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So it is done: What comes after the end?
🕑 Added 2024-01-20 11:27:47 +0000 UTCTo be honest, Jonathan liked being the Director of his own Hunter Academy, although admitting it to himself made Jonathan feel a little self-conscious every time. It was a simple reason really, being a Director is such a simple job, even when it's dealing with Hunters-in-training, teenagers not really being known for not getting in trouble. When compared to his usual job as head of a government, researching the mysteries of the universe, and complex moral reasoning… It’s like day and night.
Of course, it could be argued that the Directors of the Hunter Academies, Ozpin comes to mind, had the most complex of jobs, being almost directly responsible in keeping the world safe from the Grimm. Well, even with one, two, if he was included, who have very complex jobs outside of it, an Academy Director’s job was quite simple.
It was as if it was Jonathan's very own oasis of calm, in which he could, for a moment, abandon all other problems and issues in his life. What perpetual war with Salem?! I just had a teacher fall ill and need a replacement urgently! Contact me in a week!
Right now, for example, as Jonathan moved his hand to the side, as if mimicking the actions of a shameless salesman at an exhibition. That is playing the part of a tour guide, explaining the various facilities to a hotel. "Here are the training halls, it’s divided into three parts. The first, is for standard physical training, adapted to the abilities of Hunters, of course. It’s open from eight o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock in the evening, and you can use the facilities as soon as you receive your keycard after your enrollment.”
Jonathan then paused for a second, checking to see if the prospective students were paying attention before continuing.
“The second, is a training hall for practicing combat skills in simulated combat situations using robots, specially designed in Mantle. Of course, these robots have been modified to allow for their unrestricted use in training, meaning they are not armed with anything lethal. But, even so, students should take suitable precautions, and remember that a ‘pneumatic’ gun does not mean a ‘painless’ gun. For that very reason, access to this area will be available only after the first six months of schooling, and while under supervision. For unsupervised use? Not until the very end of your second year, or early by a teacher’s recommendation if some students prove exemplary.”
Now, Jonathan could see that some of the prospective students were even excited about the concept of fighting robots. Some things just remain constant, even across realities.
“The third arena is the most for specialized training, and so the most dangerous at the same time. It’s reserved for training in real-life combat against Grimm and even combat androids with live ammo and equipment. Since there’s a chance for aggravated injuries and even death, you won’t be seeing the insides of this room before your Third Year. And that’s only when with an instructor’s explicit permission, and only when they are also present to monitor.”
As soon as the words ‘Fight’ and ‘Grimm’ were uttered, Jonathan could see the more rambunctious and confident of this year’s batch of future students hatching plans on defeating the Arena’s security. Just like every year, it was time to pop their bubbles.
“Now, while I could see that some of you are excited about training against Grimm, and were planning to bypass the security lock on the door to the training room, you would only be met by an empty room. We don’t keep Grimm or combat robots on premise. So think carefully about whether a personal conversation with me in my office about your further training at this Academy is worth it just to look at the empty, reinforced walls of this training room.”
And there it goes, nothing like threatening expulsions to keep the students in line.
“To dispel your curiosity – I will even open this training ground for you at this moment.”
Once Jonathan had not even thought about opening a Hunter Academy, Aisa had eventually persuaded him so, pursuing political and pragmatic goals with this move. While Jonathan, having only heard about it for the first time, had been excited about such a facility solely because he was interested in seeing superhumanly strong, agile, fast and hardy, with their very own superpowers, Hunters up close.
Jonathan had seen enough of them since then, and the childish, naive admiration he had once had for seeing real-life comic book superheroes had long since passed. He doesn’t even remember the comics that got him so excited about Hunters in the first place now.
Something about a guy bitten by a radioactive bat… Or did he come from another planet that looked suspiciously similar looking to the Vikings? Jonathan didn't remember any of it anymore, and, which was perhaps even more important, he didn't want to remember it.
For every event there was a time, for every admiration there was an age. And Jonathan, now thirty-three years old, was clearly no longer suited to the demographic that was supposed to be fanatical about pretty pictures and bubbles with text in the corners.
Jonathan swiped his card on the magnetic lock, and the large reinforced steel doors that could stop even a Goliath’s charge quietly slid open. Passing through the bunker-like door, the room beyond the impressive door was bare of anything impressive. Letting the newcomers to the academy in to see for themselves that no sacred knowledge was hidden behind the thick doors.
