Chapter 9: Where the story is at
Or so it should have been, but she was blessed by the Elder Gods. She became aware of her surroundings only to force herself out of her watery tomb. As fate would have it, she came across a young squire of the Brotherhood out on patrol. He saw strange girl washed up on the shore.
The young squire, realizing that he was in Vampire territory, approached cautiously, a vial of dust in hand, he doused a few sprinkles of the volatile compound onto the supposed vampire\. He watched intently for any signs of pain or reaction to the potent compound only to receive none. Satisfied, he checked her mouth to see no fangs. Closer inspection revealed that the girl had luminescent eyes, a clear sign of vampirism, yet she didn't react to the dust? How strange. Deciding to take a risk, he treated her wounds, including the bloody gashes of where her wings would have been.
He came across to his realization, a Seraphin. Yet he stayed his blade, there was something unique with this one if she didn't react to the dust. What sealed their fates were sealed when she weakly pleaded for help. The two, wary of one another, eventually came to an understanding.
It was here where squire Jaune Arc of the Brotherhood agreed to take this new creature back to his outpost. There she learned that one thousand years had passed and worst yet, a fire extinguished. Remnant only had one fire burning to keep the eternal darkness at bay.
Upon reaching a hilltop fort, the two were welcomed back the rest of Jaune's team. She met the commander of the fort, Knight Paladin Ruby Rose with Dragon Guard Yang Xiao-Long. Though initially suspicious of the newcomer, they welcomed her after performing a dust test, much to the annoyance of Jaune. This mistrust soon gave way when the other two members of the team arrived, bringing ill tidings of a Grimm horde fast approaching.
With the aid of Runeknight Weiss Schnee and Shadow Scout Blake Belladonna and the aid of the newcomer, they were able to hold off the horde. Strangely enough, the horde stopped their attack, as if attracted by something else.
It was during this night that Pyrrha learned about the horrible infighting within the Brotherhood. It was here where she met the Ordained. The Ordained, the most fanatical of the Brotherhood, the most righteous, the most powerful, and some whispered, the most corrupt and depraved. A semi-independent organization loosely affiliated with Brotherhood that created an Empire built upon greed and corruption as well as military might and fanatical devotion. All created by one large massacre.
Trifulga, an entire town of innocents, put to the sword to lure hundreds of vampires to the scent of blood only to be ambushed and completely slaughtered, allowing for a large scale offensive that recaptured a great deal of land.
One of the founding members of the Ordained, Grand Marshal Alcard stated that "In this hour of victory, we taste only defeat. I ask why? We are humans, faunas, guardians of that live. The roots of Remnant have grown deep under our never ending watch. Where there is life, there is hope that has saturated the soil for countless generations. Our strength is a luminous sun that will purge the darkness and bring peace to Remnant. I stand before you, accused of the sin of ensuring our survival. Refusing to march against the darkness, to stay walled up in our cities, is a fool's gambit. We squander centuries in the darkness, thinking that we are safe and content while they seize our triumphs, our heritage for their own. Think of my acts as you will, but do not doubt reality: this is war. Innocents will die, better to put them to the sword then let the ever growing darkness consume them. Mark my words, if it was not for us, we would not have claimed the many victories within the past twenty years." This trial not only secured the Ordained's existence, it also shamed one of the leading members of the Brotherhood, Seneschal Raven Branwen.
Pyrrha would soon discover a small reenactment of Trifulga. The survivor soon became accustomed to the intricate balance of powers within the Brotherhood as her fellow compatriots were disgusted by the knights' actions of impaling and crucifying civilians. However, Pyrrha threw caution to the wind, fueled by the smell of blood in the air and fueled by anger for these self-righteous monk knights.
Combat erupted as the Ordained captain ordered their deaths for committing heresy and stopping their righteous work. The squire was wounded in the calf, causing Pyrrha let her base instincts loose as she slew a knight. As the three were encircled, expecting the end, the timely intervention of Seneschal Raven Branwen brought an end to hostilities.
A brief, tense moment, the Ordained were forced to retreat. After returning to the fort, Ruby became concerned that the newcomer interfered in Ordained rituals which inevitably marked the stranger as an enemy for life. In order to protect their comrade and ally, she put forth the idea that she be inducted into the Brotherhood, bypassing the squireship, and earning remission of past sins. Or so in theory.
However, Pyrrha declined the offer, causing Seneschal to attack the newcomer. The newcomer argued that by declining the offer, she would drag attention away from her new found allies and onto herself. By the end of the sword, Raven informed Pyrrha that the Ordained hunt down those who are or were associated with their target. By not accepting the offer, she was doing the opposite, she was endangering her new friends, even though they were innocent of any crime and in theory, brothers in arms.
