Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all doing fine.

Without any further ado, here's chapter 139- the conclusion of the fourth arc of the story.

Empty. Void. Black. Shadow. Loss. Mourning. Despair.

The feeling of loss was too much. It felt as if something was clutching at her heart with sharp claws- no, tendrils. There was noise and static that came from the deep pit surrounding her. Was it even a pit? Who cared?

Her eyelids were closed. But she could see. Or more accurately, she was able to see them. Along with the static, it was the only thing she could perceive here wherever she was. Could be the afterlife for all she knew.

Those images…

That static! It could be words, but she had no way to be sure. She didn't even know what words were right now. She may have when she was, well, not in this place, but right now she could only hear- and see them.

A flying monster, with bat wings and jaws dripping off her blood.

A monster with stag horns surrounded by dry corpses hanging on trees.

A protoplasmic monstrosity behind walking corpses bloated in poison.

A swarming abomination with endless black tentacles, drawing her into a deep ocean… it was talking to her. Its voice was familiar. If only… why did she want to hear it? If only that damn static could stop!

She tried to focus… it was so hard. Those images stared at her. The dark wasn't as silent and as calming as she would have thought. She felt as if a dark presence loomed over her. A creeping chill ran up her spine.

And that sound! It was becoming more and more clear to her, the static was getting away as she was becoming more and more aware of it. She tried to focus- if only to cast the dark presences away to the deep pit.

What was it? It was loud and booming, but it didn't remind her fighting or even roaring. It wasn't an argument either, but invoked sadness and pain in her, even in her catatonic state. Wait, someone was… crying?

She couldn't realize why, but the voice sounded familiar. She heard a name being called again and again. The mere repeat of the name and the crying sounds dispelled the fear away. She had a purpose now.

She had to find whoever was crying in such sorrow and stop them. She knew she would never be able to rest in this place if she didn't. If only she could somehow find out how to move- or exist to begin with!

As it sometimes happens, it turned out her spirit was enough for her to act. The static vanished and she could clearly hear the sound of crying. A mix of pained gasps and the smell of antiseptic hit her ravaged mind.

Who was in such pain? She had to know- and help them. No person, not even villainous ones, should ever experience that sorrow. A loud beeping sound suddenly cut through. It was flat- rather mechanical.

Darkness still permeated her vision but she soon realized her eyelids were so heavy, she hadn't even realized she kept them closed. Weird…

Mustering quite a lot of power for the impossible task of awakening from the dark, Ruby Rose opened her eyes and returned to the world of the living, scaring the life out of all doctors in Beacon Hospital Morgue.

Shock, disbelief, relief and happiness. Tears of joy were shared; hugs and warm kisses were exchanged. Seeing Yang charge the doctors all over the place, trying to reach her- to verify she was truly alive… oh joy.

Ruby was hastily moved to a stretcher and transferred to a private care room with Lumia. She assumed Nora and Ren were sent to another one as well. She was happy, yes, but couldn't understand the commotion.

From every corridor she passed by and every room they left behind, all would stare at her in disbelief; the staff was particularly shocked and unable to hide their reactions. What the heck had happened to her?

-o—

"What- what do you mean I was dead?" she stared at the doctor, eyes wide open in shock. She knew it was really weird to wake up in such a non-hospitable place, but she didn't expect to hear that, for sure.

"I still am not sure myself" the young doctor, no more than a decade older than her, combed his hair in nervousness. "If you will excuse me" he stepped out, taking a heavy breath to get ready. The worst was-

"I hope you have a way to explain all this… misunderstanding, Doctor" the cold, menacing voice of Weiss Schnee fell upon him. Next to her, a very, VERY angry Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna silently nodded.

The worst was upon him. Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasillas were just behind them, but he doubted they would stop the deadly women who were standing in the middle of the VIP care corridor.

Velvet Scarlatina was going to bring Jaune Arc from his own room, so he couldn't count on her to save him either. "I am waiting in full and absolute patience- and confusion" Schnee glared daggers at the man.

