Hero of Remnant: Veil of the Aether

by Aetherveil

Following after the events of the Volume 3 Arc, Dante, and his partner Inuba travel across Remnant to make their way to Haven, searching for clues that will lead them to the real mastermind behind the attack on Vale 6 months prior. They will meet allies, both old and new, and face challenging new enemies on their journey. Secrets will be revealed. Continuation of Hero of Remnant.

22. Chapter 22: Of Sweets and Departures

Well... It's finally here folks. The last chapter of my collab project with Xera Stark. It's been well over half a year (or a year, can't recal when exactly we started) since we started this collab and it's been fun and interesting for the both of us as went. We came up with a plethora of new ideas and concepts as we went, and had awesome scenes overall. This by far won't be our first and last project together. So enough, we'll be working together again. Only next time yours truly is taking the lead.

Now that that's over with, lets begin the final event of this arc! Enjoy!

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Chapter 22: Of Sweet Treats and Departures

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The last of the star-lit void rocked in motionless, echoey abandon as the party that entered to claim a life left with that life still intact.

Four members of the extended party all carried someone.

Two in white, those being an heiress and the team's immortal. And the other two were partners in black and purple, Zerath himself carrying his younger brother in his arms as his boots took him closely to the edge of the dimension's rift.

The island lay about a couple hundred feet below now, the opening to the tear in this reality still suspended in the air to keep it from touching base with the world it formed within.

A chilled, icy blue mist sifted out of Zerath's pale fingers as he gripped his brother's clothing, Destiny slipping over the edge beside him with Weiss in her arms.

An eagle came soaring to catch her before she fell too far, taking them down to the black island beneath them.

The soles of Inuba's sneakers flaired white as she fell too, lowering herself and her master to the ground before gently touching base with the others.

"Try not to hurt her on the landing." Zerath said smoothly, catching the side of Niro's gaze before he stepped off.

"Wouldn't dream of it." the cowboy replied with a condescending smirk, making his words feel contradictory before he stepped out.

"I'm surprised his hat stays on his head with everything he does..." the elder Stark sighed quietly, watching as Niro plummeted aimlessly to the ground before shattering the ice on full impact, Skyla still cradled in his arms.

She hadn't even flinched, which meant somehow, she didn't feel the fall.

Maybe his arms were just that cushioning…

"I can take you down too, if you need." Zerath glanced to his other side as he spoke, meeting the hesitant gaze of the team's reaper as she glanced down from their floating perch.

She had something with a black sheen nestled in her hand, but it was held just out of view.

"T-That's fine. I'd rather you focus on getting yourself and Xera down first." Ruby replied, glancing over for a moment before she gave a small smile, "Don't worry about me. Beacon's all about landing strategies, after all."

Zerath nodded as the girl grinned, hopping off from the bridge and back into her world, vanishing in a small burst of rose petals before reappearing just above the ice far below them… killing her momentum in a brief instance of her fluttering cloak.

"She's...momentum based…" Xera managed to say, his eyes having been closed the whole time as he focused on wading off a numbing exhaustion weighing over his body.

"Save your breath, Xera. You'll need it..." Zerath returned softly, his cerulean eyes finding their way back to the realm behind him as he watched the dark citadel drift motionlessly in its empty void.

It almost felt too solitary and empty now that they were leaving it...

The opening to the rift began to close behind him as he stood facing the bridge now, eyes trying to find the throne room peak of the city of Eryndus for just a few extra moments before he took a shallow breath.

"You're finally making things right… Just the way you've been wanting to, all this time."

Zerath took a step back over the edge of the rift, stepping out onto the narrow platform of a risen pillar of blue ice as he watched the distorted doorway into Zeridul's realm slowly close in a deep, rumbling resonation.

And when the slit in the air in front of him finally sealed shut, all the noise of the storm, the rocking of the waves, the rushing of the winds, it all grew still and quiet.

As if the force pushing them all in motion suddenly slipped away.

Zerath's ice pillar slowly began to lower, sliding back down into the island below them as the clouds above finally began to quietly disperse.

An orange sky filtered clearly through the unveiling dark curtains. The gray, swirling clouds pulling further and further out in a slow dissipation as Zerath finally lowered far enough to step foot back onto the island.

---

"It'll take another eight minutes for the storm to clear." Glynda Goodwitch informed, her gaze casted out across the waters as everybody involved with the venture out lay in scattered groups on the island's destroyed plateau.

The bullheads around them still stood, quietly purring as each of the vessels' pilots focused on last minute repairs after that last Dremoha fight.

Kyzal still remained in the tinted cockpit of his pitch black bullhead, shoes kicked up on the dashboard as he let his own Star-Streaker purr quietly on the ice.

"We can wait. We're not going to fly back through that storm with the injured onboard." Blake spoke quietly, a small stash of medical supplies laid out beside her as she stroked the soft ebony hair of a resting phoenix.

She'd just finished cleaning and bandaging the wounds she could find on his body, a job done just to get them back to Beacon without any major problems.

That, and she didn't allow anyone else to take the job over her. By the time Zerath made it over to the group, she was already demanding Xera be taken care of before they could do anything more.

As for Skyla… She was still being carefully bandaged by Ciel, her wounds only closed now through Inuba's healing magic just to stop any prolonged bleeding.

"Alrighty… Foxy fixed up everything and dulled the pain as much as she could. You'll feel a little numb, maybe slightly tingly, that sort of thing." Ciel spoke lightly, helping Skyla sit up for now as she supported her back, "As my doofus brother Leo says, 'In short', you'll be totally fine."

Skyla held up her arms as soon as she was sitting on her own strength, turning her hands to gaze down at her palms for a long few seconds before squeezing her fingers closed, "Is that because you're short?"

The girl let a cheeky smile play across her face, despite everything that happened to her and the current state she was in.

She was still Skyla.

"I've got to ask…" Ciel spoke with mild hesitation in her tone for once, "I took a look over those wounds before everything got…re-mended. They were really precise. Did...?'

"Did Dante do this?" Skyla finished for her, letting her amethyst gaze fall on Ciel's own as she sighed, "Technically..? Yes."

"Technically..?"

"Yeeeeah…" Skyla loosened her fingers before stretching her arms over her head, hearing the tight muscles pop as she strained back and laid out onto the ice again, "There was this Dark Essence stuff in there, that did something to him. But there was also this gem thingy messing with his head. We had him on the ropes at times, though after he attacked us. Turned out there weren't any baddies in there, but I think that'll be explained to you later."

"Did he at least pull some cheesy one liners like 'Witness my power!' or something like that?" Ciel asked with a smirk.

Skyla nodded before holding up her finger to add onto it, "That and a bunch of stuff an executioner would say."

"Well…big brother gets a little scary when he's stressed out. Okay, not a little, but a lot. Like, so much so the boogeyman's a joke. And he can't even scare a puzzle to pieces."

"I wouldn't say scary…" Skyla replied, letting her arms stretch out at her sides as she relaxed into the cold ground, "I was more worried about protecting Xera than anything else."

The purple girl's gaze fell to the side as she turned her head, finding her partner just across the ice with his head nestled back in Blake's lap.

Amber eyes weren't looking anywhere else but on her partner's softly breathing face.

"You know… We've seen a lot of our big brother while growing up. Like watching Saturday morning heroes shows and stuff like that. Though…a lot of people might agree he wasn't exactly what you'd call a hero starting out way back then. He's made a huge difference over the years, regardless how he started out. Sometimes though…I'm pretty sure he thinks he needs the 'old him' to solve really tough problems."

Skyla frowned, knowing this problem was a tough one… but also knowing which choice Dante made in the end, "Xera gave Dante a choice when we finally reached him… We'd found out that Zeridul wasn't doing any of this out of malice. In fact, he's the reason why Zerath's still alive."

Skyla's eyes turned back to Ciel's own before staring up into the parting sky.

"Xera didn't say anything after we found out. He just…went quiet. So I spoke for him and made sure he got up the stairs alright." Her frown fell as she furrowed her brow, "He looked conflicted. But it wasn't until we got to Zeridul that he finally made a move to try to stop Dante. He gave your brother a choice… Turn around with the Gem and let this one go…or go through him and finish the mission."

"Right… But, I mean… If it was really a 'go through' type of situation with him… To be honest, I don't think you or your partner would be here right now. Alive I mean. That much was clear when I saw your wounds. Literally, they weren't deep enough to be like permanently crippling or anything. The only thing you were at risk of was being fresh vampire juice. Bleeding out if you got what I meant there."

