The sound of blasts resonated everywhere. The smell of dust, gunpowder, and ichor permeated through the air. The stench of ash rising from the burnt trees by the river of flames and molten rock. The screech of a mighty beast echoed.
A scene from hell.
Grimm fought against man and man fought against Grimm. It was just like the stories veterans — soldiers or huntsmen by profession — would tell their grandchildren.
And through tenacity, resourcefulness, wisdom, and strength, mankind pushed the Grimm scourge back.
"We're thinning them down!"
"Good! How many are left?"
"A little under 3000, sir!"
"Isn't it about time we retrieved Tiella?"
"We still haven't got the order from Ms. Lilly!"
However, if the Grimm were that easy to defeat, Humanity would've won a long, long time ago.
"Airship 3! Watch out beneath you!" Peach yelled through the intercoms.
Airship Three shook and a bone-white spear tore through from beneath them.
"What the hell!? Is this from a Gri-"
Before the surprise was fully uttered, a guttural roar came louder and louder, and the airship shook once more. In moments, a Beowolf ripped through the metal underside of the airship until it got halfway in.
"W-Wha!? Is that a Beowolf?!" One 3rd year exclaimed as he jumped back and readied his weapon.
Indeed, it was a Beowolf. But what made it different from the others — even from the Alphas — was that it was vastly larger. Its spikes appeared sharper, its bone mask looked slightly different, its claws were longer razor-sharp, and it appeared leaner, lither, more agile.
Oobleck looked back, seeing the strange Beowolf with his own eyes from behind the pilot.
"Students! Move away and fire! That's an Elder! A City-level Grimm! Abandon ship!"
"That's the Lycan! The named Grimm from the far northeastern side of the continent! How!?"
Just as the students were about to heed their professor's warning, the Elder Beowolf thrashed in place, destroying the floor of the airship that kept him from slicing everything inside it to ribbons. It bellowed greatly, pushing itself up and out until its spikes effortlessly tore through the airship's ceiling. It faced the students and eyed them with an intelligence that was never present even among Alphas.
Then, in a heartbeat, it swiped its mighty claws.
The nearest students held their weapons up to guard, but its swing was fast and large despite its size. Most were thrown to the walls, others fell outside, the truly unlucky ones had their weapons split in half from the sheer speed and sharpness of its attack. It even cleaved through one wall, almost enough that the airship would tear open.
The damage it did in the short time it was on the airship had it slowly spiraling down to the ground.
"H-How…?"
It crouched low, ready to pounce, and pounce it did on the pilot that was in the middle of taking off his seatbelt. Just as it neared, with barely any distance between the pilot's neck and the tip of its longest claw,
"Students! Brace yourselves!"
Oobleck stood between them and blasted a roaring flame in its open jaws the full force of his weapon, Antiquity's Roast. His attack blew off the roof of the spiraling airship as it summoned an inferno.
The other professors watched as Airship Three crashed to the ground.
Peach yelled, "Professor Oobleck! Professor Oobleck! Status Report!" The worry in her voice was palpable even through their communications device.
She waited with bit lips and bated breath, the seconds that ticked by felt like minutes to her and she failed to notice that her airship was the next one to be attacked.
A black fist, protected by ashen-white bone armor by the knuckles blasted a hole through the side of the airship, letting the howling winds in. The Grimm rampaged its way in, breaking everything with mighty thrashes of its arms.
"It's a Beringel! Shoot it down!" One 4th year yelled as she locked on and pulled the trigger of her weapon.
It was crouched as it came in, so in the heat of the moment, no one noticed, but as soon as it stood tall, all understood that it was no mere Beringel. Everyone else followed suit and sprayed it with ranged attacks, however, it simply shrugged everything off like the bullets were mere pebbles.
It was nearly twice as tall as the average Beringel. Its chest was protected by alabaster bone armor. Its shoulders, too, by pauldrons made of hardened bones. And instead of a skull-like mask, it wore a skull-like helmet with horns that protectively covered most of its head.
It roared as it raised both clenched fists in the air, destroying the ceiling with nary an effort nor clue, and smashed them down. The attack split the airship in half and it didn't even have the chance to spiral down like Airship Three — it simply broke in two and crashed.
One of the fourth years took Peach in her arms as they both braced for impact.
"Professor Peach!" Port shouted as he watched in horror the airship that spiraled and the other that split.
"We've taken out most of the weak Grimm so the stronger ones have begun popping up! I should've expected it but with everything that has happened so far, I'm ashamed to admit that I've forgotten! Damn it! That's two City-level Grimm already!"
Port caught something below them and quickly recognized it as the black maw of an Elder King Taijitu, a third City-level Grimm. He hastily barked orders to brace themselves as he did so himself. Though, before the gigantic serpentine Grimm could come close, its head was hit by explosions from the side, throwing it off.
A student yelled as she looked out the window. The elation in her voice was enough to express the smile on her face even without having seen it.
"Sir! It's the Military and the Huntsman Guild!"
Fighter jets boomed through the sky as they flew over the earthen wall and fired missiles, killing hundreds of Grimm both in the air and on land.
"About time."
When Port looked out the window and up at the sky, he couldn't be thankful enough, he felt.
Bardel leaped high with a roar.
His body of steel crackled with energy. Heat radiated off of his person, almost enough to distort the air surrounding him.
His punch sent ripples of shockwaves that devastated the area — like a bomb that detonated in mid-air.
The explosive fist sent the Wyvern's flight derailing. The blast ruptured its organs, causing the mighty beast to spit blood from its mouth and bleed through its eyes and ears.
Splashes of black Grimm ichor puddled the forest's floor — some landing on the magma that flowed — and from there, more Grimm were born to raise hell.
When Bardel landed, he was met by Grimm younglings with their teeth prepared to rip and tear. Only, his steel body was much too hard for the younglings that their jaws broke instead.
Ignoring the mindless destruction incarnates, he plowed through them with great haste, towards the flying dragon with another roar.
He cared not that his footfalls caused the ground to break and shake. He cared not when he stomped on puddles of the Wyvern's black blood, burning his skin through and through that his muscle fibers were beginning to peek from within.
His vision turned red, unbearable rage burning inside him.
There was only one thing in his mind. Only one thing that kept him going — one burning desire that fueled his heart, body, mind, and soul with nigh-unstoppable strength.
"COME OOOOOOOOOONN!" He roared as he leapt straight into the Wyvern's mouth, fist ready to meet its mighty fangs.
It was to tear the Wyvern apart with his bare hands.
As his leap brought him closer, the Wyvern roared with a fiery breath. The flames pushed him back to the ground in a crater. And as it summoned hell's conflagration, the forest burned ever brighter.
Airship One along with Glynda Goodwitch watched as Bardel was pushed back by the Wyvern's roaring flame. They could not help but let out their surprise when they saw the river of flames turn into a sea.
"Bardy!" Ruby shrieked. She turned to her professor with anxious, teary eyes. "We have to help him!"
Glynda, without a word, took action with tightly clenched teeth. She summoned her Aura to her once more, though she took her time to channel her energy unlike before.
She was gathering plasma balls in the air just outside the airship, much like the one she summoned to completely erase the Giant Nevermore that foolishly went charging for the Grand Clocktower that fateful day. However, as she gathered the air and superheated it with her Glyphs, a change in the flames happened.
The breath of hellfire split in the middle and the Wyvern's head was forcibly knocked up and back, abruptly halting the dragon's flames. Another roar took their attention from the Grimm, and it was there, in the distance, did they see the burning figure of one Bardel Juno Armas.
"He's still alive!" Yang yelled with a point of her finger.
He, in all his burning glorious wrath, took the maws of the beast with both hands.
He, numb from rage and shock, eyes seethed with undying flames from within, felt something inside him break.
He, barely conscious of his actions, took the Wyvern's jaws apart with a monstrous roar.
Driven by mad instinct and a primal urge to satiate his rage, Bardel pushed the boundaries of Iron Will further than he ever had. His body, burnt from the Wyvern's flames, radiated such heat through the sheer amount of energy he generated inside him that he glowed a blinding orange — reminiscent of the Sun in all its burning, blinding glory.
