Ozpins' cane clattered to the ground as the man fell limp on Masamune's edge - plenty of blood trailing down it, wrenching the blade free, he turned to the woman as the body clattered with a squelch, smiling he quickly invaded her thoughts too, learning much more about Salem and her pawns, match that with the amount of information he got from Ozpin; he was probably in the best place to formulate a new plan. But first, walking towards the woman, he knelt down and grabbed her by the jaw.
"I have a use for you." he stated, staring into her soul, fear filling her eyes as her vision wobbled then the world went black.
After planting his DNA within the woman, he rose to his feet, and began towards the elevator, with how much chaos that's going on, he could easily make his way out of here and towards one of the other schools... but finding the maidens would pose difficult, if he couldn't sense their power, then he would have to hunt them the old fashioned way, but with Cinder, Winter, and Ruby under his subconcious control that made it a little bit easier considering that their goals align perfectly with such a hunt.
Reaching the lift he smiled and began to float up allowing the Masamune to drag along the shaft wall letting out an eerie grinding sound until he reached the top, prying the doors open he walked out and looked around, the room was empty walking towards the desk the ticking above began to grow faster, sitting at Ozpin's desk, he began to enter the many passwords required to unlock all the information he held on the maidens and their whereabouts, after a few minutes of eventful searching the elevator door opened again and Pyrrha rushed out her eyes widening when she saw him.
"Sephiroth?... why- what are you doing?" She questioned, he ignored her and continued to work "Did Ozpin contact you?" she questioned farther, dropping her guard a little.
"After I killed him? No." Sephiroth denied, as he rose from the desk and willed it and the chair out of the way sending both flying out the window shattering it. Pyrrha took a few steps back and dropped into a combat stance."I would say it's a shame that you share his fate... but all humans will." he added, summoning Masamune to his hand causing Pyrrha to tense up as she prepared to fight for her life.
Taking a step forward and slashing, Sephiroth sent a wave of purple energy out of the blade splitting the back wall of the tower as Pyrrha ducked under it and rushed him firing a few shots at him, raising his hand he created a barrier in front of himself which stopped the bullets dead, rushing forward she took a stab at him as he waved his hand causing the barrier to shoot out and hitting her cutting her quite deeply, rolling to a stop she raised her shield to block but remembered how ineffective such a move was and leapt out of the way barely avoiding his blade, walking after her he swung upward sending another arc of energy out destroying more of the tower causing a large portion of it to fall away as the structure began to groan from the damage as it began to lean at an awkward angle
"I'll stop you, and that woman." she stated causing Sephiroth's smile to twitch upward a bit, as their weapons clashed she found herself pushing against an unstoppable force he towered over her making pushing down easier for him, not that he needed help considering she was using her whole body as well as her Aura to prevent him from splitting both the weapon and her in two
"Will you?" he questioned in the same calm tone but it held clear mockery underneath, she struggled to push back her whole focus was entirely on trying to stop his strike from cutting her down. Pushing her away she stumbled and fell to the ground sliding a short distance before glaring up at him still defiant, aiming the weapon to her heart he smiled down at her and waited to see how she would react, the two stayed like that staring at each other, many emotions crossing Pyrrha's eyes; fear, doubt, regret, confidence, and sadness, Sephiroth's, on the other hand, showed nothing but faint hints of joy... and that scared her. A loud booming roar interrupted the moment, and they both looked up in time to see a large beast collide with the tower itself destroying what remained of the structure around them leaving them free to the open air, Sephiroth smiled and turned to the beast as it began to circle around and in one slash sent a wave of purple energy which relieved it of one of it's wings causing it to crash into the Emerald Forest, turning back to the girl she looked more scared then ever now, as he easily crippled such an ancient and powerful creature without much effort on his part
"W- What are you?!" she questioned crawling back away from the being before her, who turned back and smiled
"A god, benevolent, and wrathful. But a monster to you unworthy creatures." he answered as she rose to her shaken feet
"Y- You're delusional!" she denied and his smile twitched again, humans... they always have to think their right. Rushing forward she swung her blade at him and in one quick motion he cut her hand free from her body causing her to pass out from shock and begin to bleed, before he could land a killing blow though the sound of boots hitting stone earned his attention, turning he smiled at the intruder; a young girl, she had short black hair with red tips, and a pair of determined silver eyes that quickly mixed with confusion then horror and finally realization
"I... never should have trusted you." She said, as tears welled in her eyes as he turned to her allowing his wing to burst free, black feathers swirling around him as he prepared to attack, she quickly followed suit the two prepared for their battle, Ruby seemed a little uncertain about how to face this foe, Sephiroth on the other hand treated it like any other battle he found himself in.