"Still, he could've taken the peaceful option and destroyed whatever that Gem was in the process. Xera made it clear that he wasn't going to move out of Dante's way if he went any further and Dante still decided to fight. He even made the first move." Skyla sighed again as she picked up a shard of ice lying at her side, holding it up to look at it.

"Yeah, true… But look at it from my big brother's perspective for a bit. You're all there to face the big baddy together. Then, all of a sudden you're taking the bad guy's side, even though now we know he wasn't so much of a dick like we thought? Definitely something amiss there. He probably thought you guys got brainwashed or something by uber Dark Entity magic or whatever. Which, if you think about it, was pretty possible since you guys separated into two's for a while."

The cloaked girl must've been relaying what was happening at times while they were in there, but Skyla still tilted her head for a few moments before shaking it.

"Xera already knew all that… He knew what it looked like, and he knew he could've been killed taking that side but he still did it. It's why he was so silent and distant during that final stretch." Skyla let her voice grow softer as she looked back up at the sky, letting the shard of ice between her fingers slip back onto the frigid ground, "In the end, he probably knew he was going to have to fight Dante. He even tried to keep me out of it… They both did. But…Xera probably knew that was the only way to prove to your brother that it was Xera making that decision, not magic making him do it."

"Still, situation like that? It's gonna be really hard to prove otherwise." Ciel said, moving to sit down next to Skyla, "I may have only actually known my big brother for like, the better part of 2 months or so, but he's not a kind of overzealous murderbot that's also a huge huge jerk. Like Douchey Cowboy over there for example. Probably hates sunshine. And just joy over all."

"He may not be, but I'm amazed Xera managed to get through to him in the end. But, it was really more Inuba's doing that stopped your brother after a few tries…" Skyla bent one of her legs up, partially just to remind her that she had function in her muscles again but also just to get more comfortable.

"Yeah… She just has that effect on him. Like no joke, anything she says is law. She tells him to put the cookie down, he's putting the damn cookie down faster than Sonic the Hedgehog can wind sprint."

Skyla closed her eyes, smiling lightly at that, "Don't know who that is…but I can relate."

Off to the side, Blake had finally glanced up to see the soft reaches of a bundle of white fox tails filter into her vision.

She looked confused for a second… but that confusion washed away when she noticed Kitsuki softly sitting on the ice beside Xera's arm.

Her golden-orange eyes met amber for a moment in worry, but Blake dissuaded those thoughts with a soft smile.

"He'll be fine."

She didn't know if he'd be fine herself, to be certain, and Kit seemed to notice that uncertainty… but even so, Kitsuki smiled with a nod and let her tails rest over Xera's torso and stomach.

His black wings were limply draped beneath him, but only for a little while longer before Kit reached over and pulled the expanse of light black feathers over her tails.

She gently rested the appendage over part of Xera's body, and that brought another smile to Blake's face.

"Thank you."

Kitsuki was just making sure he wouldn't get cold on the ice.

"E-Excuse me…" Inuba spoke up, Blake noticing her approach soon after Kit's own, "I have to resume healing him. Doing so for an extensive period of time will cause him to absorb too much aura to sustain his own supply, which is currently a bit unstable from the massive strain of power he absorbed overall."

Kit nodded as she lightly slid Xera's covering wing from his body, letting the other kitsune have access to the teen's body again.

"This is the fourth time you've come back to heal his wounds," Blake noticed, watching as Inuba knelt down beside the phoenix she cradled in her arms.

The faunus could only blink slowly as her cat ears remained flush against her head, realizing how bad his wounds must've been.

"His wounds are bit… complicated. His unstable aura levels are making it difficult to treat his body without putting more stress on it. That and… the aura in his wounds is tricky to draw out. Once I remove this last trace of it, his aura will stabilize enough to treat his wounds more effectively without interference."

Soft white flames blazed around Inuba's hands as she placed them on the phoenix's body.

"He'll be fine once I'm finished."

"Will he be able to move around freely after this?" Blake asked, letting her gaze drift to Inuba's eyes as she wondered how long Xera was going to be out of commission for.

"The wounds he was given was simply meant to stop his movements, nothing life threatening or permanently damaging. Once I repair and seal up his wounds, he'll need rest before he can move properly and some light stretching to loosen up his muscles. A week at least, two at most."

"Five days, actually," a light, softly analytical voice spoke out from between them. The feminine tone carried an almost unnoticeable robotic inflection, but somehow it carried with it a genuine care in its words, "If his body can stabilize tonight, recovery should move smoothly."

Kitsuki's ear twitched for a moment as she reached into Xera's pocket, pulling out Xera's closed black scroll.

Somehow, it remained undamaged.

The slit running down its connected seal glowed a vibrant purple as that voice spoke again.

"I'll continue to monitor his vitals, with miss Belladonna's help, if she's willing." Karazil added, catching the cat faunus's attention.

As well as Inuba's.

"That will be most helpful. Thank you."

"It is my pleasure, miss Kitsukami." the voice returned, it's purple glow brightening to match the feminine rise and fall in inflection.

"Karazil…" Blake slowly said, hearing the AI hum in response before continuing, "Is he still…?"

"The treatment's dissuading it, but I cannot make any assumptions until he becomes stable." Karazil replied softly, Blake slowly nodding in return.

It seemed the cat Faunus knew the AI.

"Forgive my lack of communication." Karazil continued, lightening her tone to shift the conversation back to her, "I meant to keep in contact with you, miss Belladonna, but the dimension locked me out from access to anywhere outside its gate. Inside, I'd only managed to stay functional until halfway in. I had to put myself into a stasis until I finally sensed we were out of the realm."

"It's fine…" the raven-haired girl replied, quietly keeping her gaze low, "There was nothing you could do about it."

"Dimensional interference is always tricky and difficult on technology. The best way to keep contact usually is a psychic link since it's more 'magic' based persay." stated Inuba, "What is his BP currently?"

"112/68. Blood pressure is heightened due to physical stress on his body, raising his mercury levels, but he's slowly stabilizing through your medical treatments. He'll be able to rest soon."

"That's good then. Once fully stabilized, we'll put him on the airship and take off for Beacon. Once back, all we need to do is keep him under observation and treat him when necessary."

"If my analysis of his body was accurate, he may be awake and moving in just three to four days. His body seems to possess a heightened state of repair that's currently unpredictable, which is why I cannot give an answer for certain." Karazil explained.

"But that means he may heal faster than normal?" Blake asked quietly.

"As far as I know, it is entirely possible." the AI replied.

"Even with that mind, he should still rest until able to move on his own without causing his body stress." Inuba added.

"From the data I've gathered, mister Stark tends to be stubborn when it comes to his personal health," Karazil replied, catching Blake's attention again as she glanced down to Xera's closed eyes.

"He'll need to be less stubborn about it this time. Keep him to his bed until he actually does show improvement when he awakens." Inuba firmly stated.

"While I lack the physical capability to carry out such an action, I'm sure miss Belladonna will take up that role for me." she said, an almost casual tone layering over her voice.

"I-I have no problem with that..." the cat faunus replied after a moment, noticing the glance of two kitsune turn her way.

"N-Not in that manner...!" Inuba said quickly, stumbling over her words after realizing the meaning behind the AI's statement.

"At his age and physique, it is only natural that-"

Blake's swift hands covered the speakers of Xera's scroll as it continued to softly glow in her tight grasp, a hot blush sifting into her own cheeks as she stared down at the ground.

"D-Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him," she muttered quietly, but reassuringly, keeping her grasp tight until she knew it was safe to let go.

Kit could only tilt her head as the conversation unfolded, one of her ears twitching before they both drooped in confusion.

"Forgive me if I breached any boundaries." Karazil's voice came back alive now, Blake's frantic hands returning to her side, "I felt a humorous remark in a light tone might brighten the mood. But after a quick scan, I must refrain from doing so too often. Both of your pheromone levels have risen substantially in wake of my words."

"S-Such matters aren't and shouldn't be spoken of so easily in the general presence of others." stated Inuba.

Blake couldn't help but nod wordlessly in agreement.

"I am still learning when it comes to social skills. However, given that your significant other isn't in our presence, I felt my words would have no consequential impact save for what I expected for a response." Karazil replied to Inuba, her voice almost sounding mischievous.

She seemed to want to say something in return, but stopped herself and continued focusing on her treatment, despite the small streams of smoke emerging from her red-faced person

Karazil seemed happy with herself, given her tone of voice, "Miss Belladonna-"

"K-Karazil..." Blake cute the AI off, the glow on the scroll stopping for a moment as it listened, "do you have an off switch?"

