A/N: HELLO~! PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?
Still pressing on with the daily updates...getting tired...so...very...worn out...
In case it hasn't been noticed, this story is ending. Very soon.
That was always planned of course, but the fact that folks don't seem to like this as much -especially with the gender bender accusations- expedited things a little. I don't want to abandon this, so in lieu of another three arcs, we're just going to advance the grand master plan. To the finale we go~!
As ever, thanks for the feedback; reviews really keep me writing in this day and age.
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!
"You humans think greed is just for money and power, but everyone wants something they don't have. "
~The Future a.k.a. A Shinobi's Return.
Lets Not Get Overzealous Here (Prelude to the End)
"Rise and shine."
Ambrosius opened his eyes and gazed upon a pale specter.
The specter gazed back at him with a cheeky grin, arms crossed 'fore his chest.
This was a joke, right? Surely it must be. Ambrosius scrubbed his eyes with one hand, then blinked for good measure. Once. Twice. Thrice. The scene before him didn't change. If anything, the young man standing before him became even more annoyed. Blue eyes narrowed upon him beneath blond bangs, eyes burdened by impossible knowledge, yet they did not flinch in the face of his confusion.
"Stop that." the newcomer sighed. "Yes, I'm real. Yes, I'm the one that summoned you; so lets move on, shall we?"
Easier said than done. Ambrosius was a being of knowledge. Life. Creation. Death was anathema to him as the ground unto the sky. He did not fear it. He rejected it. The very core concept of his being had been built upon ensuring mankind's survival. Before creation there must come destruction. He scorned such beliefs. Creation must always come first.
So to see a man who was already dead, a man who had somehow slipped into the vault in spite spite of all its defenses...
...well. It was something of a shock.
This man was not alive. Nor was he dead. His very being was a paradox.
"Well, well!" the genie forced a grin to his face still, somewhat taken aback by the sight in the vault before him. "Seems someone has come to engage my creative wiles!" his gaze shifted, only just now noting the familiar blue wraith behind his summoner. "And is that my dear sister I spy...?"
Why, it was!
"Hello, brother." Jinn graced him with a small smile. "I'm sorry for the interruption. This won't take but a moment."
It certainly seemed so.
"Alright. I'll bite. How did you two get in here?"
"I'm pretty much an unbound ghost at this point." the blond mirrored his movements with a grin. "Just took me a while to realize my potential. I can go anywhere I want. See anything. And if Jinn could see me...well." slim shoulders rolled in a careless shrug. "It makes sense that you could, too. Ergo, I can interact with you."
"That's fair." Ambrosius quelled a sudden pang of dread. "And you knew my name, how?"
"I asked the one question no one thought to ask." his grin said it all. "
...you're not going to tell me what you asked, are you?"
"Nope~!"
"I'm afraid the knowledge has driven him quite mad." Jinn agreed. "Best do what he says and was your hands of him."
"Not mad!" wild blue eyes rounded on the lesser spirt. "I'm...not...not crazy." he touched a hand to his forehead and reeled for a moment. "I'm just...tired of this. Tired of the gods, of being a pawn in everyone's game, of everything. So I'm going to end things."
"As you say." Ambrosius leaned back, still ill at ease. "And your second question?"
Naruto's grin grew manic.
"Right, right," Ambrosius swirled away, unwilling to face it overlong. "While I'm thrilled to have this little family reunion, I'm afraid I have to ask a question of my own. How is she," an azure finger indicated his sister, "Even here in the first place? Pretty sure I don't see a lamp at your waist."
The grin became something horrific.
Jinn palmed her face. "Don't say I didn't warn you...
"You did. See, I took a bit of a gamble." Naruto spread his arms wide, spectral limbs grasping at nothing. "If I could pass through the vault door, so could she. I just gave her a...nudge." he raised a palm then, a lone finger shimmering with ghastly light. "Her lamp's still sitting back in Haven, but its empty. Anyone who tries to use it can summon her back of course, but without the Spring Maiden...
Realization crashed down upon the Creator in a scalding wave.
They really were breaking all sorts of rules here.
What was to stop him from doing the same?
