Author Note - Yes i did change the name of this chapter, this name suited it better for how it turned out


Chapter 48 – Protect the Relic


Ortega


The Admiral of the Acolytes of Lien stands at the bridge, explosions still going off around their vessel as they battle the White Fang's Vessel in the sky. They have taken some hits, but the White Fang ship has got nothing on what the Drift of Wandering Star carries, for it is a Dreadnaught-Class Frigate, fully capable to level an entire city if need be. He grips onto the side as the ship shudders when a shell hits it and he stumbles. Fire and smoke bleed from the White Fang ship, it is tipping down, beginning to fall to its end. Darren turns to his men on the ship that are controlling the ship and its armaments. "Fire all!" He orders.

He turns to his communication node and he brings up a contact name. His name is Merlot, and he is trying to contact him. "Merlot! Why the hell is your prototype helping them?" Ortega roars with rage at the empty screen, Merlot is not answering his call. But he can definitely hear him.

He is choosing to not answer.

"Merlot!" Ortega bellows again, and still no response. He grits his teeth and then punches the screen with rage, staggering back from the cracked screen of which the sparks fly from. The operatives on the ship turn their heads at the furious man as he stands with fists clenched.

Ortega stares at them all and he snarls. "What are you swine looking at? Destroy that damn ship!" He bellows, scaring them into submission, and they prepare to fire the full force of their assault batteries. The cannons fold out from the hull and point towards the brave vessel that risked itself to help keep its guns off their forces.

The cannons all open fire at once, launching hundreds of explosive dust shells into its hull. The explosions shred the armour off the body of the ship, fire spills from the ship and it groans. The engines explode as the cores begin to overload to the point of detonation, chunks of the ship plummeting down into the mountains of the island below. They crash down with force, tearing up the ground into little pieces where they land. Smoke polluting the sky upon impact.

The White Fang Captain holds on and he watches as the ship begins to fall. "It's been an honour serving this cause!" The Captain tells them all, he then activates his comm to the ground forces.

"This is Fang One...taken fatal damage, we're going down. Good luck down there. Fang One...out."


Ruby


Ruby sets her eyes on Fang One as it falls from the sky and crashes down into the mountains, exploding in a bright flash of fire that engulfs the sky. She sighs, closing her eyes sadly at their brave sacrifice.

Ruby looks down at the body of Ilia that Blake has fallen to her knees beside. She has tears in her eyes as well, a very close friends of hers when she was once part of the White Fang, has just been taken from her by a monster. A monster that has completely vanished, and Ruby knows that he was the one that murdered her. The blade wounds have become something that she recognises almost instantaneously as she stares down at them. The clean stab wounds, the ferocity of them as well. Glynda walks over and she holds a tarp that she found, gently covering her body with it so then she may be able to rest. She holds her crop in her hand and with her other; she places it on Blake's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Miss Belladonna." Glynda says to her with a kind smile.

Ruby clenches her hand into a fist when she thinks of the laughs of that damned Scorpion Faunus that murdered her. Roman appears in her eye and he walks around, looking down at her body that lays there. He crosses his arms and he smiles at her, and then he shakes his head sadly at her body. "Such a shame, never got to meet her. What kind of Faunus was she I wonder?" Roman wonders as he walks around and leaves her view. Blake wipes a tear from her eye and she stands back up and walks over to Sun's open arms and she embraces with him. Sun caresses the back of her black haired head with his hand, kissing the top of her head affectionately. Sun looks over at Ruby and he smiles, nodding to her.

Ruby looks at Penny, they already have seen each other again, and Ruby is still amazed to see her alive. Not exactly in one piece with the hole done to her body, but still alive and for whatever reason – herself. Merlot is not stupid, the man was able to give her a consciousness, then why did he not get rid of her own memories?

Finally reunited, but Ruby is the first to know that they are not finished. They have to stop Salem from activating that Relic before it is too late. She activates Crescent Rose, the blade folds outwards and sharpens with a gleam across the scythe. She looks at Adam and he is far too injured to be of any help in there. "Adam?" Ruby speaks, he looks in the direction of which he heard her, his hand on one of his wounds he suffered from Tyrian. "Take her body to the ships, tell everyone to get ready. We will go in, can't risk a tonne of soldiers going inside there." Ruby explains as she walks past them and towards the entrance.

The doors are wide open and Weiss walks over to her, holding onto her shoulder, even pulling her back for a moment. "Ruby, you need to go with them. You need to recover, we can handle this." Weiss assures, amazed by how determined Ruby is to finish this. They could end this, Salem is in there. But so are the Knights, including one berserk Axzura Vex right now. Ruby looks at Weiss and she shakes her head.

"No, I will not stand by. And I have a promise to keep." Ruby explains, taking the first steps towards it but Weiss stands in front of her.

"Will you just wait a second, please?" She begs, pressing her hand against her shoulder to keep her from going inside, but Ruby keeps on going.

"I have to go, Weiss." Ruby says, even sounding quite cold as well. Weiss suddenly wraps her arms around Ruby, so affectionately that it actually surprises Ruby from how kind her hug is. How warm she is being towards her, she was never like that before. A tear sheds from Weiss' closed eyes as she holds her friend close.

Her best friend.

She looks at Ruby when she releases her. "I know...but you don't have to do it alone." Weiss says to her, and Ruby looks away and takes a couple steps back. She has never ever seen Weiss cry like that before, never over her either. Weiss wipes the tear from her cheek and she just smiles kindly to her, and Ruby looks around at all those that came here to save her life. But they all know that they cannot leave until Salem has been stopped.

And that means going in there.

