The Guardians of Remnant.
"This is… amazing," Drago muttered.
"Hmmm, truly, this is power," Slate said. Carmine just remained silent, as she stared in amazement at the Bullhead that stood in front of them all.
"Good, you're all already here." The three turned to see Cinder emerging from the shadows. She had changed her clothes, and now had on a black dress that exposed her right leg, that had silver lining of all things, as well as a silver glove. On the scarred side of her face was a black mask, that had a mouth and an eye on it.
"We need to move quickly," she said as she approached them, "I doubt people like us can go unnoticed coming into Atlas."
"Relax," Slate said smoothly, "Have… good connections there." Cinder scowled, still not liking that oily voice of his.
"Do you doubt my powers?" The group looked up to see Vishnu manifesting over the Bullhead. He had been the one who gave them this airship, having created it with his magic.
"No," Cinder said, as she smiled, "Not at all." Rather disturbingly, the mouth on Cinder's mask smiled as well.
"This power," Drago muttered, staring at the sight of the High Spirit.
"You're… a god," Carmine said. At that, Vishnu's brow furrowed.
"No, I'm not a god,"he hissed, "I'm a Spirit." The way he talked, it was like he resented being referred to like that, before he floated up, and away. Cinder narrowed her eyes at the sight, before she hopped into the ship, the rest not far behind her.
"You know, someone once asked me if I believed in destiny," Cinder said. As she said that, the doors of the ship started to close on her new team.
"And I'm glad to say, I still do," she said, as she and the other's smiled.
(in Argus)
The Leviathan, named "Nun", continued the advance towards the city, slowly lumbering towards the city. During all this, the Spirits sat on it's head.
"Nun does not disappoint," Shauskha commented.
"Truly of all the younger's creations, this is one of the greatest," Dagon said with a smug smile. Shauskha glared at her brother, before glancing at all the other Grimm in the sky over head, mostly consisting of Manticores, Griffins, and Nevermores. Not all Grimm were bonded to a Spirit (there were way more Grimm than Spirits), but all Spirits were bonded to Grimm. Shauskha had been bonded to Juracan, much how Dagon was bonded to Nun, and Viridios was bonded to Vritra.
"Remember, spare the one with two Auras, and make sure the lamp is intact," Shauskha said.
"Relax," Dagon answered, "I was listening, after all." He then leaned down, and whispered to Nun.
"Its time, old friend," he hissed. Nun then bellowed before, it advanced closer to the city. Normally, the mech would be used for something like this, though that of course wasn't an option anymore. In another attempt at defense, the Atlesians deployed the forcefields against the beast. The creature merely looked at the barrier, before it opened its mouth, and out of it burst a stream of fire. The barrier barely lasted a couple minutes before it fell apart. Nun roared again, before it kept moving forward.
"Mortal fools," Dagon sneered.
"That's redundant," Shauskha said. She then looked up to see a number of Bullheads coming their way, firing their missiles, which were harmlessly deflected by the Leviathan's thick hide. The Bullheads were quickly attacked by the airborne Grimm.
During all this, RYPJ and BRWN were on the Bullhead, looking over this.
"Where did these things come from?" Ilia asked.
"Could it be another Spirit?" Blake asked.
"From what I have observed, that would be likely," Shade said. As they all watched as the Grimm descended on the city, nobody even bothered to ask what to do. Just about every single person in that helicopter knew exactly what had to happen.
(in downtown Argus)
The people of Argus were fleeing to the Grimm shelters that lay scattered across the city. This included the Arcs, as they tried to get the shelter before the Grimm could reach the city proper.
"Come on!" Alistair called, who was holding Lapis in his arm, as he waved his family down the road.
"Where did all these Grimm come from?" Violet asked.
"Talk later!" Azure said, "Run now!" Unfortunately, as they were running, Flynn, whose mother was leading him by the tentacle suddenly tripped, and was briefly left behind.
"Mommy!" he cried. All the Arcs turned in horror upon hearing the child cry out.
