So, this little thing is here to tide you guys over until the poll is over, and the first chapter of the story made, yes I know, I take too long to upload n' such but bear with me, when the next story comes around I'm planing on making a doozy.
Sorry if this is kinda a wall of text.
this takes place a little into the events of season 2.
It had been years since Ruby Rose had heard the story, but anyone on remnant probably remembers the it, one of a legendary warrior, a knight, with the strongest soul and aura that ever existed, that had sacrificed himself in a torrent flame to save the world and push back the Grimm, and as great as the story was, It was only used as a tale to children to glorify a hero that probably never even existed in the first place!
But somehow she couldn't help but feel like it was true, she had always believed in stories, even if they were meant for children and supposed to be nothing but a story for a wonderful glorifying tale of a non existent being, she was exploring in deepest depths the Emerald Forest with her team, Weiss Schnee, the cold crabby girl that warmed up to the rest of the team, Blake Bellodona, The nice but also quiet, moody, edge lord of the team, Yang Xiaolong, The pun making brawler of the group, the one always trying to lift the spirits of everyone else on the team, and lastly herself, Ruby Rose, cookie eater, friend maker, and shy leader, desperately trying to enforce her power of leader to hold the team together, because as-of right now they were all bickering except for her, but she had thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye so she went to check on it, leaving her teammates arguing about what way was back to Beacon Academy so they could clock in because it was getting dark, and they wouldn't be able to fight off all of the Grimm that would come after them once night fell.
So focused on arguing, they forgot about their leader all together until she came bounding into they clearing they decided to stop in, shouting to get their attention, causing Yang to turn from Weiss and Blake, who were still trying to prove the other was wrong, to address her bouncing young sister.
"What is it Rubes?" The elder sibling stared at the younger with an annoyed look on her face, but Ruby was still bouncing like a basketball, which finally garnered the attention of Weiss and Blake, who also turned questioning looks towards the bubbling young girl that seemed like she couldn't control herself, until Yang grabbed her and stopped her from continuing, "Ruby, what is it?"
"Over there, it's so SO cool, you guys just have to see it, come on what are you standing there for let's go!" Ruby had already wriggled through the arms of her older sister, and sprinted off out of the clearing, forcing her teammates and sister to put all they had into running to catch up-to the little blur of a girl, the only reason they were able to get to her was of the small trail of rose petals she left in her wake, when they found it, it had led off into a small cave, so they had no choice but to follow the small red reaper into the depths of the cave, lighting the little glowsticks they had brought with them, until they found Ruby at the end of the cave, glowstick alight, staring at a massive stone door that was easily 12 feet tall.
"Ruby, just what did you find, it-it's huge!" Weiss yelled, from at the back of the group causing Yang to let out a giggle thanks to her somewhat juvenile attitude, and small smile out of Blake at the dirty thoughts her teammate had, before getting a death glare from the Schnee, which only made Yang to bust out into full on laughter at her short friend's anger.
"What is it Ruby?" Blake quietly asked while Yang was trying to fend off the agitated Schnee by feigning innocence.
"I don't know what It Is, but when I walked close, I heard a click sound, l-like a door unlocking or something, I don't know but I think we are the first people to find it and it's SO COOL!" The young team leader had stars in her eyes as she was so desperately trying to convey emotions into words, to find a up-until-then undiscovered relic is quite a feat on remnant, especially if it's inside of the Emerald Forest, an area that has been explored practically from top to bottom over the years.
"Should we try to open it?" Yang looked over to the others wanting their approval, she probably had the strength or firepower to open It, and if she didn't, Weiss could probably freeze it and then they could smash it, but that would take a lot of dust.
"I don't think so, we should go back to beacon and report it to headmaster ozpin." Weiss replied to Yang, hoping she would listen.
