AN: Hi. Sorry this took so long, but I have kind of a legitimate excuse this time. I am now a married man! I got married over the weekend! That combined with good old-fashioned writer's block led to this taking a long-ass time to finish.

Plus, this chapter was just a huge pain in the ass. I hope you all like it.

With that out of the way, onwards!

Chapter 129

What did Sephiroth mean?

Emerald sat on the floor of a large room in Evernight Castle while Mercury shadowboxed in the corner. Ever since her last conversation with the silver-haired man, Emerald had left more confused than she had been before speaking to him.

It seemed to be a common theme when it came to that man.

He kept saying she was special, but refused to elaborate on what that meant. How was she special?

And the last time they spoke, he had… almost kissed her. Her brow furrowed unconsciously as she thought more deeply about it.

"Alright, what's bothering you?" Mercury asked, startling Emerald. She hadn't even noticed that he had stopped training a few minutes ago and was just watching her think.

She sighed. "I just… feel like I don't know what's going on anymore," she said.

"Yeah, Cinder was a pain, but at least she kept us filled in," he said. Assuming the conversation was over, he went back to his training.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You're going to anyway,' Mercury said with a sigh of annoyance. He crossed his arms, lightly glaring at her for continuing to interrupt him.

"Why did you come with us, the night Cinder and I found you?" Emerald asked.

"Why are you asking—" Mercury tried to ask.

"Just answer the question," Emerald interrupted.

"Just made sense," Mercury said simply.

"It made sense?" Emerald asked, raising an eyebrow. What about any of this made sense, especially since he joined them with very few questions asked.

"All my life, my father trained me to be a killer, an assassin like him," Mercury explained. "And then moments after I killed him, you two showed up looking for someone with my exact skills. Just felt like it was meant to be."

"That's it?" Emerald asked incredulously.

"Hey, what's your problem?"

"I mean, there has to be something you want from this, right?" Emerald asked.

"Salem's promised us everything," Mercury said, as if it was obvious. "We win this thing for her, we'll be top dogs in her new world. What more do you want?"

"I just…" Emerald said before sighing. "Cinder was the only family I ever had. She cared about me, taught me… But without her here, I don't what I'm—"

"Give your mommy issues a rest," Mercury said, shocking Emerald. "I don't want to hear about it."

"What did you just say?" Emerald said, standing up and clenching her fists.

"The only one who saw any value in keeping you around was Cinder," Mercury said. "If you're trying to make me feel bad about you because you feel like you don't belong here, let me be the first to tell you that you don't."

Emerald growled angrily, and lunged at Mercury, throwing a punch at him, but he easily dodged it.

"I'm sorry you never had a family that loved you," Mercury said sarcastically, "But I had a father who hated me!"

Mercury shoved Emerald back against the wall. She threw a punch at him, but he caught her wrist and held her in place.

"He never went easy on me! Every day of training was a beating. And when I unlocked my Semblance, he stole it with his!" He moved forwards, his face mere inches from Emerald's, his scarred face contorted into a snarl. "'This is a crutch!' 'This makes you weak!' He told me I could have it back when I was strong. So I got strong, but I never got it back! I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am. You may not like it here without Cinder, but I think I'm right where I'm supposed to be! But you? You couldn't do anything without Cinder. Why do you think Salem wanted to kick your sweet ass to the curb as soon as Cinder disappeared? You're useless without her!"

"Stop it…" Emerald said, her vision becoming misty.

"And you know what?" Mercury asked. "She isn't here to protect you anymore." Mercury was suddenly forced to pull his face away from hers as the tip of a long katana was pressed against his neck. Emerald followed the sword to its hilt, recognizing the gloved hand of its owner. Sephiroth pressed the blade further towards Mercury's flesh, forcing the young man to let go of Emerald to back away from him.

"It may be true that Cinder is no longer here," Sephiroth said, "but that doesn't mean that Emerald has no protection."

"What do even see in her?" Mercury growled angrily, upset at Sephiroth interrupting him yet again.

