Please…
Make it stop…
This pain… It was unbearable.
Why…
She'd been completely fine believing her mother had abandoned her.
That her parents had not cared for her
But she hadn't.
And they had.
She had been stolen away from them.
Now she'd been taken away from her.
This pain… please make it go away.
Please…
A single tear ran down Nora Valkyrie's cheek as the world around her, ust as suddenly as it had disappeared, returned to what it had been before- destruction, chaos and loss.
She could barely feel Tyrain standing behind her, his deadly stinger posed to strike her down. He was laughing softly, amused at the death of his former teammate… of her mother. She could sense his eagerness for this stalemate to end and for the battle to continue. Behind him, the Shade Vault was still open, ushering for someone to enter and relieve it of the Relic it protected. However Nora ignored its hushed whispers, her thoughts too distraught by what had been revealed to her in the World In-between to understand their words.
Cinder was still hovering several feet above the ground, dark red flames surrounded her body. The expression on her face was quickly shifting from one of expectation to one of annoyance. She had yet to realise that Nora Valkyrie had stolen yet another of the Maidens' powers from under her nose. When she did, her fury would burn them all to ash, friend and foe alike.
Hovering not too far from her, yet a safe distance to avoid getting accidentally burnt was Mercury still wearing Pluto's face. The light of Cinder's flames painted his pale wings in the warmest colours unfitting of the event that had just played out on the ground below. Mercury's face was a mask, not a single emotion capable of being read crossed his face. Was he patiently waiting for Cinder to inherit the Summer Maiden's powers? Or did other thoughts plague his mind?
Clover, or that thing that bore Clover's face, was not moving, still following Mercury's previous command. It stood its ground, its treacherous needle-like hand barely brushing the ground at its feet. It gleamed hungrily, it had yet to feast on the Aura of it's Master's adversaries. It was strong, but it wished to become stronger.
Dr Dell… her father… that was something else she hadn't even begun to wrap her head around. He was kneeling on the ground, his dark curled hair falling over his eyes. She could see his shoulders rise and fall. He was crying, his cries dying into silence like the woman he held in his hands.
And there was Valerian, her mother. The Scourge had made her skin the paleness of a corpse even in life but now that was all she was… just moments ago she had been a breathing, fighting, living person. Not any more. If it weren't for the blood on her hands Nora would have thought she was simply sleeping. But the calm of her face was a lie. Valerian Carrie may have appeared asleep, but it was not a slumber she would ever awake from.
This single tear froze across her frigid skin as she felt the Winter Maiden's power swell within her but, this time, alongside something else. Another supernatural core, one warmer than what she'd taken months to become accustomed to. Her breath hitched as she felt Tyrian's stinger tighten around her neck in response but he didn't know. She couldn't keep it back. Not any more. The wall she'd built had now been cracked.
Her eyes fell on the forms that were still kneeling on the ground- Bellamy Dell clutching the now unmoving body of Valerian Carrie to his chest. No, that wasn't quite right, not anymore… her father holding her mother. Another tear ran down her cheek however this one did not freeze as its precursor had, this one turned to steam, evaporating before it even reached her cheek.
Please…
Make it stop…
Chaos. That was the only way Bellamy could describe what was unfolding before his eyes. He was still knelt on the ground, Valerian Carrie's body in his arms. It still felt warmth to his touch, almost as if she were merely sleeping. But the doctor knew that was a lie he could not allow himself to believe. In a few hours she'd become cold, and her warmth would have permanently disappeared from this world.
He wanted to mourn her, to allow himself a moment of silence to recall the life the two had shared together. The good, the bad, the times they had yelled and argued and the times they'd held each other in each other's times. For now such moments were finite. As time progresses they'll become more distant moments in the past to get buried under the present and future.
But that all depended if he survived what was to come.
Winds that did not belong so deep underground whipped at him, hot and cold like a belt against his skin. They spiraled around the source like reluctant dancers, to twirl and encircle her, colliding in an unnatural performance… or more accurately, a supernatural one.
Nora's yells had dragged him out of his sorrow. Those had been the cries of a wounded animal. He did not think she and Valerian had been close so her reaction, although he could concur, was irrational. She cried for the woman as if she'd known her for years but he knew that was not possible.
Neither one had met Nora Valkyrie before that day.
And then there was the problem with the Sumer Maiden. He had fully anticipated it being taken by the Fall Maiden since she had been the one to murder Valerian. Or, to travel to some unknown part of Remnant, away from the Vault since, given her final words, Val's final thoughts had been on their daughter. Their daughter was also dead and so unable to inherit her mother's power.
That's what Bellamy's logical mind told him.
So why had the power gone to Nora Valkyrie? He remembered a similar expulsion of energy from when Valerian had acquired the power from Amelia. A warmth that exceeded that of fire. Like a desert's that, in excess, could erode away anything, even flash. The flames that erupted from Nora's eyes, which until that moment had always been blue (a bizarre observation since her Aura seemed to be pink), now had stains of orange within it.
Did that mean the next host had been decided?
Had it clung to the closest Maiden available?
Had it been sheer luck that it had gone to the Winter rather than the Fall Maiden?
Or was something beyond his current understanding at play?
He watched the woman as she continued to break down before him. Tyrian released her as he could no longer stand against the extreme temperatures that surrounded Nora Valkyrie.
