A/N hi... it's been a while, sorry 'bout that. Okay so I'll give a quick explanation, So firstly I've had quite the strike of Writer's block(More details at the other Authors' Notes this one has a better focus) I pretty much had this chapter finished I just didn't want to upload it when Elden Ring was so close, I pretty much cut out everything in my life that I enjoyed for a few months so I could shut down and wait for Elden Ring, after it did come out(I took the 25, 26, and 27 off work) I spent the three days specified playing Elden Ring, and pretty much every day after those three up until now, I would go to work, come home, play Elden Ring until I had to sleep, wake up and go to work, I wanted to make sure that I completely got it out of my system before returning to my normal functions, and surprisingly with each update thus far they've actually added to story lines! And I think in the last update they added a new ending, which'll probably drawl me back in to play at a later date so if I vanish without explanation again... Elden Ring.
TLDR – I played an ungodly amount of Elden Ring.
It was hot... and cold... she couldn't tell if she had sunk below the surface or if she was still floating, the sounds of flowing water slowly began to enter her mind
"Careful now-" a foreign voice came from all around her causing Ruby to quickly sit up and her eyes snapped open into a pure white void "Or don't listen, that works too." the voice came again it was kind and warm and seemed to come from the entirety of the void around her
"Who... are you?" Ruby asked her voice sounding much more hostile than she would have liked but the disembodied voice didn't seem to care "I... should probably apologize, my name doesn't matter all that much, but my actions have gravely endangered your home... and caused you immense suffering." the voice apologized sounding truly regretful for what was done, Ruby had a number of theories as to what they meant but didn't want to seem anymore rude than she already was.
"Apologize for what?" Ruby asked after calming herself, as she began to walk through the void the cold quickly fading into a calm warm breeze "Not too long ago Sephiroth was my issue... something I was incapable of removing, he was destroyed three times, first his physical form, then his spirit, and finally his rage. While there are those who stand against him I knew that a time would eventually come when I or those who are strong enough to defeat him would not be able to. So I expelled his essence, your world was the one that chose to carry the burden next, that was a very long time ago for you I'd imagine, your world is dying, but it will not spell the end for your kind if you can defeat him, luckily for you there are already individuals with the necessary powers to combat him, though with this power comes a major flaw."
"What do you mean by combat him?" Ruby asked slowly coming to a halt and turned to face more white nothingness again "Sephiroth was enhanced by the life blood of my home, the world he once resided on, and you unknowingly under his influence did the same, but now that the JENOVA cells within you have been awaken, as I told the others, many of your attributes have grow in strength but without the conviction in your allies and yourself Sephiroth will rip you apart. He will attempt to push you away from your friends, from your family, with fear and anger, but so long as you learn to distinguish the difference between his hatred and your emotions, you'll have a chance to stop him."
"A chance... so... there's a likely hood that he'll win." Ruby said staring at her hands with a frown growing on her face, but the presence around her seemed to place what she wanted to assume was a hand on her shoulder which somehow brought waves of calm with it "It's possible, but you have something he'll never have. Friends, people to rely on, and ask for help from. But most importantly, memories." the voice came earning a nod from Ruby as she turned and faced the endless white expanse before her again, already having lost all sense of direction she took a few steps and closed her eyes the light still permeating her vision with ease "The others... who Sephiroth implanted his cells into... who are they?"
"That I do not know... and it seems our conversation is at an end, this is likely the final moment we shall have so, I wish to say one final thing; I used this time to expedite your recovery process so you're really going to feel it when you..." the voice faded out just as the white void faded into darkness...
It was freezing, the air around her felt like shards of ice with each breath in, looking around she frowned this wasn't pleasant like before, and it certainty wasn't back with Pyrrha... so... oh no.
"Well, well, well, the final Shepard has arrived." Sephiroths' voice echoed around her as echoing steps came from behind her, quickly reacting she spun around but the sound seemed to continue from behind, they kept getting louder and louder until they stopped right behind her and she felt his hand rest on her shoulder sending wave after wave of discomfort and fear rocketing through her body
"And yet, still so full of life. I wonder what could have given you such determination, after failing so much. Your uncle, your father, your mother and sister, all those who place their trust in you... and you fail them. Those villagers that you managed to save from the Grimm shall live in fear for the rest of their lives, and yet you still cling to your hope? Truly a broken individual you are." Sephiroth spoke in his holier than thou voice, but his words rang true... maybe she was a failure, maybe she had failed, but she had people who were still counting on her and she wouldn't fail them too.
