Hello everyone. How are you doing? I hope you had a Merry Christmas and that you will have a Great New Year!
Chapter 36 is here. I hope, as usual that you enjoy it! See you all next week with chapter 37!
Pain was nothing to Weiss. Even if she wanted to carve her nerves out of her body at the moment. No, pain was no issue. Training with Yang every day would get anyone accustomed to it.
What she would never be able to overcome, however, was the sense of disgust she felt in her body as she turned over and opened her eyes, seeing only darkness.
She looked up. There was only one tiny little green light quite many meters above her. She could easily climb up there, but a quick check revealed all her equipment missing.
It didn't take much for the girl to add two and two together; someone had attacked her while she was busy dealing with her hallucinations and tossed her down here, either to imprison or let her die.
Thus, she was disgusted at this point. Disgusted with her, that was. Being defeated that easily was one thing, but letting Ruby wide open was unacceptable, no matter how powerful her partner was.
Failing once more in the most critical moment; good job, there Schnee. Why don't you retire and take up cooking- or stamp collecting for a change? You could have Ruby teach you sewing, too.
Well, there was no time for self-pity at the moment. The visibility was so poor; she could barely see her own skin. Taking a few minutes to make sure there were no heavy injuries on her legs and arms, she got up.
The feeling of her hair falling over her face and back of her neck made her realize she had lost her hairpin.
Holding a much inappropriate comment back, she was relieved to find out her white customized velvet gloves were still in her pocket. She put them on, the sense of them envelop her fingers immediately lifting her spirits.
Now, where am I? She rubbed her fingers to remove the sore feeling. She would most likely have to-
A pulse of energy, accompanied by a heavy shockwave, made her halt her thought process. And then, light shone upon her, making the ex-heiress momentarily shut her eyes.
She opened them again. The light was bright, pulsing, and had a sickly green color. It was tiring her eyes, but she paid no heed. And how could she?
The first thing Weiss Schnee saw was that she truly was inside some sort of colossal cavern. She was standing on a rocky platform at its bottom, next to a pool of sea water.
It wasn't that wide, just a large pseudo-circular opening in diameter, but the rune-carved walls rose very high, making her deduce she was a lot of meters below the surface.
Next to her were a few abandoned diving suits and equipment and around them scattered was a quite impressive collection of jewelry and invaluable-looking pieces of art made of solid gold.
But not even the considerable-sized fortune lying at her feet held Weiss' attention for more than a few seconds. How could it, when that was in front of her?
The feeling of dread and horror that filled her very soul was so powerful; she wondered why it took her so long to realize it. It created all sorts of negative emotions in her- things she didn't even know could be felt to begin with.
In the middle of the cave, suspended by a powerful system of heavy iron chains covered in runes that seemed to resonate with these filling the cavern walls, was a towering semi-transparent blue crystal.
Its size was phenomenal; it started just above the pool and rose far above away from where her feeble eyesight could reach. The green light seemed to grow out of it and shoot up to the sky through the opening.
And the worst part was inside the crystal. Weiss averted her eyes for quite a few minutes, to compose her nerves and steel her heart.
Because what she saw was nothing less than a vast mass of black goo, filled with white bone masks and sinister-looking red eyes that moved and stared at her, even despite encased in that prison for Dust knows how many eons!
She took one little step forward. Her senses were heightened and her entire body was screaming in pure terror. This is wrong!
She had fought many monsters during the last five years, but couldn't even hide her fear in front of the sinister and powerful aura seeping from it. Even the Eldergrimm in Yugure pales in comparison to that!
The gooey flesh pulsed once more beneath its solid casing. This thing is…wrong! It shouldn't exist… it can't possibly exist! What sort of wicked mind gave birth to such an abomination?
Another pulse sent a shockwave inside the cave and made her fall back. She lost her footing and fell next to the pile of golden tokens, accidentally stepping on one of them.
The pain snapped her out of the trance and she gratefully picked the aforementioned statue, taking a few seconds to inspect it.
She let her elegant, glove-covered finger ran above its surface. Its craftsmanship was superior and the beauty behind the detailed design was matched only by the ones she found up in the mansion.
But the theme on itself was harrowing. It depicted an amorphous maze devouring a large ship and splitting it in half. Around, tiny little people were gathered in circle, like some form of primal praying ritual.
The entire scene was gruesome and so finely detailed. Weiss felt as if the maze's numerous eyes focused on her the moment she-
Wait! A dreadful thought passed through her mind. She looked at the others; all of them showed different scenes but had the same masterful craftsmanship and equally disturbing motifs.
The most important one, though, was a small idol that resembled the thing staring at her through the thick crystal; small figures of humans were carved to bowing in front of it.
Weiss Schnee gulped. These are not simple jewels and sunken pieces of treasure! She stared at the abomination sealed in front of her. These are religious offerings!
Her mind went to all the little things that seemed out of place; the lack of mining equipment she had in her haste ignored. The outdated tunnel system and the existence of a gold refinery without any other proper facility!
"Octavios Red wasn't mining gold; he was looting an ancient temple where people offered these to the Frozen God of the island!" she face-palmed in a very Yang-like manner.
