Here's another chapter for all you lovely people! And a fun fact, Aerith's official height is 5 feet 3 inches (160cm) and Zack's official height is 6 feet 3 inches (185cm). Fun to compare that on the official RWBY height chart.
Apologies for any/all errors that slipped by me.
So many voices. All talking at once forming a soft cacophony of inaudible words. But she was looking for one particular voice, the voice of the girl between life and death. She called the name and let it ripple through the sea of voices. For the first time in weeks, Aerith had a visitor in her personal field of flowers. Her visitor, the girl with the scarred face, was once again accompanied by the being that looked like Minerva.
"Amber!" Aerith greeted "How are you holding up?" the half Cetra wanted to hit herself for asking such a stupid question. You don't ask someone who knows they're dying how they are.
"As well as I can I suppose." The girl responded awkwardly "But I'm guessing you aren't doing this for smalltalk."
"No. I want to know if you know where you are." Amber's gaze dropped to the false ground covered in flowers in response.
"I don't. But I know Ozpin comes to visit me often."
"I wish I knew where you were so I could try to heal you." Aerith said while gently cradling both of her hands in a comforting manner "I know I could help you but I know Ozpin doesn't trust me enough. Is there anything I can do to make him trust me?"
Amber shook her head and looked into Aerith's bright green eyes "I don't know. Ozpin is slow to trust people because of the secret war. It makes it really hard to find allies." It was Aerith's turn for her expression to fall "He will trust you in time though. I know he will."
"Thank you. For believing I'm on your side." Silence fell between them for several moments before Aerith looked at the large figure "Who are you?"
"I am Remnant's voice." the feminine figure answered. Aerith berated herself for not thinking that.
"Do you have a name?"
"This form was once called Athena but it has been many eras since we were called such."
"You were forgotten." Aerith breathed "People are forgetting the light."
"As the light fades, the Grimm become stronger and increase in number. But to balance, the light shines more intensely as the darkness envelops it."
Aerith knew this to be true. Gaia had been on the edge of being devoured for many years but several individuals had refused to bend, refused to let darkness consume them. She believed herself and Zack to be the ones to light the fire of hope within Avalanche. But she knew that even if they had been the flint and tinder, Cloud and Tifa had been the fire. Somehow, they had ignited the hope in others and inspired them to stand against a vastly stronger foe. But who would play that part on Remnant? Ozpin was trying hard to keep the light burning bright, but could that be the problem? Was the light burning up too quickly right now?
"Child of the Cetra, you have the right thoughts but there is nothing you can do yet but prime yourself and others." Aerith forgot that her thoughts were not secret to the lifestream while in this mindscape "We can feel the darkness building strength, readying for a large movement. Find the flame, do all you can to stoke their spirit."
It hurt greatly. Aerith knew from the start the darkness was coming but now the knowledge was far more visceral. Knowing many were doomed to death before the actual fight would begin. It took two thousand years and countless deaths to set the stage for the decisive battle against Jenova.
"Hold on, Amber. I will find you and help you." She said with a determined gaze. The girl smiled in response.
The dorm came into view as Aerith opened her eyes. A shirtless Zack toweling out his hair met her sight a second later and her bright green eyes traveled over the many, many bullet wound scars on his torso. A young man with a dream to be a hero, one of the greatest people she had ever met and yet, destined to die so the light would burn bright in the one truly destined to beat back the darkness. How many others were like Zack? Genuinely good people that would be dragged through hell only to die so another would be inspired to fight and win. Was she sent to Remnant to be a martyr? Could she accept that fate again?
"So I was thinking we should head into Vale today." Zack mused, pulling Aerith out of her thoughts "It'll be nice to get away from Beacon for a while. Go out and explore for a while."
Aerith nodded and got up from sitting cross legged on their bed "How has training with Jaune been going?" She asked while grabbing some clothes.
"Oh really good. Pretty sure he hates me for all the bruises but he has hugely improved." Zack said with a proud tone as he put on a shirt "He actually reminds me a lot of Cloud, besides being taller than him." He laughed "So awkward and shy but acting all tough and outgoing." The former SOLDIER leaned against the desk in room and watched Aerith get dressed "Anyone in your classes that stand out?"