Glynda steps forward with her proposition. "We cannot all go in there; the Acolytes and the Grimm would follow and trap us inside. We would all die that way." Glynda begins. She looks to the teachers of the group and other members. "I will lead a small team of people to hold the entrance." Glynda volunteers, speaking to Ruby as if she is her leader, a feeling of which that Ruby has never felt before.

Oobleck and Port step forward with their weapons at the ready. "We will remain here." Port states. Taiyang, Raven and Winter step forth as well, as they are ready as well, the Architect does as well with his weapon ready. Penny shyly steps forward as well to hold the outside as well, but the Architect gently pats her on the back in order to help her feel better. With Adam taking Ilia's body back home, that is the group that will remain outside to keep the enemies from following.

"Okay then." Glynda says, looking down at Zwei as he sits down beside her and she smiles at the little dog. "Then that is what we shall do, the rest of you will go inside and stop them from using the Relics." Glynda explains.

Team R.W.B.Y, Team J.N.R, Team C.F.V.Y, Sun, Neptune, Oscar, Kassius, Cinder, Qrow and Kragen will be going inside to face the Knights of Grimm and Salem, and her Inner Circle. In the darkness of the caverns that have remained uncharted for countless years. But this is it, the fight to stop her.

Ruby nods, looking at the people who will be joining her in this fight. "Good luck to you." Ruby says to her, and she walks towards the open doors, but Glynda calls out to her before she goes.

"Ruby!" She calls, Ruby stops and turns to look at her. She smiles as she looks at Ruby. "It's good to see you again." Glynda tells her, almost like it was difficult for her to say something as nice as that. She may want to know why she has lost her eye, but...that is a tale for another time. Not right now.

Ruby smiles back to Goodwitch as her team stand with her once more. "It's good to see you too, Professor." Ruby says to her, walking first into the dark unknown with her team and the others who follow her. Glynda turns with her crop in hand, Port standing beside her as he stares at the countless Grimm that forms before them.

"You do know that we won't be able to hold the Grimm off indefinitely, right?" Port asks her.

"I know...and that is why I have faith in them. They can stop her, and if they stop Salem, we stop the Grimm." Glynda explains, extending her crop with one swift flick of her wrist. Taiyang clenches his hands into fists and he raises them up, Raven draws her Odachi and she stands ready by his side. The Architect activates his rifle into Sword form and he spins the sword through his fingers as he waits for the coming battle.

The Architect steps towards the doors and he pulls them both shut, giving them more of a chance as well.

The doors shut, leaving them in the shadows, Ruby looks back and then forward again at the long passage.

Ruby walks into the dark passageways of the Chambers, huge statues inside with their stone swords pressed into the ground as she walks. Yang stands extremely close to her sister, just wanting to keep her safe at all costs. Weiss and Blake stand close to her as well, and Blake looks at Ruby when they walk through the darkness. "Ruby?" She says, getting her attention. Ruby looks at Blake who is acting as timid as she always has been, but it is more because she is able to see one of her closest friends again. "I – I'm so sorry." She says sadly, clearly referring to the suffering that Ruby has had to go through.

"Don't be." Ruby says to her. "There was nothing you could have done to stop Death from taking me." She explains, walking onwards, she does not even seem to be thinking about that. Her eye is just focused on finding Salem and defeating her.

"I just wish...we could have found you sooner." Weiss says, still with guilt across her. Ruby looks at her team but she shakes her head.

"It's okay, guys...really." Ruby explains with a smile as she walks. But then they all hug her at once, unable to resist the urge, and Ruby buries her head into them with a smile, feeling so at home with them as she sits in their grasp. Cinder actually feels happy for what she did for once, she used to think that what she was doing was making her happy, but only now does she truly understand what it is. Something that was lost in her for a long time, Kassius looks at her and he walks over to her right shoulder to speak to her.

"So why'd you do it?" Kassius asks her, and she looks at him.

"Huh?" Cinder responds, almost with shock when she sees Kassius beside her.

"Save Ruby? What changed?" Kassius asks her curiously, and Cinder sighs as she looks down at the floor. She scratches the back of her neck as well when she walks with him in the darkness.

"Well...after I killed Pyrrha Nikos...I...I thought that I would feel some – satisfaction. The same with the Fall Maiden back at Beacon, but I felt nothing when I did it...only – guilt." Cinder explains, running her fingers through her black hair. She does not even notice that Jaune is eavesdropping on what she is saying as he walks with Ren and Nora, holding Crocea Mors tight. "I couldn't let Tyrian hurt her anymore..." Cinder explains.

Kassius nods and he keeps walking. "And – a stupid twin brother of mine managed to convince me to change." Cinder says with a smile on her face, and Kassius smiles back.

Jaune keeps looking forward, and Ren looks at him. He can see the anger in his face, despite Pyrrha being resurrected; he still cannot shrug off the year of agony he faced with Pyrrha's demise. Ren bumps his elbow into Jaune' shoulder to get his attention when they are walking, Jaune looks at him afterwards. "You alright?" Ren asks him, and Jaune sighs, looking on again.

"Yeah. Perfectly fine." Jaune lies, and Ren looks at Nora when Jaune walks ahead of them, catching up to Team R.W.B.Y. Kragen decides to catch up to them and his eyes glow brighter with his gift of Silver Eyes, and Ruby gasps with shock, considering that this is in fact the first time that she has actually met Kragen Nox.

"Um...Who's that?" Ruby asks curiously. Yang laughs a little, since Ruby is extremely out of the loop after the adventures that they had in searching for her little sister.

"Oh yeah, that is Kragen Nox. We met him and his robot friend the Architect because they said they could help find you." Yang states and Ruby's eyes widen when she remembers something on her first few days when she was held captive by Tyrian and Salem.

"You're Kragen Nox?" She gasps and Blake looks at her with a confused expression of how she could even know of his name.

"You've heard of him?" Blake asks.

