Happy Fourth of July everybody! And happy three days after Canada Day too!
Beta-ed by xenosaiyan
"Just two sugars should be sufficient."
"Are you sure? This tea is pretty bitter."
"The bitterness is the p…pp… point, Lord Happy. The sugar is only meant to offset it."
"But Yang doesn't like bitter tea." Happy turned towards her. "You still don't like bitter tea, right?"
Yang, currently secreted away in a hidden passage connected to Lionheart's office and bound to the ceiling by a seal stone cuff, glared at her old friend and the traitorous headmaster. "Can't say I'm a fan."
"Exactly," Happy nodded, frowning at Lionheart. "Now go get her more sugar."
"Ye…yes, sir," the lion faunus frantically nodded, bustling about in his office cabinets for more sugar for his antique ceramic tea set.
Yang sneered at the huntsman's scuttling. She grabbed hold of the chain binding her and tugged hard, hoping to pull the restraint out of the ceiling.
Happy plopped himself on top of Lionheart's desk next to the one remaining Ember Celica gauntlet and sighed. "That room was made to hold a huntress, Yang. As long as that seal stone is around your wrist, you're not getting out."
"Then let me out," Yang asked. "Happy, please. I'll give you a fish!"
"Tempting. But this is more important than fish," Happy said. The demonic Exceed smiled at her, as if they were just meeting for lunch in the guildhall. "It is so good to see you again, Yang. I mean, circumstances aside."
The blonde Devil Slayer narrowed her eyes. "Are you actually you? I mean, End sure ain't Natsu."
"Ha! No, he isn't. He's probably grinning because you said that though, because he does have hearing just as good as Natsu's," Happy chuckled, before a melancholic frown overtook his face. "But I'm me. The same Happy you knew back at the guild. Just… older."
Yang couldn't help but sympathize with the resignation in her old friend's voice. Life since the Vytal Festival had been harrowing to say the least. Things hadn't all been sunshine and rainbows beforehand, they'd been worried about being trapped in another dimension after all, but there was always a noticeable silver lining. The book had dropped them off in the middle of Fairy Tail and not Tartaros for one.
But ever since they'd gotten back to Remnant, she'd been maimed by her partner, tricked by a demon who looked like her mentor/crush, gotten her ass handed to her by said demon, and to top it all off, she'd been abandoned by her birth mother again. All those years searching, all those years hoping there was a reason, spat right back in her face. Back at Beacon, she would have gotten angry, gotten furious, and she was.
But she was also tired. She was so freaking tired.
"Happy, please," she whispered, her hand sagging in its shackle. "Help me."
Happy sprouted his wings and flew over to her, wrapping her neck in a hug. "It's alright, Yang. I've got this under control. Everything is going to be okay."
Tears trickled down Yang's cheeks and matted the Exceed's dark fur. "You're working for Salem."
"Better than working for Ozpin," Happy murmured. "At least this way I have a chance to save my friends."
"How?" Yang demanded. "What does she want?"
"Lord Happy!"
Both Yang and the Exceed frowned, pulling apart as Lionheart turned towards them, the tea poured and steaming within its flower-covered cup.
"What is it, Lionheart?" Happy demanded.
The lion faunus bowed his head and shuffled back, the cause of his interruption soon making itself known.
End stalked through the door to the office. "Happy, get in the air. The White Fang has sighted Ruby and the others approaching."
Happy nodded. "Right, partner. Don't worry, Cinder and I will cover you. Yang, we'll talk more later. Enjoy the tea! Ozpin made the cups himself!"
"Right," Yang muttered. "Be safe, Happy."
The demonic Exceed cheerfully nodded and flew off out the office window. Yang's gaze turned cold and she focused it on End.
"What did you do to him?" she demanded.
"Me? I have done nothing to him. We've been partners for decades," End replied. "Now the Queen, she saved his life. And Natsu's, and mine by extension."
Yang snarled. She made to rush at the demon but was halted by her chain snapping taut. "If you hurt Ruby, I will crush you."
End sighed. "I have no intention of hurting her. If she doesn't choose to fight, we can take the Relic and all be on our way to the Queen before the night is out."
"But she's going to fight!"
"Most likely. I promise to do my best to be as gentle as possible." The demon turned to Lionheart. "Stay here. Knowing that we have a 'hostage' that we're willing to kill will hopefully keep Ruby from doing anything too reckless."
Lionheart gulped, prostrating himself before his master. "Of course, Lord End."
End nodded and left the office, the temperature dropping a few degrees as he went.
"Some headmaster you are. Kowtowing to a demon," Yang snorted. "Guess I shouldn't have expected any less from the guy that let Cinder and her cronies walk right into Beacon."
Lionheart flinched at her words. "They were only supposed to find Amber and take the maiden powers. I didn't think she'd nearly destroy the kingdom."
Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, cause letting her murder someone is so much better."
"Salem commanded it!" Lionheart protested. "You've seen how powerful her followers are, and she's even worse. Ozpin knows there's no way to beat her and yet he keeps throwing lives away trying!"
"Because that's what huntsmen do," Yang scowled. "And you can bet Ruby won't back down. When End doesn't bring me out to the meeting, she's going to blow this whole place apart looking for me."