"Go away. I'm not gonna end up as one of your puppets." Ruby growled shaking the hand off which let her go without a fight, but left a dark chuckle "Of course not, I want to watch you struggle, and fail, but I must say you should hurry, the people of Mistral are in grave danger." he goaded as the voice and presence faded leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts for a good few minutes until she felt her whole body, it felt extremely heavy as if it were made of lead and her eyes snapped open staring up at the canopy above Pyrrha keeping her head elevated with her lap
"Are you alright? I pulled you out of there and you started twitching and groaning, I thought... well that was a stupid idea to say the least but... I'm glad you're okay." Pyrrha quickly got out it was clear that she was worried and seemed to have an added investment in Ruby that the girl didn't understand quite yet but that was fine
"I had a bit of an... out of body experience you could say. I screwed up big time though... we do need to get a move on but I'll take it easier on you guys." Ruby said rubbing her eyes they felt really sensitive right now and she had no idea why
"Alright, the other's set up camp outside of this grove after I told them you weren't waking up." Pyrrha said with a rather sheepish look on her face "They were super worried, they were tripping over themselves to get here." she added earning a small smile from Ruby who looked her dead in the eyes and Pyrrha immediately frowned
"Ruby... your eyes look a little... weird."
"Why? What happened? Are they red?"
"No it just... they're... around your pupils is green-ish blue, like the liquid you dived into... I think they're glowing too." Pyrrha answered gesturing to her own eyes as she stood, soon Ruby followed using the older girl as a major support to keep herself steady, exiting the grove Ruby looked back to the pool and found that it was an empty very shallow divot... weird.
(o)
Yang sighed as she sat up from her bed and began to make her way downstairs placing her hands behind her head, making her way down the stairs she found Blake and Kali talking, Blake seemed rather embarrassed but it wasn't that bad 'cause Kali looked like she was having the time of her life
"Heyyo!" Yang greeted as she came down causing Blake to quickly rush away leaving Kali to laugh a bit
"Good morning Yang, are you going to train before breakfast?" Kali asked as the girl made her way down and to her side as she started looking over the large living room
"Probably, what're we having?" Yang asked earning a smile from Kali it was rather cat like causing Yang to sigh she knew exactly what-
"Fish." Kali answered happily causing Yang to plant her face into her hand, they had been there for almost three weeks... and all they've had for breakfast and dinner have been fish
"I should have figured... yay." Yang commented dully as she turned to the backdoor "'kay bye." she said with a wave as she quickly made her way out of the building towards the training grounds where she found Raven sitting on her knees her eyes closed
"Yang, it's about time that we started to talk about your future." Raven finally said after a few minutes of Yang doing her morning warm ups
"Me and Blake still need to catch up to Ruby once she's ready."
"And what of your trauma?"
"Trauma? What trauma? I'm fine." Yang quickly defended turning away from the woman who sighed
"When was the last time you used your semblance?" She asked causing Yang to rise an eyebrow
"No idea, it doesn't matter." Yang again shot down quickly, attempting to avoid anything pertaining to herself, that caused Raven to sigh
"Weather you like it or not your rage is a part of you, by denying it-"
"I don't need a semblance that does nothing but make me lose faster. Against Adam..." Yang trailed off her eyes focusing on nothing in particular as she relived the event, with a quick shake of the head she spoke again "If I wasn't angry then I could have been there to protect dad... I could have done something to save Qrow... but I was useless."
"Yang. Listen to me when I tell you this okay. Don't just nod your head and pretend to listen, okay." Raven ordered taking a step towards the girl and lightly placed her fingers on Yangs' shoulder but kept her at an arms length "Sephiroth, isn't like Adam, he isn't like the Grimm, and he isn't like any warrior you've ever fought. Combat to him is synonymous with life, there is no switch, like what they teach you at Beacon, he is a weapon. Every attack is planned, every strike is measured, and his foes are an open book, the first time I fought him he used my anger against me, the second he used my fear. To him there is no honor on the battlefield, there is no subjects to be left alone, he will fight and slaughter, but you have a leg up, where others become predictable when they fight with their anger you can cut through it and use your anger to fuel your attacks while keeping a cool head, it will take practice but I believe that you're the only one capable of fighting him on an even playing field, because the angrier he makes you, the deeper he digs his grave." Raven explained earning a light nod from Yang, the girl clearly didn't believe her but she had heard the words, therefore they've taken seed in her mind it's quite possible that'll help her along.
