A/N: This is it, the final chapter of this two-year project. It has been one fun ride, I've improved, I like to think since I started so here's the biggest chapter I've written to date! Last review time!

To Astray-Tech: You really caught up in time for the end, impressive, also, like the little quote, nothing wrong with that. I'm happy to have kept you hooked this long, even if you only found it recently it is always a pleasure to entertain everyone who reads. Enjoy the big send-off :)

To NiomiNeko: If you do read this bet this is a strange callback, but hey, I why not? Yes, the shattered moon is one of life's great mysteries, isn't it? Great that you did find this story and have enjoyed it (Implying you have read this far ^_^)

Enjoy the final chapter.


Chapter 67 - Project Eclipse: Complete

Act VII - Memories

The eyes across its reptilian face soon glared back at me with violent hunger, and without a single call or cry, the serpents snatched towards me. Spreading my wings, I ran over the edge, spinning to give Crescent Rose the momentum to spin into my arms. Fanning out my golden wings, I flew into the open air, leveling the sights to my optics. Then I squeezed the trigger.

*Blam-Blam-Blam*

Three shots to three ascending serpents and the red casings pierced the three like a hot knife, slicing through the tenants that held their energy together. I stopped firing to look at Crescent Rose with a chuckle.

"Ooooh, I love you, Ruby." Praising my girlfriend for her amazing gift in weapon designs, I spun in the air, the wings boosting me to unparalleled speeds with two snakes crashing into each other

*Blam-Blam*

Two more pierced the two following me, yet dozens more took their place, it's a hydra on steroids! I flipped, flicking a switch to spin the scythe's blade in a gargantuan arc, decapitating and lacerating several more, my feet skating across the walkway of another ruined temple, the snakes crashing through the pillars and rock to reach me. I stopped with a sharp talon to the ground, leaping atop one of their back, slicing its head apart before spinning to repel two more into the pillars, followed by a front spiral lunge, splitting another down the middle. I swung Crescent Rose to the right in a diagonal arc, puncturing the throat of a snake, tearing it across the floor, sweeping three others through a mound of rock.

"Iota, lets try something else!" I called out, my back rattling painfully at a serpent breached the ground beneath me, throwing my body into the air again

"Like what?" He questioned

"Everything," I muttered, turning to see the horde approaching me, so I placed Crescent Rose back on my waist, channeling golden flames into my fists again. "Dragon King's-" Folding my wings down I flung my hands together. "-Searing Wave!"

From my fingers, a golden tsunami of fire drowned the fifteen or so serpents with minimal effort. This was it, my final suit, all of my traits at the peak of their potential, I need to exhaust every option, not just for that reason, but Charron wasn't going to hold back once he realizes how big of a threat I am, I need to use every gimmick, new and old, every quirk, all my traits, everything.

Suddenly the plates atop my pauldron popped up, and to my surprise, my shoulders jerked back as tiny projectiles shot forth from them, their casings erupting into a sea of flames before my eyes. Flying through the smoke and back into the open air I blinked. Charron wasn't even worried about me, why?

"We have shoulder-mounted missiles impressive!?" Iota gaped, drawing my attention back to the disks on my shoulders

"We have shoulder-mounted missiles!" I answered giddily, yet something bit down on my leg, pulling me violently through the ceilings of two buildings, throwing me around then out a wall into the remains of a courtyard. My body quickly pushing itself to its feet, being in control of Cognitum made forward-thinking a breeze, I didn't need to say anything, just think it, or act on instinct

A much larger serpent sat atop a massive temple, screaming out for more to aid it, yet the ground around me shook violently, and I noticed the faint cracks beginning to infect the structure of the whole mound of rock. Were they planning to sink me into the magma? I didn't fly away, instead, I decided to play their little game of tag.

Two more serpents shot forth from the woodworks, snapping down on the air beneath me as I surfed across one of their backs, firing a multi-layered bombardment of ice, encasing one in ice. Sliding down its length I realized most of the building collapsed, etheral forms of snakes tearing through the ancient structure.

A snake did try to cut me off, shattering the ice under me, yet I leapt into the air, forming the path over its head, freezing it in place. My momentum almost faltered at the appearance of several serpents snapped toward me hungrily. Drawing my arms back, I threw out a burst from my wings to increase my velocity.

Flinging myself over their maws I pierced three with a horizontal swipe, sliding on my knees and under two more, my wings inverting themselves to throw me back into the air without losing momentum. I flew across the inside of the temple's hallways while the structure gradually began to sway left and right. Sinking my fingers into the corner of the wall I flung myself up the next flight of stairs, elbowing a serpent waiting in ambush. They were tearing apart the walls and themselves to hunt me. Continuing around the inside of the temple, I followed the spiral staircase up, with the floor beneath me falling apart, hoisting my left arm forward the rapier sunk into the ceiling above, the chain flinging me skyward as I swung left, landing close to the tip of the temple.

Upon my arrival at the floor, another serpent latched its mouth around my stomach, dragging me through the last few floors and out the temple, where the whole structure began to sway to the left, and I saw why, one of Charron's monumental arms clawing away at the rock underneath it all, his head turned in my direction. I didn't have time to focus on him yet, I needed to clear the air of these things, I may have a stupid idea as to how.

"Penny, Iota, give me all the grapple devices you can." I asked, skewering the jaws of the serpent before performing a backward snap kick to the snake, splitting it in two. Spreading my wings I hovered there for a brief pause.

"You now have fourteen devices primed for operation." Thank you, Penny. "Happy to serve!" Now then...

I fired both my rapiers toward the hide of the larger serpent, the twin prongs snagging its scaly energy skin easily, it didn't reply that well. I yelped as it dived the volcanic ocean below, pulling me along for the ride, now, while I love this final suit of mine, I don't feel too confident in its ability to swim in molten magma from the Earth's core. Adjusting my wings vertically I pumped every ounce of power I could into the vents, expelling torrents of purple light, even the ports along my boots even activated to aid in my ascension, whilst the flames of my soul burned brighter. I felt sweat beginning to form on my brow with each strain to rein the serpent in, its body thrashing to make it more difficult for me to hold it steady.

"Puuuuuuulll." I managed to pull my arms closer to my chest with a painful yell, my burning muscles managed to pry the serpent back, and I finally felt gravity play its part, my body at the epicenter of the gravity. Swinging the abomination slowly became far less taxing, velocity and gravity playing their part, building up momentum. "Here's your next-day delivery, HYAH!" The chains decoupled

The snake was buried deep into the structure of the gargantuan temple, splitting the ruins in two, this inadvertently collided with Charron's hand as it pulled away. Then my eye caught it, a small gap of light between the two chunks of the building, folding my wings I pumped the excess energy high as my body plummeted with a sonic boom, speeding through tons of rock and falling debris that cast a shadow over my glowing gold and amethyst armor.

