A/N: HELLO~! PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?
Feels strange, knowing this story is nearly done. Feels good, too.
As ever, thanks for the feedback; reviews really keep me writing in this day and age.This chapter moves fast; because I'm tired of holding back.
Still pressing on with the daily updates...getting tired...so...very...worn out...
Managed to pry myself away from Doctor Who to write this little tidbit. Hope you enjoy it!
Now then, time for your burning questions!
Q: Can we seek more of the gods?
A: Ask and you shall receive! That said, I write them a little differently than most. They don't have faces per se, and they think differently than mortals.
Such is reflected in the way I write them.
Q: This may sound droll good sir, but I truly enjoy the way you've unraveled Salem's schemes. Tyrian and Hazel are dead. Cinder was turned. Watts is locked up. Emerald? Dead. Mercury? Ashes. And we know the poor fate of Adam's body. That leaves...what, Lionheart? Ha! What can that weakling do?!
A: Aye, she's backed into a corner. Lets take a look at that she has left. Oh, yes! Grimm, Grimm, and more Grimm.
Then again, we've SEEN how she lashes out. She's like a child in that aspect..
Q: Naruto's become awfully blase about his body-hopping baloney...getting some real Orochimaru vibes here, boss..
A: That's intentional. Naruto wants, above all things, a body. Not a corpse, not a temporary one like Adam's, an actual body. He wants his strength and power back, wants to touch and feel, wants to have a live. Dying opened doors in his mind, ripped away a good bit of his morals and the like, but he's still trying to figure out his place in the world. So instead he goes to Mistral with Amber, subverting the White Fang and seeking out the Relic of Knowledge with Ozpin's blessing. And HER name.
I know what you're thinking, Neon, if he went to Atlas and go ahold of Ambrosius, problem solved!
You're right. Given the proper knowledge, Ambrosius could magic him up a half decent body, if not a DIRECT copy of his peak. Of course, we all know what that would mean for Atlas... Staff gets used? City drops. Not immediately, but that would kill a lot of people.
The question you need to ask yourself is this:
How selfish is Naruto?
And how clever?
Lets find out.
Q: Aha! I see your plan! Don't we need a Maiden to open the vault, though?
A: Funny thing about being a ghost; physical barriers mean nothing to you. Magical or otherwise. Ozpin spelled the vaults to "Open" for a certain maiden. Not to keep a ghost out. Theoretically, anyone with an intangibility Semblance could just...walk right through them.
Makes sense that we haven't seen anyone with that power. It would be way to OP.
Q: At last, we come to the pairing! Took you long enough, governor!
A: Oi! Give a man a break. I'm updating every day. Can only do so much.
Alright then, I've kept you all long enough. Looking forward to your reviews~!
Once again, the chapter title hails from lyrics of "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" by Set It Off.
As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes, or aaaaaany memes.
Laughter and insanity abounds!
"See, that's the thing about being dead.
There are no strings on me.
I. AM. FREE.
~?
Stalk Your Prey (Jinn)
Failure.
Failure. Failure.
Failure. Failure. Failure.
The word hammered away at what passed for a God's brain, driving a pounding migraine between his temples. For the first time in eons, he felt something akin to...anger. He was immortal; transcendent, eternal. He knew secrets that would make the universe shudder. His was a power no mortal could hope to defy. He could shatter mountains, reshape worlds in his image. The very universe was his to bend to his whim.
And yet for all this power, he had been bested.
Not once, not twice, but thrice now! Blasted mortals!
He saw them now in his mind's eyes, watched as their insidious influence -and that of his Brother!- began to spread across the world like a plague. They'd claimed the White Fang for themselves now. He knew the next part of their scheme. This would not stand. It mustn't stand. The Girl Who Lived and the Boy Who Refused To Die. Would that he could simply wipe them from the face of the Remnant and be done with them entirely!
Yet he couldn't.
Like his Younger Brother, the God of Light was bound by Rules. Father had made them as such; created them, and then departed for the stars, leaving them behind. Those tenets bound him and Darkness alike. Rules that could be bent at times, but never broken. They were forbidden from destroying any world they created. Their word was law; once a pact was made, they must see it through or risk certain doom.
