Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not RWBY nor the ideas that I shoved into it.
"Miss Nikos, have you ever heard of the Holy Grail War?"
Ozpin turned to the only other person in his office, the new Fall maiden, Pyrrha Nikos.
"Yes, sir." Pyrrha fidgeted in her seat. Earlier, Ozpin had messaged her that she had "Maiden Duties" to attend. This was actually the first sort of those duties she had to undertake as the Fall Maiden so she was a bit nervous. "It's some sort of inter-school tournament, right?"
"You could say that." The principal of Beacon sat down across Pyrrha. "The Holy Grail War is not much a war but a battle between schools. Unlike the recent tournament, this sort of thing is much more…informal. Thus the term war is used."
Pyrrha nodded and took down what Ozpin was saying on her scroll.
He then continued.
"This year it is between Beacon Academy and Haven Academy. As Haven won last year, the war will take place in the challenger's domain during the summer when the schools are empty. This way, possible casualties will be minimized to the few students taking summer classes and even then it is your job to protect them."
"Excuse me, sir," interrupted Pyrrha. "You haven't even told me what exactly is going to happen. Protect the students from who exactly?"
"From what you may ask, Miss Nikos? From these." Ozpin reached into his pocket and drew out a deck of cards which he spread on the table for Pyrrha to see.
Eight cards. There were eight cards in front of her, each with a different picture. From what Pyrrha could tell, none of the cards had any metal in them yet there was still something strange about them. Something powerful. They almost looked like they were glowing.
"Do you like fairy tales, Miss Nikos? Those of knights and dragons. Of heroes and villains?"
Ozpin's sudden question brought the redhead to look away from the cards and back at the headmaster. Only to see he too was staring at the cards,
"Well, I would say I do, sir," answered Pyrrha honestly.
Still not moving his gaze, Ozpin nodded.
"What these contain are not the tales told for entertaining children. These aren't the legends that are carved forever into our history. They are not even the whispers of an ancient past long forgotten. No, what power that are housed in these cards are only the echoes of those whispers. Very powerful echoes."
Finally turning away from the cards, Ozpin looked straight at Pyrrha.
"The Holy Grail War, Miss Nikos, is a battle between seven students each from two schools. The seven that will be chosen will be each given a card and will be able to house the power that resides in each of these cards. Only one side will remain to win the grail. That is the Holy Grail War, Fall Maiden. Now…"
Ozpin moved one of his hands to the top of the left most card.
"..Let us discuss the classes."
The knight of the sword, Saber
There were four Ursa Majors surrounding him. The large bear-like Grimm were on their fours, growling at him. Back then, he would have been terrified to take on even one Ursa Minor. This time, however, it was Jaune who went out to look for them.
"Eighty percent," chimed his scroll.
Jaune Arc stored the information in his head and drew Crocea Mors. The family heirloom was nowhere to be seen but, by the subtle breeze he felt from his fingers, he knew it was there. He held the blade with both hands and pointed the tip to the Ursa Major in front of him. It must have been the leader as the other three moved to his back.
When he had the Saber called installed, Jaune was able to gain the abilities of the power that resided within it. He just sort of knew how it all worked.
Which is why Jaune knew his sword wasn't invisible, per se.
It was different from when someone used Dust. With the use of green dust, it was possible to create miniature tornadoes and small gales.
This however was different.
Jaune reached into himself and allowed the control of whatever was keeping hold of the air surrounding Crocea Mors to loosen and aimed it at the Ursa Major directly in front of him.
All he had to do was reveal its name.
The wind created by the dust, whether they were gales or tornadoes were nothing compared to the mighty winds surrounding his sword. The artificial winds were but guffaws to the howls of the storm he was about to let loose. The magic that the Saber card held was something much more primordial to what dust could bring about. If dust was Nature's Wrath, then this was the wrath of those that controlled nature itself.
"The hammer of the wind king."
He aimed the invisible sword and prepared for release. Already loose winds were blowing away from the sword.
"Strike Air."
The storm converged around the blade for a second before releasing a fury of a gale in the direction the blade was pointing. The single Ursa Major couldn't even react as the blast tore it up to shreds before moving on to tear up everything behind it. Trees and boulders were not spared of the wind king's fury.