"I will be honest" he braced for the storm that was about to come "I have zero idea what happened, Ms. Schnee. We performed all standard tests on them and thrice evaluated them; it's impossible for all of our results to be wrong at four different people at the same time."

"How sure are you?" Blake asked, fixing the first-aid cast they made for her when she refused to accept treatment before she could see Ruby's state. Strangely enough, it didn't hurt at all. It could be the adrenaline.

"I am almost certain; Ms. Rose, Ms. Starlight, Ms. Valkyrie and Mr. Ren were, in medical terms, confirmed dead for the past hour until their vitals miraculously returned ten minutes ago" he explained in disbelief.

"Did you test for Grimmification?" holding Yang's hand tightly, Weiss asked. "As soon as they woke up, and after Ms. Belladonna's insistence, we made sure. And this is the most unbelievable thing in our situation."

Nobody replied. Sun waved at him from behind to keep talking. "They are definitely not grimmified. They are the same people they were, that is for sure. But they shouldn't be alive, considering they have no aura."

"Come again!?" Yang blurted. The man coughed in his arm "all four of them had no vitals and no aura when we found them. For Ms. Rose and Ms. Starlight, there are indications of their aura slowly recovering, yes, but it's below the acceptable level for a living, functional being" he said.

"What about Ren and Nora?" Blake asked, now even more confused that she was before. "Their case is even more peculiar; they woke up as soon as Ms. Rose screamed in the morgue. They can talk and joke as if nothing happened. They have zero aura; literally no aura inside them."

"Is that even possible?" Weiss exclaimed. "It's the first recorded case of total aura loss in history. Aura is tied up to one's soul as you know. No creature other than Grimm has been recorded without any aura at all, save for children who haven't activated it yet. Which, of course, is not the case here."

They exchanged worried looks. "Can I see my sister?" Yang asked in a polite manner. The doctor nodded "we are going to run some tests, but you can see her while we are getting prepared; please don't tire her."

"Thanks a lot" Yang patted his shoulder and ran inside, grabbing Ruby and hugging her so loudly that Weiss smirked. "Is there any case, even remotely similar to this that you can think of, doctor?" she asked him.

He stopped in his tracks while he was being prepared to leave. "As I've said, there isn't; at least not from a scientific standpoint" he replied.

"And what about a non-scientific one?" she pressed even more. The man sighed in discomfort. "They look as if they have been cursed" he whispered in a rather serious tone before he ominously walked away.

-o-

The pale moon smiled in its broken magnificence, looming over Vale. Its shattered, deceptive light shone in the silent, sorrowful houses and dark streets. The bustling daily life had given way to a silent, dark night.

Vale's scars from Nyctos' attack and Woodrock's spells were deep and violent. The Council had announced a three-day open memorial for all citizens, soldiers and huntsmen who had lost their lives to the Grimm.

The rooftop of Beacon Memorial Hospital was swept by a pleasant cold breeze. It towered over a pretty little park in the south-east part of Vale that provided a nice view of both the city and the greenery to patients.

Standing on the railing, Ruby's silver eyes danced across the night lights she so much enjoyed. Cast by the traffic and people's homes, they were a beautiful spectacle; or they would be if her heart wasn't that heavy.

"A curse, huh; definitely feels like one" the girl raised the sleeves of her hospital robe and stared at the figure of Blake standing next to her with a white cast in her left arm. "Even as my aura replenishes, I can feel it."

"It's terrifying how the doctor just scraped by the truth of things" the cat girl nodded "what a crazy day…" Ruby sighed "crazy month- or even year- you'd better say. The whole Elder issue was crazy from the start."

Blake patted her friend's shoulder. Ruby rubbed the faunus' fingers as she squeezed her "how's Glynda?" she asked. Blake's face dropped.

"She is going to live- but she will need prosthetics to walk and doctors said she won't be able to fight any more" she replied. "I feel like I am at fault for this, at least partially. I should have been faster to take cover."

"I don't think that's true. You did great, Blake" Ruby smiled at her. "Sun and Glynda, Yang, Weiss, Velvet, even Cherry… you brought them back alive, defeated Bistre and finished off Nyctos in a one-on-one fight! Not to mention that awesome sword!" she pointed at Blake's sword hilt.

