Chapter Fourteen - Impurity
Ruby Rose fell flat on her face and felt the weight of her partner crash against her back. She wasn't sure how she'd gotten into her current position, but she made sure to carefully move Weiss before looking around. Without warning, though, a small mass came barreling through the portal and collided with Ruby, sending her sprawling to the ground with it. Recovering quickly, she slid out from under the little thing and drew Crescent Rose, only to be shocked entirely at what she saw. Rowena Rose laid on her back in front of Ruby, her small hands clasped together and a bright smile on her face. The little girl's stunningly silver eyes helped further her resemblance to Ruby. The child wore a white dress with black and red polka dots and had no shoes on, seeming to have either lost them in the portal or possibly never having them on to begin with, Ruby couldn't remember. Rowena popped up and sprung forward, hugging Ruby tightly. A noise behind Ruby got her attention as she struggled to see it with the child latched onto her, only to watch as the portal shuddered and closed.
Ruby sighed, unsure now what to do with her alternative younger sister now that she couldn't send the child back home. She gripped the little girl's hand and walked to Weiss, lifting the heiress up on her shoulder and walking off through the trees in hopes of finding a familiar landmark. As she wandered, a light shown above her briefly before a small, charred silver orb landed in front of her. Setting Weiss down and having Rowena sit near her, she went and picked it up. Her vision blurred and what she saw wasn't her own anymore.
Sapphire's trip through the portal was short, landing herself near a large stone castle that carried a dark, treacherous feel to it. She tapped the back of her neck and then placed the same hand's palm over the back of her left hand. The symbol on her neck phased into sight now visible on her hand, and she eyed it warily. A teardrop pierced by a green sword and cut with red claw marks.
''Wrath you fool. You should have waited, I'm here now... I guess I have to do this on my own.'' Sapphire said quietly, engulfing herself in nearby shadows and allowing her orbs to be released, watching as the little spheres soaked in the shadows as well, the dark seeming to drip off of them like a liquid, but almost like it were bottomless. Sapphire's eyes glowed an eerily bright sky blue, the only visible feature from her shadowed figure. As she walked along the path nearby, she found herself at the large gates of the fortress. Guards were shouting and rushing to the walls, pointing at her and readying bows. Sapphire's three orbs circled over her, spreading apart slowly before aligning in a triangle facing the gates. Black liquid shot out of them, like cursed magma, that melted quickly through the big doors. The guards released arrow after arrow at her, doing nothing as the arrows disintegrated before they could get within striking distance of her. Her shadowy form shook with rage never seen in her dimension before.
''Ruby Rose, you will witness the end to all of this madness.'' She said out loud, as her orbs continued to melt the entirety of the front walls and gate. Men on the walls ran, screaming as they tried to pat away the liquid flames, only to find that the more things the fire came in contact with the more it spread. Sapphire advanced slowly, stepping to and through the gate to survey the opening courtyard. It was overflowing with armed soldiers and they all grouped to charge the girl. Her orbs circled around her waist, the shadows seeping out of them to the ground around her, but unharming to herself.
"There is nothing pure about this. The only thing pure in life is death, and I've come to deliver." Her voice rang out over the castle for all to hear. "You have made a mistake in continuing this method of obtaining your energy. You do not deserve to be called paladins. Die."
Raising her hands, the black liquid shot out in front of her, scorching all the soldiers in her immediate area. Screams of agony sounded as she continued her assault, slaughtering every nearby group of paladins. "Bring me the leader! Where IS the grandmaster? Is he afraid of me? He SHOULD be!" She screamed, tearing apart the courtyard brick by brick as her orbs lashed out around her, becoming blunt and destructive weapons. The doors to the large cathedral-like building in the center opened, drawing her attention. An older man with grayed hair and a chest length beard stepped out, clad in heavy gold and white plated armor. He hefted a large two handed hammer to his shoulder with one hand, donning a tower shield in his other. He was without a helm, his hair falling over his face slightly as his cold red eyes fell on Sapphire.
"Mistress Purity, what is the meaning of this!?" He shouted, wary of the raging young girl.
"You will stop this portal nonsense! You have leaked so much out of our world! There are too many mistakes to fix, you have nearly doomed the world of Remnant entirely and the people there are still unaware of the dangers in their world! You've damaged countless other worlds, countless dimensions, countless LIVES!" She screamed, lashing out at him with an orb, the old man blocking it with his shield.
