Ruby let out a few deep breaths as Sephiroth came to a stop at one of the many crumbled ledges of the Mistral as he turned to face her and smiled, Ruby felt a wave of energy shoot through her, as the sky above lit up washing her and him in green-blue light, though Sephiroth had no effect on him the light itself didn't effect him as he prepared to fight her once more Ruby on the other hand was fuming with rage
Leaping into action Ruby swung a few times but Sephiroth easily stepped back and dodged each attack though his movements were starting to grow sluggish the more he moved until finally she landed a powerful slash across his chest causing him to gag and take a small step back, grinning Ruby felt a wave of euphoria run through her body as she glared at him, his eyes slowly moving from the ground to her own and he smiled back
"Just a little too slow." he commented as his form turned to black smoke and vanished leaving Cinder standing in his place, she deliriously looked up at her before collapsing to the ground as the mountain began to tremble and crack, Ruby quickly turned and looked into the sky an aurora was flowing down from the north, blue-green waves of energy, a few moments after noting that she turned towards the school to see a powerful blast of similar energy explode out from the mountain top sending the same ripples across the sky
"RUBY!" Yang shouted as she and Blake quickly caught up to her the surrounding area was destroyed but the three knew that with the tremors it would be collapsing very soon "What happened? Where's that bastard gone?"
"I don't know... but it looks like- it looks like he can control others." she said gesturing to Cinder who was staring blankly and mumbling to herself "Cinder are you alright?" Ruby asked kneeling down next to the woman who just repeated what she asked in a dead tone still staring blankly, pulling the woman to her feet she noted that Cinder was able to walk just not without help it seems
"Come on guys, go get everyone else we're heading for the school. This cant wait." Ruby ordered as she picked cinder up and leapt away before the others could protest. This whole situation was going from bad to worse.
(o)
Raven could feel her head pounding her vision was glowing as she stumbled away from the whirlwind of energy which Sephiroth was watching as he pulled his blade free from the crunched remains of the once beautiful artifact, turning back to face her his hair and clothes were whipping violently in the waves of energy as he looked her over
"What... why?! That object-"
"Was pointlessly holding this world back as well as holding me hostage in a way. Two have been destroyed, two remain. Vale and Vacuo are all that stand in my way now, they shall both burn just as this city, and just as Atlas has. If you value anything within this world I recommend you make your peace, as it will soon crumble into dust." he said walking past her towards the hole she burned into the vault and floated up and out leaving the older woman stunned and struggling to recover as the pounding sensation in her mind quickly over took her forcing her to collapse into darkness.
Within the darkness Raven was assaulted by memories some she recognized other she certaintly didn't, being a maiden allowed all other maidens' memories to flow through them, but as of right now the assault on her mind, in some she was a child in others she was a man a few she was an animal but all pounded through her mind again and again, the burning that ran through her mind didn't stop when she fell unconscious
(o)
Ruby couldn't feel anything right now, she had no choice but to deaden her mind to all the screams, there were only eight of them, and with Raven still missing they had no way to keep the Grimm at bay, the massive amount of damage to the city left negative emotions exploding from the civilians the light show earlier did the same thing, there was an endless number of problems going on right now and now... now she was confused, she had no idea what to do Sephiroth could control people like Cinder, it was possible that he could control her too, but he didn't.
Turning towards the smoldering ruins she stared down at the hell that was now Mistral looking past the smoke she couldn't help but feel sick, letting her shoulders hang low she sighed and turned towards Emerald who was currently nursing Cinder while Mercury and Yang kept squaring up both jeering each other attempting to get the other to throw the first punch
"ENOUGH YOU TWO!" Ruby shouted causing both to quickly turn to her as she turned from the scene and glared at both of them "Now then, what do you two know of Sephiroth. Clearly Cinder isn't going to be of any help right now and he has done something, I refuse to believe that whatever that light was had nothing to do with him."
"We got no idea what any of that is, but that bastard single handedly destroyed an entire city, I mean... we've done the same but that took... that took almost six months worth of planing and prep." Mercury commented walking away from Yang who mocked and and stormed off to her teammates who were giving Mercury a fair number of glares as he walked over and stared into the burning wreck "I mean... what the hell does he want?" he questioned earning a chuckle from Ruby
"He want's to cause chaos, he hates all life and will do whatever it takes to wipe out anything sentient." she answered with a frown as Pyrrha walked up next to her
"He thinks he's a god... and after seeing this, I'm sure he's more of a monster." Pyrrha said looking more disgusted by the sight then Mercury
"Well Champ what do you plan to do against him?"
