Chapter 14: Spectacularly Chaotic Times

Kingdom of Vale

Gilgamesh held the Relic of Choice in his hands. It was such a simple piece of power. For an artifact that granted such power to the world, he expected something far more lavish and decorative as a symbol of its power. Simplicity was certainly a nice thing in some respects, but there was a reason that being suitably presentable mattered. How was a man supposed to show that he controlled people and wealth if he did not flaunt what he had in some capacity?

No matter, he had what he came for and those that fought back had no idea. They only cared about self-preservation. Truly, push a civilian population and military forces would come in droves to defend its people. From there, it was a simple matter of taking advantage of the distraction to take what he wanted. It was also helpful that the huntsmen had no idea about the relics that they were unknowingly supposed to be protecting.

But this same trick wouldn't work twice. Once Ozpin realized that his precious artifact was gone, he would alert the other headmasters and soon, there would be security implementations all across Remnant. It was important to act as soon as possible in order to obtain the remaining three relics with as little hassle as possible, not that he couldn't get them on his own if he gave effort.

As for his other objective, it was sad to say that it had not been met. These people simply weren't strong enough as they were right now to have a chance of beating him. Even other Heroic Spirits would have a hard time even denting him let alone killing him. Out of all the heroes of human history on Earth, only a handful had a chance of beating him in combat and that assumed conditions were favorable to them.

But it was far too early to say for sure that combative potential to rival his own didn't exist. He had just barely begun to reshape Remnant. Unlike his Earth cleansing plan, which was relatively rushed as far as plans went, he was actively choosing to give these people a chance to prove that they could withstand his onslaught. Holy Grail or no Holy Grail, this world was in dire need of correcting.

Gilgamesh could no longer sit on his hands without purpose or without direction. The only thing he had was his own power and knowledge to guide him through these times of uncertainty. Once, as ruler of Uruk, he had guided the most powerful empire on Earth to a golden age. Now it was duty to do the same here, even if his methods were far more murderous and bloody than his methods in the past.

These people called this act of war cruel, unnecessary, and perhaps insane. Perhaps they were right, but it didn't change the fact that in the game called life, evolution was the only way for the human race to survive. Time and the world never stood still. Chance was the law of life and those who looked only to the past or the present were certain to miss the future.

And in order to make the future less boring, he had to vary up the game as much as possible, throw off the huntsmen and huntresses at every turn. Their ability to adapt and overcome any situation he threw at them would narrow down the list of people that might have the ability to match him in terms of mental fortitude. It took a certain kind of individual with a comparable insanity of their own.

In many ways, that's what heroic spirits were: insane men and women who took ideals to their most extreme, therefore exemplifying them in a way that few individuals could ever hope to attain aside from fellow heroic spirits. In that vein, all the heroes of the past were interconnected by this desire to live up to a way of life or an idea. By repeatedly facing the world using the exact set of tools called morals and principles, they would see how far they could go before ultimately succumbing to a greater ideal or the ravages of time.

There was a reason why heroes were so rare to find. Individuals with noteworthy accomplishments and feats possessed a sort of innate drive that most didn't have. This is what inevitably separated the average from the exceptional. A normal person would do enough to ensure a comfortable life, never daring to venture beyond safe boundaries. A worthy person dedicated themselves to a goal or a purpose with such fervor. The crowd would say to give up, but the exceptional would not.

Gilgamesh thought about these traits that embodied a Heroic Spirit because it was important for him to categorize the people with this kind of ability to persevere through any and all situations. Being beaten by a completely average person would be not just insulting, but downright disruptive to the fundamental nature of Mankind. Mediocrity never changed the world. Exceptionalism would, hence his own existence.

So who had the capacity to take on the suicidal and impossible role of savior of the world?

Well, perhaps there were a couple handful of people that could have that potential, but that all depended on their performance in the coming weeks. As time went on, his monsters and servants would crawl throughout all of Vale and test the mettle of every single living soul. Either these people would have the ability to defend themselves and all they cared about or they would not and die trying. Sometimes, their lives might just come to rely on dumb luck. It wasn't an unheard of prospect. War and all of its effects could be rather indiscriminate, contrary to what many stories about it might say.

The history books and stories that would result should this world live to see the light at the end of the tunnel would be written by those that either had no idea what they had faced. Either that or they would embellish the tales like all victors did in an effort to immortalize achievements and feats or forget the horrors that permeated throughout all wars in human history.

"But then again, isn't it in human nature to be arrogant?" Gilgamesh couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Do I not breathe that same sort of arrogance? I am part human, after all."