That didn't matter to Jaune though
Just as he released the winds, he had been shot backwards like a bullet to the Ursa behind him.
He knew this though. For whatever reason, when he had the card installed, he always had this sort of Instinct that bordered precognition.
He moved the sword to point behind him. Less than a second later, his flight was halted as Crocea Mors had then embed itself through the head of the Ursa Major.
Two left, one on his left and one on his right.
"Fifty percent," chimed his scroll.
'That's probably enough.' Thought Jaune as he withdrew the sword from the dead Grimm. His Instinct told him that, after the two would be done, they would stand and roar. Turn to his left and slice through the left one's belly in one motion then use it as a foothold and stab Crocea Mors through the it's neck. Then kick off the first one, spin and lop off the head of the next one.
Or at least that's what his new Instinct told him.
If anyone had told him that before, he'd have never believe he'd be able to do that but now he knew he could.
And not just because of the boost the card gave him.
Mana Burst.
Infusing one's weapon and body with magic then instantly releasing it like a blast from a jet. With enough power, it would allow anyone, even a little girl, to be able to move at speeds that he's only seen Ruby touch or destroy things that Yang wouldn't be able to scratch.
It was a useless skill for most due to how much one would need to gather and burst.
However, all Jaune Arc had, when he arrived at Beacon, was an insane amount of Aura. Not fighting skills. Not any cool semblances nor any weapons. Just an almost inexhaustible aura supply.
This was something only Jaune Arc could use. While it wasn't exactly the same, it was close enough
Jaune called up for the aura in his body and all of it came rushing forward. He directed it to his sword, his arms, his legs, and his torso.
The Saber card didn't just let him fight. It taught him something that allowed him to fight.
Once he knew he gathered enough, he concentrated them on specific muscles that he would use. He also had to release a little with each movement .The first time he tried doing this without the card to guide him, he put it all on his feet and nearly lost those as they almost exploded.
"Forty-five percent," chimed his scroll.
With that, Jaune let the aura burst within his body and went back to being a hero.
The far seeing hunter, Archer
The first thing Ozpin noticed when he entered the room was the smell of iron.
The next thing he noticed was that Ruby Rose was sitting on her bed. No, what worried him was she was only sitting on her bed and staring at her hands. This was not the same energetic girl he that he had invited to join the school.
He had come to visit Miss Rose at Miss Xiao Long's insistence that there was something wrong with her. Maybe she was onto something.
He closed the door behind him and made his way in front of her. She didn't seem to notice as she just continued sitting there, staring at her open hands. Not even a small raise of her head.
"Miss Rose, I've heard you were having troubles with your card."
She didn't respond but there was the sound of electricity crackling and Ruby's once empty hands now held a familiar weapon.
It was a greatsword with a red handle. The same one that Qrow Branwen wielded.
Ozpin's eyes widened.
He had seen what the Schnee family could do. He also knew of the mechanics on how Miss Scarletina's weapon was able to replicate copies of others. But this was something different.
If he were the type of person, he'd say this was magic.
"Amazing…," murmured Ozpin. Before he could examine the blade more however, it disappeared only to be replaced by another sword, this time the one belonging to a certain Miss Schnee.
Again, the sword looked to be an exact copy, more interesting that the vials that contained dust were also full.
"So I can do this now…", said Ruby breaking her silence, still looking her partner's sword in her hands. "Any weapon I see, I can copy them and recreate them although if it's too complicated it takes me a while. It's easier with swords though. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Well, that is pretty amazing." Ozpin agreed.
Ruby nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer.
"I can also see far. Like really really REALLY far. I don't ever miss my targets anymore," the girl continued but, now, Ozpin felt something was off. "And yet…"
For the first time since he arrived, Ruby finally looked at him and Ozpin realized what the problem was.
The red highlights of Ruby's hair had turned grey. A patch of her skin along the upper left side of her face was now much tanner than the rest, like she had been burned.
Oversynchronization. The higher the resonance of the souls of both card and installer, the more the installer was able to gain the card's abilities.
To use a metaphor, it was like combining two colors to make a new one. However, the balance was important. Too much of one would start affecting the other.
