Chapter 41: The Gaping Divide
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Inuba remained where she was, her white fox ears fluttering briefly as she smiled at Dante, then turned her head towards the man with the glasses, glaring daggers at him.
He stared back, keeping himself calm and focused as he heard the Alpha Minotaur in the process of raising itself up from the ground.
"Now just who exactly might you be?"
"I announced myself just recently, degenerate." The kitsune snapped back coldly.
"I heard your name, fox. I was more or less referring to the specifics about you." The man stated as he relaxed himself slightly, "I have bits of data in reference to the young man that you're protecting, but you… I know nothing of you."
It's better that way…
Dante let out a small exhale, and made to stand up and join his partner before his weakened body pulled him to his hands and knees once again, quickly prompting Ruby to catch and help hold him up.
"I'll give you the opportunity to leave now. If not, then I will not hesitate to cut you down." Inuba warned.
"Leave now? Just after I got here? Oh no no no no no, we can't have that. You see, I've much more to learn about the young man before I even think of leaving. And now that you are present, I've much to learn about you as well."
"Then I'm afraid you will learn nothing from this encounter." Inuba warned.
"And why is that?"
"Because I will end this quicker than you will be able to make your notations."
Inuba glanced back at Dante slightly, giving him an earnest glance of 'How did I do?!'
The immortal chuckled to himself and gave her a thumbs up, Inuba giving a pleased smile before turning her attention back at the enemy ahead of them.
The Minotaur had risen, and joined its manipulator's side as it let out heavy huffs. It's body hadn't suffered all too much damage given all the bone armor that covered its body.
This only told Inuba that she needed to increase the intensity of her flames to do more damage.
Dante realized this as well, but he didn't want to show Inuba's strength for as long as he could manage, especially since they didn't know anything about just how strong she actually was.
In that case…
"Hey partner!" Dante called out with a smile on his face.
Inuba spun around hearing Dante's call, and saw him sheath Anvil as he raised up the longsword.
"Kick his ass the old fashioned way."
Speaking his words, he threw the longsword in Inuba's direction, the kitsune catching the sheathed weapon in the air and staring at it briefly. One last look in the immortal's direction and she gave him a nod.
The entry point of the scabbard clicked, and Inuba drew the longsword, glancing at the pristine white blade momentarily before smashing her fists together. Small blasts of white fire emerged from the collision of her knuckles, and both sword and scabbard warped within an instant to cover both her arms and legs, forming the greaves and gauntlets Dante wore earlier.
Inuba took slow steps forward as she moved her arms in a circular motion, soon leaning slightly back into a stance as the gauntlets and greaves flickered with wisps of white flame.
"My fight wasn't with you originally, fox. But at the very least I'll learn about you to some extent before the beast defeats you… among other things…" the glasses wearing man spoke with a wicked smile on his face.
The kitsune kept a hardened stare, keeping her feelings of disgust inside as she waited for the lumbering beast to make the first move.
"Do what you will." The man spoke.
The Alpha Minotaur let out an ear piercing roar before it charged forward at the kitsune. It raised up its fist, and swung it down as hard as it could, thinking that it overpowered the girl an defeated her then and there. After all, how could a small and frail looking humanoid possibly stand a match?
With the dust settling, the Grimm raised up its head, and to its surprise, saw the kitsune crouching on its massive arm before she shrugged forward with blinding speed and dealt a powerful, flaming punch to the beast's face. A thunderous crack sounded throughout the colossal ravine as the creature reeled back from the sudden attack.
Inuba began her assault now that her enemy was staggered, and began delivering a series of powerful and flaming round kicks and back spinning heel kicks, continuing the combination of kicks. Each kick was accompanied with large bursts of flame that seemingly took on the shape of large cuts for the duration of the kick. After the twelfth kick, Inuba faced her target once more as it feel to its knees and drove the top of her armored foot into the bottom of the creature's chin with a devastating blast of flame.
Blinded, the Alpha Minotaur raised a hand to its face in roaring agony, flailing its other arm wildly, but entirely missing the kitsune high above its head. Inuba then folded her left leg in and stuck her right out, and used the white flames she shot out of her palms to spin herself vertically with frightening speed, turning the armored foot she kept stuck out into a blazing white saw blade.
The spinning, cutting kick worked at the heavily plated skull with a loud shredding noise, white dust flying around her kick that was soon followed with small spurts of black blood. Her spin slowed down until the back of her heel rested on the top section of its massive head she cut into. It yet again flailed about wildly, swinging it's arm upwards in the hope it might have caught the kitsune.
Like the last time, it's attempts at a counter failed as Inuba twisted her body around, gracefully spinning over its tree-sized arm before landing on the ground. The beast still stood, prompting Inuba to continue her furious attack without pause as her fists rapidly moved like bolts of lightning, each punch delivering devastating blows and cracking under the intense force of her pure white fire and punches.
The Minotaur slammed both fists into the ground, thinking its massive body was advantage enough to keep the kitsune corralled within its grasp, however frantic and frail that grasp now was.
Inuba had taken note of its attempt and already leapt back to avoid the the destructive slam of the create, leaving a small crater as proof of its immense brute force.
Yet again the kitsune took advantage of its slow recovery after as heavy attack, and glided forward with another blazing punch. This time, her punch had a much more devastating effect, blowing away almost all of the beast's mask with a satisfying crunch.
It's hideous face now revealed, it let out another bellowing roar at the kitsune, showing her its vicious maw of teeth.
Inuba knocked out most of those teeth within the next second after she delivered a flaming round kick to its face.
The vicious looking, bone-like armor that plated a vast majority of the Alpha Minotaur's body was either completely destroyed or slowly falling apart.