"Yeah, I was told by Pyrrha in one of my nightmares that we needed to find him." Ruby states, and Kragen's eyes widen, and he stops in his tracks and turns to her. His eyes stop glowing just so then he does not blind her with the brightness of his eyes. There is a hint of concern in his silver eyes, and Ruby looks at him with a confused expression.

"You saw her in a vision?" Kragen asks her, stopping her where she walks. The others walk past them as they keep looking around. Velvet stops by Ruby and she listens to what they are talking about, still holding her precious box close. Qrow stands there as well with his sword rested on his shoulder.

"Yeah, early on when I was in their cell." Ruby answers truthfully, and she thinks back to what Pyrrha told her. About the Charred Forest in her nightmares. "We were in the Charred Forest; I always end up there in my nightmares. And she said that the place was not a nightmare, that it is an actual place that she was bound to, same as the Knights of Grimm." Ruby paraphrases, still able to visualise the charcoal wooden trees where they stood and the sounds of death and suffering surrounding them. Oscar stops as well and he approaches the group as well, since he too has seen this place.

"I saw that place as well." Oscar tells them, crossing his arms, and Kragen looks at him. Ruby's eyes widen when he says that, which solidifies Pyrrha's statement to her, about the Charred Forest and its significance. "When that being – Time – took me away and sent me to Arkhonex, I started off there. But then it became the Shivering Dominion, ice and snow covered the forest but it was still all charred." Oscar explains, and Kragen clutches onto his staff tight when he thinks of the complications that could arise from such information.

"So what does that mean?" Velvet asks, innocently out of the loop on all of this information. Her long brown bunny ears curve down shyly as she speaks to them, and they look at her.

"The Shivering Dominion...I've heard stories about it. Allegedly it is a point in time where time ends, stopped in a single moment forever. Nobody would ever realise, unless they are dead and become unbound by it. In that realm – only the fallen live." Kragen explains as he walks around with his staff in his hand.

"Could the Relics trigger that?" Qrow questions, and Kragen looks at him.

"Possibly, they are artefacts from a time before Arkhonex, even our greatest scientist could not pin their origin or their actual purpose. Only that they have the power to change the world as we know it." Kragen explains, and that sends shivers across their bodies. A faint explosion inside the chambers that reverberates through the caverns snaps them out of this conversation that they were having about the Charred Forest.

"Well, on that note let's keep moving." Qrow ushers, walking forward and spinning his sword through his fingers. Ruby touches the back of her neck nervously, realising how big this could be. They all know that it will not end here, even if they do stop Salem. The Knights of Grimm are infinite, the will not be able to end their story here. They need to understand more about them if they are going to attempt to bring them closure.

Ruby follows them, and Velvet walks with her, looking at the younger girl who looks so much colder now than she ever used to be. It hurts to see her so focused unlike her bouncy and lovable self she used to be. Her large round bown eyes focus onto Ruby's sombre looking silver eye, and the patch that covers the one that was taken from Death. "Ruby?" Velvet gently says and she gets the young girl's attention. Another change in her personality is that she does not turn fast with excitement like she usually did. Now it is just a normal turn of the head and look at her eyes.

"Yeah?" Ruby responds, less joyous than her old self as well. Velvet has so many questions, what are they facing? Who are the Four Knights of Grimm? What happened to her? Who is Salem?

But only one comes to mind that she actually asks her, because she only wants the best for Ruby and for her to be happy. That is why she came to save her, because she was always good to her unlike some other people at Beacon. The rest of Team C.F.V.Y came because they too care deeply for Ruby as she is one of their close friends as well. "If you don't mind me asking...what happened to your eye?" Velvet gently asks her, her voice soft and pleasant. Ruby looks down at the floor whilst she walks and she touches the bandage patch on her eye and she pulls her hand away, at times she forgets she even lost her eye. She has become so used to seeing through one eye that she is beginning to forget what it was like to see any other way. "If it is too personal I –" Velvet states as she tries to retract her question, but Ruby shakes her head.

"No, it's okay. You all deserve to know." She says. Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi wait up for them so then they can hear what she wants to tell them. They are also her friends as well, Coco takes off her sunglasses to give the young girl her full attention.

"We were there when Mistral fell – we tried to get as many civilians to safety but many of them were killed by the Knights. They set up an ambush and destroyed the entire city, we held them off for a while...but..." Ruby explains, seeing the events flashing before her eyes over and over again. The way Death swooped towards them in his Nevermore Form and threw the Fatal Feathers from his black wings, the flames that Fury unleashed onto the city. The nightmares that Fear spread like a plague across hundreds of people, and the torment that Loss rained down as she fought them. Scarlet David and Sage...they never made it out of Mistral, they were murdered right in front of her. Sage by Lionheart and Scarlet David by Death when he landed behind him and skewered him with Ferrum Arctus.

A horrific sight to see.

Ruby breathes out as she relives the horrors in her mind. "Scarlet and Sage got killed in the battle." Ruby tells them, and Velvet gasps with horror, her eyes flitting over to Sun as he walks with Blake, holding her hand. He still hides his pain of losing two of his close friends like that, in one battle as well. One through betrayal, literally by getting shot in the back, and the other from getting stabbed in the back by Death. Neptune is hurt as well, still trying to get over the loss of them, but they have hidden their pains for their friends and loved ones. And to focus on getting Ruby back. Velvet feels pity for Sun, it must be horrible to lose two of your teammates like that.

Kassius would know, he lost his whole team.