"No more training." he warned as she rushed forward swing to attack he locked weapons and she began to shake a bit as he broke off her assault and began his own, crossing the distance he pushed her back, barely blocked two of his strikes before being sent off the tower, as she tumbled through the air she felt a sudden strike to the back sending her rocketing towards the tower, firing to her left she twirled around the side of the tower still crashing into a few of the support pillars as she plummeted while frantically looking around, she caught no sight of the man, looking above she caught nothing but quickly curled up behind Crescent Rose just in time to be protected from another strike to the back, roughly landing on the roof of the cafeteria she had no time to be surprised by the distance they had crossed, quickly climbing to her feet she leapt back listening to her instincts she felt his blade cut a few strands of hair but miss anything vital... luckily, turning she began to run full sprint away from the man, she couldn't just bang her head against this problem, he was too powerful, running towards a large hole in the roof she dived into it using her semblance to dodge his slash.
Crashing into a table, she rolled off and quickly clambered to her feet, ignoring the large amounts of blood and corpses within this place as the man landed atop a small pile of bodies and raised his hand above his head sparks began to dance in his palm. Her eyes widened as she felt her hair begin to stand again, in the final instant she leapt to the side avoiding a powerful bolt of lighting that turned the spot she was just standing in to magma five feet around the spot the blood began to boil, swinging upward with Crescent Rose she felt the blow clang with metal as it was guided up letting the man step closer and kneed her in the gut throwing her though the window shattering what little glass remained. Sliding through the courtyard she finally slowed to a stop at the center of the courtyard near the newly desecrated statues, she also found herself surrounded by Grimm all of which were hit by small purple darts of energy, causing them to turn to dust, Sephiroth landed and his wing extending a bit, and with a flap vanished back behind him as he readied himself to attack again, quickly climbing to her feet she suffered a knee to the gut again but this time a much harder strike to the back of the head sending her right back into the ground before getting punted twirling through the air she landed on her feet but was still dazed from the hits he had landed. Her heart was racing, dad never prepared her for this! Nothing could prepare her for this! Raising Crescent Rose she blocked two strikes from the man sending her weapon careening from her hands and sending her through the air, landing on her knees she watched as her weapon flew through the air soon landed behind the man causing her blood to run cold, without a weapon she was toast and there was no way she was gonna reach it with him right there, just then a loud bang caught her attention as Sephiroth raised his arm and leapt back as a multitude of holes formed on his body, quickly climbing to her feet she spun around just in time to watch Qrow click Harbingers' blade back into place while glaring at the man.
"Knew I didn't like you." he muttered rushing forward the two locking blades, leaping back Sephiroth slid to a stop then quickly parried a few strikes and locked blades once more he hummed.
"You're one of Ozpins' toy soldiers, aren't you?" he questioned his voice remaining the same as it always did "You'll be glad to know I've retired him." he added causing the man to growl and push off the other sending them apart, leaping upward he avoided a slash from Ruby as she twirled through the air and landed next to her uncle facing him once more, landing he smiled at the two and raised his blade next to his head and prepared to attack.
"Stay back." Qrow ordered and rushed forward locking blades with the man who quickly guided the attack away and kicked him away, as he turned and raised Masamune above his head blocking a overhead strike from Ruby shoving her away he turned back and parried a strike from Qrow as he rushed past him, just as he turned his attention back towards Ruby he caught her weapon guiding it along his blade into the ground, placing his hand on the blunt of the Masamune just as Qrow recovered and struck at him the two pressuring against him, leaping upwards Ruby stumbled and fell while Qrow gave chase leaping after him the two locking blades in the air, pushing off the man Sephiroth landed on the ground and slid a few feet as Ruby chased after him twirling Crescent Rose around her body before letting it go and swinging a punch at his face which was blocked as the weapon came back down between the two causing him to step back, rolling over the weapon Ruby kicked out at him causing him to slide a little farther just out of the reach of her follow up slash as she yanked the weapon from the ground, Qrow brought down an attack of his own which Sephiroth blocked but was still sent back, twirling gracefully through the air he slid to a stop and smiled at the two, he wasn't even winded.
"What the fuck is with this guy?" Qrow asked through a few breaths as he looked to Ruby who shrugged catching her own breath
"No idea, but we cant stop fighting now." she reasoned as she rushed off causing Qrow to sigh and quickly chase after her.
Guiding Ruby past him, he quickly blocked a strike from Qrow, and leapt back, that man may not be as strong as him but if he can land a hit it'll be tough to heal considering the size of the weapon. Landing he tilted his head to the side then ducked avoiding the slashing of Crescent Rose, being sent flying away from the man Ruby landed and watched as Qrow and Sephiroth began to trade blows, Sephiroth was making quite the effort to keep the two of them from getting too close, which was strange considering the fact that he could easily keep up with someone who got close given his fight with Pyrrha in class, why was he trying so hard now?
