Main theme: Death Hymn by Lucas King
Arc theme: Rise from the Destiny 2 soundtrack
Theme: Look Within from the Destiny 2: Beyond Light soundtrack
"...No."
"Yes."
"...It can't be."
"But it is."
"...M... Mum?"
Ruby looked down at the cold corpse in the coffin, laying in the black box with a sheet of ice coating them, making it glisten in the rising sun under a sheet of snow-white fabric, as frozen lilies and roses adorned the body in flower patterns of their own, whilst a crown of grass and flowers adorned her head, and her arms crossed over a broken sword that had been welded back together again.
Summer Rose made for a beautiful corpse, at least.
Ruby took a step back, and felt her breath quicken. Her heart was hurting even more than her eyes earlier. It felt like it was going to burst right in her chest it hurt so much.
She had spent so many years wondering. So many countless nights looking up towards the stars and hoping- Praying, even, to whatever god might be out there- That that would be the night that she finally saw her mother again. That she finally saw her once more, after so long, walking down the steps to their house, ready to be embraced by them once more.
But now, here she... Here she was, right in front of her, laid down to rest.
She was real.
She was dead.
She was gone.
Forever.
…
…
…
…
Ruby couldn't believe it.
"This is a trick."
"It's not."
"This is a lie."
"It isn't."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"That's is not my mother!"
"But it is, Ruby. But it is."
…
"H... How did you find her?"
"Oh? Oh, it was nothing. We stumbled upon her years ago, and have been keeping her body suspended in cryostasis ever since. We've never had a good reason to use it, until-"
"Liar."
Baobhan blinked, "Pardon?"
Ruby looked up to her with redding tears in her eyes, "You're lying. You're a liar."
"I'm not lying."
"Yes you are!" Ruby cried out to the white haired woman in the black dress, pointing a finger to the coffin as she then went, "That- That is not my mother! It can't be! You just- You..." she looked down, and her voice began to quiver as she silently asked, "If you had my mother's corpse with you, then why didn't you give it to me years ago?"
"Ah, the opportunity just never arose, I suppose," Baobhan just shrugged. Shrugged! "We've been busy with many other things."
Ruby grimaced and channelled her inner Uncle Qrow, "Yeah, like decorating a corpse," she snarked-
Which was out of character for her, yes, but she was having a very stressful morning, what with being confronted by the corpse of her mother and all, and she was allowed to put in a lick of sarcasm at it all, thank you very much.
-Before turning to the corpse with a shake in her step, as she further resisted the urge to vomit at the sight of her 'Mother' in a coffin, as she then hesitantly asked, "How do I... How do I know that you didn't just... That you didn't just... Kill someone to make it look like Mum?"
Her hands were shaking and her eyes were wide. Her breath was distorted and forced. She was sucking in air through her teeth as she stared wide-eyed at the white haired Cult leader in front of her.
"You... You killed my mother... Didn't you?"
Baobhan's answer was quick enough to be certain, but not quick enough to seemed forced, "No, no no no. Of course not. After all, she was a Silver-Eyed Warrior like the rest of us. Why on Remnant would we want to kill our own kind?"
"How do I even know that you're telling the truth!?" Ruby almost screamed at her, milky pink tears streaming down her face as she pointed to Baobhan Sith, shaking her head from side to side as she then went, "Everything that you've said... Everything! It all just sounds so... So... Ridiculous! You did something to my eyes-"
"I awakened your silver eyes."
"And there you go again! You talking about all of this silver eye stuff! I have no idea what you are talking about, and you think- You act like I should be grateful for you torturing me and showing me my mother's corpse! Do you really think that I'm just going to believe any of that stuff just like that?!"
"Of course not."
Ruby stopped, and stood still in shock.
What... What did she just say?
Baobhan laughed, and then- In an uncomfortable display of closeness- Placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder, and smiled down at the girl, "Of course I don't expect you to just agree with everything that I am saying immediately. I mean, that would just be silly, wouldn't it? I would be disappointed if you immediately latched onto everything that I as soon as I meet you."
She booped Ruby on the nose with her other hand, though that did nothing to calm Ruby's flaying and shredding nerves.
"You know, Ruby, I consider myself more of a teacher than anything else. I oh so wish to teach you about everything that you need to know. We all do, the rest of the Aspects and I. There is so much that you need to learn about the world around you- About all of the things that you have been lied to about, all of the things that you have been kept in the dark about."
With her other hand, she moved it away from Ruby's nose and stroked it across the obsidian black coffin lovingly.
"Your mother's body? Think of it as a sign of truth- Of trust from us. We are giving you your mother's body, and as such, we are being honest. Being generous to you, for lack of a better word."
Her eyes flashed silver.
"But there is so much more that we can offer you- So much more that we can teach you. You can feel it too. The need to build, to create, to uncreate uncreation. We feel the same thing too. We seek to build a new future for all of Remnant. We will build a new type of dust- We are already working on it, you know? We are working hard to do what the SDC could not- We will burn away the Grimm all around the world with just a gaze from our eyes. We shall wipe away the stink and corruption from Remnant, and finally bring all of society together, once and for all. And then, when all of this is done, we shall take the power of the gods, and finally create the utopia that all of mankind- Our kind, and the people that we guard and shepherd- Truly deserve."
Baobhan's hand moved away from the coffin, and stroked a river of tears away from Ruby's cheek, staining it a misty red and pink.
"So come with us, my Empress-to-be. Let us teach you all that there is. Let us love all that you are. Let us build a new world together, free from evil- Free from sin itself."
Baobhan tilted her head to the side.
"Come with us, and together, we shall craft a new world for us all."
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"No."
Baobhan blinked once, twice, thrice, "Pardon?"
Ruby wormed her way out of Baobhan's grip- It was like she wasn't even bothering to try and keep her there- And took a pair of long steps back, shaking her head as she muttered to herself, "You're mad, you're mad, you're mad, you're mad-"
"Ruby-"
"You're mad! You think-" she shook her head rapidly, "I can't join you, I'm not- I'm not a monster!"