The Wyvern fought to shut his jaws and gnaw at the human that dared to wound it so, but it found itself in a losing battle. However, as they fought to overpower each other, the Wyvern managed to push Bardel back enough that the tips of its fangs were piercing his steel-like body.
Bardel took a step back as he struggled and roared, then, in an instant took a deep breath...
"HOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
...and split the Wyvern.
Right.
Down.
The middle.
The sound of thick dragonhide, scales, muscles, bones, and organs being ripped apart reverberated thunderously. It was sickening, disgusting, and just downright unpleasant to the eyes and ears that even Glynda fought to keep her eyes on Bardel and not throw up.
Bardel was panting heavily after crushing the fangs in each of his grips. He fell to his knees and almost would have caught himself had his body obeyed him one last time before his face met the burnt sullied, Grimm Blood-soaked soil he stood upon.
And as he laid on the ground, body burnt to extremes all over, the blood of the Wyvern seeped and flowed. It surrounded him and it was only a matter of moments until his body was swallowed by the puddle that birthed Grimm.
*Thud*
A fist pounded on the ground.
Bardel fought to keep himself awake through sheer willpower alone. He'd love nothing more than to use Iron Will again — to get himself out of the mixed sea of flames, molten rock, and Grimm blood that birthed more Grimm — but he simply could not. He was simply too drained and dried out.
"I gotta go..." He muttered as he propped himself on a knee. "...gotta go look for Tiella."
Tired eyes scanned his surroundings and looked for a way out. He could already see Grimm clawing their way up and out of the puddles of blood by the dozens.
It would have been so easy to simply leap away.
It would have been so easy.
He struggled to stand and almost fell again had he not caught himself with his footing, though the price for that was a burnt foot thanks to the Wyvern's blood. His only silver lining was that he could not feel anything anymore.
He kept glancing at his surroundings, looking for a way out that he could take despite the blood puddling at his feet already and some of the Grimm already clawing at his flesh. Before he knew it, however, he was covered in gentle purple light and was hovering away.
"Wha…?" He muttered dumbfoundedly.
And just the fact that he was out of his predicament was enough for him to finally let himself go, and so when he arrived at the Airship, he was already unconscious.
"His body is burnt so much that I barely recognize him."
Glynda thought as she let Bardel float in the middle of the airship. She dared not let his unprotected body touch anything further.
"First aid can only do so much. And he could die."
She barked orders at the sophomores to bring the first aid kit.
"Ms. Scarlatina," Her voice stern, "administer first aid. Do it quickly. He has no Aura and he could die at any moment now."
"I don't care how much Lilly and Tiella say that he's sturdy, wounds like these could instantly kill any man, even with Aura. I can only pray that he lives through it."
She fought to urge to bite her lower lip as her sharp eyes scanned the airship. They were all silent and staring either wide-eyed at him or looking at something else entirely. She noted that everyone, even Team CFVY, was trying not to look at Bardel and hurl. The paleness in their complexions said all that she needed. Their additional passenger, the newscaster, was on the verge of throwing up and was doing her absolute best to not look and calm herself down.
As Velvet, assisted by Yatsuhashi, administered first aid, Glynda stood close and gently held Bardel's hand into her own. The action perplexed the others as the treatment wasn't even halfway through yet, and they never saw anything between them that would suggest such intimacy, but the moment Glynda's Aura glowed as she shut her eyes in concentration told them all they needed to know.
"For it is through deeds of Valor shall we reach Eternity.
Through this, we become a Paragon of Bravery and Hope to rise above the ashes time and again.
With your Will unbending and your Heart unbreaking, I release your Soul,
and by my Light, guide thee."
Glynda's Aura slowly dimmed away in contrast to the luminescent orange that covered Bardel, though the strength of its shine waned just as soon as it appeared. Through Glynda's trained eyes, however, she could still see that his Aura was doing its job of resuscitating him. With that done, she took a seat before she could stumble and fall to take a moment and catch her breath.
"One of you," Glynda spoke. "Anyone with a large Aura pool, transfuse some of your Aura into Mr. Armas. His Aura is very weak due to his condition, so he still has one foot in the grave."
"I'll do it." Yang volunteered, already taking steps towards Bardel. "I'm confident that my Aura's pretty big."
As Yang approached Bardel, Glynda eyed her keenly to see for herself whether her student's statement was true or that she was simply overestimating herself. One look was enough for her to nod in acknowledgment. Her Aura pool was far larger compared to the rest of her teammates, even to Weiss, who relied the most on her Semblance for a variety of situations.
"I've spent much of my Aura today but the battle isn't over yet. Lilly still needs me and the rest — and I still have a duty to protect these children."
"Wait!"
All eyes turned to see who spoke.
"I think that I have a larger Aura pool, professor. A-At least, Pyrrha thinks so."
Glynda looked at Jaune dubiously. She knew the boy was quick to aid others but she also knew that he wasn't quite up to task much like his teammates. Still, he had been improving much of late.
"Are you sure, Mr. Arc?" She asked with a raised brow. "Not only do you need a large Aura pool but you also need knowledge of how to do the transfusion."
Jaune faltered slightly under the sharp eyes of the Deputy Headmistress but he immediately steeled his resolve. He straightened his back and met her with a hard gaze.
"Please, let me! I'm sure I can do it! No, I have to do it!"
He was already making his way to Bardel with a steady gait. And even before Glynda could respond again, he already had his hands wrapped around Bardel's while his white Aura glowed.
"I'm not as good as my friends when it comes to fighting and killing Grimm yet so please let me do this." The frantic look in his eyes as he desperately tried to save a life told Glynda what she needed to know.
While it's true that someone else with better Aura control would have a much better chance at saving Bardel, it was also true that there was something in Jaune Arc that wouldn't let anything happen to his friends and would die trying to save them when given the chance. While she would not condone self-sacrifice, it was good to let her students grow at any given opportunity, however,it's another thing when it came with the risk of losing the life you're trying to save in the first place.
She weighed her options in her mind and let out a sigh. The mere fact that Jaune Arc was being proactive despite the gaze she sent him was enough to tell her that he wouldn't budge even if she removed him from the scene — also, she couldn't say she hated seeing someone trying to aid others, she just wished they had the proper skill set to do so.
"Someone aid Mr. Arc in the transfusion and be ready to replace him should he fail," Glynda sternly spoke and before she could continue, someone had already volunteered.
"I'll do it," Ren said with a raised hand.
Glynda gave Ren a look before nodding with a huff. "Very well."
Any other day and she would have easily shot them down but she was too exhausted to try. And their hearts were in the right place, so she could never say she wouldn't be proud of her students for the attempt.
She watched with a sharp eye how Ren guided Jaune in his attempt to transfuse Aura. It was true, what Jaune said. He did have a lot of it — significantly larger than Yang's. All was going well so far and Bardel's weakened Aura was slowly being revitalized, though it was still too weak to put him in the clear. With no proper medical tools, they could only bet on Bardel's Aura and the Aura transfusion to keep him alive.
Without notice, Jaune's Aura visibly glowed stronger as time passed until it enveloped Bardel. Even to the others who weren't as skilled as Glynda at sensing Aura, it looked as if Bardel was healing faster than before. His burnt skin healed slowly — mending bit by bit. Scar tissues formed moments later and a few minutes more after, Bardel's breathing had eased and stabilized.
"Jaune, t-that's amazing..." Pyrrha both hands to her mouth in awe at her partner's ability to bolster another's Aura. "How did you do that?"
"I..." Jaune paused as he looked back at her, confusedly trying to find the right words. "I don't really get it either, I just focused on doing what Ren told me to do." He looked back at Bardel with eyes that were in disbelief as well. "I just didn't want Tiella to lose another person important to her."
Nora gasped. "Maybe it's your Semblance!" She said, earning smiles from her friends.
"Mr. Arc," Glynda called before Jaune could respond to Nora. "How do you feel? Strange? Weak? Do you feel exhausted? Sleepy?"
Jaune blinked back at Glynda a few as he digested her barrage of questions for him but quickly shook himself to answer. "No, nothing at all, ma'am." He focused back on transfusing more of his Aura to Bardel to speed up his recovery. "I feel fine, really. I don't feel any different at all."
