Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine!
Chapter 109 is here. I want to apologize in advance, since some parts may be a little strange and confusing to read, but I tried my best to convey the feeling I wanted to with the descriptions. If it became too tiresome to read, please let me know for future use.
Other than that, thanks a lot for keeping up with the story for another week! You are all the best!
See you next week in chapter 110. Until then, be well and have fun!
Dark shadows whispered behind the green mists. The flapping of wings echoed in the dark granite walls around them. The same otherworldly chirping melody accompanied team RRSN's ascension in the temple.
From the moment they had started climbing it the same pattern spread in front of them. A staircase made of large black granite tiles, decorated with small imp-like statues that shone green light like hideous lanterns.
Combined with the abhorrent shining rays pulsing through the mist, the humans had quickly grown tired of seeing thousands shades of green and black form the world around them, twisting their very perception.
Yet, the team remained in a relatively chipper mood, courtesy of its single male member. "I admit, I had forgotten how refreshing it is to work alongside you, Ren" Lumia exclaimed as they kept striding ahead.
"I don't know if I deserve to be praised just for being here, but I accept the praise nonetheless" the magenta-eyed man nodded. "Well, it is an effect of your semblance, so just take the credit" Nora kissed his cheek.
"I agree" Ruby said. "Since you started releasing it around us, my mood has improved so much; even the atmosphere has started becoming less suffocating" she added and gave a bright smile "so take the credit, yes."
The boy smiled. Since the last year of the war, when he had managed to control his semblance to the point it created a soothing sphere around him, he had succeeded in considerably improving it. Its effects were not as powerful as when he focused, but it cost him little to none aura.
"If only we could do something about tiredness as well" Nora groaned "I feel like I have been climbing a wall or something; I have never felt so tired just by walking."
"Weird; I thought it was just me" Lumia replied in astonishment. "Now that you mention it, I feel like I have been more tired than I should" the team leader added. Ren simply nodded affirmatively.
"Could those vapors be draining our strength?" The ex-maiden walked towards the edge, trying her best to notice anything strange about the atmosphere. "Be careful!" Ruby walked next to her in concern.
Lumia stared at the green miasma for a couple seconds but ultimately she gave up her attempt. "I can't even be sure whether there is a wall or an opening in front of us, even less about the mists' properties."
"Let's see at least how far the walls are" the silver-eyed girl grabbed a pebble and threw it to the front. The small projectile was shot forward with less speed than she expected to, slowing considerably after a-
All four humans blinked in confusion. The pebble stopped a few meters away from them and then returned back, passed by Ruby's head and continued flying away from their backs, until it disappeared from view.
"Ahm" the reaper stared at her tall comrade, clearly at a loss for words "what was that?" she asked. "I didn't see anything controlling or even repelling it" Lumia replied "it just stopped and then was shot back."
"It looked as if it fell" Nora tapped her elbow to hide her restlessness and confusion. "Horizontally?" her husband raised an eyebrow and the ginger shook her shoulders "I just said what it looked like" she told him.
Silver eyes narrowed in thought. "I want to try something" she took one more pebble and this time just tossed it weakly over her head. Instead of falling back in her hand, it flew behind her with impossible speed and disappeared from view just like the previous one.
"Hey guys" Lumia showed everyone the small, shining capsule she had drawn out of her belt- one of the anti-Eldergrimm experimental glass vials full of the blue liquid Weiss had given them prior to the mission.
"The liquid is all gathered on one side of the vial" the green-eyed girl stared at it. She turned it upside down and saw the liquid move in order to again occupy the same side- the one that was closer to her body.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Nora asked. Lumia sighed, returned the vial to her belt and turned around to stare at her teammates.
"It means that, for reasons I can't possibly understand, this staircase is parallel to the temple walls. We have been walking vertically all this time and not horizontally as we thought we did" she explained them.
"How is that possible?" the ginger girl stared at her in wonder "I think we would have realized it if we were climbing a wall." The ex-maiden gave her a thoughtful expression before she answered.
"It happened in Riverside too; without any prior notice the corridor had turned into a well as a spawn hunted me and Erik. We almost feel into its maw, but after we managed to pass a corner, it returned to normal."
"I have an idea, if that's the case; let's take a few steps back and see if gravity returns at some… point?!" the silver-eyed huntress had barely managed to turn around and take a couple steps before she stopped.