"You can't tinker around with Eidolon" she stopped the silver-eyed girl at her tracks. "I will at some point" she countered weakly "you did well, Blake. I am happy for you. And I am sure Glynda will be proud as well."

The cat girl nodded "I will have chances to see that for myself" she said after a few silent moments "I decided to accept her offer and start as a deputy commander of the SHU when my arm is completely healed."

"I knew it" Ruby gave her a bright, merry smile. "You will do a fantastic job, as always." Blake blushed- and hugged her friend "I can't begin to say how much your faith means to me" she whispered. Ruby giggled.

"I am scared, Blake" she told her. "I know" the faunus rubbed the red girl's back. "I have no idea what happened- I am so glad I got to see all of you again" she squeezed the black-haired girl in her arms even more.

"Whatever it is…" "It's the sea. It's the dark. It's the night. Everything that exists in the deep corners of the world… I can see them crawling in the deep pits… I can see their shadow circling around the world… Red's words about knowing too much... I think I am getting his point now..."

She was partly delirious, but didn't care to stop. She had to get it out of her system now. The hug intensified and became much warmer. She cared not why, but nuzzled in the warm feeling. She needed it so much.

"I close my eyes… I see Morkvind walking in the forests of Remnant as the world is dyed in a huge-ass blizzard. I see herds of Ghouls rampage the plains to avenge their master's death… I see the sea rise and floods ravage the coast, as Avyssos rages its hulk on the maniacal seafloor."

"Ruby…" the voice was slightly different than Blake's. Was it Weiss? She had to be. "I see myself… with huge horns and a bone mask, feasting on human flesh before the Grand Mother. I am feeling it all day today."

The voice wasn't hers. She stopped her outburst and raised her head- only to find she was in the center of a group hug, with Weiss and Yang having joined them while she was crying at Blake's arms. "Guys…"

"It's ok Rubes" Yang had been hugging her from behind "I am freaked to my bone from that eye mark on my palm. I am seeing things in every mirror… took me twenty minutes to fucking brush my teeth" she joked.

"I'm sorry…" "But I am here; for you, and Weiss and Blake and myself." She kissed Ruby's head "and I am sure all those stupid jerks who are standing behind us smiling like morons feel the same thing as we do."

"Say what?" Weiss, Ruby and Blake broke the hug, turning on their feet to find Nora, Jaune and Ren on wheelchairs staring at them with smiles on their faces. They were wearing the same hospital robes as Ruby.

Pushing the chairs were Albus, Alex and Neptune. Sun and Lumia were moving behind them, walking on crutches, with Velvet standing next to the door, her cast-clad leg gently supported by Erik. They were all in a pretty beaten shape, but were smiling tenderly at the four huntresses.

"Oh no" Weiss blushed away in embarrassment. Ruby ran -pretty slow for her own standards- and hugged Jaune who kissed her cheek "how are you? Why did you leave your bed?" she asked him in deep concern.

"I don't think you have any right to tell me that" he pointed at the small holes the IV solutions had poked on her skin. "I needed to see you, after all I heard from Ren and Nora." Ruby turned her eyes at the couple.

"Don't" Nora cut her off. "It's not your fault and you know it; who could have thought anything like this was possible?" Ren added. "The doctors sure didn't; their surprised screams still echo in my ears" Nora smirked.

"You shouting 'Ren; wake up, we are dead!' at the top of your lungs did not help either" Jaune retorted. "What was I supposed to do? I thought we were really dead this time!" the ginger girl complained at him.

"That's our Nora" Blake kissed Sun, making Neptune and Velvet raise an eyebrow to the unexpectedly straightforward action coming from the usually reserved cat faunus "even without her aura, she is still chipper."

"The tests didn't show anything, did they?" Weiss asked Ren who shook his head. "They were quite vocal explaining how unbelievable Ruby and Lumia's condition was and how mind-blowing ours still is" he replied.