"I do. It forces me into a stasis of minimal conscious function."

Blake's cat ears perked up as she nodded.

"But I will refrain from ever divulging such sensitive information to anyone except mister Stark."

And they went flat again, falling as quickly as Blake's lips formed a strong pout.

A soft crunch of ice quietly filtered into their surroundings as Zerath made his way over, "How is he?"

"Doing well enough for the moment." Inuba coldly responded.

The tone of the response caught Kitsuki's ears immediately, bringing both to go flat on her head at the shift in mood.

"I suppose that's to be expected, given your abilities." Zerath replied evenly, his face carrying a worried indifference as he stood just a few feet from the group.

"Shouldn't you be elsewhere at the moment?" asked the kitsune.

"Contrary to your tone, my worries and focus are on my brother alone. I am exactly where I'm supposed to be." the elder brother replied in an almost polite manner, just with mild reluctance to do so, "I want to thank you, though. You've done a miraculous job healing his wounds and stabilizing him."

"Your thanks isn't necessary. Now please, stand elsewhere so I can concentrate on my task."

"Is it such a bother for me to care about my brother's wellbeing?" Zerath asked, turning his gaze slightly to regard Inuba in an indifferent glance.

"It is a bother having you in my presence at the moment given that I am resisting the temptation to give you a mild burn."

Zerath's brow furrowed for a moment as he looked back to Xera, the two other girls around his brother looking his way now, "I'm unaware of any offense I've made, but I'll leave if it means he'll get his treatment."

"Unaware...?" said Inuba softly as she stood up and turned towards the elder Stark brother, "Have you no shame...?"

"Shame?" Zerath asked, following Inuba's eyes as she stood, "If you're trying to rile me up like your master attempted to, I'm sorry to say that it's not going to work. Like I said before, Xera's my only priority here."

"You even have the gall to deny it…"

"It's impossible for me to deny anything at the moment, given no accusation has been made." he replied evenly.

"You insulted my Master like some ignorant miscreant is what you did!" she said, raising her tone as she faced Zerath fully.

"I don't recall ever insulting him..." Zerath returned, facing her with a mild narrow of his eyes, "I simply voiced observations I was making through the words he was saying and the actions I'd seen him do. I'm honestly surprised to see you defending someone willing to beat my brother and his partner close to an inch of their lives."

"Your brother made the decision to take his stand and landed himself in such a state! And neither you, nor anyone else has the right or the privilege to speak lowly of him as if he were some mindless beast!"

"Hmmm..." Zerath hummed for a moment as he saw where this was going, "I don't believe that's very fair, is it? Wasn't it your master who insulted the whole of humanity and the intelligence of humans? Is he that privileged to make such a claim..?"

"As if you're so innocent with you making such arrogant and ignorant claims?"

"I assure you, no arrogance of mine slipped into my words. Nor was it ignorance. Your master knows what he said and so do I, and any retaliation was done in response to an insult or inhumane claim coming from his own mouth." Zerath calmly narrowed his gaze further as he slipped a hand into the confines of his pocket, "He's an instigator. I merely just mutually returned what he was already putting out."

"And you are an ignorant human being unaware of the true terrors that reside in the shadows. HE is the reason why said creatures lurking in the Darkness dare not raise their heads in order to harm others. And he has more than likely saved you all more than once in some form or manner. When someone such as yourself shows such gross disrespect without knowing all he has done for others, you do not deserve the right to rest so easily and peacefully without consequence."

"On the contrary, I'm well aware of the Worlds and the Darkness outside of this realm's reality. Merging minds with an ancient Dark Entity would do that to you," Zerath replied, "And forgive any disrespect, but if he's such a mighty hero of the Worlds then why attack people who are of no threat to those very existences? And to add to this brief list, why belittle and mock humanity as a whole while doing so? He not only insulted this reality by disregarding any respect for it whatsoever, but he also put himself on a higher pedestal than anyone in that dimension or on this planet. I don't know about you, but I've found that those with power tend to believe themselves to be strong, and in this case he continuously spouted about how his own strength trumped those around him. Now, tell me, do I have this wrong? I'm only listing off exactly what I watched him say and do."

"You are wrong. The only person or being he made retorts against is you and you alone! A simpleton who would rather speak ill of someone rather than appropriately diffuse the situation! A simpleton who more than earned what was said to you. And he never put himself on such a pedestal, Mr. Stark. You formed that ignorant and baseless thought off of whatever information you could grab at. You WILL apologize for your insults."

Part of him was wondering if she even heard herself when she talked… "As I said before, all of what I said was in response to your master's words. Any observation I made was built from what I saw from him and what he spoke. No apology is needed for something I never did. If anything, it's your master's actions that speak loud enough to require him to apologize for what he's done."

"Then clearly you've become more senile since your re-awakening. Now…apologize!"

Everyone around the two took notice of them as Inuba's entire being flared up with a strong burst of white flames, threatening to consume the elder Stark brother. Ice or no ice, nothing would save him from her flames.

Zerath hummed again before sighing, letting his clenched fingers grow loose and fall open as the temperature around him began to drop despite the rising heat.

"Throughout this argument, only one of us has seen the apparent reoccurring need to insult the other." the cerulean blues of his irises suddenly glowed as a field of light blue mist began to simmer inside the heat rushing against his body, "It appears you two both share that personality trait… I'd have at least expected more tact from at least one of you."

It seemed he'd found the two of them to share the urge to instigate, rather than quell.

"You… You...!" she raised her hand and made to slap him across the face, only for her burning wrist to crash against his raised forearm.

"I see…" Zerath muttered, the mist around him growing stronger as Inuba's heat threatened to break through it, "You both love to strike first too… it seems…"

Inuba's other hand started to rise as her flames grew larger and began melting the ice protecting the elder Stark brother's forearm. Shortly enough, he would be losing said arm. But before that happened, something suddenly stirred in both their peripherals.

"D-Dante's… not… like that…"

Zerath snapped his gaze down to find slivers of Xera's colored irises beneath partially open lids, only for them to close away again as the phoenix let out a struggled breath.

The elder Stark took a step back to let Inuba's arm fall from its lock with his own, his gaze turning down to watch the rise and fall of his brother's lightly breathing chest.

Maybe there really was something he was missing...

"Okay Foxy, let the popsicle off before you melt him into a puddle, yeah?" Ciel suddenly slipped in, tugging on Inuba's detached sleeve to move her back to treat Xera.

And she did exactly that as her flames died down, allowing her to kneel at the younger Stark brother's side to continue treating him.

"Let's get one thing straight here, Icee. Take a knock at us, sure, fine. Take a knock at my big brother though…" Ciel said as she approached him menacingly, grabbing him by the collar, "and it's not only Foxy you'll have to worry about. I'll drop you in a bottomless dimension to drift in it until you die. Got it?" she said as her sclerae turned black and her irises a glowing white for a few brief moments.

Zerath simply nudged the hand away with the back of his as he stared back into her glare with an indifferent gaze, "If we're exchanging threats now, then I believe I need to make something clear. You attack the last member of my family again without good reason…any one of you…I can assure you I'll sooner die than ever give up making sure your lives are all a living hell. And besides, a baseless claim is only designed to instigate, is it not? Foxy and her 'Master' need to work on their little tempers."

"And you need to work on not being a douchebag like Nosferatu over there." said the young girl pointing her thumb behind her at the cowboy clad in black.

"Hmm... Then I'd suggest you all work on not jumping to violence every chance you get then. Do we have a deal?"

"I don't think you saw me take a swing. And believe me, you wouldn't be able to if I did. So sure, deal, seal or whatever. Now take a hike so Foxy can work in peace without you stressing her out."

With just this small exchange, Ciel was beginning to question Zerath's relation to Xera. He obviously enjoyed running his mouth without thinking, definitely was less smarter, and in addition to the young girls mental notations, a real douchebag.

"If you were paying attention, you'd have noticed it had only been you two and him who'd been making threats this entire time. But I suppose it's only fair, besides..." he turned away as his hard gaze suddenly softened, a tense breath leaving his lips before he started to walk off, "Xera's the only thing I care about. I wouldn't underestimate someone with nothing left to lose…"

Is this bastard seriously making another useless threat? Maybe I should have let Foxy roast his ass... Then again, I'd like to break his legs myself. And face.

"Man, do you love the sound of your own voice or something? Just shut up, go stand in the corner like the little five year old you are, and let her work in peace. Sheesh, the mouth on this one..." replied Ciel, not moved by his last remark.