"That's none of your concern," Sephiroth said, before mad cackling caught everyone's attention. They all turned and saw Tyrian standing in the doorway, laughing manically. He had finally gotten his stinger replaced with a mechanical one.

"Please, don't stop on my account," he said. "It was just getting to the good part."

"How long have you been standing there?" Mercury demanded.

"Is suspect he was there the whole time," Sephiroth said, removing his sword from Mercury's neck.

"Perceptive," Tyrian said. "And I thought I was being stealthy." He pouted. "Oh, well."

"What do you want?" Emerald asked, putting a hand to her chest to try and steady her breathing.

"Well, I wanted to tell you a little secret," Tyrian said. "Your question is all wrong." He chuckled that unsettling chuckle of his.

"What?"

"'What do you want from this?' Children, please, if you're not loving what you're doing, then you're in the wrong field."

"So what?" Emerald asked. "Are you saying we should just leave?"

Tyrian gasped dramatically. "Oh no, no, no, no." He chuckled again. "You can't do that!"

"Then what did you come here for?" Mercury asked, the agitation clear in his voice.

"To say farewell," Tyrian said. "There's been a change in plans. Her Grace must act swiftly if we are to prevail. If General Ironwood comes to his senses and calls upon aid from Vacuo, all may be lost for us! And so the good doctor and I are being sent to Atlas… to prepare."

"Prepare for what?" Emerald asked.

"Tyrian!" a voice suddenly called out. They looked and saw Watts standing at the end of the hallway, his hands folded behind his back. "It's time."

Tyrian laughed again. "Do what makes you happy children…please? I'm begging you…" he cackled again as he left the room, following Watts to the hanger.

"Freak," Mercury said. He turned back towards Emerald, and opened his mouth to say something, but then glanced at Sephiroth. He shot her a glare, and left the room.

"Pathetic," Sephiroth said. "The lot of them." He turned to leave the room, but Emerald stopped him by reaching out and grabbing his hand.

"Wait," she said. "I've been wondering for a while…"

"Yes?" he asked.

"You… You keep saying I'm special. What do you mean by that? Why are you so interested in me? Is it my Semblance? My abilities? That can't be it, because the others don't see them as that big of a deal. So why?"

Sephiroth looked at her for a few seconds before chuckling quietly. "I'm not interested in any ability of yours, and I don't want you around because you're useful. I simply find you… intoxicating."

"W-What?" Emerald asked, feeling her face start to heat up.

"The more time I spend around you, the more I find myself enthralled by your presence. I simply want to return the favor. I can give you what you've always wanted," he said, turning to fully face her and gently cup her cheek with his hand. "I've seen your heart. There's one thing you've always wanted, more than anything."

"W-what do you mean?" Emerald asked.

"Think about it."

Something she's always wanted? Something no one else has ever given her before?

What could it…?

As much as she didn't want to, she thought back to what Mercury had told her. Was that it? Was the only thing she's ever wanted really…

…Love?

Sephiroth smirked. "I see you've figured it out."

"Can you really give me what I want?"

"All that and more," he said, lightly grasping her chin and tilting her face towards his. "All you need to do is say the word."

"…Yes…" she said, and Sephiroth leaned forward, taking her lips with his.

The kiss was electrifying, passionate… hungry.

Emerald closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Sephiroth's neck, pulling herself closer to him. He reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her slender waist.

She had never felt anything like it before.

And she never wanted it to end.


"That weapon looks a lot like the ones you two have," Sienna said to Sora and Cinder, letting her blade loosely dangle from its chain.

"Yeah, she definitely has a Keyblade," Sora said, stepping forward and lowering his guard to appear non-threatening. "My name is Sora. This is Cinder, Ash, Neo, and Sienna." He pointed to each of his companions as he introduced them, though they stayed tense. "Who are you? Why did you attack us?"

"We will become one again," the armored woman said, the visor of her helmet aimed squarely at Ash. "Aqua."

The others turned to look at their blue-haired companion in alarm. Ash, for her part, stayed as stone-faced as ever.