Velvet looks back to Ruby as she walks with them. "Near the end of the battle, we started to retreat, but Jaune and I were thrown through a wall by Death and I was dazed. I couldn't move, the shock of everything that happened was rushing over me. Both of us were injured." Ruby explains, feeling goosebumps on her arms when she remembers the sight of Death stood there. Like a nightmare, a body made of shadows and eyes of red light, forming a bow in his hand from glass and launching an arrow that took out her eye. Nearly killing her, she never felt the pain when it happened, just a tugging sensation as her eye was pulverised from the impact of the arrowhead. Team C.F.V.Y notice her trepidation when she speaks, and Velvet gently puts her hand on the young girl's shoulder caringly with a smile to calm her. Ruby continues to tell them about what happened that night. "Death was there; he made a bow in his hands and then shot an arrow at me. I tried to dash out of the way by using my Semblance, but the arrow still hit my eye." She explains, her hand touches the bandage on her eye where she lost it.

The pain has gone away now, but she still remembers the unrelenting agony that she suffered from that arrow, the amount of blood that poured from her socket, just before passing out. Velvet gasps with horror from what a horrific thing that was, and Yatsuhashi grits his teeth and growls with anger after hearing such a terrible tale of how she lost her eye. He clenches his hand into a fist as he growls. "How can such evil exist in this world and not be punished?" Yatsuhashi questions with rage, but Ruby closes her eye and tells him what she has learned.

"Evil will never go unpunished; it just takes some time before the bad people fall...no matter how many good die along the way." Ruby states.

Velvet immediately wraps her arms around Ruby and holds her tight and Coco smiles. "I'm so sorry, Ruby." Velvet apologises with a tearful voice as she holds her close. Coco smiles as she puts her sunglasses back over her eyes, even in the dark caverns.

"We'll get some payback for this, don't you worry." Coco promises as she holds her handbag in one hand.

After Velvet releases Ruby, the young girl steps back and looks at Team C.F.V.Y and she smiles at them happily. "Don't be sorry...it's good to see you all again." Ruby says sweetly and Fox smiles and he nods to her, still never saying a word. And Ruby respects that, she smiles and nods back, and then Coco pats her shoulder and they keep walking on to catch up the rest of their team.

The group walk towards a pair of paths that diverge away from one another. One that goes off to the left and the other goes to the right. One of these paths is where an enraged Axzura Vex awaits them; they feel another quake from the explosions detonating nearby. "What the hell's happening down there?" Jaune says, looking around at the dust that falls from the ceiling and the walls from the quakes.

"Maybe it's the Drift of Wandering Star?" Blake guesses when she turns to Jaune, shrugging her shoulders at her suggestion. Another rumble reverberates through the stone catacombs and Jaune sighs, scratching the back of his head.

"Let's hope so." He says.

Yang places her hand on her shoulder and she looks at the two paths. "Right or Left?" Yang wonders when she looks at the two paths.

Ren walks forward and he crouches down, looking at something that he spotted on the ground. There are marks on the stone, different kinds, one going down each pathway. One of them looks like those of tyre tracks that are heading down the one going right, and the other one looks like a collection of footsteps that go right. Ren notices the scorch marks grazed across the stone and around the prints of one pair of footsteps. He turns and looks at Qrow who stands behind him. "Looks like Salem and the Knights brought some Mercenaries with them in a vehicle and they checked out that way." Ren explains as he points down the left path.

"Is there a chance they could have found it and that she didn't?" Qrow wonders, and Kragen sighs.

"It is possible that Fury might have lead them that way." Kragen points out as he looks at that direction.

"Why's that?" Weiss asks.

"His Trove..." Ruby remembers, from the conversation that she had with Loss when Fury actually protected her from the pincers of Tyrian Callows that one time. About how he could never kill children in his human form, and that the only thing that kept him sane after he lost everything was his Treasure Trove. They all look at Ruby, and Kragen nods his head when he looks at her.

"When we came here to find Axzura all those years ago...he hid his Treasure Trove here, we were tasked to recover the gold but the concentration of Grimm and the lack of a ship made it impossible." Kragen explains, and Ruby's reaction is priceless, her eye widens and she slowly turns and looks at Kragen with confusion. Team C.F.V.Y also look at Kragen in the exact same way, bewildered from what he just said, since they can tell that all of this happened thousands of years ago.

And Coco is the first to ask the question on their minds. "Eh?" Coco asks him as she lowers her sunglasses down with a raised eyebrow. Kragen looks at them, and he quickly catches onto their confusion.

"I am an Arkhoni; I was tasked with protecting the Relics and keeping the Silver Eyed Warriors alive and fully trained in their capabilities." Kragen explains to them of how he has lived this long. They all seem pretty stunned by it and Ruby leans over to Sun's ear as she speaks to him.

"How much have I missed?" Ruby asks curiously. Sun chuckles and he pats her shoulder with a smile.

"A lot, we'll fill you in when we finish this." Sun promises as he spins Ruyi Jingu Bang through his fingers.

"So I guess that you're saying that we should go – left?" Nora asks him as she holds both hands towards the left pathway where the car was driving off to.

"That would be the correct assumption." Kragen nods as he walks towards them and Nora throws her fist up happily to realise that she guessed right. Blake keeps her eyes on the path that heads down there, and she narrows her eyes. She knows that the monster that murdered her parents is just down there, and it does frighten her. But fills her with anger as well, until she feels Sun's hand on hers and he smiles. She smiles back and she walks with him with the others down the path to the left.

Oscar walks up to Ruby as they make their way down the path and he looks at her, and she looks at him with a kind smile. "Hey." Oscar shyly says to her with a smile as they walk. The happiness he feels to see her alive is unfathomable for him, he was terrified that they would find her dead from Tyrian's anger. And that was nearly the case if it weren't for Adam and Ilia saving her life, a shame that Ilia lost her life during that battle.

Ruby gives a tiny adorable smile as she looks at him. "Hey." She responds. She looks forward again as she walks and there is a little awkward silence between the two of them but he looks at her face again.