She pointed to the forest, to the madness of the forest, to war machines and death squads culling and capturing as many initiates as they could, hoarding them away for their purposes, to explosions and gunfire and ice shards rocketing up into the sky, clouds of frost and snow jumping up into the sky as initiates were frozen to death by streams of liquid nitrogen. A frozen hell came over the Emerald Forest as the ships hovered in the air like wardens and jailers, raining fire and plasma down onto the world below with impunity, and without conscience.
It was a war. The Cult was waging a war on everyone below.
"Look at this! Look at that! If you actually cared about other people- If you actually wanted to build a future for everyone- Then why are you killing people? Why are you murdering them all?! If you actually cared at all, then you wouldn't be doing any of this!"
Baobhan sighed, as if she was talking to a disobedient child, "Ruby... Sometimes, to do good, one must do evil in turn!"
"That's a lie, and you know it! That's the same 'Necessary evil' rubbish that every single tyrant across history has been sprouting for years! No one should ever do anything evil, no matter the reason! There's no excuse for it! Because every single time someone has sprouted that, they only ever end up becoming the same monsters that they say they're fighting!"
Baobhan's head tilted to the side, "That's a very naïve way of looking at things, Ruby!"
"I don't care! It's the truth!" Ruby pointed to Baobhan with a shaking hand, "You killed my mother, didn't you? You ordered these people to murder every in the forest, didn't you?! And you think that you can just invite me along, and pretend that everything that you're doing is a kindness! You, Baobhan Sith, and the rest of your mad cult, are monsters! And it is up to me and every other Huntsman and Huntress to do what we've always done-"
From her back, she pulled out her weapon- Crescent Rose- And let it unfold in her hand, spinning it around and then stabbing it into the ground as she glared up at the white haired woman.
"-And be there to stop the monsters!"
She began to turn her body away from Baobhan-
"So thanks, but no thanks. My dream is to be a Huntress, and I've got no reason to walk away from that."
-And then looked down, from the cliff that they were standing on, and towards the chaos of the forest below.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got places to be."
And with a flash and flutter of disintegrating rose petals, the crow escaped the cobra.
A cloud of rose petals formed over the Emerald Forest, trailing away from the cliff above as Ruby reformed and began to fall down to the forest below, the sounds of battle sounding off all around her, forcing Ruby to dodge a series of traces coming towards her via her own semblance, darting through the air, before-
"ROOOAAAAARRRRR!"
-From below, a Manticore Grimm flew out from between the tree, and began to ascend into the sky, heading straight towards her. It's mouth was open and trailing bright orange fire behind it. Wherever it had either seen her from down in the forest, or was just trying to flee the carnage below was irrelevant. It was coming at her with snarling teeth and a fiery jaw, and it was aiming to kill her.
Ruby wouldn't give it the chance.
Twirling her Crescent Rose in her hand, she burst into another cloud of rose petals, and reformed right in front of the Manticore's face.
She looked right into the Grimm's eyes, and hers flashed silver.
And it was the Grimm who flinched first.
Spinning her Crescent Rose in her hands, she then lifted it above her head, before throwing it down-
{STAB}
-And stabbed her scythe into the Grimm's bone covered head.
The beast howled in pain as black viscera leaked from its fresh wound, but Ruby was undeterred as she threw her own body onto the back of the Grimm, twisting the blade of her scythe around, pulling it along behind her as she pressed her feet into the Grimm, and with a-
{BURST}
-Of rose petals, she began to sprint along the back of the Grimm, dragging the blade along and-
{BANG BANG BANG BANG}
-Firing off several shells from her weapon for acceleration, before landing right on the tip of the monster's tail, and with one last thundering-
{BANG}
-From her weapon, and a-
{BURST}
-Of rose petals, she flung herself off of the Manticore, and cleaved it in 2, the now separated halves of the fading Grimm spilling torrents of smoky blood from its body as they fell to the ground below, the 2 faces of the Grimm letting out one last synchronous growl, before its eyes went dead, and it finally fell silent.
Ruby, meanwhile, began to dart hither and thither towards the ground below as she looked across the forest, spotting oppressive towers of smoking ice, fields of blue-to-orange fires that were enveloping trees whole, patches of thin fused silica across still glowing hot mats of grounds, skirmishes and firefights between scattered pockets of initiates and cultists, and-
{BOOM}
There, in the distance. Her eyes narrowed, and zoomed in-
Zoomed in? When could her eyes do that? She had always had good eyesight, thanks to her years of experience with a sniper rifle, but... Zooming in her eyes like an optical scope? That was a new one.
Was that... Was this a side effect to what Baobhan Sith had done to her? Activating her silver eyes, or awakening them or whatever... Was this something to do with them?
Around her arms, silver electricity danced for just a second.
-On a specific clash between her fellow initiates and these cultists. It was a larger battle, with more and more fighters from both sides being drawn to the fight and joining in by the second. Soon, the fight began to evolve into something else, and Ruby narrowed her eyes to see...
There she was. Thank you, new optical zooming eyes for letting her see who was in the middle of that fight.
Yang, battling against a pair of twins, and...
Jaune Arc, and several others, fighting desperately against an army of cultists, several other fighters, and...
Her?
Herself?
How was that... How was that possible?
Was that Summer Rose? Was that her mother attacking-
No, that couldn't be possible. That wasn't possible. Even if the corpse that Baobhan had wasn't actually 'Summer Roses', there was no way that her mother would willingly side with a cult of psychopathic murderers-
Would she? went the traitorous voice in her head.
To her horror, she had no answer to that.
Narrowing her eyes once more, she scanned the surroundings of the battlefield far away, and saw that they were near a large ravine, and were cutting away the trees near a larger section of ruins that stretched over the ravine itself. The trees around them were burning and being cut down, extending the side of the battlefield towards the ravine.