As much as he would not say it, he did have a human part of him. His father was human, after all, and even though he was a demi-god, he ultimately favored his divine side over his human side. That meant in some capacity, he did have the same weaknesses that a normal human person did.

"It would seem that my mind is never fully occupied by my aspirations in this world." Gilgamesh said to no one in particular. "Perhaps my time has indeed come."

No one could forever, not even him. The gods of his time certainly were not eternal beings themselves. Elevated and powerful, most certainly, but with their own limits. Perhaps they would not die in the sense that humans did, but their legend and renown was all but gone now that there was no longer a need to rely on gods in order to comprehend the basics of the universe.

And why was he contemplating the end of his own life?

"Boredom." The King of Heroes knew the answer. "And I have no one to blame by myself."

Sometimes, he wondered why he had to bother with all of this. If he were a normal person, he could just act like he did and not have the same burdens on his shoulders. That sounded like a good idea for a moment.

Then it receded into his mind. 'Another day, another dollar', as the saying went. The easy path wasn't called that without a reason, but he wasn't an easy man to please. Ever.

And there went another few hundred more lives towards the northwest corner of the City of Vale. They had been fool enough to let some vain and arrogant blockheads guard their civilian numbers. It wasn't any sort of confidence rightly earned, not like his own.

Closer to Beacon, many safe zones looked to be holding steady, learning and adapting just as much as his beasts were. At least these were fairly competent foes, enough to know when to fight and when to cut losses.

Gilgamesh wouldn't allow them a moment to get lax in their defense. Just as things started getting a little easier with time, he would throw a curveball and throw everyone off. It was a nice little reminder for everyone to do their best at all times. He was feeling particularly merciful and benevolent.

Oh, yeah. He did have one other piece of business that needed to be taken care of at Beacon Academy. To be more precise, his infiltrators were to perform the deed.

And both would need to bring their A-game if they were to survive.

Fate/Stay Night - - - RWBY

Blake Belladonna had believed herself prepared for the hardships that came with being a huntress. Years of time spent with the White Fang had taught her some valuable lessons about what it meant to fight via civil disobedience and to fight through violent means. With extensive amounts of experience on both fronts, she thought herself fully prepared and equipped to deal with the life that she had chosen.

Now, as she had enough time to contemplate her life up to this point, she came to a simple but very clear realization about herself: she was prepared to understand and deal with social injustice, and even that was in question. What she was currently living through now was war, plain and simple.

And war didn't care about who lived or died.

The cat faunus had stopped counting the number of gruesome ways that she had found dead bodies all across the city. Despite having seen death in her life prior to the 'Siege of Vale' as it was being called, this took those horrors to the next level. She had no idea that death could be portrayed in such ways. Some were mangled and battered to the point where it was hard to tell if they were even human or faunus.

Not that being either mattered at this point. If anything, the disparity between both races seemed to just disappear in the wake of the need to survive and fight another day, perhaps the only bright spot in all of this. This conflict brought both of them together in a way that was not unknown according to history.

Blake had resolved herself to push through what might come her way and do her part and then some. If she was going to prove to Mankind that the Faunus were also people on equal footing, what better way to swat away prejudice than by risking her own life in the line of duty. It was sad that it took deadly warfare to bring the two of them together. Still, it was the hand dealt, no getting around that.

Her cat ears twitched as she picked up the sound of weapon fire to her seven o'clock. She had lost her ribbon in the early days of the invasion. It had been ripped apart when her head had almost been taken off by a paw containing razor-sharp claws. At times, she almost forgot that her faunus traits were exposed for everyone to see. If things were normal, it might bother her more, but fidgeting over what people thought about her seemed unimportant.

The ninja girl checked her weapon one more time for any sort of damage. Gambol Shroud was still fully functional, but it was seeing wear and tear, alright. She would probably need to return to Beacon Academy within the next week or two to get some blade repairs, not that it would be a piece of cake actually finding the time to do so.

"We're moving in three minutes." Ruby's voice sounded off. "Everyone, ammo check."

The leader of Team RWBY had started off as a sweet if not naive and stupid girl. Now, that girl seemed really far away, replaced with a hardened and very emotionless warrior. It was disheartening.

"I have nine vials of dust remaining." Weiss reported. "Three lighting, one fire, three water, and two earth."

Weiss was far from the snobby princess she was upon formation of the team. Now, she was perhaps the nicest of them all, doing her job within so much as a single complaint and helping out of her own initiative.

"I've got five mags left." Blake did a final check. "That's about 150 rounds."