In front of them, ending the very same path they had been walking up until a minute ago was nothingness. The bridge-wall they had used was no more. It reached down a few meters before it vanished into thin air.
Green mist and pulsing, abhorrent lights engulfed it. Ruby took another step forward, nearing its edge. "Be careful!" Nora shouted at her and the reaper nodded. She reached out Crescent Rose, trying to touch the vanished floor tiles. She found nothing but empty air and repulsive fog.
Her hair standing on edge, she walked backwards and let her gaze fall on her friends. As she did, the flapping of monstrous wings burst from behind her and passed by, echoing around in the narrow temple walls.
"Wait a minute!" Ruby stared around them "since when were the walls this close?" They all followed her gaze, confusion and worry rising even with Ren's aura calming them down.
"Was that thing always there?" Lumia pointed at a large balcony that stood a few meters over their heads. Towering statues glared at them, their blurred forms observing the pitiful mortal trespassers.
"Wait, what is with that jagged surface?" Nora screamed and Ren ran next to her, his magenta-colored disks falling upon an impossible and utterly confusing spectacle; a wall that somehow managed to bend but still retained its shape and supported the ceiling despite not touching it.
Images of strange patterns were coming into view- it felt as if they had been hidden from them and had now chosen to reveal themselves.
Triangles that formed lines that couldn't belong to triangles overlapped with circular patterns on the walls. A bridge that seemed to run up yet wasn't supported by any visible means and had no proper destination.
Ruby saw impossible shapes form in front of her very eyes. It wasn't the lack of architectural aesthetics that baffled her; those shapes were alien to the point they defied her very logic and common sense.
She failed to even form an idea about what they were. It was as if they had been carved to resemble twisted, unnatural parodies of what the standard structural shapes should be.
Her mind saw the walls form squares with five sides, circular triangles and polygons without corners. And all of them together had managed to form a solid base that allowed this temple to exist.
Her blood froze. She had never seen before something so utterly and terrifyingly alien. She had fought monsters from beyond the earth, creatures that fed on human nightmares of the vilest kind.
However, as she kept trying to explain the otherworldly structure of the temple walls, Ruby shivered. It was the first time in her life that she had felt so small and insignificant- a mere human that entered the domains of beings that rose from a world far beyond her mortal understanding.
Large shades grew, disproportionally tall and vast in comparison to the shapes that seemed to be casting them. Lumia witnessed her weapon's shadow change form; it didn't resemble her sword any more. In fact, it barely reminded her of anything she had ever seen in her life.
Nora coughed. "Nora!" her husband ran towards her. Her skin color was turning from pink to blue-gray. She tried to talk but didn't manage to say a word- she felt as if the air itself didn't let her breath anymore!
Ren took a large breath, kissed his wife and exhaled inside her. Happy to receive some much needed air, her lungs relaxed and Nora calmed down, holding her breath and alternating it with Ren's CPR.
Ruby stared at them with her mouth agape. She had to do something; she had to- she felt dizzy all of a sudden.
"I am fine, thanks!" Nora's voice came back as took a large breath- and then felt all the blood run up her head. Ren grabbed her, but slowly felt his body starting to levitate. Shock filled his usually stoic face.
Lumia stumbled. The pavement became slippery. She fought to stay in place, but her feet gave off. She fell down and stared up- up, where a large pool of water could be seen hovering above their very heads!
"What the hell?" Ruby's silver pools stared at the huge body of water. It was calm and deceptively clear. Actually, it was so clear that she could see her and her team reflected on it, as they- stood on thin air?
The bridge, with its black stone pavement, the decorating imp statues and the cracked edges, vanished. No, it didn't vanish the same way that something would naturally do- it simply didn't exist to begin with.
Epiphany hit Ruby. Was it due to the stress? Was it because she had a previous experience against the Eldergrimm? Was she just going crazy? Every explanation was possible at this point, no matter how weird.
Despite being unable to understand how, she knew. She knew that the staircase they had been climbing so far never existed to begin with. She realized that they had been walking on thin air; air so strange and alien that allowed them to move on it as if it were solid ground- until now.
They fell. The clear, liquid ceiling reflected their demise as team RRSN saw their duplicates fall into the deep green miasma. They could see the outlines of columns that supported shapes they couldn't describe- shapes that meant their death should they even come close to them.
