Here it is everyone. The last day and the last two chapters. This chapter has a lot of build up, the final fight of the story; Tidus & Pyhrra vs Cinder. There will be a lot of set up for future plans with the sequel, a lot more tragedy, and someone is going to die. What can I say, I like to kill people.
This chapter is even longer than the last at just over 5,000 words before the AN's. So, special thanks to UltimaKage for his favorite and follow. Now, sit back and enjoy.
Chapter 51: A Dream's Nightmare
Tidus looks to Ozpin, waiting for an answer to his question. "Well, is she?" he asks again. Silence fills the large, barren vault room with the only sounds coming from the occasional beep of the machines at the end of the room.
Ozpin gives the dream a cold stare before responding, "Yes. I am assuming your father told you about them."
"That and also you were keeping one of them safe in the basement."
"Then you know what is a stake, and what has to be done?" Tidus nods. Ozpin looks over the dream's shoulder to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, get to the pod, now." Pyrrha hesitates, looking to Tidus and getting a slight nod, before running to the second pod. "Mister Arc, Mister Abe, if you wish to help, please stand guard here."
The two blondes nod and ready themselves for any sort of combat. Pyrrha looks to Ozpin as he types away to the hologram keypad. "What do we do?" she asks.
"We do nothing," he replies, "You have a choice to make, Miss Nikos." Pyrrha looks to Tidus, then back to the pod, before wiping away a tear and climbing into the pod. As she lies down the pod closes over her. "Are you ready?" Pyrrha slowly nods. "I need to hear you say it."
"Yes."
"Thank you, Miss Nikos." Ozpin taps a few more buttons on the screen and the Fall Maiden's pod raises up. An orange glow covers her body as her Aura begins being transferred into Pyrrha, both screaming out in pain. Tidus turns to her, only to drop down in pain himself. The blonde dream drops his sword and covers his head as his light blue Aura covers his body and his mind goes blank.
(Tidus POV)
My head hurts. Wait, this isn't the vault? I slowly make my way to my feet and open my eyes as I examine my surroundings. Nothing is the same as what I remember. Instead of the vault room, I am standing on top of a strange cathedral staring off into the deep abyss. Pyrrha, Jaune, Ozpin, I can't see anyone. The only source of light is coming from the cathedral below while this strange choir sings an omonis tune from within the endless abyss.
The cathedral looks like a stain glass window, with an amazing image worked into it. A picture of me sleeping sits in the center, acting as a center point for the entire thing. To the left are portraits of my friends from Spira, the ones who helpped me find a way through a new world. On the top is an older version of Auron, looking as he did back in Spira, then Lulu below him, followed by Kimarhi, Wakka, and Rikku. The remaining half circle not taken up by my friends, is a portrait of Yuna, dressed as she was when I left her nine months ago. The right side is formatted similar to the other. Once again, Auron is at the top, but looking much younger and very similar to what he looks like now. Below him is Airu, then Ren Glain underneath. From the bottom up is Lie Ren, Nora, and Jaune. In the center of the right side, is Pyrrha, dressed usual her combat uniform.
What is this? I look around for answers, when a strange staircase begins to form in front of me. Having no better ideas, I follow it up to another cathedral that looks exactly the same to the first one, but much higher up. When I reach the top of the stairs, I look around once more. Standing opposite me is… something. It wears this draconic, yet regal, armor with two large horns coming from its helmet and a white cape draped over its back. In its right hand is this large, double-edge, S-shaped sword with a blade on either side. In its left is a large, white shield.
"Who are you?" I ask as I grip Caladbolg in case it wants to fight.
"I am Odin," he, from the sound of his voice, replies.
"Okay, what are you?" He looks oldly familar. Almost like...
"An Aeon." Wait what? I thought Yuna sent all the Aeon's, why is he here? And why have I never… nevermind, stupid question.
"I thought only the maidens could summon Aeons in this world?" I ask as my stance shifts slightly to a less defensive one, but still ready to fight.
"That is true. However, you are different, you were born from the dreams of the Aeons in Spira. You are also not from this world, which means that the rules can be bent."
"Why are you here, now? I mean, you would have been great to have earlier. The battle against Sin would have gone a lot easier with you around."