I shot into the insides of the temple, and time slowed, my eyes watching closely as multiple pieces of my armour sprung out to latch onto the insides of the temple, and the mound it was perched on, pieces fell back into place, and the structure meshed back together haphazardly, rubble and bricks raining around me with my feet propelled out before me. With a pain-filled heave, I shot through the other side with my heart beating once more, facing Charron as a grain of sand, but a sandstorm to follow.

"This one's for Eric, choke on it," I whispered, my eyes glowing brightly once I pulled my body into a downwards lunge, the massive temple flowing right over my head and back, a rush of cold and hot air pushing me around to land in a small hallway that overlooked Charron, allowing me to rest my back against the arch

Charron didn't expect this, or he knew he was far too large to avoid the mass of earth hurdled at his form since the entirety of the temple crashed into his head and scaly body, crushing a large majority of the serpents without so much as a passing breeze. Charron cried out, his body lurching backward at the sudden force of gravity and tons of material raining atop him.

Sighing, I managed to catch a small breather amongst this chaos.

"Hey, guys? Remember when Roman Torchwick was our biggest problem?" I laughed a little, so did Iota and Penny

"He was a very bad man, but I get the joke." Aye, stick around us and you either love 'em or hate 'em.

"Humor aside, did you forget there is a titanic abomination of failure looming over us or simply don't care?" Iota's riveting sarcasm did in fact bring back that reality splendidly

*ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR*

"W-what?" I breathed at my heart leaping into my throat once two massive, glowing claws latched themselves around the hall I stood in, pulling it clean off the supports and lifting me into the air to come face-to-face with Charron, who's maw was beginning to glow, a small sphere of dark matter forming in the center. "Oh, shi-Ahh!"

My body was jerked to the left, my shoulder bouncing off the corner of a pillar, sliding across to the right hand, then back again, tumbling constantly. He was shaking this place apart on me. I needed to move, fast! Leaping to my feet, I felt the pump of my gauntlets rebound to my ears, and from my fists, I shot forth slugs of electricity, the sharp jolts of plasma striking the right hand, with each swing, more and more slugs fired continuously. Finally, after a twin strike with both gauntlets, Charron relented, pulling his hand away with a hissing snarl.

"Perfect!" Slide down the slope, I dug my elbows into the rock, just as I went flying over the edge, releasing the chains with my elbows, swinging myself under the hallway that was held above the magma that rested a few thousand feet below me. Dashing upside-down, I hopped from the temple to the palm of the great Vex, bounding off the limb to pry the segment of stone from his grip, threshing with long, wide flaps.

Finally, a final tug wrenched half the hallway out from his grasp, and I flipped myself around, pulling the hallway with me, and back down on Charron's hand, hard. The crash of rock and crack of scales only merged with Charron's scream, the energy blast dissipating from his maw while I made my retreat to evade the arms.

My body shuddered, the light was bending away from me and toward an ever-growing pulse of ether and dark matter. The force was even starting to pull at the energy within my wings and semblance. I instinctively raised my arms, bracing the attack Charron's reeled his head back for. A massive sphere of concentrated ether and dark matter grew considerably, even just one source of the energy was monumental in pressure, but both at the same time. I didn't get a single noticeable point to fly away as he lurched forward, the radius of the light consuming me in a flash as the pressure collided with my form, flinging me further and further across the fiery horizon.

Elysium was going to be burned straight off my body if I didn't act quickly, the speed I traveled at, combined with the gravitational pull of the core would eventually drag me down, and from within it I'll be turned to nothing, I needed to move! It was hard, but I shakily brought my outstretched arms closer to me, digging them through the mass of energy and back to my chest, where I heavily threw them forward, bracing the blinding light.

"I-If nullification can't work... t-then I'll absorb all of it!" I spat at Charron's insult to everything I've done to get this far, I didn't just come so far as to lose now, not after all the pain I put my friends through, Eric's sacrifice, team MAZE's aid, all of it meant I couldn't lose, not just to keep all their hopes and dreams alive, but to make up for everything I couldn't do before

This armour, all that is Cognitum, Project Eclipse, EC-1101, it wasn't a machine, since the beginning, its been beside me, guiding me to this moment, each innovation made was done by us both, my memories, and its creation as one. I am... Cognitum, and that won't be taken from me again!

It wasn't obvious, but my velocity was beginning to slow, either from the distance, I had gathered, or by the lights of Cognitum becoming increasingly more vibrant, too the point trails of light began to flow from my eyes, vents, hands, and shins.

"Sky, the amount of converted energy is too much, I advise we counter to evade the-"

"NO!" Iota? "We... will take it all... we just have to evolve too!" I grinned under the violent shaking of Elysium. While my gauntlets continued to absorb the Vex energy like a vampire to blood, I felt two more bursts of excess energy push across my spine, while my wings stretched back, unleashing all their pent up energy alongside what I felt was a few smaller vents attached to the edges of the wings.

"Evolution confirmed. Additional vents supporting the wings and other excess ports merged into your shoulders and thighs!" Thank you, Penny, you're the best. "Hehehe, always a pleasure working with you! Oh, and here's something else, my weapons!"

I slight snag crawled up my back, and beside my arms, rotating just as if my arms were a sun in a solar system, spun three blades on each of my vambraces. To my burning hope, the energy finally dissipated, and from where I was, I had wedged a gap of one thousand kilometers between me and Charron. Even so, an irreplaceable burst of ether ran through my body.

"Ok, Charron, here I come!" I seethed through my teeth, my body blinking with a sudden clap of sound four times over, it mattered little how I strained my eyes, the light that turned to a mesh of color was far too bright for me to focus, all I could see was the growing shadow of grey and purple that came into view in seconds, with that, the swords vanished, and purple flames began to gather around my right fist, increasing in density with how close I was to Charron, even he lacked the power to stop me now."Dragon King's... Destruction Fist!"

A blood-curdling crack and scream had shot through my eardrums, the clap of thunder, hybridized with the cries of a false god was all I could hear. Massive waves of magma swept beside us, curling from the force while Charron reeling back, plummeting into the ocean below. Spinning around I braced for his counterattack that never came. I felt fine, a little breathless but otherwise stable, I couldn't say the same for Charron, however.

His left shoulder spewed purplish-green blood like a well between pulverized scales and skin, the bone was exposed, having been nearly split in half. Even as the flesh worked to clot itself over, there was no sign of regeneration, another thing he lost upon gaining his perfect form, his lack of speed and healing made him more susceptible to fast attacks, but it wasn't going to be that easy.

Pausing in the air, something was... off, Charron looked to be pulling himself back for something big, yet only a scream rattled the air from his vocals, but that wasn't what made my insides turn, and the stench was rancid, rather, it was what started to bubble under his skin. From the sides of his body sprung two more limbs on each end, the purplish-green substance dripped off the four new limbs that had added to the other two, stretching from within his scaly torso.