Without an ounce of subterfuge, Jonathan quite enjoyed these moments. Not the destruction of the hope and dreams of children, but the simplicity of it all. The Hunter Academy has become Jonathan's refuge. At the academy, there is no politics, no revolutions, no betrayals… At least nothing beyond children’s dramatics.
Slowly, one problem at a time, Jonathan began to remove these things from his life as well.
Ghira’s betrayal, which Jonathan didn't let happen at the last second. The easing of the occupation of Mantle, a decision made after Jonathan was able to separate himself from his title and the responsibilities as ‘King of Glenn’. Something that nearly devoured his life completely. Even the rebuilding of the Schnee megacorporation, the destruction of which, something that not long ago he would’ve looked on as a personal victory. Imperceptibly mixing in his perception of Jacques Schnee that had tainted Nicholas' legacy, even if it was to destroy Willow's estate.
It was destruction for the sake of destruction, because it was simply the easier thing to do, to deprive a potential enemy of their resources.
But when Jonathan was at the Academy, such things seemed distant. It was a place distant from the rest of the world, from what he had to do. He knows that the time he had spent in the Academy would not make taking those distasteful actions easier, nor make it disappear altogether. Though Jonathan realized that it was foolishness, not only his attempt to run away from such a decision, but the very thought of running away
Like what he was doing right now.
After all, the ritual to destroy Salem would have to take place under completely different conditions. Completely different from the time he was currently spending at the academy. But at the same time, Jonathan somehow felt that he was protected here. As if he was fooling the world by spending his time here, at this academy, instead of all the other places.
Though, could he be fooling the world more than he had planned?
Or was it just a matter of what exactly Jonathan had planned to accomplish? To the world it was a monumental event, the destruction of Salem, but to Jonathan, as cowardly as it might seem, such an event meant much less than the second part of the ritual. That is, what comes after.
An event that served to destroy Salem, but to him fulfilled a role far more important.
Fear of change is normal. Everyone is afraid to take a step off the beaten path. The first, the hundredth, or even the last, there is always a fear in one's mind of doing something. It's normal to want to stay in your comfort zone. If it wasn't normal, it wouldn't be called the ‘comfort zone’ in the first place.
After a moment, Jonathan, realized that the future hunters following him had already enjoyed the panorama of the unadorned walls enough and were now looking at each other and Jonathan a little impatiently. Jonathan, lost in his thoughts, like always, had made the excitable students stare at paint, not even drying, for five minutes straight. And so, with a cough of awkwardness, decided to move the tour forward to their next destination.
"I think you have all had enough of this incredibly fascinating room, so we can continue.”
Jonathan pretended that nothing had happened, as he calmly closed the training room door once again with a swift swipe of his keycard, and moved to exit the training area.
“The library is next on our way out, but I can imagine from experience that few of you will want to stay there for long, so we'll only make a brief stop. Enough to at least to admire the aesthetics of the place, and for the sake of the couple of people who will actually be using the library in the future, not just to tell their parents they are." Jonathan's gaze slid over Blake's head for a moment. Jonathan, who had raised Neo, was well aware of ‘problematic’ students.
Jonathan had never had such problems with Cinder before, and even Neo’s antics were very mild. But even so, Jonathan definitely shouldn't have turned to the experience of those two and tried to apply it to Blake. Their situation was far too different…
And well, the least said about seeing similarities between one particular daughter and Blake the better.
Coughing a little awkwardly, trying to cover his sudden embarrassment, Jonathan walked at a steady pace before the group eventually reached the library’s door. Jonathan even allowed some students to roam about the library, at least as a courtesy. Since Jonathan was well aware that most of them, once admitted into the Academy, would forget that the library even existed as well as the fact that a paper library existed at the moment as an institution at all.
Their lies would be more believable to their parents when they know how the insides of the library looked, at least.
Leaning against the entrance, Jonathan decided to wait for a few minutes, watching the students excitedly, Blake, with a bored look, everyone else, twisted their heads about, trying to get a glimpse of the library. Simply because it was something new to them.