"Me... nothing, he seems to recognize what my semblance does, any battle I've partaken in against him he does all he can to eliminate me from actively participating even though no matter how heavy I make his sword he can some how counteract the effect." Pyrrha answered with a frown as she walked over to Jaune who was currently talking with Lionheart near the front of the school, along side the two of them were many officials such as council members and police chiefs
"So who does have a plan for that bastard? Because if you don't got something then I say we team up and kill that rat."
"I wanna kill him, you guys can make your way to Vale and keep an eye on Beacon, we're gonna make our way to Atlas and make sure Ironwood knows what's going on." Ruby ordered earning a raised eyebrow from the silver haired boy who stomped over to her and stared down into her eyes
"I don't take orders from a girl." he growled but Ruby appeared completely unphased
"Then go jerk yourself off while we go do something worth our time." Ruby growled back just as dangerously her words though caused Emerald to attempt to stifle some laughter "I don't give a flying fuck weather you think you're a big strong man or some oh so sad daddy didn't love you enough sob story but right now we have a job to do, so shut up and get over it." she ordered and turned and walked away leaving Mercury staring blankly as the girl stormed off, blinking a few times he seemed to register her words and was about to say something but stopped when Emerald placed a hand on his shoulder
"We should just get Cinder out of here, then we can set about on her plans afterwards. Come on." she quickly said pulling him away as she began to ready cinder for moving but stopped when she turned and found Raven Branwen standing over her looking really bad, her right arm was bare and bleeding her clothes were more tatters than clothing, her boots were messy and cut up the only part of her that seemed okay was her face and even then she had a deep cut over her left brow along with a large portion of her hair on that side of her head was cut free as well
"If you two are planing on going elsewhere... I do recommend listening to the girl... Atlas is gone from what Sephiroth has said, I will be going to check Ruby and her team will be going to Vacuo, inform your master of this; Sephiroth is not someone who can be taken down easily, he isn't human." she said before lazily walking over to Yang who grabbed her shoulders' as she collapsed into her and fell unconscious as he lowered her to the ground blood staining her arms and chest, Yang though didn't seem concerned at all as she set about covering each wound, Weiss moving to help as well both of them quickly going through the motions attempting to cover up the wounds as her life blood steadily flowed.
(o)
Ruby was rather upset about this whole situation, a little peeved, furious. She was full of unquenchable rage and hatred for Sephiroth, they had spent two days here, two. In two days Sephiroth crushed this city, what in the hell was the plan?! She had no idea what to do, he can travel far faster than she can, but why? Why was he attack these cities? What was he getting from it, what was that energy and how did it happen, what brought about this effect.
"Ruby! Get over here." Yang called out, turning she quickly jumped into over drive and rushed over to she slid up next to Raven who groaned in pain and looked over to her
"Sephiroth... followed me into the vault." she said causing Ruby to frown "He destroyed the relic... and he said that he destroyed the one in atlas as well... that means that Vale and Vacuo are all that's left to protect, I... I'll go to atlas... ensure that his words are true... when I'm able. You must go to Vacuo, prepare them o-or something... the summer maiden has been lost for decades... but I know her... I'll ensure her safety..." Raven said through gasps and gags before falling under her aura beginning to flash around her wounds
"Okay... so I suppose we're heading back towards Vale... what the fuck..." Ruby muttered in frustration earning a smack in the should from Yang "Hey! We just spent months walking our way across an entire continent I think I have the right to be a little miffed." Ruby quickly justified raising her hands and leaning back on her knees
"Huff... fine, just don't make it a habit, I'll go down and see if we can get a boat or an airship or something, I'm sure they'll be loaded down with refugees but it's better than walking across the continent just to end up without a ride." Yang conceded as she rose to her feet and looked to Weiss "Keep an eye on her, please." she requested before running off
(o)
This was the most functionally awkward moment of Oscars' life, even if Ozpin was reassuring him that he had nothing to worry about, waiting a few moments he stepped up and folded his hands looking as innocent as possible
"Name and Identification." the soldier ordered causing Oscar to wince a bit at the harsh and exhausted tone of his voice
"I-I don't... have one." he answered earning a critical look from the Soldier who looked him up and down, the guard sighed "Go over there and register in the line with the orange tape, they'll get you sorted with an ID and living space until you're capable of aiding in the combat effort or have found yourself a job." he explained in a still exhausted tone but he did seem to soften a little. Oscar, not wanting to cause any more of a scene than he already has quickly moved off and joined the line, it had a few kids older than him but many many more who were younger, much younger in fact, children from the ages of 3 to 15 were grouped together in this area, all those who aren't officially considered citizens until becoming adults at the age of 16.
