I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
Daughter of the Gods
Chapter Twenty-three: Killers and thieves
The Wyvern was Awake. And that spelled trouble for everyone. I could see pieces falling off its body, stone from the last time I had frozen him…but back then, I had help. The next closest silver eyed warrior was in a town over twenty miles away. There was no time.
"What the hell is that thing!" Blake shouted.
"That's a Wyvern. They're so powerful they can make Grimm spawn pools." I explained in a dark tone, watching as it grew closer, more stuff that definitely wasn't stone falling off.
"Oh gods." I heard Yang whisper in fear.
"I need you three to cover down here. I'm going up the tower to see if I can't slow it down." I ordered. "It's gonna be a minute because I need this thing to be in my silver light as much as possible. Right now, it's too far off…I need it to be closer." I said. They nodded as they went towards the courtyard, following after CFVY.
Breathing, I pulled out my mask and relic. No doubt the Wyvern would sense the power and come to me, hopefully staying away from the other students. I was about to pull my hand out of the pocket dimension when it brushed against something.
My armor from the great war.
Looking at the Wyvern, I sighed. I felt Cinders power as well near Beacon. Ozpin was in danger. Even a maiden at half strength could still overpower him with enough skill. His had gotten weaker over the years, from too much use or not enough it was unclear, but he was weaker. Weak enough to be beaten by a younger, powerful, and skilled woman like Cinder.
"Shit." I grunted as I grimaced, pulling my armor free from the pocket dimension.
The chest plate came first. A large burning rose stamped into the Mistralian steel. Tying both the frnt and the back together, I slipped my cloak back on. The legs came next, the thighs and knees bare to keep it as light as possible. The calves were encased in armor quickly. Shoulder pads came next, keeping the cloak secure to my body, the hood falling over the back. I slipped on my gauntlets, a design that Yang's were based off of, but much less bulky since it didn't incorporate the shotguns. The mask I put on last, finishing the look. Letting my Maiden powers flow naturally, the empty sockets were engulfed in flames.
The Eternal Reaper returns.
Running forward towards the tower, I pulled out my scythe, slashing through everything in my way, cutting down a hundred Grimm in one pass. I heard Yang, Weiss, and Blake shout something, but I couldn't hear it because of the wind rushing past my ears.
Yangs POV
Ruby flew past us towards the tower, taking down a hundred Grimm before she disappeared.
"You get em' Rubes!" I shouted. Blake and Weiss shouting something similar. Looking around for a second, I saw Nora and Ren looking at my sister with fear in their eyes. I couldn't ask them because the Grimm surrounded us a second later though, and it was right back to work. Blasting off shots left and right, destroying anything in my path. I took a few hits, but refrained from using my semblance, just like Ruby had taught me.
The Wyvern circled around the campus courtyard, dropping pools of whatever that was causing the Grimm to spawn. Eventually our luck had to run out when an Alpha beowolf spawned.
"Blake!" I shouted, pointing at it. She nodded and went to chase after it. Weiss and I handled the Grimm and Androids, it was easy once we figured out that the pools could be destroyed like every other Grimm, but fire was most effective. Eventually several Ursai joined the fight, standing on the twisted steel of the paladins that went offline when Ironwoods ship went down, but Blake still hadn't returned.
"Think you and CFVY can handle the Ursai?" I asked. Weiss nodded and I ran to find Blake.
It didn't take long, not when I saw her on top of the cafeteria, being chased by a guy in a mask.
"Stop running like a coward Blake!" He shouted. Blake looked like she was running for her life. Using my gauntlets, I shot myself up to her, jumping in between Blake and the mystery man.
"Yang?!" Blake shouted.
"You don't hurt my friends." I growled. The man just laughed.
"And who would this be my love? A pathetic excuse for a teammate?" He taunted. I stood my ground, keeping silent.
"I'll enjoy killing her." He said menacingly, drawing his sword. He launched himself forward, and the dance began. Immediately I noticed that he overused his semblance. The second he blocked my first punch with his sword, he used the power against me, knocking me back and tearing into Ember's reloading mechanism.
So, his semblance was like mine.
'Avoid hitting the sword' I thought over and over again. He was fast, but not as fast as Ruby or that multicolored girl. He blocked a lot of my punches, but I blocked a lot of his hits as well, the only difference, he kept using his semblance.