Jonathan enjoyed guessing what goes on inside their heads, trying to guess the future character of the Hunters and their team. After all, the likelihood that they would enroll in this particular academy was almost one hundred percent. Not so much because Jonathan placed his own academy so highly, okay that was just perhaps some false modesty, he was proud of his Hunter Academy. Remnant seemed to agree with him, as his Academy had garnered the reputation as an Academy for the ‘elites’, a reputation earned after years of careful selection of students and rigorous training standards and teachings.
It was also simply because the start of the school year was less than a month away.
Almost all the students had already decided at this point where they wanted to go, and so those who went out of their way to go on a tour were sure to enroll. If nothing drastic happened, of course.
Wondering how their lives would change after tonight?
Salem was an unknown in Remnant but, to a very select few, a result of tireless work by Ozpin's past lives, and also the Grimm Queen’s general reluctance to interact with humans. His past incarnations had thoroughly blotted out not only the information about Salem's existence, but had also destroyed, and completely discredited the scientific idea that there could be some intelligent force behind the Grimm.
The maximum that was tolerated in modern scientific discourse was the idea of the existence of powerful and extremely experienced Grimm. Extremely dangerous adversaries for Hunters and humanity in general, but still devoid of rationality in the human sense of the word. An action intended to limit Salem's reach.
It was much more difficult to speak of herself as ‘Queen of the Grimm’ if every child knew that the Grimm had no queen. And to persuade the humans themselves, deprived of the possibility of seeking out and entering the service of this Grimm Queen, due to the very impossibility of the existence of such an entity capable of reasonable dialogue.
In the end, however, Salem did exist, and those desperate, or ambitious enough, could still find themselves under her service. The invisible but far-reaching shadow of the mysterious Grimm queen still loomed over all of humanity.
Many a time that various nations, or even just a particularly strong Hunter, would rise up to contend with the Grimm once and for all. Only for the invisible hand of the Grimm Queen to create a Horde unlike anything ever seen before, to wipe them all like waters over sand.
What will the doom of Salem lead to?
Salem's demise will not bring instant victory for Remnant. The Grimm existed before Salem and will exist long after, all just as dangerous in their savage ferocity. A Grimm with a mind decade, centuries for some of the most ancient and powerful, old, left without a human mind guiding them, would still be very dangerous… But can they survive Remnant's march of progress?
It would take decades for humanity to slowly grind away the lands under the control of the Grimm. Countless more before the fear of Grimm would fade away, hammered down their psyches over generations worth of learned fear. But, decades would pass, and the students and future hunters of his academy might well experience those times.
A Hunter’s profession is an extremely dangerous one, but a certain portion of the most skilled and fortunate Hunters would live to see their retirement, children, and even grandchildren, or even survive into their seventh decade. It’s not an impossibility to finally have the Hunter’s profession die out in their lifetime. They will be able to see how, slowly, humanity will show the superiority of its mind, where before in its millennia of history only focused against dangerous, but in the end, only wild beasts.
And no one will ever know that Salem existed.
Ozpin has thoroughly curated the scientific field of Remnant. Even if in the future, researchers found the ruins of Salem’s castle, they would probably conclude that the castle was a ruin of Remnant's society, there are many of those scattered all over Remnant after all. The thought of Salem’s existence would never even occur to them, proof of Ozpin’s work, no one would argue about ‘settled’ facts after all.
Salem’s existence would be relegated to fringe theories, kept alive by people that simply took the opposite stance to whatever it is popular. It would be very weird to think of.
Shaking off the tangent his mind just got lost into once again, Jonathan clapped his hands lightly, drawing the students’ attention to himself. To his surprise, Jonathan noticed some students, who were not Blake, still looking longingly at the book-filled bookshelves. It seems that Blake would have some friends that share her interests at least.
"The next room on our way is likely to be your favorite, or a close second – it is the cafeteria. All students at the Academy have the rights of their own free, daily meals, but of course, there’s also options where students could buy food for themselves, and students are free to bring food from the city. But, once again, I will remind you that alcoholic drinks are not allowed on the academy premises, not even alcoholic drinks in their non-alcoholic version. If you want to take advantage of your newfound status as an adult member of society, you will have to leave the academy and travel to Glenn to do so.”
Jonathan himself doesn’t really see the appeal of alcoholic drinks, but young people will do what they want. Trying to circumvent rules is a time-honored tradition in Hunter Academies, the rule against alcohol most of all.