"This isn't Aqua," Cinder said, stepping forward. "She's gone."

"Explain," the armored woman said.

"Aqua turned into a Heartless, and Ash is her Nobody. What do you want with her?"

"Aqua…is gone?" the armored woman questioned. "Lies. We can feel her. We must become one again."

"We're telling you the truth," Sora said. "And something tells me that Aqua wouldn't have had much of a say in 'becoming one'."

The armored woman raised her Keyblade, pointing it at Ash. "We must… finish our mission."

"Oh, forget this!" Sienna shouted suddenly, charging forward with her chain whip spinning rapidly.

"Sienna, wait!" Sora shouted, dashing after her. Cinder followed after a few seconds. Sienna spun Cerberus, launching the knife at the end towards the armored woman. The woman simply caught it with reflexes unlike anything Cinder had ever seen before, and yanked the chain hard, pulling Sienna rapidly towards her. The armored woman caught Sienna by the throat, completely stunning the Faunus woman. The armored woman raised her Keyblade to slash at Sienna, when Sora pointed his Keyblade at her.

"Fire!" Sora shouted, launching a fireball. The woman quickly changed the angle of her swing to use her Keyblade to deflect the fireball. A large plume of smoke erupted, and Cinder activated her Maiden powers, launching fire out of the soles of her feet like jet boosters. She swung her Keyblade at the armored woman, forcing her to let go of Sienna.

"Sora, grab her!" Cinder shouted, ordering the boy to grab Sienna and pull back. Cinder swung her Keyblade, but the armored woman ducked and swung at Cinder's left side, seeing she was vulnerable there without her arm. Cinder twisted her Keyblade back towards herself, the reverse grip she had adopted allowing her to easily transition to guarding that side. She pressed her Keyblade against the armored woman's, and Cinder's right eye burst into flames as her Maiden powers activated. Since she no longer had a free arm to use magic, she opted for the next best thing: Opening her mouth and breathing fire like a dragon. The armored woman backed up, covering herself with her cape for protection, before flipping backwards away from Cinder. The woman took a combat stance that was very familiar to Cinder.

Feet together, Keyblade held to the side, back straight, left out extended slightly forwards.

It was exactly the same stance Aqua took.

Cinder backed away from the woman, Keyblade at the ready, and regrouped with the others.

"We can't just charge in like that," Cinder said to Sienna, who looked supremely aggravated that a human was giving her advice. Well, to the former leader of the White Fang, it probably felt lees like "giving advice" and more like "telling her what to do".

"Noted," Sienna said. To her credit, she accepted the aid easily enough. "You got any better ideas, Miss Keyblade Wielder?"

"She fights just like Aqua," Cinder said. "She was tough, so this isn't going to be easy."

"This actually reminds me a lot of someone I fought a few months ago," Sora said. "It was a guy in armor with a Keyblade just like her."

"And how did you beat him?" Sienna asked.

"I, uh, kind of… didn't," Sora said. "Eventually, he just left us alone. But he was the strongest person I've ever fought."

"Great," Cinder said sarcastically as the armored woman started to approach them. Cinder quickly looked around. "Neo, do you think your parasol can handle those magic attacks?" The multi-colored girl nodded resolutely. "I need you to keep Ash safe. She's this woman's target. The three of us will try to fight her off."

"Who put you in charge?" Sienna asked.

"Considering no one else has a plan…" Cinder said. Suddenly, the armored woman vanished from sight, only to reappear right in the middle of the group. The woman slightly levitated off the ground, and magic orbs sprung out of the ground, knocking them away. The armored woman dove for Ash, her hand outstretched, but just as the woman reached her, the Nobody shattered into glass. The woman looked around, spotting Ash hunched behind Neo, who was holding her parasol out defensively. Sienna charged at the woman, swinging her chain-whip repeatedly at her. The woman quickly brought her Keyblade up to block the flurry of attacks.

