What if I told you I was gonna write another chapter? Hard to believe, I know. Suspend your disbelief for long enough to read it tho.
Chapter 37
The Lord of Fall
In the vault, Ozpin knew he had to do something, anything to stop the woman before him, the newly ascended Fall Maiden. The two fought relentlessly, Ozpin doing his best to try and at least slow her down so that the others could arrive and offer whatever assistance they could, no matter how small. Clashing with Cinder once more, Ozpin managed to push her back, sending her skidding away with her hands on the floor. As she slid, she used her newfound power to scorch and melt the tiles beneath her, forcing them upwards to create a multitude of glassy daggers to hurl at Ozpin, though he moved incredibly fast and knocked all of them away one by one, moving forward and jabbing Cinder rapid fire. Launched back by a final, powerful strike, Cinder decided that playtime was over, and took to the air and generated a massive ball of fire around herself. Ozpin slammed his cane into the floor in response, somehow generating a large barrier around himself that defended him from the massive pillar of flames Cinder unleashed upon him, using it to get close and try to continue the fight, the fire bathing the entire room in a blinding white glow.
OOO
Outside of Beacon, evacuation was finally being done in full force, picking up the last few civilians and students that weren't staying to help. Port and Oobleck stood at the ready, making sure anyone who got on board was safe.
"That's it! Everybody on board! This is a mandatory evacuation!" Port shouted, waving everyone on board.
"A safe zone has been established in Vale!" Oobleck added. "Please, remain calm and listen to Atlas personnel!"
By this point, Ruby had finally made her way back to the Beacon courtyard, Zwei barking to alert Weiss of the girl's approach. Weiss turned around to see Ruby, eyes wide with relief.
"Ruby!" she shouted, gladly accepting the hug that Ruby offered. Today had been a lot on her.
"Oh, I found you!" Ruby shouted back, equally glad her friend was safe.
"Ruby, where have you-" Weiss asked, though Ruby cut her off, as there were more important things to worry about.
"Don't worry, I'm fine! What's going on?" she asked, though Weiss simply lowered her head, looking decidedly sad. "Weiss? What is it?"
Weiss finally stepped aside, letting Ruby see Yang and Blake, their wounds thankfully bandaged. Yang still lay unconscious, with Blake crying and holding Yang's remaining hand. Behind them, Ren and Nora sat, bruised and bloodied, but thankfully they were otherwise okay.
"Link brought Blake and Yang back and patched them up as best he could, and then he left to fight his uncle..." Weiss said, still looking at the ground. "He's trying his best, Ruby."
"I'm sorry," Blake whispered to Yang, closing her eyes.
Ruby, speechless, brought her hands to her mouth as her eyes widened, tears welling up. How could this happen?
"I'm so sorry," Blake said, curling up into a ball.
"Yang..." Ruby mumbled, looking at her mangled sister's unconscious form.
"Hey," Sun said, stepping forward reassuringly. "She's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."
"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing," Nora said, struggling to stand for a moment before falling back down, holding her side in pain.
"What?!" Ruby shouted, not willing to leave anyone behind.
"Look, guys, that giant Grimm is circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out! We all have to go, now!" Sun shouted, though Ren began to stir behind him.
"We're not... leaving!" he shouted as he tried to stand, not too keen on the idea of leaving his teammates here to die. However, he fell to his knees, still far too hurt to do anything. "Ugh!"
Sun, still worried about his favorite Faunus friend, turned to look at Blake, clearly hoping to get her out safe.
"I'll find them..." Ruby said, nodding to resolve herself. "I'll find them, and I'll bring them back."
"No! We will find them. All of them," she said, hoping to save even Link as well. "Watch after Blake and Yang. We'll be back," she said to the rest of VDMR, who were still among the most ready to fight.
"You have my word," Sebastian said, nodding to Weiss.
Before anyone could say or do anything else, Weiss and Ruby ran off back towards Beacon, sun shaking his head as they did.
"You better be! Idiots," he mumbled.
OOO
"Okay, I think I have Glynda's number," Jaune said as he and Pyrrha ran out of the tower, the sounds of Cinder and Ozpin fighting inside all too audible as it echoed throughout the courtyard. "Oh, where is it?" he shouted, going through his contacts.
As he scrolled, he saw Pyrrha staring silently at the tower, having completely ignored everything he was saying.
"Pyrrha?" he said, finally drawing her attention. "What was all of that?"
"I..." she said, turning to look at him, only for an explosion from the vault to interrupt them, Cinder using her newfound power to shoot up the elevator shaft.
"But... Ozpin..." Jaune mumbled, he and Pyrrha staring at the tower in shock.
"There's no time," Pyrrha said, shaking her head. "Go. Get to Vale and call for help."
"Huh?" Jaune mumbled, uncertain of what Pyrrha meant. "What are you gonna do?"
Watching as Pyrrha slowly turned to Beacon Tower, he finally understood what she meant, and there was no way in hell he was gonna let her do that.
"No..." he said, realizing that Pyrrha meant to fight that monster, "no, Pyrrha, you can't. You saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha, I won't let you do-"
Before he could finish, she silenced him with a deep kiss, pulling him closely to ensure that if nothing else, he'd finally know how she felt. It took him a moment, but eventually gave in, pulling her in close and hoping to never have to let go. She eventually pulled back, looking him sadly in the eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said sadly as she used her Semblance to force him into a nearby locker and slam it shut.