Glynda nodded noncommittally. "Perhaps it IS the boy's Semblance. If so, a recovery-type Aura is just what we need in a place like this. This and his skill in leadership and strategy-making makes him an even more invaluable asset to the development of Team JNPR." She almost let a small smile on her face as she relaxed back into her seat. "Good for you Mr. Arc, perhaps this is just the boon you need to pick after yourself more."
She noticed the small worry on Jaune's face as he kept looking at her, then remembered that she just asked him a lot of questions in quick succession without much explanation. She coughed into her hand and adjusted her glasses.
"That's good, Mr. Arc. I was worried that you were giving more than your body can give out with how fast you revitalized Mr. Bardel's Aura. It seems to me that you have a gift for this. It is good that you volunteered — you just saved someone's life from the brink, Mr. Arc." She smiled at him approvingly. "Be proud."
Jaune's heart swelled with pride at his professor's words. She was normally difficult to please, so receiving praise from her of all people was already an achievement on its own. "Thank you, Ms. Goodwitch."
Feeling as though it wouldn't do good to let his guard down after a small victory, he focused on Bardel again with the help of Ren.
Meanwhile, the rest of the students gave their professor the breathing space she needed to rest, though they were antsy as they waited for further orders. Aside from the sniper squad, most of them have been on stand-by. Noting their anxiousness, Glynda tried to stand but her knees buckled from fatigue, so she simply fell back on her seat. Immediately, Ruby was by her side.
"Miss Goodwitch?"
Glynda looked back at the youngest student in Beacon's history. She could see the genuine worry in her eyes, whether it was for her, for Bardel, or because of the entire situation as a whole, she couldn't say, but it was enough to steel herself once again. She was their teacher, she was their leader — and more importantly, they were her responsibility — so it wouldn't do any good to show weakness when they needed strength the most.
"It's fine, Miss Rose. I'm fine." She sighed while adjusting her glasses. "I simply feel fatigued after using up so much Aura. I'll be fine after a short break."
Ruby looked at her worriedly for a moment but her face lit up and she turned back to fetch something from her backpack. A second later, as she returned, the wry smiles of her friends and teammates got her eyebrow to rise a little. When she returned to her, she almost couldn't help the same wry smile from appearing on her features. Almost.
With outstretched hands, Ruby offered her a small bag of cookies. Glynda sighed in good nature, then took the cookies graciously. "Thank you, Miss Rose."
"It's nothing, Miss Goodwitch!" Ruby beamed. "Cookies always give me the energy I need to go through the day so I figured you need them now more than ever!"
She wasn't wrong. Despite not being a huge fan of sweets, the sugar it had gave back even just a small amount of energy that was crucial to their situation. It was better than nothing too.
"While I recuperate for a moment, Mr. Daichi and Mr. Alistair."
Both sophomores stood to attention.
"Take Team RWBY and the rest of Team JNPR and eliminate the rest of the Grimm below. When you see the puddles of black blood, use Ice Dust to freeze them solid. Burning them until they evaporate is not an option — it would simply take an inordinate amount of time and Fire Dust.
Ms. Scarlatina, carry on with the first aid. When you're done, stay and guard the airship with Ms. Adel and await further orders."
As soon as everyone received their orders, they immediately took action. While everyone took turns jumping out of the airship, Pyrrha Nikos stood to Glynda's side.
"Professor?"
Glynda turned her head to see who called out and raised an inquisitive brow.
"What about..." Pyrrha gingerly rubbed her arm as she let her eyes wander the airship while finding her words. "What about Tiella? And Lilly?"
Glynda blinked at her for a moment. "I received a status report from Professor Port. Airships Three and Four are down."
"Wha-"
"But just before the situation got any worse, the Vale Military arrived with fighter jets — the Huntsman Guild has arrived as well."
Pyrrha was glad at the news that reinforcement had finally arrived but she was still left confused about her unanswered question. Luckily for her, Glynda answered that in a moment.
"We will assist Lilly as soon as we've finished eliminating the Grimm below or when reinforcements have arrived at our position, whichever comes first."
Pyrrha nodded slowly, taking in her professor's words, though she still had doubts about the entire situation. Seeing this, Glynda sighed and took off her glasses to wipe them clean.
"Miss Nikos, I will be honest with you."
Pyrrha nodded attentively. Though, before Glynda continued, she wore her glasses back first.
"I have no idea."
Pyrrha's answer may be silent, but the surprise on her face was all the answer Glynda needed.
"But what I do know is that Ms. Lillianne is facing something she can't communicate through the intercoms and that she badly needs our help. I would take care of the Grimm below myself but..."
"That's okay, Miss Goodwitch," Pyrrha spoke. She gratefully smiled at her. "Thank you for telling me." And not a second longer, Pyrrha had already jumped out of the airship.
Glynda let another sigh out and took a modest bite of one cookie. She didn't see it, but she could still feel the concern from the rest who were left in the airship.
"I should tell Lilly about Mr. Armas' situation."
Lillianne's long black hair rustled in the air as she dodged another one of her punches. She tilted her body to the right then quickly spun closer into her space. Immediately, she let out a palm strike filled to the brim with her Aura and aimed for her chest.
"I must hurry. She's started using Tielle's techniques on me! If I get hit by even one of them, I'll die!"
She was surprised when she saw the familiar jab she used against her. That one flickering fist that rippled through the air and caused sonic booms even as it struck nothing. She was so taken aback by the sudden development that she nearly got hit in the chest by it. Luckily for her, she was capable of moving faster.
Much faster.
The palm strike pushed her away by a meter or so but it wasn't enough to truly stagger her. So she closed in once again, dodging by a hair's breadth an uppercut that appeared to almost cut the air itself. And as soon as she got close enough, she delivered another palm strike at the same exact place — right in the center of her chest.
She pulled her hand away just as she pushed her back and dashed forward for another strike that carried all the force she could muster in that small amount of time and space.
The resulting blow was akin to a small bomb that covered the area in a smokescreen. She couldn't see anything through all the dust, smoke, and ash, but — with her ears — she could feel the vibrations in the air that came from both sides. Anticipating the blow, she quickly threw both fists out at her shoulders, stopping the attack before it could even come close. She did a spiral motion going outwards with both hands struck her chest with a double palm strike.
She jumped back and caught her breath for a bit. She managed to push her a good distance away with that final double palm strike but she doubted it did actual damage. She was, however, confident that she was doing something.
When faced with the indestructible, what should one do?
The most rational action towards this was to do nothing against it but instead work around it or simply avoid it. But Lillianne was a woman of many talents. She learned from everything around her, directly or vicariously. And one of the most important things she learned was from her dearest friend, Tiella Margory.
"If you can't see a weakness, then make one and exploit it!"
Such was the wisdom of one who had survived through many skirmishes. There were hundreds of people in the world — Earth or Remnant — that were physically stronger and/or faster than her, but what Tiella lacked in specs, she made up for with wit, skill, and experience.
"Use everything to your advantage! There's no such thing as fighting dirty if it means living to see another day!"
She took one last quick breath before charging in once more. In a blink, she was already on her. And in another, she had struck another palm at the exact same place. And it was with that last strike that she felt a slight change. She jumped back further than before to give herself a little breathing room while looking at her palm. She eyed it curiously and took the time to do so in large thanks to God Eyes.
"This is..."
She thought while rubbing her fingers together. There were some unknown dust particles in the palm of her hands and even with her vast knowledge, she couldn't quite identify them. She looked back at her and found that at the center of her chest — minor as it appeared, barely discernible, even — there were cracks.
She let a small smile grace her features at her small victory.
"...the weakness I shall exploit."
Small as it was, Lillianne took it as a giant leap towards Tiella. So she readied her fighting stance once again, only this time however, she drew Marius and Rosetta to aid.
"I don't understand why she stopped using Hollowing on me — perhaps it's because it takes even more out of Tielle but either way — I don't have much time. Either Tielle dies first or I drive it out of her — and I'm not willing to stand around to simply wait and observe."
As she raised her shield and pointed her sword at her, she found that her opponent was in a peculiar stance herself. Right foot far back, left foot bent at the knee as if in a runner's starting stance, however, her fists were raised both to guard and attack. It wasn't until she moved when she realized what she was to do.
