Author's Note:
Hey everyone, new chapter.
I don't play FFXIV, but from I've seen of it, it is probably the only MMORPG I would be willing to get into if I was interested in playing MMORPGs.
I honestly only learnt about FFXIV a few months ago when I came across the trailer for the Shadowbringer expansion while browsing through YouTube. Was pretty cool to be honest, so I looked into FFXIV and was really surprised by what I saw. I'll admit, I was really taken in by the main story of Heavensward.
The Flames of Truth cinematic is what I chose to do for this chapter instead of any other cinematic or trailer, because why wouldn't I? The cinematic is breathtaking!
Right, hope you enjoy.
Final Fantasy XIV - Flames of Truth
As they waited for Alric to finish preparing the next universe, the audience heard the familiar sound of a tornado just outside the viewing room's door to the rest of the Repository. After a couple seconds, the sound of intense winds died down, and the door opened. The person who stepped in was Keeper Alaric, but he was... different when compared to the last time they had seen him.
The Keeper still wore his pitch-black hooded robes and white mask over his face. Yet, his robes were now made of fine silk, and decorated with elaborate purple and silver patterns, with the edges of his robes bordered with gold. Three peacock tails feathers hanging from a belt that was now worn around his waist. His mask was still blank and white, yet its eyeholes were now almond-shaped and a pair of pinions rose up from its sides.
"Um, hi... Alaric." Jaune said, the first member of the audience to say anything to the returned Keeper.
"That's... quite the new look you've got," Emerald muttered. Seeing him in a new outfit actually made Emerald think of changing up her own once/if the audience were sent back their universe. Not immediately, but it wouldn't hurt to change up the design of her combat outfit later on.
"It's not actually bad. Though, still a bit too much black in my opinion." Coco remarked, voicing her own opinion of the Keeper's new look.
"Hm? Oh yeah, this. Real snazzy, eh?" Alaric responded, striking a few poses to better show off his new attire. "My boss, Tiamat, gave this to me. Said it was a gift for all my centuries of work as a Keeper, and because of how I helped contain that little situation in another Keeper's Repository."
"Really? All that hard work and your boss just gave you new clothes?" Qrow snorted at Alaric's reason for why he was differently dressed. It did seemed like a crappy reward for recording the various worlds of the Multiverse for centuries, and whatever happened at that other Repository, in the eyes of the plenty in the audience. But the Keeper did not seem to mind, and it was not like they could do any thing about it.
Alaric did not respond to Qrow, and walked over to his walking shadow, who had gotten up from his seat and walked up to the Keeper.
"Now, let's get you back to where you belong." Alaric said to Alric once the two stopped opposite each other. With a snap of his fingers, Alric melted into the floor like a wax candle and retook his place as Keeper Alaric's shadow.
The audience were honestly a bit relieved to see Alric go. For the way the shadow spoke to them through their minds had started to become rather unpleasant to them. Sure, Alaric had and would do the same, but he only did so on occasion. Not as a form of communication.
"Okay, with that out of the way, Roman, Neo, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. Would you mind if you went to the waiting room for a while?" Alaric asked the five aforementioned people. They were startled by it, the last three worried by how the Keeper had singled them out with Roman and Neo. Before any of them could say anything, Alaric shrugged and said. "Heh, doesn't matter! Off you go!"
With a wave of his hand, a strong gust of wind threw the five off of their seats and into the open door of the waiting room. Once they were in the door shut behind them with a loud slam. The rest of the audience were taken aback by how out of the blue that had been, and the odd selection of people to throw into the waiting room. Yet they shrugged and continued on as normal.
Still, why were plenty of the audience getting a suspicious feeling scratching at the back of their heads? What was stranger was that that the suspicious feeling they were experiencing right now was directed at all five of the people Alaric had thrown into the waiting room.
Cinder most of all.
That out of the way, Alaric sat down on his chair, took out his remote and pressed play.
The TV screen turned on, and the audience did not see much at first, the screen remaining dark. After a couple seconds, a fiery piece of debris tore through the screen like a comet, revealing dark clouds in the night sky as it plummeted to the ground below. It was then that the audience started to notice a barely audible chorus of voices singing through the speakers.
I CLOSE MY EYES, TELL US WHY MUST WE SUFFER
RELEASE YOUR HANDS, FOR YOUR WILL DRAGS US UNDER
More bits of debris tore through the and clouds as the camera began to move upwards. The clouds started to become red as if a great red light was shining down on them.
"Hm? There's singing again? Alright then, it doesn't sound bad at all actually." Salem was the speak up. The woman from Remnant's ancient past becoming steadily captivated by the song being sung.
"Better than Qrow's singing," Raven abruptly spoke up in an attempt to annoy her brother. And you know what? It did.
"Why does someone keep bringing that up? I'm going to f-(Everyone: Qrow!)-ing lose it if someone brings up my singing again!" Qrow angrily shouted at the top of his lungs. As you can tell, the veteran Huntsman was more than a little tired of how other audience members kept bringing up his singing ability.
Others turned their minds away from the singing and faint music that they could hear, as well as Qrow's like outburst, and focused on what was going onscreen. Putting particular emphasis on the bits of flaming rubble falling from the sky, and the deep red light that was starting to dominate it and the screen. They weren't sure what was going on, but the audience knew they would find out sooner or later.
"Where is this stuff coming from? Also, what's up with that red light?" Sun questioned. No sooner had the monkey faunus asked, the answer was shown onscreen. Much to the audience's astonishment and confusion.
"Is that... a moon?" Winter whispered in disbelief of what she was seeing.
"That's no moon. It's a spa-Oh wait! Ehehe, wrong universe, and no spoilers for you lot." Alaric said, quickly catching himself upon realising what he was saying.
Back to the TV screen, the source of the red light had been revealed to be a massive red orb, with several protrusions that glowed blue embedded into it. Tiny pieces of the orb were breaking off and fall towards the ground.
To the horror of many in the audience, many of these falling pieces were descending towards several cities and settlements on the surface. Though tiny when compared to the orb they came from, many of the bits of debris were as large as houses. People were standing in great crowds, or by themselves, and helplessly watching as debris from the moon-like object fell to the ground in blazing trails of fire.
MY LEGS GROW TIRED, TELL US WHY MUST WE WANDER
HOW CAN WE CARRY ON IF REDEMPTION'S BEYOND US?
Seeing the falling moon-like object, the audience's minds were filled with all manner of questions. All of them questions relating to the not-moon on the TV screen before them. Yet, alongside these questions, most of the people watching felt concern for the safety and wellbeing of those people onscreen. I say most because Raven is still in the audience.