"Hey! Wait! Stop, stop! Pyrrha, please don't do this!" he shouted, Pyrrha ignoring him and punching in a code that would take him anywhere other than here. Smiling weakly at him, she watched as the locker took off, taking him somewhere safe. With no more regrets, she glared at the top of Beacon Tower, as she knew she had business to take care of. Stepping towards the elevator shaft, she forced the doors open and saw that Cinder had melted holes at both the top an bottom of the elevator, meaning she wasn't going to be going up the normal way. Stepping inside, she closed her eyes and concentrated as the elevator began shaking, shortly thereafter the elevator began shaking and she threw her arms to the side, the elevator shooting upwards towards the top.
Outside, Weiss and Ruby were sprinting through the courtyard in the hopes of finding their friends when Weiss' scroll started ringing, Weiss pulling it out and seeing the caller ID.
"It's Jaune!" she shouted, answering it immediately and putting it on speaker. "Where are you?"
"Weiss!" he shouted, having finally gotten through to someone. "Please, you have to stop her!"
"What?!" Weiss shouted, needing a bit more clarification.
"Pyrrha!" he shouted. "She's going after that woman at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"
"Jaune, what are you talking about?! Where are you?" she shouted, Jaune screaming back at her.
"Don't worry about me!" he yelled, clearly distressed. "Please, you have to save Pyrrha."
"We will," Weiss said reassuringly. "Are you okay?"
Jaune, clearly more worried about Pyrrha than himself at this point, screamed and threw his scroll at the ground, shattering it and rendering it completely unusable. Before it stopped working entirely, he managed to get out one last word before it shut down. "Please..."
"Jaune?" Weiss shouted, unsure of what happened on the other end. "Jaune!"
With static being the only thing she heard from the other end, she knew she wouldn't be able to talk to Jaune anymore. It wasn't that important anyway, as the ground below them was shaking, the girls looking up and seeing the Wyvern coming in and start circling the tower, the same black liquid dripping from it as it did. Landing on a nearby arch that somehow supported its weight, it roared into the air, nearly deafening those in the area. The two readied their weapons, as the liquid continued to spawn more Grimm, and they needed to get rid of them before they could continue their search.
"I have a plan," Ruby said as she cocked her scythe.
"You always do," Weiss said, getting back to back with her partner.
OOO
Sadly, despite their combined efforts, Link and Fenrir weren't doing very well against Oni, his might being too much for the pair working in tandem.
"Got any more bright ideas, kid?" Fenrir groaned, having been knocked away by Oni once more.
"Fresh out," Link mumbled back, using his sword to prop himself up. "He's not even using his damn Semblance..."
"Shit, you're right..." Fenrir said, rising back to his feet. "Oh well, not much we can do about it other than try to tire him out."
"I have more aura than the two of you combined, you won't succeed," Oni said, overhearing the two of them. "Now you can either get out of my way or die, I was very clear about that."
"Sorry pal, I've got a lot more riding on this than you think," Fenrir said, shifting into Reaver once more.
"My life means nothing if I can't help those who depend on me," Link said, forcing himself back to his feet.
"Then you will die a worthless death!" Oni shouted, running forward and kicking Fenrir away before grabbing Link by the face and smashing him into the ground, destroying the remainder of his aura.
"Back off!" Fenrir shouted, coming back and clashing with Oni hard, the ground behind them shearing apart.
"This is between family!" Oni shouted back, punching Fenrir with his free hand and slamming him into the ground. Fenrir recovered quickly and rolled to the side, Oni's foot coming down to crush his head. Rising quickly, he tried to stab Oni with his blades, only for each tip to be caught in one of the hollows of Oni's sword, the larger man flicking his wrist and ripping both blades free from him. Rearing back, Oni brought his sword down with incredible force, Fenrir being forced to try to catch it between his hands, somehow managing to keep himself from being bisected. Behind him, the force of Oni's swing split a large building in half, each piece falling to the ground and causing tremors throughout the area. An unforeseen side effect of this, however, was Fenrir's own mask being split in two, revealing that he was, in fact, Noctus Hale.
"You...!" Link shouted, seeing Noctus' pained face as he tried to hold Oni back.
"Yeah yeah, I know, but worry about it later!" he shouted, finally managing to push Oni's sword to the side, causing a large gash in the ground beside him that knocked both he and Link back.
"I raised you after your parents' deaths, and this is how I am repaid for my kindness?" Oni said, stepping back to Link and kicking him in the side, knocking the wind out of his lungs. "Had it not been for me, you would still be stuck with that vile filth that adopted you in the first place! I gave you the life that you have now!"
"And then you took it away!" Link said, finally getting his breath back.
"You should be grateful you had it in the first place!" Oni shouted, stomping on Link's chest. "Without me, you'd have been nothing!"
"Back away from the kid, Strife!" Noctus shouted, having reclaimed his blades and charged forward in an attempt to take his head off, only to be stuck on the end of his sword, suspended in the air. "Oh..."
"I've had enough of your interfering, Fenrir," Oni said, grabbing him by the throat and ripping the sword out, blood pouring from the open wound. "You're lucky you amuse me, otherwise I'd have killed you by now."
"You haven't... b-because you're a coward..." Noctus stuttered, a weak smirk on his face. Seeing Oni frown, he spat the blood in his mouth at him. causing Oni to choke slam him, readying his blade to stab him in the face. Noctus was barely able to catch the blade, his hands now bleeding as the blade pressed closer and closer to his face. Glaring at Noctus, Oni pushed the blade down, dragging the tip along the bridge of his nose and leaving a deep wound that started to bleed as well, as if he wasn't losing enough as is.