Eventually, Sienna wrapped the chain around the woman's arm and yanked, starting a tug-of-war and keeping the armored woman in place. "Now!" she shouted, and Sora and Cinder charged at her with Keyblades raised. Just as they were about to slash at her, she teleported away again, several feet from the group. Magical energy gathered at the tip of her Keyblade, and rainbow-colored orbs fired out and scattered, several of them targeting Cinder's companions individually.

"That doesn't look good," Sienna said, bracing for impact.

"A Shotlock!" Sora yelled in alarm. "Take cover!"

Cinder's eye widened, and she instinctively raised her Keyblade to the sky. A burst of light shot forward and surrounded the group, forming a hexagonal barrier identical to the ones Aqua always used to conjure. The large barrier covered the group just in time to protect them from the magic orbs. She could see cracks forming in the barrier as the orbs impacted.

These things always seemed damn near invincible whenever Aqua used them, so either Cinder's barrier was weaker than Aqua's, or those orbs were incredibly destructive.

"You can make barriers?!" Sora asked excitedly. "How'd you do that?!"

"Uh, I remembered Aqua making them, and I needed to protect everyone, so it just happened," Cinder said.

"Cool!" Sora said. "I can't do that!"

"Can we focus?" Ash asked. "She's coming back." Cinder looked up, and saw the armored woman winding up her Keyblade. The weapon suddenly burst into flames, and the woman threw it at the barrier. The Keyblade shattered the portion of the barrier it impacted, flying straight through and into the middle of the group. There was a sudden explosion, and everyone was thrown out of the barrier by a large fireball. The woman raised her Keyblade again, and large lightning bolts rained down from the sky. Sienna was struck almost instantly, screaming in agony before collapsing. Neo tossed her parasol into the air, using it as a lightning rod to attract the lightning and protect herself. Sora and Cinder quickly recovered, but Ash was still defenseless.

"Ash!" Cinder called out in concern, pointing her Keyblade at the Nobody. Suddenly, a spell name appeared in her mind. "Shell!" She shouted, and Ash's body glowed green. Any lightning bolt that managed to hit her was harmlessly absorbed. Cinder dismissed her Keyblade, freeing up her hand to launch ice spears at the armored woman using her Maiden powers. With a wave of her hand, the woman summoned pillars of flame that harmlessly melted the ice spears. Neo charged in with a blade extended from the tip of her closed parasol, stabbing at the woman multiple times. The armored woman kicked Neo back, but the diminutive girl flipped backwards and moved to re-engage. The woman raised her Keyblade, and a clock briefly appeared over her head. Neo suddenly stopped in mid-air, time having frozen for her and only her.

"Neo!" Cinder called out, but the armored woman slashed Neo with her Keyblade several times before anyone could react. After a second, time resumed, and Neo fell to the ground, her Aura shattered. Cinder re-summoned her Keyblade, but the armored woman suddenly created several clones of herself. "What?!" Cinder asked in shock. All the clones of the armored woman suddenly teleported all around Cinder, overwhelming her and quickly depleting her Aura. Cinder fell to her knees, but Sora knocked the armored woman away with his Keyblade before chasing after her. The woman quickly recovered, and her body started glowing. When she attacked Sora, she started moving so fast that she looked like a blur.

What the hell is happening? Cinder thought in despair. We can't win. She's just too powerful.

Cinder clenched her fist hard, feeling her fingernails dig into her palm.

"Is this really all we're capable of?" she asked out loud. "The first enemy that attacks us beats us this easily?"

She suddenly heard someone sigh very deeply behind her, and time seemed to stop all around her. She turned around in confusion, seeing a man in a long black coat with the hood up to obscure his face.

"You know, I knew I'd have to give you some help, too, but I didn't think it was going to have to be this fast," the man said, annoyance clear in his tone.

"Who the hell are you?" Cinder asked. "Did you send this woman after us?"

"Wait, you don't…?" The man asked, tilting his head to the side slightly in confusion. "Oh, wait, you haven't seen me before!" He snapped his fingers as he made the realization. "Sorry about that. You kids have me running around all over the place, so I kinda lost track of where I've been. The others know me as the Master, but you…" he reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing a young man with brilliant silver eyes, and shoulder-length black hair that turned red at the tips. Cinder's eye widened. "You can call me Light."