From what the headmaster could see, Ruby was oversynchronized with her card. He had heard of this happening but to see it in person was a new experience. It may have been from her young age, a soul that was still too young, or that maybe it was just resonated well with the servant that resided in her card.
Either way, this was a delicate and dangerous situation.
"I can do so much more than I thought I ever could. I could be the hero I've always wanted to be." Ruby held up her hands at stared at them. "Yet, I feel that in the end, these hands won't ever hold anything."
Ruby put her hands down and stared the headmaster right in the eyes. Her eyes that once held the color of dull iron were now the silver of blade and steel.
"Sir, I want to be a hero but...," the girl paused and for a second, Ozpin could see the battlefield in her mindscape, refected in her eyes. It promised a lonely death. "Is this really hell I'm walking into?"
Ozpin had no reply
The long reached warrior, Lancer
Lie Rin was having one of those mornings. No explosions or noise. No one constantly pushing him around.
He could actually hear himself think.
Yes, it was one of those mornings, where Nora was nowhere in sight.
In short, a great morning...or that was what he used to think.
Before, he'd think that, while Nora's presence was enjoyable, it was also…trying. Peace and quiet were rarities that he'd sought out when given the chance.
However, ever since he had started using the card assigned to him, Ren had felt different.
If it was anything physical, he hadn't noticed, although for some reason, a lot of girls and women have been hitting on him recently.
The headmaster had explained how sometimes the cards would affect the users in some sense and it did for him.
Never had Ren felt such a feeling before for his partner. No, it wasn't something simple like love and such. This feeling was the feeling of wanting to serve under a lord and do his best duty as a vassal.
While he wasn't sure if this was that was a good thing, Ren had decided to embrace it and use this opportunity to be able to be a better servant to Nora, which was why he had decided to actively spend the whole day with her.
It was an odd reversal of roles. Now it was he who sought Nora.
As he entered the cafeteria, it only took him but a moment to spot his partner who by the looks of it had spotted him as well.
"Ren!" Nora yelled and Ren couldn't help but smile as the girl ran towards him.
The scene could have been straight out of a movie as, in his mind, Nora was running to him in slow motion.
There was that feeling again. The feeling of wanting to fully serve and be of service to another. The feeling, Ren decided, of Chivalry.
"Good morning,No-OOF!" Whatever good feelings Ren had were squashed as Nora smacked him across the face with a rolled up newspaper, strong enough to send him flying.
On the ground, Ren held the stinging cheek.
"What was that for?" To which just Nora pointed at him.
"There's a bug on your face."
"That's a mole, Nora." Nora blinked.
"Oh yeah, I guess it is. My bad. Never knew you had one there."
"Neither did I" mumurred Ren as he rubbed the new beauty mark on his face.
Maybe Weiss was right. Maybe chivalry was overrated.
The master of mounts, Rider
Sage Ayana couldn't believe where he was.
A few moments beforehand, he had been in an intense battle with the Rider of Beacon. While her speed and Invincibility were top notch, his card was much stronger and was just as immortal.
Their battle had been going on for hours, the garden they had been battling in reduced to nothing more than craters.
It was only when she had asked if he wanted to settle it already, "mano-a-mano".
He had agreed as their battle was one of an immovable force and an unstoppable object. Pointless.
Also, it was close to dinner time and their group was having enchiladas.
Upon his agreement, his opponent held her spear up to the heavens and a blinding light spewed forth from it's tip, covering all that Sage could see.
Right now, he felt like he was in the middle of the universe. The stars above him were the only source of light, close enough that he swore he could reach them. From what he could tell, those lights were the only other company he had besides his opponent across him.
She had removed her scarf, jacket, gauntlets and gloves. Her hair was just as bright as the stars, the only sun in the dimension. She was currently wrapping her fists as she looked at him, a cheeky smile on her face.
"This is my Duel Field." The echoes her voice left confirmed just how alone both of them were. "This is a separate dimension which allows us both to fight fair until one is defeated. It cancels out a ton of crap. No card installs, No weapons, No semblances, No bullshit immortality, not even the interference from the admin nor elements of luck will take part in this battle. Just, you, me, and our fists will talk."