"I was sealed long before you arrived in Remnant. I have always been here, I just have never been needed. Even against Sin, I was never needed. When the time comes, I shall lend you my powers. Until then, I will wait here. Please Tidus, be safe as you fight on, and keep Lady Yuna in your thoughts."
Yuna. I haven't thought about her in months. I have spent so much time here in Remnant, that I have slowly been forgetting her. Something must be going on there that the Aeons are asking for my help.
"Okay, I'll try. Thank you Odin."
"Now, you must go, things are going to get a little hairy in a moment." In the blink of an eye, he left me all alone in the dark void. The cathedral below be begins to fade, reducing the light to nothing. I black out again.
(3rd Person POV)
Jaune bends over shaking Tidus in attempts to wake him up. The blonde dream coughs and tries to push himself off the ground. As he regains his footing, he looks over to Pyrrha as she cries out in pain, an orange Aura still surrounding her. "I'm… so sorry," says Ozpin, catching their attention.
Tidus opens his mouth to, only to be cut off by the whizzing sound of an arrow flying by. Said arrow pierces through the glass pod containing the Fall Maiden, striking her in her chest. A brief gasp escapes her lungs as her already weakened body loses what little life she had left. Tidus looks back to Pyrrha as the orange Aura surrounding her disappears, then to the entrance to the vault at the opposite end of the long vault.
The Fall Maiden's pod bursts open as her Aura seeps from her body into her attacker. Cinder graciously accepts the spoils of war as she stands between them and the elevator with her obsidian glass swords connected to form a bow. Her eyes begin to glow as the remaining power of the maiden merges with her own, a trail of fire burning from either side of her face. Jaune is the first to charge the now Fall Maiden, sword raised high.
"Stay back!" orders Ozpin, but Jaune doesn't listen. Cinder smirks as she throws a large fireball at the blonde knight. He raises his shield to block, but Tidus extinguishes the flames with a blast of water before it could connect with him. Tidus redirects the water towards Cinder, but she rolls to the side to dodge. Calling it back, he coats his blade with the water and charges as her once more with a downward.
Cinder separates her two swords and blocks his first attack. Tidus swings his sword with an upward slash, meeting her second sword this time. The rebound of the weapons leaves him open for an attack as she kicks him in the gut and sends another fireball into his chest. Tidus falls back and slides across the ground.
Pyrrha bangs on the inside of her pod, screaming his name, "Tidus!" She activates her Semblance and pushes the pod door away, almost into Cinder herself. As she tries to charge into battle, Ozpin holds out his arm to stop her.
"Take Jaune and Tidus and leave here," he commands, "Tell Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow, and maybe Jecht. The tower can't fall."
"But I can help," she protests.
"You'll only get in the way." Pyrrha nods submissively and helps Tidus to his feet as she leads him and Jaune out of the vault.
Airu lands near the evacuation camp as Port and Oobleck try to get people onto the air ships. Looking around, she spots Weiss standing guard over a few students. "Weiss!" she calls out, gaining the heiress's attention.
"Airu!" she exclaims as she runs to hug her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I think I died at one point but I could be wrong. Nothing to worry about, really."
"Nothing to worry about!?" Weiss hops back in shock and a little bit of anger. "You just said you think you died, how could I not worry? And how are you uninjured then?"
"Well, it was a little blurry, but Roman used some Aeon thing and hit me with a bunch of light beams. I remember losing my arm and half my face before blacking out. Next thing I know, I am as good as new, so I could have imagined the injuries."
"At least you look better than me," comments Ren Glain as he limps over to the two. His clothes are torn and blood stains his clothes, some of it his, most not. Blood continues of pour from his disfigured nose.
"What happened to you?" Airu asks.
"Emerald and Mercury. The two double teamed me, and those illusions are fucking annoying. Mercury is dead though."
"So is Roman. I don't know about Neo, though. Kinda zapped her umbrella as she was floating in Grimm infested skies. What about Emerald?"
"Lying in a pool of her own blood, blind, deaf, and mute. She was still alive when I left her next to Mercury."
"Ren, what did you do?" Airu asks with a strong hint of worry in her voice while Weiss chokes on her own spit. Airu had known him for being a bit dramatic, but he usually kept his kills clean if he could help it.