The ex-maiden sighed deeply. "The situation is much better than we all expected to be at this point" she announced. "But still not good enough to ease down; is that what you are saying Lu?" Albus asked his captain.

"We took down a pale imitation of Avyssos and for that, Nora and Ren had to lose their aura. All four of us nearly died- we may had even been dead for a while and revived due to Remnant knows what reason.

Blake's team faced off Nyctos in an amazingly weakened state and it still took the effort and sacrifice of many people for Blake to destroy it. If Bistre's eyes hadn't blasted it, I doubt we would have avoided losing some of you in the process" clearly, simply and bravely Lumia stated it.

"I still can't believe that this bastard had silver eyes" Yang commented. "Blessings of the Gods are neither good nor evil; it's how you use them that defines what you are" Ruby exclaimed "Cinder told me that."

"A surprisingly sound advice, coming from her" Blake sounded quite impressed. "My point is" Lumia cut them off, grabbing everyone's attention "we barely escaped unscathed against weakened Elders."

They all tensed. Yang, for the first time, didn't even attempt to crack a joke at the ex-maiden. "Unscathed is a bit of a rich way to put it" Ruby replied "do you know how many people died in this joint Elder attack?"

"Seven thousand confirmed dead and sixty-two more reported missing" Blake said. "A colossal number for peaceful times" Weiss said. "There are no peaceful times; at least not for us" Erik retorted, with Velvet approving.

"Ok, let's stop beating around the bush and come out to say it" Yang's impatience finally came forth. "We may be strong, but we are not that strong. Those things took everything we had to be defeated despite the fact they were weakened versions of their true selves. The true ones…"

She trailed off but Weiss came forth to pick up the pace "let's face it. If any of Cherry's allies manage to fully awaken one of those things, there is no snowball's chance in purgatory we will be able to defeat it."

Everyone around her nodded in full awareness of what Weiss meant. A deep frown appeared on Ren's face and Nora squeezed his hand. "Guys I have to tell you this; we are probably off the front lines for now."

"That's to be expected" Alex said. "We have zero idea of what is truly happening to you two. I have half a mind of forcing Lu and Ruby too-"

"As soon as my exams come out completely clear I am back to the front line. Vale needs as many capable people as possible right now" emerald eyes narrowed at her friend. "I don't even have to say it" Ruby added.

"I won't even try stopping you" Yang pat Ruby's head. "I will, though. For now at least" Blake objected, earning a series of confused stares from her surroundings. "We are taking a break; and I mean all of us."

"Let her speak" Weiss stopped Yang's attempt to argue "as of today, Blake is out superior officer. She gets to decide this" The black-haired girl blushed and audibly cleared her throat before she continued.

"Ruby is having nightmares due to extreme exposure to the Elders" she announced. The red reaper gasped, but Jaune smiled at her to ease her tension. She stared at him and then nodded at the faunus to go on.

"Weiss had a horrible experience losing her eye. I am having my visions and a talking sword from a bygone era. Yang is infected by something that is related to the Grand Mother that creates illusions of her death.

Jaune was being kept hostage by monsters in a possessed clinic from a huntsman's worst nightmares. Ren and Nora are practically living dead who move without aura- the first people in Remnant History."

Nora pumped her fist in the air, earning a few chuckles. "Velvet has had a head-on fight with Avyssos and a torturous captivity by Nameless. Sun was skewered in the stomach by Nyctos. Neptune lived an apocalypse.

Lumia returned from the dead after getting swallowed up by black tar. Erik scoured the entire city while examining possible spawn locations. Albus and Alex just fought a war. We" she emphasized her words "need rest. We have to take our time and recover our strength and spirit."

"Our enemies won't wait for us to recover" Ruby countered. "I don't care" Blake shot her down "at this point we are practically dead meat."

"This is not-" "If we keep on like this, half of us will end up dead and the other half will get a permanent suite inside Oldmouth Asylum!" Blake's voice rose. She waved her hand furiously to try expressing herself.

"We need to rest! We need to calm down, clear our minds, recover all of our fighting strength and take a better look at the situation. I know they won't wait for us- but I will do things our own pace, not theirs."