"Why should we do that, if we tell him, he'll probably say that we should stay away and we'll never see what's inside, I could be masses of treasure or some other kind of very expensive thing, think about it Weiss, imagine the possibilities." Yang had her hand splayed out gesturing to imaginary things that no one else could see.
Blake wasn't saying anything, absorbed in her own thoughts about what to do, but once again while they were all distracted Ruby had slipped away and had walked up to the door, she was so incredibly close to the massive structure, she reached out and touched it with her hand, the second she did her soul started to glow bright as a star, blinding the rest of her team, and when the smoke had cleared so-to-speak, all of team RWBY stood mouths agape, as the massive stone door started to slide open on it's own, and Ruby turned back to the rest with the most incredibly shy expression on her face.
"U-uh, the doors, uh, opened." was all she could manage, to say to her teammates, but they didn't reply, they were looking behind her, there jaws almost touching the floor, as if seeing some grand masterpiece, and she was honestly confused, she turned around to see what they were looking at and she was not disappointed by what she saw.
The door had opened and inside was a beautiful sight, on the other side of those doors was a staircase that led into a huge open space covered in what looked like very thick layers of ash and pillars of some kind of stone or metal jutting out with what looks like streaks coming off them like they had been quickly melted then froze by some powerful heat and cold at the same time, and it was also somehow bright enough for them to see without the glowsticks even though they were deep inside a cave.
They had started walking down the stairs, the discussion of telling the headmaster forgotten in the wake of the gorgeous and destroyed landscape that laid before them, but they had quickly got their weapons out when they saw a figure emerge from the fog that surrounded them on both sides, but as they prepared themselves, it just walked pass them as if unaware of their presence, and as they stood there wondering what that being was, another was coming directly towards them from their left side, but as it got close it passed through them, so they lowered their guard, these things could not see them nor touch them, so they walked pass the figures that seemed to give off some kind of reverent feeling, they also noticed that not only did they have varied weapons, said weapons taking the from of a straight sword, a giant great sword, a halberd, and some kind of massive axe, but they were also much taller than the girls, easily standing at around nine feet in height, with these strange horned helmets adorning their heads, all four of them did not speak while in here, not wanting to risk disturbing these ghosts, of a long forgotten past.
They had made it through the small tunnel to a wide open and ash covered area that looked like some kind of shrine, with those burnt towers like fingers stretching across the entire area, jutting high out of the ash, and they could see the massive spire like structure in the middle of it all, a great monument of power and beauty,a magnificent creation of a time long ago and long forgotten, and as they stepped across the large plane that was laid out before them the only sound was their quiet breathing and the sound of ash crunching beneath their feet as the stalked across the barren landscape.
They walked pass a large block of stone and saw one of those spectral knights from the staircase, but it wasn't spectral it was real, and laying in the ash right in front of them practically in pieces from time rotting it away and it was the color of a dark brownish-black, and it's sword was laying on the ground much farther away, and the cause of the knights death, if it had ever lived, was the hole in the middle of it's chest plate, and as they looked up they saw the remains of many other knights much like it scattered everywhere, whatever had fought these knights was powerful and determined to make it through, it was this thought that made them all pause, whatever it was that destroyed these knights could still be in here, but Ruby finally broke the silence.
"Hey Yang?" The elder sister turned her head to the younger. "do you remember that old story that Taiyang told us when we were young?"
Yang stared down at Ruby "Dad told us a lot of stories when we were kids, what are you talking about."
"The really old one Yang, the one about that knight that sacrificed himself to save the world."
"what about it Ruby?" Yang asked, wondering where her little sis was going with this.
"Well, didn't he say something about an ancient ash covered tower, guarded by black knights, and in the center of that tower was the great fire that started all life, ringing any bells now Yang." The agitated girl waited for her teammates to catch what she was throwing.
"So your saying." Weiss began.
"That, that old story from almost everyone's childhood." Blake continued.
"Wasn't a story, and we are in the very same place where all life began, and where an ancient hero might still be alive, deeper inside?" Yang finished, and Ruby nodded realizing she had just blown her friends minds, as well as her own.