Locking blades Sephiroth stepped forward and pushed sending Qrow off his feet and away from him as the man landed Sephiroth raised his hand above his head causing ice to begin to form on his glove, Qrow quickly caught on and took off towards him running head long towards the man he swung but the strike was caught on his blade, the man quickly reached forward causing Qrow to jump back avoiding whatever he was going to do with that attack, but the man didn't seem to have been going for him at all as he quickly crouched and placed his hand on the ground causing a circle about fifty feet around him to grow frost that seemed to hiss and groan, realizing what was going to happen Qrow quickly ran over to Ruby grabbed and threw her into the air before leaping after her as hundreds of spears of ice shot up from the ground before shattering shooting shards of ice out even farther, Qrow covered Ruby taking the brunt of the damage as the two dropped to the ground and rolled apart, quickly getting to his feet Qrow rushed the man again the two began to battle once more as Ruby began to recover from banging her head so hard on the ground. Sitting up she watched as the two began to scale the tower their attacks sending powerful sparks from the clashes as they rose higher and higher, kicking off she began to rush up after them, leaping from pillar to pillar trying to catch up using her Aura to enhance her leaps.
(o)
High above Sephiroth landed on the top of the tower as Qrow chased after, landing he spun swinging out at his foe who parried each strike and took a small step back before slashing a few times at the man who dodged one and took the other, tumbling back he landed on his heel and kicked off attempting to stab the man. Guiding the stab away, Sephiroth stepped to the side as the man recovered and raised his blade blocking Masamune which rang out against his foes weapon his arms shaking under the pressure. With a slight twitch Sephiroth quickly brought his weapon up and around cleaving the ground a bit as he came up knocking the mans weapon up and out of the way, slashing twice at his exposed chest the mans' aura shuttered but just barely held as he nearly fell from the tower, quickly turning around he blocked a strike from Ruby and shoved her away as he turned back and locked blades with the man, shoving him away just as quickly, turning again to parry Ruby. The two fight in excellent sync but he had far better practice against Genesis and Angeal. As the two came to strike he held his hand above his head once more causing their assault to stop and the two dodged back just to be safe as roaring flames built a wall between Qrow and Ruby leaving him standing on the side with Qrow who quickly rushed him and began to attack.
Ruby on the other hand tried to leap through the flames only to be send sprawled a rather sever burn on her arm, activating her semblance she tried to get around it but found that the flames surrounded their battle preventing her from getting in, going from above wasn't going to work either the flames seemed to form a dome around them, she did find something rather disturbing though, Sephiroth was staring at her more than he was Qrow. Removing herself from his vision she moved near the ledge of the platform where she found Pyrrha, who was lying unconscious and extremely pale her right hand lost to the flames, moving closer she rested a hand on her neck feeling for her heart beat, barely finding it she found that it was slow yet somewhat steady. Quickly picking her up she began to drag her towards a safer location as the fires died away. Sephiroth slammed the pommel of the Masamune into the back of Qrows' head sending him to the ground where he fell limp as his aura shattered, flipping the blade over he aimed it at the back of his neck his eyes still glued on Ruby waiting for her to reaction.
"NO!" Ruby screamed upon noticing, dropping Pyrrha she rushed the man locking blades with him much to his pleasure it seemed.
"How touching." he commented, guiding the strike away and punching her, shattering her Aura, the force of the strike was strong enough to send her falling from the tower with no way to reach the top again.
(o)
She felt weightless, her eyes trained on the platform above where she could once see Sephiroth her weapon was out of ammo and she couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in her gut, there was nothing she could do from down there, speaking of which she quickly twisted and stabbed Crescent Rose into a nearby support pillar hanging there for a few moments she quickly yanked her weapon free and tried to run it's surface but found it much too slick and dropped, landing on the roof of the central room of the CCT, looking back up she waited a few moments before dropping from the roof and running off towards the landing pads to get to the safe zone as tears began running down her face.
(-)
Wrenching the blade free from the mans' body, he stared down at the weapon in his hand, it will make a wonderful gift for Yang, probably devastate her quite a bit too. Grabbing it he stood and began to walk towards the ledge his wing sprouting from his shoulder as he took off flying off towards the safe zone in Vale a smile on his face.
(o)
Landing his wing flapping a few times many people quickly moved away from him as it folded into his shoulder but remained proudly present as he walked towards one of the soldiers, towering over the man quite easily he was quickly intimidated.
"Where is Yang Xiao-Long?" he questioned, causing the man to stumble back a bit from the intense presence in front of him.
"I-i-i if she was hurt over there." he quickly answered pointing at a nearby tent, Sephiroth calmly turned and began to walk towards it not a single person was willing to step in his way, the man was covered in blood and carrying a bloodied sword in hand, as he entered he looked around until his eyes landed on Blake and Weiss both of whom were staring at Yang who was missing an arm, smiling at the scene he tossed the weapon on the ground causing the two to jump and spin around as the loud bang resounded around the tent.
