Hadrian Goodwitch's POV:
Once we got confirmation that the strange fortress is deep in the continent of Anima, we borrow an airship from Beacon so it can take us to our destination.
All 11 of my friends, as well as Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen and the 5 wizards, volunteered for the trip. The long journey that follows lasts about 4 hours, but we manage to arrive before twilight comes.
Once the ship touches down on the ground, we all walk out and get our first good look at the scene before us. The second we are all safely off the ship, the Bullhead closes its ramp, returns to the air and begins the return journey to Beacon.
The ancient fortress is standing tall with a curved top, statues of men holding the main building up. As we heard from Ozpin's allies, the crumbling fortress is sitting in the middle of a lake so vast we can't see the other side, with the only obvious way to cross being a stone dock with a single boat on the right. The entire scene is too quiet for my liking. "Well, this isn't creepy at all." Fred said, trying to relieve the stress that filled the air. He did manage to crack some smiles in our group.
"Agreed. This place is indeed shady, so be ready for anything." Taiyang said, raising his fists and getting into a loose brawling stance.
I agreed completely and concentrated on my magic. As I do so, I feel the coolness of the familiar Golden Dragon battle armor encasing my body. The wizards looked shocked at my little magic trick. "How did you do that?" Sirius asked.
"This is what I use my magic on. With it, I can summon the most powerful battle armor I've ever made. If it comes down to it, I can even use my magic to repair any damage to any and all of my armors, but it's very tiring, which is why I almost never use that ability." I answer honestly.
The wizards and my fellow Hunters looked surprised at the unorthodox use of my powers. None of us make another comment as we silently walk forward and through the stone archway that takes us onto the dock. Tied to the dock is a very large wooden boat that has statues of men wearing helmets leaning over for some reason on either side, holding chains. Do they pull us to the fortress or something? In the center stood a stone pedestal with a hole in the center.
"Oh, great. I hate those things." Perseus mumbled. When we looked at him questioningly, he continued, "Everyone on board. I'll show you how these things work. They are absolute bull&#$^."
Despite being astounded by Perseus's choice of wording, we get on board the boat anyway. Perseus walks up to the pedestal and slipped his right hand into the hole in the center. His muscles start tensing up, like he's twisting something. Then the pedestal began glowing dark red and Perseus shouts in agony. I pull his arm out before it could harm him any more. Apparently, whatever Perseus did was successful as the boat lurched forward and began taking us to the fortress.
"I loathe those things so much. They sap your strength when you pull the lever inside. What's worse, if anyone but a Deathless activated that device, the poor victim dies a most painful death." Perseus said, beginning to regain his former composure.
I gulp at the ruthlessness of the Deathless and what else we'll encounter that protects the stronghold. Even Taiyang and Qrow looked startled upon hearing that. However, no one asked to go back, which I'm extremely grateful for. I will help Yang get her mother back. No questions about it.
After about 5 minutes, the boat enters the fortress through a hidden entryway I hadn't noticed before and parks itself inside a large room, held up by columns and is completely made of marble. We jump off the boat and sneak towards the only exit to the chamber.
It just took a punch from Yang to knock open the doors. I almost smile at Yang's blunt response to closed doors. We walk through the crumbling hallway, taking in the design of the building. I do have to admit, some of these Deathless made some rather interesting design choices. We eventually arrive at a 2-story corridor, with another set of closed doors at the top of a curved staircase. My instinct told me what we're looking for lies behind those doors. Suddenly, the ground in the center of the corridor split open and a massive golem rose up, a lot like the one we faced at the dark citadel. This time, however, it shined brightly with no dents in it and held a stone pillar in it's hands.
"Attack it with all we have!" Taiyang shouts. Simultaneously, we ran at the golem. Last time, the golem was very hard to take down, and this one looks even worse. But with even more help from our comrades, I can hope that it doesn't last much longer. Yang went under its left leg and gave it a series of powerful punches, while I stabbed my javelin into the metal giant's right leg. It swung the pillar around with surprising speed and accuracy, just barely missing the wizards as they joined the fight.