In a tiny fraction of a blink, she went from several meters from her to barely an inch to her face. She almost couldn't catch it even with God Eyes. She reacted instinctively, and ducked and rolled under the straight punch that aimed to obliterate her head. She went far past her and disappeared into the woods behind them. In the meantime, Lillianne tried to calm her rapidly beating heart, and she only narrowly escaped death thanks to her training and Essentia. She looked behind her — at her starting point — and found that she, in fact, did not run.
To her eyes, she simply kicked to dash forward — and it blasted the ground beneath her feet and split the earth in her wake.
"She's started considering me as a threat." And the thought of it sent shivers down her spine.
Loud crashes and stomps snapped her out of her thoughts. In the distance, she saw her bulldozing towards her.
"Very well!" She yelled as loud as she could while slamming her fists unto her knees, a way to rid herself of her jitters. She raised her weapons once more. "Come!"
She banged her sword on her shield then ducked low and thrust outward. Dodging the left haymaker, she hit the small cracks on her chest with the tip of her sharp blade. She swiftly followed up her attack with a shield uppercut, then used the shield's edge to strike her chest a second time before swinging her shield up and out, parrying another attempt to strike her. She capitalized on the opening with a powerful thrust at the cracks.
Meanwhile, she, despite having her attacks parried and dodged, was never truly staggered or hurt. Her attempts to fight back were simply guided away, and to her, it was the most impressed she'd been in quite some time. She supposed that it was only right to answer such skill and finesse in return.
So, she kept up her attacks. Unrelenting in every move, she threw punch after punch and kick after kick at the blessed girl. Half of her attacks were parried while the others were dodged. However, she didn't mind. She was patient. She was waiting for the perfect moment to counter.
And she took it as a fact that it will come. It always had.
Lillianne thrust her sword out aiming for her chest again and that was just what she'd been waiting for.
Lillianne's eyes widened in surprise. Marius flew in the air, catching her off guard by the way she was parried and disarmed. Just as she was mid-thrust of her sword, she saw the devilish grin on her face. As the tip of her sword stabbed into her hardened skin, she slightly tilted her body back, letting the sword slide off of her. That was when she shot her left fist from below — aiming for her forearm.
Tears formed at the corner of her eyes as she clenched her teeth in pain from her bones shattering even through her Aura. Marius flew away and so her right side was left vulnerable. With not much choice left for her, she quickly raised her shield to her face to block a straight from the same left hand that nearly blew off her right forearm. The punch carried such force that shockwaves blew all dust, debris, and even the lava away. She felt the entirety of her left arm go numb from it.
She rocketed nearly a hundred meters backward in a blink and the only reason she didn't go any further was that she'd buried her legs into the soil and stood her ground.
She bit her lower lip until it bled as she clenched her shattered forearm. She observed how her forearm bent at a sharp angle with her bone nearly piercing her skin. She could barely move her fingers. She looked ahead and found her sprinting towards her once again.
After making a quick decision, she took a deep breath and held it in. She clenched her teeth and swiftly straightened out her own forearm with a resounding crack. She let out a voiceless yell as she breathed hard.
The pain was nearly comparable to having it broken but she endured it in favor of ducking low and striking her left knee with the edge of her shield.
She quickly pulled her shield back and struck her chest again, and again, and again, and again, and again. She struck her chest 16 times in a flash before she ended her short barrage with a dropkick that sent her a good distance away from her.
When she landed, she shook her right forearm and copped it. There was a dull ache to it but it was bearable compared to the stinging pain from before. She tried moving her fingers but it was only enough that she could clench them halfway. Still, she thought, it was better than being unable to use her right arm at all. She was ambidextrous, but in this fight, she needed all the advantages she could get. Besides, her right hand should heal in time, she believed.
"That surprised me. She's adapting to my attacks. I don't know if that's Tielle's skill as a fighter kicking in or that it is simply a gifted fighter in its own right."
She took a deep breath and released it slowly while keeping an eye on her opponent.
"Glynda, any time now would be great."
Lillianne rushed her with her shield raised. She was met with a powerful right kick, but she tilted her shield slightly, deflecting the blow while receiving the minimum amount of damage. She pushed her boot to the side and bashed her shield at her chest.
Little did she expect that she would use the momentum from having her boot deflected and pushed away to do a roundhouse kick right at her head.
Boot met head and a powerful blast wiped out the general direction of the forest her kick was aimed at in a cone.
Everything was annihilated and, for a moment, she nearly relaxed. She expected nothing but the neck down but what she saw instead was a head tilted away from her and the smuggest grin Lillianne had ever worn.
"Hehehe… HAHAHAHAHAHA! I did it! I actually did it!"
Lillianne hit her mark, but she knew she'd have been unable to dodge the incoming kick.
So, instead, in the minuscule amount of time she had before her head violently met with her kick, she calculated the exact trajectory of her boot, pinpointing just where on her head she would be receiving the most damage.
She then gathered half of all her Aura at a tiny point on the right side of her head, gathered the rest of it to cover the essential parts of her body for support, and braced herself for impact.
The kick rattled her quite a bit and left her in a slight daze, but her grin was a way to bluff through the damage she received.
She didn't quite expect to be able to survive such a powerful blast on her own but she figured that, with her wealth of Aura, she could mitigate most of the damage. Though, she didn't expect to mitigate that much, which was a welcome surprise.
She looked back at her with dimly glowing eyes and found genuine fascination in those cold and hollow eyes.
"If I can take her hits…" Lillianne's eyes widened in realization.
She struck back with the edge of her shield just as she was trying to move away. She gathered her Aura at a tiny point on her shield much like she did to block the attack that would've blown her head off. And the blow, as soon as it connected to her chest, not only blew her further away but also dealt a large crack on her chest.
The resulting damage she dealt even caught her by surprise.
Lillianne grinned ear to ear and her eyes were wide as saucers in excitement. For the first time in the fight, she felt as if she had an actual chance of winning.
She flew and rolled in the air but she maneuvered by twisting her body so that she could land upright. Her face was hidden from view, but the way her shoulders shook gave Lillianne goosebumps.
It wasn't after a few moments did Lillianne realize that she was laughing.
Laughing!
And, strangely enough, the realization made her feel very disturbed. She couldn't stand seeing the face of her best friend laughing in a way so alien to her and it made her bristle in anger.
She looked up and the smile Lillianne saw was disconcertingly terrifying and beautiful. It was reminiscent of the smile Tiella rarely wore but it had a hint of coldness to it that could only be because of the one who was possessing her.
"How unfair." Lillianne sulked in her mind.
She watched as she took a very familiar stance while she did the same and, again, her heart churned at the eerily uncanny stance she was so used to facing against.
She wasn't one to be taunted.
She truly, truly wasn't.
But for the first time in her life...
"I'll rip you from Tielle and tear you apart."
...she wanted nothing more than to make someone suffer.
They rushed each other at once, and for the first time since the fight started, she made an attempt to dodge an attack. She tilted her body to the side and dodged a shield uppercut. She then stepped further into Lillianne's range and made an attempt to grab her by the face.
Lillianne wasn't even surprised anymore. The fact that it was starting to fight more and more like Tiella had lost its shock-factor the moment she wasn't taken down the first time. At that point in the battle, it was both a convenience and annoyance. Convenient that it was using a fighting style she was used to facing off against, and annoying that it became much harder to land her blows.
Lillianne countered by elbowing the outstretched arm that aimed for her face and followed it up with a shield bash on her face. She managed to forcefully turn her cheek away so she used that moment to throw her shield into the air to pass it onto her other hand. It had healed significantly but it was far from usable in her current fight. As soon as she caught the shield with her injured right hand, she clenched her left and hammered it right into her chest.
She followed up her attack with a palm strike — amplified with her new Aura technique — that pushed her back and ended her counter with a piercing claw that dug her fingers deep into the cracks she made on her chest.
With her fingers sunk deep, she violently clenched, pushed, and twisted her hand, throwing her away as she spun at high speeds — crashing and rolling on the ground for a few meters.
As expected, she dealt a considerable amount of damage against her with an immensely risky technique. With how she gathered her Aura at tiny points in her body instead of evenly spreading it out to protect her, she left herself vulnerable to getting killed by even the smallest mistakes she could possibly make.
"I'll save you, Tielle! I'm right here!"
