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-CHAPTER START-

Realm R38Y

As night fell, the group gathered around a campfire as Qrow finished explaining a few more things.

"So, these… Maidens…" Ruby started. "Instead of using Dust, they're mages native to Remnant?"

"Yeah" he nodded.

"And there are four of them?" Nora asked.

"Yup. Always."

"Which means" Ren continued "that whenever one of them dies, the power transfers to someone – a female beneath a specific but not-exactly-known age threshold – that they cared about?"

"Whoever was in their thoughts last" Qrow corrected him. "An important distinction. Best option is someone heroic and kind, someone we can trust. And if there's nobody in their thoughts that fits the bill, it picks somebody at random. Regardless, their souls become 'combined', in a way."

"And that's what you were trying to do to Pyrrha" Jaune scowled. "The night the tower fell. You were trying to turn her into one of them."

"The previous Fall Maiden, Amber, had been attacked. She was young, inexperienced. And her assailant, who we now know is Cinder, somehow managed to steal about half of her power. We were afraid that if we didn't do something, the rest would go to her as well. Salem would have a Maiden in her ranks."

"So you forced it on Pyrrha."

"Jaune…" the girl in question placed a placating hand on his shoulder. "They explained everything. I made the choice. And… we had to do whatever we could to keep Cinder from getting the rest…"

"Basically," Qrow sighed, "it was the equivalent of us running around like headless chickens, desperate for some way, any way, to keep a Maiden's power out of Salem's hands."

"And it failed" Ren summed up. "Salem's forces outmaneuvered and overpowered you guys… and Cinder got what she came for. She defeated you."

Qrow rested his face in his hands. "Yeah. Team Salem got the Fall Maiden's power. We lost."

"…Why would Salem send Tyrian after me?" Ruby asked. "When she and her allies attacked me & Sora, they were trying to kill me, not capture me."

"I don't know why Salem would switch to wanting you brought in alive. Frankly, I don't wanna think about it too hard. There are things worse than death… I figured your display of power at the Fall of Beacon grabbed their attention, so I was following along to make sure you kids were alright – ready to jump in whenever you went up against somethin' you couldn't handle. And until Tyrian showed up, you were all doing pretty damn well – more than could ever be expected of first-year Academy students, that's for sure."

"Why didn't you travel with us?" Kirara asked.

"…His Semblance" Pyrrha realized. "Remember what he said right before he and Tyrian started brawling? His 'bad luck field' Semblance is always active to some degree."

Qrow nodded. "Exactly. Normally it's pretty minor in effect – dropping a glass, an old table gives out if you set something on it, a piece of fruit falls from a tree and clonks you on the head… But little things have a habit of piling up, and if we got in a serious fight, the effect could get worse. However, now that the Sorceresses are showing an interest in you kids, Absol & I will stick with you." He turned to his Poké-partner. "Sorry if my Semblance gives you extra work in keeping us out of harm's way."

The Pokémon shook her head with a small smile, conveying the message that she didn't mind.

"This seems like an awful lot of trouble" Kirara said. "I mean, are the Maidens just powerful enough to draw Salem's eye? Or is there something more to them?"

Stretching his back, Qrow capped and set down his flask. "Might as well give the details. …Not many people are super religious these days. This world's been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin… two of them are real.

"They were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid this world of life. Life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something – something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything."

"The creatures of Grimm" Ruby realized.

"You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation… together, something that they could both be proud of – their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow – the path of light or the path to darkness. And that is how humanity – well, this Realm's humanity – came to be."

"But… What does that have to do with current events?" Ren asked.

"Well, that's the kicker. See, the four gifts to mankind – knowledge, creation, destruction, and choice – aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the Brother Gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world. That's exactly what Salem wants. The Hunter Academies were created to train generations of Humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose: guarding the Four Relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools, he built them around the Relics to act as fortresses. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep humanity from using them against itself… and, of course, keeping them out of Salem's reach."

"But what about infiltrators?" Jaune asked. "Someone who could slip past all the defenses and Hunters to find the Relics?"

