Chapter 45 – Defiance of Fate
Ruby
The Whisperer came crashing down first, immediately transforming into Salem's body, and it blasted a powerful bolt of black and red lightning into her chest. She grunted as the impact of the powerful magic tossed her backwards, having to drive Crescent Rose into the ground to slow herself down. She twisted her scythe around and swung herself back towards the Higher Demon, but just as she threw herself towards the body of Salem, the Whisperer shifted once more, suddenly forming into Roman Torchwick, catching Crescent Rose in one hand.
"Come now… we know all your tricks, Little Red." The Whisperer chuckled sinisterly, only for Ruby to scoff.
"Sure about that?" She suddenly blasted a swift pulse of white light from her eyes, causing the Whisperer to recoil away from her, then she jumped up and slashed Crescent Rose downwards into their shoulder. The Whisperer slid across the ground, the body cracking and reforging into Tyrian Callows. The Whisperer laughed maniacally and launched themselves towards Ruby once again, and even after all this time, her eye widened with fear as the madman appeared before her once more.
But before he could even get closer, Oscar shot through slowed time, punching the Whisperer in the face and throwing it aside. The Whisperer bounced across the ground then landed on its tail, springing up into the air and firing the Queen's Servants down at them. Ruby snapped out of it as another Lesser Wyvern flew overhead, only to be taken down by Penny, who flew up above and slashed Floating Array straight through the beast's wing. The Wyvern roared with fury as it spun out of control and crashed into the ground with substantial force.
"We can't let the Higher Demons slow us down. We need to get out of here!" Ruby called out to everyone.
The Witches continued to hold the Grimm back with their force-field. Their numbers were impossible to fight against, and the amount of teeth, claws and sheer force colliding into the magical barrier, it was already putting strain on the Witches. "UNDERTAKER! HELP THEM CLEAR A PATH!" The Sorceress commanded. "DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO ENSURE THEIR SURVIVAL!"
The Undertaker spun its shovel through its rotten fingers. "It will be done." It's cold, lifeless voice answered, walking to the heroes.
"I guess this is it, then?" The Enchantress asked.
"One last fight?" The Alchemist asked.
"We knew what the Omens said… that this would be our final day… so let's make it right… make sure that this world… and all who live on it… have a chance to live another day." The Sorceress strained, standing with her younger sisters, who would never leave her side.
Ruby launched herself forward, with Weiss, Blake, and Yang sprinting alongside her. She blasted a beam of white light from her eye towards the Whisperer, burning it across its chest, holding the body of Tyrian back. Suddenly, it transformed into Adam Taurus and slashed towards Blake and Yang, only narrowly missing Yang's arm. The Whisperer slid past, then sheathed Wilt and Blush, grinning sadistically at them.
Before deciding to twist the knife…
… the Whisperer was not just capable of taking the form of past enemies…
… but lost friends… and loved ones.
Adam's hair turned blonde, and his sleeves crumbled away, revealing the Xiao Long tattoo on his arm. Transforming into Taiyang, staring his daughters down with an uncharacteristic smirk on his face. Ruby and Yang froze with fear when they saw him stood there… they knew it wasn't really him… but seeing his face again after what happened… it hurt… more than they could describe. The Whisperer leapt into the air and charged Taiyang's fist up with its false aura, and came crashing down with explosive force, knocking Team R.W.B.Y backwards.
Taiyang stared down at them, his eyes glowing bright red, until a beam of green light collided into its chest and blew the Whisperer away from them. Ozpin landed before them, his clockwork forged wings splayed out wide, firing a constant beam of energy from the Relic of Knowledge at the Higher Demon. The Demon raised its arms, staring back at Ozpin, transforming into the form of Salem, staring right back at him. Her eyes glowing blood red with hate in her eyes.
Ozpin's beam of green magical energy continued to burn into the Demon's arms, until suddenly part of Salem's body broke away, and Ozpin's eyes widened to see a second Whisperer appear, forming into Summer Rose. She lunged towards Ozpin with her Scythe, slashing directly at his chest. Ozpin grunted as the impact blasted him across the courtyard and into the wall with significant force. Winter suddenly kicked him in the face and pinned him to the wall with her Scythe.
"We are legion… when will you understand you cannot stop us?" The Whisperer hissed in her voice, grinning maniacally at him. Glynda levitated a collection of bricks from the destroyed wall and hurtled them into the side of the clone's head, but the apparition shattered instantly, clearly being far weaker than the original body the Whisperer had. The entity in Salem's form leapt into the air, launching multiple balls of magical energy towards them, which exploded against the chunks of debris as Glynda launched them up at her. The concrete and rock turned to ash just as the magic collided into it.
The Whisperer landed atop one of the broken towers, watching as the Grimm continued to pile on top of each other to try to scale the force-field that the Witches were conjuring. Everyone rushed forward to just try to gain some more ground towards the tunnel entrance. It was right in front of them, so close yet so far. And with more and more Grimm trying to reach them, they were running out of time.
Pyrrha spun Milo and Akoúo through her fingers, eyes aflame with emerald crackling embers, stood with her team as the Onyx Phantom walked towards them. The Higher Demon immediately took Pyrrha's form, grinning with her red hair turned black and half her body crumbling away into glowing gold embers. Pyrrha scowled at the evil entity that once haunted her, controlled her body like she was little more than some toy for it to use.