The spiny back bent and flattened against his shoulder blade, expelling large amounts of purple light that stretched and webbed across the sky, forming a pair of unstable wings, skeletal and without a membrane, almost as if the very stars attached themselves to his back, threshing with enough power to rile up several fountains of molten metal.

...No...Light...Here...

ACK! My vision was dropping fast, spots had built quickly in my vision once something struck the back of my head with the force of a train, my body falling from Charron's gaze, then to his stomach, then to a vision of orange, black, and yellow, my armor was in my field of vision though, my legs were sinking into the magma, and arms soon followed. I tried to reach out for where Charron loomed, and I swore the bastard was sliming as my vision blotted with fire and liquid. While there was no extreme heat, I did feel cold, almost faint as I sunk deeper and deeper into the bowels of Remnant's core, sinking down into a dark abyss.

I... really... hate... G-Gods...


[The Argus]

"Hmm... something's silent down there..." Albatross muttered to himself, being the only person standing at this point, all the others were resting behind him. Again his memories of his old friends resurfaced, he could see it, certain individuals partnered with the teams. Over the course of Albatross' journey he adopted this alias, learned from so many others while his own hope wavered, yet even so, they kept him moving forward, and he'd gladly ensure they'd do the same.

"That's good, right?" Ruby asked him curiously, but his lips were pressed into a thin line

"No, it's the type of silence that means Sky may be in a tough spot." Albatross reevaluated. "Even I've never beaten a Vex so I can't say for certain what he's facing."

"He'll make it." Yang shot back, yet Albatross sensed the tone behind it, yet was unphased, understandably so

"I didn't say he wouldn't, I said he was in a tough spot, there's a difference if you want me to find it for you?" Albatross' dry humor made Yang roll her eyes. "Never try to out-whit a person who's survived on it for years."

"Yang, it's ok, we're... all worried about him, Albatross is our only connection to him, and I don't know if he can bring himself back." Summer steadily told her daughter, with Yang finally losing the tension on her arms

"And I thought my wife was scary, I might have found her a new best friend." Albatross chuckled to himself, yet Tabus looked at him strangely

"Really? 'You' of all people have a wife?" That made him deflate, with some of the others chuckling a little

"First off, ouch. Second... yeah...she's..." He paused for a moment, a smile surfacing at the memory. "I once thought she was beyond my reach, yet every-time she and I never seemed to care, with each pull away I only loved her more, selfish as that sounds... she completed me, I can imagine she'll be furious when I find my way back to her, hehe."

"Then be sure to go back to her." Summer spoke up, smiling fondly at her own memories with... someone she cared for. "When this is over, do everything in your power to go back to her side, don't waste another second like I did."

"Heh, well, the sooner I get back, the sooner she'll kick my ass, so... I'd say it's going to be a strange day, well, stranger than this." Albatross humored them, before something caught a glint of light in his eye. "Wait..."

"What is it?" Weiss asked, yet soon she saw something too

Before them, breaching one of the four gates, stood those same thrall from before, their energy dripping onto the ground like blood, the hallways weren't active, so they were merely using the force as an anchor to pass over. With each stomp of the thralls' feet drummed the hall with a crushing darkness, their twisted energy beginning to dim the lights around the entrance, like a sea of black against the light. With their arrival in the hundreds, the group stood up again, all raising their weapons. Yet Albatross lowered his own for a second, the red and black blade beginning to glow.

"Pull back, and form up!" He ordered, all of which did, giving them a large space between the end of the two halls, one of which was occupied with thrall. But all of them looked to one another, awaiting the other to make the call to run or hide, but no-one did, even Ruby stood frozen in place.

"You never needed me." Ruby looked to the army before her, a familiar voice in her ears

"Your strength is your own, fueled by your bonds, that's what makes you breathtaking." Ruby finally stopped shaking, moving to stand beside Albatross, grabbing his midnite sword in both hands

"I get it now..." Ruby began, looking back at her friends, her team, and family with a hardened stare. "This isn't about me, or us, none of us matter, but everyone we fight for do, the people who will make a better future from our own steps, despite how scared we are, how much I want to run, I won't!"

All eyes were on her, their wary minds slowly resting with each word that hit their ears.

"The day may come where all we will be tested. Where everything we hold dear is threatened, but not here, for everything we fight for, would die for, is on this day!" Albatross rallied with Ruby, with Yang cocking her gauntlets, Weiss stood tall with her rapier poised at the enemy, Blake loaded a clip into her pistol, Summer held her twin axes close to her, Qrow grasped his Harbinger in both hands, and Amber aimed down her sights

"Here we'll stand and fight for their future or die trying!" Ruby and Albatross chanted together, both standing with their swords crossed between them

"You know, if this might be it, I'm glad I could fight beside my team one last time," Blake spoke solemnly, yet Weiss nudged her side

"What about with your friends?" Weiss mused, and a touched expression made its way onto Blake's face, perking her ears up

"Of course, I'd like that." She smiled gently, Yang bopping her side while cocking Ember Celica

Yet, as the two forces awaited the others move, a blade fell from the sky, with Albatross stepping towards the army ahead of them, his blade slowly falling from grace at the feeling that burned in his head. It racked in his mind like a snake, poisoning his thoughts, coiling around his frail mind with little resistance. The others noticed this, feeling worried for their friend who had stopped mere inches from them, his blade lowered to the ground.

No one remained... only you... only the curse that brought ruin with his shadow...

Their endless cries... their bloodied bodies of horror

Coiling so... tenderly around your... hollow heart

"Albatross...?" Ruby whispered, tightening the grip around her weapon. He finally felt himself grasp his trusty blade tightly again, the same weapon he held since the day he woke in that pit. Peering over his shoulder his blank face slowly began to morph, and to them all, he smiled with a fire burning in his eyes like before

"For Sky," He turned, and charged at the horde, crying out with valor in his heart. Following him was Ruby, and soon, everyone ran too, all feeling their hearts pump all manner of blood through their veins, their blood boiling with the thirst for an end, that fleeting light of hope held tightly with each of their weapons

Albatross screamed at the top of his lungs, leaping into a spin to sever four thrall from their legs, followed by an uppercut with the edge shoved through another's jaw and out the top of its head. Pulling out, Albatross ducked under a set of claws, slicing three more down, then he flicked his blade back, and pulled the trigger, scorching a path through the infested horde that threatened the drown them all.

He awaited another thrall, yet his own midnight blade had already sunk clean through the top of another thrall's head, with Ruby turning on her heel to slit the throat of another, kicking another back, winking back at Albatross. The two then fought back-to-back.

"Alright kid, show me what you know!" Albatross nudged her

"Keep up, old man!" Ruby challenged

Meanwhile, a massive crowd of fifty were burned in an explosion of fire and shrapnel, Tabus rolling back onto the ground to provide a right hook to another thrall, breaking her fist, but the head of said thrall spun flying into the air, where her cryo-knives burst, blinding the crowd. This gave Tabus and Summer breathing room to burst into a spiral of purple and white petals to cut them down. The two quickly came to a halt at the end of the crowd, with Tabus sinking her teeth into the throat of another thrall, tearing it out and spitting the contents onto the floor.