The raven-haired girl had changed quite a bit herself. Although she was as quiet as ever, she didn't keep things to herself. If it was important for everyone to know something, she told them without hesitation.

"Forty-one shells for Ember Celica." Yang was reloading her weapon. "But I'm down to the left hand. Right one's jammed."

Yang appeared to thrive in this hellish environment, or her constant grinning and cries of battle would have one believe, but even the blonde brawler had her limits and her exhaustion was becoming more apparent as the battle dragged on.

"Alright." Ruby carefully laid out a paper map for all to see. "We'll be travelling along King street. Once we hit the intersection at Emperor avenue, we'll be breaking off to the right."

"It's strange that we haven't been seeing Evolved that much in this section of the city." Blake commented. "Do we know why that is?"

"Word is that the Evolved are shifting tactics on a constant basis." Ruby recited only what she heard from other teams. "Not only that, but they're moving from place to place in a somewhat erratic way."

"Probably the worst thing we're going to find are bandits." Yang snorted, surveying the region they were currently in. "I saw the signs all around. Looted stores, the smell of dust and blood in the air. Civilians ain't supposed to be here."

Ruby regarded her half city before continuing. "The point is that we need to be alert. This section of the city is supposed to be off-limits to everyone except huntsmen and military personnel. Anyone else is declared hostile."

"Just to be clear, if we see anything dangerous, we're clear to engage?" Weiss's eyes regarded her team leader with a measured look. "Anything at all that could be interpreted as hostile?"

Ruby was silent for three seconds, then her answer came. "Evolved or bandits, whatever comes our way, shoot it, slice it, bash it, just make sure it's down for good. I don't care what you use to kill."

Despite the bluntness and cruelty in those words, none of the other girls voiced any concerns nor objected to the orders they had been given. All of them simply accepted it in their own way.

For Blake, that was sort of terrifying, the idea that they might come across a human or faunus and they might just kill on sight without any hesitation or regret. In fact, such a thing had already happened with Yang. A rogue and insane huntsman attacked them and the brawler retaliated with a little too much force. Suffice it to say that when all was said and done, there was a very large red smear on the road.

Yang hadn't spoken of the incidence since and nobody wanted to ask her either.

"Ruby, shouldn't at least one of us go out to do some recon?" Blake decided to refocus the conversation. "We should make sure that there are, in fact, no chances of ambushes or traps."

"We're on a timetable. We've already been delayed by several hours." Ruby shook her head. "Last survey showed there was little chance, if any, of a serious threat."

"Ruby, the last thing we want to do is get caught off guard." Weiss reminded her partner with a soft tone. "I've seen the results in the safe zones, teams that are-"

"Frankly, Team RWBY, I'm not hearing the aggressiveness that I'd like." Ruby cut off any further concerns.

Three pairs of eyes regarded the red-clad girl with stares that indicated that none of their worries were put to rest, only amplified. In response, the team leader gave each of them a cold and chilling stare in return, indicating that her authority would not be challenged.

"We're leaving in one minute." Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and moved to the front of the building they were taking cover in. "Don't be late."

Nobody said anything else for ten more seconds. This entire battle had changed everyone, so much so that it was hard to reconcile the people that first stepped onto the field and the people that they were all now. With that in mind, it was impossible for any of them to call out the silver-eyed girl without being hypocrites themselves.

But it didn't change the fact that the change in all of them was haunting.

"Just play it like we've always done." Yang was the first to get up, not having the strength to debate. "We're not dead yet."

Then it was just the faunus girl and the Schnee girl. Both of them looked terrible in each others' eyes. Covered in dirt, barely getting enough sleep each day to maintain sanity, eating less calories than they were consuming on a daily basis, the whole package. They certainly weren't winning any beauty pageants.

"With a little more perseverance and a bit of luck, we will pull through." Weiss offered her own perspective. "We only have each other."

Gathering her rapier, the ice queen left the black-clad ninja alone.

"Yeah." Blake mumbled lightly. "I guess we do."

After another moment of grumbling and stewing in her own thoughts, she reluctantly pulled herself off the ground and rejoined the rest of her team.

They just had to get back from this mission alive first.

RWBY - - - Fate/Stay Night

Pyrrha Nikos was truly honored to be already fulfilling the duties of a huntress by fighting to protect and defend Mankind. It was her destiny to do so, one that she had spent much of her life training for. Granted, she had never expected to see such heavy action right off the bat, but life didn't always play to everyone's expectations.

As a welcome addition to reaching for her destiny, she had made friends along the way. Team JNPR acted much like a family did, looking out for each other and caring for each other whenever possible. All of them had found their own working rhythm and there was comfort in their team dynamic. For the celebrity, there was nothing greater than knowing she had finally found those who just wanted to be her friends.