With her semblance, it would only take her a few minutes to get there.
Hooking her scythe around a tree and slamming her feet down onto a roaming Beserker Grimm's neck, killing it with a satisfying-
{SNAP}
-Ruby burst into a cloud of rose petals, and made her way to the warzone.
Baobhan looked down to the cleaved Manticore as it slammed into the ground, dissipating into smoke as soon as it hit the ground.
"Well then... A setback, to be sure... But a minor one."
She smiled. She wasn't even disappointed.
"Oh well. This was to be expected, after all."
She patted the black coffin next to her, not at all bothered by the chaos of the Emerald Forest before her. Summer Rose's corpse was, of course, unresponsive.
"Come along now, Summer. Like Ruby said, we have places to be."
And in a flash of electricity, they were both gone.
Ever since he had been (For lack of a better term) Born into the Arc family, Jaune had been told stories about Crocea Mors, and the legacy that accompanied it.
According to the legends of the Arcs, the sword that would one day be known as Crocea Mors was forged all the way back to the Dark Times of Remnant, making it more than 10,000 years old, and possibly even older than any well known recorder of history itself.
(He mused to himself about how much mankind had evolved ever since then, and not just in the cultural sense for humanity Faunus, but also the biological sense as well. According to those legends, humanity and Faunus had remained mostly unchanged in the biological sense, but Jaune couldn't stomach that as the truth, especially since so much of Remnant's past had been lost to the Grimm, with hardly any reliable records left. Had humanity had 4 arms at a certain point in time? Had they had 3 eyes? Just 1? Sharpened talons for fingers? Were the reversionist professors and scholars right in that the Faunus themselves are actually a further evolution of humanity itself, and are the next stage of evolution for mankind as a whole?
So many questions, so little answers...)
Back in the Dark Times, Crocea Mors had been forged out of pure magics itself (Aura? A semblance?), And had been used to slay the reapers of death (Grimm?) And the cults that worshipped them, allowing life to survive and thrive once more. The first Arc, Joan of Arc, had been born with the blade in her hand, and became the first unified of Remnant, forging the first kingdoms under her guidance, bringing about the end of the Dark Times, and beginning the Golden Age of Remnant.
From there, the stories of the Arcs would grow and size and grandeur, from slaying monsters in the conflict known as the Dragon War between Chyndradess, the Champion, and Beirdos, the Eternal, forging the House of d'Arc alongside the House of Beacon, House of Shelter, House of Haven, House of Shade, and the many other Great Houses of the old kingdoms, forging the Golden Empire alongside the Faunus, braving the fall of the old empires, reforming the new kingdoms alongside the actual people known as Vale, Vacuo, Mantle, and Mistral, breaking the back of the kingdoms of Mantle and Mistral, fighting against bandits and slavers during the Faunus Rights Revolution, and then, to the now, where it had been sitting above the fireplace at the Arc family estate...
Until he took it for himself when he ran away to Beacon.
And now, here he was, trying to do his family's ancestors (And the people that he had failed) Proud as he was forced down onto the ground and used his sword as a blocking bar against a rabid Sinful, before slicing at it's jaw, cutting its cheeks in half and mutilating its tendons, blood splattering onto his face as he screwed it up in disgust and kneed the mad thing in its gut, winding it and allowing him to throw it off, before jumping up and slicing his sword at the armoured chest of a nearby Adherent cultist, just as an icy explosion sounded off nearby, though not close enough for him to be caught in its blast radius as he picked up the gun that he had dropped onto the floor when the Sinful had jumped in, only for Pyrrha-
"Look out!"
-To pull him to the side via a black shadow over his armour- Probably her semblance. Telepathy, maybe?- As a red tendril slammed into the ground where he had been standing, whilst Pyrrha herself threw her shield into the neck of one of the hulking Wardens of Faith, throwing it off kilter for a second as Pyrrha pulled another cultist- One of the large Templars- Into the chest of the Warden via her semblance, throwing them down to the ground as a pair of initiates unloaded onto the head of the Templar, cracking the top of its helmet and killing the thing.
(Jaune didn't feel too bad about its death. He should, but... He didn't.)
More and more initiates had been joining in on the battle against the cultists, turning the entire field around them into a burning mat of glowing hot ash commingled with piles of snow and towers of ice as flakes of both frost and fire filled the air around them, choking everyone as they did their best to survive as the trees died and burned all around them, increasing the size of the battlefield as initiate and cultist danced between stumps and withered trees, some of them tearing them out of the ground and using them as clubs, whilst others sparred with guns, swords, and even their bare fists.
Up above, the giant warship that the Cult of Silver was obviously using as its Forward Operating Base began to drift to one side of the Emerald Forest. Oh, what were they up to, now?
Nearby, he could see the ginger jock from before with a flanged mace in his hand, the boy in question slamming it down into the head of a Sinful, cracking its skull open before he flung it to the side and into the shield of a Deacon, and then fired off an explosive shot into the armoured head of said Deacon, superheating it and leaving the cultist crying out in pain from the metal-on-skin contact, before the jock slammed his mace into the cultist's head, and sent him down into the ground, the jock letting out a victorious cheer, before turning his attention to one of the Templar's nearby.
Well, he wasn't paying anymore attention to Jaune, at least.
Next to the jock, the girl from yesterday-
He remembered seeing this girl before, with the long black trench coat and cargo trousers, with the black hair tied into a ponytail and bright blue eyes, when they got off the airship and he had been puking his guts out and had called the airship the heathen death tube. Moderately better times.
-Fired off 2 black pistols into the crowd of cultists, kneecapping 2 of them through the joints in their armour, before sheathing her guns and letting a pair of knives fall out of her sleeves, slicing them through the electronics of one of the Templars, overloading its liquid nitrogen tanks, before kicking the cultist into a group of other cultists, and letting the liquid nitrogen explode, some of them collapsing to the ground from not just the cold, but also the cryogenic burns as it seeped between their armour and into their skin.