"Do you intend the same for me?"
"Hardly." Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're going to create a new body for me. A powerful body with all my power intact, just like the last. Well, as close as you can get it, I suppose!" his voice piqued, rising with a laugh. "A form my spirit can hop in and out of at will. Once you do, I'm taking the staff out of here."
He really had gone mad.
Did death do this to man? Unfettered by conscience or morality, was this what you became? This was greed. He couldn't see it as anything else. Even if the young man thought he was being altruistic, his actions here would have far reaching consequences.
"You mortals." he sighed. "Always reaching for something you don't have."
"I disagree!" Naruto lurched forward, slamming a spectral forehead against his. "Everyone wants something. Some might want to bring back someone that they've lost. Some might want money. Or, they might want to protect the world. These are all common things people want." even as a ghost, his eyes blazed red. "Things that their hearts desire. Greed may not be good, but it's not so bad, either. Greed is for more than just money and power! Everyone wants something they don't have."
...and what do you want?"
"Lots of things." the spectral shinobi drifted down to the floor, planted his feet, and raised his chin. "I want peace. I wanna wife. Maybe a few little blue children once all this is over. Possibly a harem. Haven't decided yet."
Ambrosius quirked a brow.
"Ahem!" A scarlet-faced Jinn finally found her voice again. "Don't look at me. He decided all this."
"What's wrong with the color blue?" Naruto frowned. "I think they'd look rather nice."
Ambrosius palmed his face.
..you do realize Atlas will fall if you do this." the silence that followed -and the lack of concern on the boy's face!- troubled him more than he cared to admit. "Without time to prepare its going to plummet instantly. There will be no warning. Hundreds will die."
"Thousands, actually. Its been accounted for." whiskered cheeks twitched in a smile. "Amber and the others are going to be furious with me for meddling, but this is for the best. I have a plan."
"If this "body" is as powerful as you say, it might not last." Did that plan involve innocent deaths? He certainly hoped not. "You'll be getting exactly what you ask for."
"I have faith in you." Naruto beamed. "You won't let me down."
This boy was too pure for his own good. They say spirits are wild with their emotions, devoid of restraint. Perhaps that was true. Maybe this was his real self, all morals stripped away by his first death. Perhaps he was just putting on a brave face.
"Alright, I'll need schematics for this so-called body of yours.
"You already have them." the spectral being tapped a hand to his forehead. "They're all right here in my brain."
...that doesn't help me."
"Oh, but it does!" his brow furrowed when his fellow spirit made to protest. "You see, I still have one last question left, courtesy of Jinn. Wonder how I should use it?"
"You misunderstand." Ambrosius temporized with a raised palm "Assuming she shows me enough of the history of your people and you for me to make a proper replica, its not that simple." that palm rose, conjuring a tiny replica of the young man before him. "If I put you back into a body, you'll be corporeal again. Mortal. If it dies, you die."
"Is that so?" Blue eyes sparked and he suspected he'd just fallen into a trap. "Which means you won't be able to undo it; because doing so would kill me. Which, last I checked, you're not allowed to do."
He had a bad feeling about this. "Correct...?"
"Good. Because I need you," he hooked a thumb over his shoulder, "To make Jinn a body once this is done." she jolted and his grin reminded Ambrosius of a sneering fox. "Make it just as powerful as mine. And I know precisely who I want you to base it on."
Who might that be?
Naruto told him. He spent five whole minutes telling him.
...
...
...
In the end, Ambrosius relented. Screw it. Why not? This was as great a challenge as he'd ever receive. Exploiting such a loophole might very well anger the God of Light, but damn if it wasn't enticing. He couldn't recall the last time someone had come to him with so great a task as this. Jinn's knowledge encompassed many things, other worlds, universes, even periods of time. Creation and Knowledge. Paired together, they could do much. It was the rea
And this...this would change the world.
"You've thought this through, I'll give you that." azure hands reared back, cracking his knuckles. "Alright. Speak your question and let's get this show on the road."
...just a second."
Naruto sat down and crossed his legs beneath him. Jin mirrored the motion, kneeling before him. Pale azure hands rose to sup his cheeks. Her forehead touched his. Their eyes closed in unison. Ambrosius coughed at the sight and looked away, feeling oddly like a voyeur in his own home.