"That's where the Maidens come in. Each Relic is contained within a subspace vault, and each vault can only be opened by a specific Maiden. The Spring Maiden can open Haven Academy's vault containing the Lamp of Knowledge, Summer can open Shade Academy's vault with the Sword of Destruction, Fall can access Beacon Academy's vault and the Crown of Choice, and the Winter Maiden can open Atlas Academy's vault and grab the Staff of Creation. And before you start worryin' about how Cinder's got Fall's power, Oz took some additional extra steps to protect and hide Beacon's Vault and its Relic."

"So, we need to keep the Sorceresses from gaining the other three Maidens' powers," Pyrrha said, "while hoping that Headmaster Ozpin's additional security & concealment measures over Beacon's Relic hold out?"

"That's about it, yep. Right now, though, you kids need to keep training and learning, getting stronger and faster and smarter. You've been thrown head-first into the deep end, but at least you've got some water wings for the moment." He turned to face Kirara. "I know you've got some significant experience from you & your friends fighting Dyspear, but as today showed, you're still not much of a match against experienced close-combat specialists like Tyrian or me. We better fix that." He rolled his neck. "At the least, I don't think Salem will try anything again so soon, especially with me on sight, so the rest of the trip should be… relatively smooth sailing."

"Maybe not, sir" Pyrrha said. "How much do you know about old, famous Grimm?"

"More than I'd like to. Why?"

"This whole region is the territory of the Demon of Animus Forest, and it's active. We came across a ransacked village that was attacked by bandits, and then it came in their wake and killed anyone they didn't."

Qrow's eyes widened; one of the most infamous old Grimm, spoken of in wary whispered tones amongst even experienced Hunters (not even he, one of Oz's elite, would ever consider trying to fight a Grimm of its level without backup), and they were smack-dab in its stalking grounds… Not to mention it had apparently been responsible for wiping out the village that Raven and her bandit gang hit.

"…Right. Then we need to get through these forests as quickly and quietly as we can. Everyone get a good night's rest; we're gonna need to move come morning."

-Break-

At a train station, a lone farm-boy around 13 or 14 years old, with messy black hair, tanned freckled skin, and greenish-yellow eyes, hurried for shelter from the rain. Walking up to a large machine, he rested his Lien card against the scanner, only to get an "Insufficient Funds" message.

"Stupid thing…" he griped. "I'm assuming whatever weird magic this is doesn't come with an infinite supply of money?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to solve this one on your own" Headmaster Ozpin's ghost replied from his location inside the boy's head. "…Be on your guard."

"Huh? What do you…"

Then, the boy sensed a foreboding presence, and turned to see a tall and muscular man walking up.

"Here" the man said, and then thumped the machine, which beeped and dispensed paper. As the tall man withdrew his fist, a ticket was dispensed, leaving the surprised boy to pick it up as the man walked away.

"Don't let such a small obstacle block your path" the man said as he left.

"That man…" the boy said. "I felt… Who is he?"

"Someone from my past. Someone who should not be taken lightly."

-Break-

The next day, the group of seven (plus Pokémon) pressed onward under an overcast sky, wary for any further attacks. Eventually, they came upon a fork in the road, but the right-hand path through the mountains was visibly blocked by a rockslide at the base of the closest mountain, while the left path, winding down through the forest, had a sign that read 'Kuroyuri' but was crossed out.

"Maybe the village has people we can help, or who can help us?" Ruby suggested.

Qrow shook his head. "I knew a guy from Kuroyuri. He said the place got sacked by the Grimm like 10 years back; he only survived 'cause he was out on a Huntsman mission for Mistral when his hometown got attacked. It's just abandoned ruins now. Still, it looks like we don't have another choice; that rockslide would take too long to get over or around."

They made their way down the trail, soon reaching the burnt-out ruins of the village. They moved slow and quiet, taking in the devastation even as they kept on the lookout for any hostile activity. Ren started moving ahead faster, tension visible on his body language.

"Easy, kid" Qrow cautioned. "We gotta be careful if we don't wanna attract any attention."

"We can move fast and get out of this place without making a lot of noise" the youth retorted, his tone sharp.

"That's not really the point. Plus, we need to stay calm if-"

Ren spun around with a furious expression. "I don't want to be here!"

Everything was silent for a few moments, before the coin dropped.