"I cut out her eyes and shot off her ears with her own weapon. Then I ripped out her tongue." Weiss gags at the gruesome dismemberment of the tan girl she once called an acquaintance.
"Why the Hell would you do that?" the heiress cries out in shock.
"She was a threat, sorry for making sure that I incapacitated her." Airu readies another response but is quickly cut off when another voice beats her to the punch.
"Sorry for who?" asks Ruby as she seemingly appears next to the gunslinger. Airu jumps back, startled by her sudden appearance.
"Mother fucker!" Airu exclaims, "When the Hell did you get here?"
"Just now."
"Okay. Well, at least your here. Now all we need is Auron and Tidus. Where are they anyways?"
"I don't know," replies Weiss, "Auron went with Yang to find Blake, but they returned without him. They… didn't fare too well themselves." Everyone turns their attention to the two girls on the ground, who they have failed to notice until now.
"Yang," Ruby gasps, looking at her sister's missing arm, "What happened?"
"Adam…" replies Blake through labored breaths. A large stab wound in her abdomen is wrapped up by bloodied bandages. "...Auron sacrificed himself… for us."
"He's dead?"
"No, I have him right here," announces Rage as he walks to the group with Auron on his shoulder. He sets the guardian down next to Blake and Yang, letting the group look at the wounds he has. His left arm is severed at the shoulder, and bloodied bandage is wrapped over it. Blood continues to trickle from the cut through his right eye, but it has stopped for the most part.
"What happened to him?" Airu asks as she squats down to check on him.
"From what it looks like, he fought Adam. I don't know how the old bastard did it, but I found his ass in the ballroom. The buildings between the two places were gone, but he was there. There was also some knives fading away at the time, so I think a Dark Yojimbo was there. Either way, his left arm is completely gone, cut clean off. His right eye is also damaged, the scar to going to permanently shut it, leaving him with just a left eye. Nothing he isn't use to."
"He lost an eye before?" Weiss asks.
"Yeah, same one too. Back in Spira."
"Then where is Tidus?" Ren Glain asks.
"Or Jaune and Pyrrha?" adds Nora, who is lying not too far from the group.
"No clue," replies Rage, "But you guys should get to the ships and get to Vale, it is the safest place right now."
"No, I will find them," declares Ruby.
"We will find them," corrects Weiss.
"I am coming with you guys," adds Airu, "Ren, take the rest and go, we'll be fine."
"Okay," agrees Ren, "Just make sure to avoid that fucking Dragon Grimm. I don't know how we missed it before, but it is swirling the damn school." Airu looks up to Ozpin's office, to find there is indeed a Dragon Grimm circling it.
"Alright, will do. Let's go guys." Airu takes off running back to Beacon with Ruby and Wiess on her tail.
"Be safe guys."
Tidus, Pyrrha, and Jaune stumble out of Beacon Tower as they escape the clash between Ozpin and Cinder. The sounds of explosions and fighting can be heard from outside. Jaune pulls out his scroll and begins looking through his contacts. "Okay, I think I have Glynda's number," he claims as he steps away, "Pyrrha?" She looks over to the blonde knight, wondering what he was about to ask. "What was all of that about?"
"I…" she begins before the sound of Cinder bursting through the elevator shaft and continuing upward distracts them.
"But… Ozpin," Jaune says.
"There's no time," she declares, "Get to Vale and call for help. Tidus, I need your help."
"Are we going to take her down?" he asks as his grip on his blade tightens.
"Yes."
"No, you guys can't!" Jaune protests, "You saw how powerful she is."
"That is why she is bringing me," replies Tidus.
"No, you can't just do this! You'll die."
"If that is what you think will stop us, then why are we here? We came here to fight monsters, and right now she is nothing more than one." Tidus places a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "I have taken down much worse than her, I'll be fine, and so will Pyrrha. But it's time for you to go." Tidus shoves Jaune into a nearby locker and closes the door. Tapping the keypad, he sends the locker into the air towards Vale, with Jaune screaming the entire way.
"I'll have to apologize to him when we get back," states Pyrrha as Tidus stands next to her.
"You ready?"
"Yeah." They take each other's hands as they stand near the elevator shaft. Pyrrha tosses out her shield and the two jump on as she uses her Semblance to push them up.