"Tielle! Please wake up!"
She wore her shield on her left hand once again and rushed at her even before her roll came to a stop. She kicked to stomp her down but due to the heavy dust and debris that obstructed her view, she was unable to see the hand that came up at the last moment.
Just before her kick could connect, it was grabbed as she came to a stop. And from that moment alone, they both realized who won the battle.
Lillianne's heart raced as her eyes went wide staring back at the devilish grin she wore as she slowly stood from the ground while tightly clenching her hand around her leg. Lillianne's eyes glowed brightly, the start of a desperate attempt to get herself out of her clutches. It was an incredibly reckless gamble as she'd already used The One Almighty twice since she arrived and twice more before she passed out and woke up just hours prior.
She couldn't truly tell whether she could stay awake after a 5th attempt on the same day.
But still, she bet on it anyway because, to her mind, if she couldn't save Tiella, who would? She'd resolved to lie down as the wire for everyone to cross over as she believed that, either way, she would fall. So she'd rather fall because she did than fall because she did not.
Though, before she could even begin to remove herself from her situation, a purple glyph appeared between them. It spun gradually and it pulsed an invisible force so immense it managed to make her loosen her grip ever so slightly. But it was enough of an opening for Lillianne to take advantage of and escape.
Lillianne jumped back, flipping in the air and prepared to land. Though, before she could, she felt enveloped by an energy signature slightly alien to her and was pulled up to the sky. She didn't feel that it was hostile so she did not dare make a move against it, though she did wonder for a quick second who it could belong to until she remembered that there was only one person she knew that had purple Aura and knew Telekinesis.
"Glynda!" Lillianne yelled as she looked up and spotted the airship moving towards her. "Don't bring me back to the airship! It's dangerous! Put me down!" She heard a rumbling sound from below and her eyes darted to search for it. She went wide-eyed and tried to break free but failed. "There's a boulder aiming for you! Glyn-"
And the boulder exploded as soon as it hit the airship. However, before the pieces could fall to the ground, they all spun in the air slowly, gradually gaining speed while wrapped in a purple glow. From beside the pilot, Glynda could be seen waving her riding crop to move the boulder pieces according to her will. She adjusted her glasses and with a flick of her arm, rained down the high-speed, high-revolution boulder pieces back at the one who threw them.
The ground exploded in a cloud of dust and debris, obscuring the small clearing below from view.
Lillianne couldn't help the wry smile on her face for worrying and let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. She'd shake her head had she been allowed to, but she settled to simply relaxing against the force that carried her up. Moments later, her trip ended and she was back in the airship.
"Thanks for the save, Glynda." Lillianne smiled apologetically.
All else who she requested come with Glynda was there, though she hadn't expected Bardel to be in a severely critical state — or at least was, judging by the state of his injuries and Jaune who was in deep focus providing Aura. She worried about him quite a bit but he appeared to be in good hands, so she switched her focus to those that needed her immediate attention.
Glynda simply nodded in response and Lillianne didn't fail to notice her tense expression. "Is that who I think it is?" She heard her stiffly ask.
Lillianne's face almost appeared to cry as she nodded her head but she steeled herself with a resolute smile. "It's her."
"What happened?"
"I'd be happy to tell you but I don't think now is the right time," Lillianne said, though she saw the impatience in Glynda's eyes so she relented a little. "For now, just understand that what she's going through is similar to what happened to me in the day Ozpin unlocked my Aura. But in her case, it's infinitely worse."
Glynda's eyes hardened in fear of Lillianne's words and a quick scan around the airship showed that it wasn't just Glynda who felt the weight of them. She was normally one for euphemisms and understatements as a means to indicate a level of control even in the direst situations but with how things were going, she couldn't find it in herself to not be completely honest lest they head to battle unprepared in all sorts of ways.
"She's being possessed by a malevolent god — a malignant being from our world that somehow managed to follow us here. Who this God is, I don't know, but I have a few guesses." Her eyes turned to the side in contemplation though she met eyes with Glynda again as she dismissed her thoughts. "And while that's very much important, what matters now is that the longer that god is inside Tielle, the lower the chance of her waking up — and that's assuming she wouldn't die because of the strains of housing a god for such a duration."
Glynda suppressed the urge to rush out with a scowl. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to ease her nerves, she succeeded, though not by much. "How dangerous is she right now?" Just asking the question was enough to put stakes in her heart. She frowned at herself for her choice of words.
Lillianne dropped her smile and the seriousness of the situation became almost palpable to everyone — as if you could taste the despair in the air. There was a moment of silence that no one dared to interrupt with even a small breath. They all watched as Lillianne raised her right arm and what they saw along with the girl's spoken words sent their spines tingling.
"Aura or no, you will die if you get hit."
Her entire forearm was swollen and bruised with bits of cuts and tears all around it where blood dripped.
"That's..." Yang couldn't help but let out as she slowly reached out a hesitant hand towards Lillianne, though she quickly let it fall to her side. "Was this the same invincible monster I heard Celeste talk about all those weeks ago?"
And at the same time, Glynda had the same thoughts as she had already connected the dots from Tiella's story with what was happening. She bit her lip again and wondered whether they could even do something for Tiella even if they combined all their strengths together. It's a god they're facing, for Oum's sake!
A god!
How are they so sure that's true?
And even if it was, how in the world do you fight that!?
She turned to look out the window and assess the situation but Lillianne rushed past her with her shield held to attack. She heard the sound of glass shattering and instead of seeing the forest below, she saw Lillianne's shield being held back by a blackened hand that broke through the bulletproof windshield of the airship like it was brittle glass.
She traced the arm up slowly as she felt a lump in her throat. There were equal parts in her mind that yelled at her to turn back and never look at it and another that was screaming at her to go ahead and see. She tried to fight her contradicting instincts and without her realizing, she ended up meeting eyes with Tiella.
No...
That was not Tiella.
That was evil personified.
Malevolent eyes of gold nonchalantly looked back at her as if she was a mere insignificant insect. A stark contrast to the chill that shook her to the very core of her soul. As if death would have been a far more pleasurable alternative to coming face to face with it.
It was disgusting and heart-rending how its face was familiar but she could see nothing of the person it belonged to.
She tried to look away but she couldn't. She tried to move but found herself stuck. She hadn't even realized that she was down on both knees as she stared back at her — back at it.
Her breathing hitched and the lump caught in her throat made it even harder to breathe as she slowly reached her hands towards her neck. Her body stiffened in fright, unable to move, save for the involuntary twitches courtesy of the bone-chilling gaze whatever evil was looking back at her.
And just as she thought it couldn't get any worse, she smiled at her.
It wasn't just any smile too.
It was no devilish grin, it was no demonic smile.
It was that soft and loving visage she missed so dearly.
"Glynda..."
And that voice... oh so familiar — exactly the voice of the one she fell in love with.
"Tiella...?" Her voice weakly cried out.
She reached a meek hand out while tears ran down her cheeks. Her fingertips — just a scant amount of centimeters away from touching her cheek — was abruptly held back by a painful grip.
"Glynda!" Lillianne's voice called out, snapping her out of her reverie. "Whatever you're seeing, it's not real!"
Glynda's eyes darted between Lillianne and... and that... that monster.
Gone was the humanity in those eyes — the soft smile reserved only for her, and the tender voice that echoed in her mind.
What she saw was ashen white skin that faded to black at the end of each limb.
Malevolent gold eyes with cracks webbing around them and a gaze that could make even Grimm feel fear.
And finally, ashen gray hair robbed of its beautiful scarlet luster.
All of it summed by a permeating air of majesty and woe.
Her body's natural reaction upon seeing it again and realizing that she'd been lured by the sweetest of all honeys was to tremble in fear, anger, and disdain. She gnashed her teeth and kneaded her Aura.
Lillianne's eyes widened in fear when she noticed Glynda's eyes become clouded by intense emotions.
"Glynda, no!" She yelled but was not heard.
She'd have grabbed Glynda's shoulders and shook her to her senses but her shield was trapped in a vise-like grip that pushed back against her, carrying enough force to bury her calf-deep into the airship's floor.
So, unable to do anything, she shut her eyes, formulated last second plans in her mind, and braced herself for the explosion of psychic force and purple soul power that blasted the airship out of the sky.