Zerath gave a small wave over his shoulder as he went away, "You'll learn to get used to it… If you're around long enough."

Maybe I should drop him in a hole right now... Ugh, whatever...

"Seriously… What a chatterbox… It's like one of those stupid little automated snowmen at christmas that just squeak endlessly…"

The young sibling let out a sigh of relief and sat down on a small clump of ice, crossing one leg over the other as she rested her chin in her hands.

Well... I guess we wait now...

---

It wasn't much longer until Inuba was finished healing Xera enough to have him transported.

"Alright, time to get up." someone suddenly said, black boots stepping roughly against the ground next to Blake and Xera as the lip of Niro's hat grew darker from the sun at his back, "Storm's fully cleared."

Inuba noticed Blake looking up to see the light dancing on the sea, a calming breeze gently sweeping over the island now as a golden orange hue overwhelmed the cold red the ocean used to be.

Gentle waves now lapped against the island, their surroundings no longer clouded by a swirling storm, dark and dreary… The wall of wind and tornadoes had now completely dissipated.

It was just the sunrise on the horizon and the ocean…

"Oh save the romance and just get up. You can enjoy the view in the bullhead." Niro muttered, stepping away as he headed toward Zerath next.

"Not so fast there Linkin Park. I'm going with." said Ciel, hopping up onto her feet, "And I'm bringing the equally cute and awesome explosive purple one with me too."

Skyla's arm was seen quietly lifting a fist in the background from where she still lay.

"Suit yourself." Niro replied, dismissing Ciel with half a wave as he made his way over to Zerath.

Everybody else seemed to be quietly boarding their vessels around them, sticking together as teams.

"I think the common consensus is to just get off the island and go home." Zerath commented quietly, looking around to see student after student disappearing into the five other bullheads.

"Smarter than sticking around to watch it crumble to pieces." Niro replied, his words only emphasized by a large chunk of ice breaking away and falling into the gentle water at the other side of the island, "Kyzal! Wheels up, we're leaving."

The black cowboy made his way to the ship just as Blake carried Xera's passed out form onboard, the cat faunus strapping him in first before getting situated next to him.

"Ciel!" Skyla called out, rolling slightly onto her side to make eye contact with the girl across the way. Sky soon made grabby grabby motions with her hands, "Pick me up."

Ciel immediately appeared within the blink of the eye from the far distance that spanned between them, asking with a bow "How may I be of service today mademoiselle?"

"Carry me to freedom!" Skyla requested simply.

"Aye!"

Ciel gently picked up Skyla and carried her in her arms as they appeared before the airship door.

"Though technically we're traveling into hell with the wannabe One Punch Man aboard. But hey, if things go wrong, or very wrong, I can get the four of us out in an instant. And Cowboy Nosferatu will cry and cry and cry holding the teddy bear he probably has in his coat pocket." stated the girl as she strapped Skyla into one of the seats, strapping herself in next to her.

"Relax shortstack," Niro said, stepping past Ciel and Skyla as they made their way onboard and letting Zerath board behind them as well, "We've already worked out a deal."

After a quick check outside, he met the golden-orange eyes of a short kitsune girl standing outside with her tails between her legs.

"Coming?" he asked.

She meekly nodded then slipped past him, wiggling her way into the seat on the other side of Xera as Niro closed the compartment door behind her.

"Take us up, Kyzal," Niro called out to his partner, taking hold of a handle above him as he remained standing.

"Welcome to Falcon Airlines, everyone strap in and hold onto the person next to you. We'll shortly be accelerating to a nice cruise speed beyond the sound barrier and I'd appreciate it if nobody screamed." Kyzal spoke through the intercom, the vessel beginning to shift as its engines flared up and began to lift it into the air, "If any of you happen to be looking for the bathroom at some point during the ride, please use the door at the back of the ship."

Kit glanced to the back of the ship and only saw the closed bay door of the vessel.

"If you get sick, also please use the door at the back of the ship."

"I'll just open a small rift and send the goods to you know who's lap." whispered Ciel to Skyla, the two giggling to each other.

"All in all, I hope you have a magical ride on today's romantic airline." Kyzal finished, the intercom shutting off a moment later.

And then their airship lurched forward with the sunrise shining through its windows.

---

Soon Dante... Soon...we will be whole once more...

---

Four days later...

Bright sky blue eyes slowly cracked open to stare at the white ceiling above him. Letting out a silent groan, he shifted his body up and touched his head with his left hand, shaking his head slightly to shake away the uncomfortable feeling in his forehead.

How long had he been out?

More importantly...what happened?

Shutting his eyes, he slowly recalled everything before now. Their entry into the realm, standing at Zeridûl's door to his throne room, and then... His fight with Xera? Why were they fighting?

...

The young immortal remembered now... Irony had struck him as cruelly as it ever did.

When they entered the Realm, Dante was more than certain Zeridûl possessed The Gem of the Ancients. It was then he warned Xera about the Gem, and it's mimetic effects on others. The irony in the situation was that it wasn't Xera or the other who fell under the Gem's influence...but Dante himself...

"Damn it all..."

"Master?"

His head jolted upwards slightly before turning to the voice of his partner Inuba, who sat in the seat next to his hospital bed. His eye met her own crimson read as she stood up and looked him over, and then...hugged him tightly.

It wasn't unwelcome, but it was certainly surprising.

He never really understood it, but her touch had seemingly always had a...soothing effect on him.

Was it right to say it was a nice feeling?

As if she just realized what she was doing, the kitsune quickly let go of him and stood straight at attention.

"H-How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I guess..."

Dante tried moving his right arm but found himself unable to, prompting him to look down at his arm to see it completely wrapped in bandages and placed in a black sling. Lifting up the sleeve of his hospital shirt, he could see the bandaging covering his arm all the way up to his shoulder.

It was to be expected given what happened...

"I hope this didn't give you too much." he said nodding to his right arm.

"Not much, no. But..." her fingers found themselves pinching his cheek, sending out minor waves of pain. "You still overdid it.

"Owowowowow! I get it, I get it!"

Satisfied with his small punishment she let go and left him in peace.

Rubbing his cheek slightly, he looked at Inuba with concern in his eyes, unable to ask what he wanted. Luckily, she knew what it was he wanted to ask.

"Mr. Stark and ms. Xerious are doing well, Master. Although, mr. Stark took some more time given the, um...circumstances involved."

"Right..."

"He's doing much better now. Exhausted more than anything, but he'll make a quick recovery soon enough. There's nothing to be concerned about."

At least he was okay... And alive...

"I was also able to confirm your theory from a while ago. Do you remember asking me if there was something unusual that could make a body light enough to stand on snow?"

"I do."

"It turns out that because of mr. Stark's phoenix Faunus heritage, his entire bone structure is hollow, hence why he is able to not only stand on snow but also fly as effectively as he does."

"How did you find that out?"

"Well... I had to mend some of his bones..."

"Ah... Right..."

It was going to be difficult facing the others after what happened...

"Master, no one blames you for what happened. They all understood what transpired after I explained the situation to them and forgave what happened. Although, I don't think we'll be on good terms with mr. Stark's older brother."

She deliberately left out his name. Did something happen between them?

Looking around, he wasn't able to see his brother or sister anywhere.

"Where's Ciel and Leo?"

"They're actually helping with the others in setting up the going away party for us."

"Going away party? Um, cool I guess?"

"Very! Ren and I will be working on a cake together! And we'll be sure to make it a masterpiece!"

"Sounds like fun." I said with a smile in regard to my partner's excitement for baking, "Ready to go home after this?"

"For the most part, yes... But..."

"Right back at it. We still have some ways before hitting Mistral..."

The young immortal's thoughts shifted towards Ruby. His Ruby, not the one in this Reality.

She was always on his mind to be honest, especially after being separated from one another for so long.

The girl in the white cloak told him that she too, along with Jaune, Ren and Nora, were making their way to Mistral. It wouldn't be surprising if they met each other along the way, even with the two week head started Dante and Inuba had.

By the time they would get back, their chances of linking up together were more than certain.

All Dante could do was hope she was alright and faring well. All of them.

"Oh... It would seem mr. Stark wishes to see you." announced Inuba as she looked on her HoloScroll.

"That so? Well, better not keep him waiting then..."

Dante moved the covers off him and let his feet touch the slightly chilly ground. When he stood up, he took a few moments to stretch before looking for his clothes, which lay on a chair next to Inuba.