Before he could finish Noctus off, Link came by and tackled him, wrapping his arms around his neck in an attempt to strangle him, though he was easily thrown off. Clearly tired of today, Oni kept hold of Link's right arm as he slammed him into the ground, planting a foot on his chest as he began pulling, a serious of loud and sickening cracks and tears emanating from his arm as he did, causing Link to scream out in pain.
"Do you hate me, boy?" Oni said, glaring at Link under his foot as he clutched at his arm in agony, mind-shattering pain surging through it in its entirety. "I trust that you do. Before I kill you, allow me to tell you something."
Link, breathing heavily as he felt his arm being nearly torn off, simply glared at his uncle above him, both his own and Noctus' blood splattered all over him. All that, and they were unable to so much as scratch him...
"Your parents weren't killed in a Grimm attack. It was me," Oni said, twisting Link's arm even further and sending another jolt of pain throughout his already mangled arm. "Your mother was an unfortunate sacrifice to kill your filthy father."
"There's no way," Link said through gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot. "I saw them die, it was Grimm."
"I found a way to alter your memories," Oni said, pulling his foot up for a moment before stomping back down, another loud crack coming from his chest, likely a broken rib or two. "Once I was done with them, I put you in a foster home of my choice. I wanted to make sure you were in an environment that would force you to become strong, to cultivate your Semblance and temper you as a warrior. But it seems it was all a waste of time. I should have killed you with those disgusting parents of yours."
"Y-You monster..." Link said, tears in his eyes. As he spoke, he somehow knew Oni wasn't lying for the first time since he'd come to know him. The words that came out of his mouth were drenched in malice and hate, there was no way for them to be false.
"Monster... Yes, I suppose I am," Oni said looking once more at his nephew. "It seems you were raised to be a fine Huntsman. You've fit the role perfectly, even dying in battle against a monster."
Before Oni could continue, something huge hit him in the back, knocking him away from Link and Noctus' broken bodies, Link's arm falling unnaturally to the side.
"I'm afraid I must stop you there, Strife," said a new voice, Link looking up to see the massive man known only as D, though he didn't know this. Falling back, Link took a deep breath as he gripped at him arm in pain, knowing full well the limb was unusable.
"Who the hell are you?" Noctus asked, holding a hand to the wound in his chest in a futile attempt to stifle the blood flow.
"You don't know?" he asked, a little surprised. "I'm D."
"So you're the guy she was working for..." Noctus said, falling back against a wall. "Sorry bossman, but after today I'm gonna have to quit. I'm not quite cut out for this Strife bullshit."
"It makes no difference to me, Fenrir," he said, waving him off. "I'm only here for the boy."
"Oh, nope, not letting you do that," Noctus said, rising back to his feet and gripping his weapon, now back to its completed state. "Kid basically saved my life, I'm not letting anyone hurt him any more than he already is."
"Oh, I have no intention of harming him," D said, sheathing the massive blade of his. "For now, I only come with a message."
"I can hear you just fine from here...!" Link said, grunted as he forced himself to his knees, trying to stand. He still had more he needed to do.
"Very well. I've come to see if you're willing to join me. My time with that woman was only temporary, and from this day forward her services are no longer required," D said, Link looking at him incredulously.
"That woman? You mean the person on the intercoms? You must be insane if you think I'd ever help you!" Link shouted, wincing as he held his arm in pain, his sleeve turning red. There was a lot wrong with it at this point...
"Oh well, I had a feeling you would feel that way," D said, turning to leave. "I have what I need from you for the moment though. Just be aware... We will meet again someday. And it will not be under such friendly pretenses."
Link would have spoken again, but he was interrupted when Oni made his way back, somehow even more angry than before, his aura being visible, a potent silver that raged around him like flames.
"I don't recall inviting another to join in," he said, standing face to face with D, towering over the already massive man.
"Oh, don't worry, I was just on my way," he said, attempting to do just that. Oni wasn't a fan of this idea, however, and brought his sword down on him. The blade simply stopped upon hitting his skin, however, D simply looking at it and pushing it away. "I said I'm leaving, Strife, that's enough."
Oni looked at the man in surprise as he walked away, hearing a multitude of loud clangs and boom from the top of the tower, looking up to the top and smiling.
"There..." he said, having completely forgotten about D. "It seems you've gotten lucky, boy, for I have other matters to attend to. But, I know if I simply leave you, you'll just interrupt me again. So..."
Before Link or Noctus could figure out what Oni was getting at, he pinned Link to the wall after taking his sword from him, driving it through both his right forearm and lower torso, pinning him to a nearby wall and hanging him off the ground.
"There!" he shouted, pleased with himself as Link screamed once more in pain. "By the time you free yourself, I should be long done with this Kingdom. Enjoy your new life, nephew, it will not be a pleasant one."
With that, Oni turned to leave, Noctus rushing forward and trying to tear Link's sword free, but the added serrated edge made that pretty difficult.
"H-Hurry," Link said, trying in vain to rip the sword free with his free hand, "he can't be left alone!"
"I'm trying kid, I'm trying!" Noctus said, him too struggling with the blade, barely moving it an inch. Seeing the winch on Link's gauntlet, he pulled the cable out and looped it around a nearby lamppost before hooking it to the pommel of his sword. "Try this. I'll warn you, it's gonna hurt a hell of a lot though."
"A moment's pain is nothing..." he said, activating the winch and tearing the sword out of himself, collapsing to the ground as the blade came back to him from around the lamppost. Needless to say, he cried out in pain once more as he did, but it was necessary. "I need to... I need to get to the top of the tower..."