"Her scars have healed up nicely since we last saw her, Oscar." Ozpin's voice announces, the first time he has actually heard his voice in quite a long time. Oscar nearly jumps from hearing his voice, but he takes that comment as an opportunity to talk to her again, since he cares very deeply for her.

"You look better." Oscar says to her and she looks at him.

"Huh?" She responds.

"Your scars, they've healed up better than when I last saw you." Oscar says to her and she touches the scars that are past her eye where the patch does not cover up. She can feel the marks with her finger and she then looks at him again. "You look healthier." He says with a smile and she smiles back, her heart pounding nervously.

"Thank you, Oscar." Ruby replies and she looks down at the floor. She then looks back at him and then she thinks of something to ask him.

"What happened to you? Where did you end up?" Ruby asks, remembering back when they attempted to escape the Sanctum. Ruby does not even realise at first that stood behind them and walking with them is Roman Torchwick, smirking as he listens to their conversation. Oscar looks at her large silver eye and then he remembers back to what Hazel did for him, how he went out of his way to save him from his fate.

"I was being chased by the Lord of the Wood, and when I tried to get away, Hazel grabbed me and kept me hidden from the Leshen." Oscar explains, and Ruby's eyes widen with disbelief. She never realised that Hazel actually was the one that saved his life that time. "He took me to a portal, and he sent me away. The portal took me to your sister." Oscar explains, and it amazes her.

She looks at Yang as she walks with Kassius who has his swords still in his hands. "What about you? What happened?" Oscar asks her, and Ruby sighs as she presses her palm against the side of her head as she remembers what Fear did.

"Fear...I nearly made it to one of those Portals...but...Fear showed up and he put a hallucination in my head." Ruby explains that annoys her at how close she was to being free from that place.

"What kind of Hallucination?" Oscar asks her.

Roman stands in between them with a big grin on his face. "One like me, boyo!" He laughs, prancing around before them as he keeps up with them. And Ruby just ignores him when she tells him the truth.

"He bound the soul of one of my enemies to me – heard of Roman Torchwick?" Ruby asks him, looking at the boy. Roman giggles as he watches the two of them talk.

"Ooh! Of course he remembers this charming face! The greatest thief of all time!" Roman cheers to himself as he walks with Ruby. Roman puts his spectral arm around Ruby's shoulders and holds his other hand high in the air with his hat in his hand. Oscar thinks back to picture his face and then he remembers.

"Isn't he that crappy thief who got swallowed by a Griffin?" Oscar asks with a raised eyebrow. Torchwick's expression swiftly switches from happy and self-absorbed to shocked and dismayed from how Oscar described him.

"What?" He screams with disbelief. "How dare you!"

Ruby giggles and Yang looks back, seeing Ruby with a big smile on her face from what Oscar said. She might not know what Oscar said of why she is laughing so adorably to him, but all it brings Yang is a warm heart. Kassius looks back and stands beside her, seeing her so happy as well. He looks at Yang who has a tear in her eye, and he wipes from her cheek with his thumb. She looks at Kassius and she smiles at him. "She is one tough egg, to still be able to have a smile after what she endured." Kassius says, and Yang looks at the happiness on her face.

"I still can't believe I have her back." Yang gasps with happiness.

Kassius holds her hand and looks close in her eyes. "And she won't be going anywhere." He promises, she smiles and kisses him on the lips.

Ruby keeps on giggling and Oscar laughs as well at his comment and Torchwick holds Melodic Cudgel in both hands, bending it forcefully with anger at his comment. He looks at Ruby as she giggles at he points at her. "Stop it! It's not funny!" Roman demands, but she just laughs even harder and he groans, rolling his eyes as he walks around the two of them.

"He really was!" She giggles. Roman sighs and he looks at the two of them and then he shakes his head when he sees the bond that they have formed.

"Damn the sexual tension between you two is insane." Roman says, and Ruby does not even hear his comment that would make her recoil. Or maybe she did and she knows that, but he does not really seem to notice. Embarrassed from his comment, he disappears from her eyes again, and she only sees Oscar. She wipes a tear from her eye so then she can see again and she looks at him with a smile.

"I missed you, Ruby." Oscar says to her, and she smiles.

"I missed you too." She says. They look longingly into each other's eyes and then they embrace one another, hugging each other tight and Kassius looks back at the others who are slowing down for them to catch up.

"Alright, love-birds!" Kassius calls to them and they both look at Kassius with wide eyes.

"Oh no! We're not together-together!" They both say at the same time and Nora smirks.

"They stole my line." Nora gasps, pressing her hand on her hip.

"Yeah...sure you're not." Kassius chuckles as he walks on with Yang and the two shy ones follow the rest of them.

Kragen approaches something that makes him stop. The doors that were once closed have been blown open. He looks at the massive room that is inside, and it is truly gigantic. Massive lights activate at different points in the dark chamber, huge spotlights pointed at different points. There are buildings inside that must hold countless treasures. They step inside and they gaze at the many buildings, some the size of warehouses. Water drips from the stalactites on the ceiling of the structure. "Why's it so warm in here?" Nora asks, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"It's because we are really close to the centre of the volcanic core." Kragen answers.

"Volcanic Core?" Jaune gasps, wide eyed from what he just told them. Kragen turns and looks at them all.

"You do know why this place is called the Volcanic Chain Isles, don't you?" He asks them. It takes them a moment to figure it out. "It's in the name, a network of Volcanoes, and this chamber must be right next to or on top of the Volcanic Core of one them." He explains, looking around the area. Neptune walks along and his foot bumps into a golden trinket on the ground. He gasps with amazement, picking it up and looking at it.

This golden prize does not however turn to dust like it did for Fury.