"NORA!"
"REN!"
"EVERYONE!"
"GRAB EACH OTHER!"
They screamed with all their might. But it didn't matter. Through their screams and the daemonic piping chirps, the flapping sounds of giant wings burst in, becoming louder and louder, following their descent.
The brunette kept screaming. Her eyes saw four large Grimm fly out of the wicked, eldritch mists, their flesh somehow managing to reflect the alien lights despite being a black darker than the deepest ocean's.
As for their forms, they completely followed this place's alien pattern. They had long bodies, like skeletal horses, with a pair of fleshy wings on their back. Two strong legs and four clawed arms grew out of the torso.
The monsters split and each one went after a human. Still falling, Ruby turned Crescent Rose upwards to attack the monster- she hit her back on a circular triangle pillar that didn't exist, missing her shot.
"AH!" the red-caped huntress barely managed to see its face as it dived at her. A large bone mask covered a hideous, large head. Instead of a mouth, she saw black tendrils sprouting out of its lowest part. Two sets of hungry, evil red eyes glowed at her like a nightmare given form.
Two powerful arms grabbed her, stalling her fall. Sharp claws sliced her body, causing her to gasp in immense pain. Its other pair of hands took her beloved scythe away. Ruby kicked its stomach- it didn't even budge.
"NO!" she kicked again. And then she kicked again. And then again. And again, and again, and again. She kicked until she could feel her aura rattle. She kicked until she could feel her feet going numb with agony.
And all this time, she tried to ignore the screams of pain from her friends as they got picked off one by one by the monsters, captured like earthworms in the talons of a murder of monstrous, carnivorous birds.
And then, the winged abominations flapped their wings and flew away, separating Ruby from her friends until their screams of calling out each other's names vanished behind the ever-present demonic piping.
-o—
Ruby didn't manage to count how much time had passed until she was able to put her mind together and stop her frenzied kicking. She could feel her body sore and her back aching like she had been tightly tied up.
The monster carried her swiftly and expertly, its giant wings flapping at high speed as it passed over reflecting pools of shimmering green water and formless columns that defied every bit of logic in their design.
She had noticed quite quickly that the abhorrent chirping melody that was predominant since they had entered the place was slowly fading. She must have been being carried away from its source of origin.
She gritted her teeth in frustration. There was no wondering about why she was alive. Winged predators like this had the tendency to grab their victims and carry them away, where they could feast on them without any interrupts. Nevermores, in particular, favored this tactic quite a lot.
She had to get away- and soon. The speed at which it flew would pose no problem. Sure, it was fast enough for her to feel the wind whipping her face, but in comparison to her semblance it barely was a bother.
No, the true issue at hand was the tight grip its hands had on her. Their sharp claws had dug in her skin, not damaging her due to her aura, but restraining her to the point she could only move her feet.
Crescent Rose was out of her reach, being held by its other pair of arms just above her head. Thorn was still strapped on her belt, but unless she managed to free her hands she would be unable to use it as well.
That left her with only one option. She bent her left wrist, ignoring the burning sensation in her muscles. This allowed her to use her left index and thumb to open a pouch from her backpack, straining their joints.
Slowly, yet steadily, she touched something smooth. She smiled as she felt warmth run down the tip of her fingers. Weiss is going to kill me if she learns of this she thought as she pulled a small fire dust shard out.
Bingo! She held her in her left palm, sending side glances to make sure that the freaky masked monster that she had unceremoniously decided to call 'Carrier' from now on, hadn't noticed a thing.
It remained expressionless. Good, she mentally pumped up herself. All that remains is to find the proper timing. I need to have a landing point nearby before I blow this thing up. Or there will be a need for a landing strategy all over again- and this place isn't Emerald Forest.
They passed by wondrous arches and magnificent-looking pillars. They were all humongous and majestic, standing out from the green vapor clouds; silent granite monuments that whispered of an ancient era.
Ruby felt a few times her hand twitch, but restrained herself as she decided they were way out of reach to provide a solid landing point for her. Be patient, Rose. Unless lady luck favors you, you get only one shot.
After some time of flying among cyclopean remains and monoliths that burst out of the miasmatic fog, reflecting eldritch lights in an impossible manner, Ruby saw the Carrier stretch out its wings and stop in midair.