Finishing her wraps with a secure tug, Yang Xiao Long got into a boxing stance.
"Alright, put em up!"
The wielder of sorcery, Caster
Fire, that which consumes to live
Breath in.
Water, that which flows unto itself
Breath out.
Air, that which is free to move.
Breathe in.
Earth, that which grounds yet cultivates
Breathe out.
As the heiress of the Schnee family, it would be utterly stupid to think that Weiss Schnee would not know how Dust works.
Dust. That which lit up the night and allowed humanity to fight.
There are many forms of dust, from thunder to gravity, but there were only four basic forms, the four elements of the planet, fire, water, air, and earth.
Weiss knew this. This was taught to even grade schoolers. She closed her eyes in concentration.
Dust was believed to be created by the planet which was why it's four basic forms corresponded to the four elements of the planet. This was why it was also known as Nature's Wrath.
The Golden Caster card floated above Weiss' outstretched hand. The picture of a bearded man with a staff graced the backside of the card. It glowed gold with power.
The Schnee family had once tried to fuel a rocket with Dust to reach the space outside the planet's sky. It had failed as the dust would not activate outside the planet's atmosphere. This only proved how Dust was the planet's power, not the one's who wielded it.
Weiss opened her mind and willed the card to install into her soul. The card spun and moved towards her chest, merging her souls with the one who resided in it.
For a second, she's in front of a sea. She felt a breeze, carrying with it the saltiness of the water.
Another one followed but this one carries feelings of love, pain, murder, and betrayal. It blew through her soul but Weiss was a Schnee so she stood firm.
More gales blew and her soul started shaking. The pain they carry was too much. The betrayal was heavier than any secret and all burdens she had carried.
The tempest in her soul raged and howled Murder. Betrayal. Pain. Betrayal. Heartbreak. Pain. Heartbreak. Betrayal and Weiss felt like Murder. Pain. Betrayal. Death. she's about to Kill. Murder. Die. Betrayal. be carried off into Betrayal. Murder. Death.
But then she's back.
Back in the training arena with the Caster called successfully installed. The three targets made of steel in front of her were still fully intact.
She released a shaky breath.
Exhale.
Inhale.
The Caster of Beacon draws in air and with it power. She stops feeling for her aura as now there's so much, it's basically overflowing from her.
Weiss Schnee felt like she could do anything at that moment. Even answer an age old question.
"Why can't Man just create their own Dust?"
The first time Weiss had installed she already knew the answer.
Equivalent Exchange. If the planet made dust, then whatever it uses must be from the planet. It's formless but it should be there.
Caster reached out past the air and easily grasped the fifth element around her.
Aether, that which has no shape yet bestows form.
A glyph appeared to Caster's left, her semblance, she had found, the best channel.
Within it, she combined the consummation of fire and the movement of air then gave it shape with aether. The glyph glowed purple and there was soon a sound of crackling and the smell of burnt ozone.
She pointed her sword to a target. Myrtenaster had changed since the install. It's handle now much much longer like a staff that it was basically a spear at this point.
"Fire!" Upon her command, the glyph glowed for a second before releasing a massive purple thunderbolt that smashed through the steel target only to stop at the training room wall more than a hundred feet away. Upon hitting the wall, the bolt exploded with the power of three dynamite sticks.
No dust was used to do such a task. The power alone was much stronger than anything one would get even with the purest Dust crystals.
Some would call it magic.
Others sorcery.
Caster called it unsatisfactory.
"Now if that was just at 0.1%. Let's try to out something stronger," she murmered to herself as thirty more of the same glyph, this time bigger in size, appeared behind her.
Needless to say, there wasn't much of a Training Room when she finished.
The mad dog, Berserker
In all fairness, it was a perfect time to take an evening stroll.
The day hadn't exactly been too great for Cardin Winchester. First, Dove got the flu which soon spread to the rest of team. Next, he had done terribly during sparring sessions where Arc utterly demolished him. Finally, to top it all off, when he was in the middle of "letting off some steam" on some faunus, Port just happened to pass by and he had to stop and apologize like a loser.