But with distance now between them, the Grimm reared back it's head, mouth billowing with flame before a stream of surging fire escaped from its maw with a ghastly roar, torching anything in its path, turning the rocks on the ground a scorching red.
Inuba once again took the sky above the beast and dealt it a wicked right cross as she moved past it, making it cease its useless spewing of fire. It was wounded, and weakened, but that didn't stop the girl from devastating it further when it swung its arm at the girl.
The kitsune ducked under the feeble blow and delivered yet another devastating blow in the form of an uppercut. As soon as her blazing, armored fist made contact with the hulking arm, the blackened, muscly appendage easily bent inward against Inuba's punch, simply because she willed it so.
It's right arm useless, the creature had been seriously injured to the point of minimal function, but it wasn't completely harmless. And it wouldn't be so until it stopped breathing.
Inuba moved now to put an end to the creature, avoiding the pathetic, hooved kick it tried to hit her with. A swift downward drop of her elbow forced its leg down into, and while spinning around, the girl reared back her arm as it blazed brilliantly with flame.
With a loud cry, the kitsune let loose her destructive fist and smashed it into the chest of the Minotaur, it's body caving in from the destructive force of her punch. A few moments later, the Grimm's body quickly expanded until its entire top half was erased within a second, a large gust of wind strongly moving through the valley with a powerful eruption of flame.
The kitsune swiped her right hand off to her side, the greaves and gauntlets she wore immediately breaking down and coming together to form her master's longsword, while the scabbard appeared in her left hand. Giving the white blade two quick twirls, Inuba soon sheathed the blade back into its place of rest, the only surviving portion of the creature falling down with a heavy thud before it too vanished into nothing.
Shock. Total shock and awe. That's what the man felt right now from the events he just witnessed.
A strong Aura Signature is surely nothing to scoff at. But that Alpha Minotaur the kitsune brutally destroyed… That creature alone had killed dozens of Huntsmen and Huntresses with strong Aura Signatures over the few dozen years it existed. All boasted they would kill it. And all before now had failed.
While the beautiful display of destructive power Inuba showed left him terrified, it left him mesmerized as well.
It was a new subject to study and learn from.
"Are you next to fall?"
Inuba's question snapped him back to reality as he saw the kitsune resume her glare that seemingly burned holes through his body and soul.
He actually felt fear for the first time years! But with that fear came a sense of excitement as well, along with many more questions to ask and have answered.
"An impressive display, truly." He said trying to hide his bewilderment, "But who's to say you aren't hiding the fact you spent all your energy fighting the beast?"
"If that's what you think, you're a lot dumber than I thought." Dante said, finally standing up and staggering forward slightly, "She's got more than enough fuel in the tank to charbroil your ass too."
That… was a problem then.
If she had more than enough energy and Aura to take him on, even after fighting an Alpha Minotaur of all things…
Just who was she? What was she that she was this unbearably powerful?
"Normally I wouldn't let you run away in the slightest. But because my partner gave you the option, and still is, I will too. So hit the road. While you still can."
The man clenched his hands behind his back tightly, so much so that it felt like he was about the crush the fingers he was grasping.
Him retreating? That's a first if anything.
But he had nowhere near enough data to take them on. His set on the immortal was far from complete, and with the kitsune, he only had what he just witnessed to go off of. Who's to say she won't entirely overwhelm him? That wasn't a chance he was about to take at the moment.
He was content with making contact and learning as much as he could for now. Even if it meant he would leave without fighting either of them.
"Very well then. I'll take your suggestion for now."
Shadows gathered at the man's feet as he slowly began sinking into it.
"My name... is Seizâr." He said with a bow as his body sank further into the shadow, "And I look forward to our next meeting."
His final words spoken, his whole body vanished within the pit of shadow as it bolted off into shadows of the clearing.
Inuba made to move, but Dante's hand stopped her as she looked to him.
He only shook his head, "We've got more important things to focus on. We don't need to go chasing after him."
The kitsune glanced off into the distance briefly, making sure no one else would attack them before she followed Dante back to where RNJR sat in rest.
"Alright you misfits. Let's get you all healed up before we move on. Then…"
Dante paused a moment and turned his head to see a flash of light, watching a familiar girl cloaked in white appear from the flash of white Aura.
"Well well, look who showed up." Dante said as he walked over, "Everything go as planned?"
"Yes, for the most part anyway."
…
That was troubling…
"Most part?"
The girl looked as though she wanted to explained, but she held herself back.
"It'd be better to explain when we're not out in the open. For now, I've already retrieved Qrow Branwen and established a base of operations not too far from here." The girl explained.
"You can make bases out of thin air?" Dante asked with genuine curiosity.
"No you fool! I just… used my abilities to move the home I treated you in to this area. For now, we all need to rest and prepare ourselves. Our journey is far from over."
Dante let out a sigh, "Right… We need to heal up a bit first before you move us. After fighting all day, we need a quick break."
"That's fine. Have everyone healed enough to be transported."
"Yes ma'am…" Dante said with a halfhearted salute, something the girl sighed at.
He hid deep within the clearing, watching the group of seven tending to each other, unknowing of his presence within the ravine.
The man that wore the Ursa Grimm mask took deep breaths with each step he took, pain wracking his body with even the smallest movements.
He couldn't use his Aura anymore in thanks to Ren, but he still had his chains, and they were currently infused with fire Dust so that he could melt through them once the chains made contact with their bodies.
All of them sat there huddled together. It'd take only one good swing to end them all in the blink of an eye…
"Oh? You're still alive are you?"
The man froze at the sound of the chilling voice behind him, turning his head around to see a black tattered cloak and Grimm-like dragon mask standing behind a small distance.
"A-Aizûr..!"
"Kârûg. They mentioned you were one of the deserters, but I was hoping it wasn't true."