"This... this is a cleansing!" Sapphire screamed in rage, her shadowed covering distorting as she forced it outwards, allowing it to cover everything within the castle walls. The grandmaster paladin eyed the blackened arena around him that was being formed, readying himself for her attacks.
"Oh, dear, this isn't something your divine shield can block! I'm impure, I have fallen. You have forced me to do so many horrible things. You made me kill innocents with those portals. This is the end. Nothing saves you now." She said, just loud enough for him to hear. His eyes widened as he realized her intentions. Sapphire wasn't forming an arena; she was forming a blast perimeter. The grandmaster dropped his shield and hammer, shocked by her power. Sapphire smiled, tears on her face. She took her orb near her and cupped it in her hands, humming lightly.
''Goodbye dear friends.''
The world around her was slowly drawn into a bright white light as her last silver orb dropped from the sky above them and shattered into the ground, exploding.
Ruby gasped, steadying herself quickly on a nearby tree. 'What did I just see?' She looked at the sphere in her hands, turning it over. On the outside was Sapphire's mark. Faded blue teardrop, pierced by a green sword with red claw marks across it. Ruby sighed, understanding. Tucking the sphere away into her pocket, she gathered Weiss up again and took Rowena's hand. 'I'll have to think on what I've seen from the orb...' she thought. Ruby walked on in the direction she had been heading.
Regalia stood up above the old paladin's fortress, having arrived in time to witness Sapphire's devastating self detonation. Tears filled her eyes, but the lancer spotted their real target. A small purple portal pulsed faintly at the back of the now destroyed cathedral. Regalia led the two girls with her down the path to the front gate, observing the destruction released by the eldest paladin. Yang was humming behind her, and Regalia turned and eyed her coldly, forcing the blonde to falter and stop the noise.
"There's really nothing left here..." Blake said quietly, looking around the empty courtyard. Regalia motioned for them to follow her towards the little portal. Looking at it, they could see that it was just big enough for one person to slip through at a time. Regalia hefted her lance from her back, letting her shield clatter to the ground behind her. She motioned towards the portal for them to go through.
"What about you?" Yang asked, watching Regalia shake her head. "You can't leave your little sister alone in our world, Regalia." Yang said.
Regalia sighed, stepping towards them. Once she was close she swung her lance into them, launching the girls into the portal almost at the same time. She pulled her arm back and slammed the lance into the center of the portal, releasing her energy into it. The portal shuddered and exploded, sucking in everything in a small range around it. A crater was now in place of where the portal had been, nothing left but rubble. Silence fell over the now deserted castle.
Augoldra Obsidi could feel the power of a portal, but couldn't pinpoint where it was. She scolded herself for being too weak, determined to find the intruders coming through or hopefully her family and friends. She knew the source of energy was from a small forest nearby Vale, but she'd have to wander the forest until she found it. Which is exactly what she was doing.
"Hello!? Anybody out there!?" She yelled, sure to keep herself alert in case whatever was here wasn't friendly. She wandered along the paths following the feeling of someone or something's presence as best as she could. She knew some of the smaller Grimm were out here as well, but she had already cut down a pack of beowolves earlier, and hadn't seen or heard any other Grimm. Augoldra knew that whatever she was searching for was getting closer, it felt like it was right on top of her, but she didn't see anything. A cracking noise came from above her and she stepped to the side quickly as the yellow haired brawler collided with the ground where she had just been standing, followed by the cat faunus landing on the brawler as well.
"Y-yang!?" Augoldra said, quickly untangling the two. The girls seemed to be knocked out entirely, and Augoldra had no idea where they could have come from. "Come on, wake up!" She said, shaking Yang slightly before doing the same to Blake. Neither of them would wake up, so she laid them both down gently and took out the scroll Ozpin had given her. She was in the process of calling the headmaster when a rustling came from behind her, and turning around she saw the red-clad reaper stumble tiredly into view, Weiss on her shoulder and a small girl's hand in her own. Ruby collapsed to the ground, dropping the heiress roughly, Rowena quick to show worry on her face. Augoldra stood at a loss for words, and her scroll beeped.
"Hello?" Ozpin said.
"Uh oh, right. Excuse me, sir. I've found your missing team, or maybe they found me. I'm not sure right now." Augoldra said.
"We'll send an airship to you immediately; do you think your family is around there?" He asked.
"It's possible. When I get them on the ship, I'd like to continue looking around." She said.
"Very well."
Augoldra hung up; the faint sound of an airship already lifting off came to her thanks to her faunus hearing.
"Welcome home, team RWBY." She said quietly.
A/N
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