Lionheart cackled, a weak, exhausted thing that sounded like he knew a joke that she didn't but didn't find it funny in the slightest.
"I assure you, the Ophiuchus will produce you at the meeting," he revealed. "The Gate of the Twins will see to that. They can't be stopped. But they can be bargained with. And through that bargain, I can keep my students safe. Haven will not suffer the same fate as Beacon."
"Until you outlive your usefulness," Yang mocked. "And I'm pretty sure a couple of Haven kids died in the Fall."
"Better than all of them if she decided to level Mistral!" the headmaster finally shouted, though even then his voice quivered. He limped over to Yang, raising the teacup to her lips. "The Queen does not dispose of pawns. As long as I am loyal, she will take care to protect me and my students. She will unite Remnant and bring both humanity and the faunus to their peak. It will be a bloody evolution, but by the end, we will no longer have to fear the Grimm—"
His excuse was interrupted when Yang spat the steaming hot tea right in his face. Lionheart yelped and staggered back, his hands shooting to his face to rub the scalding liquid out of his eyes before his aura faltered and it actually harmed him. The teacup tumbled from his hand and shattered against the floor.
"Darn it!" the headmaster squealed. He rubbed his eyes clear and glared at the blonde huntress. He strode over and flicked a hidden switch on the wall, sliding the secret passage shut. "She's immortal. Truly immortal. Did Ozpin tell you that?"
The alcove closed itself off from the office, leaving Yang alone in the hidden cell. Even better than she'd planned.
The thing about aura? It enhanced every part of the body, not just regular muscles. Including making teeth and jaws strong enough to bite through a teacup. Lionheart didn't realize because the cup shattered on the floor, but Yang hadn't just taken some of the still bitter tea into her mouth.
She didn't know what Lionheart was talking about with this whole immortality idea, Uncle Qrow would have mentioned a detail that important, but he had revealed crucial details about End's plan, specifically that the Gate of the Twins would play a crucial role in it. Lucy had brought out Gemini for some party tricks on game night more than once, so Yang was fully aware of the parameters of the spirit's transformation. Once it had taken a shape, no one would be able to tell the difference, not by smell or magical signature.
If the demon was doing what she thought he was doing, Ruby would be caught completely off guard. She couldn't let that happen.
She slid the porcelain shard out from her mouth and secured it between her teeth, careful to keep its razor-sharp edge from cutting her gums. She swiveled her head toward her bound arm.
She hesitated. Even lowering the aura from her forearm and applying it to the body parts that would amplify the strength of her slices, flesh and bone were stronger than most gave them credit for. In theory, her improvised shiv could cut through them in time, her aura would heighten its jagged edge, but it would not be a fast process. While she had blacked out from shock when Blake had cut off her right arm, she would feel every bit of agony from this process.
But that hesitation only lasted a moment before she narrowed her eyes. Her friends would endure anything for her, so she could endure this for them. That was the Fairy Tail way. She would not be like Lionheart or Raven. She would not be a coward and run from what needed to be done. She would take this pain head-on, just like she had everything else she'd gone through in her life. And just like always, she'd come out stronger.
She gritted her teeth on her weapon and thrust into her wrist.
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Even though she knew it was coming, even though she had resolved herself to push through, it was still agony.
The pink-haired swordswoman, the treemaster, the tower, her eye, The Dragon, the Blade Dragon Eater, even a woman with her face beating her to death as a floating island exploded around them. All the physical anguish she'd ever suffered assailed her like an armada of hornets stinging every inch of her flesh, inside and out, at once. Her skin boiled and screamed, her nerves crying out for the torture to stop, for all the physical torment of to cease its bombardment of her senses.
She endured it. She had to endure it. Even when the bone-faced demon appeared before her and unleashed her hellish curse, amplifying the maelstrom of agony a million times over, she knew she had to force herself to hold on.
Each sword slash spilled open her guts. Every whip strike split her down to her spine. Her skeleton was completely obliterated by the crushing tempest of physical blows, her muscles pounded to a pulp. Through it all, she gritted her teeth and held in her howl of anguish, desperately pushing through. She had to push through! She had to for… for…
No!
The physical pain was only the beginning, the mountain-sized tip of an iceberg as big as a continent. The agony of failure, of the mind and heart, thrust itself upon her.
A broad, wrinkled back, coated in a single pink symbol that she wished she'd known, consumed in a rush of suffocating heat.
"Grandpa Rob!"
A towering man in a turban, standing before her, his arms spread to meet all-consuming darkness before it tore her to shreds.
"Simon!"
A boy with blue hair and an intricate crimson birthmark over his eye, his face so cruel when it should have been kind. Then the boy became a man, the gentleness returned to his features, before he was dragged off in chains.
"Jellal!"
It was the color of her hair…
And finally, the short, elderly sage with a bushy mustache, his body coated in dust and ash, his hands clasped together as his final golden light faded from his clap. She wanted to stop him, but she was held down by a dozen mutants, their claws carving into her back as tears gushed down her face.
"Master… father…"
She wasn't strong enough. All her armor, all her skill, all her magic, and everyone kept suffering to protect her. And in turn, her burden only grew.
But she couldn't stop. She wouldn't stop. She would endure. She'd push through the pain! She'd keep going! Keep fighting!
KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING!