He winced at the sound of that.
"I..! I could not deny him..! Daelîk was too powerful for any of us! He forced me to defect! Some of the others went willingly because they didn't want to follow the rules and kill anyone they wanted!"
"I see… So he forced you into submission then, is what you're saying?"
"Yes..!"
Aizûr let out a small hum as he looked out at the group with Kârûg.
"Daelîk is dead, you know?" Aizûr said, making Kârûg's head jolt up in surprise.
"Then…"
"I suppose considering the circumstances, I can bring you back without too much trouble to come your way. After all, what could you do against someone significantly stronger than you? So with that, we'll be taking our leave n-"
"Not yet!" The man growled as Aizûr turned to leave, "Not until I at least kill those two brats!"
The Dragon Masked man looked back to the group of teens, eyeing Dante among them helping Inuba dress everyone's wounds.
"Now now, we don't need to go that far."
"I can't let this go! I won't allow human brats to defeat me! That's why… I'll kill them now!" Kârûg said as he raised up his weapon.
Aizûr stared at his "ally" blankly for a few moments before he stepped forward a few paces and stood in front of him.
"If you want them dead so much, then allow me." He spoke as he positioned himself in front of the larger man.
"Aizûr… You…"
A silently echoing zing of metal sounded off briefly, and the man looked down to his chest to see something piercing his chest. It looked like a thin blade made purely of blue lighting that pierced through his body.
But the length of the blade of lighting… It was too long to be of normal length. The distance was too great between himself and Aizûr, seeing the lightning blade jutting out from Aizûr's black cloak between where his left arm and the left side of his body supposedly were.
Kârûg coughed up blood as he stared at the wound he was inflicted before looking at the Dragon Masked man.
"I can't have you doing something like that, you know? You should've just dropped it while you had the chance. Oh well…"
The lightning blade retracted itself from the man's chest, allowing his body to fall to the ground dead as the blade disappeared back into Aizûr's cloak.
A deathly zing of metal resembling a silent screech sounded off when Aizûr drew his twisted black longsword from underneath his cloak. The blackened blade resembling sharpened bone gleamed briefly from the rays of sunlight that peeked through the clearing as the man walked over to the fresh body.
As he raised up his blade and pointed it at the corpse, an inky black substance bubbled from the cross guard, coating the entire blade before it expanded outwards into a torrent of black, forming a huge maw of the substance as big as the corpse itself.
Without question, the inky, black, growling maw extended itself from the blade and began to quickly devour Kârûg's body in large chunks, swallowing entire limbs whole before going back to devour what remained.
Five seconds had passed, and nothing remained of corpse, only the blood that was spilt coating the floor in large quantities. The maw that emerged from Aizûr's blade shrank down and faded, returning the sword back to its normal form as the blade briefly gave off a red shine.
Giving his tool of destruction a quick twirl, Aizûr sheathed his weapon back inside his cloak, and just barely caught a glimpse of the seven standing up and vanishing within a large flash of white light.
"Now the game begins. I am placing my bet on you, so I can only hope you will succeed. Even if the chances are low with how you are now. Who's to say really?" Aizûr said with a shrug before he turned around to walk away, "I have been wrong before."
He walked along the stone steps, ascending the stairs of the red sky world he strode through. A glimpse off to the side reminded him of the dozens upon dozens of ruins that laid amongst the wastes of the black sand that spanned infinitely without seeming end.
All of them had an ancient feel to them… But little would anyone know those ruins alone were from just little over twenty years ago. Some of the rest were just… collateral damage.
Finally ascending the stairs, the man came upon a circular plateau that stood risen above the black sands without any support from below. And on the far end, she sat upon her obsidian throne.
Her long hair was pitch black like her form fitting robes that had stylistic tears near the cuffs of her wide sleeves and hem of the robe, as well as the small chest window. Her pale skin shined under the moonlight of the red skied world.
When she opened her eyes, black sclerae with glowing red irises greeted the world she had dominion over, and the man that approached her as he lowered himself to one knee, respectfully bowing to her.
"Lady Scylix, I have returned."
Scylix let out an amused hum, "So you have, Asher. I assume you have matters to report to me?"
"I do. Firstly, the defectors we brought to our side have perished. Dante and his group of humans managed to defeat them all."
"A shame. And here I thought I would have a chance to study them more in depth. Such is life I suppose. And? What else is there?"
Asher looked up at the Dark Entity, "The purpose of the towers have been fulfilled. The one with cloak destroyed the gateway activator as planned, while the kitsune and the devil siblings destroyed the other towers and released the essence from the Darkness Cores, also as intended. With that…"
The man reached behind him and held out his hand. As he opened up his fingers, a faint red glow peeked through his fingers, soon revealing a small, spherical red gem in his palm. The inside of it swirled and churned with small strands of black energy.
"The last and final Gem of the Ancients has achieved partial reactivation."
Scylix's smile grew wide as she extended her hand, her fingers beckoning the Gem to slowly fly out Asher's hands and into her own. She could feel the faint traces of once ultimate power deep within.
"Even if we were to activate it, it won't be able to reach maximum power or potential to return to its original states. However, it is still presumed that the power within will still be enough to grant your wish, regardless."
"Excellent…" Scylix replied to Asher as she gazed deep into the Gem, "If it has enough power to fulfill my wish, it will be more than enough. All we need now… is him."
"Should I extend an… invitation?"
"No…" Scylix said subtly tilting her head up a brief moment, keeping her eyes on the Gem, "They'll come on their own. That girl is too quick to act, and by now has surely realized the gateway is active. She will be sending young Dante and his allies to us tomorrow I reckon."