"Oh no! This is terrible!" Velvet cried as she watched a mother and child ran away from a falling piece of the moon heading near them.
"Shouldn't they be running for shelter?" Yatsuhashi inquired, confused as to why many people were just standing around and watching the falling pieces of the not-moon tear through the sky above them. He wasn't the only one asking this question.
"Is that moon-thing falling towards this planet's surface?" Taiyang questioned. The blonde man was right, the massive sphere was slowly, but surely, descending through the atmosphere and towards the surface.
"That 'moon-thing' is called Dalamud. An artifical satellite of this planet known as 'Hydaelyn'. And yes, it is falling towards Haeydelyn's surface, on purpose I feel I must add." Alaric answered, shocking the audience when he said that its descent was intentionally.
Now, the audience were a bit unclear what exactly the Keeper meant by the whole 'on purpose' thing. Was it 'on purpose' because the not-moon, Dalamud, was sentient and had thought crashing itself into the planet was a good idea? Was there someone, or something, that decided to force Dalamud from its orbit and towards the surface? Either way, this was terrible in the eyes of the audience.
The camera pulled away from the sight of Dalamud's falling pieces raining devastation on the land, and focused on a rocky landscape where the fate of the world would be determined. At a large, flat and dusty plain, two armies were about to fiercely clash with one another.
It was then that a woman, with a voice like that of a heavenly goddess, began to sing.
To all of my children in whom Life flows abundant
"Hm, this lady has a nice singing voice." Pyrrha complemented the person who was singing over the events onscreen, though, she wondered how this song related to what they were watching.
"While I agree that this person's voice is nice, can we focus on the armies fighting each other?" Ironwood pointed out to the rest of the audience members. He liked the singing, it was just that the situation involving the two armies in the distance was more noticeable and important in the eyes of the Altesian General.
Doing as Ironwood suggested, the audience turned their minds towards the battle going on.
One of the armies participating in the battle was diverse in weapons, armour, and even species.
Their weapons ranged from; bows, swords-and-shields, polearms, greataxes, bare-fists or gauntlets, twin daggers, magical staves and... books? Of the races that fought on this side there were what looked like humans. Elves. Large humanoids with grey skin with muscles that put everyone in the audience to shame. Humans with cat ears and tails. Humans with curved horns, scales and reptilian tails. And, strangest of all, diminutive and slightly rotund people that looked like children or toddlers at first glance.
The audience were not too phased by the appearance of the warriors on this side of the battlefield. Having, as I'm sure I've said before, seen a lot weirder people and things. To be honest, they were fairly normal-looking when compared to other things they had seen in the universe. Apart for those short toddler-like people.
They were really strange.
"These are the warriors of the Eorzean Alliance. A collection of city-states from the land of Eorzea who have united to fight against the invading warriors they face tonight." Alaric explained to his guests.
"They're quite diverse, to say the least about them." Ozpin commented as he carefully eyed the peoples that made up this army.
"Are those... What are those toddler-like people? I am very confused by them right now," Penny said with a tilt of her head. Voicing the confusion that many in the audience shared in regard to those... short people.
"Hm? Oh yeah. There are the Hyur, essentially humans. Elezen, who are more or less elves with a different name. Those big guys with grey-skin are called Roegadyn. The cat-people are called Miqo'te. The people with reptilian features are known as Au Ra. And those... short people... are Lalafells." Alaric said, seemingly a bit confused by the 'Lalafells' as the audience were. "There are subgroups in those races, but I don't have time to get into them."
The opposing army was a polar opposite of the first army the audience saw. They were uniform in appearance and their weapons were standardised unlike their opponents. Also, this other army appeared to be made up of a single species as far as the audience could tell.
All of members of this army were human, as far as they audience could tell. They wore predominately black, grey, and red. Many of their more heavily armoured soldiers wearing plate armour that had an eastern-style to them, while also wearing skull-like gasmasks under their helmets. Of their weapons, most could be seen wielding swords-and-shield, spears, halberds, and a few even wielded what looked like a gun integrated into a saber. There didn't seem to be any kind of magic in this army whatsoever.
"Who are these people?" Doctor Oobleck questioned. Another bunch of people how's history and culture he could only get the barest glimpse and details about. Such a shame.
"Bad guys I'm guessing? They totally look like bad guys from games and stuff," Sun spoke up. He wasn't wrong, the skull design on the gasmasks that the fully-armoured members of this army were wearing
"They are the Garlean Empire. An empire who, in the span of a single generation, went from a sparsely populated nation, to one of the most powerful factions in the face of the world. And yes, you can say the Garleans are the 'bad guys' here. Though, as it is in many things, there are things worse than them."
The audience, needless to say, were astounded by how fast these Garleans had risen and expanded. Numerous kingdoms and empires had risen and fallen over the course of Remnant's recorded history. That the Garlean Empire could be formed and turned into one of the most powerful nations in this world within a single generation was just unreal to the audience.
Shame about the whole 'bad guy' thing. But why the hell did they have too look badass? Come on, those fully armoured Garleans looked cool in the eyes of quite a few in the audience (and the Author).
"Are those gunswords?" Ruby excitedly pointed at the weapons.
"Gunblades." Alaric said, stating the in-universe term used to generally describe the weapons. Materialising a Garlean gunblade in his hand as he did. "A technology used rather exclusively by the Garlean Empire, same goes for a few other things. Though, the Eorzeans will get their gunblades later on."
Another gunblade appeared in the Keeper's other hand, its design was certainly dissimilar to the Garlean weapon he was already holding. This must be the Eorzean variant of the gunblade. Its single-edged blade was wider than the thin blade the Garlean gunblade possessed, looking more like an oversized kitchen knife than a sabre the Garleans' designed theirs like. The gunblade's revolver-like bullet chamber was also slightly larger than the Garlean counterpart.
Both gunblades were impressive to several members of the audience. Ironwood and Winter were actually imagining the Altesian soldiers being armed with similar such weapons.
"Gimme! Please!" Ruby was heard whispering desperately as she tried to reach out and snatch the gunblades from Alaric's hands.
Feeling generous, and amused by the young Huntress-in-Training, Alaric tossed the Eorzea gunblade to Ruby. Ruby was quick to grab onto it, and started to loudly squeal as she inspected every facet of the weapon. Its chamber was devoid of any ammunition, and the blade had been dulled to the point that a butter knife was sharper than it. All this was for safety reasons of course, and so that his guests didn't get any ideas.
"I do not believe I will ever get used to her... enthusiasm for weapons," Jeanne remarked.