Her family was hurt. Her brothers were wounded, sealed away for their protection. So was her little girl, the one who would normally heal them all. Only her sister, her golden hair matted with dirt and barely shielding her, remained standing, the White Witch's forces bearing down on them.
There was only her. Only her to protect her family. Her armor dented, her swords chipped, but her will unbroken. Strained and bent to the furthest degree, but unbroken. She would not falter!
KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING!
The Card Dealer. The Gunslingers. Peppered with stings but overwhelmed and tossed aside.
The Beast. The Iron Dragon. They tore her armor apart, delivered a cacophony of bruises across her flesh, but she beat them down and crushed them underfoot.
The Demon… she failed.
She could not beat her. Even at her best, they were an even match, and she was far from her best now. She was battered and exhausted and The Demon punished her for that weakness. Her scaled claws dug up her veins, bathing her flesh with the crimson sheen of her own blood as violet flames lit them in the glow of the pit.
Her heart, the heart that should have had no more blood to pump, hammered in her ear, a war drum beaten so quickly that lightning could not have struck it between the notes.
She was going to fail. She was going to die. Her family was going to die!
KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING! KEEP FIGHTING!
Her head was in The Demon's talon, about to be splattered against the pavement. She mustered every ounce of strength she had left in her sword arm, refusing to die, and she plunged the blade towards The Demon's stomach, her own heart reaching a peak of pressure, about to explode and take them both to their graves—
"NO! ERZA!"
Her eyes widened. She could not rightly comprehend what happened next. The blood, the flames, her sword, even The Demon, they all froze, as if time itself would not allow them to pass.
But she was not without danger, for over her stood a foe far mightier than The Demon.
The Dragon towered over the broken woman, her vineyard of scarlet hair flowing behind her.
She readied for battle, and yet, the only foe she could not slay made no move to fight, merely reaching out a clawed nail for her forehead.
"Wallow in the pain, even to endure it, and it will swallow you whole, just as it nearly did me for so long," The Dragon warned. "But just as I remembered you, you must remember them! All of them! I can hold it for a moment to ease the burden, but you will not be able to carry it if you do not remember why! Erza! The path is open! See what you have suffered for, see the light makes your darkness matter! Move forward past these agonies! Your endless adventure is not done yet!"
The Dragon's claw gently tapped her forehead and a white light consumed her vision just as her sword pierced The Demon's side.
The short, elderly sage stood before her, lively than his frozen corpse, his bushy white mustache raised in a grin. He held her hand tight, like a father would a child, caressing the side of her face as a pink-haired woman inserted something into the side of her face.
"Rob was right to send you here," the sage said. "Whatever you have suffered, whatever you have endured, this guild will be your family. They will help you move on from your pain."
She wanted to ask how that could be, how she could move forward when her muscles felt like they were on fire. But the answer came before the words could leave her mouth.
The pink-haired woman placed the object in her head, and she saw. Her new eye relieved her of the darkness she had barely known was there, making the world seem so much more vibrant… allowing her to see the old sage for who he truly was.
"Master," she whispered, tears streaming down her face.
The floodgates opened and suddenly she was everywhere. The pain was still present all over her body, but is subsumed, buried. Balmed by the flowerbed of memories that seeped through her pores, thrusting her all over a world she now knew so well, all over Earthland, flashing images and feelings through her mind that felt so… right.
Bathing in a steaming hot spring with her sisters, blond haired, white haired, green haired, blue haired, brunette hair… Lucy, Mira, Bisca, Juvia, Levy, Cana, Lisanna…
Listening to her brothers who'd once been so lost, one singing his heart out for the life he loved while the other simply basked in the family he so prized… Gajeel, Laxus…
The sisters from another world, who so swiftly carved out a place in her heart… Weiss, Blake, Yang… her dear apprentice… Ruby…
Wrapping her arms around her crying blue-haired daughter, comforting her as her world crumbled around her, extending the same hand that her master, her father, had once offered her… Wendy.
Her brothers, fire and ice forever bickering, forever building each other up, forever needing her to keep them from going too far… Natsu… Gray…
Her family… her guild… her home…
She was somewhere else now, laying down on a beach, glimmering pollen casting a golden light all around her, and the one on top of her. Blue hair, crimson birthmark, and a face that positively glowed with the kindness she remembered. As well as something else, something that she was sure coated her own face as well…
Suddenly, they were in a dark room, a hotel in Hargeon. She was set to leave the continent with her team the next day, he had come to ask her for any information she had on the White Witch… and by the end of it they were wearing nothing at all…
Jellal…
Her lover disappeared, replaced by a stainless, white hospital room, state of the art medical equipment surrounding her bed. Doctors swarmed all over her, one standing between her thighs, his hands reaching down for something, something coming out of her bloated stomach.
Oh, and she was screaming. She was screaming a lot, doubtless a side effect of her body feeling like it was going through a meat grinder again.
"Deep breaths, Ms. Nikos, deep breaths," the doctor called up. "You're doing great!"
Since when did being in agony mean she was doing great?
A hand clenched around hers. Her eyes flickered over to the side, spying a red-haired woman in glasses holding her hand. Not her guildmate, but her sister nonetheless… Rouge…
"Just a little more, Scarlet," Rouge encouraged. "Pyrrha's almost here."