"Light?" she asked.

"Yeah, a little on-the-nose, but, eh, never mind. You wouldn't get it. You asked who I am, and now you know. As for why I'm here, it looks like you need help right now."

"I don't understand," Cinder said. "Why are you helping me? I don't even know you."

"Well, I'm still not entirely sure I need to help you, since Sora could probably take her on his own if he's sufficiently motivated, but this isn't his story," Light said. "And you may not know me, but I definitely know you, thanks to Rosebud."

"Rosebud?" Cinder asked.

"You know: little girl with a Keyblade, looks kind of like me, cute as a button?"

"Ruby?"

"Bingo!" Light said energetically. "I've been giving Ruby and her little friends help along their journey, and I suspect they'll need more help from me before long. But you've recently caught my attention."

"Why?" Cinder asked.

"You and Ruby exist in a duality," Light said, slowly pacing with his hands behind his back. "The only two Keyblade Wielders to be born on Remnant. Something that should have been impossible, yet here you are. And you couldn't be more different from each other. One lives in the light, the other clawed her way out of the darkness. One is destined to bring back the light, the other is destined to bring the darkness to heel. Two paths, two destinies. And yet, your fates are inextricably linked. It only makes sense that I help you like I helped her."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Cinder asked.

"You don't," Light said with a smirk. "But what other choice do you have?" He brought his right hand around to the front, and he was holding a crimson-colored gem in his hand. "This should definitely come in handy." He tossed the gem to her, and Cinder caught it. She looked at the gem curiously. "Just pout your heart into that little gem there and watch the magic happen."

"But what—" Cinder tried to say, looking up, but Light was gone, though time remained frozen.

"You'll see," Light's voice said. "Oh, and one more thing: May your Heart be your guiding Key."

Time suddenly resumed, and Sora continued his attack on the armored woman with a ferocity that Cinder had never seen from any warrior before. She looked down at the gen in her hand. "Pour my heart into it?" She asked to herself. "What did that mean?"

"Do you seek my power?" a voice suddenly asked in her head.

"Who said that?" Cinder asked, looking around in alarm.

"Do you seek my power?" the voice repeated. "The power to protect the people you care about?"

Cinder looked up at the armored woman fighting Sora, and to Neo and Sienna, conscious, but out of the fight, and to Ash, the one person they've been fighting so hard to defend.

"Yes," she said. "I seek your power."

"Then you shall receive the power of the Dragon King!" the voice said. The gem in Cinder's hand glowed, and a glowing magic circle appeared on the ground beneath her. "Give your desires to me, and say my name!"

Cinder raised the gem to the sky, radiating energy off her body.

"BAHAMUT!" She screamed. A bright light burst out of the red gem and flew into the sky, punching a hole in the cloud coverage above them.

A mighty roar was heard in the sky, and a black creature swooped down and knocked the armored woman away with giant claws. The creature landed on its feet, and stood to its full, intimidating height. It looked like a large humanoid man whose body seemed to be made of intimidating black armor, with the head of a dragon and two sets of wings on his back.

"Whoa…" Sora said, stopping to stare in awe at the magnificent creature.

Even though Cinder had never seen or heard of this creature before, she knew what its name was.

Bahamut. The King of Dragons.

The armored woman flipped in midair to stop herself from flying away, and stood with her Keyblade at the ready. Cinder summoned her own, and pointed it at the armored woman. Just like Bahamut's name, the name of an attack popped into her head.

"Mega Flare!" she shouted. Bahamut knelt down, and energy gathered in his mouth, and he fired a massive beam at the woman. She quickly raised her Keyblade, and conjured a small barrier to protect her. After a few seconds, the barrier shattered under the force of the energy beam, and the armored woman was overtaken by it. With a final roar, Bahamut vanished, leaving a smoking crater where he had attacked. Cinder slowly picked herself up, taking a look around to make sure everyone was okay.