She couldn't think of a reason to complain about her personal life, now that she thought about it.

But what did concern Pyrrha was how this battle for the survival of the Kingdom of Beacon was affecting everyone. In her vision of the future, she had pictured herself fighting and defending Mankind against the Grimm. She had never seen herself becoming a warrior like this. Certainly, she had never anticipated fighting the 'Evolved' as the term for the enemy was becoming more commonplace. All of this was highly unexpected and she was honestly expecting more surprises down the line.

But surprises aside, she could how everyone around her was being affected mentally by what was going on. People were becoming more absorbed in their duties and tasks. Combatants were becoming more severe in their approach to fighting. Civilians were becoming more fearful of the conditions they found themselves in. It just all screamed of bad times and she found herself hard-pressed to bear witness to it.

The spartan could see it most clearly in Team JNPR.

Jaune, her partner and the team leader, had changed arguably the most. Although he did offer words of encouragement and unusual wisdom, he had ceased his goofy antics and cheerfulness altogether. He now was strictly dedicated to doing his job and protecting as many lives as he could.

Nora appeared to blossom in this sort of landscape, which was just a little bit alarming. Whenever she appeared on the battlefield, she appeared to almost be enjoying being ruthless to the enemy. Not once had Pyrrha had ever seen the bubbly bomber show any hints of guilt or regret for how she acted.

Then there was Ren. He had always been aloof and distant from the start, but now he almost never spoke unless he absolutely had to. Between keeping Nora in check and him working closely with Jaune, there was never a good time to converse with him, not that she thought he wanted to in the first place.

Essentially, it all came down to her teammates adapting to a warzone far more easily than the champion had.

Did that make her weaker than them because she hadn't fully adapted?

Pyrrha shook herself from her thoughts as she heard the sound of people rushing from place to place. She was currently standing guard at one of the most successful safe zones. Recently, there had been a downshift in manpower, limiting the number of guards that could stand watch without succumbing to exhaustion. She had willingly volunteered herself until the usual people came back in better condition.

While she did this, the rest of Team JNPR made themselves useful by helping out with whatever small tasks could be found and there were more than enough of those to go around. They wouldn't be lacking for things to do while they waited for the redhead's time to step down.

She spotted the clear outline of an evolved and she immediately got down on one knee and took aim before firing her weapon in its rifle form. Her shot was true and it impacted between the eyes before collapsing onto the ground dead. Such encounters with the Evolved were becoming normal as she stood watch. Occasional scouts would be looking to test the strength of the defenses of a particular safe zone and she would take them out.

Pyrrha immediately resumed her watch upon dispatching the target. She couldn't afford to lose focus. If she missed even one of these things, there was no telling how much it would cost this place. Every single encounter with the enemy was to be treated with deadly seriousness; they had all seen what failure to do so would lead to.

And so the next two hours passed by in relative peace. The most prominent noise was that of the people in the camp working tirelessly to help the wounded or carefully take stock of necessary supplies. Two patrols came back and one supply convoy arrived, bringing with it much-needed water and simply first-aid materials. Whenever ner arrivals came, this was the time to be most alert. Attacks were known to happen during times like these.

And the spartan was blessed to hit all of her targets with refine precision and accuracy. Indeed, ambuses did come up and she made sure to make every bullet count. By her count, she had downed at least thirty-four individual enemies during new arrivals.

Her watch wasn't just restricted to the streets that were closest to the safe zone. She also scouted whatever she could see from her position. If there were other hidden targets or perhaps another survivor from a neighboring safe zone, it was imperative to be in the loop.

Although Pyrrha was offered a break to sit down and eat, she elected to remain on guard and simply chewed on some food while remaining ever vigilant. She wouldn't let herself get distracted until her agreed-upon time was completed.

One thing she did note with the other guards was that they didn't show any signs of being fans of hers. Whether that was by order or by personal restraint, she appreciated the gesture all the same. It was nice to just do what she was asked and not have to worry about those that admired her.

A small sigh escaped from her as she steeled herself by adjusting her posture just a little bit. However physically fit she was, even she had her limits. Remaining in the same place for hours at a time wasn't exactly easy for her. The only thing keeping her mind from wandering due to boredom was her ironclad commitment to being completely attentive, as expected of her. Lives were literally hanging in the balance.

And she was still only barely keeping tedium away.

Pyrrha knew that the rest of the world wasn't like this, only Vale, and it made her wonder what everyone else in the world was doing in response. Sure, she heard that relief aid was being sent from all corners of the globe, but she didn't know what the opinion was in relation to what was going on here.