The scene changed and she was alone, the pain gone, and a small bundle tucked in her arms. She looked down and found herself met by a soft, infantile face, innocent emerald eyes staring up at her. The baby, her baby, giggled, a small tuft of red wiggling over her forehead.
The moment she smiled, she was standing. Behind her, stood Rouge and her daughter. Before her, the guild smiled and laughed, cheering an armored woman who looked just like her.
"Three cheers for Erza, the Seventh Master of Fairy Tail!"
"Erza! Erza! Erza!"
She smiled, hearing the chant through her own ears and those of the armored woman. Same thing really.
Everything dropped away in a white void. No pain. No others. No memories. Just her and herself, finally face-to-face
"Hello, Erza."
"Hello, Scarlet."
A light flashed, and she was the only one who remained, standing stalwart in the blank void. The pain, the memories, they were all where they were supposed to be. In her mind, in her past, building up to her present and her future.
She opened her eyes, both real and fake, and smiled. At last, she was whole.
"Hello, Erza Scarlet Nikos."
"That has quite a nice ring to it."
She turned, finding herself met by The Dragon, by Irene, both red-haired women gazing at each other.
"You're not a memory," Erza observed. "Wendy, did you possess her?"
"I am a passenger in her body," the Scarlet Despair revealed. "Rest assured, she is in complete control of her actions. I was only able to enter you with her permission. We have quite the effective working relationship."
"That would explain her knowledge of this ritual. And that tracking enchantment of hers," Erza noted. "You protected me?"
"You had the will to push through your pain, but your nerves are only human. Put your mind through all your agony at once and you would have had a heart attack. But I held it off for a moment and gave you time to use the newly opened paths to access your non-painful memories, allowing them to dilute them."
"I see," Erza replied, staring down at her sword hand, the hand that stabbed Mira. "I was so desperate. I killed her."
Irene scoffed. "I've tried to kill Mirajane Strauss before. You kept her from going after Heartfilia, but I doubt you put her down for good. Either way, nothing to be done about it now," The Queen of the Dragons waved her off and turned away. "Now then, since a good portion of the pain you just weathered was caused by me, I'll spare us both the awkward reunion. You don't owe me forgiveness, and my darling granddaughter needs your help to keep from getting herself killed."
Pyrrha. She was right. She'd known something was off with her daughter since her return from Beacon, the zeal which she threw herself into her training too much even for her studious nature. She'd recognized the danger of such a state when her Invincible Girl received word that Cinder Fall was in the city. Now with her memories restored, she knew where she'd seen that look before, on Kagura's face during the Grand Magic Games, when her obsession with destroying Jellal overtook her senses. And just like Minerva had manipulated that instinct to defeat the talented swordswoman, no good would come from Pyrrha's desperate thirst for revenge.
And yet, there was something she could not leave unsaid. Her feelings since the Alvarez War were complicated, but after how their last battle ended and seeing Acnologia desecrate her corpse… she could not let her think she hated her.
"Mother," she called, her voice cracking as Irene froze in her tracks. "I'm really glad you're alive."
The Scarlet Despair, the great Destroyer of Nations, stayed stock still, not a tremble to be seen. Yet, Erza was confident she saw a pair of tears trickle from her face to the floor of the white void.
"Twice now, you have found wonderful families to take care of you. They both need your help now," Irene said. "Be safe… dear daughter."
Her form dissipated into crimson dust leaving Erza alone in her own mind.
The Fairy Tail wizard glanced down at her arm, smiling at the sapphire guildmark she remembered at long last as she was consumed by white light.
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Wendy opened her eyes and let out a long breath. She felt the flow of magic finally stymie, the ritual complete, and removed her hands from Scarlet's head. To her side, Irene's spirit retook her previous place in her body, the spectral woman wiping ghostly tears from her face.
Wait… tears?
"What happened?!" she asked, panicked. She lunged over her patient, pressing her hands above her heart. "Scarlet! Speak to me! Are you alright—"
Her shouts were interrupted when the redheaded woman beneath her sat bolt upright and engulfed the Sky Dragon Slayer in a crushing hug. One that, very familiarly, crashed her face into the older woman's buoyant breasts.
"Wendy," she whispered, the young girl's name flowing off her lips like an incantation. "I'm so sorry."
The Sky Dragon Slayer's eyes widened, the smallest speck of hope sneaking its way into her soul. "Sca… Scarlet?"
"Yes," her hugger responded. "But not just Scarlet. I remember, Wendy. I'm here. And I am so sorry for everything I put you through."
"Erza…" Wendy gasped.
She wrapped her arms around her guildmate and broke down into sobs. She'd found it. She'd found the light, taken the first step forward to reuniting with her family. She had Erza back! She saw her as family again.
"Um… Wendy… Erza…"
Both women broke out of their hug and turned to the said. Carla stood before them, tears dripping down her pristine fur as the Exceed sniffled.
Erza opened her arms a little wider. "Come on, Carla. Get in here! Ruby, you… too?"
Wendy blinked and glanced around the Nikos living room, only to find her and her two guildmates as the only ones present. She probably should have figured that out when Ruby hadn't immediately dashed in to join the embrace.
"Well, you see," Carla sniffled, rubbing the liquid from her eyes. She flew over to a nearby table and snatched up a scroll. "Just look."