"Ruby Rose." She did not have to think about that "Her aura is so much different from the others." She fastened the button on her jeans and grabbed her bolero jacket, stuffing her scroll into the pocket "It's like, there is more of it hidden out of sight."
"Maybe she's not all human." Zack suggested with a shrug "Not, not all human like me. Not all human like you."
"You think she's half Cetra?" Aerith asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I dunno. Just kinda throwing words up the air." He said with a chuckle as he made his way to the door now that Aerith was dressed.
The brunette chuckled as well but she could not shake the thought of what Zack said. Could it be possible? Even though she was one, Aerith never had any experience with a Cetra. She would not have any clue as to how their aura would feel, how it would be different from humans. That being said, faunus auras were no different from those of humans.
It was a strange experience, being short of breath. Even sweating felt foreign. Vincent had stopped within sight of a road leading up to a city, if the very large billboard announcing Vale was several miles further was to be believed, to rest of all things. When his breathing became shallow, his clothes became moist and began to stick to him, he paused his journey mostly out of worry, thinking something was weakening him. Out of reflex he put his right hand on his chest and felt a sensation that he had gone thirty-three years without. The heavy thumping of a living heart. He realized why the Galian Beast had been so cheerful since he had regained control back in the red forest, both of them would be able to feel, well, anything again. No longer a walking preserved corpse. But it also worried him to be alive again.
He had been pondering this for an hour now. As an undead, he never needed to eat, drink, sleep, tend to a call from nature, or worry about pain. Chaos and the protomateria made it so any damage to him would be repaired swiftly, so not even injury was a concern. In return, he was unable to feel anything. Tired, hungry, hot, cold, pain, and neither could he taste. It was as if all his nerves had died, and mostly likely they did, and soon after his emotions became subdued. But now he was alive. A fresh living body with the power to shift into the Galian Beast and feel again. Minerva had brought him new life and unfortunately, all of its negatives. He could be hurt, he could be killed. Strange to be faced with your mortality after thirty years of being near invulnerable.
Vincent rose to his feet and walked onto the road leading to Vale. The words from Minerva burning in the back of his mind, dictating his mission and his reward. A cruel task but it had to be done and if he was unable to do it, perhaps the Galian Beast would take over and see the objective completed. Perhaps Minerva would force Chaos back into his body to ensure the mission was successful. He knew Chaos would be a last resort, merely sending the demon to Remnant would result in the deaths of thousands, he knew that for certain.
On he walked, passing travellers going to and from the city, lost in thought. His mind drifted through all manner of topics, memories, regrets, his mission, but it always returned to being alive and being able to feel again. A grumbling stomach made it hard to not think about being alive again, and reminded him the last meal he enjoyed was a picnic with Lucrecia. Part of him was looking forward to trying the food of Remnant and a much bigger part was falling into a spiral of dark thoughts. It halted though when he thought back to that brief time he was in the lifestream after slamming into Omega. It had only been a moment of being completely vaporized but it felt like hours in the lifestream, hours he spent talking with Lucrecia. She had been dead for decades but the materia in that cave preserved her body and gave her spirit an anchor to persist, a gift from Chaos of all things, and because of that she had able to watch over him and her son. Lucrecia had told him to embrace his new life and move on from her, and he would, after this mission, after he returned to Gaia.
As he drew closer to the walls of Vale he spotted something of a border crossing. Very large security doors, armed people checking the phone-like devices he had seen on every traveller, bags, and carts. He could veer off the road and use his abilities to get over the walls but he would be seen, since it's the middle of the day, and instantly labeled some kind of criminal. So he chose to instead gamble with regular entry. So he patiently waited in line and received far fewer sideways looks from the random people than he expected. He assumed it was either people knew how to keep to themselves or outlandish appearances were fairly normal on Remnant.
He heaved a sigh of relief when it was finally his turn. His outfit was not kind to him for standing in the sun and his stomach is getting relentless. The guard asked his name, the gunslinger reply with his actual name, no need to hide his true name. The guard eyed Cerberus as he tapped away on the device he held.
"You're not in the system." The soldier drawled, telling Vincent this was not uncommon and it annoyed him to deal with this scenario "What is your business in Vale?"
"Visiting an old friend."
"Name of your friend?"
"Ozpin." One of many names that had been forced into his head during his rising on Remnant. The guard rolled his eyes at the name.
"Present your scroll for registration."