The blond's breath hitched once. Just once. His only sign of fear.
"Jinn. You already know what my question is. Show him."
"This will be your final question." she sounded almost sad to say it. "There can be no more after this. Are you certain...?"
His eyes opened to meet hers. "I am. Do it. Before I change my mind."
She smiled here, at the last. "As you wish, dear boy."
In a flash the world became glorious light.
Ambrosius saw it all and gasped.
Knowledge. So much of it. Past and present flowed into his mind like a film, scenes funneling to a single point. He saw things he'd never dreamed of, never known to be possible. And how could he? Creation was his forte, not knowledge. He knew little of other worlds, nor the wonders they contained. But he did now. And as he saw, he understood. His sister was most thorough. Jinn made certain He saw it all. The birth of chakra and those of the shinobi that followed. How it worked. How it focused. All of it. Every bit of it. He saw gods and monsters, the death of one way and the birth of another.
And there, at the end of it all, he saw one, standing head and shoulders above the rest.
Replicate that? He wasn't sure he could. But he would try.
"Alright. I can work with this...
(.0.0.0.)
Atlas fell.
Harriet Bree wasn't sure why or how, only that it did. It was a sudden thing, less a controlled descent than a rapid crash from on high; like a star struck by the hand of an angry god. There was no word or warning. No spark nor sound to predate the sudden disaster. One moment it hung safely secure in the sky, a shining symbol for all of Mantle to see; a silent giant shielding them in its shadow. In the next? It simply fell.
While she was here, down in Mantle. Today just wasn't her day.
She could have run, she could have screamed, could have done any number of things. Instead she froze. She heard the screams of countless bystanders; their last desperate cries took root in her heart and paralyzed her where she stood. Fear anchored her legs to the ground and she had all of an instant to shield her face with one arm, to close her eyes...!
And then it stopped.
Heart hammering in her ears, pulse bounding, the Specialist dared to raise her gaze. A bit of dirt rained down on her head. Harriet looked up, cowering in the shadow of her doom, expecting the world to black out at any moment, followed by the crushing pain of pain never came. Not one iota of it.
"Nice one, Jinn!" a distant voice laughed. "Maybe we cut it a little too close for comfort, though...
"Our apologies." another voice echoed the first. "We didn't mean to frighten you.
Harriett looked up and beheld her savior.
Wreathed in saffron and black with a series of strange black spheres hovering from his back, a young man burned bright in afternoon sky in blatant defiance of gravity. A single arm was outstretched above his head to hold the weight of the city at bay. The other clasped the hand of a blue-skinned woman, whose free palm worked to support his. Each glowed with power, their bodies all but shimmering with golden-blue light. Together, they did the impossible and held Atlas at bay.
Harriet's jaw clicked open. "What the actual hell...
"Hello, there!" the young man grinned down at her. "Where do you want us to set this thing down?"
"I'm afraid its rather heavy." Jinn mirrored his smile. "Shall we just put it in the crater?"
When faced with such strength, there could only be one response.
It was only natural, really.
Hariett fainted~!
A/N: ONE CHAPTER LEFT.
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!)
Jinn smiled. "Physical bodies are a fascinating thing...
"Jinn. No. Bad Jinn."
"I don't understand. Why me? Why bring me here?"
"Because we have need of your skills, specialist. And because I want someone to record what happens here."
Ozpin sighed. "That boy is a hero. Tell me, what would you do with such power?"
Amber shot to her feet. "No! He wouldn't!"
I...you...but that's cheating! You can't have come this far! Not so soon!"
"Sweetheart, I'm dead. A ghost. I have no morals anymore. I cheated to usurp the White Fang. I cheated to pry Jinn out of that vault. I cheated to get the Staff. So! In lieu of a long-winded speech that I'm sure you won't want to hear, and frankly, because I don't care for your petulant whining anymore...
...LETS SEE YOU SURVIVE THIS ONE!"
A glow hand grabbed her by the face.
"I. Do not. Care. Exterminate!"
R&R~!
