Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all fine.
Welcome to chapter 140. I hope you enjoyed the previous arc of the series and wish you will enjoy the final one as well! It's going to be a bit on the slow side of plot advancement, with me trying to flesh out a few things more than usual. I hope it turns out as well as you all deserve to.
Thank you once more for following/ favoring/ reading the story. Rise of the Eldergrimm wouldn't be as fun to write as it is now without all of you enjoying it and I can't express how much I appreciate it!
For the guest who commented two weeks ago- I know that especially the first chapters are badly written, friend. I wish at some point to update a better fleshed-out form. Nonetheless, I appreciate you trying to read them and telling me about it. Thank you.
See you all next week in chapter 141. Until then, be well and have fun!
"What do you see?"
The voice was calm and carried an air of dignity with it. Yang shook her head to focus. She opened her palm; unlike the previous nights and all days, the hideous evil eye was missing. She reveled at the idea.
Her lilac orbs searched the room. Sounds of gnawing and cries of pain reached her ears. Black rock formed the ceiling and walls. No exit was visible. The only source of light was a charnel green flame behind her.
"I am underground; there's this disgusting sound of chewing again" she replied to her unseen companion. The cries intensified for a moment and a loud crunch sent shivers down her spine "something is feeding."
"What do you feel?" the voice asked in the same emotionless manner.
Yang sighed deeply. Her hands trembled and her throat was dry. She stared at her palm- a habit she had developed quite recently- and was pleased to still not see any traces of the eye. "I am utterly terrified."
There was no reason to hide anything from the voice. She had nothing to gain and no face to keep. If anything, being honest about it was the most logical thing to do; the only way to come out of this unscathed.
"As you should be" the fires rose and the green light dyed the entire room. A cavernous pit formed behind her and a powerful presence breathed right beside her unguarded, tender nape. She held her breath.
The monster cast a towering shadow on the wall. It was so tall; it hid all of her body behind its titanic form. Yang broke in shivers, but stayed put even as the shadow became clearer and its outlines more resolute.
It had a huge horned head and a pair of mighty arms, wrapped in thick yet broken chains that hanged from its wrists, rattling in a creaky, metallic noise.
Its bellow was lower than a normal hiss, but loud enough to blow her blonde mane away. The sound of chewing and the sickening smell of blood assaulted Yang's nostrils as Grand Mother breathed at her neck.
"What do you fear?" a sharp pain in her left arm indicated the return of the accursed mark. Its red iris glared at Yang, as if it wanted to devour her being in one bite of its non-existing jaws. Its lines marred her flesh.
"I…" she gulped. The fires roared and her skin felt like it was on fire. "I… fear death" she whispered "but not for me…" she was quick to add.
Screams filled her mind. Amidst the gnawing, the chewing and the red, vivid splashes of blood, she could hear Ruby's dying words. She could feel Blake's crushing bones. She could taste Weiss' mangled flesh.
Calm down, she took little breaths. This is not real and you know it. The feeling started to fade away, but the screams and the smell of freshly-spilled blood persisted. Just for once… endure it! She held her left arm.
"What are you going to do?" the voice pressed her. She squeezed her palm, hoping that she could somehow force this abomination the Elder monster had implanted on her to pop out of her skin. She bit her lips.
"I have to do this" she raised her head. In all her life, Yang Xiao Long had never considered herself being a pushover. Sure, she wasn't as brave others thought, but she never allowed others to drag her at their own pace- monsters and humans alike. She appreciated her freedom.
Ultimately, this one was the major problem with this whole Eldergrimm story. She and her team had been dragged left and right so much that she had lost the certainty of her own willpower; her irreplaceable trait.
But she had to do this. As the monster breathed down her back, she knew she had to do this; she had postponed it enough. Yang released her left palm and slowly turned around, her eyes reflecting the flames.
And that was the only thing reflected in them. The room was as small as it was empty. Grand Mother, much to her relief, was nowhere to be seen. She was alone in a room without exit, lit by wicked green torches.
She turned around to see- the towering shadow was still there. Her eye caught a flicker in its form, as if it tried to mimic her own- Yang stared at her feet. And she instantly regretted it as realization hit her mind.
"What do you realize?" the voice, slightly laced in concern, asked again.
The shadow of Grand Mother was reflected on the wall by the miasma. It was an alien mist that revealed the true essence of things. For Yang, it cast her shadow on the wall; the Grand Mother's monstrous new child.