"Ren…" Jaune realized. "This was your hometown, wasn't it?"

As the normally-stoic youth hung his head, fists clenched, Pyrrha turned to the confused Qrow.

"The Demon of Animus Forest destroyed this place, years ago. Ren and Nora, as little kids, were the only survivors."

Qrow looked shocked, and then resigned, hissing out a long, slow curse. "Then there's no way in hell either of them can keep their emotions in check going through the place that traumatized them as tots. We've gotta get through here quick, maybe even get out over the walls and make the rest of the journey through the forest. One way or another, we should get outta here before-"

A horrible, piercing, dual-toned shriek echoed through the area, chilling the bones of those who heard it. In particular, Ren started shaking, the blood draining from his face, and Nora wasn't much better. Everyone's Pokémon immediately came out and went on guard, sensing a feeling of impending doom. The ground rumbled softly with the recognizable rhythm of a large quadruped's footsteps, which soon became audible, growing as whatever-it-was drew closer. And then, from behind a building across the town square, the beast revealed itself.

It was gigantic. An enormous horse-type Grimm, with glowing red-orange eyes over a skeletal muzzle, huge crushing molar-like teeth and a set of wicked tusk-like fangs; a mane of wispy black smoke; bone armor protecting its chest that looked like a protruding ribcage; one-toed hooves on its back feet and two-toed hooves on its front feet. The horse's "rider" was, in fact, a humanoid Grimm that only existed from the waist up, its waist physically connected to the horse-portion's back – two Grimm sharing a body, or a single Grimm with two heads & minds, depending on how you chose to look at it. The humanoid had an emaciated torso, its chest protected by bone-plates with glowing red markings on them, as well as multiple rib-like bone spurs. It had muscular shoulders that connected to arms so long that, even with the beast's height, still reached the ground, tipped with hands that had two fingers and a thumb, tipped with large, sharp claws. A row of bony curved spikes emerged along the monster's spine, while a handful of arrows and broken-off spearheads were stuck into its back. The head was shaped like a skull; a skeletal bone mask made up the upper half of its face, intricate red tattoo-like markings decorating it, and a pair of large, curved horns sprouted from its brow to curve back over its head; its mouth looked like it had been physically torn into existence from its face, jagged fangs partially connected to each other by tendrils of Grimm-flesh. The humanoid portion twitched and straightened up with sickening cracks from its joints, a wheezing hiss escaping its jagged mouth.

"A Nuckelavee…" Qrow breathed out. "One of the smartest and deadliest Grimm species. And it's an old one – maybe the oldest one in all of Remnant, judging by its size and the length of its horns. So this is the Demon of Animus Forest…"

"W… We're up against a century-old Elder Nuckelavee…" Pyrrha whispered, her knees shaking in fear. The 'Demon of Animus Forest' was a member of an infamously dangerous Grimm species (even a solo "newborn" Nuckelavee could pose a serious/deadly challenge to a full-fledged freshly-graduated Hunter), with over 100 years of life experience, combat experience, and physical & mental growth… "This… This is gonna be bad…"

Qrow switched his "Harbinger" to scythe mode. "Everyone, keep your cool. This is gonna be tough, but I don't think even this big nasty can handle all of us going all-out against it at once."

The kids all drew their weapons, with Ruby summoning her Keyblade. Looking at the array of humans and Pokémon standing against it, the Elder Nuckelavee let out a hissing growl, and then reared back and let rip another of its earsplitting two-toned shrieking howls, making the heroes wince and flinch from the sheer volume. In response to the call, two dark vortexes formed on either side of it, and two new players joined the party. The first was a humanoid figure around seven feet tall, clad head to toe in black and purple armor, wielding a matching pair of black & red swords. The faceplate had the Unversed symbol on it, briefly flipping up to show a dark-purple 'face' featureless but for a pair of jagged-shaped glowing red eyes. The "Carver Knight" Unversed brandished its blades, a deep rumble echoing from within its helmet. The other darkling was an equine entity as big as the Nuckelavee's horse-portion, its fur/flesh a mix of reds, purples, dark-blues, and blacks, glowing yellow eyes over a fanged mouth which had a soft yellow glow coming from within, its body adorned in dark-blue & bronze horse armor, the chest-piece of which had the Heartless emblem in the center. The "Sinister Steed" Heartless reared back, letting out a deep growling whinny and shaking the earth as it brought its forehooves back down.