He looks at it and it is so pristine that he can see his own reflection in the goblet. He turns his head and looks at Qrow where he walks. "Hey, Qrow!" Neptune calls.

"Hmm?" Qrow responds, looking at the blue haired Huntsman.

"How much Lien do you think this is worth?" Neptune asks him as he holds the goblet up. Qrow looks at it and he calculates the probable amount in his head.

"A million, maybe?" Qrow guesses and Neptune's eyes widen with amazement when he looks at the goblet. He gasps and holds it tight. They keep on looking around and Velvet moves forward, climbing up the rocks to get to the top and she looks around the huge chamber to find the Acolytes of Lien that drove in here. The place is massive, amazing that the Arkhoni managed to hide all of this inside of a mountain.

"Can you see any of them?" Coco asks her.

"Nothing! This place is massive." She responds, sliding down the pillar and landing back beside them. Kragen looks around at the place with his staff in hand and he walks around the area with Ruby and Oscar following him. Ruby looks at Kragen as he stands there.

"Is this the right place?" Ruby asks. His eyes set on something particular, a tall stone statue at the very end of the Chamber with something in its hand.

The Relic of Choice.

It is not concealed, the glow that lights the room is emanating from that Relic. It is a simple stone, but it is unbelievably powerful. Kragen points the tip of his staff at the Relic in the hand of the tall statue. "Yes, because that is the Relic of Choice." Kragen tells them when he sets his eyes on it. Ruby gasps when she spots it, and she also realises that they have actually managed to get here before Salem and the others did.

They are ready to get it.

Until they hear Sun.

"Hey guys! Check this thing out!" Sun calls, they all turn and walk over to what he has found. He and Blake and stood around something that has been toppled over for a long time. A metal statue that has a sword by its hand and rust has spread across parts of the black metal. The metal glistens in the light and Sun crawls across the body. "This thing has been dead for a long time." Sun examines the body, holes in it and then he looks at the head.

Kragen turns and his eyes widen when he sees the body. The metal head has been blown open and underneath is what looks to be a human skull.

The metal is Isomacium.

"What the hell happened to you?" Sun asks its corpse.

Kragen gasps when he realises. "Sun!" Kragen yells.

"What?" Sun replies.

Suddenly glowing red energy pulsates inside the skeleton and the Isomacium, the eye sockets and jaws are filled with red energy. The body begins to move erratically and the Isomacium Knight lets out a bone chilling roar as it sits up. Sun screams and he jumps away from the Knight as it stands back up. He draws its sword from the floor and it stands tall, slashing it at where Sun was stood. The blade scrapes across the floor and sparks are kicked up everywhere. Sun staggers back and Blake steps backwards with him with Gambol Shroud in her hands, both ends of it with her eyes wide as the corpse rises up. "It's a Guardian Knight!" Kragen yells, spinning his staff through his fingers and his eyes glow bright when he passes his energy into the Isomacium in his staff. He spins it through his fingers and he stands ready to fight the Knight.

The Knight stumbles around, it is confused at first, but then it picks up a second sword and it stomps towards them. "Relinquo hice locus!" The Guardian Knight roars in its Ancient Tongue, it swings the swords towards them and Kragen holds his staff high. When the blades impact the staff, a deafening bang echoes from the impact and throws them back from the shockwave. Kragen stands his ground but the Guardian Knight sprints at him, regaining its strength and it jumps in the air and spins round, slashing the two blades across his strong aura. He grunts and the Guardian Knight kicks him in the side, making him grunt from the impact.

Kragen bounces and rolls across the floor, groaning with pain. The Guardian Knight snarls as he stands its ground and slides the blades across the room as it searches for the other intruders. Blake fires her pistol against the head of the Guardian Knight, but the bullet deflects off the Isomacium and it stares at her. Sun runs to her with Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hands. "Come on!" He yells and the Knight runs at them and stabs down at where they were stood. The others begin to take cover from the Guardian Knight, for they cannot stop something like this.

The armour is near indestructible.

Neptune looks at Weiss and then he looks at the Guardian Knight as it searches for him. "Weiss! Do you think you can freeze him in place so he can't attack us?" Neptune asks her.

"Yeah, but as soon as I step out he'll see me!" Weiss argues as she stands behind the pillar.

"I'll distract him then." Neptune suggests.

"Distract?" Weiss repeats with disbelief.

Neptune runs out from the pillar and he stretches his arms outwards. "Look at me! I'm a target!" Neptune yells, and the Guardian Knight stares straight at him, the glowing red eyes in the skull staring into his blue ones. The Guardian Knight draws what appears to be a massive Bow, since the Knight stands at around ten feet high and it draws the bow back and launches an arrow at him. Neptune yelps and he runs towards the Knight. The Guardian Knight throws the Bow onto the floor and kicks its swords back in the air and catches them. It holds them both high over its head.

"Protect the Relic!" The Guardian Knight barks as it slams the two sword blades down at where Neptune runs. They just miss him and he runs past the Knight and jumps onto the roof of a large building. He activates his Rifle and shoots it at the Guardian Knight, but the electrical shells just bounce off the armour and it seems to only anger the Knight. The Guardian Knight watches him and then Weiss forms a glyph that sends ice blasting towards it.

The ice freezes around the armour and keeps it stuck in place. The Guardian Knight roars in anger where it stands there and attempts to free itself. The rumbling is getting worse and worse, and worse still, the Acolytes of Lien heard the commotion and they have arrived. Their truck drifts to a stop before them and they open fire at them. Qrow deflects the bullets with his sword to protect his daughter and they get behind cover. The Guardian Knight snarls and starts to force itself from the ice, making it crack and weaken. Kragen retreats from the mercenaries and he takes cover.

Ruby stands there and her eye widens with disbelief when she sees something happening with the Relic. Something is beginning to change as it starts to flicker brighter and brighter. Until there is a powerful flash, which sends a pulse of energy across the whole island.