"Gah, tastes like burnt rubber and oil." Spitting, Summer slapped her across the back of the head. "Hey, watch the hair-pin!"

"Don't eat things you don't even understand what they're made of." Summer sighed, kicking another back into the crowd. With Qrow slicing ten with a horizontal lunge of Harbinger, piercing one through the jaw with buckshot

"Hey, mind saving the parenting until 'after' the fight!?" His argument made Summer roll her eyes

"I can do both and you know it." Even the thrall can taste the pride dripping off her, or ego

"Really now, 'cause from where I'm standing, both can use an evaluation." Qrow playfully mocked her leader, who was still far shorter than he was, so her pout only made things worse for her. Meanwhile, Tabus had left them to continue her rampage, though a thought did cross her mind, and whispered out her lips

"... no prob... Mom..."

On one end of the fight, Weiss summoned her guardian, the gargantuan knight clearing the air with one fell swoop, allowing Weiss to move in close to Amber, who raised her rifle. Her fingers dripped with molten light, converting her rifle into a single, powerful handcannon. Suddenly, Weiss grabbed Amber by the arm, using her glyphs to swing the two around, and Amber fried the six concentrated beams of fire at the horde, the trails curving with each shot, sending several rings of fire to thin the horde.

Looking back at each other, Amber grinned. "Nice trick."

"Nice semblance." Weiss complimented her back, and the two continued to fight beside one another, with the knight standing before the two as an unbreakable force of nature, kicking another five into the walls, whilst slamming the tip of its greatsword into the ground

Ahead of Weiss, she caught sight of Yang blasting away at a whole group, so an idea formed in her head.

"Yang!" Weiss' call made Yang turn, only to see Weiss recreate a massive, curved half-pipe, nodding for her to utilize it

"Blake, throw me a line!" Yang called out to her friend who left behind a clone to propel herself into the air, from her angle. Blake spun her waist to underarm throw Gambol Shroud Yang's way, reaching up, the blonde huntress coiled the fabric around her arm, allowing Blake to fling her across the ice shelf. Yang utilized her cybernetic as a stabilizer on the ice, skating around the horde of thrall

Reaching the end of the wave of ice, Yang threw Blake her weapon, reeling her left fist back for flaming buckshot to the first thrall in her way. The reaction cleared a massive gap in the enemy's frontline. As parts of thrall rained and burnt to ashes, Yang smirked, blowing out the smoke that left the barrel of her Ember Celica.

Then, the world shook again.


[?]

"Hey, quit lying around! Are you awake, Bluey!?" Huh? Y-Yang?

I saw her, it was faint but... she was there, standing across a beautiful field of glass, like she was floating in the sky, clouds rolled across a twilight-ridden ceiling like a wave of summer, beyond her, a sun, so close to the horizon that I could almost reach out and grab it.

I was safe, here... with them, yeah. A smile wouldn't reach my face for a moment, I was too in shock in seeing Yang smiling at me, winking as she stood with her arms crossed. Those amazing, lilac eyes of hers.

"Its time to go, Sky, we wouldn't leave without you, so come on!" Blake, she used to be stoic in nature, yet a small smile reached her while resting her hands on her hips, the soft breeze causing her cat ears to flick to the sensation. "Our team sticks together, right?"

"Remnant won't save itself, you know? Besides..." Weiss, my second sister, just like Erika, she stood with her arms crossed too, a small embarrassed look on her face. "I wouldn't leave my... brother behind, so stop wasting time and lets go."

"Sky~!" No matter how many times I think of her, only the memory, that burning, irreplaceable moment when I opened my frail, conflicted eyes that day to a roof of emerald green, seeing that pristine, raven hair with the most beautiful shade of red, those unique, star-colored eyes, her smile, it never faded, not once did I feel it rid itself from my mind, the strength it held, the warmth, all that she meant to me. Ruby

She waved to me happily, her cape brushing in the wind to her left, and I felt something spark inside me again.

"Come on, after we save Remnant, I want to see more worlds too, together as Team RWBYS!" Of course she did, with what we know of our part of reality, I too wanted to experience more, finally, I felt my arms push my body again

"Alright... I'm through playing around Charron..." I stood up to face them all head-on, not looking up at them, not my family looking down on me, but eye-to-eye, together

"This world was built on freedom alone, the Choice to do what you desire. The power to Create something better for the future. The chaos you can bring with Destruction. The Knowledge we gain with each step and mistake we learn from." I wiped the blood off the corner of my mouth, my eyes no longer dizzy or distant from myself. "Something you've neglected to learn at all,"

"You all taught me this a long time ago," I then raised my head, a determined force reaching my face again, beating through my heart like a drum. "But I also have the memories I made, from every connection, all my battles I've won, the people I lost and found, the feelings I felt in each one, and all the lessons I've learned too. So let me make it up to you now."

I was alone now, my armor had returned to my ruined body, a strange collection of glass shards began to stick to random spots on my chassis, infecting the parts with a white light that shimmered with that of the spectrum. All that remained was my helmet, leaving my face exposed to the sight of Ruby smiling back at me, holding out my helmet, the eyes slit.

There's no other way now...

"Iota, Penny... there's only one way," I muttered, feeling them look at me as I took up my helmet, Ruby vanishing without a trace. All that was left was a pure white sword in my hand, tiny shards shimmering around the blade, reflecting my memories back at me

I could only manage a shaky smile. "To protect them... and win," I begged them to agree, selfishly let me have this one final act of goodwill toward others. Both of them appeared before me, Penny looked on in worry, Iota's eyes were jammed shut, clearly, the idea was reckless as visible frustration crossed his face, but ultimately, his features eased, and hurt eyes stared back into mine. I held out Memory Fragments desperately, "Please... Iota."

"A way we can protect..." The realization dawned in Penny's eyes.

"A way we can win..." Iota understood.

"This is the only way." We said it together, Penny and his own fingers locking around the handle as their memories glimmered across the face

The last thing we could see was the sun, my silver ring hugging my armored finger. Crushing the pure white blade held out before us, its fragments showering my body


[No POV]

From the bubbling sea of magma, something began to stir the flow of lava into a riptide, embers of white leaked from the pool. Charron didn't notice this, his arms digging into the ceiling of rock high above himself, pressing himself toward freedom from his prison for centuries. He was nearly free, and with his wings flapping, he could hardly hear the sound of the fountain of lava that rained from afar.

Sky shot forth from the fires, Crescent Rose still intact on his waist, and his armor, now a brilliant shade of snow-white. Many sections refracting the colors of the rainbow, the only detail that remained was the black outline across the sections of his armor, like an incomplete sketch or drawing yet to be filled with color, and endless abyss of possibility.