So, of course, he'd want to take an evening stroll across the school. Maybe even light one up to relieve the stress.
"You! Oppressor! Halt!"
He had not expected to be held up by some sort of maniac though.
The deviant who held him up was obviously a female. Cardin could see this as she was basically only wearing what looked like straps and a panty, something that looked straight out of an S&M catalogue. Her face was covered with straps as well but above her black hair, cat ears and a tail below were for out in the open.
"You think that you have power by oppressing those who have none? Do you really think I will let this pass! Even the weak deserve to be raised! Even the weak deserve to be treated equal! DOWN WITH OPPRESSORS! DOWN WITH THEIR POWER! UP WITH THE PEOPLE!"
And that's when he zoned out as the sexy S&M freak continued droning on and on about oppressor this and weak that.
He honestly was too busy staring at her body and get-up. While there were just convinient straps that covered her nipples, most of anything else was shown off. Her eyes were covered but, from the face, one could tell she was a beauty.
Not like anyone would be looking at her face anyways.
Cardin knew he wasn't really into that kind of weird stuff, but now…now, he kinda saw why Sky was into this sort of thing. A bit.
It was only due to Cardin's ogling that he never noticed how the crazy cat chick had finally finished her spiel and drew out a weapon.
She then used it to give him the single most savage and brutal beating he'd ever receive in his life.
She beat his arms till they broke. His chest till his plate cracked. His legs till they snapped.
She was still beating him as his consciousness faded, her savage blows not slowing the slightest.
The thought of death had never even occurred to Cardin however as he was currently sporting a huge hard-on.
It would only months later when Cardin would begin his journey into sadomasochism.
But that was a story for another time.
The hidden killer, Assassin
Neptune and Sun looked over the cliff.
The sun was just setting over the horizon, glowing a beautiful light that reminded Sun of Blake's eyes.
The view was spectacular.
The monkey faunus wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked over to his partner who returned the look with a smirk.
"We did it, man."
"Yeah." The blue haired boy's hair was dropping and covering part of his face yet he just smiled back at his partner.
They both shared a high five as they looked down on the fruit of their hard work.
From the spot on the cliff, one was able to observe almost all of Beacon Academy and the forest that surrounded it. It was the perfect vantage spot and location for a base for the war. Sun and Neptune had a spent a good day looking for a place like this.
Sun looked down on Beacon Academy, their future battlefield.
All of Haven academy was relying on them to win the grail and they were going to do just that. Even if he had to face Blake and her team, Sun was still determined to win.
He looked to his side to ask what his friend was thinking only to find air.
Neptune had suddenly disappeared.
"AAAAAAAAgggghhhhh!"
No wait.
Sun turned back to the Cliffside to see Neptune flying off the distance which was strange considering his card didn't have any form of flight capabilities.
However, before Sun could give it any more thought, he felt a sudden combination of pain and weightlessness as he too was sent flying in the direction Neptune flew.
Before he blacked out , he spotted on the very Cliffside they had been standing on an orange haired girl wearing eastern clothing with her hands cupped to her mouth.
"PRESENCE CONCEALMENT, BITCHES!
"...And the administrater of the war, Ruler."
Finishing his explanation, Ozpin slid the last card on the right, the one with the image of a woman with one hand carrying a scale and the other a sword, toward the Fall maiden.
Pyrrha looked from the card, then to the headmaster, then back to the card in front of her.
Slowly, she moved her hand to the card and touched-Fire. Honor. Duty. Love. Fire. God. Betrayal. Fire. Fire. Fir-
Pyrrha reeled her hand back from the card like she had been burned.
What was that? She had seen a vision of fire. It was one that was incredibly hot, so hot that she felt it almost burned away her own soul.
It was like the same pain she had felt when the powers were being transferred to her, the feeling of her soul being tampered with. Only instead of the pain being physical, it almost like her brain was melting.
However, unlike Amber's soul, the one housed in this card felt oddly familiar. It reminded her of Jaune, oddly enough.
"What you just felt Miss Nikos was having your soul resonate and merge with another," spoke up Ozpin. "This is only possible because the souls housed within these are mere shadows. However, they still hold vast power, much greater than my own."