"Tell her, if she ever wants a rematch, tell her to ask Ruby how hers went." he said turning again and began towards the exit.
"Where'd you find that?" Blake asked, staring down at the bloodied blade.
"I took it from a now dead man." he answered exiting the tent and vanishing from the safe zone all together, it was as if he wasn't there to begin with.
(o)
Staring at the weapon Ruby felt sick his blood was on her hands, touching the hilt of the weapon she began to sob pulling the object to her heart she couldn't stop her self from crying, it was all her fault and the pain was nearly unbearable, Yang was unconscious and mutilated, Weiss was pulled off to Atlas but luckily Blake stayed, so they had three fourths of a team, but no school... nor anyone to help guide them, rising to her feet Ruby slung Harbinger over her shoulder into the newly made sheath for it as she began to walk from the porch of their house, Tai fell into a depression again after Qrow... died. Feeling the pressure begin to build in her heart again she was quick to ignore the thought of the man, even if it hurt. Upon reaching the main road she began to walk towards the town of patch, it was a rather long walk but one she was accustom to.
Upon reaching the town she made her way towards the inn where most of the staff were staying, Glynda wasn't taking the news all too well, most nights she could be found drinking rather heavily, and most days she was nursing her hangover with more alcohol, but the whole time she kept telling everyone that this was her fault. Entering the bar she made her way over to Port who was currently talking with some of the doctors from the camp outside the town.
"Port." she greeted in a neutral tone, giving away nothing of what she was feeling, causing him to turn to her and smile giving the girl a firm one armed hug.
"Good to see you Ruby, how have you been... adjusting?" he asked in a more serious tone than was normal for the man she nodded slowly as she answered "Well enough. But I was wondering, how is everything going, given the attack."
"Well, after the Wyvern was slain by... someone, we don't have much to worry about apart from the massive increase in Grimm activity around the school... we cant figure out why they're moving in and in such large numbers, but we can certainly hope to use such a thing to our benefit, once we figure out how." he explained with a tired look beginning to form in his eyes "Are you planning on going to visit Mr. Arc and his team?" he asked carefully as Ruby turned and began towards the door.
"Yeah, gotta talk to them." she confirmed resting her hand on the hilt of Harbinger as she walked, just to make sure it was still there, as she walked she noted that Glynda was already passed out at a table near the door, resting a hand on the woman's head for a moment she apologized before leaving to find Jaune.
(o)
Entering the medical tent near the outside of the refuge camp Ruby looked around, Ren and Nora were both bandaged and lying in bed, Jaune was checking up on them his arm in a sling, making her way past the beds and doctors hurriedly walking around.
"Jaune, you all doin' okay?" she asked as a nurse quickly pushed past her.
"Hey, we're doing okay. We should be up and moving by the end of the week." he answered with a smile, Ruby nodded at that as she moved to his side the two stared for a few moments.
"How about Pyrrha?"
"She... she's still getting used to having a prosthetic, and I can't thank you enough for letting her stay with you guys."
"Dad always says that permanent pain needs to be treated delicately before getting smashed into a thousand pieces. That's why he doesn't bring up Qrows' drink... ing... didn't..." She corrected trailing of as she reached over her shoulder again feeling the weapon, admittedly she was also trying to avoid Pyrrha, it was her fault that she lost her hand after all.
"Sorry... I didn't mean to bring up painful memories." Jaune quickly apologized causing Ruby to shake her head
"You didn't, that's on me. I should have remembered. Besides what I came here to do is done, you three can come visit whenever, I'm waiting a few more days before I'm leaving for Mistral, the best lead I have for Sephiroth would be there... probably."
"You really want to go after him?"
"The guy who murdered my uncle? Yeah, pretty sure." Ruby snarked causing Jaune to quickly wince "Well... we cant just let you go all on your own, if Pyrrha is feeling up to it we'll tag along." He offered earning a small smile from Ruby
"Alright then... it'll be nice to have some company... Blake'll probably be staying with Yang while she recovers. So I'll be able to leave early." She added turning away once more and walked away cursing herself for agreeing to let them come
Walking along the dirt road she stopped at the sight of a single black feather causing her heart to stop and her blood to run cold as it drifted lower... and lower... and lower, as it settled on the ground it quickly became ash in the wind, shaking her head she began to walk, if he was gonna cause so many illusions she was gonna start ignoring them.
A/N Not out of the woods just yet, still a small number of loose ends to... tie up. Hope you all are happy with how this turned out.
Oh and I should probably mention that Qrow from volumes 3-6 is my favorite character in RWBY... so yeah... this was 'fun' to write.