"Hey, now that we've done this, what do you think will happen?" Iota asked gently

"I don't know, but, the strength of all our memories etched into Cognitum will be unlike any power Charron could obtain, as it stands, our power won't stop rising." Sky clenched his fist, shards of glass crackling around his fingers with a shimmer of the spectrum. "We'll protect them all, and beat him!"

"Of course, was there any other way?" Iota chuffed

"We're right behind you, Sky." Penny declared, his wings flaring with multicolored light

"Alright, Iota, Penny, let's end this!" Sky alerted his partners

"Right!" They complied, all three now focused on Charron, and within a flash of white light, Sky was a literal meter from Charron's hide, flying past his arms, and towards one of the limbs that dug through the mantle of the world. "Detriot..." The energy practically burst from his armor. "SMAAAASH!"

Flying faster than light, a torrent of white light split through the air, crashing into Charron without warning as the burning stream tore through his hand. He wailed in pain, catching a glimpse of the strobe of light piercing his other hand like air, and he forcibly let go of the crust, falling back into the ocean of lava below, creating a tsunami of magma upon impact.

"Come on! Is that the best you can do!?" Sky bellowed at Charron who rose to his full height again, roaring as he did. His four arms grasped molten rocks from under the sea, throwing them directly at Sky without care, some crashing into each other and splitting into more chunks the size of buildings

Bursting towards Charron, Sky flew through the gaps between the rocks, dodging and weaving his way, landing atop one and continuing to dash across the surface, picking up dust as he did. From the edge of the chunk, Sky bent his knees, and leapt to another, smaller rock, followed by another backflip to the next, then using his wings to thrust him towards the others, latching and leaping faster like a boomerang.

Dozens of new serpents arose from the fires below, giving chase as two were cut in half by a right, horizontal swing, another downward spin divided three more in two, his wings swatting the others from his back, revealing seven beams of light to disintegrate the horde. Diving forwards Sky summoned over twenty of Penny's swords, carving through the serpents with a bladestorm, splitting apart many of Charron's projectiles.

Leaping back into the air, Charron narrowed his eyes, channeling his chaotic dark matter into his maw again, yet Sky spun himself into a nosedive, curving around to fly towards his bottom jaw, with his newly ascended burst of power, Sky pumped the gauntlet on his left arm, pulling it close to his waist. With a furious yell, Sky threw Ember Celica high, embedding it into Charron's jaw with dozens of eruptions circling his fist. The impact dispersed the energy blast, showering the remains onto Charron's face.

Charron swiped down, yet Sky evaded beside his eyes, arms swirling with white flames. "Dragon King's Wing Attack!" The five columns of white fire burned and blinded the right side of Charron's face, melting his scales upon contact. The potency twisted and shoved Charron's backward, freeing Sky to divert his flames to his left leg, bringing it up high. "Dragon's King's Smolder Kick!"

The torrent of flames pushed Charron down, the pressure of heat that built-in concentration throwing him off balance, yet when his smaller blast of dark matter pierced the cloud, Sky was gone. Charron's attention was brought to the claws that now danced across his neck, Sky slicing and tearing through chunks of his flesh with white claws, his frame layered in blades. Plunging his arms through Charron's neck, Sky leaned back, pressing his feet to the Vex's body, which in turn, pulled the colossal beast with him.

In a flash, Sky skated across a ruined tower, tearing out the supports from under its frail form, this tilted the spire. Pushing his feet down on the neck of the spire, he smashed it atop Charron's scalp. Sky leapt back to another mound of rock with the glow of fire following him as Charron's wings splashed more large masses of molten rock his way.

Spinning on a heel, Sky fired his rapier gauntlets, wedging them into a boulder, and with a long-winding spin, he swiped the rest from his sight. Now only Charron loomed directly ahead of him, his maw wide, and his eyes brimming with chaos. Charron roared, throwing two more molten rocks Sky's way, with Sky channeling seven sources of energy into his body, turning them into a flash of colors, shattering both boulders with ease.

Leering through the destruction, Charron conjured many thin points of light to intercept Sky, many sliced away so he summoned more, overwhelming his frantic slashing until the combination of light and dark sources connected with his radiant frame, knocking him towards the lava ocean below.

He didn't give Sky room to breathe, his maw already channeling enough magic power to fire the same force of dark matter as before down atop Sky, pushing him towards Remnant's core, the epicenter of the blast even forming three rings of magic around the initial blast, amplifying the power behind it to astronomical levels. The chain reaction rained lava atop Charron, his head merely shaking off the molten metal with a snarl.

Weak...pathetic...human

Nothing happened for a short while, yet Charron remained hesitant, something about Sky's power fluctuated in the depths of fire below, it weakened for merely a second, until... his eyes widened at the horrific sight his gaze couldn't begin to rid themselves of. Sky stood upon a slab of stone, the lava pushed back around him, in his right hand, Ruby's Crescent Rose was held, the whole body of the weapon a pure shade of cherry red, harmonizing with Sky's own body.

Sky peered up at Charron, and he swore the eyes of the helmet narrowed with a growl under Sky's breath. In a flash of light, Sky swung Crescent Rose from below in a powerful uppercut, slicing his lower chin in half with a massive, crimson afterglow. In that same instance, Sky flew around Charron as if he were light itself, slicing from right to left, circling around to strike left to right across his torso, then he looped back around to strike Charron across the cheek from the right again horizontally, spiraling downwards, Sky dragged the curved scythe through the top of Charron's crown, then back up, throwing Charron's whole body backward, two of the horns breaking.

I will not... have you stand in my way!

Time crawled while Sky dashed through the flames and decimated landscape, each wingbeat thundered while flames rained from up high, the embers barely passing as a burn while Sky pushed forward. "This is it!" Sky seethed, eyes locked to Charron through his cone of blazing energy. "The last one!" He ground his teeth together as he felt every last instance of his memory pour into the crescent edge of the scythe, "It's over now - This one's for you guys!"

In one last effort to survive, the fleeting hope of victory that housed itself in Charron's soul, he spilled every ounce of magic, to the last drop, into his maw, firing a beam that ripped the air asunder. Sky clasped Crescent Rose in both hands, beginning to pull the unparalleled might of the weapon toward the attack.

Sky roared like a feral beast, their attacks flashing once. Their powers rippled and meshed against the other. Charron felt it, Sky's resistance growing under the strain of his own power, the edge of that cursed blade making quick work of his magic, shearing through it all the while Sky's power continued to soar higher and higher, almost reaching levels no being could obtain naturally in many lifetimes. Charron continued to resist to the last second.

"Finishing moooooove!" Sky tore through the etheral beam, propelled himself through the unstable matter like a blade to scales. Drawing Crescent Rose high to convert any and all the fallout energy, every microscopic trace bio to the curve of the blade, his own irises fading between many shades of a rainbow. "GIGA. MIKADZUKI. BUREKU - rrrraaaaaahhhh!"