After an hour or so he finally got out of the refugee camp, and could finally start his search, walking towards the main road he couldn't help but feel massive pangs of sadness as he looked across the streets he knew these streets, but he also didn't recognize them
'I'm sorry, my emotions are leaking.' Ozpin apologized after noting that Oscar let out a shutter
"Don't be... this is as much on me as it is on you." Oscar said as they passed by a shattered storefront
'No, no, this is my failure, not yours don't allow my guilt to leak into you.' Ozpins' voice echoed in his mind earning a nod from Oscar as he bumped into a taller person
"Sorry about that." he quickly apologized looking up at the woman, she was dressed in tattered and torn clothes her face was dirty and her hair was short but messy, her cold blue eyes danced tiredly over his face
"Just watch where you're goin'." she said giving him a light punch on the shoulder then began to trudge past him
"Um... one thing before you go... are... you... are you a huntress?"
"Nah... just protecting the city." she answered without even turning around
"Well... thank you." he said with a quick bow causing her to freeze for an instant but she then just waved a hand and walked away.
Oscar then turned and kept walking as Ozpin explained things about Glynda Goodwitch the woman he was here to find, as he walked he eventually came to a chain link fence on the other side was a barren wasteland of rubble and dirt, on the short buildings along the bordering fence line sat old artillery pieces, currently laying silent as groups of soldiers ran along the inline of the fence
"Excuse me! Sir!" Oscar called waving down one of the soldiers who slowed to a stop
"Sir?" he asked as he readjusted his rifle on his shoulder
"I'm- I'm looking for Glynda Goodwitch, do you know where she is?"
"She's currently on a mission with the other Huntsman to block up the hole in the wall, we're cleaning up the stragglers." he answered then took off after the other soldiers, walking along the fence Oscar felt a little sick
'Again you're feeling my emotions, this area used to be the agricultural district, now it is a destroyed battlefield... that must mean that agriculture is now dispersed around the city, pushing the responsibilities onto the civilians.' Ozpins' voice came through his mind earning a frown from the boy as he looked out over the field
"Can it be restored?"
'After an extensive effort towards repairing the wall and re-fertilizing the fields. Then yes. But that is an expensive and taxing effort, the coffers of Vale are already thin enough, I'd say twenty to thirty years before the effort begins, then another ten years after that.' the voice answered, Oscar was shocked at how slow such a decision could possible be, unfortunately for him though he also had a slight understanding as to how the politics of that worked
With a sigh he slouched a bit and dropped down on the curb with a sigh "So... when we were looking over that casualty report who were we looking for?"
'Apart from personal desire to memorize as many names as I can, I was searching to see if Qrow Branwen had survived... he did not, and... and that is a devastating blow, Glynda Goodwitch is our only hope of retrieving my cane, once we get it we can go from there, I'd say we should wait near her home but I don't know if she still lives there.' Ozpin responded a few small waves of guilt washing over Oscar as he looked up at the gray sky which rumbled earning a frown from the boy as lightning crackled above
"Is... is it gonna rain?" Oscar asked slightly worried by the looks of the gray sky which quickly opened up poring water down on the boy
'Probably.' Ozpin responded clearly suppressing a chuckle as Oscar started to grumble and stormed off in search of some cover
A/N okay... so... yeah... I kinda had a plan for this and... funnily enough, Sephiroth got in the way, weird right? Anywho what I'm gonna do with the next chapter is somethin' along the lines of what the fuck happened in Atlas, which will also probably be a short chapter too, it'll be mayhym and chaos but it'll fall in line with the story that I'm tellin' there's also the fact that Vacuo needs a bit of flesh given the fact that there'll be a time skip between point A and point B, and also figuring out the special 'MacGuffin' hiding the relic under Beacon, cuz I gotta get down there... for reasons. Look all ya really gotta do at this point is keep 'Those Chosen By The Planet' loopin' as you read.