She bent her neck in order to be able to see what caused this behavior. Her eyes met with a truly colossal wall. A granite slab so massive that looked like it belonged in a skyscraper or a castle rather that a temple.
They hovered close enough for her to see it was jagged and marred. Its surface was full of carved images, hieroglyphs and weird-looking edges. If she ignored its impossible size, she could easily take it for a message slab, like the ones people used to create in ancient Vacuo civilizations.
And then, without any prior notice, the Grimm accelerated and flew up, making Ruby gasp as she saw the wall turning to a black moving sea of images due to the immense speed. The sensation was almost exciting.
Or at least it would have been if she wasn't struggling to keep her wits and find a way to blast that thing to oblivion altogether. Maybe, just maybe, she could use the force from the blast to land on the wall and-
The Carrier stopped and hovered once more, slowly now descending. The reaper gazed ahead in confusion- and saw a wide circular platform made of stone spreading a few meters below them.
There were few short pillars and rocks here and there, while dozens of clearly defined skeletal remains were spread all over the place. A few old rusted weapons could also be seen, neatly placed next to the pillars.
Her instincts were right. The Grimm had actually a feeding ground; and it had brought Ruby directly in it! Well… a toothy grin appeared on her face …thanks for that I guess.
Ruby cracked the crystal and threw it at her enemy seconds before its contained energy burst forth. The explosion filled her nostrils and skin with immense heat, raking her diminished aura even more.
But that was only for a second. The next moment, she activated her semblance, burst forth and landed on the stone, covering her head in her arms as a shower of ash, dust residue and searing wind fell on her, accompanied by splashes of vanishing Grimm blood.
Quickly, she jumped up to her feet. She looked up and saw her beloved scythe fall down, so she burst forth, grabbed it mid-air and shot once to propel her body back to the platform, whirling it to ease her landing.
As her boots finally found solid ground, she let out a deep breath. "That went better than I expected!" she smiled in satisfaction, staring around to make sure the beast hadn't managed to survive the blast.
After confirming she was indeed alone, she decided to make a check of her surroundings. The feeding grounds were not that large- its diameter was twenty meters at most- but it still needed to be investigated.
First were the weapons. Even with them being in such a crumbled and rusty state, it took her a few minutes to deduce that they were expertly made and reflected the work of exceptionally skilled craftsmen. They were primitive, but had an air of masterful work in their design.
She also saw a few other pieces of equipment, armor, shields, even few very primal dust stones; so old that they had barely been preserved. A chill ran down her spine as her findings verified a grim hypothesis.
These are all trophies; trophies that thing took from huntsmen of the old era. A sinking feeling crept up her stomach as she imagined her friends discovering this place and finding a rusted Crescent Rose in it.
She then moved to check the skeletons. They were all very old-looking, with many bones missing and evident chew marks on the ones that had been left. She knelt to grab a skull that was half-buried in grime and rot.
Her silver orbs opened wide in shock as she held the skull in her hands. She closed them and then gently placed the skull next to the weapons, trying her best to ignore both the large gaping hole in the back of the skull and the dozen little thin tendril bite marks surrounding its surface.
Moving mechanically and trying to fight the lingering sadness and the feelings of anger that rose up from the deepest parts of her heart, Ruby Rose gathered most of the human remains and gently placed them next to the weapons, around the pillars. Then, she knelt and stood silent.
I know this is far from what you deserved, but I am not in the position to properly give you your rites. I hope this will at least help you finally find some peace. I wish you rest in heaven, warriors of old times.
Only after she had finished her makeshift funeral, did the red-caped girl realize just how exhausted she was and how much her aura had been diminished. She wiped her forehead and walked to the platform's edge.
As she expected, the only thing visible was the massive wall and the green miasma with the pulsing alien lights permeating through. Ruby let out another deep sigh, walked back and found a concealed spot.
Then, she sat down and took out a ration bar and some water. First we eat and rest to recover our strength. She threw a tasteless piece of food into her mouth then we climb down and find the others. She coughed.
She took her scroll out. It was dead, of course. She closed her eyes to let them rest, knowing she wouldn't fall asleep and let her guard down in such a place. Hopefully Blake's team is having a better time so far.