The war-scythe broke through the energy and bore down on the Vex's thick, scaly scalp with a resounding crash of seven colorful rings to disperse his abundance of power. The tip of the scythe pierced through the layers of flesh to rupture at the core, a ripple creasing in time as the tainted binds that held Charron together were severed entirely, discharging the contained temporal energy in a massive eruption of static and shattered particles akin to glass.

Sky appeared out the other side of Charron as it roared up at the darkened world above, seeing its connections undone, slowly descending in a heap of charred material, wisps of amethyst and gold dancing around Sky, Crescent Rose's vibrant sheen releasing the built-up energy itself like a dying sun.


[The Argus]

"Get down, Red!" Albatross yelled to the girl beside him, tackling her to the ground the second reality split itself, a scarlet line tore through the air from nothing, erasing every thrall that stood in its way. Everyone froze at the sight of the bleeding edge in time and space, lingering for just a few seconds.


[Indomitable Universe]

"Fuck!" Zorah's body fell flat on the ground with a comical thud. Then he gasped as Echo landed atop his back, flopping down beside him. "...ow..."

"That really hurt..." She whined, then Zorah's hand shoved her off, her eyes rolling up to greet the students and Huntsmen that were celebrating. "I think the fight is over, weird."

"Zorah sat up, rubbing his chin. "When our worlds were being ripped apart it must have dulled the timestream between us, so between us moving between worlds the fight must have been won," Slowly he smirked, leaning back on both hands while blowing the bangs from his face. "Not bad, Hero."

"Good, you have returned unscathed," The duo peered up at the Professor decked out in scaly armor, his longsword resting over his shoulder. Zorah then deadpanned

"Question, Master?" The old hunter listened silently, his pupil throwing his arms wide. "Where the fuck were you when that hybrid bitch tried to kill us!?"

"I was on my lunch break."


[Sky's POV]

The remains of Charron slowly sank into the core beneath my feet, his last arm falling under the now calmed waves of fire, the world rumbled softly around my head. It still made me stare with awe, I was under Remnant, at some point of the world, and it turned above me, ever-so-slowly. My armour still shimmered, and I continued to hold onto Crescent Rose for dear life.

Before me, in his blackish-green mesh, floated Charron, cracks webbed his body from where my attack had struck his stomach. But his eyes never showed harm or ill-intent, they looked... remorseful, clear... human.

"It's over, isn't it?" I said nothing, only me and the Vex were in focus, the volcanic mantle beneath us both, a comforting warmth to me, maybe years ago it would burn me to the point I was dust, yet it felt inviting to gaze upon, even if just for a while

"Yeah, it's over, your plans to remake this world are through," I spoke softly, the rumbling of the ever-turning Remnant a soft tune. Charron's body was cracking, white lines crossing his body with a faint, multicolored glow

"I believe I understand what my creators intended. Even as humanity evolved, I wasn't here to simply correct their faults and maintain a sense of stagnation, rather, to grow myself, and learn what it means to guide those that have lost their way, and... to protect this world," Charron grieved over his actions, a part of me understood where he was coming from, he was just as clueless as anyone else would be. "You truly are worthy to be my end, you not only prevented the deaths across the Multiverse but have given me... the chance to rest."

"I do what I got to do, as myself," I responded, his chuckle crossing the gap between us

"I had tried to make my ideals a reality for so long, every failure turned to a sense of limbo, until you came to me with that weapon fused to your body, to think, I was defeated by one of the most fabled weapons in history, hahaha, that's enough for me," He chuckled dryly, lowering his arm as it fell apart

Before I could say anything on the matter, his body began to chip away, fragments of glass, shades of every color drifted away under the crust of Remnant, and in the light of the core. "I will leave you with this, Sky Zaffre. Within the depth of the darkest cracks of reality, within the forgotten shores of the Multiverse, something is coming, and you will need all the heroes, monsters, Gods, and Huntsmen you can get." A warning that Sky graciously accepted

"And people like me will beat them all the same, bet on that." I retorted humorously, and one last chuckle reached his nearly broken face, his eyes resting on me

"Yes, that I will." The last fragment, a piercing shade of zaffre, drifted away.

My guard now lowered with a soft sigh, my bones aching, and my blood cooked and frozen, I smiled weakly, finally, I felt my body give in to its desire to rest, the white sheen of my armour reverted to gold. Then Elysium broke apart, leaving me with Iron Regalia, no augments, wings or anything, just an onyx suit of armor.

...

...

...

Penny's voice was low, "It has been an honor to be your friend," You too, Penny

I heard Iota sigh contently, "I'll see you on the other side, Kai." Ditto, Iota

This was it, this journey's end, it was... fun, I'll miss this view and so much more. My voice was faint, breaking a little while my solemn eyes dimmed, "Goodbye. Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Erika Amadeus... Ruby Rose," My eyes slowly shut on this vibrant world.

"...thank you..."

/Project Eclipse: Complete/


[Remnant, Anima Wilderness]

"Are you alright, what was with that light?" Oscar aided Ruby to her feet. It took Ruby a moment to adjust to her surroundings, groaning as she did

"We... won, heh." Ruby smiled weakly, making Oscar sigh in relief, seeing that everyone was indeed okay

"On the plus side, the ground's warm." Nora sighed, slumping to her back. She wasn't wrong, around them, the snow had melted, a tree sat in the middle of a cobblestone circle, with plants and flora growing around an old, cobblestone wall. None of them could understand it at all, how or why it was here.

"When we warped back, it must have dragged a piece of Charron's Lair with us, another side-effect of jumping between worlds and other locations," Albatross explained, placing his two weapons back into their scabbards, whilst looking around curiously. "Where did he...?"

"Wait, where's Sky?" Weiss spoke up, and the sudden relief of victory was taken from them

"No-no-no, not again!" Ruby shot up from the ground, looking around the area with a frightened look on her face. "Sky! Iota! Penny!"

"Look, up there!" Jaune yelled. All eyes shot up the steps that led to the now stable Rift. Ruby quickly felt a tear-filled smile reach her again, seeing Sky stumble down the steps in Iron Regalia, although the lights were dim before he crumpled to the ground. "Sky!"

Iron Regalia collapsed back into his gauntlet, leaving Ruby and Jaune to help him lay down on his back, Ruby placing his head on her lap. Her heart was pounding but Jaune removed his fingers from his wrist with a smile. "He's got a pulse."

"Look, he's waking up!" Erika pipped up, clutching her hands together. Sky began to stir as his eyes slowly opened, revealing a set of purple orbs that Ruby stared directly into gently

When he woke up, he gazed at the white ceiling above him, its pure white layer almost blinding him. But his attention was quickly shifted to the silver-eyed girl, she seemed to be concerned for him, tears welled up in her eyes to which he just stared at her with confusion. The realization dawned on him, causing him to grunt, before trying to sit upright, but Ruby pressed her hand against him, making him slowly sit upright.