"I lost it during my trip. Looking to get a new one." If the uniformed man drooped his shoulders anymore, they would fall off.
He lifted his arm in a polite indication towards an open door beside "Please step inside to fill out the forms needed for a visitor."
The cloaked man nodded his thanks and fought back a smirk. Almighty paperwork to separate the regular folk from the truly dangerous. It would take a real criminal mastermind to bluff their way through bureaucracy. Though he was embarrassed to be caught off guard by two boxes with simple requests: Age and Birth Date.
"I am so sorry! I'll get you new drinks right away!" The young waitress nearly cried as she turned and nearly ran back behind the counter.
Zack assured her it was fine and continued to use the stack of paper napkins to dry himself. He and Aerith had stopped at a café for lunch and the waitress trip over a dropped cane from an older man and wound up drenching Zack with a mix of water and iced tea. His SOLDIER enhanced reflexes saved the glasses. Aerith laughed, he laughed, others stared in bemusement.
"Can you believe that this isn't a rare thing for me?" Zack said with a smile.
"You get drinks spilled on you a lot?" Aerith asked while trying to stifle aftershock giggles.
"Well Genesis had a habit of dumping water on me when I started to annoy him. But yeah, I've been hit with a lot of dropped drinks over the years." Once he stopped dripping he rested his arms on the table "I've had a lot of random little bad things happen to me though." Unknown to them an old bird on a nearby rooftop got nervous "Kunsel always said my bad luck was to balance out my incredible ability to make friends with anyone."
Their new drinks arrived with the food they ordered and it turned out to be a rather pleasant lunch for them. Both had been greatly enjoying having a relatively normal relationship and life. Months of being with each other and living by routine, something that would drive most to their breaking point but a wonderful treat for the two from Gaia. When they were done, they paid their share of the bill and set off on a seemingly aimless walk through Vale. Zack was subtly leading Aerith towards a shop he found during one of his solo ventures during the the night. His SOLDIER physiology made it hard to sleep for more than six hours each night so it lead to many midnight runs.
Upon arriving in front of the shop, a simple looking place with no display window and a plain sign that said Tom's, Zack asked Aerith to wait and ducked inside. The half Cetra woman watched the people go this way and that, and city workers setting up all kinds of decorations for the coming Vytal Festival. She was excited to the tourists from other lands and wondered what kind of events would happen during the festival. Parades? Dances? Maybe a tournament of some sort? Perhaps she was thinking too much about more dated festivals. She had never personally been to one but had read about them. A sigh slipped past her lips while she waited and began to grow bored and she lean against the wall. Briefly she considered pulling her scroll out and playing a game but almost as soon as she reached into her pocket Zack emerged from the shop holding a short rod.
With a bright smile he held out to her and twisted the middle of it causing the ends to spring out. The rod went from two feet long to five and revealed an array of chambers that were very akin to materia slots. Aerith cautiously took hold of it and felt it was very light, a comfortable width in her hands and a good height. He had bought her a staff and it felt like having a favorite piece of clothing returned to her. While never a melee fighter, she had learned how to defend herself from simple attackers while living in Midgar. Very few criminals were not dissuaded by a hard hit to groin with a steel pole.
"So?" Zack asked with a ghost of doubt, seeing her bright emerald gaze linger on the weapon. She gave him a smile and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you very much."
"Thought you might like to have a weapon again. And you can train with me. I have no idea how to fight with a staff but I'm sure someone does and I'm a really good punching bag." Zack bragged, though it was a curious thing to brag about, being a punching bag.
"That sounds like a lot of fun." Aerith stated honestly.
"And maybe you can show what you can really do. I get the feeling you hide a lot of power behind that innocent face." Zack teased while poking Aerith's nose.
"Maybe." She reply while twisting the middle as a test. She was satisfied when the staff collapsed into the compact rod "We'll see. Though I should see how rusty I am." She held the rod in one hand and grabbed Zack's with the other, lacing their fingers "I want to check out a bookstore or two before we head back." And on they went to find a bookstore.
Hunger is such a burden.
That's what Vincent said to himself on repeat for the past two hours. His stomach groaned loudly as he found his way around Vale. After finishing his "Guest Hunter" paperwork he had asked about Ozpin and was directed toward Beacon Academy. So now he was trying to find his way, slipping through crowds ignoring all conversation noise. Keeping so focused on his mission was helping to subdue his hunger but it would crack his mental wall now and again. Yet on he walked without a thought about what people may think or his current level of stealth.