Penny


Penny launches her swords into the chest of a Beowulf that lunges at her, the blades lodge into the fur and then she rips it into tiny pieces. They are all defending the entrance as best as they can from the Grimm, however not many are even coming for them. They are too busy attacking the other soldiers in the area.

The pulse bursts from the structure and rises across the entire area. Glynda looks around and then she sees the Grimm stopping in their tracks. They growl and their eyes glow bright red and they slowly turn their heads in the direction of where they are defending. Even the huge Giganotosaurus that attacked turns its head as well, growling with anger, the Krastax that guard the sea and all the sea monsters are as well, snarling as they turn to defend the Relic.

Oobleck sees them all charging towards the entrance. "Oh...dear..." Oobleck says.

Even worse, the statues that they passed begin to move. The stone shatters around their bodies and Isomacium metal skin appears underneath as they stagger out from their slumber. They pick their swords up from where they were last left and they snarl in anger, yelling in ancient tongue as they march out. "Protect the Relic!" They all yell, in common tongue as well.

Glynda gasps when she sees the Statues coming to life and attacking. "What?" She gasps.

"Whatever they are doing in there, they better do it fast." Taiyang says with his fists ready.


Ruby


"Protect the Relic!" They roar, as other statues break free from their frozen forms. The stone shatters and they shake it from their shoulders as they step out from the darkness. The soldiers turn and they hear the stone shattering.

"Something is happening over there!" One of the soldiers yell, Ruby watches as the Guardian Knights fall from the ceiling, multiple layers of the Chamber have statues everywhere, and they are all Guardian Knights that have fallen and landed before them. One of them holds a Battleaxe in one hand and swings it at one of the soldiers. The Isomacium axe wedges into the chest of a Mercenary and kills him instantly. Blood spills everywhere and Ruby watches as the Knights continue to attack. Ruby turns to her allies and she points at the Relic.

"The Guardian Knights are too strong to stop! We need to get to that Relic!" Ruby tells them.

"It's defending itself! The Guardian Knights will come for us!" Yang replies as she fires Ember Celica at some of the soldiers when a second car arrives and more soldiers are dropped off.

They start to run from the Guardian Knights as the original one that they found breaks free from the ice and slashes the sword across the head of a soldier, killing him. The soldiers pursue them in their vehicles and they fire the machine guns at them as they jump across the buildings. Ruby jumps high and Cinder flies alongside her, throwing a fireball towards the truck beneath them and the car explodes into burning pieces. The wreckage crash lands and tumbles across the ground with smoke trailing behind it as it tumbles. Cinder keeps on flying with them, until an Isomacium hand grabs her by the throat and throws her into the ground with force.

She rolls out of the way when the Knight goes to spear her with the Halberd it wields, only stabbing the ground. She draws her swords and jumps at the Guardian Knight, slashing her swords across the metal, only sending glowing sparks airborne, doing no damage to it. She then releases her swords and then channels her Fall Maiden Powers as best as she can, since she cannot manipulate the weather when being underground, she can only rely on her flames. She blasts flames into the body of the Guardian Knight and it staggers backwards, roaring in frustration as the flames keep it back. The Guardian Knight stomps towards her and the black metal begins to turn bright orange as it melts down the bones that it is made from, rage in the glowing red eyes.

Jaune jumps at the Guardian Knight and swipes Crocea Mors across the body of the Knight and the skeleton fractures inside when the Isomacium is melted to the point of being breakable. The bones shatter and they bounce across the floor with the metal still stuck to it. He lands next to her and he just looks at her, he still hates her for what she did. But they need to be allies, and that is why he helped her.

Nothing more.

She looks at the body and then at him. "So they can be killed." She says to him and then he nods and keeps on moving. She takes off again and Weiss bounces across her glyphs to keep up with her. She launches herself towards a Guardian Knight that goes to attack Neptune and he slides under the sword. She rolls past it and jabs the skeleton's open ribcage. They are not fully covered, only parts of it are that control and carry their spirits. Cinder lands with her and she comes up with an idea. "Weiss!" Cinder yells as she deflects the sword of the Guardian Knight with her own. Weiss looks at Cinder as she slashes the Guardian Knight up its spine to make it stagger back. "What happens to hot glass when cooled fast?" Cinder asks her.

Weiss thinks and she gasps when she remembers when she accidentally did it herself. "It explodes!" She gasps with amazement. Cinder ignites the fire in her hands and unleashes the storm of fire upon the Isomacium that was poured on this Knight and it is pushed back and the metal begins to melt. Weiss waits and waits for the metal to be extremely hot.

She forms the glyphs from her sword and launches the ice chards into the ribcage.

The icy cold temperature does exactly that. The ridged Isomacium shatters into little pieces, blowing pieces of the Knight apart from the fast expanding metal. Cinder releases the flames and she looks at Weiss. "Good idea." Weiss compliments.

Ruby darts past in her Petal Dash form and Oscar runs with her as he slows down time.

But the more they move, the more aggressive the Guardian Knights become as they sprint across the streets below them.

Until they all fall to the streets from a gap too large for them to jump. They all fall and they crash land onto the ground, rolling across the cracked tarmac. They all stand in a circle when the Acolytes of Lien surround them in their trucks. The soldiers aim their rifles at them as they all stand there. "Drop your weapons, Huntsmen and Huntresses." The Captain of the Platoon orders as he stands there, pointing a Revolver at them.

Ruby glares at him as he walks towards her. He presses the cold barrel against the side of her head, but she does not release Crescent Rose. "No." Ruby snarls. The soldier pulls the hammer back to shoot her in the head with a purple dust round.