"It's kind of cute, though, a bit creepy how she's treating it like a baby." Maria said, not at all wrong about the whole 'treating it like a baby' thing. Ruby was cooing and cradling the gunblade in her arms as if it were an adorable baby or child. Most of the other members of the audience did not bat an eye at this, having gotten used to Ruby and her obsession with weapons.
In a very cinematic shot, the camera showed the moment both sides collided with one another. The din of battle quickly filling the air.
The clang of metal striking against metal. The thud of bodies colliding with each other. The furious shouts of war cries. The wet sound of blades sinking into flesh and the crack of blunt weapons crushing bone. That and other sounds one might find in a battle were here in abundance.
From atop a cliff behind the Eorzean side of the battle, three people, the leaders of the Eorzean forces, were looking on as their soldiers battled against the Garleans invaders. A woman clad in a long white dress and a leaf-shaped headgear over a pair of tall horns, and carried around a staff that looked like it were made from white stone. A large Hyur wearing segmented plates of black steel and a helmet with large horns on it. Then there was a Roegadyn woman wearing a long, black coat and boots, and kind of looked like a pirate. Alongside them were three flightless birds that were so large they could be ridden like horses.
A quick cut to the other side of the battlefield, a Garlean airship was overlooking the battle from afar. Inside, the audience were shown a large man in a unique and personalised suit of Garlean armour over a red jacket, watching the battle with his arms folded.
"Oooh, giant chickens!" Nora yelled at the sight of the giant, flightless birds.
"They look like oversized roosters to me," Fox remarked at the sight of the birds. How he was able to see what exactly was happening onscreen, despite his blindness, was still a mystery to the rest of the audience. Probably thanks to something Alaric to be honest. (Yes, Fox is blind. It was confirmed in the 'RWBY: After the Fall' novel.)
"They're called Chocobos. They commonly serve as horses for the people of Hydaelyn, as well as a few others." Alaric told the audience a moment after the Nora and Fox were finished speaking.
The idea of this world using giant birds as mounts in the place of horses was not too outlandish to the audience, and it could actually be a bit more advantageous. Being kicked by a horse was very painful, but these 'chocobos' had claws at the ends of their feet and a large beak. A kick from these birds would also cut through flesh, and a bite from them could be fatal.
Yeah, the audience did not want to be in the receiving end of a charge of chocobo cavalry.
Their thoughts turning away from the chocobos, the audience focused on the people they had just seen. The three who stood at the cliff they recognised. The Hyur woman was Dew Gayl, a member of Team NDGO. The large Hyur man was Yatsuhashi, no introduction needed. While the Roegadyn woman looked like a female version of Scarlet David, Sun and Neptune's teammate, which was pretty awkward. However, the Garlean was a different story because of the helmet and mask he wore.
"Who's the Garlean leader? He looked rather tough and I must say, his armour was both impressive and intimidating." Jeanne asked Alaric.
"Hazel van Baelsar, the Legatus of XIVth Imperial Legion." Alaric answered, causing Ozpin to tense a bit at the name the Keeper spoke.
"So, those Garlean soldiers fighting are Hazel's troops?" Blake questioned. The Keeper shaking his head at her question before proceeding to answer her.
"No, those are the remains of the VIIth Legion. Hazel's there to see what will happen. Guy was also slightly involved in the death of the VIIIth Legion's Legatus, who was responsible for Dalamud's descent." Alaric told his guests.
Shock overwhelmed the audience when they learnt that it had been a Garlean who had been the cause of the red moon falling towards the planet's surface. They had assumed and been told that they were the 'bad guys', but that a Garlean was the reason why a miniature moon-like object was hazardously descending towards the surface of Hydaelyn was shocking. Alaric did not elaborate on why this unnamed Legatus had intentionally made the not-moon fall from the heavens, leaving the audience guessing as to whatever reasons were behind their actions.
At least the Legatus was ultimately punished for it.
To all of my children to whom Death hath passed his judgment
Back at the field of battle, the clash between the two sides was in full swing. Each warrior on either side battling for his life, heedless of the fiery debris raining down from the sky and brining ruin to the land around them.
The Garleans brought to bear bipedal warmachines the height of three to four men standing on top of each other. The machines had a draconic design to them, their pilots/riders mounted on the 'neck' of the mechas, and from their 'mouths' bolts of magical energy were fired from a cannon.
The Eorzeans deployed a small cavalry force of Chocobo riders against the Garleans, but the Empire's mechas were quick to open fire and decimated a good number of them before they could reach the Garlean lines.
"Awww, poor chickens!" Nora cried when she saw the chocobos and their riders killed by a volley from the Empire's war machines.
"Chocobos," Ren corrected her. His correction probably did not register with Nora, but he made an attempt.
"Those mechas the Empire's using is 'Magitek Armour'. Exo-suits made from a unique bit of technology called 'magitek', which was first developed and is primarily utilised by the Garleans to make up for their inability to use magic." The Keeper informed his audience, who nodded at the information, a bit too taken in by the events onscreen to make any comments about this form of technology.
The soul yearns for honor, and the flesh the hereafter
In response to the deaths of the Chocobos and their riders, two mages with tall pointed hats on their heads stepped forward and cast destructive spells on the Garlean mechas. One unleashing a great fireball, while the other cast a bolt of lightning from their staves. They achieved the same ultimate effect, and destroyed two of the enemy's war machines.
The camera then focused on a warrior clad in iron armour, leather and fabric lined with white fur. An enclosed helmet with a pair of horns on each side was worn over their head. While in their hands the warrior wielded a massive greataxe. This warrior charged towards the Garleans and with a mighty swing, sent three enemy soldiers flying. They followed it up with a second attack that cut down two Garleans at the same time.
Look to those who walked before to lead those who walk after
A Garlean sword-and-shield soldier saw his chance and tried to attack the axe-wielding warrior while their back was turned. Bringing the edge of his sword down on the warrior's exposed left shoulder, the Garlean might have been able to kill the warrior if it had landed. If it had.
The warrior, somehow hearing the Garlean despite the enclosing helmet over their entire head, brought up their greataxe and blocked the Garlean's blade with the haft. With a great push upwards, the warrior sent the Garlean's sword flying out of his hand, did a quick spin, and cut down their opponent with a vertical swing of their axe.
"Huh, they're pretty good." Qrow remarked on the skills of the greataxe-wielding warrior onscreen.
The audience wondered who this person was. They had not seen the warrior's face or any obvious sign or clues as to their identity, but the audience were fairly sure that the warrior was someone they knew. More than likely someone in the audience.
Pausing before heading back into the fight. The warrior looked up into the sky, lifted up their helmet's visor, and locked their eyes on the crimson moon above them all. The camera did a close-up on the warrior's exposed face, and the face the audience saw was, as it had been several times before, a familiar one.