Weiss, Ruby, and Airu continue running through the courtyard of Beacon, looking for Jaune and Pyrrha. They stop when Weiss's scroll goes off, ringing from a call. She answers it and says, "Jaune! Where are you!"
"Please, you have to stop them!" he pleads through the phone.
"Stop who? What's going on?"
"Tidus and Pyrrha. They went after the woman at the top of the tower. They don't stand a chance. Please, help them."
"We will, are you okay?" The sound of the scroll bouncing off the ground is the only reply she gets. "Jaune! Jaune!" She hangs up, realizing he won't answer and turns back to Ruby and Airu, who heard the whole thing. Black ooze drips down from the wings of the Dragon Grimm, forming new Grimm along the streets.
"I have a plan," declares Ruby, drawing Crescent Rose from her back.
"You always do," states Weiss with Myrtenaster in hand.
"This one better be good," adds Airu as she draws her rapier, electricity crackling along the blade.
Pyrrha and Tidus leap out of the elevator shaft, the former throwing her spear at Cinder who stands in the center the room. Cinder sidesteps the spear as the gladiator picks up her shield and flings it as well. The Fall Maiden blocks it with her arm and counters with a wave of fire. Tidus sweeps his arm around and blocks the flames with water, allowing Pyrrha the chance to recall her weapons.
Cinder growls as she conjures more fire behind her, firing off the balls of flames towards the couple. The dream coats his sword with water, still keeping a visible supply behind him, and cuts down the incoming fireballs with ease. Tidus charges forward and slashes at Cinder, a trail of water following the attacks. The Fall Maiden blocks the blade with her hand and knocks the dream away.
From behind Tidus, Pyrrha stabs forward at an undefended Cinder with Milo in spear form. The Fall Maiden manages to catch the spear with her other hand and strikes the gladiator in the gut with her palm. Another streak of fire appears in Cinder's palm, sending Pyrrha back into the wall.
As she struggles to her feet, Tidus steps in front of Pyrrha to block a follow up wave of fireballs with a wall of water. Another growl comes from Cinder as she surrounds herself with a torrent of fire and rockets herself towards the couple. Tidus raises his arm, controlling the water as it moves towards her in the form of a large torrent, and blasts it toward her. Fire and water collide, the latter pushing through the raging flames and extinguishing them, pushing Cinder to the ground.
Tidus and Pyrrha charge in together, both swinging their swords at the Fall Maiden as she parries both attacks with her recently formed glass swords. She counters with a kick to the gladiator's gut and slams the hilt of her weapon into the dream's skull. Both stumble back as she conjures pillars of flames where they stand.
Pyrrha charges out of the flames, much to the shock of Cinder, and tackles the Fall Maiden to the ground. Tidus coats his body with water as the flames around him disperse and he attempts to charge the two women fighting, only to stop as he hears the incoming cry of the Grimm Dragon right outside the window. Pyrrha manages to roll Cinder over and uses Milo in its javelin form to choke her. Cinder grasps the weapon and begins heating it with her hand, adding a faint orange glow to the bronze colored metal.
The Dragon screeches, drawing the couple's attention to it outside as it flies toward them. Taking advantage of the distraction, Cinder snaps the heated metal in two and turns to elbow Pyrrha in the ribs as the Grimm smashes through the tower. The gladiator and the dream are blown back to the ground as giant cogs and gears and other rubble fall onto them.
Pyrrha crawls to her shield, taking it in her left hand as Tidus uses his sword to pull himself to his feet. Noticing Ozpin's desk among the rubble, she reaches out with her Semblance and throws it at the Fall Maiden. Cinder engulfs herself with flames as the desk races towards her, only for Tidus to wash out the raging fire with a pool of water. The desk crashes into her and bounces off the rubble into the air, striking the Grimm Dragon in the head. A large gash forms over its eye as it begins to lose altitude for a moment.
Cinder crawls to her feet, a noticeable gash along her forehead allowing a strong flow of blood into her right eye. In anger, she sends three more blasts of fire towards the two. Tidus blocks the first and Pyrrha rolls out of the way of the second, but is hit by the third. Tidus coats his blade with water and charges at Cinder as she reforms her glass swords. With a double slash, she parries Tidus's strike and lands one of her own to knock him back into a weakened pillar, causing it to fall onto him.