"Very well." Asher said, "In addition… Regarding the two Diabolica's we unearthed, we've successfully managed to fully revive and restore one of them. The other has successfully been revived, and can function appropriately, but wasn't able to be fully restored. With your permission, I would have it serve as a gatekeeper."
"Permission is granted. I will keep the other fully restored Diabolica for my personal use as I see fit." Scylix spoke, finally concealing the Gem within her grasp as she looked to the man, "There are final preparations to be made before they come visit us tomorrow. See to it they are finished."
"As you command." Asher said bowing his head before standing and taking his leave.
Scylix briefly watched Asher disappear down the steps, and took a glance at her Gem, chuckling silently to herself.
"Dante… You and your power will realize my wish." She spoke glancing to the side of her throne, "One way or another."
Dante… didn't know what to feel. Rather, he didn't understand what he should be feeling. Anger? The ones responsible were dead. Sadness? Not likely. They would get better again soon.
…
Possibly…
If anything, he felt like a complete failure at the moment as he finished checking in on his siblings.
Both were in some sort of coma. And for the life of him, he couldn't understand why.
Maybe they were injured too greatly? Maybe they couldn't heal to the extent he could? Maybe…
…
"I haven't the slightest idea what could have happened to them."
The immortal's head turned briefly to glance at the cloaked girl that ascended the stairs.
"They were both like this when I retrieved them after destroying the towers. Perhaps some sort of backlash occurred during the moment the destruction occurred, but… I can't give you the answer you're trying to ascertain."
"Do you know when they might wake up?" Dante asked the girl.
Her hood moved side to side, "I haven't the slightest clue when. We can only hope they'll awaken soon."
"I see…"
The teen turned around to face the girl fully, something forced her to take a step back as she bowed her head.
"Dante, I-"
"Save it. You don't need to apologize. It's… not your fault."
But she wanted to. She brought up the issue of the towers, and she let them split up. Would have not splitting up prevented this? She didn't know. All the girl knew is that she felt responsible for the current mess.
"You are Dante… The eldest sibling…"
Dante turned his head around and saw three people standing behind him in the upstairs area they found themselves in.
Two girls that almost looked like twins, only one of them seemingly wearing a black blindfold, and… a tan skinned Faunus resembling a dragon…
"That's right. And who might you three be?"
"Bailey and Alice Lianna. We were with your brother." The blindfolded girl replied.
"Musashi Ryūjinhōno. I was traveling with your sister for some time." The tan girl replied.
"Friends of sorts then… Well, what insights might you have? Any idea how this happened?" Dante asked.
"We're not sure, but… It happened shortly after Leonard… transformed…"
Transformed..?
Dante's head turned to Musashi, promoting her to speak, "I wouldn't have the slightest idea if Ciel did something similar. I was injured and sent back to my village. After I awoke and forced my recovery to hasten, I gave chase and found her a distance away from the tower."
They've never mentioned if they awoke to any "new powers"... Rather, they asked me nonstop about pointers for when it happened and how to handle it… Maybe there was unknown backlash from "transforming".
"At the very least, you were there with them. So with that, you have my thanks." Dante told the three as he gave them a small bow.
They were… bewildered slightly that he was the bowing to them, but they returned the gesture silently as the immortal looked back to the cloaked girl.
"You mentioned something about a rift?"
"Yes…" The cloaked girl spoke, "Not long after I dismantled the first tower, I felt an unnatural spike in energy not all too far from here. It wasn't until I rushed over that I saw there was an old gateway standing in place of the energy spike."
"No idea where it leads?"
"None. For all well know, it could be an old gateway system established ages ago when magic was far more… prominent."
Dante let out a sigh, "And we're to go on through and find out…"
"Just to ensure if action needs to be taken to close the gate in the event of danger. If not, we can see if it can be sealed and come back to it another time to explore it in depth."
"Then I'll take Ruby, Inuba, and the others with me."
"You don't want our help?" Alice asked from her couch seat further away.
"Best you three stay here and hold down the fort just in case. If we all go, who's going to take care of them?" Dante said, nodding to the closed doors of the rooms his siblings were resting in, "We'll go in the morning after everyone's rested up."
"You would do well to rest yourself. As Inuba no doubt made you aware of, your Aura Reserves were dangerously low from overuse, stress and improper rest."
"Resting out there might have meant death at any minute if we weren't careful. If you saw some of the crazies we did a few days before, you wouldn't have had the courage to close your eyes. I know I didn't." Dante stated.
"You are safe here. Go and rest. You need it more than anyone else." The girl nodded towards the stairs leading down.
The immortal closed his eyes briefly, letting out a short exhale as he walked past them, touching a hand to the wooden railing as he walked down the homey, wooden steps.
"He seems to take things… a bit extreme." Musashi said to the cloaked girl.
"Because he can afford to. He's always been able to afford to. What others might consider extreme or overextending, he considers natural given how he's always worked. Never resting when faced we a possible threat. Never giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit weakness."
"He takes the stresses that would normally affect others and places it upon himself, so that they don't have to be burdened by it. A method that's of no real cost to others besides himself." Bailey noted from her own analysis.
"It's a situation of great irony… While there are no consequences to tie him down, he's always more troubled with consequences inflicted upon others instead." The cloaked girl mentioned, "Sometimes… I believe there is far greater pain inflicted upon him than what he makes any of us aware of…"
The the log cabin sort of house seemed… much larger than it originally was, and had more of a mansion-like aesthetic given its increase in size. The house last time was mainly a simple two story house to fit the three of them; Inuba, Dante and the cloaked girl who housed them. But now, it's confines were exaggeratingly larger to hold everyone present, each having their own rooms that were fairly large as was.
Inuba sat in one of those, which had her personal tastes in mind. It almost reminded her of her room back in the Apparition world back home…
Home… How long has it been since she saw home?