"Ruby?!" The members of Team RWBY, JNPR, Taiyang, Qrow, and several others cried out when they saw who the warrior was. Even Zwei barked in surprise.
"Whaaaaaat?" The red-hooded girl exclaimed upon discovering that it had been her behind that iron visor. Nearly dropping the gunblade she had been holding.
Now, the audience were surprised for they had expected the warrior they had been thinking that the warrior was someone else other than Ruby. If anything, they had thought the warrior was someone who liked to use a weapon that needed a lot of strength to use. Someone who already used a weapon similar to that greataxe. Someone who liked explosions and pancakes.
I do not need to say who.
"Say hello to Ruby, the Warrior of Light." The Keeper said after giving his audience a moment to process the reveal. The title he gave this alternate version of Ruby intriguing the audience. "Well, Ruby isn't the only Warrior of Light. Adventurers fighting for Eorzea are also called that. But Ruby is a very special one, but I don't have time to explain why. Keep watching."
Just how this alternate version of Ruby was unique when compared to the other Warriors of Light Alaric left the audience guessing at. Was she a highly skilled adventurer? Did she do something that made her incredibly famous throughout Eorzea? Is there some kind of unique gift that this Ruby possessed that marked her out from all of the other adventurers that dared the dangers of this world?
A few in the audience knew that their Ruby certainly did in regards to that last part.
"Awww! Look at my little sister being all cool and badass!" Yang said after recovering from this little surprise, ruffling Ruby's hair as she spoke.
"Yang! Stop embarrassing me!" Ruby cried at her as she tried to shake off her older sister.
WoL's attention returned to the battle at hand when bullets began to past her.
"Heh, Stormtrooper aim." Alaric muttered to himself as he and the audience watched the bullets whiz past Ruby's alternate, despite how she was just standing there. How anyone could miss an unmoving target that was standing in the open was honestly baffling to the audience.
One of the bullets was able to hit Ruby, but was only able to strike her helmet. The warrior recoiled from the strike and fell on one knee, one hand covering her face while the other held onto her greataxe for support.
A quick cut to the direction from where the bullets had come from, revealed even more Garlean troops advancing towards Ruby's position. Among them, even more units of magitek armour.
To the relief of most of the audience, aid came swiftly.
Two Garleans were shot down by two arrows as they tried to charge at the incapacitated Ruby. The arrows had been fired by a female Miqo'te archer with light tan skin and dusky rose colour hair, who then leapt into the air and cast a blue protective shield around Ruby whilst in mid-air. The shield protected Ruby from more bullets fired at her, as a Lalafell mage came up to her and began to heal the warrior.
The archer landed on the ground in front of Ruby, and was swiftly joined by two others. An Elezen mage carrying a staff, wearing predominantly black heavy robes and a tall pointed hat, one of the two mages who destroyed those Garlean mechas earlier from the look of him. And a Roegadyn warrior in plate armour bearing a sword-and-shield combo knocked aside a pair of Garlean soldiers with his shield.
Rather unsurprisingly, these new arrivals were alternates of people the audience knew or had heard of in their universe.
The first to come to Ruby's aid, the Miqo'te archer, was May Zedong of Team BRNZ. Though they could barely see the Elezen mage's face underneath their black hat and scarf, the audience saw the black-clad mage was in actuality Doctor Oobleck. The Lalafell's identity took some effort, but they were able to figure out that the diminutive creature was in fact a little, not-robotic, version of Penny. The Roegadyn that joined in was Hei 'Junior' Xiong, a bit of a surprise this one.
Of course, everyone was rather surprised by this mixed group of individuals, but quickly got over it and took a moment to examine the alternates onscreen.
None of them had ever met May before, so the audience did not have much to say on her. That she was a member of a species of people with cat ears and tails, and the fact May seemed to be a mix of archer and mage was something, but other than that not too much else.
That mage being Oobleck was not too much of a surprise for those who played video games, for they could imagine the History professor being a mage if he played a fantasy game. That he cast fireballs from a staff also brought to mind their own Oobleck's weapon. Oobleck himself did not mind his appearance in this universe, and wondered how many years of training this version of him needed to become what he was now.
Junior as a Roegadyn seemed to suit him in the eyes of the few who knew him. The guy was as large as a bear and had the strength to back it up.
Lalafell Penny was... a thing. Penny herself was puzzled and analysing this other version of herself, drawing parallels between this alternate her and the people from the Chibi-verse in regards to their body proportions. This was weird even for Penny, but she was glad that another her was helping and friends with Ruby.
"These people are also adventurers, as well as Warriors of Light. Just wanted to let you know," Alaric notified his guests.
Shining is the Land's light of justice
The Lalafell version of Penny was quickly able to heal Ruby, who cast aside her damaged helmet, and sprinted back into the fight after thanking the diminutive mage. The other four adventurers joining Ruby's alternate self in her renewed attack onthe Garleans.
Oobleck began to ready a new spell, while May loosed another arrow and struck down a Garlean who stood in the charging Ruby's path. Ruby let out a quick war cry and swung their axe, cutting down a Garlean and sending his body off to the side. Junior bashed his shield against an enemy soldier in his path, knocking them off their feet.
Ruby then gripped the haft of her greataxe with both hands and swung it in a circle two times. This act not only allowed her to mow down two more Garlean soldiers, but it somehow lifted her off the ground by half-a-metre and a strong gust of wind followed her axehead. Junior spun their sword and thrust it forward, the blue light that burst from its blade killing two Garleans.
Ever flows the Land's well of purpose
One of the magitek mechas' mouths opened, preparing to fire its deadly weaponry at the warriors of Eorzea. That was when the Oobleck finished readying his spell and cast it at the mecha, a fireball erupted from the head of their staff and rocketing towards the suit of magitek armour.
The mechas' rider could only raise their arms in an instinctive, if vain, attempt to defend themselves, as they saw the fireball swiftly approached them. The explosion that followed was fairly impressive for those who were into that kind of thing.
The audience were impressed by how Ruby and the other Warriors of Light were able to easily dispatch the Garlean soldiers and their war machines. Plenty of these Garleans must be professionally trained soldiers, yet this ragtag band of adventurers were mopping the floor with them.
No one else was more impressed than Ruby, who really liked whenever they saw a heroic alternate version of herself in one of these viewings. She did wish this version of her had a super cool weapon, the greataxe was an amazing classic, but the red-hooded girl did wish she wielded something way cooler. Still, she was doing absolutely awesome against the Garleans.