"He used the refinery to melt the idols into bars and then sell them to the Mistralians! I am such a fool! This place was cursed hundreds of years before any huntsman set foot on it!"
"Well done" a voice interrupted her monologue. Weiss' surprise was so big that she dropped the idol, making a loud metal sound as it rolled towards the owner of the very familiar voice.
She turned around and looked at the woman standing in front of the pool. She was tall and had a proud look on her face, with beautiful, elegant features that resembled her own.
Long, platinum white hair was tied up in a bun and deep blue eyes stared at her. She had a beautiful, voluptuous body that was carefully concealed by a white and blue military uniform.
"Or should I say, well done sister?" her voice was as cool and professional as Weiss remembered it; she could even feel the hidden warmth underneath it.
Or not. Weiss didn't know what that thing was, but it clearly wasn't her sister. There was no warmth behind her words, no gentle affection the likes of which Win reserved only for her and no one else.
Therefore, it couldn't be her. Besides, Winter Schnee was long dead. "Because you killed her" the figure spoke her thoughts, smirking deviously.
"Who are you?" Weiss replied monotonously. "Me?" she raised a pale hand in a mocking gesture. It seemed so alien on her sister, Weiss' fear and disgust started giving way to something more primal. Anger.
"Why, I am Winter Schnee of course. Praised by men all over Atlas for her looks. Praised by teachers for her skills and intellect. Hand-picked by the General himself for her potential as a huntress."
Her lips parted slightly in a haughty smirk. "Your idol. The perfect woman. The big sister that protected you from daddy's wrath. I am the one who died for your sake in Atlas, because you decided to stand up to Watts' schemes."
"Nice trick. But I would expect a figment of my imagination to know all these; you are not making me anything but angry at this point." Weiss replied as the woman slowly moved in front of her.
"Is that so?" she gave an even deeper smirk. "Is this an illusion too?" Weiss reacted quickly and parried the slash aimed for her neck with her arm, groaning as her aura absorbed the impact- and died.
The half-expected contact with what she believed to be an illusion and the shock from her aura breaking so easily let Weiss wide open.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the scream echoed inside the entire cave, as pain covered the huntresses' left eye. Reacting in time, Weiss flared up her aura again just in time to protect from Winter's thrust.
The hit threw Weiss on the wall, just on top of the pile of idols. But her enemy didn't follow. She just stood there, smiling in a wicked manner that seemed more suitable on Cinder's face than her sister's.
On the other hand, Weiss gasped and breather heavily. Blood dripped down on her glove-covered hand by her left eye. The pain was so severe, she had to bite her lips to not faint from it.
She slowly stood up and opened her- cold fear washed her back. Her left eye wasn't working! She could only see the creature posing as her sister- now she was sure it was a monster- from her right one!
"Now that's a scar!" it cackled. Weiss pressed her arm harder, trying to stop the bleeding. Her aura had already returned and, despite already working on healing it, her vision wasn't improving- or the head-splitting pain.
"Who are you; and don't give me the same stupid answer again. I know you are not Winter." The thing-Winter's smile dropped and got replaced by an arrogant grin.
"I told you already" the water behind her rippled. "I am Winter." Weiss heard a splashing sound and immediately after that, figures started coming out from the pool.
Her hair stood on edge. The things that climbed out from it had small, human-like bodies the color of the darkest night. Their heads were fish-like and were covered by a white-skull mask. Small tendrils were protruding from their chins.
Gleaming red eyes stared hungrily at her, as their clawed and membrane-covered toes and fingers dripped sea water. They are like the ones we saw up there in the fog!
Winter's face had changed too- her eyes had swapped their original color for sinister red and a small, skull-shaped mask now covered her beautiful face. Her lips, visible underneath, were still grinning.
It was all so surreal, she had to blink a few times to manage process it. She wasn't sure this was happening and wasn't merely a byproduct of the headache. She pressed the wound even more, despite the bleeding having stopped already.
"More accurately, I am a projection of your conscience taking her form. You did well, creating such a marvelous predator, Weiss Schnee." The things, as if obeying her sister, spread around, circling Weiss.
"You are a Grimm. Just like them" she hissed. The thing's smile totally froze. "Just like them? You are way off the mark, huntress. We are different. You are closer to those servants than me."
Weiss took a few steps back to the wall to gain some distance from her advanced enemies. "We are the power of the God Himself. Possessing abilities and concepts your frail mind can't even process."
She grinned again, her voice only a tad above the soundless echoes of the fish-like monstrosities' footsteps as they swarmed Weiss' vision.
"We are Avyssos; and you are our sacrifice."
-o—
"I hope we did the right choice" Yang commented for the 16th time to Blake, as they scaled the tunnel leading them upwards. "It was the most sensible choice; this door had been opened recently."
"I just hoped they didn't do it to confuse us" she replied for the 16th time as well. "I see an opening; and a green pulsing light in it."
"Then let's go" the blonde commented and both of them picked up the pace. They stormed out in the open and found themselves on a mountainside.