"I can try to give you a toss, but from there on out it's all up to you," Noctus said, helping Link back to his feet.
"I know," he said, staggering but ultimately remaining standing. "But I need to stop him no matter what."
OOO
Cinder didn't take long to reach the top of the tower, bursting through the elevator doors and filling the room with smoke that only subsided when she strode out, smiling as she entered the room. As if it knew she was there, the Wyvern climbed the tower, angling itself to see Cinder within, growling at her from outside as she smiled at it.
"Shhhh..." she almost cooed, smiling at the beast. "This is your home now."
The Wyvern still growled at her, though a bit quieter this time as she took a few steps back and held out her hand, generating a fireball that seemed to captivate the beast. Hearing something from the elevator shaft that soundly mildly like grating metal, she turned as the elevator itself smash into the top of the shaft, the doors flying open and Pyrrha's spear shooting forth. Cinder smirked, casually dodging the weapon as her shield came next with Pyrrha herself behind it, trying to kick it into Cinder's face. She was able to block it rather easily, however, pushing Pyrrha away. Pyrrha quickly pulled her weapons back to herself as Cinder began floating again, eerily watching Pyrrha below her. Swinging her hand to the side, she generated a large arc of fire that Pyrrha dodged before holding her other hand forward, firing a stream of flames that Pyrrha also dodged.
Cinder continued her assault, generating a series of small fireballs behind her whilst also throwing more flames at Pyrrha. This time, she leaped forward with her shield raised to protect herself as she got closer. Upon reaching Cinder, she slashed with her sword, only for Cinder to catch it and pull her in. Slamming a palm into Pyrrha's stomach, she generated a powerful fiery blast that knocked her away, knocking her into a wall. Landing on her hands and knees, Pyrrha quickly stood back up and looked back up at Cinder, readying herself for what came next. Cinder used her flames to propel herself towards Pyrrha and attempted to kick her in the stomach, though Pyrrha slipped to the side and caught Cinder's arm, halting her momentum and giving herself a chance to push off the wall and flip over Cinder to throw her into the floor.
Cinder landed rather easily, sliding to a stop before rising to her feet, only to look in surprise as Pyrrha charged forward in an attempt to bash her shield into Cinder. Bash her she did, sending her stumbling back and giving Pyrrha a few more chances to slash at her, knocking her hands away to prevent her from defending. Pyrrha readied to attack again but Cinder ducked and backflipped, kicking Pyrrha with a flaming foot as she did that knocked her into the air. Pyrrha recovered and readied her spear, firing the rifle end as she threw to maximize its speed. Cinder tried to generate more fire, but her concentration was broken when she had to slap aside Pyrrha's spear, and then Pyrrha's shield. Looking annoyed, Cinder looked at Pyrrha as she lunged at her and tackled her.
Tumbling in the air, the two struggled for dominance before landing hard and kicking up a hefty cloud of dust. When it finally settled, Pyrrha came out on top, holding Cinder in a choke hold with her sword held to her neck as Cinder struggled to keep it away. Cinder looked up and saw the Wyvern begin circling again, smiling as she started superheating her hands, and by extension Pyrrha's sword, glancing over her shoulder at Pyrrha. Upon hearing a roar outside, Cinder faced forward, Pyrrha doing the same and looking scared, as the giant Grimm stopped circling and instead decided to ram the tower. Right before it made contact, Cinder finally managed to melt all the way through Pyrrha's sword, elbowing her across the room as the Wyvern crashed into the tower. It hit with such force that then entire tower from the roof of Ozpin's office up came crashing down, smashing more buildings as it collapsed.
Crawling towards her only remaining weapon, her shield, Pyrrha tried to think of a way to distract Cinder as she sat in the center of the room, levitating and smiling at Pyrrha as she crawled to her weapon. Upon reaching her shield, Pyrrha saw Ozpin's large metal desk, quickly using her Semblance to fling it at Cinder and warp it around her. Rolling to the side and raising her shield, Cinder threw the desk off of herself and rose back into the air, throwing more flames at Pyrrha. She dodged the first two shots and tried to block the third, being knocked back as the area between them caught fire. Pyrrha then threw her shield at Cinder, who easily knocked it away. Looking around, she only then noticed the giant cogs that used to make u the ceiling of the office levitating around her in droves. Pyrrha forced her shield beneath Cinder, knocking her feet from under her before using another cog to smash her into the ground and pin her there before calling her shield back to herself. Clenching her hand into a fist, she finally drove all of the cogs and gears into Cinder with as much force as she could muster. Sadly, Cinder blew them all away in a powerful burst of flames. One of the cogs was even sent Pyrrha's way, and though she tried to block with her shield, it blew straight through her guard and knocked her into the wall, finally getting through her aura.
Outside on the ground, Ruby and Weiss noticed the tower fall, Ruby looking around at the multitude of Grimm around them, and the swarm seemed to keep getting bigger and bigger.
"It's no use, they just keep coming!" Ruby shouted, cutting down yet another Beowolf.
Another Beowolf prepared to charge her, but stopped when it heard a shriek of pain nearby, the other Grimm stopping and turning towards it as well. It seemed they were more draw to the pain and grief of whoever that was than they were to Ruby and Weiss. Sadly, Ruby knew that voice all too well.
"That sounded like..." she said, eyes widening as the source approached her, covered in blood, arm twisted unnaturally, and a hole in his torso. "Link..."