She turns her attention back to Pyrrha as the gladiator reels back and throws her shield at the Fall Maiden. Cinder connects her two swords and creates an arrow as she ducks underneath it. Still bent over, Cinder aims and fires her first shot directly into Pyrrha's ankle, ripping through the achilles tendon. Tidus struggles to free himself from the rubble as she slowly stalks the gladiator.
Cinder places a hand underneath Pyrrha's chin, making her look up into the Fall Maiden's eyes as she says, "It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours. But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined." Pyrrha returns the stare with one of determination as Tidus slowly struggles to remove some of the rubble from him.
"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha asks. Cinder slowly grins before forming another arrow and pulls the string back on her bow, aiming at the gladiator's chest.
"Yes." The Fall Maiden releases the arrow, making a direct shot. The arrow pierces Pyrrha's heart and slowly her body functions begin to stop. Cinder places her hand to her fallen adversaries cheek, causing her body to incinerate instantly, leaving nothing but ash in her stead.
"YOU BITCH!" cries Tidus in pure rage as water bursts from his position, freeing him of rubble and charges in as water surrounds his blade. Cinder separates her swords and prepares to parry his overhand swing when a literal fist of water rises from below her. The punch connects with her jaw, stunning her for a moment as Tidus closes the gap. The Fall Maiden recovers in time to just block the attack from cutting her in half while a small chip forms on her left blade.
Cinder counters with her second blade, forcing Tidus to flip over the attack and away from her, leaving his back exposed. She takes the brief moment and slings a fireball at his back. To her surprise, Tidus turns on his left heel towards the heated ball, and covers his other leg in water as the two make contact. The connection extinguishes the flames while the water soars through the air like a blitzball, with all the speed and power of one as well.
The sudden counter of her attack and the speed of the water allows the sphere to connect with her chest and sends her into the last remaining pillar. As her back meets the structural material, the weakened pillar crumbles and begins to fall as she bounces off of it like a basketball.
A bright white glow covers Tidus's body as he prepares to leap into the air. "You need no mercy!" he chants as the energy around him grows stronger, releasing a small shock wave. As Cinder nears the ground a few more feet, his eyes snap open and he leaps after her. Like gravity forgot to work, the two hold themselves in the air as all the energy that surrounded Tidus now surrounds Calabolg. "Blitz Ace!"
Cinder watches in horror as the dream lands seven clean and powerful hits through his Overdrive. Her remaining Aura drops quicker than she could even thing as the last attack sends her back onto the floor below, knocking out the last of her Aura. She struggles to her feet, hoping to surprise Tidus with the one card she had left to play. But, to her own shock, he was already standing over top of her as a tidal wave of water splashes down on her.
She pants heavily as she tries to get up to her feet again. As he head turns upward, a strong hand meets her neck and grasps it tightly as he lifts her above the ground, letting her feet dangle below. Cinder locks in a stare with Tidus as he tries to crush her neck. "Come to my side-," she tries to chant hoarsely, only to be cut off when the blonde dream holding her neck plunges his sword into her abdomen. She gasps in pain as the blue steel blade emerges from her backside coated in her blood.
Tidus removes the sword from the Fall Maiden as water begins to fill the hole in her gut. The cool liquid enters her blood stream and locking her limbs while also draining the crimson life source from her body. The diluted blood travels in a stream and forms a sphere of water around her head, cutting off all oxygen. She tries to hold her breath, but the mixed liquids running up her nose forces her mouth open and letting it enter her lungs. Cinder tries struggling, but the water in her blood locking her limbs results in her efforts to be in vain.
After a good long minute of drowning in her own blood, she passes out from the lack of oxygen. Her body falls limp and she stops struggling, giving Tidus a reason to smirk. He let's out a hardy, fake laugh that makes him think of Spira as he walks Cinder's body over to the edge of Beacon tower. The water and blood mixture keeps her body from falling, until he retracts the water from around her head, and she doesn't come with it.