"Well, if that's the case, we need to keep going, I am not going to waste the chance to make history, and I don't think any of you will either." Weiss looked to her friends, a glint of giddiness easy to see in her eyes as she started walking towards the massive ruin in the center, the rest followed, crossing the bodies of more knights, and even one or two on a large metal beam, which was the only way to cross over to the structure, the way up was destroyed so they had to travel down the spiral and as they got closer, they could feel a presence in the air, a strong soul residing at the base of the tower, and when they got to the bottom after walking past even more knights, they came face to face with the skeleton of a very large man, he stood taller than the knights, with a crown on his head and snow white hair still attached to his skull, along with massive sword, which most likely belonged to him, laid on his chest like some kind of burial rite, even in this desiccated form he gave of an air of that demanded respect and proper treatment, they walked around his body reverently, obviously not wanting to disturb the dead, and they found themselves at the entrance to a large doorway.
The team of young girls looked at each other with faces of worry, but also ones of determination to find out what lies in the heart of this shrine.
They crossed the boundary of the door, and were met to a large circular room, with a few small groupings of stalactites made of once molten metal hanging from the ceiling in the middle the ground dipped down, and in the middle laid a small pile of bones with a broken off with sword blade sticking out of it, the blade seemed like it was made to look coiled up in a spinning curve all the way around it from tip to bottom, and the top half of the blade laying useless on the ground.
The teens got the scare of their lives when what they had thought was a large rock on the other side of the bonfire started to move, they froze, unable to move as the figure lifted what was likely it's head up to stare at them, and it started to stand up, albeit at an incredibly slow pace, taking almost a whole minute for it to rise, armor clicking together as it did, and when it stood at it's full height of around seven feet tall, able to tower over the girls.
they had only just started to relax, then they saw the weapon it clutched in it's right hand, a straight sword of remarkable design, it's blade still gleaming after millennia of lying in ash beside it's owner, the team stood ready, not drawing their weapons, but ready to jump into action if they had to.
Along with it's straight sword was it's armor, which was not as lucky as it's sword, it seemed melted, warped in strange ways, but still able to function properly, he took a few shaky steps before stopping and looking down, the girls followed his gaze to a large spear on the ground, unlucky like the sword, it's blade was still shining bright but it's handle and shaft looked like it had once been gold, but had been charred off, the figure bent over to pick up the weapon but fell forward, hardly able to keep himself from falling face first in the ash covered ground, they saw him grip the spear and try to stand, he got halfway back up before falling to his knees, head hanging in shame, for he could not even raise himself off the ground.
Ruby along with the rest of the team felt a deep sadness in their chests, this was the ancient hero that saved the world, made their lives possible, and here he lays, hardly able to move after many, many years of being trapped in this ruin, here sat the champion of the very world battered and broken, Ruby started walking towards the old hero, with an alarmed Yang quickly moving up behind her
"What are you doing Ruby?" The eldest asked, not wanting her little sis to get close to the potentially dangerous figure.
"I'm going to help him Yang, look at him, he can't even stand, He's not going to hurt us I know it." She marched towards the ashamed knight, who took the time to raise his head, then let his gaze drift down as if accepting a cruel fate.
They could hear a audible grunt of surprise from the armored man as Ruby attempted to haul him to his feet, the small child only barely managing to bring his knees off the ground, but Yang walked over and added her strength, and together with some help from the great knight himself, they were able to get him off the ground.
And there he stood over the two, and they could see his eyes, silver eyes which conveyed more emotion that one could understand, he shifted his gaze from Yang to Ruby, and as his eyes met hers he froze, his own widening from seeing a similar silver hue, he reached out and grabbed Ruby's shoulder and started to walk away from the others, the WBY of RWBY started to walk towards them, but an unnaturally stern look from Ruby made them stay, but they were ready for anything.