"And Mr. Hale!" Weiss said, noticing that he too was a bloody mess, Noctus helping Link get closer to the tower.
"Strife is heading to the tower," Noctus said, spitting out more blood. "And the kid needs to get to the top."
"No way!" Weiss shouted, she and Ruby getting to either side of the pair to defend them from whatever Grimm tried to attack them. "Look at him, he's lucky he's still alive right now!"
"You need to get him to the evacuation point, now!" Ruby shouted, cleaving another Beowolf in half.
"Listen up, kid," Noctus said, "when you've got something to protect, you do your damndest to protect it. I'm not gonna let him go with any regrets. Now help us get him to the top of the tower or get the hell outta the way."
Ruby simply stood there for a moment to think, Link looking her dead in the eyes. "Ruby, please..." he begged, "Let me fix it."
"No," she said, turning to Weiss. "No, we're both going to fix it."
"Thank you," Link sighed, Noctus letting him stand on his own.
"Weiss, we've gotta hurry!" Ruby said, Weiss nodding and slamming her sword into the ground, surrounding them with ice, aside from a straight shot to the tower.
"You can do this," Weiss said, projecting as many glyphs up the side as she could to ensure she had solid footing all the way up.
"Stay close," Ruby said, sprinting forwards as fast as she could before reaching the tower, sprinting up the glyphs Weiss had made.
"Hold on, kid, this is gonna be a hard shot to make," Noctus said, gripping his sword with both hands.
"Just make it count," Link said, hopping on.
"I'll do my best!" Noctus said, Striker filling his blade before swinging it as hard as he could towards the apex of the tower, flinging him to the top before he himself fell to his knees. "Hey, Schnee, do me a solid and cauterize some of these, will ya?"
"O-Of course!" Weiss said, doing her best to burn close as many of his wounds as she could, working fast since she could hear the ice around them cracking as the Grimm tried to smash it down.
"Keep it up, and I'll get us both outta here alive," he said, propping himself up with his sword. "I'm gonna be sore after today, I can tell you that much..."
OOO
Cinder, content that her opponent could no longer properly defend herself, held her hands up and formed a black obsidian bow in her hands and drew a single matching arrow and Pyrrha wound up and threw her shield at her right as Cinder fired. The two met midair, the arrow cracking and shattering before reforming in the other side continuing as if nothing had happened and burying itself in Pyrrha's ankle, driving her to the ground. Falling back in pain, both ends of the arrow broke off, meaning she wasn't going to be getting it out any time soon. Clenching her ankle in pain, she looked up to see Cinder approach her, looking decidedly pleased with herself.
"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours," she said, grabbing Pyrrha's chin and forcing her to look at her as she smiled. "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."
"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha said, pulling away from Cinder's grasp.
"Yes," Cinder said, frowning at Pyrrha before her. Backing up, she reformed her bow again and readied another arrow, leveling it out at Pyrrha's chest. At this moment, Ruby and Link reached the top, but were too late as they watched Cinder fire, the arrow piercing all the way through her chest, leaving her gasping for air due to the arrow piercing her wind pipe. Link and Ruby could do nothing but watch as Pyrrha's would bled aura, her movements slowing as Cinder stepped forward and laid a hand on her head, using her newfound power in incinerate her body, the ashes being blown away in the breeze. All that remained of the poor girl was her headdress, Cinder dropping it on the ground before turning to see Ruby and Link there, smirking at the pair.
Somehow, Ruby's own eyes began to flash with a similar light to Cinder's, bathing the entire area in a blinding white light as she screamed the name of her fallen friend.
"WHAT?!" Cinder shouted, having taken everything into account but whatever Ruby just did.
When the light finally subsided, Ruby lay unconscious on the floor, Cinder sitting there clenching her left eye in pain.
"It seems I missed the fun."
Turning, she was Oni Strife standing there, leaning against one of the pillars.
"But oh well, I can have my fun later," he said, stepping towards Cinder. "For now, you have something I want."
"Stay away from me, Strife," she wheezed, sounding raspy after what Ruby had done to her. "You lost."
"Have I?" Oni said, continuing his approach. "I don't recall having met any of my lose conditions, Fall Maiden."
"You know what I am, yet you still think you can still win?" she said, her voice getting noticeably more strained. "You're far too arrogant..."
Placing her free hand on the ground, she used her power to melt a section of the floor, bringing the molten section to the air and forming a large glassy dagger before sending it towards Oni's throat. However, he simply caught it, looking at the wounded woman before him.
"Did you honestly believe that the power of a Maiden would be enough to kill me?" he said, sounding almost offended. "I've killed many Maidens before I learned what I could do."
Reaching his hand forward, he drew Cinder in, her neck basically flying into his hand. "T-This-?!"
"Yes, Gradivus' Semblance," Oni said, watching Cinder struggle in his grip. "Consuming the blood of another... Grants me their power. It's a shame I figured it out after killing my last Maiden. A shame for you, that is."
Cinder simply held both hands on Oni's arm, trying to burn him to force him to release her, though he simply smiled and shook his finger at her.
"I took everything from this school that I could. The Semblance of that brat in the boy's team makes my skin incredibly hard," he said, tightening his grip. "Oh, I'm going to savor this..."
Grabbing her left arm, he released her throat and suspended her in the air for a moment, giving her a moment to try to punch him, only to get slapped across the face after hitting him in vain. Grabbing the same shoulder, he then proceeded to pull, Cinder's arm making the same sounds as Link's when he mangled his. However, he wasn't looking to mangle Cinder's arm; he was outright tearing hers off. Tear it off he did, keeping the arm with him as he cast Cinder to the side, screaming in pain with the last her lungs could handle, the Fall Maiden immediately trying to sear the wound shut.