"I can see the ocean on our right…" Blake said. "And a huge-ass pillar of evil light in front" Yang added. "It's still night; that's good. I thought we would have wasted more time down there."
"I can't see the mansion or the village. But I can see a trail ahead of us. Shall we?" Yang nodded "Right behind you, kitten."
Both girls rushed forward, weapons armed and ready to strike. They ran past dark rocks, bathed in greenish light, and then found themselves in front of a stone bridge over a deep, dark chasm.
And a kimono-clad, masked figure with a naginata waiting for them on its other side.
"Shit" Yang cursed. "I had a feeling we would come across her again. And as our luck would have it, she came in the worst possible moment."
Blake didn't comment except for a nod of approval. Her attention was entirely focused on the weird-looking woman. She was getting a lot of Menagerie honor guard vibes from her stance and that horrified her.
Her mask resembled the White Fang's a lot; however it had a more artistic touch to it. A lot of effort seemed to have been put into making it. Even the high-ranking officers didn't have such elaborate ones.
"I am glad you came. I had started getting worried." Her voice was brimming with confidence, as before. "Cut the crap; where are Ruby and Weiss?" Yang shouted.
"Alizar has them both. You can save them, if you get past me" she replied. "Why are you doing this?" Blake asked. "Yang and Weiss told me you are not like him. Why-"
"Pointless discussion bores me, Ms. Belladonna. I only accept it over tea and scones and only in my days off." She spun her weapon and both girls felt her aura pulse.
"A word of advice; don't go easy on me. It will spoil my fun. Let me also mention that you don't have as much time as you think you do."
The Bumblebee duo exchanged a quick stare. "I know you have many questions Blakey, but-" "sorry, my mistake. Let's take her down Yang."
The huntresses jumped forward and started running across the bridge immediately before Cherry activated her semblance at them.
-o—
"Hahahaha…hahaaaaa!" Ruby's laughter was the last thing Alizar expected to hear at this point. "Have you finally lost it, girl? Did your spirit-"
"You are so like your sister. You underestimate us way too much." "What are you talking about you bitch?" He pulled her hair up, but Ruby didn't even flinch.
"Blake and Yang getting beaten in a straight fight? The strongest pair in the entire Remnant?" Ruby gave a haughty smile; one rising from the deaths of her heart.
-o—
Weiss exhaled deeply. Cinder Fall, I will have to thank you. If not for you, I would be in a very tight spot. She closed her eyes- and snapped her fingers.
-o—
"Weiss Schnee, my partner, dying just because you took her weapons and supplies?" She shot him a confident glare. "I never was the strongest member of team RWBY. She was, is and always will be."
-o—
Winter's eyes opened wide in surprise. First, the cornered huntress had stepped forward and snapped her fingers. Immediately after that, blue light erupted from her gloves, gathering all around her petite body.
And, before any of the Grim could react, the lights burst forward creating a large flower made of ice. Its huge petals pierced all the Grimm around, tearing off their flesh and made them dissolve in black dust.
"How did you-" "Prof. Bartholomew Oobleck had told me once that a seasoned warrior learns not only by their comrades, but also from their enemies."
She opened her palm, blue energy sizzling around her velvet-covered fingers. "Cinder Fall gave me the idea of sewing dust in clothes. And, as always, my partner delivered."
The thing-Winter moved forward. Along with her, even more fish-headed Grimm started pouring out, following her advance. "Big words coming out of the girl that killed her sister, wouldn't you say?"
Weiss' lips turned into a thin, flat line. Her right eye shone, illuminated both by the green pillar in the middle and the blue dust around her body.
"Yes, I killed her. I was too careless and fell under Watt's trap. She sacrificed herself to free me, allowing him to inject her with his mind-controlling potion."
She exhaled once more, as her enemies got closer "we fought and I killed her. She may have been the one who pushed my hand inside her chest, but I was the one who failed to stop her."
"So, you admit it. You are your sister's killer. You are the one who stole her bright future from her." the thing stopped in front of her, ready to strike within a moment's notice.
But this time she wouldn't give it the chance to do so. "Yes, and I will carry this burden with me for the rest of my life. I will always remember that it was my lack of skill that killed her."
Weiss then did something that perplexed her enemy. She curled her fingers into a punch and swirled them.
Before It-Winter could attack, a shower of frost spikes erupted below, impaling all the Grimm and instantly destroying them.
As agile as her sister, the skull-faced thing jumped backwards with a series of pirouettes, evading all her attacks.
But that even fueled her blazing anger even more. "Above all, however, Winter Schnee died in the line of duty as a huntress who fought for the future of Remnant, protecting the ones she held dear in her heart."
Cyan eye pulsed, as Weiss gathered even more energy in her gloves, making them glow a deep blue light. The thing stood up, looking at her hatefully.
"Grab your weapons, monster! I don't care what you are- human, Grimm, or even God- you will pay for defiling my sister's memory!"
It-Winter's gaze intensified behind the mask and despite not breaking her stance, Weiss felt an abysmal chill permeate her body as a tiny, little whisper entered her ears.
"We will see about that, offering."