Everything was in place and had been mended, even his white coat. The sleeveless, soft fabric black collared shirt and grey jeans were more than likely extra's amongst their supply of clothing, while the white coat Dante wore usually more than likely mended itself given the materials it was made out of.

Grabbing his clothes, Dante headed inside the restroom in his hospital room to get changed and see what it was Xera Stark needed to see him about.

---

It took Dante a few minutes to reach the outside of the forge room considering he was stopped and greeted along the way with the others. As soon as he entered inside though, he moved out of the way quickly to let Blake pass him by, giving the cat Faunus and awkward nod before hurrying himself further inside.

"Hello?" Dante said, looking inside awkwardly, "No severe bludgeoning today, honest. Unless you're a masochist and ask me nicely. Still wouldn't do it though."

"I don't think Blake would like it very much if I tried to challenge you again… Or Skyla for that matter…" Xera replied, motioning Dante over toward his workstation as he set the displayed design to slowly rotate for viewing.

"Oh, well… Only slightly worried then?"

"Don't be. I just need your help with a little project." the phoenix replied, "Though…it may also require you as its test subject."

"Oh boy. Science. Can't wait to get zapped." the immortal commented, making his way over.

"No zapping considering this is a gift for you. You don't have to use it beyond the testing I want you to do with it, but it's an option in case you ever want to bring it out on the field."

Xera tapped the back end of his stylus on the workstation before pointing it up over his shoulder, gesturing to the design he had on show.

"A gift huh...?"

"For helping. And...for not killing me or my partner. Even in your strenuous state." Xera replied.

"I… I don't think I helped to be honest..."

What he did towards the end was not helping.

"Everything still got done in the end, and…I found out a lot more about what happened to my brother all these years. So, you did help, even though we ended up fighting in the end."

"You know it's funny… There I was telling you to be careful of mimetic effects. And I fell into it like an idiot. And then, I…"

"You weren't yourself, so don't worry about it." Xera said, turning to face him as he reached the other side of the phoenix's workstation and stopped.

"I am worried about it. That…is not what I am. I can recall a few things here and there, but…I was never like that. Was I a bit of a polite and silent jerk back then when I was younger? Absolutely. But I was, and have never been, unreasonable."

Xera stayed silent for a little while in response. This part of the conversation, which he'd been expecting wasn't going to be easy.

Even after thinking about what to say beforehand too.

"I know. It's why I figured a fight might break through to you." Xera turned back to his station as he rested his arms on the surface, keeping his gaze on the design, "Weren't you always the one to say that a true fight is the best way to understand each other?"

"There's other ways to get to understand a person's thoughts or feelings. But yeah, swords and fists do the trick just as nicely."

"Funny how it ended with both…" Xera commented.

"Yeah… I guess so… But all in all… Sorry." Dante slowly replied, resting his hands on the workstation now.

"We made it out nonetheless, which is really what matters. I'm still worried about how Skyla's fairing, even though she's moving around as if nothing happened now thanks to Inuba… But…" Xera brought his gaze back to Dante now.

"Again… Sorry. I never had any intention to kill either of you. Just…had to make it look that way to get you to backdown."

"Didn't work too well on us, but you're fine." Xera replied with a small smile, noting the fact that neither of them backed down at all, "In the end, I got what I was looking for when I went in there…"

"Right… So, what is it that I'm needed for?"

Xera's smile grew as he leaned back in his stool and swiveled it around, flicking his stylus up to point it toward the rotating design before tapping the screen and letting the digital blade disassemble itself.

"We're about to learn what Hot Aura Fusion can really do."

The phoenix moved to allow Dante a better look at Xera's "project". It was... What even was it?

"What the heck is this thing...?"

Xera let his irises begin to flicker with orange flames as he glanced to the forge, "This right here is a weapon I'm making for you. For whatever use you might get out of it anyway. As for the process, I'll walk you through it."

"Oh goody. New toys and uber cool science. Yay."

"You'll like what this thing can do. So, you don't have to be excited yet about how it's made and how it works."

"No need to say anything else. Let's get to work."

---

"Dang big brother! Your list of tunes is sweet!" commented Ciel looking over Dante's HoloScroll, specifically his long expanding list of songs, which were currently playing through the speaker system in the ballroom.

"What can I say? I know what everyone likes. Well, mostly." replied the young immortal as he watched his sister go through the list.

"How long have you been building this list?!"

"Uh... Since two years ago? Our friend in the cloak brought over my old HoloDevice that had everything on it. A bit of tweaking and I turned it into a Scroll, and then, a HoloScroll like what we have now."

"Cool~!"

Dante could only smile at his younger sibling's enthusiasm before she pushed back his display, allowing him to close it. He and others danced for a bit, but the young immortal decided to take a break for a while, mainly because dancing with one arm seemed weird to him. And so, he sat at one of the tables and enjoyed the sweet blood orange soda refreshments and the graham cracker bowls. Thanks to Dante, only two out of the five large bowls of Graham crackers remained.

Taking a quick look around, Dante saw Velvet and Yatsuhashi at one end of the room being intrigued by Kitsuki over at one of the white table clothed tables.

Cuteness in it's prime... Both healthy and deadly.

The immortal also took note of how the tables were scattered about the perimeter of the room, some of the tables covered in a black covering to alternate between the designs.

Xera's eyes scanned over the white roses centralized on the black tables, and found the same vice versa case to be on each of the black tables around the room as well.

Taking another look around, Dante could see Rideat, one of Xera's friends, focused on installing some wiring in the base of one of the exterior pillars, the cables seemingly running up inside the column itself.

All in all, everyone seemed to be having fun.

"How's the head?" Zerath asked even, his eyes finding Dante sitting at a table near the outskirts of the dance floor. Apparently, his image of the immortal fell short of the way his brother viewed him…

Simply hearing his voice made him jump as his head slowly creaked towards the elder Stark brother, trying to remain calm as possible.

"Um… Okay..?" he replied rather meekly.

The Stark brother slipped his hands into his jacket's pockets and retained an indifferent gaze, "I was…told you don't ever act the way you did in there. Xera seems to say the same. Do you remember everything you said and did in there?"

"Y-Yes..?"

An unnoticeable frown formed over Zerath's unreadable face as he heard that, "Then I just have a question for you, if you do."

"Alright… I guess…"

Having him here was more difficult than he imagined...

A short silence fell before cerulean eyes calmly brought their gaze to the immortal's irises.

"How much of it do you regret?"

It was that kind of question… Terrific…

If Dante had to think about it, some of it was deserved. But only a small amount of it compared to the rest.

"What I did? What I said? Both? You and your brother have a knack for being irritatingly vague, so I can't answer your question really unless you specify."

"Both." Zerath considered that specified.

"In all honesty… yes and no. A lot of it I did regret. A lot. But there's few and in between that I don't entirely regret."

Dante leaned forward a bit so that his arm could rest on the table.

"Optimism is a great thing to have. I won't bag on you for it. But there is such a thing as misplaced optimism. And your brother was virtually in that territory at that point in time. I've been in many world ending scenarios, and thankfully, in the end, it all worked out as best it could. Like I said, optimism isn't a bad thing, but it can get others killed. And even under the Gem's influence, I didn't want to let your brother to make that kind of mistake on a belief."

Taking a sigh, Dante leaned back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other, staring at Zerath directly this time.

"Then there's you." replied the immortal simply.

"There's also a little thing called hope. It falls between optimism and misplaced optimism. There was a long while where my brother had that at the front of his mind…" Zerath let his hands sink into his pockets as he glanced away.

It was easy to tell Xera couldn't fall into that belief anymore. But even so, he still managed to draw on that to try and stop Dante from doing something he might come to regret.

"He thinks differently now. It's better that way, so I know he knew what he was doing when he challenged you." After a moment, Zerath finally looked back to meet Dante's gaze as he disregarded what he just said, "So, where do I fall in any of that?"

"While I did say some arrogant things in between, some of which you grossly misinterpreted, you weren't any better yourself. Again, when it comes to the category of who knows more about these situations and the concepts involved overall, not to toot my horn or anything, but I think I'm a couple dozen paces above."

It seemed some of the way he'd acted inside the realm really did stay constant… "I know what I said. My words were all spoken in direct regards to what you said in there. None of it strayed too far away from that guideline, but there's something you're mistaken about. Your reality and mine are different. What you know there may not necessarily carry into here. So all those places above you think you are is only relative to your own place of origin."

"Again not entirely true. There's similarities involved, no matter how hard you try to think otherwise. Fact of the matter is he was a Dark Entity. My knowledge of potential scenarios involved were more than applicable in this case."