Another scene change occurred, this time it was a view of the battlefield from one of the cliffs that overlooked the plain. Standing near the edge was a white-haired man wearing a white vest over a sleeveless black shirt, black pants and shoes, and goggles worn on his forehead. He also wore a black gauntlet over his left arm.
Safe and far away enough from the battle, the man looked up at the red moon without the fear of getting shot. Though his hair and attire were different, the audience recognised the man's face to be Mercury Black's.
Walk free, walk free, walk free, believe...
"Hm, it's that Mercury boy." Ghira muttered to himself more than everyond else.
There was something about the grey themed boy that made the Chieftain of Menagerie not like him. Sure he did not like Sun as well, but that was because of the monkey faunus' attraction towards his precious daughter. He was also not sure about Blake's partner and teammate, Yang, whose love of bad puns did not help her case. This was something else, however, and the panther faunus resolved to keep a close eye on Mercury.
"What's he in all this?" Weiss asked. The heiress wondering why he was overlooking the battle, and whose side he was on.
"Mercury nan Garlond is his name here. He's a Garlean defector who works with Ruby, her group of associates and the Eorzean Alliance. Man's a damn fine engineer, and a great airship pilot." Alaric replied to their questions.
The camera then focused on one of the protrusions that dotted the moon-like orb. Cracks began to grow in the area around where the protrusion was embedded, an intense bright blue light leaking out from them as whatever the protrusions were looked as if they were being pushed out from the orb.
After a few seconds, it was.
Like a titanic spear flung from the hand of a god, the thing was ejected from the red moon and stabbed into the battleground where the Eorzeans and Garleans fought. The impact sent a cloud of dust and rock across the plain, and a quick shot showed Ruby had been knocked to the ground by it. The fighting between the soldiers of the Eorzean Alliance and the Garlean Empire halted, as both sides looked up at the giant spear that loomed over the plain. And then to the crimson moon that hung malevolently above them.
The Land is alive, so believe...
Now, the audience did not understand why there had been spears lodged into Dalamud. Yet, despite a lack of information, they knew that this was a sign of terrible things to come. Very terrible things.
"That's-That's not a good thing." Velvet murmured, steeling herself for whatever was about to happen next.
"Yeah. I have a very bad feeling about this." Oscar added, voicing his own concerns regarding the events onscreen.
Alaric made no attempt to suggest or tease his audience through some sly or cryptic remark. Just letting them watch and see what was coming next.
The great sphere then fractured, the cracks that dominated its surface were torn open even further as even more of the spear-like protrusions were thrust out from it, and something churned underneath. At the top of the moon, an enormous shape began to emerge. A shape that inspired awe into the hearts of all who saw it, both in-universe and in the audience.
SUFFER [Feel] PROMISE [Think] WITNESS [Teach] REASON [Hear]
Rising from its ancient prison was a gargantuan western dragon, with a body covered in black scales and adorned with gold. The ancient beast growled before letting out a terrifying roar as it unfurled its vast wings. Its eyes burned bright and red with an unquenchable wrath that it had been force to nurse for eons. A wrath that it would visit upon all things that trod the surface of this world.
WEATHER [Sleep] WANDER [Sleep] ANSWER [Sleep on]
First glance on the massive dragon creature emerging from Dalamud caused the audience to freeze in shock. Hearing its furious roar made them flinch upon hearing it. Their shock of the dragon's appearance was also accompanied bh a good number of questions. Such as; why was there a dragon iinside Dalamud in the first place? Had the Legatus of the Garlean VIIth Legion known the dragon was inside the red moon? Probably the most important and immediate question the audience asked themselved was how the beast could be stopped or killed?
"Holy hell! What is that?!" Taiyang yelled at the sight of the dragon emerging from Dalamud. If it wasn't so terrifying, he would consider this entire scene incredibly stunning to watch. Actually, you could say this entire scene was terrifyingly stunning.
Yeah, that could work.
"This is bad! Very, very, very bad!" Jaune said with an audible nervous gulp. His female counterpart from an alternate universe sharing his reaction.
"Is that a dragon? Why was there a dragon in Dalamud?!" Blake questioned, still trying to process what she was seeing right now.
"This is turning up to eleven very quickly." Raven commented rather calmly, though, inside she was terrified by the sight of the beast like everyone else.
"Behold Bahamut, the Dreadwyrm. One of the most powerful Primals to ever terrorise Hydaelyn," Alaric proclaimed. A strong hint of admiration and pity lacing his voice.
"'Primals'?" Ozpin asked, wondering why the Keeper had used that term instead dragon, or something related to dragon, to describe this gargantuan monster. Unless, Bahamut was not a dragon, and only possessed the appearance of a dragon.
Such a conclusion only brought a new question to the minds of the audience. What exactly was a Primal?
"Primals are powerful magical entities summoned into being through an abundance of aether, and manifested into a physical form by people's prayers and beliefs. Aether is the source of magic and life in this world." Alaric explained to them, no doubt knowing the question on their minds. "No matter what they are, these Primals are a danger to this world, for they draw upon the aether of the world to sustain their existence, and enthrall people into serving them. Whether the Primal desires to or not."
The information about the Primals was incredible to the audience members. But, they did not let their astonishment of this feat to cloud the possible pros and cons that may come with the summoning of a Primal. The two negatives of a Primal's existences as stated by the Keeper already making the audience see why summoning one was probably a bad thing in the long run.
The Keeper had said the Primals could be summoned through prayers and beliefs, but he had not stated whether the intentions behind their creation were meant to be solely for benevolent purposes. Bahamut, the audience believed, was most definitely not summoned into being for any purpose than the inflicting of death upon others.
"So someone intentionally summoned that-that thing?!" Kali questioned him, disbelief in her voice.
"Eh, you'll do crazy things when in the throes of grief. This primal is the 'resurrection' of a dragon's lost mate, but he didn't turn out the way she expected or wanted." Alaric's response surprised the aufience, who had expected a markedly different backstory for Bahamut. "He got sealed away in Dalamud by an ancient and highly advanced civilisation. But now he's free and absolutely pissed!"
Hearing this, as mentioned before, really surprised the audience. Bahamut, contrary to their earlier belief, had not been been created out of anger or a want for death, but out of grief for a lost loved one. Learning this made plenty in the audience understand why they sensed pity in Alaric's voice, a few even beginning to pity him as well. Admittedly, the damn thing was still terrifying, and the world would be better off without it.
Now open your eyes while our plight is repeated
With a second even mightier roar, Bahamut shattered the artificial moon that had served as his prison, casting countless bits of debris down to the insects below him. Giving the insignificant creatures a taste of the ruin that it would visit upon them.