After three years of being in complete control of his senses and by extension his emotions, Vincent felt overwhelmed by all the scents and sounds. As he walked through downtown Vale he occasionally found his gaze wandering over people though not as a search for concealed weapons or threat appraisal. With renewed life came a renewed libido and he hated it. After the fourth time his gaze involuntarily locked onto a woman's rear he forced his gaze forward and kept it fixated on the top of the crowd. That proved to be hazardous as he walked right into someone shorter than he and knocked them over.
His crimson gaze found a small girl sitting on the ground staring up at him, her expression annoyed with a hint of worry in her mismatched pink and brown eyes that matched her two-tone pink and brown hair. Vincent leaned and offered his non-gauntlet covered hand to the girl which she refused in favor of picking up the dropped shopping bag. The gunslinger chose to instead grab her dropped parasol and immediately noticed its odd weight. Much too heavy for a regular parasol but he handed it over without issue. Once on her feet and all gathered up, her very small stature a surprise to Vincent, the girl offered a smile and light bow to the man who returned a polite bow of his head. And without a word spoken, they passed by each other to continue on their ways. The Galian Beast was acting up, making Vincent wonder what got his attention since the beast only got excited by battle or an obvious threat. It made him miss Chaos a bit more because at least the demon could speak, though it preferred not to.
Not too much later he found his way onto a airship headed to Beacon, if he recalled the directions to Ozpin correctly. The flight was not long and soon he was in open air again and bearing witness to a huge number of young adults, and teenagers, being themselves around the pristine gardens/plaza of Beacon academy. Some play fighting, some throwing a ball around, many strolling or sitting to talk in groups, others reading books or from their scrolls, a couple thinking they were hidden in a tree, and a group using an assortment of weapons that clearly were not their own. The best part, in Vincent's opinion, not one person gave him a second look. Felt strange to be dressed so oddly and yet still be just another one in the crowd.
Gut instinct told him to enter the structure at the base of the clock tower and he was glad he did. A sign on the wall next to an elevator proudly announced that this Ozpin was at the top. The panel next to the elevator, with the call button, indicated the lift was descending and as a test he pushed the call button prompting the panel to display TAP SCROLL. He was not surprised in the least and patiently waited. When the doors opened they revealed a slim young woman of average height with blue hair carrying an armload of books but the gunslinger took note of the scroll sticking out of her left pocket. He politely stepped to the right side and gingerly stole the scroll off her, being able to pickpocket was one of the staple Turk skills back in the day. With a quick tap to the inside panel and the push of a button, Vincent stopped the doors from closing and called out.
"Miss!" Just loud enough to get her attention "I think you dropped this." he presented her scroll and she shifted the books to feel her pocket then smiled.
"Oh thank you so much!" She cheered as she walked back to get the device. Vincent handed it over and stepped back from the elevator doors to let them shut.
Such advanced security and yet so easily foiled. The gunslinger thought with a huff of amusement Although, there is definitely a camera in here and my intrusion has been recorded but no one watches elevator security feeds until after something bad happens.
In the highest office, seated at his desk behind the face of the clock, Ozpin was taking a break from his headmaster duties to read over Qrow's most recent report. All around nothing interesting. Aerith and Zack had been a frustratingly normal couple since he allowed them to stay at Beacon. His terminal pinged and lit up to announce someone was coming to his office. He gave it a brief look, Rossa Azure, a third year student currently working as Professor Peach's assistant. But when the doors pinged and opened he was met the sight of a tall person in black clothes and a tattered red cape that was much closer to a cloak. Ozpin instantly went for his cane and stood from his desk.
"Relax." The person, now definitely a man said "Your student is fine. I had to talk to you and don't have a scroll." Ozpin did not relax. The man stood with his arms hanging, his gloved hand uncomfortably close to the gun on his thigh.
"Who are you?" Ozpin softly demanded.
"That's not important and the less you know about me, the better." Vincent stated "I'm here to tell you why exactly I am here."
Ozpin remained in his tense fighting stance. He was unable to get a read on this man and when testing for aura, he could sense two people directly in front of him "I'm listening." the stranger gave a very shallow nod.
"I am here to destroy Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough."
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