"It… It called for backup…" Nora whispered, gripping her hammer tight.

Seeing the humans and Pokémon losing bravado in the face of two additional powerful threats, the Elder Nuckelavee let out a rhythmic, deep hissing snarling sound that the heroes realized was mocking laughter. And then…

"…nOo… hOoOpE…"

At that, the heroes were speechless with shock and even more frightened.

"…It talked…" Jaune whispered in stunned horror. "It's even smart enough to talk…"

Then, all three darklings charged, shrugging off the gunfire thrown their way. As everyone scrambled to dodge, they inadvertently split into three groups, each of which was then focused on by one of the monsters: the Elder Nuckelavee went for Ruby, Ren, and Cure Twinkle; the Carver Knight engaged Qrow and Pyrrha; and the Sinister Steed charged at Jaune and Nora.

Ruby dove to the side to avoid being trampled by the Elder Nuckelavee, firing rounds from Crescent Rose that practically bounced off the old Grimm's hide. Hissing, the rider thrusted its palm in her direction, and its arm rapidly extended, and Ruby barely had time to widen her eyes in shock before the elastic limb's clawed hand slammed into her, sending her tumbling across the pavement until she used her weapon to catch herself. Her Scyther formed a small squadron of Double Team illusion-clones that buzzed around the Elder Nuckelavee, dividing its focus as it swatted at them, while Cure Twinkle fired off a Meteor Humming, a barrage of star-shaped mana bolts crashing down at the monster from above. The Elder Nuckelavee brought its arms up to shield its head & face from the PreCure's attack, and then swept both limbs out wide to dispel the Double Team illusions. The three humans ran around the monster in wide circles while peppering it with fire, but the rider then extended its arms while spinning its entire upper body around, creating a windmill of smashing arms that knocked them both away. Snarling, Ren caught himself and charged in, firing shots and dodging around thrusts of the rider's extending arms, only to rush right into a kick from the horse that sent him reeling.

The Elder Nuckelavee grinned wickedly as it 'read' Ren's emotions. "yOu… hAtE… bUt… tOo wEaK…"

Nora's grenades exploded against the Sinister Steed's thick armored hide but didn't do much more than annoy and anger the Heartless, and the massive horse growled and rushed at her. Nora's Emolga flittered around, zapping at the charging Heartless with Thunder Shocks and Shock Waves until the beast changed its focus to her, snapping at the little flying squirrel that danced around it. Jaune and his Galarian Farfetch'd moved in from the sides, landing a heavy slash and a Brutal Swing. The monster roared/neighed in anger, thrashing around and kicking at them; Jaune blocked a kick with his shield, but was still sent flying by the sheer force of it. Nora came in with a swing of her hammer to the side of the equine Heartless' head, knocking it to the side and fracturing the beast's partial helmet. Snarling the Sinister Steed tried to swing its massive head at her, only for the petite girl to let herself drop to dodge and then scramble back while her Emolga and Jaune's G-Farfetch'd kept the monster busy.

Qrow leapt back to avoid a downward splitting slash of one of the Carver Knight's blades. The Unversed's swordsmanship skills and thick armor enabled it to parry or withstand his attacks, and its raw physical strength meant that even blocking its blows chipped at his Aura Barrier. In addition, the monster's armor and swords looked like metal, but they were actually Darkness constructs, and so Pyrrha's Semblance couldn't affect them. The Carver Knight started stalking toward Qrow, but then Pyrrha got in its path, iron sand out and formed into spears that she launched at the Unversed, aiming at gaps in its armor. Unfortunately, she missed as the Carver Knight moved its body to let its armor take the hits, and its counterattack wide swing of one of its blades crashed against her hastily-raised shield and sent her flying. Qrow's Absol rushed in, leaping over a low swing and swinging her head to release an Air Slash cutting wave that scored the monster's armor but didn't break through. The Carver Knight tried to retaliate, but a Leafage from Pyrrha's Treecko hit its wrist right as it swung, making its swing go wide.