The others watched, astonished looks on their faces, as the knight spoke to Ruby, but to them it looked like he was doing so at great difficulty, Ruby had started to looked panicked by what he was saying to her, furiously shaking her head no at him, but after a few minutes she walked back looking defeated.
"What did he say to your Ruby?" Blake calmly asked, hiding from the others the fact that the large figure was gripping both weapons firmly, and looked ready to fight.
"He wants us to fight him." Her words were quiet, almost a whisper, with sadness laced deep in the words.
"What?" Weiss questioned. "Why does he want us to fight him?"
Ruby hung her head. "He doesn't want us to just fight him." She looked up with tears brimming in her eyes, she looked so confused. "He wants us to kill him." The other members of the team almost fell over, the ancient hero that sacrificed himself to save everything, wants to die after all he has accomplished?
"W-why?" Was all Yang could formulate into words, and Ruby looked up at her sister before replying.
"I-I don't know, all he said was something about ending him and his age so a new one could begin."
"Well don't we have a say in this?" Weiss asked, still shell-shocked by what Ruby had said.
A grunt interrupted them, they looked up to see him standing not even three feet away from them.
"I believe i need to explain where Lady Rose has failed, I don't wish to fight you, truly I don't, but I don't belong in this world anymore." His voice was hoarse from going so long without being used.
"But that doesn't mean we have to kill you, we can just show you what this world has to offer, everyone needs protecting more than ever." Ruby tried to persuade the man into reconsidering what he had proposed.
"I am afraid it is not that simple." he pointed to the doorway into the shrine, which was now blocked by a thick fog.
"You can't leave until that fog is gone, and it will only dissapear after I have passed on."
"How can you be so sure?" Blake questioned.
"You saw the skeleton of that large man outside correct?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything." Yang looked up at the tall knight.
"I had to fight that great man before I could even have the option to leave this place, now you all must defeat me before you can, and it will also give me a chance to die with honor instead of withering away in this kiln."
"So what say all of you, give this old hero one last battle?"
The girls walked away from him to go discuss their options in the corner, and the only options they had were to, A: Die in this room trapped forever. Or B: Give the greatest hero in all of Remnant one final fight, and leave with their heads held high.
The knight patiently waited for them, and as they walked over he waited for them to speak their choice, if they denied him his last battle, he would have to end himself to let them free, I wouldn't be the first time he had sacrificed himself so why would this be any different?
"Fine, we will fight you." was all Ruby said, her head hung as the rest looked downcast.
"Children." The knight trailed off getting the young girls attention.
"I know it may not be something easy to cope with, but when I look at each of you, you're fates are laid out before me."
He points at Blake. "You will saves hundreds by hunting the corrupt wherever you find them."
Then to Weiss. "You will change the attitude of the entire world and help bring peace in the wake of the destruction others will bring."
Then Yang. "It may not seem like much, but you will become one of the greatest fighters in the world, but think child, for that is what I started as."
And finally Ruby. "And you..." He trails off, as if unsure if he should speak. "You are two things lady Rose, A savior to the world, you will stop the darkness with the help of your friends." He gestures to the others. "But without you, the world will never know peace Miss Rose, but there's something else I have noticed, Lady Rose, you and I are kin."
"What are you saying?" Yang asked, all of them trying to process what they had just been told.
"That Lady Rose and I are directly related through blood." He replied as if it was as simple an answer as yes or no.
The resulting silence was deafening, The young team leader of RWBY was related to the savior of humankind, and now he was asking his own family to fight and kill him.
"Young ones, I know this is much to process, and I know what you are thinking, that if you end my life, you are cruel heartless monsters, and you will never be able to live with yourselves, but trust me when this is all over, you will smile, for I have enlightened you."
He turned to Ruby. "And Ruby, when I lay on the ground after this fight, I will ask you a favor, but only then, do you understand?"
She nodded her head numbly at his words.