She turned the device's screen towards the two wizards, showing the time to be…
"8:05!?" Wendy squealed. That was the time End had told them to be at Haven by. If they weren't there… except Ruby and the others were there.
"They couldn't risk being late and having the Ophiuchus kill Headmaster Lionheart or leave with Yang," Carla confirmed. "They had to go."
"Why did the spell take so long?" Wendy panicked. "It was only a few seconds last time!"
"We didn't get very far with it last time," Erza growled, leaping to her feet. "Requip! Black Wing Armor!"
White light flashed over the redheaded wizard, fading barely an instant later, her clothes completely replaced by the familiar form of her ebony plated armor, its bat-like wings spread out behind her and her hair done up in a ponytail. She had been doing her breathing exercises to keep her origin flush with ethernano since she'd gotten to Remnant, but it had still been nearly two decades since she'd consciously used her magic. To think that her requiping speed hadn't degraded at all.
Wendy grinned, hope welling up within her at the sight of Titania Reborn. The Queen of the Fairies was back, and if they could get to Haven in time, the Gates wouldn't stand a chance.
At least, that's what they thought before a resounding knock sounded at the door.
Erza, Wendy, and Carla all whirled around to the opening hall of the house, their magic and weapons drawn and ready. The Sky Dragon Slayer sniffed the air, trying to identify the new arrivals before combat began.
As soon as the scent entered her nose, her eyes widened.
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"So, we all see the White Fang hiding on the outskirts, right?" Nora queried.
Ruby nodded. "Yup. Do they see Oscar?"
Nora smirked. "No one does."
"Good. He might be the only backup we've got."
They strode across the main Haven courtyard towards the Great Hall, mindful of the throngs of faunus terrorists waiting on the edge of the foliage. There were far fewer than there had been at Beacon, but still a decent amount, though they lacked anyone recognizable from the news like Blake's ex, that Adam guy. The fact that they hadn't attacked the academy already though suggested they were waiting for some sort of signal.
Ruby, Team JNPR, Uncle Qrow, and Raven marched through the courtyard, their hands on their weapons. The red hooded leader would have felt much better about the whole thing if she'd had Wendy, Carla, and possibly Erza at her side as well, but they hadn't been able to delay any longer for the ritual. There was a possibility that End might not have taken Yang and left, he was after the Relic of Knowledge, but she doubted that he would hesitate at executing his threat of killing Professor Lionheart if they were late. No, they would have to hope they finished in time for the Exceed to bring them as backup, and if not, that Oscar, hidden by Nora's magic and unknown by their enemies, would be enough to let them survive the opening of the fight.
With how the tracking sensor Wendy had given her was burning towards the left of the two pillars overlooking the courtyard and great hall, Ruby couldn't help but be worried.
"Do you sense her?" Pyrrha whispered, looking in the same direction.
Ruby nodded. Her eyes flickered up to the sky on the right side of the great hall, spotting a familiar flying cat. "End is trying to box us in. When the fight breaks out, Cinder and Happy will keep us pinned down."
"Then we need to take them out," Pyrrha resolved. "You take the cat, I'll take Cinder—"
"If End's power is everything we've been told it is, we need you with Jaune. He can keep him off us, but without Wendy backing him up, there is no way he'll be able to win," Ruby declared. "Oscar can keep Cinder off us."
Pyrrha scowled. Jaune came up and wrapped a hand around her shoulder, which prompted a smile for the champion, but her face was still thick with disgruntlement.
It didn't matter one way or the other. They were there.
The group marched through the massive open doors of Haven's great hall, entering the atrium and coming face-to-face with their enemy.
"Welcome, my friends," End greeted, standing on the same level as them in front of an open high-tech elevator.
Ruby almost did a double-take at the sight of him. The voice had a calm, cunning candor to it that made it easy to distinguish from Natsu in her mind once she knew what to look for, but his appearance was, aside from the devil horns and scaled arms, an exact match for her guildmate.
And yet the curse energy flooding off of him, energy she could tell was being restrained… they had to be very careful with how they tread.
"I notice that Wendy and Carla are conspicuously absent," End noted. "They're not trying anything foolish, I hope."
"They'd be here if they could. They ate at the Pancake Hut in the Lower Ring," Ruby taunted. "Got food poisoning."
"Food poisoning?" End chuckled, clearly not believing a word she said. "Sure. Why not."
"You," Jaune gasped, his eyes wide. "You're the Ophiuchus?"
Ruby turned to her fellow leader. "You know him?"
Ren nodded. "He showed up at Higanbana. Talked about 'purpose'."
End smiled. "Jaune, Ren. It's good to see you both again."
"Good to see us?" Ren repeated incredulously. "You sent the Nuckelavee to attack us."
"It was nothing you couldn't handle," End shrugged. "And because of that, you got to kill the Grimm that destroyed your hometown. Your purpose, fulfilled."
Ren's eyes narrowed. "A huntsman's purpose isn't revenge. It's to protect people."
"And because of you, the countryside will no longer have to fear that beast. As I said, your purpose, fulfilled," End tilted his head to the side, as if something had just occurred to him. "Well, at least until his next tour of duty."
Nora groaned. "I know I'm going to regret asking this, but 'tour of duty'? The Nuckelavee is dead."