Deciding to reveal his weapons' new ability, Jaune sheathed his sword in its shield-sheath, and then the sheath transformed into a larger blade. Gripping the weapon two-handed, Jaune charged at the Sinister Steed from behind while it was distracted by Nora & Emolga, delivering a heavy slash to the back of the Heartless' right rear leg. The monster horse roared in pain and anger, stomping at the ground in an attempt to crush the youth, who had already leapt away. Nora's Emolga crashed into the Sinister Steed's face with an Acrobatics attack, followed by a barrage of Swift as she fell back to avoid being chomped. Jaun's G-Farfetch'd Focused his Energy and Leered at the Sinister Steed, and when the beast lunged at him, he leapt and used the horse's head as a springboard, landing on the monster's back and landing a Knock Off that dislodged part of the armor covering the Heartless' back. Jaune leapt onto the monster's back and landed a heavy slash that cut a gash in its mid-back; the equine Heartless whinnied in rage, bucking to throw him off.

Casting Rock Polish on himself, Pyrrha's Nosepass lunged at the Carver Knight with a crackling Spark, the electrified tackle knocking the monster back a bit. Pyrrha dashed in, landing several slashing blows with her sword-form weapon, and then raised a wall of iron sand to block the Unversed's return attack. Qrow and his Absol made several dashing slashes, battering at the Carver Knight's armor, and Pyrrha's Treecko leapt onto the darkling's back and hit it with a Mega Drain, sapping its strength and stamina. Pyrrha hit the Carver Knight in the midsection with a hammer blow of iron sand, and the armor there was visibly damaged. Leaping back, Qrow started charging his Aura into his weapon, while his Absol's horn-blade glowed yellow-green as she kept the monster back with a Fury Cutter barrage. As the veteran Huntsman charged, Ren's Mienfoo and Nora's Emolga caught sight of him from their own battles and both cast Helping Hand on him to boost him even further.

Reaching his target, Qrow swung with all his might. The Carver Knight's armor gave way, and the humanoid Unversed was bisected at the waist. The monster's upper half fell to the ground with a clatter, but it wasn't dead. Even as it began to slowly disintegrate, it snarled and tried to swing its weapons at the heroes. Then, the Sinister Steed took notice of what happened, and the horse Heartless galloped over to the downed Unversed, which then hoisted itself up onto the Heartless' back. The Carver Knight's severed waist touched down against the Sinister Steed's wounded back, and the two darklings' "flesh" quickly fused together, forming a hybrid monster – another Nuckelavee-style 2-in-1 entity, only a little smaller than the Elder Grimm. As the Elder Nuckelavee trotted over, the Carver Knight tossed one of its twin swords to the old Grimm, which brandished the blade with a fanged grin.

"Oh, that's not fair" Jaune griped.

Ready for round two, Ruby stowed Crescent Rose and summoned her Divine Rose, taking a stance. Immediately, both fused-darklings stared at her, and the Elder Nuckelavee snarled.

"kEy…BlAdE… aNd… SiLvEr eYeS… yOu… dIe FiRsT!"

The centenarian Grimm charged straight at Ruby, shrugging off the Fire spells she shot at it, and she used her Semblance to just barely dodge a slashing swing of the monster's new blade. Vacuum Waves from Ruby's Scyther didn't even make the Elder Grimm flinch, though a concentrated assault from Qrow, Ren, Nora, and their Pokémon managed to grab the demon's attention, its elongated arms trying to swat them away. Meanwhile, the Carver Knight / Sinister Steed fusion went for Cure Twinkle, Jaune, and Pyrrha, using its sword to bat away a Rock Throw from Pyrrha's Nosepass and then trying to trample the little rock-mon, only for Jaune to block the stomp with his shield while Twinkle's Furfrou leapt onto the horse's back and Bit the knight's arm, snarling and gnawing at the limb until the monster shook him off.

Ruby, Nora, and Qrow kept their distance from the Elder Nuckelavee, making hit-&-run attacks and firing ranged shots. Ren, however, soon lost the struggle against his vengeful, hateful rage against the monster that had left him orphaned and homeless, an expression of frightening hate and fury on his usually-handsome face as he charged, dodging around strikes from the monster's elastic arms and closing in with guns blazing. However, the old Grimm pulled a feint that he fell for, slamming him with a full-strength blow that sent him flying, and then grabbed the airborne youth by the ankle and slammed him into the ground, breaking his taxed Aura Barrier. The old Grimm let out a hissing laugh at the boy's impotent rage.

