Author's note: I have to say that I was not expecting last chapter to even happen. I was planning something completely different for it, but it kind of ran away from me, and as for the guest known as Dorohoth, I have an answer to your question. "Even with the power of Salem's father on his side, I don't understand how your OC, Vara, could do something so world-breaking. I crunched the numbers given Tempest's explanation to Vara's power, and at base speed, of none at all, by the 50th second, he would've exceeded the speed of light and at 51 seconds, over 3 times faster than light. You would expect to see something like this in dragon ball z, not RWBY. How is this possible?" As mentioned in the previous chapter, he channels the energy of the world into his body and in some cases shit like that happens. He will by no means be 'okay' after he gets back, but he'll be alive. I crunched the numbers too and at the 100 second mark, it came out to about 5.153775207E47 E meaning exponent. Somebody smarter than me tell me how many zeroes that is. End author's note.
Salem looked out over her valley. She had summoned countless grimm to hold Vara, but he had brought an army of his own. She had expected him to bring a fighting force, but not one that big. However, one thing she never expected was to hear the voice of her father come from his face. She turned to her left as Tempest crawled through the giant hole in the wall. He crept across the floor for a few feet before standing.
"That hurt like a living Hell, but there's no way he could've survived that. Even I barely managed to stay in one piece." Salem stared at him, blankly. "What?"
"I want you to take Galben and make sure he's dead. I also want you to find Summer and bring her back to me, alive and unharmed." Tempest crossed his arms.
"You do realize how dangerous that will be for the two of us right? A couple Lusus Naturae against two pairs of Silver Eyes? That doesn't sound like it's going to go well."
The muscles in Salem's face tightened at his remark. "How would you like it if I threw you into the pit again? This time for a hundred years instead of just one."
He leaned his head behind his shoulders, causing his neck to crack. "I wouldn't like it, but it's still preferable to having to fight him again. He nearly killed me, and very well would have if he had used his light."
"Fortunately for you, he can't use his light because of his overwhelming hatred of me, and as for Summer. With one of her eyes missing, her light will be half as strong as it was before." She turned back to the window she had been looking through. "What did you do with Vara's weapons?"
"I couldn't do anything with them because his ghosts took them and ran off when he fell. And you know as well as I do that just because someone's ghosts are still moving doesn't mean they're alive." He turned to leave and get the previously mentioned monster.
"Wait." He turned back to her. "Should he be alive when you find him, transform him."
"If at all possible." He turned and left.
It had been several hours since they had to abandon Roy's tank of a vehicle and catch a boat to the mainland. The waves swayed the boat in a way that reminded Summer of how Vara would hold her in his arms when she was young and rock her to sleep. A small tear slipped from her eye and she wiped it away. It had been twelve years since she left. Where Salem put her it was hard to tell time, and she had lost track of it. She was so angry with herself over what happened all those years ago, and even angrier for essentially throwing Ruby and Yang's lives away for her own selfish reasons.
No matter what she had been hoping to accomplish back then, none of it was worth anything now. With her two daughters now taking part in the war Vara had died fighting. She gripped her empty left sleeve and buried her face in her knees. She didn't know what to do anymore. Her family was gone and she probably didn't even have a home to go to.
Laura sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. Vara will come back, he always does and always will. He promised he wouldn't let Salem kill him, remember? In all the years I've known him, he never once broke a single promise."
"That's not what I'm worried about," Summer mumbled. "I'm worried not having a home with Tai anymore. It's been so long, and what if Ruby and Yang find out? What will I do then?"
Laura looked at her with a twinge of concern. "Listen, from what Vara told us on our way to get you, Tai still loves you. More than he ever did Raven, but he loves her too. As for Ruby and Yang, they'll forgive you. They knew you weren't dead, and the only thing that kept Tai from losing his mind was the fact that Vara was looking for you ever since you disappeared. Every second of everyday he scoured the world for any sign of you, anywhere he went. He made an army of ghosts to patrol the planet, just to look for you."
Summer looked up at her, tears coming from her eye. "He really did that for me? He told me once that he would tear through Hell to get to me, but I always thought that if it came down to it, he wouldn't be able to. Now I see he meant it with every fiber of his being." The tears started flowing faster from her eye and she started crying.
"Adira, how far to the surface?" Vara was shooting through a tunnel filled with the magical fluid like a bullet down a gun with a blue spark racing along next to him.
"You should know, considering you can feel a third of the world on your own."
"My aura is nearly gone right now. It's taking all I have just to hold myself together, so I need you to navigate." The blue spark was silent for a few seconds before responding.
"We're still ten miles down. Take this right." Vara followed her instructions and bolted down the next tunnel.
The sun dipped beneath the horizon as the ship came into port. The passengers stood and waited for the board to lay across the gap so they could cross. Summer, Laura, Roy and Yael stepped onto the dock and headed for the city of Vale. The boat they took wouldn't go all the way to Patch so they had to catch another one on the other side of the city. The hailed a couple taxis to get to the other side. By the time they got to the island it was around midnight.
Yael knocked on the door and waited for it to open. He heard footsteps coming from somewhere above ground and figured it was Tai. The doorknob wobbled and turned, opening the door and revealing the tired face of the blonde man.
Tai's eyes widened as he saw Summer. Tears ran down the side of his face as his mind tried to comprehend what he was seeing. Summer stayed where she was, nervous of what he would say.
He stepped forward and reached out for her. He pulled her into a hug and wrapped his arms around her body. "I missed you so much. Vara got you out of there, just like he said he would."
"Yes but, he said he would make it out too, so I believe he will, but I'm afraid he didn't." Tears streamed down her face and seeped into Tai's shirt.
"He'll be fine. He always keeps his word."