"When a Celestial or Umbral Spirit is killed in this world, save at the hands of a Spirit Slayer, they merely return to their world. The Grimm have their sanity restored from their patron god's curse and they wait to be sent back," End explained. "The God of Darkness meant to wipe out humanity. His brother may desire to give them another chance, but he is not merciful, and he has set his servants to finish the job he cannot."
"What? That's ridiculous," Qrow growled. "Oz would have told us about that."
"And it's hardly important right now," Raven cut in, stepping forward even as her body trembled in the presence of the Ophiuchus. "I'm here."
End raised an eyebrow. He gestured behind him to the open elevator. "Yes, you are. I honestly wasn't sure if you wouldn't try to leave them high and dry. But I suppose even cowards can find their spines once in a while. Shall we go fetch the Relic so you can take your leave of us all?"
"Please. Do you think this is my first hostage situation?" Raven scoffed. "You say you have two hostages, Yang and Leo. You're not going to show us both so you can maintain the advantage of keeping one hidden. So show us Yang. Then we can do business."
"Spoken like an experienced bandit," End replied.
Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose, glaring at the fire demon. "You've got Mercury and Emerald hiding here, right? Guarding your prisoners? Have one of them bring Yang here."
End chuckled. "Do you expect me to believe you'll attack when the headmaster's life is still in danger?"
"He's not the one you might have already shipped off to Salem," Ruby snarled. "Yang. Now."
The Ophiuchus bowed his head. "As you wish. Mercury! Bring her in!"
There were a few moments of shuffling and stomping from deeper in the school and Mercury appeared at the top of stairs, Yang in his arms. Well, 'in his arms' implied that it was consensual. It wasn't.
Yang's only remaining arm was shackled behind her back, locked in a chain that was attached to a metal collar around her neck. A wad of cloth was stuffed in her mouth, muffling her fervent growls as she thrashed against Mercury's hold until they were brought to the top of the balcony.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted, only stopped from charging when Uncle Qrow put a firm hand on her shoulder. She whirled on him, only to find his own teeth already grit.
"Let her go," Qrow demanded.
"Gladly," End answered. "Once I hold the Relic of Knowledge in my hands, we can all take a trip to the Grimmlands as the friends we are."
"Okay, stop!" Ruby shouted, pushing off her uncle's hand and stomping a few steps towards the demon. She saw Yang's eyes widen above them, her sister frantically shaking her head to get her to hold back from challenging the Ophiuchus, but she really had lost all patience with this talk. "Why are you all so determined to have us join you? You sent us the book so we would go back and learn magic. And if it was just you and Happy, I could even believe that you just want to be with us. But why Salem? Why did she say you can't kill me, Wendy, and my team?"
"Why would she not?" End inquired, genuinely confused. "She is your friend."
"She's not my friend!" Ruby yelled. "Even if she wasn't, you know, The Queen of the Grimm, I've never even met her!"
"Never even…" For a moment, End looked utterly confounded. Then, he threw his head back and broke out into a round of laughter, every booming cackle heating up the room like a stoking furnace.
"What?" Ruby demanded. "What's so funny?"
"He hasn't told you!" End cackled. "He hasn't even told you who she is! I knew he was arrogant, but this! Ha! He plays the teacher, while acting the gamesman, too cowardly to take a chance at actually winning the match."
"Stop talking in riddles! Who is Salem and what does she want?!"
"She wants to save the world," End proclaimed. "And her name is—"
Whatever he was about to say was drowned out by the deafening boom of an explosion.
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Everything would be fine. Everything would go perfectly fine. Lord End would keep the White Fang in line, make sure Qrow's group didn't throw a spanner in the work, and then Lady Rosenflos would come and mop everything up. The Queen would be pleased… she would be pleased…
Leonardo sat back atop his desk, nervously fiddling with the dust settings on his shield, Stalwart. Long ago, he'd been so proud to have it bear that name, thought it best exemplified his nature as Ozpin's oldest and most loyal follower, trusted with the sacred stewardship of Haven Academy. A faunus holding such power in Mistral? It was a rare thing, and one he had hoped to use to bring about change for the better in his home kingdom.
But then Raven had come to him with a plot, to use the young Spring Maiden in his care to access the Relic of Knowledge and find a way to defeat Salem once and for all, to end his friend Ozpin's endless burden. He'd taken some convincing, surely their great leader must have thought of doing such a simple thing before over his many years, but in the end, he hadn't been able to turn away the passionate huntress, utterly devoted to the cause and making a better world for her newborn daughter.
They'd learned of her immortality. Then Raven had fled. Then Summer had died. The Spring Maiden ran away from his care, terrified of the impossible battle she was doomed to face. And Leonardo, who had tried so hard to bolster her spirits, found his own in pieces.
He went to her to beg, for Mistral, for Haven, for his students that he could not protect through force of arms. And yes, for himself, he was ashamed to admit. He was just so afraid.
She'd called him coward, but she hadn't been blind to the usefulness of his position. For years, he'd just quietly passed along information to her, including the secret routes Amber used to travel through Vale. He'd kept up appearances with Ozpin, trained his wonderful students to hold back the Grimm, all while working with the terrifying woman who would kill every last one of them if it meant finishing humanity's natural enemies once and for all.