"Hey, don't get up so fast, you looked like you were hurt pretty bad, are you okay, Sky?" She warned with worry as he glanced at her and tilted his head, then his mouth opened to speak, noticing numerous other faces eyeing him with the same level of worry

"Wh-Where... am I?" He asked, sounding lost then he looked at Ruby with a baffled expression, his eyes traveling around the tundra in awe. "Better yet, who are you, and who's 'Sky'?"

"What?" Jaune chuffed once, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's us, you know? Jaune, the strategist... vomit boy?" Nothing looked to ring any bells in Sky's eyes

"Who called you 'Vomit Boy'?" He didn't think that was nice

It finally dawned on all of them that Sky didn't so much as recognize his own name or any of their faces. Erika almost fell back if not for Summer's hands, herself shocked. Yang covered her mouth alongside Weiss, Blake was left completely frozen in shock, all with tears in their eyes. But the worst was Ruby, her hands shaking his shoulders gently.

"N-no, S-sky, it's me, remember? Ruby, you... you know me," Her voice was starting to break, trying to figure some way to help him remember but nothing solid came to mind. "Please, please you have to remember! You're Kai Amadeus, Erika's brother, your name here is Sky Zaffre, my teammate, my... my..." Her eyes failed to meet his as tears stained her cheeks. "Please..."

*Pat*

Ruby gasped softly, lifting her eyes to feel Sky's hand rest on her head, his other hand lifting a tear from his own eyes. "Why... am I crying? I... I don't know you, them... m-me?" He blinked, pulling his hand from her head. "Don't cry, I... my body feels so angry when you do." That only made it worse, Ruby burying her face into his shoulder as she wept

He didn't understand it at all, why this stranger thought she knew him, or why when he saw her and the rest distraught and in tears made him upset. Yet the feeling of this girl on his shoulder was pleasant, comforting. Even if he didn't remember his body did, so with his right arm he wrapped it over her back, letting the strange but nice girl cry into his body.


"Memory Fragments," Albatross spoke among them, Sky sitting by the tree with his team surrounding him. "It must have linked with his armor, then, when the program erased itself it took his memories with it, all that power and he risked his own mind to save us... he did something I don't think I could have done myself." He felt ashamed for what had happened to his own friend

"Isn't there something we can do to restore his memories, Oz?" Qrow turned to the boy allowing Ozpin control, even his face was scrunched up in thought

"Unfortunately, while I know of a spell that would indeed aid in his recovery without the majority of my magic I could barely conjure anything more than a spark," Ozpin lowered his hand. "Sadly, most if not almost every drop of magic I had left was spent in gifting you and your sister your ability to transform."

"What now?" Summer asked, her eyes looking back to Sky as he mindlessly pressed buttons on Cognitum, Ruby helping him to navigate its functions, but it was still clear as day that the whole team was understandably troubled, Erika especially for her brother

Albatross sighed, pushing himself to his feet. "Sadly, this is the end of the road for me," Upon hearing this everyone turned their eyes to his sad smile. "I know it's abrupt but the longer I stay here the bigger the risk of that Rift over there growing unstable, now that Charron is defeated my purpose here's been fulfilled,"

"Bl-" Summer's lips were shut before she could continue, Albatross removing his hand.

"It's okay, now you have more than just myself and Amber to lean on," His hand motioned to the rest. "It was alot of fun working with you both, and all of you, you remind me so much of my old friends, some of which aren't around today but..." He held his head high. "I know you guys would have gotten along like a house on fire."

"So, this is goodbye then?" Blake summed up, his saddened smile an easy answer, but he did fish something from his pocket

"I don't like saying 'Goodbye', 'cause, it sounds like you believe it's the end, but it's not," Albatross admitted with a slight shrug. "Look out for each other."

"Thank you for everything, Albatross, and..." He watched as Ruby's hand cupped Sky's, the clueless boy raising a brow at Albatross. "I hope we can meet again someday." It felt so wrong to say goodbye so suddenly but the last thing Ruby wanted was for another problem to arise from their actions.

Albatross did like the sound of meeting once more, "Heh, you too, Red, and hey, Sky?" The boy blinked, pointing to himself. "You may not remember who you are, but, just know that you're a good friend of mine, someone I'd gladly fight alongside anytime," He flicked over one of his warp coins, Sky fumbling to catch it

"Uh-um, t-thanks, uh... sorry, what's your name?" Sky asked as Albatross threw a coin down, a new vortex emerging from the remains with a flash of crimson

"Oh, right, sorry, I sorta forget formalities half the time, hehe," He rubbed his head bashfully. "My name's Blaze," With a flick of his hand, he offered them all a final salute. "Continue on toward the light!"

Sky didn't get it but he smiled and reciprocated the salute, "Sure, I'll do that," That made Albatross laugh one last time as he slowly stepped towards the gate. With a flash of light, Albatross was gone, and the war against Project Eclipse had concluded. "I hope we meet again, Blaze."


The journey back to Mistral was long, passing over the world below as the sky was cast in orange and gold, the sun basking the horizon through the large window facing Sky, his own eyes staring back at him while he pondered on his reflection. Nothing in his head gave him any understanding to his past, the people who knew him, talked about him, everything he heard was drawing blanks.

When he stared out at his reflection, he swore his irises turned a shade of white for a split second. From what he learned, two others were with him before his memories vanished, a sweet and straightforward girl called Penny, and someone very close to him, but from how the dragon girl called Amber reacted to the news, it was clear this Iota and her were close, he almost couldn't bear to see her cry like that, trying to maintain a strong face.

And yet, every time he looked at the four girls that he was in a 'team' with, smudges, faint, blurry images fizzled in his head. Their faces were unreadable, smiles but no features to pin to certain personalities. One in particular kept his curiosity to the horizon. It was hard to formulate into words, but when he woke up on Ruby's lap, seeing a ceiling of white and those dazzling, silver eyes one thought crossed his mind.

"Have we met before?" When he tried to remember nothing came through, blocked by faded grey, even if he couldn't see it, his heart kept beating a little faster.

"Hey, Sky?" He jumped, turning to see his team taking their seats next to him. Ruby once more sitting rather close to his side, but again, he didn't seem to mind, she was really pretty but he didn't say it to her face

"H-Hi..." "Her eyes look really beautiful - w-wait, why did think that?" Shaking off his thoughts and pink blush he raised a brow at the four. "C-can I ask you girls something?"

"Sure, what do you want to know?" Blake began. The four and team JNER watched as he fumbled with his hands for a bit, looking lost as he stared out of the window

"Who am I?" It was barely above a whisper but they heard him. Yang took the lead, patting her chest while slapping his back, exciting a yelp from the confused boy

"You're my best friend, duh! You and I have fought together and against each other lots of times, you nearly gave me a run for my money sometimes too," Yang chuckled, rubbing her neck. "You'd always be the level-headed one when I got too heated about silly things too."