The kitsune drew her legs in and cradled them, resting her head atop her chin atop her knees as she glanced off at the side of the mirror.
She left so much behind to be here. She left a great many people behind as well. Her family, her old friends…
All because she…
…
She died.
The kitsune remembered it all. The pain, the fear… Everything. She didn't want to leave the world so soon. Even in the end she couldn't tell the person she cared about that she loved him. And that was what hurt her the most before she faded away, seemingly into the afterlife.
But that wasn't to be.
She awoke in a dark and unfamiliar place, completely enshrouded in shadow and darkness without the faintest traces of light, save for what she produced with her flames when she traversed the dark realm.
But she was alive. And she could feel him.
That alone brought her comfort as she traversed the seemingly infinite dark, following the metaphorical thread between her and Dante until finally...
Light.
And not soon after, their reunion.
The kitsune never would have thought she would have felt so much joy in her life, so much so that she had to restrain much of her true feelings when they were reunited.
The past before Remnant, the past even before Dante lost his memories once again… That was the one thing she held onto all this time.
A hope and a wish, one known to all those in the Apparition World, but no one else.
A memory that seemed so long ago…
…
It was twice now she caused him such anguish.
The first when he gave up his memories to spare her from death. The second…
…
She'd never forget that pained expression he made as she faded away in his arms. He did his best to try and hold himself back, but he couldn't. The kitsune had never seen him so hurt, and the fact that she was the cause filled her with even more regret.
…
…
If she said what she wanted to… would she still be accepted? Would he reject her because of the misfortune she caused him?
Inuba didn't want to think about it at all.
...
But who knew when she would ever have the chance to try? No, she wasn't going to wait any longer.
Inuba raised her head up and got up from the mattress, working to put her shoes on.
She wasn't going to wait any longer and let some other misfortune take away her chance.
The kitsune would tell him what she held herself back from saying for two years now, and would hope for the best.
That… and she would remind him of their past he discarded for her sake.
Dante stood out on the the third story balcony, looking up at the shattered moon high above him, gleaming its silvery light upon the world.
His very first question when he came to this world was how in the world something like that happened.
For all he knew, those deities Qrow spoke of duked it out on the moon and destroyed most of it.
Maybe even Salem had a hand in it. There were so many uncertainties involved.
If there was one thing the immortal learned long ago, it was to expect anything and everything from supernatural beings or deities. They'd go to any extent to accomplish a goal they have in mind.
Even if…
…
Deities and celestial were no longer his concern.
Hopefully.
What mattered now was getting to Mistral and trying to piece together this whole mess. This Salem definitely was the mastermind behind the attack and had to have sent Cinder and her small time lackeys.
Did coming face to face with this Salem scare the immortal? It didn't. But something else terrified him all too well.
They were close. And because they were close, something was bound to go awry. It's how it's always been, and has happened repeatedly without fail.
At least, that's how it went a majority of the time.
The immortal had been defying that fate ever since he decided to wield a sword, and for just as many successes, he had just as many failures.
Failure…
…
It was an ironic thing.
People always assumed he never failed at anything, that he was just generally perfect. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Did he do things well or better than most? Absolutely, but that was because he gave it his full effort and attention, working hard to do something right rather than relying on things like talent or genius.
Yes, his mind worked… differently than a majority, but there was nothing he could do about it except continuing to work hard as per usual.
Like with the current situation for the last few weeks. The immortal dedicated every morsel of his mind and body in ensuring that Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora would make it over his own well being, which really didn't need any sort of consideration.
Until now.
It was too long. Far too long since he knew it, understood it.
What it meant to be weak…
…
With how things were happening recently, it was a reminder that had been stuck in his mind for days now. And it was necessary. If he ever forgot what it meant to be weak, it invited arrogance, and arrogance invited defeat for him or death for everyone else.
It was important to know and understand the concept. Most warriors go along through most of their lives not realizing this, and it's that majority that always falls the hardest.
At least, that's what Dante observed through his years thus far.
"Looks like you're still up."
The immortals head jolted up as he looked off to the side.
"Then again. You don't really ever sleep. Even if you're supposed to!" Ruby said, giving him a harsh poke to the cheek.
Dante silently groaned to himself as he rubbed his cheek, "Give me a break already… It's hard to sleep these days."
"Even if we're safe."
"Safety is-"
"A temporary condition!" Ruby said, deepening her voice slightly to mimic Dante, "I've heard that story one too many times, you know."
"At least someone listens." Dante signed as he leaned on the balcony rail.
Ruby gave him a small giggle, and joined him as they stared out at the landscape.
"Nervous?" Dante asked, "For tomorrow I mean."
"A little. Weird portal thing? Who knows where we'll go. Or what we'll see."
"Right? Kinda scary… Well, I'd imagine it'd be scary for you guys since you've never gone through one." The immortal stated.
"But we'll have you, so it'll be alright! And your partner!" Ruby then suddenly gasped,
"She has a flaming sword right?!"
"It actually doesn't light up because it's a fire sword. That's just her power. I made it to it'd be easier to channel her power through it. And so that it doesn't break."
"Doesn't break..?"
"It's part of the reason I made Anvil." Dante nodded to his weapon leaned against a wall in the corner, "Inuba and I, and our siblings for that matter, have some serious physical strength. So serious in fact that we can't use other melee weapons without them breaking after a few uses."
"Woah…"
"Not so much 'woah' as it is 'oh crap'. It's a problem if we can't use or weapons and have to rely on using something else. So I made the DarkLight Antithesis for Inuba, and Anvil for myself since…"
Dante paused for a moment, remembering the sword he had used for so long back on Primordial. He never had a name for it. Never thought to give it one either. It was something he used, and it never broke or failed him.