(o)
Ruby let out a sigh, her sore body had finally recovered, they were currently standing at a crossroads, JNPR were staring at a signpost Ren seemed a bit jumpy about heading through Kuroyuri, she was a bit more willing to wait but this was getting ridiculous, stepping forward she cleared her throat
"Guys, I'm sorry to say this but we genuinely do not have time for this. I understand if there's some kind of trauma related to this place, but it's the fastest route through here, mountians'll take too much time, and if Sephiroths' arrogant gloating is anything to go off of then Mistral might just be a smoldering wreck." Ruby said earning the attention of those around her, Ren and Nora looked more peeved than anything, Pyrrha nodded in agreement and Jaune looked over his team and sighed
"Alright... how about they go through the mountains, and we'll go through Kuroyuri." he offered causing Ruby to shake her head
"That's a bad idea, with the Grimm constantly growing in number, and frequent attacks whenever we try to rest, all of us are being pushed to the brink, and separating now would only leave the others' more vulnerable, I'm not willing to lose anyone just because they don't want to go through the easiest path." Ruby countered running a hand through her hair and began to march towards Kuroyuri, Pyrrha looked over to Ren who looked like he was on the brink of snapping, placing a hand on his shoulder he quickly shook her hand off and turned to Nora who had a small frown on her face watching as Ruby walked on ahead, Jaune looked apologetically at the two before running over to her pulling her to a stop, the two whispered shouted for a few moments before Ruby let out a sigh, and walked back towards the group and looked at Nora then to Ren
"I'm... sorry. Sorry for... sorry that I was... insensitive. I'm still struggling with the whole... sephin-fluence thing I'm going through." Ruby apologized, having talked with the group of the vision she had a few days ago, they seemed understanding but everyone was still high strung due to previous events and the newly added pressure of Sephiroths' claim that something bad was happening in Mistral
"No... you're right... I have to face this at some point." Ren finally said an amount of resignation on his face as he began towards the town, soon followed by the rest of his team, Ruby stood and watched them as they walked slowly following after them she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver cross, staring at it she let a few memories flow through her mind, that voice said that memories were her saving grace, looking around at the dingy and dying forest she couldn't help but sigh, so much was suddenly at stake, so much more than she ever thought possible.
"Uncle Qrow... any advice would be helpful... anything really." she said to herself looking up towards the darkening skies above, the colors fading from blue to a deep shade of purple, just beyond her view she could see the fragments of the moon slowly growing over the horizon. Just ahead of her she watched as Nora leaned on Ren wrapping her arms around him loosely, Jaune at the head of the group seemed to be talking rather quietly with Pyrrha who silently listened before speaking herself then gestured to his shield then made a few other wild gestures, they were probably talking about combat techniques.
"Guys." Ruby called out as she moved a bit faster to rejoin the group, as they all turned to face her she quickly placed the object back into her pocket and rested a hand on Pyrrhas' shoulder as she passed and began to lead "I know I haven't been the best friend for the past few months, and I will try to do better, but I also ask that you guys follow me, let me lead the way."
"Alright... any reason why?" Jaune questioned walking up next to her causing her to shrug
"No, not really. Just wanna makes sure you four get to spend as much time together as possible. Anyways Ren, why didn't you wanna come through here?"
"Like I said I grew up in this area... I grew up here more specifically, this place was over run, only me and Nora survived, and what destroyed our home is probably still here." he explained as Ruby crossed her arms a sudden feeling of guilt washing over her as she looked past the group towards the steadily emerging former white walls of the community, now stained with ash and grime from the foliage and wildlife. Her feet suddenly felt very heavy but she forced herself to continue without a change in expression, but her body language told the others everything, she seemed to have related with Ren and Nora on that level, her wounds are just fresher.
(o)
Looking around the town center Ruby felt knots building in her stomach they were standing in the middle of a graveyard, filled with people who died in fear of the monsters of the world. Ruby frowned at this thought, her sights are set souly on Sephiroth, but not what was to come after his death... if she can even manage that. With a frown she reached over her shoulder and rested at hand on Harbingers' hilt rubbing the aged and warn leather with her thumb, it felt warm, as any object formerly owned by a loved one does.
"Hey Pyrrha?" Jaune spoke grabbing said woman by the shoulder and guiding her away from the group
"What's up Jaune?"
"I wanted to ask you to keep an eye on the entrance, just in case, that and... keep an eye on Ruby yeah? She needs it and only seems to be getting along with you." he added earning a slow nod from the woman
"Got it... just remember that she still needs you three. I can't be the only one for her to lean on."
"I was planing on going on patrol with her when we make it through here, have a little one on one." he said earning a nod from his partner who then jogged off towards the entrance.