Another quake occurs and the soldier looks at the wall behind him with shock when the wall explodes with fire bursting out from it. Watts is thrown from the wall with fire burning his clothes and Death is thrown through as well. The others are inside and the place is engulfed with flames due to Axzura's Rage.

His form has transformed from his normal Fury Form, the Knight Shaped body has turned into a monstrous demonic looking being. The pumice has changed into Obsidian now, making him even stronger with his anger that also has made him become unable to tell friend from foe. His obsidian ribcage is visible and it opens up and he throws his arms back, roaring with rage. His roar is unholy, echoing across the whole Chamber where he stands. The other chamber is burning down from his Berserk Form, his burning Wyvern Wings stretched outwards. Fire burns from his eyes and lava leaks from his mouth as he roars. His jagged obsidian teeth grit together after his snarl and he stares at the soldiers who think he is on their side.

Death rolls across the ground, and they see the others inside who are hurt from Fury. Tyrian is inside with Hazel and Salem, along with Fear and Loss. The soldiers stood there meet a horrific fate as Fury grabs one by his upper torso with his burning hand and burns him to ashes faster than he can scream. He grabs another and throws him into a building so hard he turns into a red splatter on the building, and he spins round and throws his Burning Axe into the chest of a soldier so hard that it pins him to the ground.

Fury turns to their truck and grabs the front of it and throws it towards them. The Captain turns around and his eyes widen in horror when he sees the truck falling towards him. "Look out!" Qrow yells, and Ruby dashes out of the way just as the truck squishes the Captain into a red stain on the road. Fury's wings stretch out and he bellows with anger as he swings them down and throws himself high in the air and jumps towards them.

"Oh shit!" Sun yells as the Knight of Fury lands before them, the impact creates an earthquake and he seems to be so enraged that he is ripping chunks from his own face from the anger.

"Fury's gone berserk!" Kragen yells, clearly seeing this form before. The fire can be felt from how aggressive he has become, swinging his axes at them as they form in his hands. Death transforms into his Nevermore Form, Fear into his Bat form and Loss into her Dove Form as they fly away. Whereas Tyrian, Hazel and Watts run with Salem to the Relic. Despite everything, Hazel still seems to be helping Salem to accomplish her goal, his hunt for Revenge is blinding him to the real enemy.

Fury is not even saying words anymore, just making inhumane roars and shrieks as he tries to kill everything in his path. He picks a soldier up and tears him in half, setting the chunks on fire as well from his burning hands. Cinder rolls back from Fury as he slams his axes at her where she stood, hammering down at her over and over again. Ruby shoots Crescent Rose at the Knight of Fury but he does not even feel it, he just turns and gets even angrier and charges straight for her, Axzura Vex is not in there, this is the true form of Fury. He sprints at her and she dashes out of the way, causing him to crash straight through a building. He staggers and slashes his hands at the air as he tries to hit anything that he feels.

Qrow looks over and he sees that Watts is running ahead and he sees that Salem is headed straight for the Relic. "They're going for the Relic! We need to hurry!" Qrow yells.

"Run!" Sun yells and they all realise that they do not have the time to face Fury. So they have one option.

Run.

They all sprint from Fury and he stumbles out from the building with fire building up on his body as he stares at them. He roars and sprints after them again, his footfalls rumbling behind them as he runs after them. Watts runs after them, but a building collapses from Fury's entrance between him and the others. He is at a dead end, and Neptune sees he is. Watts climbs up onto a building and he shoots at them. Jaune holds his shield up to deflect the bullets from Watts. Neptune sees him and he grits his teeth, climbing up the building to go after him. "Keep going! I'll keep Watts occupied!" Neptune yells. Ren, Sun and Kassius spot that he is running off and they sigh.

Kassius looks at Yang and he looks at Fury. "I'll lure Fury away! Get to the Relic!" He orders. Ren and Sun run with him as they get Fury's attention.

"Kassius!" She yells.

Kassius fires Vulcan Nox at Fury and the bullets hit him in the face and he recoils with anger as the bullets graze his face. He growls with rage and then bellows at them, sprinting straight at them again.

"Come on, you ugly bastard!" Sun yells as he fires Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang at the titan. He looks at Blake as she stands there. "I'll catch up!" He promises and she nods at him, following the others. Fury charges straight for them and they run towards a huge set of doors that await them. They push them open and they run into the building, the same one that Neptune and Watts are on top of. They block the door and they look around.

"You think that'll hold him?" Ren wonders.

The doors burst open and Fury roars at them as he stands there.

"Nope." Kassius answers.

Fury roars and he charges straight at them.

Ruby and the others approach the steps that head to the statue, but then they stop in their tracks.

Death, Fear and Loss stand there, along with Hazel and Tyrian.

Salem stands by the statue with the other relics in her hands, holding them tight as her eyes glow bright red. Death spins Ferrum Arctus through his fingers as he stares at them. "This is it..." Ruby says to them, Crescent Rose transforms into Scythe Form. Yang pumps Ember Celica to activate them, Blake draws Gambol Shroud as she stands beside Yang and Weiss points Myrtenaster at the Knights beside Ruby.

Team R.W.B.Y is reunited at last, to fight the Knights of Grimm.


Author Note - What did you think? This battle will be a big one! So the Guardian Knights are extremely powerful Isomacium Bound Knights from the days of Arkhonex that are being controlled by the Relic of Choice, and now it has summoned the Grimm protecting it on the island to attack the intruders. Will they survive this battle? Will they be able to defeat Berserk Fury? Will Neptune defeat Watts? Will Team R.W.B.Y get revenge on what happened at Mistral and beat Salem?

Let me know in the reviews of what you thought of this chapter, your feedback means a lot to me and so does your support.

And as for now, stay tuned for the next chapter!

- Onyx Phantom