Blake was next, putting a hand to her heart. "You would always be willing to talk to me about my Faunus heritage, and you never lost interest and helped me to accept my past with a group of misguided Faunus called the White Fang. Because of you, I was able to open up, and even share my hobbies with you," Her smile was hard to erase.

Weiss cleared her throat, trying to remain composed for the most part, "Ahem, well, you were stubborn, and always tried to hide away for feelings, I can't remember how many times you pushed all of us aside," Her eyes opened, and a small, genuine smile spread across her lips. "And you tolerated my own stubbornness, helped me to see my own flaws due to my family's name, and... I saw you as another brother to me, even though Erika held a stronger connection with you, both her and yourself still accepted me as your sister, and... I can't ever forget that." Blake quickly pinched Yang's cheeks to keep her from ruining the moment

"Love you too, Weiss!" Erika waved from her seat, causing the girl to blush a little out of embarrassment. Sky's eyes peered over at the other team, his other non-blood relative winking. "You may have forgotten me, but I'll beat the memories back into ya?"

He sweated nervously. "U-um, thanks... I guess?"

Ren spoke up next to Erika. "We know this is alot for you to take in, but know we are here to help you every step of the way," He bowed his head. "Your memories may be gone, but you are still our ally and friend."

"Yeah, now that you don't remember the pranks I pulled on you it gives me more time to try them again!" Nora declared, again, making Sky nervous at her crazy sheen in her eyes

"Is she well?" He asked the girls next to him. All four gave an equally unsure hum or sound

"Like Ren said," Jaune added with a calm smile. "You're our friend, with or without your memory, and we'll do everything we can to support you, I know you'd do the same for us."

"You're also too freakin' stubborn and really prod into people's businesses where you don't belong," The sudden interruption from the ladder leading from the hull belonged to a girl who looked like Ruby, maybe they were twin sisters? Though she was visibly more angry than her counterpart. Her face softened just a bit with a smirk. "But you're a good guy, annoying, but a good person."

"Um, thanks?" He wasn't sure what to make of her yet.

Last to speak was Ruby, and Sky noticed it again, her right hand was resting atop his left, it was still so strange, this fluttery feeling in his chest when she was near, and that cute smile of hers always had his brain on the fritz. And again, his hand gently cupped hers in return.

"Who am I to you, Ruby?" Hearing him say this was a little embarrassing for Ruby but she let her mouth move without a second to hesitate

"You're Sky, member of the greatest team from Beacon Academy, RWBYS, with me as your awesome leader!" She declared proudly, Ren clamping Nora's mouth shut this time. "And you're... well," "Okay, this is going to be super embarrassing, okay, relax, Ruby, you got this!"

Sky watched as she turned her body around fully, a smile adorning her face with soft, silver eyes between raven hair. "You're the kind of person who would never give up on himself or the people he cared for, you would fight against all odds, betting on even the thinnest chance of success, you would risk your life for anyone who needed saving, no matter the result, and... you can always stand no matter how many times it takes," Her hand tightened around his own, but she never once lost eye-contact with him

"You're my best friend... my... hero." Her eyes were closed, flashing a toothy smile while her cheeks turned red.

Sky gaped slightly for a moment, all of them offering a smile or encouraging hand gesture. Jaune helped to keep Nora back with a wary smile, herself ranting and raving, Ren put his hand on his chin, bowing his head. Erika smiled gently. Tabus leaned on her hand from the ladder, flicking her bangs with a knife.

Yang winked, throwing up a peace sign while Amber moved away from Summer who was piloting with Qrow, crossing her arms but offering a smirk, flicking her hair back with a wing. Oscar stood beside her, holding his own bashful smile while running a hand down his nape. Blake's was an earnest expression but her eyes were wide with openness. Weiss wore the same expression as before, comforting in her own awkward way. And then there was Ruby's gentle look of confidence and affection.

"You're kind, you can be sensitive in your own way and you always strive to do better than who you were, what you've done isn't selfish, it's just who you are..."

Sky slowly closed his mouth, "I hear you..." His lips formed a smile.

"I hope you're right."

...

...

...


[][][]-~[RWBY: Fragments]~-[][][]

[Written by - Silent Slender]

[Created October 6th, 2018]

[RWBY Series]

[Produced by Rooster Teeth]

[Created by Monty Oum]

[Acts]

Act I - Lights In The Sky

Arc II - Barons Rising

Act III - Light at the End

Act IV - Linked Horizons

Act V - Life's Pieces

Act VI - Kingdom of Lies

Act VII - Memories

[Cast]

Ruby Rose | Sky Zaffre

Weiss Schnee | Yang Xiao Long

Blake Belladonna | Iota

Eric | Erika Amadeus

Summer Rose | Amber Char

Albatross | Trinity

Ozpin | Oscar Pine

Zorah Rose | Myst Merigold

Azure Star | Eros Bray

Mars | Morana

Tabus | Una

Jaune Arc | Pyrrha Nikos

Penny Polendina | Qrow Branwen

Nora Valkyrie | Lie Ren

Charron the Equinox | Gambit

Echo

This project took 267,483 words to come to a close, and I couldn't be happier with the end result! While there are many things I could have done better; Those of you who did enjoy this little piece in the RWBY community, thank you.

A super awesome thanks to all that enjoyed my story, either from the beginning or near the end, if not for your support I wouldn't be writing this. It's been a blast to write this amazing story of my favorite show, and I hope to see you all in my next story and other projects. I hope you enjoyed, appreciate the support as always, and seeya in the next beginning, Kanpai =^_^=


[Outro - Mica Caldito - Till I Die (Kill la Kill Cover)]

-{I picture this as Sky's voice, so enjoy!}-

I have to go to somewhere I saw
When I was so young and immature
I want to know if truth is painful or not
And why my heart bleeds at the sight

Time will tell us gently
Just how powerless we used to be
But now, now's the time to raise my arms
And throw away all hate

'Cause I meant to be your piece until I die
No one's wants to be alone
So I'll leave my soul by your side
And though we fall apart between Hell's divide
I would seek you on my own
That smile, beneath the stars

You have to go you have the time
Before the world caves in beyond cue
The fate that we know, is cruel but we would survive
I can see though the tender lies

Time will tell us gently
Just how powerless we used to be
But now, now's the time to raise my arms
And throw away all hate

Don't let me be your wound
Wash off what leaves you bound
Always be safe and sound
Let me pray for you

'Cause I meant to be your piece until I die
No one's wants to be alone
I'll leave my soul by your side
And though we fall apart between Hell's divide
I would seek you on my own
That smile, beneath the stars

Till I die
By your side

Till I die
By your side

The End.

"Thank you for making me a reality."

~Sincerely, Sky Zaffre