The girl with green eyes could only imagine how her mother was doing in Argus. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she was saying her goodbyes to the city, to Sanctum Academy, and the only family she had ever known. However much she wished to get away from the only home that she had ever known, she missed the familiarity of it all.

The four-time Mistral Tournament champion made a mental note to herself that once she got back to Beacon Academy, she would make a quick scroll call to her mother and see how she was doing. She might not get another chance for a while if the amount of action she was seeing was any indication.

"Miss Nikos." Someone was speaking to her. "You can step down. The regulars are back on the clock."

"Hm? Oh, um, yes. Thank you." Pyrrha shook herself from her thoughts. "I apologize for wandering."

"We're still alive." The man seemed indifferent. "That's all that matters."

"Yes." Pyrrha relaxed herself. "I'll take my leave."

Feeling her stomach growling, now felt like a good time to get some food and maybe grab a few hours of sleep. If she was lucky, she might even be able to get a full night of sleep assuming Jaune didn't have Team JNPR going out tomorrow.

As she descended to the ground, she took note of the many bodies moving around. Plenty more casualties were being tended to. It ranged from minor injuries to critical condition. Doctors and medics were moving left and right without taking a breath.

"Pyrrha." Jaune's voice came from behind. "You done?"

"Yes, Jaune." Pyrrha nodded. "What's going on?"

"We just got a call from Beacon Academy." Jaune motioned to his own scroll. "All freshman teams are pulling back tomorrow."

"All of them?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "Why now?"

"No idea, but it's urgent." Jaune informed her. "It came from Ozpin."

"I see." Pyrrha didn't ask further. "I assume we're not going out tomorrow."

"No, make sure you get at least four hours of sleep and fill your stomach." Jaune began walking away. "We don't have a mission, but it's going to be a long day."

"I'll do that." Pyrrha called out to him.

Things were moving far too fast.

Fate/Stay Night - - - RWBY

Ozpin was panicking and he had good reason to be.

The Relic of Choice was gone, swiped away without him even knowing it. What was made even worse was that he couldn't even find a trace of the intruder who had managed to sneak past him. It was like they were a ghost that just came and went.

Then he realized that the entire invasion of the Kingdom of Vale was only a means to distract the huntsmen and huntresses away from Beacon Academy. Maybe that was an oversimplification, but at least the relic was a primary objective because of the lack of fuss surrounding Beacon Academy.

Despite his mind in disarray, Ozpin did well to keep himself composed in the company of other people. Perhaps only Glynda knew of his plight and she did well not to talk about it. He had to remain calm. With a relic lost, he sent word to the other headmasters to be aware that their relics were likely next for targeting. James and Theodore had sent word that they were taking appropriate measures to ensure the safety of their respective relics. Leonardo hadn't reported in strangely enough and he was usually punctual when it came to emergency responses.

But the Relic of Choice being gone didn't bode well for anyone. With it, whoever held it would have a much easier time at retrieving the remaining three. Finding the current possessor of Beacon's artifact would have been a first priority if the headmaster had an idea about who was behind this. He was certain that Salem wasn't who he needed to be worried about. The Grimm were just gone.

Whoever was controlling things now was far more dangerous.

So what could he do?

Ozpin thought about all events leading up to now. So far, the destruction in Vale was catastrophic. Not since the Great War had such wanton chaos been seen and virtually everyone involved in the conflict was dead, so there were few who understood war like what was being waged now.

But the purpose behind it all was mysterious. There were patterns all around that didn't go unnoticed, yet for all the things that could be seen, the greater objective remained anonymous. If anything, this seemed like an even greater distraction, even in regards to the relics themselves. It was only a gut instinct speaking to the old wizard.

Yet he was fairly sure that there was nothing else to explain why things were occurring as they were.

"The Gods might be testing us." Ozpin proposed that idea. "But then again, was not our past environment test enough?"

He could only postulate and theorize at this point. Being confined to Beacon Tower was probably not doing much to help him.

Maybe stepping outside and seeing things with his own two eyes would be good.

Guess who's back?

I'm sure many of you weren't expecting me back, but here I am, finished with my training and soon to be heading off to new adventures, but for now, I'm on a short break.

As you can imagine, I don't remember all the details of my stories. These chapters were written a while back and now I'm posting them to let you all know that I'm still alive and kicking.

So in spite of all my story errors, thanks for reading it.

If you'd like to know more about what I'm doing, refer to my profile note.

Happy New Years!

-Ktyou