Forced by circumstance and forced by fate, the young girl relented, and with that, a Gathering was called. All five Seneschals were called, the entire leadership of the Brotherhood, excluding the Ordained, was called. Summer Rose, the mother of Ruby Rose, and the leader of the officer corps within the Brotherhood, the Thorn Guard arrived with amicable spirit. Though tensions started to brew with the arrival of Qrow Branwen, the leader of the Shadow Scouts, the recon units for the Brotherhood. With the arrival of Seneschal Winter Schnee, the Arch Ruinknight, tension reached a breaking point only for the tense situation to be diffused by Seneschal Taiyang Xiao-Long, the leader of the Dragonguard, the shock troops for the Brotherhood.
The Seneschals eventually agreed to put their personal mistrust for one another aside and agreed to the Gathering. The Gathering came to the realization that the rite of Invocation was the only solution to saving not only the newcomer, but their own loved ones.
Pyrrha was summoned before the Gathering, and after an intense interrogation, Pyrrha admitted the truth by the request of the reclusive Archbald von Ozpin IV, the five hundred-fiftieth Grandmaster of the Brotherhood. She admitted she was thrown into the Throat of the World. She admitted that she was a Vampire Lord. With that; Ozpin took a knife and sliced his hand as droplets fell to the ground, causing their visitor to break out in a cold sweat, her green eyes transfixed on the crimson liquid.
Winter stood up, dust at the ready. She ordered the redhead to open her mouth revealing two fangs. Reacting on instinct, Winter threw the vial, shattering on the ground, red dust splashing everywhere. However, the newcomer didn't burst into flame or hissed in agony. Nothing of the sort, she stood there unaffected, stunning all of the Seneschals except for Raven who reacted on pure instinct. The sword master dashed towards her sword at the ready only to stop in her tracks.
Squire Jaune leaped in front of the new girl and the Seneschal in a feeble attempt to defend the newly discovered vampire. Raven's blade was close to coming down when the Grandmaster ordered her to stand down.
Pyrrha then admitted the horrible truth at the Grandmaster's questioning. She remembered what the humans called her when she took the field, the Angel of Death. She was often mistaken as the very first Seraph, yet that was an error on their part. Seraphs never got involved in the war, all but one, in fact. She was the Angel of Death. The leader of the Vampires, never losing a battle and even managing to threaten Vale itself even with the human's access to Dust. Yet the Seneschals couldn't believe that. They couldn't believe this, young and polite girl threatened to wipe humanity off the face of Remnant. That was over one thousand years ago.
The Grandmaster asked the girl what she wanted in life. She replied with ""I want to fix all my wrongs, I want to end the Vampire threat. I want to stop the Empress. I want to be able to redeem myself."
With that Pyrrha was presented to the Grandmaster as a nominee which he accepted the nomination and welcomed him to the Brotherhood. Yet that wasn't it, Jaune was also anointed a knight for his compassion and was also anointed.
After the ceremony, all the knights except for Pyrrha were asked to leave. It was here, where the Grandmaster told what she really was, or more likely what she was experiencing. She was essentially human with vampiric tendencies and hunger. She would have an ordinary human aura, but if she were ever to feed, she would become a slave to the thirst of blood.
Everyone believed that they would be safe from the Ordained's retribution, how wrong they were. The leaders of the Ordained, the Grand Council determined that this wicked newcomer would know fear. They sent one of their own, Grand Justicar Rikayle.
To send a message the Ordained came upon the town of Marienburg, where the Justicar torched the town and took each first born son. With his captives, he arrived with his host before the walls of Vale.
There Rikayle delivered an ultimatum, give up Pyrrha Nikos, or fifty innocent lives would be lost. War was about to break out when Pyrrha was about to give herself up when Winter arrived with a scroll with its former declaration of Pyrrha Nikos being a member of the Brotherhood.
Rikayle was forced to back down but sent a message when he ordered one captive to be released after being beaten to near; the forty-nine others would be put to the torch. This display shocked everyone and reaffirmed the Kingdoms' fear of the Ordained, which was clearly the new super power of the Human kingdoms. Yet, Grandmaster Archbald von Ozpin IV decided to take decisive action, with a retinue that included six brothers in arms and the five Seneschals, he set forth to the Ordained fortress city of Elascia, demanding that they return to the fold and to give up their fanatical ways.
A/N
Hello guys! Like I said, I wanted to breathe some life into this series, so I had to reorient myself hence the new prologue and now the summary of Arc 1. I also figured that you guys could use a small refresher for what's been going on. Like I said, I will be editing the older chapter with a finer comb as well continuining to work on the newer chapters. I'm just really excited to write something different.
So let me know what you guys think. Are you excited? are you meh, are not for it? I love to hear from all of you. Thoughts, reactions, predictions, and any and all feedback is completely welcomed.