Jaune did his best to drown out their screams.
"Goddammit!" nearby, Yang cried out in frustration as the 2 black haired twins continued to throw rounds of ice and physical blows at her, keeping her on her toes as a pair of Deacon cultists nearby herded a-
What the hell was that thing?!
…
Summer, for the first time in his life, was silent.
-Herded a 15 foot tall, black and white, bear-like monster (Just like the giant bird and the wolf Grimm from before) That looked less like a Grimm and more like a giant corpse, walking upright, missing its lower jaw with sharpened talons for teeth guttering out, a massive gash running down its body and spilling its intestines out, as spikes of ice jutted from its back like a hedgehog, and a pair of glowing silver eyes where the bone mask on its head should be.
A Grimm with silver eyes... That couldn't be coincidental.
"How the hell did a Cult get a Husk?!" Jaune heard one initiate yell out over the carnage, and raised an eyebrow in surprise. 'Husks'? Was that a common type of Grimm? Was Grimm with silver eyes a common thing to see? Jaune didn't know, but at the moment, he really didn't care.
Nearby, a pack of what looked like a horde of Grimm were coming in. Upright Hyena like creatures with 4 eyes, sharpened bone plating covering their bodies, long blades for claws, thin hind legs sprinting them along, and long, spiked locks spilling from the backs of their heads as they ran and lashed them around.
"Aw, for fuck's sake! We've got Dreadlocks to dead with, now!?" one initiate yelled out. So these Grimm were called Dreadlocks? Good to know.
Jaune scowled to himself, as he pulled his rifle up, doing his best to mind the recoil, as the horde of Grimm approached them, and-
The Husk Grimm swung its arm, let out a string of ice shards coated with polluted silver energy, and killed every singe Dreadlock in the horde.
W... What?
With a roar, the Husk Grimm then glowed a dull silver, and pounded its foot into the ground with an equally dull-
{THUD}
-And within seconds, the fading corpses of the Dreadlock Grimm began to move and writhe in place, howling and screaming as their eyes shot open and began to shine silver, before they all began to get up once more, pulling themselves off of the spikes of ice that had pierced through them, leaving gaping holes covered in black blood in their bodies, as they howled at the same time as spikes of ice and some form of ugly red dust began to grow out of their bodies, before they all limped forward and joined in on the fray, fighting for...
Fighting for the Cult against the initiates.
What was going on?
"Husks can revive dead Grimm."
Jaune jumped in place as the girl in the trench coat and with the pistols suddenly appeared next to him, firing off her 2 pistols into one of the Adherent cultists near him, and continued on.
"They're Grimm necromancers: They can revive dead Grimm and place them under their will via a hive mind commanded by the lead Husk. As long as the lead Husk lives, the dead Grimm under its control are functionally immortal."
She gave him a side glance.
"I'm Nana Shaula, by the way."
"Er, Jaune. Jaune Arc."
After shooting a Cultist in the neck, she smiled at him, "I gathered," before jumping over one of the undead Dreadlock Grimm and kicking it into another Cultist, "We need a plan."
"Yes, I also ga- Ah!" Jaune yelped as one of the zombie Dreadlocks swiped at his armour, knocking him back, only for a Bishop-
{BANG}
{SQUELCH}
-Got off a shot that went right through his right shoulder, spraying out blood and bone fragments as he-
"AUGH!"
-Finally collapsed to the floor, panting and reeling in pain as the bloody bandage that he had wrapped around his head finally slipped off and fell into the burnt and frozen floor below, allowing the blood to finally seep down his head.
His shoulder had been dislocated and pulled back into place.
He had been bleeding from the side of his head when he had been brought to the ground, so much so that it had soaked his sleeve.
He was already tired from running so much from the fake-Ruby.
The skin on the back of his body and limbs had been frozen solid and then broken.
And now he had been shot in the shoulder and knocked onto the ground.
He was in incredible pain, he had lost quite a bit of blood, and was exhausted from running and fighting so much already.
Oh god, he'd had enough for today. He really just wanted to go to bed right-
"Is this all that you can truly offer us, Orion?"
At the sound of that hated name, Jaune forced himself to get back up to his feet, and-
"Ah, there we are. There's that determination that we know you have."
-Stare down the other twin pair, the gree-haired Aspects of Amusement, Lamia and Lilith.
"Oh, don't give us that look, Orion."
"This is all for your own good, after all."
"Shut up," Jaune growled at them. For a moment, he was surprised at how... Genuinely sad they seemed to hear him say that, but he didn't let that stop him as he gritted through the pain, clamping his teeth down so hard that they might draw blood, before he pulled out his Crocea Mors, wheeled it back, and-
{BANG}
-A bright blue shot flew from one of the troop carriers up above, and went right through his right thigh, tearing apart his skin and leaving a gaping wound that carved out part of his outer leg, leaving it spewing blood onto the floor and he collapsed and cried out in pain.
Jaracas, the Aspect of Forgiveness, lowered his custom made sniper rifle, and readjusted the glowing red optical scope where his left eye had once been (Thank goodness that they had Cihuateteo with them to rebuilt the entire left side of his head, otherwise he would've been killed by his gaping wounds), And then looked at the rest of the Aspects with him, "Orion's down. Got him in the leg."
"He dead?"
"No."
"Good. I'd hate him if he died from just that."
Jaracas chuckled, "It'll take a lot more than that to keep him down," he cracked his head, and then looked to them, "Lamia, Lilith, Alter, and Baobhan Sith are already down there, doing their thing. Can't say the same for Jiang Shi, though Are you guys going to get stuck in down there?"
Hsi-Hsue-Kue, the Aspect of Pride, laughed underneath his hulking black and red armour, and primed his blue flame cannon.
Kasha, the Aspect of Serenity, pulled a portable radio with him as his 4 sharp silver eyes blinked, and scratched his long talons and arm blades over his black metal body, the spikes on his back almost stretching up to the ceiling.