"Stab it in the head!" Perseus shouts to Ruby, who nods in response. Jaune distracts the golem by having the monster's full attention on him, giving Pyrrha enough time to freeze it in place with her semblance, then Weiss uses her glyphs to allow Ruby to jump onto the top of the machine's body and stab it in the head with her scythe. However, the golem is much sturdier than the last one, as it just shook off Ruby's attack and sent her flying to the ground.
The damage we did to the golem's legs finally worked and it fell backwards, it's legs sparking and revealing wires. "Now's our chance!" Qrow shouts. Everyone gets into a crouching position, and we jump onto the golem, stabbing our weapons into its head and unleash a little dust for good measure. Even the wizards helped out, casting fire spells into the machine's inner wiring that is exposed, thanks to the chink in the armor left behind by Ruby.
Our combined effort is apparently too much to take. The golem let out a long groan, it's gears clunking loudly, before going limp. "Well, that was awesome." Tommy remarked, shifting his arm cannons back into hands.
"I agree with that. I must say, I'm impressed with what these Deathless can come up with." Qrow admitted, looking at the dead golem with interest.
Knowing that time is of the essence, we run up the stairs and I took my turn in smashing the doors wide down. On the other side is a very nice, but old office. A desk sat in the middle of the office with a fireplace behind it. On either side of us stood more curved staircases. We all enter the office and look around. "Find anything that stands out." Remus said and we all spread out.
I didn't find anything, going through the desk. I stand up and have a good, long look at the fireplace. A brick dead center in the fireplace's wall looked almost out of place. "I think I found something." I tell the group.
They all come over and I point to the brick. James walks forward and taps it with his wand, muttering a spell of sorts. To my amazement, a hidden compartment came out. It contained a circular device that is hollow. I know instantly that it's meant to slip onto the butt of any blade.
"We got it." Perseus confirmed, smiling. The others grinned at the triumph. But as we're walking back, an audible click goes off.
"Huh?" Ruby asks, turning around. Her left foot is standing on a tile that just sunk to the ground. Suddenly, the fortress rumbled heavily.
"Ruby…what did you do?" Weiss demands, starting to panic slightly.
"Doesn't matter. Let's get out of here!" Blake shouts. We scramble to the doors as the base rumbles again. When make it out of the office, a loud roar echoes in the chamber. All around us, tall men in strange metal armor jumped down from above, swords drawn. There are easily 20 of them.
"It's the guards. Don't stop for anything!" Perseus shouts. None of us argue with his statement and continue running for our lives. Any guards that got in our way were parried by Perseus or cut down by Qrow's scythe. Behind us, ceiling tiles have already started crashing to the ground.
It took no time at all before we are back at the boat again. We began to get on the boat when another battle cry rang out. Yet another hulking golem, this one gold and looking much sturdier than the previous ones, stomps forward.
Me and Yang ran at the beast while everyone else got on board and Perseus activates the stone…whatever it is, to take us back to the mainland. That boat's mechanics just defies all logic.
"We're moving!" Jaune shouts. Sure enough, the boat had begun to move. The fortress rumbles again, and at this point, I can hear the sounds of crashing. Yang runs towards the boat and with a single leap, lands on the boat.
"Come on!" Yang shouts, motioning me to hurry.
I sent a bolt of lightning at the coming guards, which were blown back, and I unfurl my wings to fly into the boat. It groans a little under the added weight, but manages to stay afloat. "Let's just hope this thing works." Yang said, looking at the device with hope. Another crashing noise rings out and we all watch as the ancient fortress starts literally falling apart, caving in on itself and sinking into the depths of the lake.
"Then that happens." Tommy said, staring at what just happened in awe.
Once our boat touches down on the stone dock, we all walk off. "Oh no." Theodore exclaims, shock in his expression. When I follow his gaze, I nearly jump out of my skin in surprise.
Raven Branwen is standing on the bank, sword pointed at us. Her mask is off, revealing that she looks a lot like Yang. Her red eyes glowed with an unnatural hate.
"The time has come. Prepare to die for good, Deathless!"
AN: I hope you all like my replication of the Stronghold of Larioth if it's in Remnant.
Thank you all for the support you have given me!
See you all later!