From what Ozpin had told him in his youth, never had he witnessed a Maiden inherit two powers.
From what Emerald had warned them, if one with the incorrect heritage acquired such a thing, she would lose her mind.
With the way Nora clutched at her hair, crumpling to her knees Bellamy feared the young Huntress was the latter.
Tears streamed down her pale cheeks, some freezing, some evaporating as the winds continued to collide and mix around her. Their collision caused the pressure and humidity inside the chasm to change as clouds began to obscure the chasm's ceiling. They shouldn't have been created so deep underground but what was unfolding before his eyes was beyond the works of nature.
He could feel the static in the air from the way his hair began to stand on end.
Now there was static.
Soon there would be lightning.
The voices in her head were drowned by her screams.
Why did this keep happening? This pain, this realisation, she couldn't…
She never wanted it…
Penny…
Valerian…
She never wanted this power.
She'd give it back to them in a heartbeat if it meant they'd come back.
The static in the air caused her hair to rise while small sparks in pinkish hues crackled across her skin however she didn't feel it.
Her body was numb.
The powers of the Winter and Summer Maidens were making her immune to the heat and the cold.
She wanted her mind to feel that numb.
To stop this grief and sorrow she could not hold in.
To silence those voices in her head that were not her own.
To quiet her own thoughts.
She didn't see the chaos she was creating, the upheaval her unstable emotions were having as her body was forced to accept the Summer Maiden's powers.
She didn't see the flash of light as finally, the collision of hot and cold air reached the point where electricity was made. Lightning struck at the ground leaving a dark stain where it hit.
Bellamy struggled against the winds, using his weight as well as that of Valerian's body to keep him grounded. But, if he dared stand, he would be caught in these gasts and crushed along the chasm walls.
Mercury had received such a faith. His large wings had been caught in the gales. He'd tumbled and tossed, feeling as their force broke the bones in his wings which were not his own. However, the pain was very much his. He collided with the uneven walls, his Aura doing little to protect him from injury. He felt dazed as the back of his head crashed into the wall. The winds pressed him in place, pinning him there.
Tyrian looked at the woman who had been his captive only moments before. The wind and fluctuation in temperature were worse the closer he got. And he tried. But each step towards her, the winds pushed him three paces back. He cursed, stabbing at the ground with his gauntlets to stop him moving further backwards. Clover did the same, spearing the ground with his needle arm, his crimson eyes never leaving Nora. With a grunt he pulled himself forward, with each movement he embedded his blades into the ground. If he could reach her, if he could cut her down, this would all stop. However, even if Nora was unaware of the danger, the power sensed his intent. Carried along the winds, fire and ice berated him, tossing him to the side. When he finally looked back up, walls of ice and fire surrounded the girl. Although by nature they countered each other, in that moment their nature had changed, their aims converging. They would protect their host even if she herself did not wish it
The only one that seemed to be relatively keeping it together was Cinder Fall, however 'keeping it together' was putting it lightly. She was hovering through the air, her movements jagged as she tried to retain her altitude. She charged at Nora, screaming in rage at the thief that had stolen from her once again. Brilliant red flames erupted from her body, aimed to burn her down. However they were simply swept away by the winds, adding to the already deadly barrier that surrounded Nora.
She shrieked in outrage, her flames burning wildly however every time she tried to conjure more of her power it was just swept away by the gales. Her anger was flaring as much as her flames. This brat had stolen yet another of the Maidens' powers. Those should have been hers! She had earned them! They were hers! This nobody was trying her last nerve. She would end her pointless existence, burn her until there was nothing left of her pitiful existence. But as she tried to fly toward her, the force of two Maidens, especially untamed ones, was too much for her to overcome. She could barely roll away in time as another rod of lightning struck the ground.
The world around Nora was a blur, a whirlwind and a blank all at once. She could hear growls and screams and whispers and all at once nothing at all. She felt hot and cold and numb.
She could just make out, past the ice and fire and tears, a bright red beacon overhead. It persistently flew towards her, only to be pushed back like a fly colliding with glass. But that was no fly, it was Cinder Fall, bathed in fury.
Cinder Fall that had killed Pyrrha Nikos
Cinder Fall that had murdered Penny Polendina
Cinder Fall that had stolen her mother from her.
With each thought a streak of lightning cut through the air, each one coming so very close to striking that monster down but each one missing.
How was this fair? After all the lives she'd taken, why did she continue to survive? To dance past death as if it were her pawn?
And then Nora could no longer see Cinder. Black tendrils had grasped at her and she disappeared past her sight. The Huntress was in no condition to even try to fathom what had come of her- her one desire was that it was nothing good for Cinder..
Tears continued to run down her cheeks, her whole body aching and exhausted and unable to move, to fight past this sorrow. It was too fresh and yet too old.
Please…
Make it stop…
"Nora!"
Nora didn't look up as she heard the voice, a voice she'd recognize no matter how horribly it became distorted. But was he really here? Or was this simply an imitation conjured by her breaking mind?
Lie Ren.
"Nora!" The Voice yelled, even more instant.
Nora wrapped her hands more tightly around her body.
Was that even her name any more?
And that's another one :D Thank you so so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the update- happy weekend and I'll see you all next week :D