"It may have been applicable, but you're comparing your extensively broad knowledge of a race to someone who's studied and understood one particular Dark Entity for 5 long years. That kind of specialization can give more than that kind of broad knowledge." Zerath returned.

"Five years is small at best, Stark. Even if it's just one compared to the entirety or majority. Before that moment, he gave us no way and no opportunities to place a single ounce of trust in him. At all. Having everything just put out there at the very end? One of three possibilities. Truth, trickery to escape, or trickery to attack while off guard. Even with you there it was still hard to believe. Maybe if your mind wasn't a complete mess, I probably would have picked up on something sooner. Even then the Gem wouldn't have been able to trick me into believing otherwise."

"Five years is longer than you might think. Especially for humans…who understand the concept of death much more acutely than beings of countless other origin." Zerath said, sliding his hands out of his pockets to cross them across his body, his shoulder leaning into the pillar to his left.

"Death might not be a reality for me…but I understand the concept of death. More than you'd know or realize."

"If you're wondering why nobody but Xera actually put everything together, Zeridul was following orders. My orders. We were looking to double cross the company controlling us, so there was nothing we could do to give the plan away. Underestimating its leader is the last thing anyone should do."

"I agree. Never underestimate the tenacity and potential cruelty of humanity, nor their capabilities overall. But you still shouldn't overestimate them either."

"Unfortunately, the one we were looking to fool doesn't follow those kinds of categorizations." Zerath sighed, letting his weight grow heavy as he let the pillar support him, "Knowing him… He probably knew what we were up to from the beginning. And even so, he's letting us go."

"Catch, release, observe. Someone like that is playing a very dangerous game. Make sure he realizes it."

Zerath already knew, he'd been cautious ever since their plan actually started to come to fruition. But… "The game grows even more dangerous when its greatest lethal piece is the most unpredictable on the field."

"True that..." said Dante sliding over a bottle of blood orange soda, "Reconciliation beverage, I guess. We don't have to be friends now, but…we'll hopefully get there eventually."

Zerath held up a hand, but he accepted the reconciliation part of the offer either way, "My physical body is still recovering. I need to give it time to rest and…avoid the harsher substances."

"Hence the blood orange soda you goof. Come on, drink it. I didn't poison it or whatever."

"Not that I don't believe you, but I'm keeping away from soda intake for the time being. Not that I ever drank it to begin with." His childhood was never exactly one of excess food outside of the necessity.

"Hey, its freshly squeezed, little sugar amount, mostly carbonated juice. Relax and just drink it already will you?"

"Sugar and carbonation run along the same line." Zerath said with a sigh, pushing himself away from the pillar to turn toward the closed door by the entrance, "Besides, you should know how stubborn a Stark can be by now."

"If watching Game of Thrones and spending time with your brother has taught me anything, that is more than true."

Zerath glanced back with a curious gleam, before letting it fade back into neutrality, "Forgive me if I'm behind in the trends of media. I haven't exactly had free time to delve into anything of that caliber."

"Remind me to get you guys a LinkBox for Christmas… Fine then, water." said Dante placing a glass of water in front of the elder Stark sibling.

Zerath took the water with a careful hand, chilling it to his liking once his fingers were around its glass, "LinkBox?"

"Let's us watch tv and internet videos from my old World Primordial. Pretty cool thing to have."

"If I may be blunt then, we've never been a fan of tv."

…

They were much harder to deal with than anticipated…

"Cake then? I guess? Unless you hate cake too?"

"It's a celebration." Zerath replied with a polite inflection inside his indifferent demeanor, "It would be rude to refuse a small piece."

"Are you screwing with me at this point to get back at me a bit?"

"No." Zerath replied earnestly, "I've confused enough people as it is. It's time I actually take a break from it."

"This wasn't confusing so much so as dealing with someone a tad bit difficult."

"I believe the same can be said for you." Zerath returned, taking a sip of his cold water. He'd already tested it for any alterations.

Like poison.

"What, you kidding? I'm like a tall, fluffy teddy bear people love to hug. That and I'm way easier to talk to."

"I don't get in the way of people's dreams… So if that's what you want to be…" Zerath shrugged his shoulder and turned for a moment, seeing Ciel rush to the door, "I won't judge you for that one."

"My god you are difficult…"

Zerath hid a small smirk and a hum into his glass as he say the door get pulled violently open, "We both are."

It seemed his brother finally made it to the party. Fashionably late.

"Well, end my suffering and go catch up with your little brother."

"I'm only willing to do one of those," Zerath replied evenly, only the slightest bit of humor unstifled in his voice before he walked away.

"Tch… Whatever man…"

With that, Dante himself walked off towards the balcony, where he could see his cloaked friend outside, staring at the fragmented moon up in the sky.

"I'm assuming you made all the preparations for us to leave?" asked Dante as he leaned on the railing next to his cloaked ally.

"Indeed. All we have to do now is wait for this party to conclude. I didn't know you had great taste in music." she said.

"I still don't know who you are."

"Touche. But all within a set matter of time."

"Yeah yeah, secrets and all... Still, you must be a big deal if you need to hide your power from the Holy Pigeons. Why help me in the first place if you know the kind of trouble I was in with those guys? If they found out you're helping me, they'd hunt you down until you're dead."

"I have my reasons for helping, non of which I need to share now. Just know and always remember that I'm always on your side."

That last bit was very much the same thing Inuba told him once...

"Alright, keep your secrets."

She could only chuckle with amusement.

"So... Is it done?"

"Done as in the last of the Gems has been finally destroyed?" she asked, "Then yes it's done."

"It's almost hard to believe... But I'm glad it's done. Now no one can get such power in their hands ever again."

"But there's always some other threatening force after some sort of power."

"And it's our job to put a stop to it. Just like its our job to stop the lunatic trying to destroy Remnant with God knows whatever means are available."

"You seem enthusiastic."

"Hardly. I'll just be happier when I go back and see Ruby is all."

"You'll get your chance soon enough once we get back. Last I checked, they're not too far behind. The chances of meeting up with them along the way are practically guaranteed, though, you'll still be slightly ahead."

Dante's eyes lightened up upon hearing those words.

"That's great to hear. So...I just have to ask again. For me basically. Are you're absolutely sure about ALL of them being gone?" Dante asked.

"I'm sure. Just relax, alright?"

"Fiiine."

"Don't 'fiiine' me," she responded, poking him in the forehead, "I'll take you back later. Have fun until then. Because once we go back…"

"Back to the 'Search For The Worst. I remember. Later," the immortal said, waving to her as she strayed away.

Xera waited for a moment to see his associate join the small crowd on the dance floor, though there wasn't any dancing to be had at all, "Heading out after the party?"

"Look at you all fine and feathery. Still not tired after all that metal working?"

"Nah. Believe it or not, the fire actually helps me stay awake more effectively than the stress of working with materials can put me down," Xera returned with a smile, "Let me know when you happen to test out that weapon. I want to know what the full extent of it can do."

"Well, it's not like I can call, write a letter, or send you a text saying 'OMG Xera, that cool thingy you made? Totes awesome.' or something stupid like that. You'd have to wait until you come to me or I come to you."

"I know." Xera said, slipping his free hand into his pocket, "If you were staying for longer, I'd have you running tests with it, but no tests ever make up for the real thing out on the field. Besides, you all really need to get back soon. I can't be hogging your attention in a reality that isn't even yours, after all."

"Yeah… It's just…I got to go handle a few things back there. No doubt everyone else caught up by now. At least, close to catching up."

"Don't worry about it too much. Your Reality should always be your priority. This was just a bit of a sidestop… Or a surprisingly big one, either or. But anyway, if the gift doesn't signify it enough, I'll say it again..." Xera's eyes turned gold for a moment before falling into dark green, something to prove how serious he was with this, "Thanks for the help."

"I really didn't do anything besides cause a huge screw up at the finish…"

"Not exactly. I'd probably be a corpse in the desert near Vacuo still if you weren't here..." Xera offered, shrugging his shoulder for a moment, "Besides, you're kinda the one who led us all through the dimension anyway. Not to mention you and your associate are also the only reason why Zerath and Zeridul were even able to separate from each other…" Xera continued, eventually getting to his point, "Without you, Zerath probably really would've been dead after all this."

"Still… I'm… Well, me. I should have been better than that. And I failed. Miserably. And you and others got to see worse than anyone else ever has. Worse than I knew I was capable of. Then again…"

"They say you never really know somebody until you've seen the side of them they like to keep hidden." Xera spoke, letting his voice stay even as he drew back on something his mom told him, "Whatever their reason may be, it's the side to them they don't want seen. We've seen you at your worst…if that really is your worst."