(o)
Cinder placed a hand on her chest, atop the scar... the scar that he left on her, a surge of fear shot through her mind as she summoned her blades and stared at the creature before her, a large mass of Grimm a beast without sentience molded into a blob of rage and hate all aimed at her, as it whipped out a mass at her she was shocked at how slow it was, dashing forward she slid under the swipe and swung a few of her own tearing the beasts limb to pieces, again she was surprised by her abilities, quickly standing she looked to the monster and watched as it raised a new limb to strike, noting the red eyes the occasionally appeared across the blob of rage she began to track them as they opened closed and faded into the blob. Leaping back to the side she avoided a strike as she morphed her weapons into a bow and took aim, as she felt the beasts' grip lock around her ankle, as it yanked her into the air she released the shot piercing one of it's eyes causing it to release her, twisting her body mid-air she stabbed the bow into the armor plate atop the blobs mass causing it to evaporate slowly lowering her to the ground
"Well done, but you must remember that your foe is going to be powerful in his own right. Cover every possible outcome and fight for what you want. He will not stand in the way of that." Salem spoke earning a nod from Cinder as she turned to face her and summoned a bit of reflective glass to her hand and stared into her own eyes and frowned, they were still amber but around the pupal had become green which faded to blue that was quickly over powered by her natural eye color, it was only slightly unpleasant to look at
"How long until this runs out? Is it permanent?"
"It is... but... I may have omitted a small amount of information." Salem added causing Cinder to quickly give her her full attention "While the power you've been granted greatly improves your combat prowess it's the heart and soul of the planet itself. Such power... burns a soul until it is not but ashes. From now on, you are quiet literally on a time limit." Salem explained causing Cinder to pale and very quickly come down from her adrenaline high "Not to worry though, most confirmed cases lasted for a good twenty years before symptoms began to show."
"Twenty years... that's enough time to get revenge... … what about him though? His eyes were glowing too, do you have any idea if he will also suffer from these... symptoms?" she questioned causing the woman to let out a hum as she began to walk out of the arena scratching her chin thoughtfully Cinder quickly following after her
"I'm not sure, all signs point to him having the later skills afforded to those who have absorbed parts of the lifestream... but unlike most he has near perfect control over the elemental powers as if it's second nature. If so, then he may have found a way to conquer the fatal effects." she speculated as the two ventured deeper into the castle
(o)
Ruby landed feet first quickly lifting harbinger's grip up letting the blade hang down in front of her body quickly swinging her arm she knocked the clawed hand off course sending the limb roaring through the side of a small building, Jaune rushing to help only to end up dodging the other arm leaving the two separated as the creatures arms slithered back to it's body
"Jaune you okay?" Ruby called leveling her weapon and gripping it in two hands as the Nuckelavee roared both of it's arms reeling back to it's body before launching they back out, Jaune lifted his shield and blocked the arm but he was quickly sliding across the ground, the other arm came flying straight at Ruby who leapt into the air at the last second and landed on the limb, running along it she swung her blade a few times each strike cutting deeper then the last causing both limbs to fly back to the beast as it roared again this time Beowolves came rushing from the forest towards the two, Ruby quickly moved to Jaunes' side and began to fight off as many as she could while Jaune attempted to prevent the Nuckelavee from attacking her, mostly by taking the attacks himself
"Ruby, I can't make a scratch on this thing, you gotta do it." he said as Ruby knocked a Beowolf off it's feet as Jaune cut down another
"Can you take the Beowolves?"
"I'm sure I can learn a lot from them, switch?"
"Fine." Ruby agreed rolling her eyes as they high-fived and turned towards their enemies Jaune moving in and slashing at the wolves giving a loud cry of fury that garnered all the beasts attention while Ruby practically danced her way towards the Nuckelavee dodging strikes from the clawed fingers as well as the retracting hands trying to trip her, until the Beast was distracted by a bullet striking it upside the head causing it to stumble, looking over Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all just arrived earning a scoff from Ruby
"Where've you three been?" she questioned leaping out of the path of one of the arms then smacking the other with the blunt of her blade pushing her down onto the ground and away from the grabbing claw as Ren and Pyrrha joined her while Nora joined Jaune
"Waiting on you two, then we hear the roar and came running." Ren answered through gritted teeth practically seething at the beast who quickly picked up on that and began its attack in full force once more the three quickly moving to battle the beast, any fatigue or worry forgotten in favor of achieving victory
A/N I apologize for the delay, over the past few months I was struck with a massive amount of Writer's Block so I set about writing just about everything that entered my mind in an attempt to unblock my writers block but all it did was make me sick. Anywho that's not why we're here, we're here to hear that, No I'm not out for the count quite yet, yes I will be continuing this, yes I do have a massive folder full of half-finished or fully finished stories written purely due to stubbornness, I have no idea how well they turned out or if they are any good but hey, if you lot wanna see them just say so, and I'll make like... a collection or something of them all.