"Run away, child, you're useless to me now," he said, holding the bleeding limb above himself and allowing it to drip into his mouth, drinking all that he could before throwing the limb off the side. "And so it begins..."
Before he could revel in his victory, a gunshot knocked his head to the side, but like before it failed against his aura. Looking to the direction of the gunshot, he saw none other than Link standing between he and Ruby, holding his smoking rifle in his hand.
"Leave," Link commanded, though Oni was more focussed on Ruby behind him.
"Is this what you've been fighting for? Why you betrayed me? Is this... this child the cause of your blindness?!" Oni shouted, enraged, his eyes now glowing with a silver light. "You've been blinded by visions of pointless weaklings! Allow me to help you see the truth!"
Before Link could react, Oni rushed forward and ripped out his right eye, causing him to fall back in pain, dropping his rifle and clutching the now empty socket in pain.
"Had it not been for my current good mood, I'd kill you," Oni said, crushing the eye in his hand. "But maiming you is not out of the question..."
Reaching for his other eye, Oni was surprised when Link managed to use his Semblance one last time to grab his rifle, load a different kind of round, and fire it through his chest. Taking a step back, he looked down in surprise, as this was the first time in years he'd been wounded, let alone having a hole punched in his chest.
"Well... Aren't you just full of surprises?" he said, looking up to see that he was now the only one atop the tower. Using his aura to force the wound closed he smiles, his eyes glowing silver. "Full of surprises indeed..."
OOO
"It's alright. I got ya, kiddo. I got ya, said a familiar voice.
"Nothing," said another, sighing after listening to radio static.
"Just turn it off. Without the CCT, there's no point," said the first voice.
"Communication down across the entire Kingdom, no way to contact the outside world... and Ozpin's still missing," replied the second, sounding tired.
"Yeah," said the first voice, sounding equally tired.
"This is bad, Qrow," the second voice said after a moment, naming his conversational partner as Qrow.
"Yeah, this is bad," Qrow said in agreement.
Finally waking from her stupor, Ruby looked around the room she was in. She knew this room; why, it was her bedroom back home on Patch! How did she...?
Pushing her thoughts away, she sat up groaning, looking up to see her father, Taiyang, sleeping in a chair beside her, though her stirring caused him to stir awake as well.
"Ruby!" he shouted, getting up and rushing next to her bed. "You're awake!"
"Ugh..." she said, holding her head in pain, "what happened?"
"Your uncle Qrow found you, unconscious," Tai explained. "He got you out of there, though, and brought you home safe."
"Wait!" Ruby said, remembering something. "Yang! Is she alright?!"
"Uh... She's uh..." Tai said, trying to figure out how to word it, "she's gonna be alright. I think she's just... I think it's just gonna take some time for her to get used to things. She's too strong to let this stop her. I'm just glad to have my girls back at home," he said, looking both sad and relieved at the same time.
"What happened to the school?! And Vale?! Were they able to clear out the Grimm?" Ruby asked, relentlessly bombarding her father with questions.
"Things at Vale are under control, but the school... It's... it's not that simple," Tai said, recalling the situation on campus. "That thing, whatever it is, doesn't seem to be dead. Don't get me wrong, you did a number on it. But it's not disappearing. It's... kind of... frozen. I know that doesn't sound too bad, but it keeps attracting more Grimm to the school."
"I did... what?" she said, cocking her head to the side.
"Hmm?" Tai said, not sure what she was getting at.
"You said I did a number on it," Ruby said, clarifying her confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I... Look that's not important right now. We can talk about it later. Things are just... kind of a mess," Tai said, hearing an annoyed grunt behind him.
"It's always a mess," Qrow said, both Tai and Ruby turning to see him standing there near the door, drinking the remains of what what is his flask. "Mind if we have a minute?"
"What, I can't stay here?!" Tai asked, a little offended.
"Tai. Please," Qrow said sincerely. Hearing sincerity of any kind from Qrow really meant something though, so he sighed and got up, giving Ruby a quick kiss on the forehead.
"I'm glad you're alright," he said, turning to leave the room. "I'll go make us some tea."
As he left, he shot Qrow a dirty look, but he didn't really seem to care. Grabbing another chair, he drug it over to Ruby's bed spinning it around and taking a seat, crossing his legs as he slouched down.
"So, how you feeling?" he asked, Ruby thinking for a moment.
"Um... I kind of hurt... all over," she said, putting her current status into words.
"That makes sense, after what you did," Qrow said with a chuckle, crossing his arms.
"You guys keep saying that! That I did something! What are you talking about?!" Ruby shouted, confused. What did she do?
"What's the last thing you remember?" Qrow said, leaning forward to look his niece in the eyes.
"I ran up the side of the tower, and when I got to the top, I..." she said, recalling who was up there with her. "Pyrrha! Is she...?"
"She's gone," Qrow said, looking down.
"I... I... I got to the top..." Ruby said, tears flowing from her eyes, "and I saw Pyrrha... and Cinder..." she said angrily, gripping her blanket tightly, "and then everything went white!"
"Anything else?" Qrow asked.
"I remember..." she mumbled, wiping her tears from her eyes, "my head hurting. And Link there with me... Oh, no, is he-?"
"He's..." Qrow said, thinking about how to word it. "Well, alright doesn't exactly fit the bill. Kid got torn to shreds out there."