“To those planning to smuggle alcohol, I remind you that while some of the teachers might be lenient in their punishment, rules are rules. Keep your libations in private and in secret. One team has been expelled in the past after a drunken revelry on the academy grounds. There will be no excuse for you to appear hungover or intoxicated in class. Likewise, remember that your behavior in such a state outside the academy also reflects on the academy.”
Jonathan does his best to ignore the flinch he sees from the students.
“If you one day get into a drunken brawl in a club, you may be able to justify yourself in court with the club owner and the police, but the Academy would hold their own court. While civilian courts have their own laws, so do you have a responsibility as aspiring Hunters. Should the Academy judge that your actions are inexcusable, your expulsion would be swift and final. After your graduation, you are free to get into any mess you choose to get into, but until that moment, you are students of this academy, and if you don't value this status, let me assure you that the academy definitely does.”
After a few seconds of waiting for the standard reaction among the prospective students to settle down, which consisted of glances between each other, some of them taking it as a joke, while others seriously noted it for the future. The students expressing the last expression, Jonathan planned to look at a bit more.
With measured steps, Jonathan made his way to the cafeteria, allowing the students to look inside and see the tables, counters and the various amenities of the cafeteria. It was neither overly ostentatious, but neither is it lacking in any way, considering that the teachers used the cafeteria as much as the students, if not more.
So, stopping the tour once again, Jonathan waited for a while. The students could have a snack after Jonathan had given them a tour, considering that he didn't plan to linger an extra hour waiting for them to finish eating. With a clap, he attracted the attention of the students.
“And so, other than the classroom, and the training rooms you had seen earlier and the dormitory rooms you might see later. And considering that there’s no need to take a tour of the courtyard, this marks the end of the tour. You may contact the admissions office at any time for further information regarding your future studies, but if you still have any questions, take a chance, since I warn you that you will not have many opportunities to meet me in the future. And most of those opportunities will not predispose you to questions at all.”
Momentarily, after he finished speaking, Jonathan caught the eye of the girl who had handed him the note from Aifal, Pyrrha, and nodded slightly. Confirming that he had read the note given to him and did not plan to forget it anytime soon. Not that he could forget such a thing at all.
The small note, written in the hand of Aifal himself, contained a few simple but extremely important pieces of information that Jonathan could not forget even if he wanted to. Well, there are ways, but those would be a bit more destructive and permanent in nature.
So a moment later, as Jonathan looked at his future students, his gaze slipped towards Blake. She looked bored, wanting nothing else than to get the official, boring part over with as quickly as possible and go out to eat. Then he looked at Iliya, Blake's friend, who was clearly not ready to accept the status of ‘friend’ of the princess, and was waiting for any opportunity to be alone with her. Lastly, he looked at Yang, who was, like Blake, looking extremely bored at the moment. After all, she'd been to the Academy more than once before, and this excursion hadn't brought her any new information. She'd joined the tour solely because her parents couldn't pass up the chance to be alone for a couple of hours, under any circumstances.
“Nobody has any questions?” Jonathan raised an eyebrow, checking to see if anyone was simply embarrassed by his presence. It wasn't hard to imagine someone swallowing their tongue in the presence of the headmaster and the King. And moreover, even without the large disparity of social status, Jonathan is mostly an older stranger to most of them after all,
Seeing that no one was going to speak up, Jonathan nodded.
"Okay… Seeing that I just lost all your attention, I would be leaving you to your devices now. Feel free to walk the Academy grounds, but stay away from the rooms that I just warned you about not five minutes ago, and don’t forget that the Academy gate would be locked by 5PM. I don't think you have any desire to stay here longer than necessary, but I'll still remind you just in case. I hope that I will be seeing you again come the start of the year, as I wish you the best of luck in your enrollment. Now if you'll excuse me, unfortunately, time waits for no one, so I will leave you right… Now.”
Jonathan nodded respectfully to the prospective students before hurrying away.
On the one hand, he wasn't lying. As the king, the uppermost authority in a kingdom, it could be said that all of his business was urgent and a minute of his time was more valuable than gold. Something which made his desire to personally give the prospective students a tour, a strange quirk of his, but being royalty forgives many quirks.