To defy the Rules outright risked complications or worse; attracting His attention.
Even now, millennium after his departure, he didn't dare draw their Creator's ire. Assuming he still existed.
In the same vein, Summer Rose had failed Him. He had brought that woman back to life for a singular purpose. And still she failed. In hindsight, he might have phrased things...poorly. Shed their blood, he'd said. She did as he'd asked; slipped through his grasp with a clever bit of t He held no power over her now. The terms of their pact were complete. More fool he.
And so tonight, The God of Light selected a new champion.
Someone better. Someone loyal. Someone strong. Kill Amber Autumn and Naruto Uzumaki. he told them. Do not stop until they are ash in the wind. Do this, swear yourself to me, and I will grant your heart's desire. He waited for their compliance and when it came, sent a mental command their way.
No more victories. No more triumphs. Only ash in the wind.
"Go, my Warrior. There's work to be done."
"Again?" a voice sighed behind him. "How unlike you to bend the rules, brother."
Light rounded in the void, knowing who he would find there.
"Have I?!" a golden arm slashed through the air. "It was you who began this farce with that bet, not I! Let us have an end to it!"
Sure enough his not-so-beloved younger brother stared back, arms crossed before his chest. He looked...taller than before. Brighter. Stronger, for all the worship he'd been given. For an awful moment, Light felt a pinprick of fear. Had he gone about this all wrong? In pursuing those two mortals above all else, he'd neglected his own followers, what few there were. And his Brother looked oh-so smug...
"Well?! What say you?!"
Darkness regarded him with a pitying sigh.
"There will be an end. Just not the one you expect...
(.0.0.0.)
Enough games.
Salem opened her eyes.
"Fine," she all but snarled the word. "I'll do it myself."
(.0.0.0.)
"Well. Here we are...
Naruto hovered before the Vault.
Motes of golden light drifted over a large platform resting over a deep chasm. The path on said platform said funneled towards the Relic chamber's doorway, featuing three cyan circles on the ground with an ornate symbol in each of them; they lit up one by one as he floated past, illuminating the chamber in ethereal glow
The end of the platform features the door to the Relic chamber, an elaborate orange doorway situated in a rock wall. Behind it is a large tree with glowing orange flowers. The doorway itself was constructed out of golden fans layered on top of each other, decorated with a floral pattern
It felt strange standing -floating!- here as he was now.
He'd already beaten Sienna handily. There wasn't much to tell beyond that he'd left her alive. Adam's body was strong. His spirit was stronger. She wasn't. It ended over in an instant. Now "Adam Taurus" led the Mistral sect of the White Fang; with all ties severed to Salem. Heh. She was probably twisting with rage right about now.
Better yet, with Amber guarding his corpse-host tonight, he was free to act as pleased.
Another thing he'd noticed; in the beginning, he'd been all but bound to her; unable to leave her side for even a moment. Then he was a move a little further each day. But never far. Now? Amber was miles away, and he could barely even feel the link that bound them. He would likely still perish if she did, fall if she fell, but for the first time in a long time, he felt free. His destiny was his own again.
Ozpin had promised him the Lamp for his services against Salem.
Tonight he was acting on that promise.
...here goes nothing."
His spectral form slipped through the gilded Vault door with a faint shimmer. There was resistance, of course. Midway through he felt the magics of the Door tug at him, catching at his shoulders like a spiderweb. Dozens of gossamer thin threads wound their way about his soul, trying to hold him back, but he lacked a proper form for them to properly impede. His spirit, although separated from his body, burned bright as ever. The magic melted away like so much morning mist around him.
And then he was through.
A vast swathe of desert greeted his eyes and he squinted against harsh sunlight.
"The hell? Where am I?"