"FLYNN!" his parents, aunts, and grandparents all screamed together. Jade was the first to move, as she dove towards her nephew. She promptly snatched him up, just as a Griffin bore down on her, and she held him defensively and shut her eyes in anticipation.
Right then, there was another tremendous roar, and a flare of heat, and the Griffin was consumed in yellow flames. Jade and Flynn looked up to see a golden dragon soaring overhead, followed closely by several more dragons, making eight in total. Breathing their flames (and in the case of one "ice"), they destroyed dozens of Grimm almost instantly. One red dragon with what looked like rose petals on its wings tackled against a Manticore, and proceeded to rip it apart with its bare claws, and what looked like vines coming from its back. A white dragon, the one breathing ice, flash froze a Nevermore coming down towards another group. Electricity crackled around a pink dragon, before releasing in a massive discharge that wiped out another several Grimm. Two of the dragons, one red, one yellow, both serpentine, circled each other, creating a spiral of flames before slamming into a Thunderbird, destroying it instantly.
As the great reptiles flew over them, everyone couldn't help but stop and stare in awe at the sight. Eventually, Milly and Hunter were able to tear their eyes away from the sight move and go to their son.
"Mommy!" Flynn cried, "Daddy!" He was scooped into the arms of his mother, who all but crushed him in her arms.
"And here I thought that would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Terra muttered, remembering when she had seen the red, serpentine dragon, while Adrian smiled at the sight. Meanwhile, in the Bullhead that flew by, could only watch in awe at the sight.
"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Oz asked Maria.
"I'm only glad I lived long enough to witness it," Maria said, unable to tear her eyes away from the spectacle. As she watched, Ilia's lips pursed in thought, before she glanced towards Shade.
"I was won…" She stopped when she saw that he was gone.
During all this, while the Grimm numbers continued to rapidly plummet in the face of the dragons, the Leviathan continued to advance forward. Dagon and Shauskha watched in shock as their army was being completely annihilated.
"You never told me about these things," Dagon growled.
"I… I didn't know," Shauskha murmured, "They didn't have these powers when they fought Juracan."
"How could they have gotten these powers?" Dagon asked, "This magic, it almost feels like…"
"It should be familiar." A feeling of pure horror set upon the Spirits, they slowly looked behind them to see the towering form of the God of Darkness standing behind them.
"I do not know how long you have tormented the mortals of this world," he said coldly, "But rest assured, they will stop you, and your masters." The Spirits couldn't even say anything, as they stared in horror at the sight.
"Prepare, for your end will soon be upon you." With that, the god vanished, leaving the Spirits to stare at the space he once stood in.
As if to compound their problems, the majority of their Grimm were now piles of ash and smoke. The people of Argus had now all stopped running, and were just staring in awe as their saviors continued to burn the monsters that had once threatened them.
"What are they?" Cyan asked.
"Dragons," Aoki said sarcastically. No one was in the mood for her sarcasm, but no one was in the mood to criticize her about it either.
"Guardians," Rain murmured, as she stepped forward, "That's what I'd say they are."
How many are left? Jaune asked, as he incinerated another Grimm.
Most of them are gone, Ren said But that Leviathan is still coming our way. Jaune flapped his wings to hover in the air, narrowing his eyes.
Ruby! Weiss! he called With me! Both dragons were quickly following him towards the Leviathan. Once they got close enough, they all bathed the beast in their respective breath weapons. However, the fire/ice didn't seem to phase it. Nun then roared, as it swung one of its webbed claws, which the group managed to evade due to how slow it was.
"It'll take a lot more than that to damage Nun," Dagon said. As he said that, his sister floated up, and looked at the dragons.
"Remember me?" she asked. The dragons both stared at her for a time, before Ruby's eyes widened in realization.
"You're that Spirit from the farm!" she said.
"How astute," Shauskha sneered.
"Why are you here?" Weiss demanded.
"I don't know why you didn't have these powers when you fought Juracan," Shauskha said, ignoring her, "But I suppose it doesn't matter at this point. Where is the lamp?" That surprised the dragons slightly, though they supposed it shouldn't have; Jinn was one of the High Spirits after all.