Draugr, the Aspect of Interest, held tightly onto the leash of Upyr, the Aspect of Joy, her almost nude body held under a long, fluttering cape, whilst the young Upyr began to salivate at the thought of fresh new blood supplies.
At the back, Cihuateteo, the Aspect of Awe just kept his expression plain and emotionless as he tended and tinkered with his machines.
Hsi-Hsue-Kue finished laughing, and smiled underneath his helmet, "Hell yeah, we are."
"And there he goes."
"Down for the count."
Jaune let out a cry of pain as blood continued to leak from his thigh, whilst the battle around him continued to rage on more and more, growing more and more desperate by the second. Gods, he was covered in his own blood now. He was bloody, he was tired, he was in pain, and he was weak. He was weak because he couldn't fight like the others. He couldn't fight back like the others. He couldn't do anything like the others.
Get up. Dammit, get up! Don't be a wimp! A little- Augh, this hurts, but a little pain never hurt anyone, did it? So get up, Jaune. Get up!
"We should help him, sister."
"Yes, we should do just that."
He could sense the 2 twins approaching him with hopeful grabbing hands, looking to touch him and take him and hurt him with whatever it was that they had planned.
He wouldn't be having any of that.
GET UP AND FIGHT!
With a roar, he screamed through the pain, pulled himself up onto his feet, lifted his sword above his head, and before either of the green-haired twins could react-
{SLICE}
-It was probably the adrenaline running through his body, but on any other day, he would feel absolutely horrible about trying to kill someone.
But, at the moment, he was tired, he was stressed out, he was high on adrenaline, and was absolutely done with everything that had happened throughout the day, and it had only just reached the afternoon as well (He thought).
So, he could be forgiven for bringing his sword down like a cleaver into the head of the Lamia twin, cutting her head in half, lengthways, and cutting it down all the way to her chest.
It took until Lamia's warm blood splattered all other him for Jaune to realise what he had just done, and his mouth began to splutter and mutter to himself in horror at what he had just done.
"No... No no no no no no no no… I didn't... I didn't mean to... I-I didn't- I didn't mean to I didn't mean to I didn't mean to I didn't mean to..."
Next to him, Lilith looked like she was about to say something- She didn't even looked bothered by her twin's death- But before she could, she was cut off by-
"Get away from him!"
{BANG BANG BANGBANGBANG}
-A series of bullets that went right through her body, puncturing her in her head and chest and limbs and splattering the ground beneath her with blood and gore as she crumpled to the floor.
Jaune's breathing quickened as Nana ran up to his side and planted another bullet into Lilith's corpse. She looked like she said something to him, but he couldn't hear her as the world around him began to darken and his heartbeat began to increase and everything seemed to get colder and hotter at the same time and-
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah..."
The 2 sides of Lamia's head began to laugh.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!"
Down below, the shot up corpse of Lilith began to laugh as well.
""HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!""
Suddenly, veins, arteries, cords of flesh, and stems from her brain began to worm their way out of Lilith's body and connect to each other like spiderweb patterns. The blood that was once in her body began to lift off of every surface that it had fallen on and flew back into her body, her eyes darting from side to side independently from each other as her body began to grow and piece itself together like a colony of worms melding with each other.
With one single motion, as the 2 halves of her body stitched themselves back together, her hands wrapped around the blade of Crocea Mors, and pulled it straight out of her chest.
Down below, as the holes in Lilith's body began to fill up with fresh flesh and blood, the bullets that were once in her body were pushed out like maggots from rotten fruit.
"Stab us."
"Slice us."
"Shoot us."
"Tear us into pieces."
"Carve us in 2."
"And Rip us limb from limb."
"It doesn't matter how many times you try."
"Because you will never kill us."
"For we are the Cult of Silver."
"And we are immortal."
With a single punch to the gut, Lamia sent Jaune flying across the battlefield, winding him, and leaving him bleeding and out of breath on the ground below.
Everything hurt, everything was weak, everything was going quiet, and everything was turning red. That might just be from all of the blood in his eyes, though.
Gods, he really wanted to sleep right now...
Sleep...
That'd be nice...
He didn't notice the red tendril wrapping around his legs until it had lifted him up into the air and brought him face to face with the thing that wore Ruby's face, the both of them high up in the air now as the fighting continued on around them.
And with it, it said to him in such an emotionless voice:
"I love you."
"...Shut up."
"I love you I love you I love You I love you."
"Shut up."
"I love you I love you I love you... Orion."
"SHUT UP!"
How did this... Thing... Even know his old name? he hadn't gone by that in years. He had done so much to bury what he had done in the past, and now these people were ready to dig it out of the grave again.
Dammit, who were these people? What was this thing? Why was it so obsessed with him?
Jaune wished he knew.
Nearby, new challengers joined the battlefield below. One of them was a hulking giant in black and red armour, covered in silver lights and wielding a cannon that shot hot blue flames. Another was a thing that looked like a demonic robot, with spikes guttering up from its back, 4 deep silver pits for eyes, and a jagged maw of a mouth. One of them, an almost nude girl in a bikini, cloak, and ripped jeans shorts, was holding onto a younger boy in his tween years, in smart clothing whilst having a mouth that stretched too far up to their ears and was filled with shredded and gnashing teeth. The last of them was a shorter boy with an emotionless expression and covered in electronics and tools, tapping onto an electronic tablet, as nearby, a pair of 4 legged silver droids taller than a double decker bus, and a grouping of tall bipedal walkers with yellow spotlights, swivel chin cannons, and boxy missile launchers on the sides of their heads, stood to attention, before turning their gaze towards the initiates below, and firing in a synchronous pattern with each other, turning the grounds into an even bigger cloud of fire and ash and ice than it already was before.
Jaune looked at the monster in Ruby's (Summer's?) Form and growled, "Why are you doing all of this?! Why are you so obsessed with me? I don't even- I don't even know you!"
The fake-Ruby tilted its head to the side-
"You will."