"No..." she said, tears welling up once more.
"Now hold on, you didn't let me finish," Qrow said, Ruby looking at him again. "He's in pretty nasty shape, but he's alive. Admittedly, I was gonna leave him when I saw a few Grimm clawing at his back, but then I realized he was shielding you from them. He got you out of there without so much as a scratch, kiddo."
"How... How bad is he?" Ruby asked cautiously, Qrow resting his hand on his fist.
"He's pretty bad, kid. He's got a hole in his gut, his right arm is unusable, and that uncle of his took his eye out," Qrow said, being as delicate as he could be. "And now he's in a coma. Vale's hospitals were all full, so we had to take him back here."
"He's here?" she shouted, wincing soon after. She still had a pretty nasty headache.
"Yeah, but worry about that later," Qrow said, getting himself back on track. "The night you met Ozpin, what was the first thing he said to you?"
"I... I don't know. I think it was something about..." Ruby said, trying to recall their exchange from so long ago.
"Silver eyes," Qrow said, deciding to remember for her. "That's an extremely rare trait."
"So?" Ruby said. What did her eyes have to do with anything?
"You're special, Ruby. And not in the 'Daddy loves his special angel' kind of way," Qrow said, leaning back. "You're special the same way your mom was. Remnant's full of legends and stories, some of them true, some made up. But there's one Oz told me from a very long time ago. Back before Huntsmen, before Kingdoms, it was said that those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior. You see, the creatures of Grimm, the most fearsome monsters mankind had ever encountered, were afraid of those silver-eyed warriors. They were the best of the best. It was said that even a single look from one of these fighters could strike a Grimm down. Heh. It's a ridiculous story."
"But..." Ruby said, putting two and two together, "you think that I might be..."
"Well," Qrow said with a chuckle, "a giant monster is currently frozen on top of Beacon Tower. And you're here, safe in bed."
Getting up, he walked over to the window, a new question popping into Ruby's head.
"Wait, wait, how did you know what Ozpin said to me... the night we met?" she asked, Qrow nodding.
"All those missions I go on... all the times I'm away in some far-off place... it's been for Ozpin. But he's missing now. Something's been set in motion. With Oz gone, I'll have to pick up where he left off," he explained.
"Then what can I do?" Ruby asked resolutely. "If I'm so special, then I can help, right?"
"You really wanna help? Get some rest. You're in no condition to go anywhere right now," Qrow said, turning towards the door. "Besides, our enemy's trail leads all the way to Haven. That'd be quite a trip for a pipsqueak like you," he said with a wink. "Catch ya later, kiddo."
After Qrow left, she sat alone for a bit, looking at herself in the mirror. Was she really special? After a little time had passed, she got out of bed and went to got check on her sister, finding that she was in one of the spare rooms.
"Yang?" she said, seeing her sitting up in bed, looking aimlessly out the window with her remaining gauntlet on the table. Ruby stood there for a moment, but her sister just sat there in silence, so she instead turned to leave.
"Ruby," Yang said, stopping Ruby in her tracks and finally turning to see her sister, tears in her eyes. Seeing this, Ruby ran forward and hugged her, tears in hers as well.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" she said, muffled by her sister's shoulder.
"But I'm not," Yang said, Ruby frowning and taking a step back. "It's all gone - the school, Penny, Pyrrha, and..." she trailed off, looking at where her arm used to be.
"Yang, where are Weiss and Blake?" Ruby asked.
"Weiss' father... came for her," Yang said, sounding depressed.
"What? What do you mean?" Ruby asked, unsure why.
"No one outside of Vale knows what happened here," Yang said. "Before the tower fell, the last thing people saw was Atlas attacking innocent people and Grimm destroying the city. Everyone's scared. No one knows who to trust. So, Weiss' father came to take her back to Atlas, where he thinks it's safe. She's gone."
"Well, what about-" Ruby said, though Yag cut her off.
"And Blake ran!" she shouted, looking distressed as she did. "Sun saw her go. After we got to the city, she just... ran!"
"But... why?!" Ruby asked, looking hurt.
"I don't know..." Yang said, turning away from her sister and looking equally, if not more hurt, "and I don't care."
"There has to be a reason she-" Ruby said, but once again Yang cut her off.
"No, there doesn't!" Yang shouted. "Sometimes bad things just happen, Ruby!"
"So, what do we do now?" Ruby asked, hoping to get some kind of plan.
"You can do whatever you want," Yang said, turning to look back out the window. "I'm gonna lie here."
"Yang..." Ruby said, still trying to console her sister.
"Just leave me alone," Yang said, Ruby looking hurt before turning to the door.
"I love you," Ruby said, but her sister payed it no mind and continued to stare out the window. Looking at the ground, she closed the door behind herself and walked down the hall to the next guest room, opening up and gasping at the sight within. Inside was Link, or at least the parts of him that weren't left at Beacon. Pulling up a chair, she sat next to him and did her best not to cry, only to fail miserably when she took his hand in hers, squeezing it as she held it to her face.
"I'm so... so sorry," she wailed, looking him over again. He had lots of bandages all over, the vast majority being on his torso, right arm, and on his face around his right eye, leaving only his left uncovered, though it was closed. Of course, it made sense that his eyes would be closed, he was in a coma. "I shouldn't have blamed you for this, I... I know you didn't want this. I should have known from the start. Please, please, please be okay..."