"That's the thing. That wasn't me. That has never been me. It was like…something else entirely."

It was almost like the night in the church.

"Then strive to never become that thing ever again." Xera said seriously, wanting to drive that one goal into him, "You've experienced it now, so you know what to expect if it ever happens again to you."

His words held some comfort...but it was never that easy.

"It never will… So, all this for a going away party? I mean, we might not be back for a good while, but it's not like we're going away forever or anything."

"What? Would you rather us do nothing and just let you leave quietly?" Xera asked with a somewhat cheeky smile.

He was glad to see he wouldn't allow himself to fall that far again.

"Skyla and Ciel were quite adamant about making this a big deal." Blake added as she approached.

"Of course it was those two… I swear, it's like a best friend match made in heaven. Or hell if you think about it other ways too."

Their powers combine would be terror incarnate.

"I'm sure it's only because they know they won't be seeing each other for a while…" Xera theorized, but he only half-believed his own words there.

There was definitely something between those two that clicked.

"Not to alarm you two..." Blake commented idly, suddenly catching something off to the side, "But I think Leo's in a dress…"

"You're absolutely kidding me. Where?!" Dante exclaimed, lightening the mood through Blake's input as he looked around frantically.

He glanced over to the stairway from the balcony just in time to see Skyla and Ciel dashing down its length with a pair of pants and a white shirt, splitting up and going separate direction while giggling to themselves and being chased down by Leo in a short-skirted black dress.

"I think he actually pulls that look off better than most guys can…" Xera commented.

"He does have some nice curves and a slim frame." Blake agreed.

"While not being as muscly, he's still toned despite looking a bit scrawny. That, and he's still pretty strong."

"Aren't you all?" Xera asked distractedly, watching as a strong tether of aura suddenly latched onto the two running girls and pulled them forcefully together.

"Yeah, but he's the only one of us who could pull off cross-dressing," Dante said.

"C-CIEL!"

Leo's plea lay in the background as the sister in question suddenly took Skyla and disappeared through a rift, reappearing back up on the stairs.

"True..." the phoenix replied, "But who knows… There might just be more of you out there. So you can't say that for sure."

"Oh god… If we have a loli little sister, we are hiding her away permanently."

"Really? I think Ciel would make a wonderful older sister that'd just love to teach her little follower all her knowing ways and tactical strategies." Xera commented with an emphasized smirk.

Despite all the shenanigans going on, to the party's amusement, the lights suddenly dimmed a bit as Rideat stood with his soldering metal arm in the air.

His covered gaze turned upward as a display of bright beams of light cascaded up into the roof of the ballroom, some trailing down to flash and glide over the dance floor below in a soft glow.

And before long, those white streaks of light began to flow and move to match the rising and falling tempo of the music playing over the speakers.

A rising commotion soon filtered out into the room as the back doors began to open, even stopping the running Ciel and Skyla in their tracks for just long enough to be dive-tackled by the girl's twin brother.

Inuba and Ren were quietly wheeling out a large food cart, a towering white cake with black, intricate designs flowing perfectly around its textured sides in fancy pipework turning into view as they brought it out to the table of snack foods off to the side.

"Oh, there were snacks?" Xera asked.

"Yup. Softdrinks too, and water bottles for those who just wanted water." Blake informed, her gaze following Xera's own.

The two chefs were in their respective aprons, Ren still wearing his "Please Do Nothing to the Cook" apron and Inuba wearing her "The Only Cook Hotter than the Kitchen" apron.

"It was amazing to see them compete… I wonder what their food would taste like if they worked together on something..." Xera wondered aloud.

"Really?" Blake asked skeptically, "Weren't you the one who handed your food off to Dante both times?"

"What? He looked hungry." Xera shrugged, offering her a small smile to show a little amusement.

"You were having your fun, weren't you…" she sighed.

"Maybe."

Before Xera could even speak to him further, Dante had already reached the cake, a glint of eagerness and excitement in his eyes.

"Awesome..! I haven't had cake in forever!"

"I hope you enjoy it..." said Inuba softly as she fidgeted about with her hands.

"Definitely will!" said Dante as he received a large piece of cake from Ren.

A line had quickly formed for the dessert, people still talking and chatting as they moved through the servings as Ren and Inuba worked to cut up their masterpiece with fluent ease.

Tonight was a good night.

---

The girl cloaked in white stood at the edge of the Balcony as Dante, Inuba, Ciel, and Leo all stood in front of her and said their long-lasting goodbyes.

It took a surprisingly long amount of time to just get to this point and finally see them off, but part of that was due to Skyla and Ciel refusing to NOT finish their long bucket list of 'together activities' before they saw each other off.

One of those being kidnapping Leo and seeing what he'd look like in a dress.

He was back to normal now.

Still peeved, though.

"So, how does this work?" Coco asked, idly standing with her team as she leaned against the wide balcony-way's doorframe, "Do they just vanish or something?"

"As cool as that is, no, not exactly." Dante explained.

"I'll be opening a rift to a Reality Passage and take us back to our own. Simple enough really."

Coco lowered her sunglasses for a moment to glance at the girl.

Even at night, she wore them.

"Knew I shouldn't have asked..." she replied, realizing it was a lot more confusing than she'd originally thought it'd be.

"Think of it as just accessing a new door that pops up." Xera offered, wondering if that helped.

"Or black holes!" Skyla added, before finishing her comment off in a quiet whisper, "Nobody knows where they go…"

"Only I know how to get us there and back again." said the cloaked girl.

"At least you know though..." Jaune spoke up, "I mean, it'd be a bit weird of you had no idea how to get back."

"Sounds like a plotline for a movie…" Ruby commented on the side.

"Stranded in an alternate reality..." Yang added for the sake of it, "Has a nice ring to it."

"There was a time that happened. Since then, I worked out the kinks. And…I will never return to that outlandish, childish realm…"

...

Where the heck did she go to?

Despite the lineup, Ciel still had time to nudge Skyla's arm playfully and make her own comment, "We should totally go there."

"You think we can become the supreme rulers there?" Sky asked quietly, but excitedly.

"Co-ruling supreme queens of the world? Hell yeah we can!"

Them ruling the world would be...chaotic. Maybe.

Squirrels would become the World's national symbol… And ice cream would become a mandatory part of every meal…

Freeze Tag would be incorporated into battle strategies of warfare...

Yup, chaotic indeed.

"Thank you all for having us here and allowing us to assist you. Despite circumstances involved, we hope to work again with you in the future, whenever necessary." said Inuba, giving everyone a polite bow.

Zerath had been leaning against the opposite frame as Coco, but to a couple people's surprise, he nodded his head in return to the polite bow and responded, "Likewise."

"You all really helped out, but if you need any help at your own reality, I want to repay this favor that's built up from me calling you here." Xera said, giving his own polite nod to Inuba's bow.

"We'll be sure to do so." replied Dante, before finally turning toward the cloaked girl, "Ready?"

With a wave of her hand, an eye shaped portal of black and white aura opened up, the other side not visible to the others.

With one last hug, Ciel waved goodbye to Skyla and the others before going inside, Leo awkwardly waving at the rest as he followed in after with Inuba following behind.

"See you guys." waved Dante.

Xera gave another small nod to the immortal, others around him waving to see him off.

Then after returning that small nod, Dante stepped inside as the Rift closed behind him.

The passageway they were traveling through was like a plain, dimly lit hallway of energy. It was a sight that always intrigued Dante. But before the young immortal took another step forward, he looked back momentarily before smiling and letting out a small chuckle and walking forward to join his friends, his family once again.

It was time to head back home.

---

(Omake: Scaredy Cats, by me)

"Man…" said Raum as he let out a sigh of boredom, "Thankfully we we restocked all the applesauce… Damn brats didn't think to leave us the cooler with the other stash of it…"

A week or so had passed since Dante and the others left, leaving Raum and Irene in their Reality of Remnant until the three siblings and fox yōkai returned.

"What heck is taking so long?" The Dark Entity asked himself as he bounced his foot up and down.

His gaze shifted to said bouncing foot, which currently lightly tossed up the small wolf Faunus child Irene up and down, scooping her up so when she fell back down she had a soft landing each time. Clearly, her giggles of amusement told him she was enjoying the makeshift "bounce house" that was one of the Four Dark Entity King's foot.