-And then, several red tendrils reached up to him, preparing to wrap themselves around his body and do god knows what.
But before they could do that-
[SLICE}
-A bronze shield cut through the tendril that was holding him up, and before he crashed into the ground, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around him, and retrieved their shield via a black shadow across their hands. Nearby, the blonde-haired, red-eyed girl that had become their familiar ran to their side, and planted their dagger through the throat of another cultst.
"Pyrrha?..."
The girl in question didn't respond to the weakened question, as she simply looked at the battlefield around them, and saw how much they were loosing against the Cult.
And so, she did the only thing that she could do.
"Run!" she called out, "Just run!"
And they all followed suit.
By the time that Ruby had reached the side of the ravine, everything had devolved into pandemonium.
Explosions of fire and ice rang off all around her. Bodies of initiates and cultists covered the floor, dyeing the world an ugly crimson shade of red. Shattered carcasses of machines were scattered across the arena, as well as blackened craters of smoke and ash. Body parts were scattered across the playing field as initiates continued to flee from the burning remains of the Emerald Forest and the cultists that pursued them like vultures after their prey.
It was madness. It was horror.
Was it war?
No, this was a one-sided slaughter.
Ruby weaved her way through the battlefield, dodging projectiles and explosions through rose petal burst after rose petal burst as she zigzagged across the battlefield, jumping over waves of ice as-
"Augh!"
"What the hell?!"
-Initiates were being frozen in place all around her, ice growing all around their bodies, but not freezing their skin itself. It looked like they'd stopped trying to kill them and were now working to capture everyone as she worked to get herself to Yang and-
And do what?
What was she trying to do?
She had no idea.
All that she knew was that she had to get to her sister, and fast.
She'd figure out the rest on the way.
Nearby, another cell of initiates was coated and covered in a block of ice, all the way up to their heads, weighing their arms and legs down, keeping them in place, and keeping them from accessing their weapons and breaking through. Ruby tried to move to help them, but a nearby group of cultists- 10 feet tall and with giant cannisters on their back- Fired streams of liquid nitrogen towards her, forcing her to constantly dispel and reform herself into petal cloud after petal cloud as more and more initiates were held down by streams of ice and cold.
A silver stream of light shot out and stopped her from reaching another trapped group of initiates, and up above, a giant walker shot out a series of missiles towards her, exploding all around her and throwing her to the side, before-
"Yang!"
"Ruby!?"
Jaune forced himself to open his eyes as the chill in the air finally got to him, spotting Yang and- Ruby! It was Ruby. The actual Ruby, not the fake monster in Nora's body that was chasing them. That was good, that was good.
He flinched at the sight of Ruby. That was less good.
More explosions sounded off around them. Madness. Despair. Another horde of Grimm was cut down by a Husk, only to be revived as its undead slaves. Initiates were being sealed away- Up to their heads- In shards and blocks of smoky ice. Blood was frozen into the ground. The clear blue sky was filtered by pillars of smoke and ash and flame.
Everything had gone to hell.
"Ruby, where have you-" Yang was stopped by Ruby quickly wrapping her arms around her elder sister and pressing her head against her chest. Yang returned the hug just as quickly, and then continued with her frantic questioning, "Where have you been? Where did that woman take you?!"
"Baobhan- She took me to the top of that cliff, and- Oh god..." Jaune saw Ruby shiver, and against Yang's chest, she then went, "Yang, she has... They've got mum's body... They've got mum's body..."
…What? Jaune thought to himself, What did she say?
…?
"...What? What are you-"
"Guys, we really need to move!" Anima called out from nearby, as around them, more and more initiates were trapped within the ice, "If we don't then-"
A wave of ice overcame Anima and her boys, Cardin, Nana, Weiss, and Blake, completely covering them and restricting their movements.
-"Ack, goddammit!"
"Run!" Nana called out to what was left of the initiates, "Save yourselves!"
But it was too late.
Around them, the cultists, now newly motivated by the presence of their leaders, continued to throw wave after wave of ice at them. The black haired twins darted between initiate after initiate, tagging them and covering them in chain-like ice. Blue fire corralled initiates into packs, only to be trapped by the frost growing at their legs. One by one, in quick succession, they all began to fall.
Nearby, Ren was caught in a wave of ice, and swore as it reached up to his neck. Pyrrha was forced to drop Jaune as she was peppered by ice blast after ice blast, doing her best to dodge them before she was overwhelmed and forced onto the floor by the weight of ice on top of her. The girl that seemed to serve as her familiar continued to fight on for as long as she could to protect her mistress, but was eventually felled as well, coated in ice and frozen to the ground as she sprouted words in a language that Jaune somehow did and did not know at the same time.
Nearby, Ruby grabbed Yang and tried to pull her along, but was stopped by a cloud of frost hitting them, freezing the upper layers of their skin and leaving them writhing on the floor in pain, before the ice finally got to them and covered them completely. Yang was able to break out at first, thanks to her semblance, but she was eventually overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ice blasts that peppered her, eventually bringing her down.
All that was left now was Jaune, as he forced himself up onto his feet, and looked around the now quiet battlefield, as whispers of frost and flakes of snow began to fall all around him. The world seemed silent, so much so that even the crickets had stopped their clicking songs, and the chirping bird calls in the distance had stopped, as if time itself was frozen solid, much like the world around him.
There was a crackle beneath him, and his feet began to grow cold. So cold that it felt like his feet were going to turn into glass and crack off. He looked down, and saw ice and frost travelling up his legs in spiderweb arms and rivers. He tried to move, but it was too late. They had arrested him in place. Spines of ice began to grow out like tree branches and attached themselves to his wrists, forcing them down to his waist as the ice began to seep into his wounds and cuts like water, invading the insides of his body and worming their way through his veins and around his bones as the frost continued to grow and grow into a block that wept into the very pours of his body and kept him down, growing all the way up to his neck and worming its way up his cheeks in rivers and streams until...
They stopped. Their task was gone.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't escape.