In a scene that could only be described as apocalyptic, the debris of Dalamud rained down on the lands surrounding the battlefield. Wherever the remains of Dalamud struck the ground, pillars of lava and flame shot into the air.
Hills were reduced to nothing, blasted apart by falling rubble from Dalamud. Forests were utterly eviscerated or burnt to cinders as fiery debris crashed into the trees and set them aflame. The stone walls and buildings of nearby cities proved no match to the onslaught, and were quickly reduced to smouldering rubble. The lives of thousands of Eorzea's people were suddenly cut short in a fiery conflagration from the sky.
Still deaf to our cries, lost in hope we lie defeated
Our souls have been torn, and our bodies forsaken
Its malicious pursuit for vengeance still burning hot within it, the Primal took flight and decided to take a personal hand in the obliteration of all the world's people.
Coursing through the sky with its great wings, Bahamut let out another roar and cast countless flares that intently sought out anything to destroy. Swooping down on a city, Bahamut released several flares upon it and seemingly destroyed over half of it with this single attack.
Nothing was safe from Bahamut. Nothing.
Bearing sins of the past, for our future is taken
All of the audience were appalled by the destruction the Primal was causing, yes, even Raven.
No Grimm in recorded history was capable of this level of destruction and death, and in so short a time. They could also see why Alaric had numbered Bahamut among the most powerful Primals of this universe, and dreaded what other Primals might be capable of.
Back at the plain where the Eorzeans and Garleans had battled, both armies were in full flight. There was no order. No attempt to maintain any sense of martial pride or dignity. All the combatants were desperately trying to get away from Bahamut's unbridled fury.
The former battlefield was littered with the bodies of fallen Eorzean and Garlean soldiers, and even Warriors of Light. Banners of both sides, once proudly held aloft, had been cast aside by those who had once carried them into battle. Wounded men and women also lay on the ground, and unfortunately plenty were left where they lay, but a few were picked up by their comrades as they tried to retreat.
In all the chaos, Ruby and her four companions stood, their comrades running past them in terror, and the land around them alight with fire. But they stood not out of a defiant or foolhardy attempt to battle the great dragon Primal. They stood there out of hopeless despair, for they had tried to prevent this. They had learnt far too late that the Garlean Empire had been planning to bring Dalamud down on Eorzea, and they had acted to prevent the destruction it would bring. Yet, despite their efforts, they had failed to stop Dalamund's descent and Bahamut's release.
And ruination had come not just to Eorzea, but the world, because of their failure.
Bearing sins of the past, for our future is taken
Bahamut flew past and released another volley of flares. A few darting towards Ruby and her fellow Warriors of Light.
However, before the flares could come near and incinerate the group, they were blocked by a crystalline shield that manifested out of nowhere. Amazed at how they were still alive, the group looked around for the whoever was casting this shield. When they looked behind them, the group saw a lone figure standing atop a cliff. An old dark-skinned Elezen man with a beard and receding hair coloured silver bearing a magic staff.
Tell us why, given Life, we are meant to die, helpless in our cries?
"Hey it's Professor Ozpin!" Weiss pointed at the screen, though, it took the others a moment to recognise the old Elezen mage as the Headmaster of Beacon. When they did, they nodded their heads and agreed with the Schnee heiress.
"Certainly an older looking version of you, sir." Goodwitch commented to her superior.
"Really? That's Ozpin? Hm, almost didn't think it was him for a moment. His face is... different." Sun said to Neptune, who agreed with his best friend.
Ozpin, having overheard Sun, looked at this other version of himself and saw that he was indeed different in ways that only he seemed to fully realise. Not only was he an Elezen, his facial features were actually a melding of his current incarnation and that of his first life. No doubt Alaric had known this in advance, and chosen to show this universe to continue in his efforts to get under the Headmaster's skin.
The only other person who seemed to notice the blending of Ozpin and Ozma's features was the Salem from Remnant's alternate past. This increased her suspicions of the Headmaster. He knew something about her, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Just glancing at her seemed to make something crack within the man, so he'd done his best to avoid meeting her eyes or even look at her for too long. She'd found out why in time.
"In this universe, this is Ozpin Leveilleur. A highly respected mage, and leader of a special group Ruby is a member of. 'The Circle of Knowing', a group who had devoted themselves to preventing prophesied event of great calamity, the seventh of many." The Keeper informed the audience. "Dalamud would have caused a calamity, and in a way, it has through Bahamut's release."
The great mage was able to complete his shield, creating a perfect crystalline dome over himself, the Warriors of Light and the three Eorzean leaders. The effort though was visibly taxing for him and Ozpin frowned against the strain of trying to maintain the shield against the power of the Primal.
Try as Ozpin might, however, the shield he cast lasted only a couple seconds before it was shattered by Bahamut. He desperately tried to reform the shield, but a sudden gust of gale-force wind shattered the shield and almost sent the old Elezen off his feet.
In a terrifying scene which the audience were thankful they were not there to personally witness, they watched as Bahamut slowly lowered himself so he could levitate before Ozpin and Ruby's group. His wings covering him. The dragon primal then opened his wings wide, parting the clouds around him, revealing himself in all his dark and destructive glory and might. Allowing the pitiful creatures beneath him one final look on their merciless destroyer.
Yet, hope, as it will sometimes do in times of such soul-crushing despair, arose from its hiding place to confront the immeasurable odds before it.
As Bahamut was preparing his next attack, great pillars of blue light, eleven in all, shot up into the sky. From all over Eorzea did the pillars suddenly erupt from.
Witness [FEEL] Suffer [THINK] Borrow [TEACH] Reason [HEAR]
The camera then cut to a view of three separate locations, all of them a source of one of the great pillars of light that now illuminated the land and sky. At one, a shrine in a forested region, a Lalafell and a young Hyur woman with a dark mask over her eyes were knelt in prayer. Over at another location, a young Hyur man was also knelt before a shrine in what looked like a stone temple. While at the third location, a Miqo'te was kneeling before a shrine atop a broken stone overlook or balcony.
Follow [FEEL] Stumble [THINK] Wander [TEACH] Listen [BLINK]
Back at the plane, a twelfth pillar of light shot up from behind Ozpin, and, with a thrust of his staff into the air, a giant magical spear was formed from the pillar behind him. The other pillars of light doing the same.
Whisper [BLINK] Shoulder [BLINK] Ponder [BLINK] Weather [HEAR]
The spears hung in the air for a brief moment, Bahamut himself pausing at their sudden appearance, but let out a defiant and angry roar. No spell, weapon, or trick these puny creatures or their deities would be able to stop him. The spears shot into the air, then flew at Bahamut, their sharp tips pointed at the Primal.