"i… rEmEmBeR yOu… lItTlE sCaReD cHiLd, aLl gRoWn uP… bUt sTiLl sMaLl aNd wEaK…"

Letting out a pained growl, Ren pushed himself up onto his feet, glaring at the Elder Nuckelavee. The old Grimm, ducked and dodged around Qrow and Ruby's attacks as it charged at Ren, who stood his ground and prepared to attack… until Nora pulled a diving tackle that brought them both underneath a nearby house. As the others engaged the monster, Ren attempted to rejoin the fight, only for Nora to hold him back by the wrist, her head down.

"Nora, let go! They're going to get hurt if we don't-"

Without even looking up, she slapped him across the face. Stunned, he turned to face her, and she finally let go.

"No" she said softly. "I won't let you kill yourself like this. After everything we've been through, I won't let it end." She looked up at him, and he saw her as she was when they first met. "Not like this."

With a sigh, Ren pulled out his father's old knife, looking down at it. She placed her hand on the hilt with his, and closed his fingers around it, looking at him with a fierce, determined expression.

"Keep your head on straight. We can do this."

Meanwhile, the Carver Knight / Sinister Steed fusion was fighting hard against Jaune, Pyrrha, Cure Twinkle, and their Pokémon. Pyrrha's Treecko snared one of the horse Heartless' hooves with a Grass Knot, making the hybrid monster stumble and leaving it open as Jaune & Pyrrha dashed in and landed several slashing blows. Jaune blocked a blow from the Carver Knight's sword, standing firm as it tried to push through his guard and overpower him, but then his G-Farfetch'd struck with a Knock Off that disarmed the Unversed; Pyrrha immediately grabbed the sword with her iron sand and hurled it as far away as she could. The darkling growled in frustration as its attackers leapt back, and then Cure Twinkle & her Furfrou were on it, a Tail Whip softening the combined monster up a little as the two merged darklings were then assailed with Bites, Headbutts, and magic-supercharged punches & kicks. Furfrou's "Fluffy" Ability softened the blow of the Carver Knight's return punches, but a stomping kick from the Sinister Steed sent Furfrou reeling, wounded…

…And then Furfrou lunged back in and used Endeavor. The Unversed/Heartless fusion reeled as a huge chunk of their stamina [HP] was drained, wounds appearing over their body. A Thunder Wave from Pyrrha's Nosepass crackled across the weakened darkling, slowing its movements, and a barrage of iron-sand sledgehammers pummeled the monster from all directions, Pyrrha directing her Semblance to good effect. Then, Jaune leapt atop the massive horse Heartless' back and struck at the knight Unversed with a full-power Helm-Splitter. The humanoid Unversed was sliced in half down the middle, coming apart into wisps of Darkness and leaving the Sinister Steed alone against the heroes. Neighing in fury, the huge Heartless bucked to throw Jaune off before he could strike it as well, but was thus too distracted to even attempt to evade what came next.

"PreCure: Twinkle Humming!"

A massive star-shaped blast of magical power came spiraling in and impacted the Sinister Steed dead-on. One last death cry sounded out as the Heartless came apart, a captive and partially purified Heart floating up into the air and vanishing in a puff of light.

Now, the Elder Nuckelavee was alone against the sizable group of heroes. Snarling, the old Grimm underwent a transformation. The bone spikes along its spine jutted outward, becoming longer and thicker; its horns grew even longer; and the tendrils of its jagged mouth tore free as it reared back and let out a deafening shriek that visibly warped the air and made everyone reel in pain; only magic/Aura protected them from eardrum damage. The horse-part reared back, whinnying fiercely, as the rider-part brandished the Carver Knight's sword which still remained. Ruby came in close, Keyblade strikes battering at the old Grimm's guard, and a return strike sent her flying, her Aura Barrier flaring.