None of them could.
They were all at the cold mercy of the cultists.
Said cultists- Adherents, Sinfuls, Deacons, Bishops, Templars, and Wardens of Faith- Began to circle all around them, weaving between frozen initiates as their droids and walkers stomped and thundered all around them. In the air, the 3 troop carriers from before began to lower themselves down towards the ground as the fighter craft from before soared overhead, the massive warship in the sky still hanging around all the way at the other end of the forest.
The Aspects themselves gathered and looked around at their new prey, satisfied smiles on their faces as they honed in on Jaune's group, and grinned cheekily.
The fake-Ruby just stared at Jaune, saying nothing, doing nothing, as still as a statue.
And then, a flash of white electricity and light flared off in front of them, and there stood a woman with long white hair and eyelashes, deep silver eyes, pale skin like snow, and dressed in a black, white, and gold dress covered in silver roses, with a rose necklace around her neck and a silver wolf pendant in her hair. Behind her, a rectangular black box floated above the ground ominously.
The cobra of a woman smiled at Ruby, and then said, "Do you feel better now, Ruby?"
"..."
"Did you get all of that out of your system?"
"..."
Ruby just glared at the woman.
"Good, good good good good," the woman tilted her head to the side as she said this, and then went, "You know, our offer is still available to you-"
Before Ruby could say anything, the woman threw her arms outwards, and then spun herself around, to address the rest of the initiates around her.
"-And to all of you as well! Our offer is open for all of you to take and accept! To join us! To build with us! To carve out of the muck and the mud a bright new future! Think about it: Have we not shown you our power? Have we not shown your our abilities? The powers of silver and ice that we wield to make you yield? They are not like semblances! They are not hereditary! They are given! They can be given!"
At the gasps of the initiates around her, silver crystals and flickers of ice grew and hovered above the fingertips of the woman's outstretched hands, and glowed an ethereal silver.
"Think about it: What would you possibly be able to do against the Grimm on your own? How can you possibly stand against them in the future, when you could be so easily felled now? In the darkness that you live in- The darkness of the corrupt kingdoms, the darkness of the corrupt Huntsman system- There will only be failure. Only defeat. Only destruction. Only death."
Her smile grew and was all teeth, and the silver shards of ice glistened and glowed like miniature stars.
"But, where the darkness destroys, the light creates. With this power, no longer would you be slaves to ideologies that do not belong to you. No longer will you be tempered by weakness. No longer will you have to watch the ones you love be killed and lost. In the light, there is only one truth: Life."
Then, the cobra of a woman turned her head, and narrowed her eyes on the group surrounding Jaune. Approaching them, 7 of the crystals shot out from her hands, and began to hover right in front of their faces.
"Does that no seem nice? Does that not seem enticing? Would the greatest gladiator this side of Remnant not wish for the power to never loose again?"
The red-haired tiger winced, and her familiar glared at the white-haired woman.
"Would a poor orphan not wish to save every single village out in the world, and to slay that which has taken everything from them?"
The black-haired sloth narrowed his eyes and bared his own teeth. The woman didn't pay it any attention.
"Would a former member of the White Fang wish to truly bring peace to Remnant, and end the horrors between our 2 races?"
The onyx-haired cat's eyes widened. As many ugly stares and eyes turned to her, the shiver that she felt wasn't just from the cold.
"Would a heiress not want to end the corruption of the state by herself, and finally take back what is rightfully hers?"
The white-haired fox blinked, and looked away. There was no answer from her.
"Would a girl, deprived of her good mother, not wish to finally take vengeance on her poor one?"
The blonde-haired dragon's eyes turned red, but her flaming hair did little to melt the ice beneath her. It was as if it was growing itself around her.
"Would you not wish, Ruby Rose, to make sure that no other children would ever loose their mothers ever again?"
The black-to-red-haired crow's eyes darted from side to side in a mixture of both veiled anger and fear. There was a glow behind those eyes, and light began to flicker around her trapped arms.
And then, the woman turned to the lion, and tilted her head to the other side.
"And you... Orion..."
Jaune's eyes widened once more. How many... How many people knew about his old name?
"Would you not like to seek redemption?"
How many people knew about his old life?
"Would you not like to make up for that which you have lost?"
What he went through?
"Would you not like to make up for that which you have destroyed?"
What he did?
"Would you, Jaune Arc, not like to redeem the name Orion, and wear it once more?"
What he wanted most of all?
The woman smiled, and then pushed herself away, "In the end, it doesn't matter how long it takes. In the end, you will all join us," a sigh, and then, "After all, all that you all need is... A little push..."
"You're insane," someone muttered. Jaune didn't know who.
"No," was the woman's reply, "I am sane, as are the rest of us in the Cult of Silver. We have finally seen past the veil of insanity that blinds mankind, and have seen the light that purifies us..."
And then, she turned to Jaune.
"And now, so shall you."
Then, the fake-Ruby began to float towards the 2 of them, ever emotionless, ever impassive and without a look of weakness or strength on her face. Nothingness. Pure nothingness. Red tendrils began to wisp and flick off of the crimson fog that flowed off of her legs and waist as she approached, like a wraith-like wolf, silent, and with killing intent.
Was it?
It was impossible to know.
"This," the woman calmly gestured to the red mass that was once Nora, "Is Ruby Alter."
To the side, Ruby's eyes widened in shock. She didn't know how to react to the thing that wore her name and face.
"Please," the woman stepped to the side, "Show him the light, and let him become the first of a new generation."
'Ruby Alter' didn't even look to the woman as she placed herself right in front of Jaune, and raised a single hand, a finger pointing out and reaching towards his forehead.
Nearby, the monster with 4 eyes and a black metal body began to speak into his portable microphone as miniature camera drones began to fly down and float around the quietened battlefield. What it was saying escaped him, for he wasn't really paying much attention to it.
His mind was focused on other things.