Acting quickly, Bahamut shielded himself with his wings, guarding himself from whatever attack or damage these mortal conjurations could do to him. Yet the spears were not meant to strike the Primal down, that was not their intent. What the spears were really meant to do was help contain Bahamut, for a massive spell circle that spanned many, many kilometres materialised as the spikes connected, and began forming a second prison for the Primal. One that was very similar to Dalamud.
Answer [LOOK] Answer [THINK] Answer together
A lot of things just happened in the last few scenes, and it was understandable if Alaric's guests were confused. Which they were.
"That's a damn incredible sight to see." Ironwood admitted, despite his confusion in regards to what was happening.
"Are they resealing Bahamut?" Blake asked as she and the others watched the Primal becoming incased in this new prison of his. Why they were not trying to kill the creature was unclear to them.
"Okay, I think I'm starting to lose the plot in this one. What exactly is happening here?" Ren said, voicing the audience's shared confusion towards the events onscreen.
"Yeah, it took me a while to understand as when I first saw and recorded this for the Repository. I'll just tell you a very short summary, okay?" The other people present in the viewing room nodded thankfully to Alaric. An explanation form the Keeper was desperately needed for them to understand just what the heck was going on. "Ozpin and the Circle of Knowing have begun a ritual where, through the prayers and hopes of thousands of Eorzea's people, they trap Bahamut again. Admittedly, it was originally meant to be used to stop Dalamud's descent on the world, but plans change."
Once again the audience were exposed to even more near fantastical things that populated the Multiverse. They could only imagine if such a thing was possible on Remnant, and what might happen if the collective desire to rid the world of Grimm was harnessed in some way. Who knows, Alaric may, but he wasn't going to say a word if there was a universe where it was possible.
Their minds turned away from the sealing spell that was entrapping Bahamut, and towards the people who had been at those shrines. Despite how they were only onscreen for a couple seconds, the audience were able to recognise who they were.
The Lalafell at the first shrine was barely recognised by the two Schnee sisters to be none other than Klein, their beloved family butler who more or less raised them and their brother. Sure he was one of those weird Lalafells, yet Winter and Weiss were happy to see another version of Klein.
Speaking of the Schnee sisters, the Hyur woman knelt beside him also drew their attention. Though she wore a dark mask, one that reminded the audience of the mask Adam Taurus wore, and wore a turban over her hair, the audience felt that this young woman was one of the Schnee sisters. One of them, for though the audience wanted to say that she was Winter, there was something that made them think otherwise. Why exactly, the audience could not place, and one look at Alaric told him that he was not going say a word.
On the other hand, the audience immediately saw the Hyur man at that temple to be Neptune. His blue hair making him instantly recognisable. To be honest, this version of Neptune didn't look bad, and that haircut of his was pretty decent.
Like how they immediately identified Neptune's alternate, the audience were also able to recognise who the Miqo'te woman at the broken overlook or balcony was an alternate version of. She was Blake.
"Those people at the shrines were Klein Totolymo, Winter Hext, Neptune Waters, and Blake Rhul. All of them members of the Circle of Knowing. There are other members, but these four will do for now."
Well, they knew a bit of who these people were. Time would only tell if they survived the events onscreen.
The sealing spell was nearly complete, it required only a few more seconds until it was done. In a circle, the glyphs of Eorzea's twelve patron gods began to rise, signalling their summoning and the nearing completion of the spell. Throughout the entirety of Eorzea, and in the hearts of most of the audience, there was hope that Bahamut could be contained and the world forever safe from his wrath.
But, it was at this most critical of moments that such hopes were seemingly dashed to the wind.
For as Bahamut's new prison neared completion, it exploded like a star that has gone supernova, shattering the sealing spell that encircled the Primal. Sending out a massive shockwave that almost knocked over Ozpin and those still on the field of battle. In the prison and circle's place now hung an immense and ever expanding sphere of lava that was equal to, or larger than, Dalamud's size. At the centre of it lay Bahamut, his arms raised to summon his ultimate attack. An attack that would destroy all.
The Warrior of Light and her fellow heroes of Eorzea looked up at their coming doom, defeated looks on their face. Their hopes of sealing the Primal dashed to the winds.
In one fleeting moment, from the Land doth life flow
Seeing the sealing spell shatter actually made the hearts of most of the audience quail at the display of Bahamut's power. What terrified them even more was the massive ball of magma and flame that now surrounded Bahamut.
"This is... looking rather grim," Salem muttered while she stared at the Primal.
"Okay. What is happening now?!" Yang questioned as she and the rest of Team RWBY held each others hands. All of them hoping beyond hope that Bahamut might be stopped before he destroyed the world in his rage. Same went for other members of the audience.
"Bahamut is creating what is known as a Teraflare. Probably the most powerful attack every incarnation that dragon possesses throughout the Multiverse. This version, and one other from a related universe branch, have tried to use this attack to decimate entire worlds." Alaric explained to his guests.
Learning this was a big shocker to the audience, and only served to eclipse whatever pity they had for Bahamut with fear. That apparently all versions of Bahamut though out the Multiverse could perform Teraflare, or a version of it, struck terror into all of the audience. Here's hoping there isn't a version of Bahamut in their worlds.
Ozpin, who was forced onto one knee, and the head of his staff broken off due to the force of Bahamut's breaking of his second cage, made a hard decision. Probably one of the hardest in his life.
The old Elezen man slammed the remains of his staff against the stone ground and thrust his hand outwards, a symbol like that of an hourglass erupting from it in a burst of white energy. Over by Ruby and the few remaining warriors of Eorzea that remained at the plane, blue light began to envelop them before they vanished completely. The last to vanish being Ruby.
Once they were all gone, Ozpin turned his head up to face Bahamut's Teraflare. Written on his face was a saddened but accepting expression as he closed his eyes, and the screen turned completely white.
In the same fleeting moment thou must live, die and know
The hearts of most of the audience sank at seeing what Elezen Ozpin had done for Ruby and the others, as well as the look that he wore on his face before the screen faded to white. They guessed that Ozpin had teleported them away to somewhere safe, but where exactly could one be safe from Bahamut's Teraflare?
The whiteness that had enveloped the entire TV screen faded away to reveal Ozpin, who, to the amazement of himself and the audience, was still alive. However, he was not at the field of battle where he had just stood, having accepted his death.
No, the Elezen now stood in an ethereal world of varying shades of blue. Silently levitating around him were the twelve crystalline spears that had tried to seal Bahamut.
"Um, what's going on here? Was Ozpin teleported away as well?" Pyrrha wondered aloud. Like everyone else, she was relieved and more than a little confused by what was currently going on right now.