He messed up and knew it when his blade got stuck in Ember Celica's blade breaker. A twist, and the blade was wrenched free of his hand. Flaring my semblance, I punched him with everything he had hit me with. I heard several bones breaking, mostly in his chest, and he went flying. He only stopped when he met the short wall on the roof of the cafeteria.
He didn't get back up.
Ruby's POV
When I made it up the stair, since the elevator had been destroyed, I saw Cinder standing over Ozpin.
A broken and bloody Ozpin.
"Step away from him." I growled. She turned, her weakened flames wreathing her eyes.
"Why? We could rule over everything, you and I, but men like him, who hold power and horde it ruthlessly, keep us that way. We could be goddesses to these people. With you fighting by my side, we'd be unstoppable." She tried appealing to my ego. My sense of power.
"What would you know of power. You're a pawn in a much larger game. Besides, being a god isn't all it's cracked up to be." I answered. That only seemed to make her mad.
"Then you don't deserve your power." She growled, the flames burning a little brighter.
"Maybe not, but at least I didn't attack an innocent woman to get mine." I answered back, getting into a fighting stance. She growled again.
"Fine then, have it your way." She said, the Grimm dragon screeching in the distance.
Oh shit, maybe Salem had gotten to it.
She formed twin swords, and I pulled out destruction before shifting Crescent rose into her war scythe form, the blade straightening out in line with the polearm. I ran straight at her, unfortunately not able to use my semblance fully in this enclosed space. Ozpin looked at me in worry.
He was barely clinging onto life.
I slashed across her legs with crescent rose before twisting around and slashing with Destruction. She flared her powers, barely stopping Crescent from taking her head off when I brought her up. She threw a fireball at me, pushing me back as the flames came near my fames. Growling, I formed a storm over head and directed lightning at her so I could gain some breathing room for a moment.
Fine. If she was gonna fight dirty, so be it. Putting crescent on my back once she was folded up, I formed another sword in my hand. Now I could move much faster and attack just as fast.
Running to the side, I used my semblance to twist around her, burying my flaming sword into her shoulder. It only stopped once it met bone.
She healed quickly as I landed on my feet behind her.
Even at half strength, she was still powerful, only using her maiden powers to aument the skills she already had. Whoever had taught her, since it wasn't Salem, had done well.
"I didn't know when we first fought, but once Mercury told me that you were a maiden it all made sense, Ruby Rose." She paused, panting slightly while I just stood there motionless. "Once I kill you, I'll kill your entire family. Qrow, your father, Yang. They'll all burn." She taunted as fireballs formed in her palms.
"Oh child you still don't understand." I said chuckling. She launched a fire ball at me.
"What's so funny!" She yelled as I batted the fireball to the side.
"I am everything you could never be. My name isn't Ruby Rose, that's merely an alias. My real name is Scarlett Rose. I am the Scarlett Death, the Eternal Reaper, the Demon of Atlas. My stories have given parents and children alike nightmares for generations. I was destroying armies long before you were even an idea to your parents. I have had enough of your petty bullshit games, you STUPD CHILD!" I roared in her face as I used my semblance to appear in front of her. Her eyes widened and she cowered under the face of death.
"I told you child. You don't know what you're messing with." I said as buried my blade in her stomach and forced my palm to her face. She screamed as the power of Summer was being ripped from her body. I wasn't able to finish, again, when the Wyvern crashed into the tower. Ozpin was buried in rubble and Cinder and I were separated.
"Will. You. Just. DIE!" I shouted as I accessed my silver eyed magic. The Wyvern was frozen in an instant. I didn't have enough power in me to kill it, not by myself. Cinder screamed in pain as my magic tore through her body. When they light faded, the city of Vale was quiet. I fell to my knees, draining most of my aura to destroy the Wyvern. Cinder was laying on the ground, the entire right side of her body burned beyond saving.
"I warned you." I said as I walked up to her and drained her of the last of her stolen magic. Turning away, I ignored her pathetic pleading for help. Picking up Ozpin, I carefully managed to get him down the tower.
His body was getting weaker by the second. I could feel it.
"I fear…this is far from over Ruby." He said quietly.
"Save your strength old man. Help's on the way." I said.
"I'm old Ruby, not stupid. There's nothing that can help me. I'll reincarnate though. I can feel it happening." He whispered before going into a coughing fit. I held his hand gently. I was aware that we were being watched, the students gathering around us.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stop her in time." I whispered.
"You did everything you could. No one will fault you for this." He said. I could feel him getting weaker by the second. I heard a bird flapping, and suddenly Qrow was here. I saw Yang, and realized she must have called him here.