And now, he had a one-armed girl chained up in a secret corridor in his office. Lionheart let out a long sigh, his face falling into his hands as he tried to calm his pounding heart. This was not how he'd wanted things to go. But if he could just stick it out a little longer, he could keep the academy standing and no one would have to die—
"Ah! Argh!"
Lionheart shot to his feet, his eyes wide as grunts of agony emanated out from within the hidden alcove. It was entirely possible that Ms. Xiao-Long was faking her pain to lure him in for some scheme to escape but… but he couldn't just do nothing. Lord End would not tolerate any undue harm to his charge.
And besides… he was a teacher. Even if he was as abysmal as one could be, he couldn't just let a child cry out in pain.
He dashed over to the wall of the room and flipped the hidden switch, swinging open the secret alcove. When he saw what was inside, he paled in shock and horror.
Ms. Xiao-Long was hacking at her own wrist! Cutting into her one remaining arm with a jagged shard of a teacup between her teeth! She howled with each strike, blood pouring out of the trench she had carved in her flesh, a white flash of bone appearing in the wound!
Was she insane?! She'd already lost one arm! With a wound like that, even if he got her medical attention, she'd be lucky to survive, let alone keep the hand! He had to act, to save her, now!
Lionheart dashed to her side, but the blonde turned on him as soon as he approached. The aura she had deactivated to attack herself was reactivated to deliver a brutal kick to the former headmaster's sternum. In his prime, he could have dodged it easily, but old as he was, his fear crippling him for over a decade, he was sent flying across the room.
He crashed into one his antique wooden shelves, dozens of thick tomes clattering down on his head. Ms. Xiao-Long was already back to trying to slice her own arm off.
The traitorous headmaster frantically flicked dials on his shield. He couldn't let this go on! He'd just use a small shot of lightning dust combined with a bit of rock dust for a solid taser shot, disable her, and dress her wound so that she didn't die!
He raised his arm, his ammunition swiftly taking shape above the weapon's cross. He waited until her head was pulled back from the arm so that he wouldn't hit a vital area by accident and then, with a flick of the trigger, the fist-sized electric ball of stone rocketed towards the captive wizard.
However, by waiting until she could see the attack coming, she saw it coming. Yang pulled away from the chain and towards the wall, extending her arm into the line of fire, ensuring the blast struck the area she'd been cutting at. The thunderous stone, only meant to incapacitate her, rammed into the open canyon of her wrist and blew right through her exposed bone. Ms. Xiao-Long cried out as she was blown into the wall, tears raining down her cheeks as her severed hand plummeted from the swinging seal stone shackle.
"No!" Lionheart shouted, racing to her side, horrified at her raw wound. "Please, let me help! You're bleeding!"
"Bleeding? Heh, heh, heh, heh, HEHEHEHEH!"
Lionheart's blood ran cold. The wizard's cackle contained pain, yes, but also a hungry bloodlust from the bowels of hell. It reminded him of the few times he'd had the misfortune to be in Salem's presence, of the killing instinct of a serpent just waiting to sink its fangs into his throat.
The huntress looked up at the headmaster, her eyes blazing red and a wide, pointed smile across her face. As her laugh grew in volume, a putrid, demonic tattoo stretched out over the side of her face, growing down over her chest and into a stump on her right shoulder.
"I don't bleed, you coward," she snarled. "I BURN!"
A rush of purple flames erupted out of Yang's new hellish elbow, taking shape as the arm of fire Lord End had told Lionheart about. And over her left, now handless forearm, a rushing pink inferno swarmed over the stump, cauterizing the gaping, bleeding wound. And from the roasted skin, a new vicious claw blazed to life.
Lionheart barely had time to blink before said claw grew to enormous size and exploded over him, smashing him back into his office and knocking him unconscious.
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End sighed as soon as he heard the explosion, knowing it spelled the end of any hope of handling this matter peacefully. Ruby's group all had their weapons drawn, probably expecting this to be some trick on his part instead of their salvation.
Mercury and 'Yang' turned towards the door deeper into the school, where the blast had emanated out from. A few seconds later, the real Yang Xiao-Long barreled down the hallway, alight in a blazing pink inferno, demonic Purple Flare arms riving out from her sides, smashing into the floor and wrenching her forward like a stampeding bull. The demonic dragon leapt down the stairwell, her Full Demon marks covering the entirety of her right side, her flaming fist pulled back for a haymaker.
The Gate of the Paired Fish ducked back from the attack, abandoning his charge to the mercy of the attacker. The blonde girl's eyes widened as Yang's flare arm rammed into her face and set her spinning over the balcony.
Of course, that spinning activated the girl's curse. A thin sheen of mucus coated her skin and her hand slipped out of the cuff that had been around it, the wad of cloth spewing out of her mouth. A black ashen burn formed over her cheek.
Ruby's group all gaped in shock, their eyes flickering between the two Yangs.
"Wha… what?" Nora squealed. "How… two Yangs?!"
"One Yang!" the genuine article shouted from atop the balcony. "Lionheart's a traitor! Let'em have it—"
The distraction left her open. Mercury wheeled back from his retreat and nailed Yang in the stomach with a roundhouse kick. The Devil Slayer crashed through the elegant walls of Haven, blasted deeper into the school. The Gate of the Paired Fish smirked and charged off after her.