"Then we are all in agreement children?"
The girls all looked to each other, grudgingly steeling themselves for the fight to come, they looked at the greatest man to ever live, and they nodded to him, formally accepting the challenge he proposed.
"Very well, I am glad to see you all agree, now go stand by the fog door, I will start the fight." he turned around and marched toward the other end of the kiln, while they went to the fog door, they paused to feel the fog, both solid and not at the same time.
When they turned, they saw him patiently waiting, and with a nod, he dashed towards the four girls with a newfound speed, fueled by the promise of a last fight.
He begun by stabbing out with the spear Ruby barely able to dodge the thrust, and let it carry him, now he was behind them and followed up with a wide spinning sweep catching all four of the girls and sending them flying across the kiln.
They didn't know how strong he had been up to this point, turns out he almost makes Yang look weak, but he didn't stop he charged across to Weiss and swung sword and spear in beautiful arcs hitting her, she blocked on the right, the spear came from the left stabbing her side, she blocked left she got a sword hilt to the face, his weapons moved as if controlled by two separate minds, two entities that functioned as one.
Yang charged from the right while Blake came in from the left, and Ruby came from behind, he pushed Weiss backward, tripping her with the spear, then quickly moving his sword hand struck-out first, hitting Yang in the stomach with the cross guard, stopping her dead, he kicked backwards catching Ruby in the chest, then held out the spear with his left hand to block Blake, shoving his spear upward knocking her weapons out of her hands as he slams the side of the spear onto her sternum, but he keeps the movement, adding Ruby and Yang on the spear's side, as he uses the speed he built to lift the spear, picking them fully up off the ground and slamming them back down into the ash.
But Weiss did not waste this chance, she brought up multiple glyphs, launching ice projectiles out of them hitting the nimble knight square in the back, the ice shards shattering when they hit his aura, which glowed a bright golden hue.
He staggered and turned sharply while the others were still on the ground he launched himself at the Heiress, who preemptively struck out, not wanting it to play out the same way it did last time when he charged her, but it was in vain, he had far more combat experience than her as well as strength, he parried her strike with his sword, knocking her rapier Myrternaster, out of her hands before it landed several feet away, he slashed her across her chest multiple times, before sticking the spear tip in the ground, grabbing her by the throat and threw her to the other side of the arena, as far away from her weapon as possible, and making her smack hard against the wall of the kiln.
The girls got up, and looked to him, patiently waiting for their move, he tilted his head when they pulled out small clear glass objects.
It did not look good for team RWBY, despite the few hits that were landed on them, they were in bad shape, Ruby had dropped down to 65%, Yang was on 72%, Blake had 53%, but Weiss was in the worst condition, she had taken the brunt of the beating she looked and felt weak, her aura dropped down to 22%, and she was disarmed, they thought they would have to distract him so Weiss could get to her weapon, but all stood surprised, when Myrternaster landed right in front of Weiss, they all looked up to see the knight nod his head towards Weiss after kindly giving the disarmed girl her weapon back, he then taking a defensive stance, as the team charged him.
The first to land a hit this time was Ruby, she had shot him with the sniper part of her scythe, catching him off guard, as he had never faced such fast moving projectiles.
Yang took the chance to land a devastating explosive punch right in his face, Blake following up with a few shots from her pistol and a few slashes from the blade attached to it, Weiss fired off more glyphs, but he slashed each one of the ice progectiles out of the air, but he was not expecting Ruby to come flying in from his side at an alarming speed, she fired a shot out of the scythe to get a little more force out of her slash, catching him in the shoulder with enough force to spin the unprepared hero around, allowing Yang to put explosive round into his back, followed by a punch that sent him flying across the arena.
He got up and turned towards them, nodding his head acknowledging their skill, before he did a large stomp on the ground, making ash fly around the arena, and when the dust settled, the four saw him standing with fire coming off him, embers flying off his armor, and his weapons had changed as well, his spear was wreathed in lightning, and his sword had some kind of blue glow around the blade, perhaps some kind of ancient magic?