"Is he-" I nodded before he could finish.
"I'm sorry Qrow. For everything." Ozpin admitted. Qrow looked shocked, but before he could say anything, Ozpins grip on my hand went slack, his head falling back into the dirt.
A light started glowing on his face before it slipped out between his lips. Qrow forced the crowd back as the light began moving before disappearing.
"See ya later old man." I whispered with a watery smile. Turnign around, I left Ozpins body there, I knew Qrow would take care of it, I just wanted to be with my team.
Cleaning up Vale took days. Grimm were popping up everywhere before it seemed like we were doing anything. Eventually, communication got better. Atlas stuck around to help, mostly cause I convinced Ironwood it would make Atlas look good if they were seen helping clean up the mess some of the Androids had made before I shut down the central control ship.
Unfortunately, Beacon wasn't so lucky. The Wyvern was still attracting more Grimm by the day and I could only do so much. Using my silver eye magic exhausted me, drained most of my aura and power. I had to wait a few more days before I could go back into Beacon grounds.
I was the only one allowed anyway.
Weiss, Yang, and Blake all helped clear the city and even volunteered to help clear beacon before I told them it was a lost cause for now.
When Jaques came to Vale on a bullhead, Weiss had to fight her father on more than one occasion but eventually he gave up trying to take her home.
When Blake got a call, she almost didn't answer it until I told her she should.
"Hey mom. Hey dad." She sighed as she walked somewhere private to talk.
Yang and her father worked together once he arrived, in the normal sense this time, charging through the Grimm like they were tissue paper
Several days later and I was strong enough to use my full semblance. Running through the ruins was hard, the bodies of students that hadn't been able to evacuate laid rotting alongside the ones who had defended them to the bitter end. Whole teams laid together in some places.
I pushed through though, doing my best not to stop and cry.
I kept thinking over and over again why I didn't just kill Cinder and her lackies when I had the chance. Why didn't I do more.
I didn't realize I was already in the vault when I snapped out of my thoughts.
Thankfully Cinder hadn't come down here, I had no idea if her half powers would've been enough to open the massive doors. I know Ozpin had said that only the specific Maiden could open their vault, but I knew with enough power one could open the others. Whether Cinder had enough was unknown.
The vault doors reacted to my touch and swung open easily.
It was beautiful inside, it looked very much like the forever fall forest, though the leaves had a deeper orange tint to them, red in some cases. Walking through the doors, I looked forward and saw a dais.
Empty.
"No. No no no no!" I shouted as I ran to it. There was nothing here. The crown was gone, and with it, the power choice. Whoever had it, if it was Cinder, could bend anyone to her will.
"NO!" I screamed into the vault. It echoed everywhere as my maiden powers reacted to the anger, flames shooting out of my hands.
The forest was burning down around me. I seethed.
"I should've killed that bitch when I had the chance!" I cursed at myself, at Cinder, at Ozpin, at Salem.
Life was so much simpler when I was living in my cave, far away from the world.
I sank to my knees and punched the dirt on the vault floor.
Then I heard a crack.
Looking up, I saw a split in the wood dais. It was hollow!
Reaching my hand inside, I felt a folded note.
"Ruby,
If you're reading this, It means I'm dead and either Cinder succeeded and tried to steal the relic using the power of her magic to break into the vault, or she lost, and Beacon with her was destroyed. The Relic has been hidden safely as a precaution, not even Salem can find it so you should rest easy though I know you won't. Find my next incarnation. They can tell you where I've hidden the crown.
-Ozpin
PS- If Qrow hasn't already taken my cane, please, give it to my next incarnation."
"Clever, old man." I said aloud as I stood up and walked out of the vault, closing it with my fire before leaving it behind in a cloud of dust.
Back in my hut on patch, I called up a friend.
"Hey Flora. I need you to come to Vale for a while." I said.
"Why? I heard what happened. The news said it was pretty much cleared?" She asked.
"There's still a Wyvern on top of the tower. It's not dead so it keeps drawing in more Grimm." I explained.
"Gods, Ruby. I don't have half the power you do. Why do you think I can do anything?" Flora was always pretty hard on herself.
"Because, doofus, I'll need someone here in Vale keeping an eye on it while I'm traveling." I said with a small chuckle.
"Is it time, are you going after her?" She questioned excitedly.