Odin, now taking the appearance of a young knight, sits across from a mysterious figure, looking human, concealed by the darkness. Their table, pure white in color, sits atop a cathedral of the same color in a world of complete darkness. Three chairs remain unused. "This is rather unfortunate," states the mysterious figure, sounding like a young boy, "It seems my maiden's lasts thoughts were not only of a male, but of one who somehow already has a Fayth."
"Yes, quite," agree Odin, "I assume that is why I am the only one with a black chair and not a white one."
"Yes. To be quite honest, I didn't think Winter, Spring, Summer, and I would ever meet another Fayth in Remnant."
"I see. So where will you go now then if the Fall Maiden is once again dead?"
"I don't know. Randomizing would be so difficult, and I really don't feel like going through that after becoming whole again."
"Then why not someone of Spira. The barrier is broken now, and I believe I have a perfect candidate."
"Intriguing, and who is she?" Odin reaches into the pocket of his armor and pulls out a small picture.
"Her."
"She will do great. Thank you…"
"Dream. Now you better get going, Fall."
"Of course, goodbye." Fall, still concluded by darkness, teleports out of the world of pure darkness. Odin, or Dream, does the same, leaving the world to fade away.
Airu, Weiss, and Ruby stand together as Grimm bodies slowly dissipate around them, allowing them to relax. They keep their weapons in their hands, however, in case more decide to appear. "Whew," sighs Ruby, "Now we just need to help Pyrrha and Tidus."
"Sounds like a plan to me," says Airu as she begins walking. Weiss gets ready to speak, when she notices something falling from the sky. As it closes in, it begins to form the shape of a person. She follows its path, and runs to Airu. Weiss pushes the harpy to the ground as the body falls on her, causing a white light to shine and blinds Ruby and Airu.
They hear the clanging of metal bouncing off concrete and move their arms from their eyes as they regain their sight. Looking to where Weiss once stood they see only the dead body of Cinder Fall as blood spills from her wounds, and the heiress's rapier Myrtenaster. Airu covers her mouth as tears begin to form in her eyes while Ruby screams, and everything freezes.
(? POV)
This feeling, it is so weird. Why do I feel, different? It is like something is inside of me, but I can't quite to figure it out. I open my eyes even though I should be asleep. Looking around, I notice that this place, this world, is not mine. It feels so empty. Everywhere I look, all I see is darkness, empty darkness.
I look down to the stained glass cathedral below to the beautiful portrait. In the center is me, my body lying in a field of pyreflies as Tidus lies opposite me with his legs cut off from the top of the portrait. Around the edges, familiar faces dot the border in much smaller portraits.
Of those, five large portraits stand out, aligned in such a way that they could be connected into a star. On the top is Kimarhi, with Wakka on the right and Lulu on the left. Below them, pictures of Auron and Rikku on the right and left respectfully.
It's been nearly two years already. I told you I wouldn't stop looking, and I haven't yet. Actually, I think that the true journey has just begun for me. I will find you, I promise. I examine the cathedral a little more before moving my gaze forward. To my surprise, there is someone there. He, I am assuming, looks to be a young man, maybe seventeen. He has long blonde that reaches down to his lower back and wears a light yellow cloak with green accents and armored shoulders. I can only see his hand, but he looks to have black tattoos running down his arm.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"I wouldn't worry about that yet, Yuna," he tells me as a staircase forms behind him, leading up to a larger cathedral. "Come, we have much to discuss. For now, you may call me Fall."
And with that, the Battle of Beacon ends. After a good eight chapters (which is a lot for this arc in other Fan fictions for some reason), it is over. Now, I must address a lot of elephants in the room. First, who is Dream/Odin? Simple, he is an Aeon that rests in Tidus, just like Fall/? rests in the Fall Maiden. There will be more to this later, but I will end it there. Next, Tidus's anger. So, while he is usually calm, he does get angry from time to time. The reason why I had him go as far is because not only did Cinder come close to killing Pyhrra, she actually succeeded, which sent him over. I wouldn't put it past him to kill in such a fashion as he did. A little OOC, but not to the point where he is a completely different character.
Now, for the last elephant. Yuna is the new Fall Maiden. Why? Because of &($%(*! ) and ^&( _!%(#). What? Did you think I was going to spoil my plans? As for Weiss, well that will be explained in the next chapter, which will be up right after this. So, I will see you all there, don't be late.