"Not with us," Ruby growled. Shauskha hissed, as she clenched her fists, knowing she could do nothing to them. Fortunately for her, Nun swung his claws at them, forcing them
"Spare at least one of them!" she said, "We need them to find the lamp!"
"Screw that!" her brother answered, "I ain't taking any risks with these things!" Shauskha looked to protest, but was drowned out by the sound of Nun roaring again. The Leviathan released its fire beam again, forcing them to scatter. As he tried to think of options, Jaune pursed his memory and knowledge for any potential strategy. Their individual breath attacks obviously weren't enough,e even together. Perhaps if they pooled their energy together, they'd have better luck, but… That was when Jaune remembered something: a very clear memory.
I've got an idea! Jaune called, getting his girlfriends' attention It's kind of a long shot…
We're dragons right now, Jaune Weiss interrupted I don' think there are "long shots" anymore.
She's got a point Ruby relented. And who was Jaune to argue with both of his girlfriends (there was something he'd never thought he'd ever be thinking).
Okay! he said Converge on me! The girls did as instructed, and came up to him, as Jaune opened his wings, and held out his claws. While not sure where he was going, Ruby used a vine to wrap around one claw, while Weiss took the other in her own. Jaune's then lit up brilliantly, as all their eyes started glowing. Weiss recognized this feeling, but Ruby didn't. It was inexplicable, save that it felt…. warm. They all started glowing, before a brilliant, white-gold Aura consumed the three beasts. The glow was so bright, it could be seen across the whole city, and even the Spirits had to shield their eyes. But when what emerged from the light could be seen, they could not tear their eyes off it.
It was a three-headed dragon.
While not as big as the Leviathan, the dragon was still quite large, easily as large as a Goliath. The right head was Ruby's, the middle head Jaune's, and the left head Weiss', with gold scales streaked with red, a white sail going down its back, and icicle-like spines down its tail. It's wings were red with white spots, and what petal like scales run the length of the wing arm. The dragon held up all three of its heads, and let out a roar that seemed to shake the entire city, as everyone had to cover their ears, even making Nun take a step back.
However, it quickly recovered, and released its breath weapon. However, the Aura and scales of the dragon deflected the worst of the attack, as the dragon didn't so much as flinch, while beating its wings to stay in the air, staring down Nun.
"WE DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU SEEK DESTRUCTION UPON THE INNOCENT PEOPLE OF THIS CITY AND THIS WORLD," the dragon thundered in three different voices, "BUT WE WILL NEVER ALLOW YOU TO DO SO!" The dragon inhaled deeply though all three of its heads, before unleashing a tremendous torrent of fire and ice. Knowing what this meant, but Dagon and Shauskha fled. Meanwhile, Nun unleashed it's own breath weapon, which clashed with the dragon breath. However, it only lasted a moment, before it was overwhelmed. Nun didn't mouth have time to roar, as it was completely consumed in the fire/ice, and utterly obliterated. The two Spirits, Dagon especially, were left to gawk as the smoke (all that remained of Nun) floated away.
"We need to get out of here!" Shauskha said, "The High Ones need to be alerted!" Dagon could only nod in agreement, as the two started flying back into the sea. Unfortunately, they quickly set upon by Pyrrha and Yang. The two looked up in horror at the two serpentine dragons looming over them.
"Not so fun when you're on the other end?" Pyrrha hissed.
"We can help you!" Dagon said, "Any questions you want, we can answer!" That would've been tempting, but both girls were privy enough by now to know better.
"Nice try," was all Yang answered with. With that, both Spirits could only scream, as they were both annihilated in the dragon fire. The three headed dragon let out one more roar, before it was consumed in a glow, as it split into three separate dragons. They then flew away into the distance, while the rest of the dragons soon followed after them.
"There's something you can tell your own grandchildren about," Alistair said to Lapis as the Arcs watched the drakes disappear.
"Blech!" Lapis grumbled, sticking out her tongue, to the amusement of her family.