She touched her head. She couldn't see any horns, but she swore for a brief moment she touched something that wasn't there. She cupped her face- and hit a lean, shiny surface that covered her mouth. "I..."
"Thy words cast in an ocean of flame, awaken from slumber and share the blame."
In an instant, the room faded away. The sensation was swapped for a disgusting feeling of dread, but her body returned to normal- if it had ever been abnormal. The bulging eye met a pair of narrowed lilac ones.
Magic was washed away from her body and Yang Xiao Long woke up from her mental prison, her face meeting the emotionless expression of a pink-haired faunus being seated across a collapsible plastic table.
-o—
June 12th, 86
New Vale High Security Prison
"You are considerably improving" Cherry smiled at Yang, sipping a bit of tea from a paper cup the blonde had brought. "Why don't I feel like I do?" the huntress replied, wiping off the sweat from her wet forehead.
Three months in high security prison were not enough to considerably alter Cherry's physique, save for a lightly paler tone on her pinkish skin that now resembled more the winter cherry tree blossoms.
Her muscles were well preserved, visible under the prison robes as the only sort of activity allowed to her was working out in the high security cell provided to her. Food and water were minimal but she didn't mind.
Yang let her eyes trail over the pale skin, horribly marred by thin green-black lines that travelled along her flesh and reached up to her head, just before her fox ears. Two large scars remained as remnants of her horned metamorphosis. Her deep green eyes, though, were as sharp and devoted as ever.
A thin metal collar and a pair of handcuffs adorned her neck and wrists. They sported long, thin glass tubes on their surface, filled with a series of dark-colored liquids; poison designed to be at once injected to the girl the moment the collars' sensors picked up her aura spark to action.
The platform around them was surrounded by a magma pit designed to overflow if for some reason the collars got broken. And, as a last resort, the ceiling was designed to collapse on them with the push of a button.
Yang had questioned the prison director about the need of such excess security. "We are talking about a woman who, according to your own testimony, Ms. Xiao Long, needed four of you to defeat" he had replied.
"Don't be impatient" the faunus' reply snapped her back to her current state. "You have reached the part where you can withstand the sounds of your beloved ones deaths; you conquered your first layer of fear."
"It took us less than two months to do so" she sipped some of her tea as well. It was, surprisingly, still warm. "Time is a subjective concept" she replied "as is growth" and then smiled gently at the blonde woman.
"Are you doing well? I know this place must be incredibly-" "I deserve it and everything that comes with it" the fox faunus cut her off. "Killing so many for the sake of my faith is one thing- killing for a meaningless act of power for Woodrock's sake is…" she clenched her fists and exhaled.
"I thought I was taking lives for a reason; that I could help my order by doing so. But… in truth I simply helped murder thousands for Bistre to amass power by weakening my God; the same God I swore to serve."
Cherry lowered her gaze, missing the look of sympathy on Yang's face. "I sacrificed so many to help a traitor weaken and ultimately cause Nyctos' death; until I find a way to amend, I deserve to stay in here."
"You do realize we are the ones who killed it, right?" Yang gently said. "You faced Nyctos in combat and prevailed. I feel sad and bitter, but I can't hold it against you. Survival of the fittest is our doctrine after all. Holding it against you when it was me who supported it all along would be childish."
Yang rubbed her neck with her metal arm, slightly wincing "man, we have been doing this for two months and I still can't get over all that crazy stuff your mind pulls. Or this" she reached out with her left palm.
A solemn nod of approval was Cherry's response to the thick, dark lines marring the upper part of Yang's palm. They formed a clear and shapely eye, leadless, staring at them. The skin inside the bulb was pinkish-red.
"You can ask all you want, my answer is still the same; chosen by Her or not, you are both my friend and our enemy" her feral gaze narrowed "I am not going to reveal anything of utmost importance to an enemy."
Yang sighed. Truth be told, this was the single most logical thing Cherry had told to her in a while. The very moment they showed they had the capacity to kill an Elder, even a weakened one, they had been turned from potential sacrifices to enemies of the cult; enemies of that fox girl.
"Your time is up, Yang" Weiss' voice sounded from the monitor. "Sorry Cherry, but I can't disobey protocol" the alabaster girl added. Lilac eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction; not that she could do much more, honestly.
"Well, off I go" Yang finished her tea and stood up "thanks again for helping me." "I merely repay the debt" the maiden smiled. "You stood up for me in the trial and convinced Vale Police to not execute me."