Using her newfound speed in great thanks to using her ultimate skill multiple times, she let slip her shield and ran back. She jumped from debris to debris towards each person. The first ones she reached were the pilot, Coco, and Pyrrha, before tossing them towards the trees below.
Then, she went for the rest of Team CFVY. She took twos on her shoulders before tossing them again before she jumped towards the others.
To Ruby and Yang.
To Weiss and Nora.
To Ren and Blake.
To Jaune and Bardel.
And finally, to the news reporting crew.
She managed to grab every single one of them with still a few dozen meters to spare before meeting with the ground. She carried them all on her shoulders and back, leaving only Glynda behind as she could not find a way to take hold of the woman when she was releasing a powerful explosion in her wrath-addled mind.
She was just barely balancing everyone with her entire being as she let gravity pull her down. Her plan saved everyone from suffering the fall and hoped that their Auras helped cushion most of the impact in addition to the branches of the trees. Though, she did fear for the news crew as she was sure that none of them had unlocked Auras.
She, on the other hand, did not have the time to protect her legs as she landed square on her feet before rolling down.
Her knees ached dully while her lower back felt sore. Her Aura surely softened most of the blow but the fact that she carried well over a dozen people as she accelerated down thanks to gravity, along with being pushed even faster down by Glynda's telekinetic blast could only mean she had very little time to protect herself. She could only count herself lucky that her legs didn't break from the impact — she was always grateful that she managed to build herself up to be sturdy.
And Tiella was right, Aura did work wonders.
When she'd come to with a face full of dirt, the first thing she saw was her and Glynda's figures just beyond a few trees. She could only see their silhouettes thanks to the fires but it was clear to her what she was trying to do.
Glynda was fighting back with all she could but even with all her strength and skill, she was simply unfazed. She took blow after blow of Aura-enhanced telekinetic throws of all manner of objects.
Lillianne tried to stand up but her legs still felt a little too numb for her to move accordingly. Glynda slowly backed away as she threw her all at the monster.
Plasma cannons, railguns made of rocks, concentrated telekinetic blasts — all that she could think of, all for naught. Even splitting the earth beneath her feet and shooting lava at her barely did anything. She simply walked through all of it with the occasional attempts to catch anything that came for her face.
As Glynda backed away, she tripped over an uprooted root of a charred tree and fell back.
"Glynda!" Lillianne cried out as she forced her legs to move. With her legs being uncooperative, she crawled her way towards Glynda instead. "Come to me! I can't help you from way over here! Glynda!"
Glynda's eyes met hers and she could see the fear in her tear-stricken rueful eyes. Lillianne's heart clenched when she saw the claw at the ready, aiming for Glynda who was too afeared to move.
"Tielle! That's Glynda!" She yelled in desperation. "THAT'S GLYNDA! YOUR LOVER, GLYNDA! SHE'S YOUR LOVER! IT'S GLYNDA! TIELLE, PLEASE!" She crawled forward, digging her fingers deep into the soil as she urged her legs to move. They were beginning to respond, but it was far from enough. "NOOOOOOOOO!"
She slammed her fist on the ground, sending out a shockwave that sent the earth in front of her exploding upwards in a cone that almost reached Glynda's aid. Helplessly and painfully, she watched in widely growing eyes as she pulled Glynda up by the arm.
And without a second's hesitation, thrust her claw at Glynda's heart.
Only to be stopped by a wall of ice, a ginormous great sword made of light, a barrage of bullets from varying rounds, and a hail of grenades that sent Glynda away from their adversary.
Glynda grunted in pain as she rolled after being blasted away. She tried to stand but felt her arms weak. But before her face could meet the ground again, two pairs of arms held her up from both sides.
"So this is what it's like to face against one possessed by a god."
"Her skin... I wonder if it is painful for her."
"Regardless, we should save her — orders or not."
"I'm not sure if I can, I'm loathed to admit it, but I'm very scared right now."
She looked up and saw her students Fox and Yatsuhashi. Both looked fine, they had some scratches and skid marks here and there, but fine nonetheless — their Aura should heal their small and shallow wounds momentarily. She trained her eyes ahead as she heard gunfire and saw a flash of white light. She stood with the assistance of both students and only then did she see Lillianne limping her way towards them.
"Glynda." She smiled wryly.
"L-Lillianne..." As soon as Glynda saw the look she was getting from the younger girl, she remembered what she'd done that led to their airship being blown to smithereens. "I-I'm truly sorry for my reckless behavior-"
"Shush, it's fine." She dismissed with a wave. "It was rough but it was better than fighting her in-"
Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes widened as her ears twitched. At the same time, Yatsuhashi and Fox raised their weapons for combat but were too afeared to do much else.
And because Lillianne stood in front of her, Glynda could not see anything that would alert her but the moment Lillianne ducked, stepped back, and twisted her body backward for a sharp elbow blow, she reflexively took a step back in preparation for combat as well as she saw the same black claws that nearly gouged her heart out of her chest.
Lillianne's elbow struck blindingly fast but it wasn't enough to stagger her. She retaliated with a right hook but Lillianne simply ducked it and struck with her other elbow, twisting to the opposite side with much the same force and speed.
She quickly made some distance between them by dealing an uppercut with her left to stop another retaliation and a claw strike with her right that dug her fingers deep into her chest. She pushed back as hard as she could while twisting her arm and the move sent her spinning and flying away, crashing through dozens of trees and rocks before stopping with a roll.
The claw strike using her right arm was painful enough that it nearly made her tear up but Lillianne stood tall as she breathed deeply, fully aware that the way she just countered the one they were supposed to save put most, if not all of them off.
"Listen and listen close!" She yelled in a powerful voice that commanded everyone's attention. "The one you're fighting is indeed Tielle! But right now, a malevolent god is in control of her body! And so, she has received its blessing! She will be treating your attacks as nothing more than air and so she would not even bother dodging! She is powerful — stronger than anything you've faced and probably ever will! So brace yourselves! And hope that her eyes won't fall on anyone but me!"
"But how do we save her!?" Glynda asked, not welcoming the news of Tiella's newfound strength. "How are we supposed to save her!? Do we just keep attacking and hope she tires out!?"
"No, that would be disadvantageous for us. The longer we fight, the higher the chance Tielle will die at the end of it whether we drive the god out or not."
"Then how!?"
"My Semblance."
Glynda stood dumbfounded — and it wasn't just her. "Your... what?"
"I unlocked it earlier. I'll tell you how later, what's important is that I need a chance to use it."
"What is it then?"
Lillianne stood with her guard up, "I'm not entirely sure just yet, but I believe that it is Astral Projection."
Glynda was about to ask about it but a voice from the intercoms interrupted their discussion.
[Uh... guys?] Ruby radioed. [I think Lilly's attack did nothing.]
Lillianne saw that she was simply walking back to them as if she wasn't just attacked at a vital point.
"That's normal," She answered. "Do not engage in close quarters combat! I repeat, do not engage in close quarters combat!"
She strode to meet her in the middle, ready for another bout of her fists hitting what felt like steel until a yell took part of her attention away momentarily.
"Lilly!" She heard Pyrrha call from a distance. "Catch!"
She dared not look away but she did tilt her head in the direction of Pyrrha's voice. Her ears twitched as she heard the familiar whistle of cherished items in the air. She couldn't help the smile on her face as she caught Rosetta with her right before quickly throwing it at her face. She quickly caught Marius with her left as she spun to her right, building momentum for a thrust at her chest just as Rosetta bounced off her when she parried with a backhand.
She caught the thrust with a hand and it cut into it. Lillianne was surprised for a moment but she quickly followed through with her attack by pulling slightly then pushing again but added a twist of her arm as if to drill the sword through her hold. The attack did nothing but make her take one step back.
Lillianne caught Rosetta as it landed behind her with a kick. It bounced up and she caught it with her right hand and smashed the edge on her forehead, turning her head away for a moment, which Lillianne took great advantage of by smashing the shield onto her chest.
The blow landed…
—not.
Lillianne's eyes hardened when not only her sword was caught but also her shield. She struggled to break free, pushing and pulling in an attempt to loosen her grip by even a tiny bit. Contrary to her efforts, however, she appeared nonchalant.