Ruby blinked at Blake's outburst. And then gave her a toothy grin. "Ok, then; I'm game, vice-commander" she chuckled. "Spoke like a leader; I approve" Weiss nodded. "Please don't become Glynda #2" Yang said.

"Don't tease our superior like that, guys" Sun joked. "That's right" Blake exclaimed. "I am your… superior. That means your lives are in my hand. I…" she clutched her chest "I will never let anything happen to you all."

"Wow, Blake. No need to be so intense" Nora raised her arms at the cat girl. But Blake just waved her head "I am not being intense; I am being honest. I- I love you all so much. And I will…" Sun tenderly hugged her.

"I will make it sure; we are all going to live through this and everything that comes again. I will have you all at my wedding no matter what!" she cried out, making everyone raise an eyebrow- everyone but Sun.

Blake kissed Sun and bowed in front of her flabbergasted friends "I am an inexperienced, sad woman who masks her fears behind an air of seriousness. Please" she smiled as she rose up "take good care of me."

-o—

"No matter what you say that was intense" Ruby drank a chug of her strawberry milk staring at the moon. It was still hovering above them, as if teasing her insignificant presence. She shivered and snugged.

Jaune smiled at her and stared at the rest of the gang, soundly asleep in various positions covered up in thick hospital blankets. Blake was the only one awake, talking with Weiss in the far corner about serious stuff.

"Appreciate it all you can; Blake is never going to do such a thing again" he joked. "I hope so; if it takes a cataclysm for her to be honest then I'd rather have her be her usual moody self" she replied in a serious voice.

"I am thinking of visiting mom and dad" he changed the subject. "I will come with you" she instantly replied. "I hoped so; maybe the rural life style will help you calm down and fight your fears" he smiled at her.

"As long as you are there" Ruby leaned in and kissed him, pointing at Weiss to not come closer for a while. The alabaster girl sighed and turned back at Blake "are you sure about what you are asking me?"

"Absolutely; I want you to only take enough samples for your work and then destroy that thing. Dump it inside a vat of Azure's vials… erase it with a massive dust explosion… just destroy it for sure" she replied.

Weiss nodded "I knew the moment you told us to take it easy that you intended for an extensive research on our Grimmwater and Cornfield findings. I totally agree with that course of action" she remarked at her.

"There is a 'but' here, isn't it?" Blake asked her friend. "I am afraid about Yang. We have nothing on her condition and the army has taken the only person who could inform us into custody" Weiss explained.

"I can't promise anything, but if it's humanly possible to help Yang, we will do it. I swear, I will convince Nile to let us see Cherry for sure" the cat girl replied. Weiss flashed a momentary bright smile at the faunus.

"And what if-" she gulped, her serious face returning at once "what if it doesn't help at all, Blake? What if there's no way to help her?" Yellow eyes stared at the sleeping form of her best friend and partner.

"If there is no way" she ominously said, her voice lowering to a whisper "then we will make one." Weiss nodded and thanked her, both girls being unaware of the bulging eye that stared at them from Yang's pink flesh, dying her palm a vivid red color that matched Vale's traffic lights.

Far above them, the moon shone in its mystifying splendor. For the first time in a while, an ephemeral serenity spread across the city, luring its denizens into a bitter-sweet slumber.

Pale light reflected on Yang's face, casting shadows of unimaginable terror around her sleeping form. Weiss and Blake ran to her, but the shapes faded, retreating to dark realms beyond mortal understanding. The lilac eyes opened- and narrowed in sorrow at her friends before being lost in her lover's embrace.

Vale had won -for now.

Ok, that was a blast. How come the more a story progresses, the tougher it becomes to write it, I have zero idea.

In any case, hope you enjoyed the Vale arc! Whether you did or not, I deeply appreciate taking your time to read it nonetheless!

Next week, as I mentioned before, will be a short break to rest (work is killing me) before entering the final arc.

Thank you so much again. See you in chapter 140 on February 23rd. Until then, be well and have fun!