But at the moment, Jonathan was being a bit deceitful. There were no important issues on his agenda right now. And even if he had decided to take care of less critical issues, well, such matters were by definition endless anyway and were more of a mechanical routine than a real problem or job. On the other hand…
Jonathan could afford to steal some free time, at least on his birthday, couldn't he?
So, keeping a serious expression on his face, Jonathan walked quickly, making his way to his office and, once inside, exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. Without anything to occupy his mind, he lost his previous cheer. It was still impossible to call his state of mind completely relaxed. Unresolved problems, accumulated questions and the approaching ritual prevented such a thing.
But even so, upon reaching his chair, Jonathan enjoyed the moment of peace as he closed his eyes for a moment, calming his psyche for a brief moment.
At the stillness, Jonathan's thoughts habitually tried to whirl again, to return to thinking about his actions and plans, unaccustomed to being idle for more than a dozen seconds. Jonathan forcibly calmed his mind, trying his best to think of nothing at all, after which he tried to concentrate solely on the current moment of his rare moment of rest.
For a few seconds, Jonathan even succeeded; emptiness and calmness settled in his mind, a blissful tranquility…
What do you think will happen next?
Forcibly negating any stray thought, returning to meditation. Paradoxically, thinking of nothing at all took quite some effort for Jonathan. Meditating with an empty mind had always been a difficult discipline for him.
Jonathan tried to calm his mind again, but the brief moment of calm was already lost. With a sigh, he opened his eyes, finding the computer's screen in front of him reflecting his own face back at him.
Salem's demise was already a foregone conclusion, a great achievement and a cause for pride, but… What next? After this?
Jonathan had removed himself heavily from the political squabbles and administrative problems of running the state, but he still hadn't withdrawn completely. If he did, he would first need to either find an heir or prepare for the fact that without a supreme governing body, Glenn would destroy itself. Aisa and Jonathan had created Glenn’s governance with the King as the linchpin; there would be chaos without the absolute rule of the King.
Which meant that, even though he had somewhat distanced himself from the day to day running of Glenn's government, he hadn't withdrawn from it too much either. Destroying Salem was a priority, but at the end it was simply another task, and not the end all be all. Destroying Salem did not mean the end of all his labors. Salem's demise would not solve the perennial problem of welfare allowances for the poor, Menagerie's diplomatic ventures, or the economic plans of industrial corporations.
Back to work.
But, what else was there left for Jonathan to do after such a monumental event? The destruction of Salem, that, while achieving the unbelievable, would not have solved a hundred little problems and would go forever unnoticed by the world?
And that would be it? The great accomplishment would not be the beginning of something new? Wouldn't it be a great deed that opens new horizons? It wouldn't be a spectacular finale? Will it just… Become another day in the life of Jonathan Goodman? The demise of a semi-divine, immortal Witch ruling over monsters around the world… Just another accomplished deed on a long list of accomplished deeds, between the economic commission meeting and lunch?
Could it be otherwise?
Yes, Salem's demise was, without exaggeration, an epochal event, defining the future history of Remnant, however… What’s next?
Jonathan was not a character existing in a story solely created to fulfil a plot. He didn't exist as the author's locomotive running on prepared tracks, nor was he needed solely to set up the plot of the book. Just because he defeats the enemy, the end would not simply be ‘and they all lived happily ever after’ as the epilogue.
No, he was alive, in the present moment and in all that followed. He had a life, a job, plans…
All the things that all normal people have.
Once, Jonathan had been a lonely child lost in the vastness of Remnant, unaware of exactly what he was supposed to do, simply moving from one event to the next. Now? He was much older now than many of those who had seemed 'grown up' to him in the past.
A ruler, a family man, a miracle worker…
After Salem's demise, he would have a few celebratory drinks, have a nice time, and tomorrow he would go back to work and start thinking about the future, more plans, projects, events…
As always, though, Jonathan. One step at a time…
Jonathan wondered for a moment whether the inner voice he heard was mocking or calm, before determining that it was more of a statement – not angry, not triumphant, not praising.
Rather… it just is.
Could it be otherwise? The die had been cast, and there was only one chance to change things. If not… Then why bother thinking about it?
Jonathan closed his eyes before pulling the sheet of paper he had been given from Phyrra. Running his eyes over the written words, he grinned a little as he folded it back into his pocket. With a simple command, the screen at his desk came to life.
Jonathan Goodman needed to work — his work was never finished.