"What the hell was that thing?" Sienna asked.

"Who cares?!" Sora asked excitedly. "It was so cool!"

Cinder couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's enthusiasm, but her eye widened when the smoke cleared, and she saw the armored woman standing there, her armor intact except for some scratches…

…And the helmet lying on the ground, revealing nothing inside the armor.

Everyone looked on in horror as the seemingly possessed suit of armor bent down, retrieved its helmet, and replaced it on its neck.

"We have wasted enough time," the armor said, it's body beginning to glow with purple clouds.

"Darkness?!" Sora said in surprise. Suddenly, a shockwave of darkness exploded out from the armor, impacting everyone in the group, and making them float in the air, almost as if gravity itself had turned off.

"What?!" Sienna exclaimed.

"What's happening?"! Cinder asked.

"Somehow, it has control over the darkness!" Sora said. The armor walked towards Ash, ignoring the others as it walked towards her. It reached its hand towards the Nobody, Ash being unable to move from her position in the air, and the others unable to help her.

"Finally, we will be one," the armor said as it grabbed Ash by the throat.

"No!" Sora yelled.

"Ash!" Cinder called out. Tendrils of darkness spread out from under the armor, wrapping around Ash's body.

Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light, and everyone fell back to the ground. When the light faded, the armor was standing where Ash had been floating, Keyblade in hand.

"Ash?" Cinder asked uncertainly. The armor dismissed the Keyblade, slowly raised its hand, and slapped itself in the shoulder. With another flash of light, Ash was standing there, perfectly fine, but with a new silver shoulder pad on her right shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Ash said, holding her hand out in front of her. "Something's…different…" she said. With a flick of her wrist, the Keyblade the suit of armor had wielded appeared in her right hand.

"Cool!" Sora said. Neo's face broke out into a hue smile.

"Hmph, maybe now you'll actually be useful to us in a fight," Sienna said, prompting a quick glare from Cinder.

"But how did Ash do that?" Cinder asked.

"No idea," Sora said. "But hopefully we won't have to worry anymore, especially with that cool dragon you summoned!"

"Yes, that seemed useful," Ash said. "What was it called? Bahamut?"

"Yeah," Cinder said.

"Where did you get it from?" Sienna asked.

"Some guy that called himself Light froze time, and gave me the gem to summon him," Cinder said.

"Light?" Sora asked, tilting his head in thought. "Doesn't sound like anyone I know. What did he look like?"

"He was wearing a black coat, and he looked a lot like my friend Ruby," Cinder said. "Silver eyes, black hair."

"Well, the coat sounds a lot like the Organization, but it doesn't sound like any Organization member I've ever met," Sora said. "I don't know if we can trust him."

"Well, regardless, that Bahamut creature was certainly useful," Sienna said. "Besides, it sounds a lot like the man that saved me from Adam."

Sora groaned in frustration. "I can never figure out what those Organization jerks want!"

"He also said he's helped Ruby before," Cinder said. "Maybe we can trust him?"

"I don't know," Sora said. "They're pretty tricky. I think we should—Hey, are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Cinder asked.

"You look like you're about to keel over," Sienna said.

Now that they mentioned it, Cinder was starting to feel light-headed. Suddenly, her knees gave out, and she collapsed.

The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the concerned faces of her friends.

AN: I really don't think I'm satisfied with how this chapter turned out, but I just needed to get it done.

So, I'm planning to go for something a little different with Cinder's group. Cinder already has elemental magic because of her Maiden powers, so her Keyblade magic will be more Final Fantasy-style status magic. And while Team RWBY has Disney summons from KH, Cinder's group will be getting summons from Final Fantasy. The first one we have is Cinder's summon, Bahamut! His design is based on the Play Arts figure.

Now, Ash has Aqua's old Keyblade and Armor, so she'll be able to help.

Next chapter will be following up with the gang at Argus.

I want to remind everyone that this story has a Tv Tropes page!

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!