They had no time to react as a bolt of lightning came flying off the spear and struck Yang in the chest almost knocking her off her feet dropping her aura down to 60%.
He gave them no time to react as he jumped across the entire arena, the spear and sword being thrust into the ground creating a magic and lightning explosion, after recovering, it appeared as Weiss had protected herself with a glyph, as she was still standing, the others were not so lucky, Ruby, Yang, and Blake had all been sent flying across the arena, Yang's aura dropped to 30% as she took the brunt of it, Blake was at 39%, and Ruby was down to 42%, and they looked to the knight when he started to laugh merrily, speaking the first words since the fight had begun.
"Ah, yes children, this really is a magnificent fight, a wonderful and beautiful final battle for an old man." He took up a stance waiting for the girls to make a move.
Weiss launched more ice shards with her glyphs, which he shattered with his spear, Blake opened fire, he was faster, he blocked her bullets with his sword, Yang fired her explosive rounds, he jumped to the left, avoiding them, but Ruby caught him in the chest with a few rounds, which stunned him, Blake sent out a group of her shadow clones, surrounding him, he swept his spear, hitting them all, but Blake had jumped above him, and when he felt her presence, he had enough time to look up just to get her high heels to his face, and a few slashes across his chest as she jumped off him, along with a few pistol shots spread out as she retreated, Yang ran up and sucker punched his chest a few times before he managed to smack her away, he seemed like he was actually starting to take some damage, they heard coughing, and somewhat labored breathing, and when Weiss launched across the kiln to stab him, her rapier punctured his armor and sunk into the flesh of his stomach.
Weiss let go of her rapier as she stepped back, her whole body started to shake, and she was only able to take a few more steps back, before her legs gave out as blood started to come out of the wound she had made.
The rest stood silent, staring at the blade embedded in his stomach, and they watched as he reached down, and grasped the hilt of the rapier and pulled it out of his stomach and threw it towards Weiss, his speech slightly raspy with pain.
"The fight...is not yet over child." He sounded like it was causing him great pain to speak. "I'm not done yet, it's just been a while since i've felt pain."
He planted his spear's end in the ground, and created a small flame in his hand, before slamming it in his chest, covering his whole body in a reddish mist, charging towards the girls and attacking with a new kind of strength, his spear's slash was blocked by Yang but it electrocuted her and sent her flying into the far wall of the kiln, where she started to spasm on the ground thanks to the lightning, Blake was next, he swung his glowing sword, she blocked it but whatever was wreathing the sword burned her like fire but much deeper, as if it burned her very soul and she fell to the ground in immense pain but otherwise fine, he turned towards Weiss, but she was just sitting on the ground staring at the blood stained sword, so he turned towards Ruby, and they charged each other, one matching the other attack for block, Ruby had flown into some sort of rage because of what he did to her friends, he wasn't trying to kill them, she knew that, but she would not let him hurt them anymore!
He saw the blade come from the side and knew he would be to late to block it, he hated to make his kin so angry, and to give her a task that was difficult to complete for a number of reasons, but if he was to be set free, it would have to be that way.
He felt the sharp sting in the side of his body, and as he looked down he saw that the scythe had cut deep into his side, hitting around the heart, probably severing multiple arteries in doing so, he saw his Ruby's terrified face as she dropped her scythe after it was freed from his body when he fell backwards next to the bonfire, now here he lay on the ground with his blood pooling around him, Ruby rushed to his side and falling to her knees in his blood, her face was already a tear covered mess, he could hear her sorrowful and panicked voice, shouting as she failed to control her volume. "I'M SO SORRY, I'M SO SO SORRY!" She buried her face into his chest as he lay on the ground, crying into the armor as her apologies turned into incoherent words jumbled together.