"You have to be alive to atone for your crimes" she replied "and you've got a lot of crimes to atone for" Yang added in a serious manner before she walked away from the pink-haired girl, waving at her as she moved.
-o—
"I don' like it when you are silent" Weiss' voice sounded from the back seat of Bumblebee II as the couple speeded away from the facility "will you tell me what happened?" she pleaded more at her fiancée.
Yang sighed, hoping the petite girl wouldn't notice. She really had zero desire to talk about this again. The situation was already known to Weiss and they had spent more time dwelling over this than it should.
Night was slowly falling upon Vale. It was being brilliantly illuminated by the hundreds of traffic and house lights; beacons of life cutting through the deep darkness, reminding that humans prevailed even in the night.
That, however, wasn't true for a particular area in the North of the city. A circular district, polluted by death and offered to the dark, where fear festered like poison and nightmares were whispering in the air.
They climbed up a small hill, taking a good view of the colossal scar it had left on the land of Vale. Silently and in perfect unison, they both turned their heads to look at the dead zone- Nyctos' former domain.
Despite the assurances of the Council, the army and the SHU that the area was safe to return, the amount of ruin and the unprecedented carnage had scared the citizens into refusing to return to their houses.
"Not that I blame them" Yang exclaimed, turning her head back to the road. Weiss felt pangs of sadness permeate her chest; her mismatched eyes followed the path of few lights that cut through the deep shade.
"I hope the patrol teams are well-equipped for anything that may have survived the battle" she nuzzled at her lover's back. Suddenly, the night air seemed much colder, despite the season having moved to summer.
Yang gritted her teeth. She had stared for only a moment- and had tried to avert her gaze as naturally as possible. It wasn't the first time it had happened; it happened every single fucking time they drove by at night.
She didn't want to worry Weiss. She didn't want to voice her fears. If- if she did those fears would come to haunt her. "You are not doing well" a slight whisper reached her ear. It was warm and full of love. Fuck this!
"I…" she licked her lips. Getting into Ruby and Blake's habits was a new sensation for her. She had gotten into many new things lately. She sped up her bike "I can see them- the forms of the dead walking in the zone."
-o—
"Since when?" they were waiting at the meeting place; the SHU training facility entrance. Much to her satisfaction, Yang had avoided being yelled at from her fiancée, despite the latter's obvious worried state.
Of course, that meant she had to fully explain to a very concerned and very angry Weiss what she meant. "A week ago. It has happened three times already." "That means all the times we passed by at night."
Lilac eyes narrowed with a subtle nod. "Did you ask Cherry about it?" the pale woman asked, eyes glued on the thick brown gloves that hid the accursed mark. If looks could kill, Weiss would have eradicated it.
"She only said that I am getting accustomed to the eye and it's a natural thing to happen" Yang replied. Wow, she didn't even raise her voice. I must have her worried shitless. "I swear I want to kick her sometimes" Weiss clicked her tongue.
"If it could help, I'd do it" the blonde replied. Had it always been so cold in Vale at summer? It's frigging June, darn it! Weiss walked forward and hugged her girlfriend with all her might "let it all out. All of it."
"My biggest regret" Yang buried her face into Weiss' hair. She loved how soft they were and how wonderfully they smelled "is torturing you all. When I die to this thing- I am going to take a part of us with me."
Weiss shivered in the thought. "You are not going to die to it; I am not going to allow this!" she rubbed her lover's blonde mane, reaching just below her hat. "I am starting to see dead people in thin air, baby…"
The whimper broke the petite woman's heart but she stood firm; she had to be, for the sake of the one who always supported her and was always strong for her sake- and not only. She gulped audibly.
"We are making progress, Yang" she whispered. "Oobleck finished his decoding of Red's texts last week. The SHU scientists have managed to improve Azure's concoction to its new level of usage. I have improved on my spells as well…" she whimpered "… you can't give up now…"
"You were there, baby…" she replied. "You were there when this thing tried to strangle Rubes- I nearly choked my baby sis to death! I am so tired of seeing reflections of dead faces on mirrors and windows… if I now begin to see them in thin air, I am gonna freaking lose it for good!"
"I know…" she tried to console her. "I am not allowed to hug my sister, baby! I had to cover all mirrors and reflective surfaces at our house! Yesterday, for a moment, I think I saw Blake's crazy sword glare at me!"