"Not her per say, but our paths will cross at some point. I'm going to Haven, since it's the most likely target based off the data we found in Cinder's dorm room." I explained.
"Ah. I'll be in Vale in a few days." She responded before hanging up.
"So is Flora really coming?" Yang asked excitedly.
"Yes, but you won't have long to catch up. Like I said, Haven is the most likely next target, and since they failed to accomplish their goals here, they'll likely hit Haven with everything they got." I explained. Yang nodded.
"Come on," I said standing up. "It's time to go meet up with Everyone." I said as I held out my hand. Yang took it, and I pulled her off the floor of my hut.
We walked through the forest, talking about everything and nothing. We met up with Blake, Weiss, and all of JNPR outside a small deli on patch. We had all agreed to meet here and walk to Haven together, wanting to stay off the radar since our teams had become famous for the 'Defense of Vale.'
"It's good to see you. Vale should be taken care of in a few days once Flora gets here." I said.
"Good. With her watching over the Wyvern for you, it'll be much easier to slip away." Pyrrha said. "I still can't believe those stories are true though. The maidens, the silver eyed warriors, the two brothers, the dark witch." She finished in a slightly awed tone.
"Most of them are true, but not everything about them is." I reminded her. She nodded.
"So can you really destroy any Grimm with just a look? You're really immortal?" Nora asked excitedly.
"As you can see by the Wyvern, no. Most Grimm though, totally. And yes, I am." I answered with a smirk.
"So there's really another immortal out there, Ozpin reincarnates though you don't know how long that takes, and the relics are all powerful aspects of life?
"Yes, yes, and yes." It was weird being so open about my powers and long life, about the things that had become part of my life.
Speaking of powers, Qrow had done his job and secured Terra, Saphron, and Adrian transport out of the city and back to their home in Argus before everything got really bad.
Unfortunately, that left me with one and a half separate maiden powers. I've felt like I was burning up on the inside ever since.
Two separate maiden powers were never meant to exist in the same body.
A power-hungry girl had learned that the hard way when she burst into flames that consumed every part of her body after she stole the powers of summer and killed Spring. It wasn't pretty.
I've been fighting the pain ever since.
"Is everyone ready too leave by the way?" I asked. They all nodded.
"We're all good to go." Ren said with a small smile.
"Good. We'll need to leave fast as soon as Flora gets here. Of course, for Yang, you'll have a minute to talk.
Two days later, I was waiting by a private dock when an airship landed. A woman with green hair and silver eyes, dressed in a green and pink shirt and pants combo stepped off the platform. I pulled her in for a hug.
"Good to see you Flora." I said in her ear. Yang was impatiently waiting for her turn. When we separated, I barely got away before Yang flew through the air and tackled Flora to the ground.
"It's so good to see you!" Yang squealed. I chuckled, as did JNPR with Weiss and Blake, at Yang's antics.
"It's only been a year firecracker, you'd think it was a decade or something." Flora joked with a grin. Yang rolled her eyes.
"You're like the cool aunt. Of course I missed you." Yang said with a smile before hugging her again.
"I missed you too, firecracker. Once this is all over, then we'll have some proper time to catch up, I promise." Flora said holding up her pinky. Wow she really meant it if she was pinky promising.
I hated to do it, but I looked at my scroll and announced we would be late and horribly behind schedule if we didn't move soon. Yang looked at Flora and hugged her again before saying goodbye.
"Goodluck." I said as I gave her my own hug goodbye.
"Thanks. Give em' hell for me will ya. For me and for my brother." She said seriously.
"I will." I promised, not looking away from her as I swore.
We parted ways, and I ran to catch up with everyone who had started walking away, waving at Flora as she got smaller in the distance.
AN: So that's the end of part one. I have no set schedule on when Part two will begin but it will be after the twisted steel sequel is well underway. Supergirl Lost will be finished before I start posting the sequel to the story.
I wanna give a huge thank you to everyone who read this. This was my second ever story and I wasn't sure how well it would be received. Happy to say it was received pretty well. Thanks to those who commented and PM'd me with good ideas and advice when I felt stuck or needed inspiration.
Anyways…This is officially the end of Daughter of the Gods, Part one anyway, and the journey has been fun. I'll see you in the next one or my other stories, and I'll post when the sequel is up here when it's ready.
Or you could just find it under its name, The Eternal Reaper.
*hint hint: The changes made to the fall of beacon in this chapter have pretty big ramifications later on. Everyone being together is just the beginning. *