As Ruby lay stunned, the Elder Nuckelavee started to charge toward her. Ren hurried over to Ruby's side, activating his Semblance as he helped her to her feet and started leading her away to regain her bearings; his & her colors became desaturated, and the Elder Nuckelavee stopped, looking around in all directions. However, although Ren's Semblance disguised those affected by it, rendering them immune to a Grimm's sight or hearing or smell or emotion-sensing, and would be enough to fool a younger, dumber Grimm…

"i kNoW yOu'Re sTiLl hErE!"

Snarling, the Elder Nuckelavee extended its arms and spun, a whirling strike that covered all directions at rapid speed & range. The cloaked Ren & Ruby were hit and sent flying, his Semblance deactivating. Qrow came to the rescue, striking at the old Grimm with a flurry of scythe strikes, but the experienced monster used its borrowed blade to block or parry at least half of them. The others moved in to help, but the horse-part reared up and then stomped down, releasing a dark shockwave across the ground that unbalanced and tossed them all back. The monster immediately rushed at the group, but everyone's Pokémon barred its path, enraging it further.

"sUfFeR! bLeEd! sCrEaM! pErIsH!"

As Qrow and the Pokémon kept the monster busy, the kids gathered and worked on a quick plan. Then, everyone spread out to their positions. Cure Twinkle summoned the Princess Palace and inserted her Galaxy Key into the crystalline structure, it and her outfit glowing with power as she twirled her finger over her head, summoning a large golden galaxy of magical power.

"PreCure: Galaxy Chorus!"

The galaxy transformed into a barrage of large star-shaped mana bolts that crashed down on the Elder Nuckelavee. Screeching in pain and anger, the monster shielded its head as best it could, even trying to swat some of the incoming blasts away… and, as one of its arms was extended, Ruby's Divine Rose came spinning in, a Strike Raid severing the rider's left arm at the shoulder. The Elder Nuckelavee screamed in agony and fury, its eyes glowing bright red with hate. It 'fired' its remaining arm at her, but then Jaune came down on the arm shield-first, pinning it in place and allowing Ruby to pull out Crescent Rose and impale it down through the limb, pinning it in place. Qrow took the opening, cutting off the monster's other arm.

Then, Nora dropped off the nearby clock tower and came down on the horse-part's head, hammer first, smashing the horse-part's skull and driving it into the stone pavement. The Elder Nuckelavee was immobilized, but soon proved not to be defenseless. As Ren began to run in, the beast first let out a piercing scream, and then somehow fired a blast of dark-red energy from its gaping mouth. But Pyrrha ran in, blocking it with her shield and then moving with Ren to block follow-up shots. Once he got close, Ren slashed out with his father's knife, slicing across the demon's chest, and the red glow of its mouth dimmed. Grabbing the monster by the horn, Ren glared into its glowing eyes, pulling his blade back.

"…sTrOnG…"

With one green-Aura swing, Ren decapitated the Elder Nuckelavee, dropping its severed head a second later. The century-old Grimm then came apart into a pillar of black smoke, rising up over the ruins of Kuroyuri. The Demon of Animus Forest was dead. After a moment, Nora tackle-hugged Ren, laughing with delight. A minute later, the whirring of antigrav engines could be heard, and soon a pair of wood & metal airships came in to land, guns at the ready.

"We were on patrol and saw the Grimm-smoke" a member of the crew said as he came out to greet the heroes. "Nobody's been out here for years. We figured something was up."

"Better late than never, I guess" Qrow replied. "Can ya give us a lift to Mistal?"

-Break-

When Qrow showed his Omnitool recordings & images of the largest/oldest Nuckelavee ever seen, and confirmed that it was the Demon of Animus Forest, and showed the infamous Elder Grimm being killed, the airships were very keen on getting the whole gang to Mistal as soon as possible so they could explain and report on everything. Soon, the flourishing mountain city was in view, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. The first leg of their journey was over.

Aboard the airship, Nora's hand rested atop Ren's.

…

In the Headmaster's office in Haven Academy, a tall & slender man with a moustache sat at the table with Headmaster Lionheart, calmly sipping tea.

"Why thank you, Professor. Salem always did say you were… quite hospitable."

-CHAPTER END-

Next Chapter: we see how Yang, Blake, and Weiss are doing, as well as what a certain bullheaded villain is planning…