When he opened his eyes he found himself somewhere else entirely; stood in another dimension altogether. Sand and sunlight, as far as the eye could see. Before him three circular stone platforms led toward a tiny stone pedestal above which an eerie item levitated. Keen blue eyes found the lamp perched upon its pedestal. Distantly, he recalled Ozpin's words to him. Well, in for a penny as they said...
He drifted forward, coming to half only stone's throw away from the lamp.
Pallid fingers reached for it and passed through.
Lips pursed in a frown.
"Jinn."
Baleful blue smoke spilled out into the air to take the shape of a striking young woman. Her eyes were bright, hair dark, and her skin was shade of the ocean itself, her bare body adorned in chains and absolutely nothing else. Naruto felt the beginnings of a crooked grin pluck at the corner of his spectral mouth.
"Well! I think I just fell in love."
"My, my." startled blue eyes looked around back at him, wide with surprise for the first time in an age. "This is new. Someone has called me. I hear you, yet I cannot see you. Am I imagining things...?
All that joy turned to ash in his mouth.
No. No, no, no. She had to see him. She must! He was right here!
"Hey!" he grit his teeth in a growl. "Listen! I'm over here! Ya blind or something?"
"Where are you?" the genie craned her neck in the opposite direction. "Is this a trick of some sort...?"
He couldn't fail here. Not when he'd come so far.
"You really can't see me, can you?" Naruto pursed his lips and floated around her. "You look at me, hear me, but can't see me." His brow furrowed. "All you see is a ghost, a wraith, a wandering spirit. Do you have any idea what that's like?" Despite his utmost efforts, his voice broke with emotion. "I'm not gone. I'm right here. Standing in front of you. Look at me!" a hand waved before her face. "See me!"
A hand blurred up and caught him by the wrist. Pale fingers found substance, where there was none to be hand.
Her eyes snapped toward him. Shimmered with light.
Azure orbs met stark cerulean.
"I see you." she whispered.
Naruto's heart skipped a beat. For someone to touch him -the real him!- was more than unexpected; it surprised him, startled him, shook him to his very core.
Before his very eyes she seemed to shrink; going from a towering blue giant to a woman of normal height.
"You have come seeking answers, my spectral friend. Two remain this era." Jinn reclined before him with a languid smile. "What knowledge do you seek?"
Naruto gulped.
There were...so many things he could ask her. How to get back to his world, how to bring about world peace, how to end the Grimm...the list went on and on. But there was one question he'd been nursing for quite some time now; since the very beginning of this madness. One inquiry above all. One hope. One prayer he'd held close to his undead heart every night. Anything else could wait.
He asked.
And so she told him.
She told him everything.
(.0.0.0.)
Raven Branwen scowled at the ceiling of her tent.
Somewhere, somehow, someway, she inexplicably felt...forgotten.
"But I'm the Spring Maiden! I'm part of the plot! They can't just ignore me...can they?"
A/N: Nearly there, now. Its been a blast.
As ever, reviews are my fuel, without them my engine shall fall lifeless and cold.
What can I say? Writing is my passion. Always has been, always will be.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly?
And enjoy the previews!
WARNING. Spoilers.
(FUTURE! Previews!)
"Well, I can't very well take you out of the vault...unless. Wait. I've got an idea."
Ambrosius opened his eyes.
"Well, well! Seems someone has come to engage my creative wiles! And is that my sister I spy...?"
Salem snarled. "Filthy traitor!"
"Aw, are you upset?" Cinder crooned.
"You are no god, girl. Perhaps its time I reminded you of your place."
"Do you think I care for you so little that I'd let a little argument stop me?" Naruto grinned and patted a spectral hand on her head. "I'm your friend, Amber. I always will be.
...what're we going to do now?"
"Finish things."
"Are you trying to die?!"
"On the contrary!" He grabbed the wheel and spun it. "I intend to live!"
"Why?" Salem snarled. "Why, why, why? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting?"
Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love?
Illusions, boy. Vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a mortal human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as your resolve itself. You must be able to see it. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why, then? Why? Why do you persist?
A trembling hand pushed itself against the ground.
...someone has to."
"Then die, little ghost. AND BE FORGOTTEN!"
R&R~!