Ozpin stood up from his seat to make himself a glass of coffee. He was knew he'd need it.
"Beacon is going to become a batteground, Miss Nikos. One that will make Cinder's attack look like a small scuffle. I, now ask you miss Nikos, are you ready to look over this war?"
Sweat rolled down Pyrrha's brow. She had broken up sweating ever since she touched the card.
The fire was real. It was dangerously hot. So hot it could have easily consumed her.
Yet beyond the fire, she had felt other things. Honor. Duty. A sense to do what is right till the end.
Destiny.
Pyrrha turned to the headmaster, a resolute look in her green eyes.
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Do you want some coffee? This is going to be a long night. No. A long battle."
A tale of Betrayal...
"Weiss...why?"
Ruby got on one knee as she tried to stop the bleeding coming from her right leg. She gritted through the pain as she stared at someone who she thought was her partner.
With the Caster card equipped, Weiss looked different. Her white dress now reached to her ankles and her jacket had grown long enough to be a cape with a matching cowl.
She truly looked like a White Witch.
"I'm sorry, Ruby but you left me no choice."
As Caster said this a glyph appeared below her, lifting her off the ground and high above Ruby.
Her cape extended by itself with Glyphs appearing at it's front. The amount was much more than Ruby knew Weiss could regularly handle.
Most Ruby recognized as the design of Weiss' glyphs but there were some with different markings and even color. Each one was brimming with power and all were aimed right at her.
Caster drew Mystelteinn, the sword-now-staff, and pointed it down to the girl she had betrayed. All the glyphs grew even brighter and the tips of various white objects, from swords to miniature Grimm, edged out of them.
"Saber will be mine."
...Romance...
As soon as he hit the floor, two curved swords embed themselves over his wrists, preventing Jaune from moving his hands without at least hurting himself.
The blonde then felt a heavy weight over his torso as Ruby sat on him, her hands pushing against his shoulders and her face way too close.
"Ruby! Wait!"
"No, Jaune, I can't...WAIT!" With that last exclamation, the young girl literally ripped off his chestplate. "I can't handle this anymore!"
Ruby looked straight into his blue eyes, her own the color of blades.
"Ruby, you can't let the card control you!" Jaune tried to reason over Ruby's heavy panting. "I've seen Pyrrha pray. I've eater over double my body weight just this week. Nora meditates Ruby. Nora. Meditating. And we all know what happened to Blake!"
At that moment, the steel in Ruby's eyes softened. Her hands moved to her face and she screamed.
"Aagghhh!" Her neck lit up as glowing green lines traveled through it, crackling with electricity.
Jaune watched as his friend squirmed on top of him, unable to do anything. Eventually, she did calm down when the lines of her neck disappear.
"Ugh...Jaune? Did something happen?" asked Ruby, finally back. Her hands were still on her face, mainly to hide her quickly reddening cheeks.
She peeked through her fingers and Jaune sighed in relief as he noted the softened silvers. His friend was back at least.
"Oh nothing much, I guess. Besides this hole in my shirt. Any idea what happened back there?"
"I don't know," answered Ruby honestly. She set her hands on Jaine's chest again, her head bowed. Her hair blocked any ways for Jaune to see her face. "It's just...he's so lonely Jaune."
"Um...who's he?"
"I mean, all he wants is to meet her again. To reach her again. Even after all this time, he still wants to meet her."
Ahhhhahhhhhhahhhhahhhh. Suddenly, Jaune heard chanting. He wasn't sure where it was coming from, considering that they were the only one's in the sparring arena. It didn't even seem like Ruby noticed it althouh she seemed too caught up in her spiel.
"...I mean, it's not like it's all on him. I mean, I sorta have been getting to like like you but only halfway of the second like. But when we're both installed there's just this overwhelming need to be with you which sorta magnifies the..."
Dun dun dun. Dun dun dun.
The music picked up and intensified and Jaune had to tune out what Ruby was saying to try to hear more of it or at least locate it's origin.
"Where is that coming fro-Woah!" Jaune's wonderings on the origin of the strangly hype background music went away as he felt a hand touch his face.