It did make him sad to an extent when he couldn't bring it forth any longer, but it made sense.
That power was gone. Or at least, he thought it was.
Maybe his powers were restructured after they were extinguished to better accommodate him? He didn't have the slightest idea. All he knew is what he had currently, and that it worked.
To an extent.
"Since..?"
Dante's head jolted up at Ruby's voice.
"Since I lost my old sword." The teen replied, "We had some good times that sword and I. Been through a lot. It's a shame I lost it."
Here…
Dante's eyes lit up when he heard the whisper, looking around a brief moment.
"A damn shame… So, I'm working with what I got for now." The immortal said in a low whisper as he looked over the railing.
"Dante?"
"Hm?"
Ruby got up close, making sure to give him a serious stare.
"W-What's up..?"
"Are… Are you scared?" Ruby asked.
"Me? Why would I-?"
The infamous cheek smushing technique resurfaced as Dante felt the slight sting of Ruby's hands smushing his cheeks together.
There was also that stare, with those big, shiny silver eyes that seemed to stare right through him. It was… slightly terrifying that someone so small had such power over him with something as simple as this.
It was actually somewhat cute…
But…
"Maybe a little." He admitted, realizing lying was futile as he placed his hands on Ruby's to hold them, "We're just… so close to the end. Usually about this time something bad happens. That's why…"
A surprise came his way when he was pulled forward forcefully and found himself locking lips with Ruby for a few brief moments, until she pulled away slowly, shooting him a smile.
"There! For good luck."
"L-Luck..?!" The immortal sputtered out, "What are you saying… you…"
Dante grumbled at the face of Ruby's forward actions. It was so disarming… Unbelievably so...
It had to be the cuteness. It was her fault for being too cute…
"Let's go to bed. We've got be ready for tomorrow don't we?"
"R-Right… I guess…"
Dante made to leave, but found himself stopped by Ruby once again.
"It'll be alright. Promise."
Promise…
"Then I'll take your word for it." The immortal replied, clutching her hand tightly, "I-I'll try to work on the sleeping thing from now on. And I mean really try this time."
"That's good to hear."
At this point she was practically dragging the immortal away.
"Come on, let's get some-"
Ruby stopped for a moment, thinking she heard a creak, but shook the idea away as she continued downstairs with Dante.
Unbeknownst to them, someone had been briefly present, and had ran off shortly before the duo decided to take their leave for the night.
"Qrow Branwen will be fine. We've treated him and he's already well within the recovery state. The only thing you need to worry about now… is what might or might not be on the other side. I will remain on the outside after the entry to make sure nothing follows you over. In the event of trouble, I'll immediately enter after you to back you up. All I have left to say is… well… I wish you luck."
Luck… When has it ever really served its purpose? For others, maybe it played some integral role in their successes. But for the immortal… He never experienced such a thing for himself. Luck served him no purpose, and certainly didn't bless him with its merits. Everything he did, everything he gained… All of it was done by his merit and his merit alone.
As per usual, Dante headed the pack, that way if they were attacked, he'd be the first person they would come across. In the event there was an attack from the rear, Inuba had everyone's back covered acting as rearguard. Their safety was all but guaranteed.
…
Still… There was something off with her. She was silent all morning, didn't so much as speak a word. Was something bothering her? There had to be. She'd been avoiding his gaze all day, and… possibly even avoiding him.
Why..?
He turned his head around slightly to see if he could catch a glance, but as soon as his gaze fell on her, she immediately looked in the opposite direction.
And then… he felt it.
A strong pang suddenly jolted through his chest like a powerful bolt, so strong in fact it made him stop in his tracks and fumble forwards a bit.
"H-Hey! Are you alright?!" Ruby asked as she rushed up to catch Dante.
Another pang…
"I'm alright… Just thinking too much and I tripped… I might still be a little tired too though…" Dante offered with a smile as he stood back up, like nothing happened, "I'll be fine."
Ruby gave him a skeptical glance at first, but her attention was soon drawn to a faint glow past the tree line, promoting the others to look as well before they quickly moved up.
Two colossal black spires jutted out from the ground, bending inwards towards each other slightly as black energy with spots of white flowed vibrantly in between, forming the rift.
"Alright… Considering this is everyone else's first time going through one of these… Just close your eyes and clench up. Tension in the muscles will help you avoid the nausea and keeping your eyes closed until you cross over helps in not blinding you for a few seconds. Other than that, don't run ahead. As soon as you get to the other side, open your eyes up as quick as possible and get into a defensive stance."
"Roger that boss man!" Nora quickly saluted as she and everyone else readied their weapons.
Dante gave everyone a pleased smile as they returned the gesture.
All except…
…
The immortal dropped his smile when he tried looking to the silent Inuba once again, seeing her still avoiding his gaze.
Without another thought, he rushed inside the rift, hearing a brief, loud crystalline hum. As he opened his eyes, white light split itself away from his vision, allowing Dante to take in the sigh of the world around him.
Ruins spanned the land far as the eye could under the light of a red moon. Castles, domiciles, homes; all of them were ancient and broken as they laid in waste among the black sands that blanketed the land, seemingly endless, like an ocean.
Shortly after, one by one, RNJR had stepped through the rift, all of them taking deep and heavy breaths to calm themselves as Inuba stepped in last, unhindered like her Master.
All them stood in awe as they looked upon the land as well, the group slowly moving forward to take in their surroundings carefully.
"What is this place..?" Jaune asked.
"An ancient civilization perhaps? Wait…" Ren stopped for a moment, glancing at some of the structures, "These are..!"