Naturally, she didn't get any response, as he was completely comatose on the bed, with only the rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was even still alive. Lowering his hand, she quietly placed a kiss on his forehead, before getting up to leave the room. "I hope you can hear me," she said, stopping at the doorway. "I love you. And I'm sorry I didn't believe in you."
With that, she left, leaving Link there alone. Day by day, she came to check on him, making sure his recovery was going smoothly. Though his wounds closed, his arm never fully healed, something keeping it from doing so. One day, however, she came to check on him, and she entered to find that his bed was empty, in its place a note with her name in it.
Ruby,
If you're reading this, then I've left. To where, I don't know yet, but I'll find out on my way. I still have things I need to do, and as much as I'd love to have you by my side, I know now that I don't deserve it. I need to do whatever I can to stop my uncle, no matter what it takes, and I can't risk getting you hurt for me. I just couldn't bear to see you hurt because of my actions. So, well, I guess this is goodbye. While I hope that someday we can meet again, I know deep down that it probably won't happen. But keep your chin up, Ruby, you've still got plenty of friends to go on adventures with, and I'm sure they'll be more than willing to give you their all. With that said, I still love you, with every fiber of my being. Remember that for me.
With love,
Link
Dropping the letter, Ruby fell to the floor, tears in her eyes. Everything they'd been through, everything they'd endured, and he leaves without so much as a proper goodbye. Looking around the room for any kind of hint of where he might be going, she found the same chained bag he'd kept in his room. Undoing the locks, she opened the bag to find old White Fang gear, from the time before they'd turned violent. Among the items in the bag was a picture of Link and his parents, his father Raven leading the peace rally they were attending. She looked at it in confusion for a moment before realization hit her; his father used to lead the Vale branch of the White Fang. No wonder he kept these all hidden; he was ashamed of what the organization had become after his father passed away.
Looking outside, she watched as the leaves continued to fall, winter just around the corner. And winter came just as soon, the snow eventually covering the ground in a thick blanket.
Having given herself time to compose herself and come to terms with what her life had become, she stepped outside, a book bag on her bag and her scythe at her waist, all dressed up in her combat gear. Closing the door quietly, she looked forward to the three friends she knew she could count on.
"Hey," Jaune said, waving gently to Ruby.
"Hey, Jaune," she said as she waved back. "Haven's a long way to go."
"I know. It's the only way we have," he said in a melancholic tone.
"Are you sure you want to come along?" she asked, Ren nodding behind Jaune.
"The journey will be perilous, and whether we'll find answers at the end is entirely uncertain," he said Nora rolling her eyes beside him.
"But we wouldn't be here if we weren't up for it," she said, smiling weakly to Ruby.
"Then let's get started," Ruby said, walking down the road from her father's house with her friends in tow.
Tai discovered Ruby's exit too late, bringing breakfast to her room only to see her empty bed, completely ignoring her note for him as he dropped the tray and ran out to try and find his missing daughter, passing Yang's room on the way. Yang herself sat looking on a raven perched on a branch outside before it took off.
Ruby, with one last thing to do, made sure to visit her mother's grave before finally setting out on her quest.
"A smaller, more honest soul... It's true that a simple spark can ignite hope, breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute. Which is why I will focus all of my power... to snuff it out. How does it feel, knowing that all of your time and effort has been for nothing? That your guardians have failed you? That everything you've built will be torn down before your very eyes? Your faith in mankind was not misplaced. When banded together, unified by a common enemy, they are a noticeable threat. But divide them, place doubt into their minds, and any semblance of power they once had will wash away. Of course, they won't realize it at first. Like you, they'll cling to their fleeting hope, their aspirations. But this is merely the first move. So you send your guardians, your Huntsmen and Huntresses, and when they fail and you turn to your smaller soul, know that you send her to the same pitiful demise. This is the beginning of the end, Ozpin..." said our ominous narrator, a woman with stark white skin and glowing red eyes. "And I can't wait to watch you burn."
Qrow, having known full well what he put into his niece's head, stood on a cliff overlook the group as they marched their way to Haven. Gripping Ozpin's cane, he leapt off the cliff, a crow replacing him that flew to follow them. Could they be one and the same?
OOO
"We've got a lot of work to do if you wanna stop that uncle of yours."
"Yeah I know," Link said, still wincing in pain as he got back onto his motorcycle. His wounds were better, but still not perfect. "Still, I appreciate the help."
"Don't mention it," Noctus said, he himself on his own motorcycle next to Link. "I've got a bone to pick with him after that Beacon fiasco. Plus, it doesn't make me feel any better knowing that guy is running around putting innocents in danger like that..."
"That's why we've gotta do this," Link said, sighing. "My uncle may be strong, but that's mostly because he's a Strife. Who knows if there are any more out there who could lend a hand?"
"Fighting fire with fire," Noctus said, nodding. "I like it."
"I figured you would," Link said. "Now let's get going; it's a big world, and we don't have much time to scour it."
With that said, the pair started their bikes and got moving, as they had plenty of land to cover. All they could hope is that they could do it in time.
END OF VOLUME 3
Oh boy, a volume finale! People sure got a bit roughed up though, huh... Oh well, I'm sure the ones who made it out are still gonna be fine!
Now this section of the note is important, so please take the time to read it; from this point on, this won't be basic RWBY, and as such I won't be following the standard story for a very long time, so chapters will become considerably slower since I need to fully flash out future events. The next chapter will also be rather far off since I need to design new outfits too, as those will make an appearance in the next chapter, the first chapter of Volume 4! Or rather, Volume (4). Since, you know, different story arc. So bear with me, and enjoy your time between chapters!
OniHelix out!