She only sat up after she felt him move, he reached up and removed his helmet and Ruby's eyes fell upon a battle scared face, but his features were gentle, as he reached up and tousled her hair and spoke in a soft tone, trying to calm her. "Hush little Rose, it is alright-" She cut him off by screaming that it wasn't alright, that she hurt him, that he was going to die, and that she would never forgive herself as she broke into another fit of pitiful sobs.
He waited for her crying to subside. and spoke again. "Ruby, remember when I said i needed to talk to you when this fight was over?" She nodded her head in response.
"I need you to put the two pieces of the sword back together quickly, I have an idea." Ruby nodded and picked up the broken off hilt and placed it onto the blade that was still stuck in the bonfire, he held his hand out, holding the two broken halves together as the fire in his hand burned brightly and melted the two pieces back into one, and the fire that once burned relighted, though very weak, not like the flame he once laid his eyes on, but similar to a normal bonfire's comforting flame.
"Aaah it has worked child, I implore you and your friends to stay for a short while after my passing, you will not be disappointed I assure you." His eyes were clam and peaceful, the others had recovered and had walked over after the conversation between the two had ended, he turned his head towards them.
"Thank you all for what you have done, You will be rewarded I promise you, it will only take a moment, I feel the calming dark pulling me in." He smiled at the four, a encouraging and mirthful grin that, despite the situation, made them feel better somehow, he looked to the four, from Yang, to Blake, then Weiss, and finally his gaze settled on Ruby, his kin, and he smiled, one last smile as he closed his eyes, and not one second later, they saw him leave the world, his breathing had stopped, eyes closed and a smile gracing his battle scarred face, the look of true peace.
And once again the girls went bug eyed as his body slowly dissolved into the ground, not in a disgusting decomposing way, he just slowly faded into the ground, and when his body was gone, one thing remained a large and bright golden glowing soul, it lingered at the spot he had died, before it split into five pieces, four smaller ones and one larger yet still small soul, and the team speechlessly stared as each and all of the smaller pieces flowed into each of their chests, and were absorbed by their souls, any fatigue they had felt, melted away as a small golden sheen was seen around each of them before vanishing.
Then the largest piece flowed over to the bonfire, and faded into it, the girls had stood and sat in silence for a few moments, honoring the fallen hero, and as they had turned and started to walk out, they heard a strange noise, they turned around to see a man crawling out of the ash next to the bonfire, he held a bright golden spear, and a elegant sword, with armor that was a silvery color but he had no helmet, he had his back to them, but when they turned around they saw the face of the man who had just died staring at them, except he looked much younger with a large jovial smile on his now scar free face, he walked up to the dumbfounded teens.
"I told your there would be a surprise children, was I wrong." The look of smug unending plastered on his face.
Ruby's brain had started to shut down. "I, but, how, why, I-I, I-." He grabbed her and hugged her tight.
"I knew you could do what had to be done, look, all of you, I am sorry for tricking you into fighting me, but it was the only way for the fog blocking the door to clear, look for yourselves."
All four turned around to see the fog gone, the entrance visible, to them from here.
"I'm afraid I forgot to tell you my name, it is Armos, Roth, and I believe in your language Roth means Rose, if your were curious."
" But what say you all, shall we go, I wish to see what this new era has to offer, and I know I will have to face your wrath at some point for what I did, but for now, you all look like you need a break, and I need some fresh air so, shall we?" he gestured to the now open kiln door as well as the great stone one, letting the tired ladies go first, he may have to face the music once they had had their rest, but for now, he was giddy, happy to see colors besides black and ash grey, and as they left the kiln behind he only had one amusing thought come to mind.
'Just like the mighty phoenix I rise from ash to burn brightly once again.'
DEAR LORD HATH MERCY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO MAKE!
I really am proud of myself with this one, hope you all are proud of me as well.
So tell me what did all of you think about this, and would you like to see it turned into it's own story?
Till next time fellow Wraiths.