"Pieces of the kingdoms… Chunks torn from different ages and periods. That and a few other settlements, I can imagine…" Dante stated, "You guys remember how in Oobleck's class he lectured about settlements and early startups of the four kingdoms, and how some of them just vanished overnight? I think I understand now where they went…"
"But how did they get here?" Ruby asked.
"Don't know… Magic maybe. What I don't understand is, why different chunks from different time periods?" Dante asked.
"If you look at it… All the pieces are gathered together well enough to look like a whole kingdom that's been broken down…" Jaune observed.
He was right. The ruins were all arranged together…
…
Were they trophies..?
The group continued onwards through the eerie realm, keeping their guard up as they wandered through the ruins. Eventually they came upon a large chasm, separating them from the other side.
Calling it a chasm was… generous to say the least. Yes, there was a large divide between them and the other side, but at the center was… something they couldn't quite describe.
It was a void, the same as the rift they passed through where there was pitch black energy sitting around below, spots of white blinking from the river of black that flowed down below.
The more Dante looked at it, the more it reminded him of Oryx and his Taken when he fought the Dark Hive God long ago. Yes, the rift and the energy flowing below were similar, but… they had a different feeling to them. Oryx and his Taken were a collection of all sorts of powerful negative emotions, thoughts, and energy, but this…
The energy below just felt cold. Absent of life.
All of them could all feel it's chill from high above as they glanced at the abyss below, grains of black sand drifting drifting away in the wind over the chasm's edge.
"Maybe we're supposed to get across?" Nora mentioned.
"But how?"
"I could toss a few Aura Swords over to that side and then Shift us all over." Dante answered Jaune, "But something tells me though that might not be possible…"
"How come?"
"Too easy to do. Places like these? Easy option is never an actual option. We probably have to pass some test or trial. Or maybe just kill a gatekeeper."
"Gatekeepers are usually easy, right?" Nora asked.
"Depends really…"
As he said this, the ground quaked violently once. Then again. And again, and again until they grew rapid in paces. A colossal limb shot out from the blackened energy below, rising high above the group of teens as they quickly retreated from the limb.
The massive black, clawed hand slammed down into the earth, imprinting the image of its hand as the other shot out and grabbed hold.
The tremors continued as the behemoth pulled itself out of the dark abyss, revealing its colossal form.
It's arms looked thin but they were at least as thick as a bus, and spanned twenty feet for each limb. The main body had to be around fifty feet tall overall, but all any of them saw was the torso up to the waist.
It's blackened body was smooth, and gave off a slight shine along with the twisted, red swirls that tattooed its entire body. It's face had no eyes, as the red markings swirled around its face, and it's mouth sporting a maw of dozens of black, sharp teeth that were part of its face, each tooth at least the length of a human arm. And it's black horns, they were long and curved like an Ox's.
The form of this terrifying beast towered over them all easily, and as it glanced down at them, it let out an ear piercing roar that seemingly made the air tremble with terror.
"What is that thing?!" Jaune yelled as he covered his ears.
"No clue!" Dante shouted back, only slightly turning his head so that he could keep his eyes on the colossal creature, "But we're gonna kill it!"
"Oh yeah, easier said than done!"
"You have me, and you have Inuba! This'll be a cinch! Plus, experience!"
"In what?!"
"Killing things colossally bigger than you!" The immortal said as he took a few steps forward, hearing a sigh from Jaune now that the beast ceased its shrieking.
Ruby sped alked next to Dante, Crescent Rose drawn and ready, "What's the plan?"
"You and me will be taking a detour to its face. We hit it enough times, I reckon it'll fall over, give everyone else enough of a chance to run up and hack its hands off in case it gets back up. If we need to, I'll Shadow Skin and hit it with an Aura Wave to send it tumbling back into that pit it came from."
Her hand stopped him.
"What's wrong?"
"Are you… Are you sure you're okay?"
Dante paused briefly, and sighed soon after, "I'm fine. Besides, we've literally got bigger things to-"
"Just… Just tell me if you aren't..!"
…
He couldn't say much. All he could do was take her words to heart and give her a nod as he drew his sword.
The beast had to be felled before the could continue.
[Omake: "It's completely normal… right..?", by Xera Stark]
«»
Ruby had a request.
She didn't know how to ask it, sure. And she didn't quite know how to word it, either… She honestly didn't even know if she had the courage to ask it.
But… she was growing up, so, this kind of thing was normal, right?
Cuddling was a totally normal thing for people who like each other, right? People in a relationship? Everybody cuddled.
So it was perfectly normal to ask Dante to cuddle with her! It had to be!
Because everybody did it!
Still, the girl stood with her hands clasped tightly in front of her, staring down at her socks under the light of a outlaid dark stone fireplace.
Tiny little bounces on her heels swayed her asymmetrical bangs in and out of her peripherals, meek silver gaze peering up through her hair as the seconds ticked by.
Dante just stood there, in front of her. Waiting patiently for her to finally get her words out.
It was like he didn't mind standing there forever, biding his time with her and letting her work out her thoughts.
They were tricky thoughts, okay? She didn't even know how to word them.
The reaper drew in a nervous breath before letting it out, settling down on the balls of her feet just long enough to pass her gaze to Inuba quietly busying herself in the kitchen of the fancy cabin.
"C-Can I ask you something?" Ruby asked in what was probably the meekest voice she'd ever used, in front of him. Her eyes quickly narrowed a little as she tightened her shoulders, head dipping down in the heat of an embarrassed blush.
"Sure thing. You know you can ask me for anything."
The shy girl shuffled her feet and hid her gaze behind her bangs again, her little heart thumping and beating in her chest. It was normal! This was totally normal!
E-Everybody…did this…
Ruby pursed her lips and shifted her weight, almost throwing her short figure off balance as she came up with the next words to say. "W-We've d-done a lot of things together, and… I-I was wondering…"
Her voice grew softer and softer in volume as she pouted in the middle of her sentence, her brow furrowing in a look of embarrassment.