"Firecracker!" Qrow yelled.
Raven glared at the blonde on the floor, leveling her new odachi at her. "The silver-haired bastard attacked her. Which means she's their enemy. And you're not."
"Who are you?!" Pyrrha demanded, unveiling a pair of carbine barrels within her new shield. "I remember being made to see things during my battle with Penny. Was that you?!"
The blonde on the ground growled, rising to her feet. With a puff of smoke, her Gemini disguise evaporated, and Emerald drew Thief's Respite. "Guilty as charged."
Well, so much for that plan. Though to be fair, while End had acknowledged that Yang might have been desperate enough to cut her hand off to escape the seal stone, he had hoped that Lionheart would be able to keep one weaponless, one-armed huntress from hurting herself, but clearly that had been expecting too much from the cowardly headmaster. Now, he had no hostages, which meant Raven could attempt to flee without fear of reprisal from Ruby's group. Her lack of a dust sword would delay the portal formation, but they couldn't take any chances.
End raised his hand and pointed a finger gun at the open doorway. A marble of blue flame formed at the nail and fired downrange. Ruby's group scrambled out of the way, but it was never aimed at them.
The sapphire bullet soared into the night sky and exploded in a magnificent blaze, the signal for his backup plan to go into action.
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Fennec gulped when he saw the azure sparks fill the air. The signal to attack.
He turned to Corsac, his brother shooting him a furtive glance. The Haven attack was to be a crucial element of Adam's plan to conquer humanity, but they were meant to be safely tucked away back on Menagerie, not leading the assault. However, despite being intelligent enough to not want to be in the middle of a battle, they were not helpless warriors. They could handle themselves. Besides, Tyrian hadn't given them much choice in the matter.
Neither of the fox faunus brothers understood what Sienna's game was, supporting the same thing that she had gone against Adam for, but they could only assume that Tyrian and this Hazel Rainart's master had something to do with it. And if Lord End was her servant, it was understandable why she wielded so much clout. And if they wanted a piece of that clout, they needed to prove that they could be team players.
They'd brought all their followers from Kuo Kuana, just as Tyrian had commanded. The rest of Adam's most devout followers had joined them soon after, those that hadn't been sent to Atlas with him. With any luck, their Blood-Soaked Bull was reclaiming his esteem from their most hated enemy as they spoke.
Fennec and Corsac turned to their terrorist horde, thrusting their weapons towards Haven. "That is the signal! To arms, brothers! Tonight, Mistral pays for the sins they have committed against our people!"
The fanatics roared and the fox brothers charged. They needed to keep at the head of the stampede if they were to keep from being run over. And they would, both here and on the grander stage of Remnant.
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Cinder chuckled as she watched the swarm of faunus zealots rampage towards the great hall. Such fanatics, not even realizing that they were pawns in a much wider game, that the White Fang finally be gone with their deaths. And no matter who claimed victory tonight, Salem and Teacher's strategy would move forward.
Of course, given she was here, they would obviously claim victory.
Lord End forbid her from engaging Wendy or Branwen up close? Fine. Now that his signal proved that his 'negotiations' had failed miserably, she'd provide him with his cover fire. Happy was already leveling his sniper rifle from his position on the other side of the hall. But unless he fired his Jupiter Cannon, he'd be limited to precise fire.
Cinder would just blow them away.
She formed her molten glass bow Midnight, using her maiden abilities to manifest three arrows upon her string. She pulled back the thread and let her bolts of judgment fly, each one primed to unleash a massive explosion upon impact, each one strong enough to sunder an Atlesian Paladin.
And before the first volley had even struck its target, she'd already notched, aimed, and fired four more rounds. She'd been an expert archer long before she became a Gate, but even she had to admire the skills and dexterity of Sagittarius, the Celestial Spirit she had been integrated with. She had been perfectly capable of firing three arrows at once beforehand, but not in such a rapid salvo. The sheer rate of fire was astounding.
Cinder grinned. With this bombardment, the entire left side of Haven's great hall would be blown away. Without being able to bottleneck the White Fang at the main doors, Ruby's group would be fish in a barrel for Lord End.
Except the arrows never made it to the hall.
Twelve of them disintegrated in midair, as if Cinder herself had dispelled to get around a shield, but instead made brittle with age and turned to ash. But the Fall Maiden didn't have any time to figure out what had caused that before the initial three smashed into a familiar green energy dome well before they made it to Haven's walls.
"No," the Gate of the Archer snarled. "No."
She knew that shield from her battle in Beacon's vault. But that was impossible! He couldn't have reincarnated so quickly!
And yet, when the smoke cleared and the green energy dome became visible, a small boy who had somehow hidden from her sight beforehand emerged within the shield. With an unmistakable cane in his grasp.
"Ozpin."
It seemed this battle would not be so simple. But Cinder would not let the Spring Maiden's powers slip through her grasp.
The battle begins.
Yang has doubled down and thrown a Spanner in End's plans, Oscar has prevented the group from getting boxed in, and Lionheart has been knocked out of the fight. He's not dead, but he ain't doing anything in this battle.
Oh, and Erza's back. Hope that was epic enough. Honestly, this chapter was hard to pick an endpoint for because there were so many that would have worked well for it.
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!