Although soon enough, she leaned forward a bit from her bounce up, her body arcing towards Raum's hand as he stuck it out. Amazingly, Irene landed feet first atop the palm of Raum's hand, who then raised her up into the air like how one would display a trophy proudly earned.

The little child soon stood up straight atop the palm supporting her, and raised up her hands in triumph, giving a satisfied "Hmph!" with her display of assisted acrobatics.

Not long after, the Dark Entity quickly removed his hand from under her feet and caught the falling girl with both hands, lowering her so that she could sit on his thigh while he placed his elbow on his other leg and rested his chin in his palm, letting out another sigh.

"When are those brats getting back..? I'm getting tired of waiting…"

He didn't necessarily have to wait at the small camp he set up in a grassy place on the outside of a village just a mile or so away.

He could go see THAT person again

…

No, it would be too soon.

The Dark Entity took note of how Irene's black wolf ears perked, her head moving to the front as the child and ancient being looked ahead from their camp, watching a small pack of eight Beowolves approaching them.

They were wary of Raum given he gave off a Dark presence that would cause the weakest of men to pee themselves simply being near him. Every now and then they went "number two", a gentler term than his usual he learned from reading one of Irene's books meant to educate the young girl.

The Creatures of Grimm encroached upon the camp ever so slowly, waiting to see if Raum would make his move.

"Weak trash yet again…" he said with a sigh, "What the hell is wrong with this world..?"

The Dark being raised up his hand, ready to unleash a beam of Aura that would cause the creature to implode and burst like balloons.

But instead, Irene leapt off Raum's lap and took a few steps forward with her tiny legs.

"Hey, what are you-?"

The Beowolves...backed away slowly when she confronted them.

"You've got to be kidding me…" whispered the Dark Entity as he kept his hand up and pointed it at the creatures just in case.

Without another word, Irene balled up her fists, raised up her tiny arms as she closed her eyes, and let out a tiny, mewling growl, one that would ultimately annihilate the cuteness scale of any on their vicinity.

The Beowolves wolf-like ears folded against their heads, each of them whimpering fearfully before turning around and running back into the forest from whence they came as fast as they could.

Irene walked back eagerly to her adoptive father and climbed up his leg to sit in his lap once more as she let out a proud chuckle whilst crossing her arms.

Raum was still staring at the point of entry to the forest where the Grimm fled to. Then, he roared with laughter, laughter he only let out so loudly and amusedly during his older days of conquest and destruction.

And Irene, in all her small cuteness, began giggling alongside the laughing Raum.

---

Semblance Encylopdeia 8

"Ladies and gentleman!" Said Ciel as she stepp on stage by herself, "Come one, come all...to our show about Semblances! Starring yours truly...the beautiful, the absolute cutest, and the best little sister in the whole wide world...moi!"

The young sibling dramatically raised her hands up into the air as she took on pose, soon lowering them into a small bow before standing up straight.

"Have you finished gratifying yourself?" Asked Leonard as he took the stage next to his sister.

"Hmph! Boring guys like you just can't appreciate this compact form of beauty and awesomeness!"

"Yes… Well, apologies for the long break everyone. Things are returning to as they were next chapter, but today, we're getting right back on schedule with our segment. Speaking of which, what will be our topic of discussion today Ciel? Ciel?" Asked Leonard as he soon found his answer.

Ciel was now sitting atop a small pedestal, posing like a model while keeping one eye closed, as if she were winking.

"What are you doing?"

"Um, what's it look like doofus? Today's show is about me!"

"Is it?" Asked Leonard before he looked off to the side and asked the crew, "Is it..?" He asked with dejection in his tone.

He then let out a sigh, playing into his sister's "game".

"Well then...I guess I'll take the lead today…"

"That's more like it."

"Right… Well, you heard ladies and gentlemen. Today we will be discussing about my sister Ciel's Semblance, which, like mine, is a Duality Semblance."

"And! What exactly is a Duality Semblance mi hermano?" Asked Ciel as she pointed dramatically at Leo.

"A Duality Semblance is a type of Semblance that involves two different mechanics as part of a whole. For instance, it would be like if ms. Rose not only possessed her Semblance of accelerated speed, but also, for the sake of an example, had ms. Belladonna's Semblance of producing Shadow Clones of sorts."

On the monitor behind them, it displayed an animation of Ruby Rose using her Semblance to avoid an attack, while also seemingly using Blake Belladonna to add directional confusion for the enemy.

"In short, a Duality type Semblance is a sort of two in one Semblance. If one is lucky, or skilled enough, their two 'types' will have an excellent amount of synergy and combine wonderfully to unleash all sorts of confusion or devestation. Like how well my sister's types synergize quite well."

"Do tell our gracious audience those two types are my dear brother." Spoke Ciel in the fanciest tone she could, constantly switching between poses now and then.

"For the sake of future entertainment, we will only discuss that which we have seen so far and what we know. The two types my sister possesses are the halting of time for a set period and dimensional relocation and the like. In simpler terms, some manipulation of time and manipulation of space."

The display changed to an animation of a proudly standing Ciel.

"As of now, in regard to time halting abilities, Ciel is capable of freezing time for a set period of five seconds without the expense of Aura. Once past the ten seconda however, her ability will begin to dip into her Aura supply, but not by a vast amount until up to twenty seconds. After twenty seconds, the drain of Aura becomes significantly stronger. In short, each ten second mark drains more Aura quickly than the last mark."

"The most I can keep time frozen continuously for is a full minute. But that drains so much of my Aura it's absolutely ridiculous." Said Ciel as she continued her posing.

"To clarify, Ciel cannot rewind or fast forward time. Thankfully…"

"Hey! I'm not that irresponsible! Sometimes!"

"My point exactly. There are some more aspects to her 'Time Alteration' type, but we shall save those for another time, yes?"

"And the next bit!" Said Ciel dramatically pointing towards Leo again.

"The other type my sister possesses is Dimensional Alteration. Currently, from what we've seen, my sister is capable of teleporting in different locations around her, quickly opening dimensional rifts to slip in and out of. But that's not all. Ciel is able to create her own sets of self sustaining pocket dimensions that can contain an insurmountable amount of items each. Though, she can only make up to ten at a time. Their main uses are for storage really, but Ciel is capable of using them as Combat Dimensions to trap any enemy within."

The display on screen displayed Ciel performing these feets and more.

"The last bit of information we can provide is that Ciel is capable of absorbing attacks or objects of any kind into dimensional rift she opens. Doing so, Ciel can send an exact replica of an attack back at her enemy, and to make it even worse for her opponent, by expending some Aura, Ciel can boost the power of the attack she absorbed and send it twice as more powerful than the original. But that's not all."

"Would you like to know more?!" Questioned Ciel in a deep soldier-like voice.

"Ciel can open numerous rifts and send back multiple attacks of an attack she copied. For example, if Ciel opened a rift to absorb our older brother's Devouring Light, his super high density Aura Wave attack, Ciel's rift copies the attack and sends it back. If she chose to, she can use her Aura to make the send back attack more powerful. And yet, that's not the worst of it."

"And what, my dear brother, is the alternative devestating ability?!"

"In addition to copying an attack with her rift and sending it back normally or empowered, Ciel can open numerous rifts at once and send back numerous attacks at once. Again, our brother's Devouring Light for example. If Ciel were to absorb and copy the attack, she can open, let's say five rifts, and send out five Devouring Lights."

"Maximum Overkill!"

"Yes…" replied Leo as he took a step away from his sister, "The maximum amount of rifts she can open for this ability is up to ten currently. But due to the amount of rifts, and depending on the scale of power of the attack she is absorbing into her rift and copying, it takes a substantial amount of Aura to perform this ability. Not so much as it takes with passing the thirty second mark of her time halt, but still a decent amount in comparison."

"Welp!" Said Ciel as she hopped off her spotlight brimmed pedestal, "That's all we got for you this week folks! Hope you enjoyed it! Join us next week for Weapons Illustrated!"

As Ciel and Leo walked off stage, the young girl asked her brother the question most prominent on her mind at the moment.

"You think Foxy is gonna bake a cake for us?"

"It's highly likely."

"Sweet. Heh. Sweet. Literally. See what-?"

"I saw."

"Lighten up chucklebrother. Now, let's go have some cake! After we bake it!"

Well, I basically covered everything I needed to say up top. All that's left to say is that expect everything to resume next chapter, but it won't be as simple as following volume 4 just like that. You'll see what I mean when we get there.

So with that...

I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.

Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.

Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.

Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!

Bye-bye now!