Jaune tried to move his head away from the approaching grasp of the Alter's hand, but he couldn't move. His entire body was encased in ice, unable to move, unable to free himself as the red mass slowly began to approach him.
Within that red mass, he could already feel the mental corruption that leeched off of the Alter's body like a mist. Already, tendrils of madness and corruption were beginning to leak and worm their ways into his mind, paving their ways into his memories, wrapping over his brain, and
Images flashed before his mind.
Gold and blue objects.
A city coloured entirely in silver.
A city within a forest within a forest.
Pools of light mixing with pools of dark.
And then...
War.
War in the heavens.
War in reality.
War in unreality.
War involving the gods.
War involving themselves.
War.
Death.
Suffering.
Blood.
Violence.
Reality.
Unreality.
The unravelling of souls.
Darkness.
Light.
Kings.
Queens.
Torture.
Horror.
Horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror horror
JAUNE.
It was not just Summer who said that.
It was a chorus of voices.
Summer... What... Where have you been? What's... What's going on?
JAUNE...
…Yes?
…TRUST ME.
What?
Silence. It was as if time itself had stopped and stalled all around him.
FOR IT IS IN PASSING THAT WE ACHIEVE WISDOM
His chest began to glow. It was small at first-
AND IT IS IN WISDOM WE SAVE THOSE WE LOVE
-But then began to brighten more and more.
THROUGH THE DARKNESS, BE THE LANTERN THAT GUIDES THEM THROUGH THE DARKNESS
Ruby Alter was the first to notice, and suddenly, she flew backwards to safety.
THROUGH THE COLD, BE THE FIRE THAT GRANTS THOSE YOU LOVE WARMTH
The Aspects began to step back as well at the display, the woman's eyes widening as she realised what was going on.
IF THEY ARE WITHOUT A HOME, BE THAT WHICH GRANTS THEM SHELTER
"No... It can't be..." muttered the woman as the light within Jaune began to grow more and more, as the ice around him began to crack and shatter into flickers and pieces.
IF THEY ARE WITHOUT COMPANY, BE THAT WHICH GRANTS THEM FAMILY
"No one can... It's too soon... He can't be able to..."
AND IF THEY ARE WITHOUT HOPE, BE THAT WHICH BRINGS THEM HOPE
"S-Shoot him!"
LOST WITHOUT PURPOSE, AND NOW WITH PURPOSE FOUND ONCE MORE
"SHOOT HIM NOW!"
I RELEASE YOUR SOUL
The light grew and grew even more, ready to burst.
AND WITH YOU EVER STEP OF THE WAY
The cultists raised their guns-
SAVE THEE IN NEED
-But it was too late.
The light expanded outwards, and, like a balloon...
Burst.
{KA-BOOM!}
A mixture of silver and white light exploded outwards, like a second sun, shattering and melting every trace of ice around him in a bright flash of silver and white fire.
The fire exploded and continued to expand outwards. Torrents and missiles of white light shattered every trace of imprisoning ice outwards, turning them into melting snow under the heat of his aura. Waves of initiates collapsed to the ground, free from their restraints, but then healed and reinvigorated by the healing light that lanced out and covered them, sheltering and covering them like a blanket left next to an open fireplace.
Jaune felt the aura wash over him, licking at his wounds and fatigue like a fire, and sealing the cracks and holes in his body like an ocean of water. His tiredness and fatigue melted away, and shed and malted itself, like a caterpillar breaking out of its shell and spreading its butterfly wings, ready to fly and float with the wind. Pulling himself onto his feet, he could feel his aura flowing against the ground, and allowing life to grow once more. Grass stretched out of the ground where aura took hold. Rows of flowers grew and blossomed all in one. Trees began to heal their wounds. The snow and cold began to melt away under the heat of the son of the sun.
Around him, a white cloak of pure aura formed, a golden rose symbol, accented by 2 equally golden crescents, forming on its back as it flapped in the wind. In his left hand, Crocea Mors glowed and flamed white and silver. In his right hand, the rifle that he had scavenged began to glow white and blue.
Around him, his fellow initiates began to pick themselves off of the ground and ready themselves. Their fatigue melted away. Their wounds sealed up. Their hearts and minds were ready for war.
Underneath his new cloak of white light, he looked at the woman who presented herself as the leader of the Cult of Silver. Her mouth was wide open, her eyes shaking at the sight of him.
She tried to kill him.
It was only fair that he return the favour.
With a crack of his neck, he looked at her, and said one simple line:
"You think yourself a god? I think myself a killer of gods."
The woman growled. Her hands covered themselves in ice as silver light began to flow from her eyes.
"You want a war, Orion?"
Both sides readied themselves for was.
"THEN LET THERE BE WAR!"
The counterattack had begun.
Reviewer response time:
Greer123: Yeah, it is interesting, isn't it?
Redestrobo: Yeah, the cult are scary, aren't they? And as for Orion... It's a little bit more complicated than that...
DNWorks: All in good time, my friend. All in good time...
C3l3st14: Not that overpowered, I'll tell you that right now. And yeah, let's just say that Ruby's going to go through a lot in this fic.
SentinalSlice: To be fair, Yang's probably on an emotional high right now, what due to Jaune wearing her mother's cloak, Ruby being kidnapped, and getting the skin on her chest frozen and shattered, so it's best we cut her just a little bit of slack, yes?
merendinoemiliano: I aim to please, and happy new year to you too!
Xealchim: I will admit, the Taken are fun enemies, but I do prefer the Fallen, if only because of the lore (I don't actually play Destiny: I'm just interested in all of the lore). And no, I've never played any Final Fantasy games. To be honest, I haven't played any video games since 2017. Been busy doing this, you see...
*Que I May Fall*
Yes, indeed, the counterattack has begun, and Jaune finally got his aura unlocked! Hoorays for days!
Now then, I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope that this year will be better than the last. We can only hope, right?
Anyways, with all of that said and done, leave a review, follow and favourite, and I shall see you all next time!
Titanmaster117 out!