"I-If we can…do something more," she mumbled.
"Okay, like what?"
Ruby's brow furrowed even more in the strain of her internal squeaking and growing fluster.
Her fingers gripped whatever the could of her nightshirt, bunching it up over her pajama pants as she shuffled more awkwardly than she already was.
"I-I wanted to…" she trailed off, lips pressing into another pout as she lost the words she was trying to say. "To…c-cuddle. I-I haven't done it before."
Her last words could barely be called a whisper, but she got them out.
"Cuddle?" He said confusedly.
Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and nodded, freezing in her spot as he repeated what she wanted to do. "We've kissed but… we haven't cuddled before. A-And I've been wondering what it was like."
"Oh, that's it?"
The poor girl flinched and mumbled under her breath. "Y-Yeah, that's it."
Even he thought it was normal…
"Alright. Come here then."
He stood there like a messiah, arms lovingly spread open and waiting.
Ruby peered up at him in a tense moment of holding her breath, her silver gaze trying to look away out of her growing embarrassment.
H-How was he so…calm?
The reaper shuffled her small feet forward, padding in a quiet, almost silent approach in her socks to close the distance between them.
It was normal. Everyone-
Without word or warning, he suddenly swept her up into his arms to carry her despite the squeak jumping out of her, and gently began nuzzling his face against hers.
"Something…like this, I imagine?"
Ruby's squeak turned into an embarrassed whine as she nodded against his face, arms slipping around him to pull herself as tightly against him as she could.
"I'd imagine that it would be when you're sitting down and resting for the night, not standing in place like you are now." A voice spoke up.
The reaper locked up as she heard Inuba make her way over, a red fluster overtaking her cheeks. "T-This is fine! I just wanted-"
"More, I would think." The kitsune quickly replied.
"I-Inuba!" Ruby whined, kicking her legs with the sudden urge to get out of Dante's grip and curl up somewhere.
But she couldn't even budge his arms.
"Is this not normal?" Dante asked.
"On the contrary, it is very normal for couples to do so. Like this."
Inuba herself took steps forward from the front and hugged the both of them, with Ruby slightly being squished in between them, moreso due to Inuba and her… Her…
…
Her large "assets"...
Ruby turned as red as her namesake, but she stopped struggling. If this was a cuddle, then…maybe it was alright to do this tonight.
Or every night.
Weapons Illustrated 18
«»
"Heya everyone, I'm Dante."
"And I'm Ruby!"
"And we're here for another week of Weapons Illustrated. This week will be… interesting."
"I'll say!" Ruby said with a proud gleam in her eye.
Dante chuckled lightly as he clicked a button on his remote, making the projector screen come to life. On its display was a cute and small cartoonish Ruby, standing as she did now, proudly, with her hands on her hips.
"So for this week, I mentioned we were doing something interesting. As it is, we're not ready to introduce some of the 'new players' and what their weapons can do just yet. So we'll do something different. And for that… we'll be focusing on the upgrades RNJR got recently. And for today, we'll talk about Ruby's upgrade."
Ruby tapped her right foot against the floor twice, and black Aura clung to her feet, crawling up them and covering her legs entirely. The Aura took shape, and dispersed, revealing twisted, elegant black armor protecting her legs, with three inch blades acting as the heels.
The reaper gave a quick twirl, and then struck a pose.
"Her upgrade turns her legs into weapons, in a sense. Using the upgrade makes her overall movement speed as fast as when Ruby is using her Semblance."
She demonstrated so by blurring in between locations on stage, moving around Dante in blurs without usage of her Semblance, and ending her demonstration by tickling his sides before retreating off to his side, giggling.
"If you think that's impressive, you should see when she's actually using her Semblance. Which Ciel and Leo will cover next time. Now, as for the legs themselves…" Dante gave the armored legs a few good taps with his finger, the metal softly singing with each tap, "The armor is very durable. As durable as my Shadow Skin armor I'd reckon, and that alone can take some serious, serious damage."
The immortal took a few steps back, raising up his hand and summoning an Aura Sword. When he gave Ruby a nod, she quickly delivered and blindingly fast round kick to the sword, easily snapping the blade in two
"And as demonstrated, while it is durable, the attack power her armored legs gain is tremendous, as demonstrated by her breaking this sword with one kick. Mind you, this Aura Sword is almost as tough as my own, which is pretty hard to destroy by any means."
Dante summoned another Aura Sword, and nodded to Ruby, who quickly raised up her leg and swung her blades heel down on the blade, cutting it clean in two.
"Safe to say those heels aren't for show either… All in all, the focus of her upgrades is mainly to add extreme movement speed and extreme leg strength. However, this doesn't come without its drawbacks. As a result of using of her 'upgrade' for an extended time, Ruby will experience great exhaustion and fatigue post-use."
"No kidding… My legs were so sore after the first time…"
Dante coughed to himself once, making the little reaper realize the mistaken insinuation behind her words and blush furiously.
"I-In any case, that's all we have to present to you today. Thanks for stopping by." Dante said bowing slightly.
"B-Bye everyone!" Ruby waved back.
Yeah yeah, I know, it took a while. We're at that point again where it's near the end of the semester, so the work load is intense right now. Other than that...
It's beginning folks. The promised day I've been awaiting for more than a year now. And believe me, I will make it worth your while. Yes, I've delayed Volume 5, and now a bit of 6, but come Winter Break, I'll be able to sit down however long I like and write out as much as I can. So in that respect, I should get things done even quicker.
Other than that, keep yourselves tuned in folks. The heat is rising indeed.
That's all I have to say, so with that...
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.
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 pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than 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!