Jaune Arc looked up to see Ruby Rose smiling. Her smile was one that was filled with such happiness and love that Jaune couldn't help but blush like a schoolgirl.
"Even if it's just through this, he is able to reach his king. Even if it's just this, I believe he should have happiness." Ruby's eyes were steel once again but there was a certain softness, a familiarity, in them that left Jaune mesmerized. "Don't you feel the same way, Saber?"
Let it be known that contrary to popular belief, Jaune Arc wasn't a thirteen year old who would just swoon over anyone who gave him a smile, most especially the fifteen year old friend.
However, right now, he wasn't just Jaune Arc. He was the Saber of Beacon and right now, deep within his soul, Saber felt the exact same way.
..and Dastardly Plots
"System Keraunos!"
The boom and crackling of lightning echoed throughout the empty hallway, smashing the forward with the ferocity of a thousand Grimm. There was enough power to power Vale for a year.
If any human had seem this power, they would have immediately gotten on their knees as only a God would be able to create such power.
Yet when the smoke cleared, the door remained unscathed save for a large scorch mark at its center.
"Tsk." Mercury Black lowered his right arm. The golden metal gauntlet that covered his arm glowed red hot, steam releasing from various valves.
"No good, huh?," said a voice on his left. Mercury turned to his lone companion on the tunnel.
"Well, it's not like you could do anything either. All you've been doing lately is reading that stupid book."
"Hey!" Emerald Sustrai got up from her rather comfy position and hugged the large ornate book in her hands. "These stories are pretty good! I will not have you insult her."
"Hmm. Don't tell me you've gotten attached to your little fairy tales?"
"At least I could read. This even has pictures so even you wouldn't get bored. Don't tell me you've never had your daddy tell you stories at bedtime?"
"Oh yeah?" Mercury raised his arm once again, this time pointing to Emerald. His right eye faintly glowed blue with power.
Emerald doesn't move except for raising an eyebrow. However, a shadow of something started to appear between her and the Archer. Even partially formed, it's presence filled the tunnel with such fierce ferocity and power that Mercury could feel sweat to form on his back.
"Enough." A sultry voice came from the end of the tunnel and any tension between the two is gone as they turned to the voice of Cinder Fall. "Both of you stand aside. I have found the solution to our problem.
"You found a way in?," asked Mercury. While he wasn't exactly sure what was behind door, if it could take that much damage, it must be something important.
"No, something better." Cinder smirked and brought out a card. It was the same kind of card Emeald and Mercury were using to participate in the war, however on it was an image Mercury hadn't seen before.
One of a long haired being that was wrapped in chains.
"Ack!" Emerald's exclamation turned Mercury away from his boss and to the thief. She was staring at something at the end of the tunnel with her mouth open.
It was a stupid sight, one that he'd have commented on if he too wasn't left speechless when he turned to see what she was looking at.
"I suggest you both move. I don't think either of you would want to get in his way," suggested Cinder. The two subordinates wordlessly moved closer to the wall, still staring at the spectacle before them.
What once was pristine silver steel of a knight that reflected the sun's rays was now black armour of a tyrant that was stained with too much blood.
What once was healthy skin and innocent blue eyes was now pale and concealed by a dark bloody visor.
What once was a simple sword that stood for innocence and good, now glowed with corruption and power.
"Vortigern..."
The figure spoke and energy gathered around his sword, fully covering it, and taking it's shape until all that was left in the black knight's hands was a blade of pure dark flame that was several times larger than the original.
"...Hammer of the Vile King."
The Altered Saber of Beacon took a step forward and swung the corrupted weapon.
AN: Haisai! So this started out as a teaser (less than 1K words )to a trailer (more than 2K words) to a preview because I just really wanted to expand a lot of stuff. It's also a bit rough as I posted this with my phone so it's a huge pain to italicize and bolden everything for now.
Basically, I wanted to write a soft crossover that didn't bring any charachters but some concepts so those that didn't know the franchise would enjoy as well.
I think most of choices for servants are alright and could easily be figured out. Nora would have been perfect for Frankie (Hammer+Berserker+Electric) but it seemed too boring.
I don't really have any plans on expanding this (maybe) so if anyone wants to take it up, go ahead.
Ciao!