"It's all going to improve… we won't let you. You know that. You have always, always, been there for us. We won't leave you. You are not on your own in this!" "I am so fucking afraid… and that damn fox treats it as if it's a good thing to be turned into a man-eating monster…"
"You said it yourself. Cherry is not a bad person; she is just a bit strange on the head." "What if one day you wake up and I have grown horns?"
"I will kiss them and hug you."
"What if I try to kill you like I did with Rubes?"
"I will beat you down and hug you."
"Take this seriously!"
"I am, you stupid bimbo! Do you want to hear what I truly think? I don't care how it sounds! I love you and if you turn into a Grimm, I will beat you down and chain you until I find a way to turn you back to normal!"
Weiss tenderly caressed Yang's cheek, breaking the hug as she kissed the blonde's tears away. "So, please; don't give up. Losing you to your despair is the only thing I can't fight. Trust me- all of us- to find a way."
"Are we interrupting something?" Yang and Weiss turned around and saw Ruby and Jaune, fresh and clean out of the bath, walking towards them in a pair of silver and red sports outfits.
Not a pale ghost of his own self anymore, Jaune Arc walked on his two feet without even a need for crutches. His skin had donned a slightly darker color than the pale complexion he had developed in the clinic.
His hair was kept long on a wolf-like tail and his face was neatly clean and properly shaved. He was still a lot thinner than he had been in his war days, but his workout regimen with Ruby had started to pay off.
If not for the deep Elder carvings that permanently scarred his back, he would look more like a shut-in trying to improve his daily lifestyle than a mentally tormented huntsman who had been in a coma for a year.
Despite the intensity of the situation, the brawler couldn't help but be impressed with her fellow blonde's recovery speed. "Damn it, Vomit Boy, way to ruin a tender moment there" she forced a usual jab at him.
"Yang" Ruby started moving to hug her, but stopped. The blonde raised her left arm towards her beloved sis, but instinctively grabbed it with her right. "B-better not" she lowered her gaze in sadness "it's a risk."
"Y-yeah" Ruby's voice trailed off and she averted her gaze to Jaune and Weiss who awkwardly stared at the exchange. "It's good to see you are returning to your old shape, Jaune" Weiss tried to change the subject.
And, being the good-natured fellow he had always been, he played to her demands "I am still far away from my prime, but the doctors are all really impressed. I just" he stopped for a while, choosing his words.
"I wished Ren and Nora could also claim the same progress. And I really hope you can get better too, Yang. We all need you strong and sound" he blurted out, negating Weiss' previous attempt. Lilac eyes narrowed.
"I appreciate the sentiment man" she took her serious tone "and I hope you are right. Not touching Rubes" silver and lilac gently and sincerely smiled at each other "not touching her aside, this thing is frightening."
"We will discuss about it, along so many other things" Weiss assured her. "I am going to stop by the lab on our way to Blake; they called in and told me they have stumbled across something fairly interesting."
"Do you think they made an even better version of the anti-Elder dust bullets?" Ruby's eyes shone like the shining silver moon referring to the innovative bullets the lab had managed to produce based on Weiss' magical guidance, Azure's lab notes and research data. Yang smirked.
At least some things are shaping up to be nicer, she thought. If what Weiss had said was truth, then Oobleck had also dug up something of importance about the Elders. Despite her situation, they had finally-
The night sky shone with the brilliance of a blazing star. Unexpected, with no prior indication and without any conjecture to the silent, still night, a fiery red meteor flashed above the skies of Remnant.
Its color was a sickly crimson, heralding the arrival of death. Yang was sure she smelled blood pouring down on the city as it arched above it.
Its tail burned the sky, eclipsing any star and dwarfing the broken moon as it fell like poisonous stardust in the skies below. She felt odd… just a look at the sign made her tremble… in excitement? The eye, damn it!
Life surged out. Windows opened wide, balconies filled with people who ran to see the unexpected spectacle. The messenger of an alien world rampaged through the sky, before it vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared, dying the night one last time in its bloody vapors.
Everyone held their breath at the mesmerizing spectacle. Everyone but a tall blonde girl, who whispered in an absolute trance as she stood just below the abnormality, her lips moving as if pulled by an unseen force.
Ruby, Weiss and Jaune were close enough to shiver as the voice left the brawler's lips. It was deep, guttural and abnormal; as if it had been not intended to be used by the vocal system of a human being.
"The Crimson Star has arrived" it exclaimed.
"The Mad King is stirring."