(in the Bullhead)
"Whew!" Yang said, stretching, "That was a workout!"
"It feels so good to be able to fly again!" Nora declared, "I'm never going to walk again if I can help it!"
"You probably won't be able to," Ren commented. RYPJ and BRWN were all resting after their fight, while Maria piloted the ship North.
"I'm actually starting to wish I could become a dragon," Ilia said from her own seat.
"By the way," Blake said, looking to Pyrrha, "What happened to your cheek?" Pyrrha looked away slightly, as she put her hand to her face where Talos had cut her with his fire-enhanced blade. It was bandaged up, though there was probably going to be a scar.
"It's nothing, really," she said, "Just a… run in with someone."
"What happened?" Ruby asked, concerned.
"Nothing we couldn't handle," Yang said from her position next to Pyrrha, as the two smiled at each other. Ruby looked at her sister, than at Pyrrha.
"Scars are a sign of experience," Dr. Shade said, as he suddenly materialized in the airship, "Carry it with pride." Everyone's attention as suddenly on him, as everyone stared in silence for a while.
"Now, if you could tear your attention from me for a moment…" The doctor couldn't finish, as suddenly just about the whole of RYPJ and BRWN, even the normally stoic Ren and Blake hugged him (Ren may have been dragged by Nora, though). Shade was surprised at this sudden sign of affection, as the eight people all squeezed him.
"Please don't leave us again!" Ruby said softly, as she tightened her hold him. Shade was silent for a moment, before smiling gently, as he reached up to return the hugh.
"I will never leave any of you again," he said, "I promise." Despite himself, Oz smiled at the sight. This certainly wasn't the god he remembered, but he certainly wasn't complaining.
"So now we've got a three-headed dragon?" Nora asked as everyone returned to their seats, "How'd that work?"
"It was Jaune's idea," Weiss said, putting everyone's attention on the blonde.
"It's…. hard to explain," Jaune said, as his face pinched in thought, "I just activated my Semblance, used it on them, and it just sort of…. happened."
"How does that work?" Blake asked.
"I have a theory," Shade said, getting their attention, "The way your magic works is it uses your Aura to reshape your bodies. As far as I can tell, Jaune's Semblance allows him to enhance and strengthen the Auras of others by imbuing them with his own Aura. This, essentially, causes his Aura to merge with your's, meaning your magic and his magic also merge. I believe this is what allows you to fuse together in your dragon forms."
"I…. guess that makes sense," Weiss said.
"If you try to explain magic logically, you'll inevitably be disappointed," Shade said, "At any rate, I cannot see any real side effects to the proc…" Shade suddenly stopped talking, as he bent down towards them, looking at them carefully. Suddenly he blinked in what looked like surprise.
"Well, I did not expect that."
"What is it?" Ruby asked, suddenly nervous.
"You are both pregnant."
(in the Land of Darkness)
Salem continued to gently caress the glowing orange orb, softly humming to it. She was sitting at a table with, the other two orbs in front of her. While at glance the orbs were of no significance, to Salem, they were the most precious items in Remnant, and beyond. Why one may ask? Because they held the souls of her daughters.
After they were killed in crossfire of her and Ozma's duel, Salem used old magic to catch their souls in these orbs. Even if there was the slightest chance of her being able to get them back, she would spend as long as she could trying to achieve that. Unfortunately, she only had three: the blue was Marie (the eldest), the orange was Jane, and the pink was Cleopatra, but she could never find the soul of her youngest daughter, Anastasia. She didn't know where her baby had gone, and to this day, the thought of her lost terrified the witch.
"Soon, my darlings," she said, as she held the orb close to her chest, "Soon."
"Salem." Salem's expressions turned hard, as she noticed red mist gather in the room, and loom over her.
"What do you want?"
"I'm afraid we need to speak," the mist said. At that, Salem rolled her eyes.
"I tire of speaking to fog," she said, turning her attention back to Jane's orb, "Speak to me directly." There was some silence, before the mist laughed slightly, and coalesced into a being.