"What's up with the spears?" Neptune also asked. He and plenty others were still tackling with how Bahamut had broken the sealing spell. What was happening now?
To the annoyance of many, Alaric remained silent. Refusing to say so much as a word to them about what was going on to them. In all likelihood, the Keeper would explain later on or not at all. Hopefully the former.
One by one, beams of light shot out from the spears and focused on Ozpin, the Elezen beginning to radiate with a blue aura. Though no words had been exchanged between him and the twelve spears, Ozpin understood what was going on, and what it was that he was meant to do.
The scene the transitioned back to the reality, back the to burning and devastated plain. Ozpin was now stood upon on both his feet, his eyes still shut. Now, however, surrounding him was the blue aura that had began to surround him in the vision he had experience, the aura growing stronger and larger with each passing second. Much like Bahamut's Teraflare, which was only expanding as the Primal put even more power into it.
When Ozpin did at last open his eyes, there was no sadness or despair. Only pure and absolute conviction in what he was about to do for the sake of Eorzea and Hydaelyn.
To the surprise of all, the instant Ozpin's eyes opened he shot into the sky in speeds that eclipsed that of Remnant's fastest airship. Actually leaving a crater where he had once stood a second ago. Like a brilliant lance of light, Ozpin shot upwards and towards Bahamut's Teraflare, creating a magical barrier that might repel the Primal's attack.
"Holy shit!" Qrow swore as he watched the Ozpin onscreen tear through the sky and confront Bahamut. The veteran huntsman knew their Ozpin was no joke, you don't become Headmaster of a Huntsman Academy for nothing, but what they were seeing was something else all together. It was pretty badass to watch if Qrow and several other members of the audience were to be honest.
"My word! I don't think I've ever seen that kind of look on your face before, Oz." Port truthfully remarked. Few people nowadays had ever seen Ozpin fight, and most of the time he wore a mask of calmness. This was quite the change for the audience.
"Fyi, Ozpin has become a Primal. It actually is possible in the right circumstances," Alaric began to finally explain. "Here, the twelve patron gods of Eorzea gave Ozpin their blessing, infused him with aether, and prayers for salvation from Eorzea's people turning him into a Primal. Crazy, eh?"
So people could also turn into Primals? The more the audience learnt, the more complicated things seemed to become.
Bahamut, seeing that Ozpin attempting to forestall his ultimate vengeance on the world, lashed out at the Elezen and shot a burst of fire at him. Ozpin buckled under Bahamut's attack, but the elderly Elezen man held firm and maintained his barrier. For the future of Eorzea, his grandchildren and the world, he could not allow Bahamut to win this day.
The dragon Primal saw his attack failed to break either the Elezen and the barrier, and so, he came before Ozpin himself and struck at him. Bringing his mighty head down on his foe.
This seemed to succeed, for the barrier that Ozpin had erected shattered like Dalamud and the sealing spell before it, and the Teraflare fell unimpeded towards the surface.
The audience said nothing and collectively held their breath.
Had Ozpin been beaten? Was Bahamut triumphant?
Their questions were answered moments later, as something remarkable happened.
As the Teraflare's lowest point looked like it was a hair's breadth from impacting on the ground, it slowed and then stopped. A moment later, it was then pushed back.
Ozpin, unwilling to surrender, still resisted against Bahamut and his Teraflare. Harnessing the aether that had massed at the plain in large amounts, and the hopes of thousand of Eorzea's people, Ozpin continued to fight back. The aura that surrounded him was now brighter, so much so that it was starting to become hard to make out Ozpin's shape in all of it.
In a great surge of energy that sent a shockwave across the land, Ozpin pushed through Bahamut's Teraflare. Breaking it apart and turning the lava into hardened rock as he passed.
At the very top of the nearly solidified Teraflare, in an explosion of light, Bahamut and Ozpin emerged. The Elezen Primal having pushed the vastly larger dragon Primal through his own Teraflare and out into the upper atmosphere. Blue light then speared through Bahamut's chest and out of his back, countless crystals and Ozpin shooting out from the mortal wound that had been dealt to the ancient Primal. A quick shot of Bahamut from behind showed that a large hole had been torn into his torso.
That it had been Ozpin's alternate self who was the cause of it amazed many in the audience.
Focusing on Ozpin, the audience saw, to their confusion, that the old Elezen mage was completely stone still. That was when they noticed that Ozpin's body was now almost pure crystal, the only part that had not yet been crystallised was his face. It did not remain so for long, as it too turned to bluish crystal. The moment he did, he shattered into countless tiny pieces.
Bahamut's fate was no different than his slayer's. He too began to crystallise, and once the process was done, Bahamut too shattered into countless pieces.
And with that the screen turned to black.
Seeing it was done, the audience took a moment to process the final moments that had happened in this viewing. What they had just watched was... quite a lot, and it took a while before someone said anything.
"Well, that's over." Ghira calmly spoke, encouraging the other members of the audience to speak up and voice their thoughts and opinions on this viewing.
"That was actually... actually very beautiful. Terrifying at times, but beautiful. Particularly the latter part of the viewing," Goodwitch stated her own thoughts on the viewing. Many agreeing with her. The things they had witnessed and learned had been terrifying, but also remarkably stunning.
"Same here," Yatsuhashi and a few other students of Beacon said.
Zwei added his own thoughts to the mix through a series of loud barks and growls. Just what exactly the black and white corgi meant, if he was even trying to say anything in the first place, was unknown to everyone except Alaric. The Keeper silently nodded in acknowledgement of the Zwei's barks, and carried on listening to what the audience had to say on this viewing.
Ozpin himself was silent. Whatever he was thinking unknown to everyone apart from Alaric.
"Let's hope that Ozpin's death wasn't in vain." Taiyang hopefully remarked, though, he then frowned at what he said a few moments later. "Man, that was actually weird to say. Guess I ain't completely used to this whole 'Multiverse' thing."
"At least Bahamut's dead. That's a good thing," Jeanne jumped in and said. Completely sure that the dragon Primal could not have possibly survived the hole being torn into his chest, the fact that he exploded into millions of pieces helped reinforce that belief. Alaric knew better, but elected to say nothing.
"What happened to this universe's Ruby and the others that got teleported away? Are they okay?" Ruby questioned, incredibly concerned for this universe's version of herself and for her companions.
"They survived, and were among the few people who survived that battle. Coming back five years later to a realm reborn." With that, Alaric took out his remote and began to prepare the next universe for his guests to watch.
There we go, another chapter done.
Next, I'm going to try for a more modern setting. I make no promises on if that will happen or not.
I'll see you all when I next see.