Her gaze was flat, her lips formed a small line. She stared back at the eyes of a resolute warrior fighting for her life with a carefree gaze, a mockery of their efforts — a mockery of Lillianne's efforts.
And...
—Without taking so much as an inhale, with not even a bat of an eyelid, with her expression completely unchanging...
Cracks rang sharply and loudly despite the roaring of flames, bullets, and explosions in the background. The deafening sound of metal shattering stunned her. She watched helplessly as broken pieces of Marius and Rosetta fell to their feet while she gently took her hands in hers. The act took her attention away from her precious items, making her look up in alarm to meet the gaze of one bearing such sweetness and fondness to it.
Her smile was sweet and her touch was soft.
Her mind went blank as she felt lost in golden eyes, reminiscent of a friend held dearest.
She felt her hands lowered between them. She felt them let go of the abhorrently comforting warmth she hadn't realized she'd been lulled into. She felt disgusted when her cheeks were cupped gently between hands as black as the starless, sunless, moonless sky — and were rubbed tenderly by her thumbs.
Her heart ached and her mind raged when she realized what she was doing to her.
"You... you...! Self-aggrandizing ostentatious cockalorum of a rakefire..!"
She was toying with her.
All that time fighting her with her life on the line, all those moments in which she could have easily died, all the effort to keep her from going after anyone or anything else.
All the confidence she'd built up leading to that moment...
"Are you saying that no matter what I do, I'll never win!?"
...shattered.
Destroyed, broken, ripped apart at the seams — more so than the fragmented moon in a world named after pieces of what's left behind.
"I'm the Blessed Girl!"
She snarled and slapped her hands away.
"I'm the one who stands atop humanity!"
She clenched her fist tight and wound up for an unrestrained punch.
"I am the genius among geniuses! I am she who has no competition, she who breaks fates, she who sits at the zenith!
I AM 'THAT DAMN GIRL THAT CAN DO EVERYTHING BETTER THAN ANYONE, GODDAMNIT!'
I AM ALICIEL LILLIANNE LE FIORA DE LA VERNILLION!"
And let loose all her anger in a simple but peerless left straight.
"AND I AM BEST FRIENDS WITH YOUR PRISONER, CELESTIELLA V. MARGORY!"
It was a fist that carried all her might, all her rage, and all her love.
But...
Her eyes widened and she bit her lip until she drew blood.
...she missed.
She merely tilted her head to the side and let the powerful left straight detonate behind her. The blast was akin to one of Bardel's normal punches — trees swayed, rocks and debris flipped over, and magma was almost swept away. In her wrath-addled mind, she failed to realize in time that the large windup she did before her punch practically announced to just about everyone what her intention was. And so, even when she was nowhere near as fast, using what Tiella Margory had learned and experienced, she simply tilted her head out of the way.
And for that, she was punished severely.
"Ahhkk!" She coughed, spitting out blood.
She pulled her close and whispered softly her first words to her in her ear. "All the power in the world at the tip of your fingers yet it's all wasted because you're weak."
She bent over, not in pain, but from the force of the blow — no, she was much too shocked to feel pain. She looked down and saw her claw buried- no, skewered through her stomach and out her back. Before she could react further, she pulled her hand out and sent her flying back with a kick towards Glynda, Fox, and Yatsuhashi.
"Weak as I am, you're still weaker. You were good at the start but…" She sighed in despondency. "Pathetic, more so than my daughter who faced me with no such gifts — it's why I chose her." She stood lax, stretching her chest, back, and neck in that order. She observed how her right hand very slowly crumbled into pieces. "Hmm, it's time. I've had my fill for now. Weak as they are, premature deaths are unwanted. Therefore, a parting gift is needed."
They tried to stop her, but when they caught her mid-flight, they were simply carried dozens of meters back even when they stood their ground and braced themselves. Glynda even summoned a glyph behind them to cushion the blow and slow them down but they simply broke through it without even a second's pause. So instead, she manipulated the soil beneath them to crumble and loosen, allowing them to slow down and sink into it as if they were standing on sand.
It wasn't after about a dozen or so more meters did they stop and see how far they'd been pushed back. And it wasn't until then did Glynda remember that Lillianne had a gaping hole that went through her stomach and out her back — as if a chunk of her body was blown away.
And yet, what surprised all of them the most was the fact that the girl was still conscious, though barely holding on.
Lillianne coughed blood and spoke weakly in Glynda's arms. "G-Glyn...da..."
"Shush!" Glynda pressed a hand to her gaping wound and let her Aura run through. "You need immediate medical attention! This isn't something first aid can fix!"
"N-No..." Lillianne shut her eyes and barely managed to shake her head. "I... I want you... I want all of you to protect my body... I will use... Astral Projection..."
"What?"
"...a-and-" She coughed out blood which led to her vomiting it all over herself. Ignoring it, she pressed on. "A-An..d... when I give you the signal-" She sucked in a breath. "...call out to Tielle... all of you..."
"W-Wait," Glynda called as Lillianne's eyes shone brightly.
"I-I'm.. sorry-" She coughed. "..b-but this is the best that I can... do..."
"Lilly! Wait-!" She gently shook her by the shoulders.
She feared that the girl had died in her arms but the way her eyes continued glowing despite her going limp told her that she wasn't quite ready to give in just yet.
Very close, but not yet.
She bit her lip in anxiety and so cast her gaze around her. "What is the signal!?" And she found her simply standing idly with one hand on her waist.
With no rhyme nor reason, she sat cross-legged in the middle of the forest with her hands on her knees and her back straight. They were all scared and dumbfounded. Each one circled around and kept their distance from her, observing her as they expected everything and nothing.
She, without a hint of hesitation, ripped her dress shirt right down the middle, exposing her bare ashen white chest out in the open. It was marred by small holes and cracks thanks to Lillianne's continuous attacks, but even when the wounds seemed fatal, it truly was not — it was, at best, a minor inconvenience.
And before anyone could mutter their questions, she plunged both hands deep into her rib cage, spraying black blood all over.
The act of self-mutilation mortified them, especially Glynda who was on the brink of losing her last dredges of self-control to anger and fear. Her scathing eyes could do nothing against the nonchalance of her expression. She appeared to be searching her innards for something. What it was, they did not know. Even when she withdrew her hands out of her body and tossed steaming, smoking black tar-like substances to the ground. The sight and the smell were truly off-putting, some could not help but throw up because of it.
And those who were blessed with heightened senses, particularly those with acute olfactory organs, smelt the barest hint of nicotine coming from the black sludge.
She sighed and nodded approvingly, contented with her work. The supposed wounds on her sides were nowhere to be seen and everyone found small comfort in the fact that the act, after all, was not simple self-mutilation. Or at the very least an attempt to kill its own host.
Not a second later, she stood and casually made her way towards Lillianne's limp body. When the two boys bravely stood to block her path, she simply placed a hand on their shoulders and gave them a gentle pat that made them kneel and short of breath. She made the rest of the way with an easy smile while fixing her clothes — the buttons were no more, so the best she could do was simply drape her shirt over the essentials.
As she stood and towered over Lillianne and Glynda who was on the ground sitting, she tilted her head sideways with a simple stare. She nodded and squatted in front of them, meeting Glynda's terrified gaze with a blank one.
Glynda felt like running away.
But she also felt like genuflecting.
She was in such an incomprehensible presence that her mind blurred and her emotions stirred like whirlwinds. All the anger she was directing at her disappeared the moment they made eye contact and all she could do was shiver like a leaf in the wind.
She was so disturbed by her presence that she failed to notice the black hand that cupped her right cheek and the other that touched the hand that pressed against Lillianne's wound.
"Z̵̢̧͔̯̭̟̻̮͔͎̀̃͐͂̉̆̉͊̚͜ê̶̢͖͐̋̈͝ń̶͖̪̰̜͔͕͈̇̐̄̓́̓ͅd̴̙̞̬̰͖̭͝ ̸̨̦̼̪͎͔͎̮͈͛̌̉̍̊͒͊͠Ą̴̢̨̭̩̳͔̣̪̣̾̅̓͋͐̾̐̅̚ͅv̷̢̱̪̥̦̜̘̉̍è̵̯͊̑̈́̎̀̈́ş̴̖̜̺̽ţ̶̛͎̦͆̊͑̿̑͒͘͝͝a̶͖͍͍̰͂͋̅̿͜"
Blood gushed from her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and nails. The pain was excruciating but it felt nothing compared to what she'd experienced in her head. Her mind felt like it was just squeezed and twisted as if churning 20,000 leagues under the sea while being ripped apart in a vortex.
