"I remember those days, all fire and fury and with the whole fate of the Empire hanging by a thread. Those were good times." - Elijah Of Karth, Champion Of Jaccar, on the formation of the Empire.

It was a strange thing, passing through the veil between worlds, in one moment it was like being boiled alive and in the next it was freezing. In an instant however, she was through, and the once cool air of the palace changed to to a fetid substance, thick with the stomach churning smell of burnt ozone.

She noticed the difference almost immediately. The way the smooth flagstone of the palace changed to a hard substance that swirled under her feet, and that the retina searing symbols that decorated her supposed dead brother's armor lined the walls, shifting in response to an unseen tide beyond the boundaries of the room.

Then it hit her, the atmosphere becoming cloyingly thick with a palpable feeling of power, the air buzzing with energy. It was like she was standing in a power station, inches away from the generators. Small bits of electricity, though it seemed far too malicious to be called such, raged in tiny storms in the air, small blurts of half-heard whispers echoing in the air before wiping themselves from non-existsnce.

Her team felt it too, their reactions not too different from stepping into a furnace, their teeth gritting in a desperate attempt to fend off the oppressive feeling that almost forced them to their knees, a small inkling of thought in the back of their minds telling them to flee, to run in the face of this wrathful god.

"Quiet!" Yang heard Weiss hiss, teeth clenched as she held her head in her hands, shaking it slightly. "Be silent!"

"Weiss..." Yang breathed, her hand reaching out to comfort her friend. It landed on her shoulder, and Yang almost recoiled from the heat and tension in Weiss's body, like a spring made of molten metal. "Weiss, what's wrong?"

"Can't you hear them? The words, the voices? Please tell me you can hear them." Weiss shook her head again, attempting to dispel the noise. "Please...They're so loud, make them stop. It hurts mommy...it hurts."

Tears flowed freely from Weiss's eyes now, muddying and mixing with her makeup to run black down her face. She fell to her knees, her shoulders heaving with broken sobs. "I don't want to go away...I want to stay here." She rasped, weeping into her hands.

"Yang..." Blake breathed, snapping Yang's attention from Weiss.

Blake was doubled over on the ground, groaning. Her body retched once and she vomited onto the runed floor, the bile sizzling and boiling. She rolled over onto her shoulder, hiccupping once before vomiting again, coughing as it filled her mouth and ran down her mouth.

"Blake!" Yang fell to her friends side, rolling her forward and patting her hand against her back. "Blake, breathe!"

Blake didn't respond.

"And the weak shall fear him, and the strong shall fear him, for they will look in the fields and mountains, and find him not. They will look in the rivers and oceans and find him not. They will look in the sky and the stars, and find him not."

"R-Ruby?"

"The weak and strong shall fear him, for they shall look in themselves, and find him."

Ruby's eyes were dilated, glazed over and bloodshot, furiously moving around in her skull.

"And they shall look in themselves, and find the name on him to be one of their own making, and that the atrocities of their earliest ancestor be the blood that runneth from thine eyes and mouth, will be the blood that runneth from his hands and stains the peoples."

Ruby collapsed suddenly, the muscles that supported her giving out as she fell against the ground. Her body bounced once, her lips still moving in a facsimile of spesch, forming sounds not dared spoken by human tongues for thousands of generations.

"Primum Mors."

Ruby gasped, then fell still.

"Ruby?" Yang whispered, gingerly shaking her sister, trying to get a response. "Ruby, please wake up.."

What was happening here!? Things had gone to shit the second they came here. Her entire team had gone nuts and now she was left alone to pick up the pieces. Ruby didn't respond, the only indication she was alive was ths soft rise and fall of her chest.

"This was a mistake." Yang whispered, still trying to shake her sister awake. "This was a mistake."

"Attempting to enter the Aether without the proper mental preparation can lead to several painful and mind-wrenching outcomes, or in Ruby's case, dissemination of reality."

Yang spun around at the voice, eyes wide.

(@)

"This is bad Ozpin! There's been a breach in the tunnel, and my nieces are nowhere to be found!"

"Qrow, please calm down, your nieces are some of the most talented and resourceful students I have ever come across. They'll be fine."

Qrow ignored him, continuing to pace angrily inside the office. His hand flew out to the chair, hurling it against the wall. "Calm down?! Ozpin you sent my family into a damn death trap! Knowingly! You even went against your own rules to do it!"

Ozpin frowned, his mug forgotten on his desk. "It was a minor breech at best Qrow, the tunnels have been sealed and the remaining grimm are being cleared out as we speak. We'll find your nieces."

"Just like how we found Brutus.." Qrow spat. "Down in the dark."

Ozpin shot out of his chair, coffee and papers flying everywhere as he jabbed a finger at qrow. "I had nothing to do with that! Brutus found the Maiden, and he paid the price for it!"

"Damn it Ozpin! How many of my family have to die becahse you push the risks too far!" Qrow shouted back. "First Summer, then Brutus, and now Ruby and Yang!"

Qrow pushed himself away from Ozpin, turning to enter the elevator. "Raven was right about you, you really would sacrifice everyone for a scrap of anything."

The door closed on a solemn silence.

(@)

A/N: I'm back boiiiissssss.