.

She laid a hand on Jaune's head and gently ruffled his hair. A memory played in her mind and she started to hum a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her when she was just a child.

At the front of the Bullhead, Raven called Tai.

"Yes Tai, it's me. Just called to tell you that both Yang and Ruby are safe. Yes, I'll come back with them in a few days." Raven said before cutting the call and silencing her phone.

At least Yang and Ruby's father and uncle were alive.

And so were hers.

None of the others in their group had any family so technically, none of them had suffered the loss of a family from this battle.

Aside from Ruby and Maria... but they'll both be back in 3 days so that was that.

She didn't know how to feel about the fact that she had not lost anyone dear to her while there were people out there who had lost their entire families.

That… made her feel even more guilty about everything.

She laid her head on Jaune's shoulders and hoped for a sleep that won't come to her.