The spirit had bright red skin, with a bald head, wearing a white tunic lined with gold and an usekh around his neck, while his left, pointed ear had an earring in it. His eyes were a brilliant red, with the same black sclera as his siblings. His name was Thoth, the High Spirit of Order, and the eldest and mightiest of the High Spirits.
"You're right!" Thoth said, smiling, "This is a better way of talking." Salem just glared at him.
"What is it?" she then asked.
"It is about your failure at Haven." That got Salem to look at the Spirit directly, before rising to her feet.
"I told you earlier…," she began.
"We remember," Mnemosyne said as she and Vishnu joined their elder brother.
"They now have the knowledge of our youngest sister at their disposal," Vishnu said, "This could be a potentially devastating set back."
"My plans are in my motion," Salem said, as she rose to her feet to face them, "When the time comes, Atlas will be brought low." At that, Thoth actually laughed.
"All these wheels within wheels," he said darkly, "What have they really accomplished? You insist on playing this intricate chess game with your former lover, when you can accomplish things far simpler with more direct action." The mention of Ozma sent an anger shock through Salem's body, as she involuntarily clenched her fists, and looked at the orbs again.
"Just what did you have in mind?" she then asked after calming herself.
"Oh, be assured this has little to do with you," Thoth said, "We will be taking a more… personal role in coming matters."
"And what does that mean?" There was a period of silence, before a smile came over all of three of them. A smile Salem had long learned, never meant anything good. With that, Mnemosyne shifted into a different form, Salem's form. A rare chill ran down the spine of the witch.
"The hearts of men, are easily swayed," she said darkly, in Salem's voice. A horrific realization then came upon the witch.
"No!" Salem said, "You can't…"
"Thank you, my child," Thoth interrupted, leaning down, "We will not forget all you have done for us." Before Salem could even do anything, Thoth flicked his wrist, and a portal appeared. The only thing the witch had time to do was telekinetically summon the orbs to her, before the portal consumed her, leaving the Spirits alone.
"We must act quickly from here on," Thoth said, as he turned to his siblings, "Mnemosyne, remain here, and be the face those here want to see. Vishnu, go back to Mistral, and begin preparations."
"What about you?" Vishnu asked.
"I'll be going to Atlas," Thoth answered, as he smiled,"The place is already in disorder. Perhaps it's time I… affect things."
Note: And with that, Vol. 6 winds to a close. Now I know that Weiss and Ruby getting pregnant appears out of nowhere, but I'm going to say that this was planned for some time (it was an idea since before I settled on couple). This won't be a "usual" pregnancy, and there is going to be a personal twist on how it's going to go.
It's now been revealed the significance of these orbs, which I imagine some people have already guessed; more will be revealed in time, but rest assured, Salem's story is far from over. Also all four of the High Spirits have been named. Thoth, of course, is the name of the Ancient Egyptian god of wisdom. While al the lesser Spirits are named after gods associated with fertility and creation, I named the High Spirits after the aspect they embodied, or at least had a connection to. I decided to name Thoth after the god of wisdom mostly because I though the name was better, honestly. And now they're going to be taking a more active role in things.
Now, before going into Vol. 7, I'm going to be doing some character bits for Salem's OC allies: Talos, Bai, Magenta, and Crane, in that order.
I edited out the opinion piece on Adam I had out of the previous chapter, as well as the one I was going to include here. Apparently, I underestimated how strongly some people felt for this subject, and I got some "strongly worded" counters to it, including one Guest that went so far as to call me a hypocrite. I don't want to have to keep responding to these things, and get passive aggressively judged on random opinion I have on a work of fiction, and have people only consider that while reading the chapter.
Be sure to review. This author's note is getting a bit too long for me right now, so I'm going to do the Vol. 6 retrospective next chapter. At any rate, as we enter Act 3, thanks to everyone whose stuck with me all this way.
As a final note, in this day and age, with COVID-19 spreading like wildfire, please stay healthy, and quarantine yourself if you can. Regardless of how deadly it actually is, no one wants to get it, and if doctors are advising people to play it safe, perhaps it's best to play it safe for now.