She had absolutely no clue as to what she'd just experienced and the closest thing to an explanation she could muster in her barely functioning mind was that she heard her speak words so incomprehensible that her mind nearly broke from it.
It was a miracle she stayed conscious through it, if only barely. Though, one might find it a pity she did.
What she didn't realize but others that could not help but observe did was the fact that the hole in Lillianne's stomach had closed. And they, stricken by fear, could do nothing but watch as the blood on Glynda's face was gently wiped away by Tiella's torn sleeve.
And without warning, she was struck by an unseen force that carried her far back, dragged across the ground only to stop when an explosive force slammed her to the ground. Not a second later, she was lifted into the air and glowed an eerie black. She struggled for some seconds but eventually went limp and the glow surrounding her faded away, vanishing like smoke into thin air, before she was gently laid to the ground.
Everyone could utter nothing in response to the utter nonsense that they'd just witnessed. Ever since the beginning, they barely understood a thing even when Lillianne had explained why. They found it hard to believe that they were up against a god even when they came face to face with Tiella possessed.
It was so surreal that Yang sincerely wished it was just a fever dream after working out for so hard and so long followed up by pigging out on Mama's Sloppy Tiellas.
The glow in Lillianne's eyes vanished as she slowly came to, helping herself up.
"It's over..." She gasped the words out while clutching her stomach. "It's over..." She turned and saw Glynda, face slightly awashed with blood and in a daze. She held her tight in her arms as she wept tears. "It's over..."
Hearing the words, Velvet fell on her knees with their hands on the ground while Blake leaned on the tree she was taking cover on, letting out all their tension. They wanted to do more, they wanted to do so much more.
But in the face of that?
They were lucky to still be alive relatively unscathed compared to Lillianne and Glynda.
Glynda barely reacted to Lillianne's embrace, she merely gave her a blank stare and it tore at Lillianne that she had to experience such a thing.
If only she'd done better.
If only she had more time.
If only she was stronger.
If only she hadn't met Tiella.
She let her tears flow silently for a moment longer before breaking away. She held Glynda, afeared that she'd simply fall on her back the moment she stood and let go. So she helped her up and let her lean on her shoulder before making their way towards Tiella.
"Tielle, you can come out now."
Halfway through, the others gathered around them. Pyrrha offered to assist Glynda in Lillianne's stead and Nora quickly took Glynda's other arm to support. Ruby held Lillianne's hand as they walked. Lillianne was thankful for the gesture and so gave the little girl a gentle, appreciative squeeze of the hand. Ruby smiled up at her weakly in return.
Looking ahead, Yang was already by Tiella's side, holding her head in her lap as she knelt down the rough, charred soil. She gently brushed aside her fringes and revealed her skin slowly regaining its color.
"Hey, Celeste," Yang called softly and gave the unconscious girl a gentle nudge on the cheek. "Hey, wake up."
"Maybe she's just tired, Yang," Blake commented beside her. She hung her head as she sat beside her. "We're all tired."
Lillianne quickly knelt in front of them, checking up on Tiella with a gentle hand. She brushed her hand against her face, checked her pulse, her breathing. She felt her temperature and finally the beating of her heart. She found that her temperature, despite the intense heat surrounding them, was low and that her breathing was very weak — so were her heartbeat and pulse. Tiella was so fragile and weak that she couldn't help but panic.
But because of how exhausted she was after everything that happened, she could only bite her lip, touch Tiella's forehead with hers, and gingerly caress her best friend's cheek while letting out a whimper.
"No... please, don't do this to me. Don't do this, please... I-I... I have to do something."
However, before she let herself fully succumb to fatigue, she managed to knead some of her Aura unto the tip of her index finger and let it envelop Tiella. She had none left, at least, none left that passively protected and healed her. She felt herself almost slip into a deep slumber when she did but she held on.
"Please, please don't fail me now. Do your job, please. There's no point in having an ocean's amount if I can't use it when I need it."
Her purple soul wrapped around the unconscious girl in a warm, rejuvenating light.
"There's so much I need to tell you, Tielle.
I need to apologize...
I need to tell you I love you...
B-But most importantly, the one who possessed you..."
She remembered her time while Astral Walking.
She was disoriented immensely and had a hard time figuring out how to control herself for some time. Moving in the astral plane was an experience she couldn't rightly explain. But when she finally got it, the first thing she did was grab the soul of whoever it was that possessed Tiella and rip it out of her body, hence, the reason she was dragged, slammed, and lifted up.
And the word damning did not even begin to describe the revelation.
"...it's-... he's-..."
Before she could see the effects of her actions, she, unfortunately, was taken in by all of her accumulated fatigue.
"Tielle!"
A voice rang in my mind.
"Tielle!"
There it is again.
"Tielle, I need you to come back!"
It's so... annoying.
"Tielle, please!"
I just want to sleep.
"Tielle, it's me!"
I'm so damn tired...
"Lillianne!"
I wanna just pass out in this void.
"It's me, Lillianne!"
There's nothing to bother me and there's nothing for me to bother.
"Don't you remember!?"
I just want to stay here forever and do absolutely nothing.
"What about Bardy!?
What about Ruby and her friends!?
What about Glynda?!"
Glynda...? Was there... who is Glynda? Is she important?
"Are you just going to let Glynda see you like this!?"
Glynda is... yes, I think she is. But why?
"What about Karen!?"
Karen?
Karen is here?
That can't be right... she's supposed to be in...
Supposed to be in...
"Tielle!"
...
"Tielle!"
...
"Tielle!"
...
Where is she supposed to be again...?
Does it matter...?
Should it matter?
"Tieeeelle!"
I can't remember but... but I'm pretty sure she isn't supposed to be where I am.
Where I am...?
Where am I anyway?
And why can't Karen be here with me?
"Please, stop! Tielle!"
That voice again...
"Please!"
It's just so...
"Please!"
...annoying...
"Tielle!"
But...
"That's Glynda!"
...it's also familiar.
"Tielle..!"
I opened my eyes...
AN: Hello again!
Ooooh dear me. I sure took my merry time with this one, huh?
I'm still alive, don't worry!
Now, I know I said I wouldn't apologize anymore for every time I took a while to upload but this is the first time I went way over a month before the last update.
I'm truly sorry, I originally wanted to update at the one year anniversary of Lost Star (that was on Jan. 19th) and I was already halfway through the chapter about 4 days before it but I couldn't find a satisfying ending in my mind to this whole damn arc.
There were also some personal problems I had to deal with that took some of my time but I personally was just unable to think of a way to end it. For the longest time, I couldn't find myself able to write this chapter when I've been wanting nothing more than to finish it and move on. Maybe I got tired of the overall mood of this whole arc but, I dunno...
I even contemplated writing something else for a while to take a very short break from it.
But after much deliberation and forcing myself, here it is and I hope it's to your liking. I wouldn't be surprised if you don't though, I have mixed feelings about this chapter too.
Anyway, thank you so much for waiting patiently. With this, a new arc shall begin.
On an airship headed for Vale...
"Ms. Maxwell?"
"Yes, James?"
"That's General Ironwood to you."
"Is that really wise to do?"
"What is?"
"Adding vodka to coffee."
"Of course!"
"..."
"Want some?"
"I appreciate the gesture but I must politely decline."
"No, no, no, I think you need it. I insist."
"The General isn't allowed to drink on duty. We aren't allowed to drink on duty."
"You aren't. I'm not on anyone's duty."
"..."
"..."
"And besides, even if I was, this doesn't affect me like you do, so I can drink as much as I want whenever I want."
"That's for certain."
"General Ironwood!"
"It's fine, Specialist Schnee. There is truth in her words."
"But still, sir! It's about having some semblance of decorum!"
"Let it go, Ice Queen."
"How dare y-"
"Specialist, cease. She's not harming anyone."
"..."
"Heh."
"Yes, sir."
It was going to be a long flight.