In truth… she sympathised with the Knights of Grimm, perhaps just as much as Ozpin did… she knew how it felt to have no control over her body like that.
"Ah… Pyrrha Nikos… how I've missed the strength within you…" The Onyx Phantom greeted as it walked towards Team J.N.P.R.
"Can't say that I share the sentiment." Pyrrha replied. Nora scowled as she gripped Magnhild tightly. Then the Onyx Phantom cackled, something they all found unnerving to hear Pyrrha's voice laughing like that.
"Even now? You still have this… what… hope?" The Onyx Phantom scoffed. "It's painfully annoying."
"Good. Because no matter what you throw at us… we will never stop until either all of you are dead… or you have to kill every last one of us." Jaune replied, aiming his sword at the Demon.
"And you could have had such painless ends… you could have spared Miss Valkyrie here the agony of her fate… instead… you chose foolish defiance, and now have forced her to die the very way she feared most." The Onyx Phantom scoffed, shaking their head. Nora looked over her shoulder, fully expecting the Leshen to be standing there, but she could not see it anywhere. But her hairs were on end and she could feel the faint burning sensation on her chest growing more and more.
The Lord of the Wood was coming…
"Destiny is a lie. A lie Umbra forced me into believing… but it's just a clever lie to make people go down the path he expects them to follow. It's worked for him before… it won't work this time." Pyrrha growled.
The Onyx Phantom scoffed. "Tell that to all the other Universes we've destroyed… they all shared the same sentiments." The Phantom scoffed, then suddenly launched Milo towards Jaune. He raised his shield and blocked the incoming spear, the impact pushing him backwards across the snow. The Onyx Phantom walked towards Pyrrha, shield raised, and Milo pointed towards her.
She stared straight back at the dark imperfection of herself. Then the Phantom attacked first, and she swung her shield out, parrying the incoming attack and staggering the Onyx Phantom. She immediately thrusted her spear and rammed it straight through the Phantom's throat, pushing it across the floor, before the Phantom drove its spear into the ground and twisted around, grabbing Pyrrha by the throat. The Onyx Phantom suddenly flung her up into the air, then as she came crashing down, the Onyx Phantom jumped and spun through the air, kicking downwards with dominant force.
Pyrrha grunted, but Ren immediately launched himself towards the Higher Demon, dropkicking it in the face with both feet, and rolling backwards. The Onyx Phantom's body crumbled away and shifted into Ren's body, firing Stormflower back at him with red bullets. He ducked and dodged the incoming bullets, then threw himself forward, spiralling through the air as he slashed across the Onyx Phantom's chest.
The Onyx Phantom suddenly launched forward off the ground, smashing Ren against the wall, suddenly forming razor sharp molten teeth in its jaws as it grinned down at him, stamping on his throat and pinning him against the floor.
"GET OFF HIM!" Nora yelled, smashing Magnhild into the side of its head, crushing the Onyx Phantom's skull against the wall. The Phantom, dazed from the sudden attack, turned to see Nora crushing an electrical dust crystal in her hand to amp herself up with her semblance, then roared as her eyes shone bright pink. She smashed the hammer into the Onyx Phantom's chest so hard that the Higher Demon was flung high into the sky. Only for it to come to a sudden stop.
The Onyx Phantom shifted into Nora's body, and formed a pair of burning wings, and then the eyes opened with a maniacally unnerving grin carved across her face. The Onyx Phantom suddenly came crashing back down with Magnhild, creating an enormous explosion upon impact. Nora tumbled away across the ground, landing just behind the Witches who continued to hold the Grimm back.
Nora groaned as she slowly got back up, not noticing the Leshen approaching from the darkness.
The Onyx Phantom turned as Pyrrha suddenly attacked, but this time with Jaune beside her, channelling the power of his Ancestors through his aura. Electrical energy coursed across Crocea Mors' blade, and he carved multiple slashes across the Higher Demon's body. The Onyx Phantom recoiled from every blow until it suddenly caught the blade in its hand, snarling viciously as it stared back at him. But Pyrrha slid underneath its legs and impaled the Higher Demon through the chest, then her eyes ignited, and she called upon the roots in the ground.
Massive roots and vines erupted from beneath the Onyx Phantom, wrapping around its arms and legs and even its body to hold it down. "NORA! COME ON!" Jaune called out.
They needn't try to destroy the Higher Demon, they just needed to get the hell out of Dragonspire Keep.
She shook off the dizziness and sprinted past the Onyx Phantom, who tried to tear itself free. As they sprinted, the Lord of the Wood emerged from the shadows, now in the arena with them, its glowing red eyes constantly fixated on Nora as she sprinted, but the Lord of the Wood raised its hand, and suddenly a root shot across the ground towards her, wrapping around her leg.
"NO!" Nora shrieked as it dragged her away.
"NORA!" Ren screamed as he jumped for her, reaching his hand out. But he missed, but he quickly fired Stormflower's grappling hook to her hand, wrapping it around her wrist. The cable tightened, and he held on as tight as he could, but the sheer power of the root was dragging him with her.
"JUST GO! PLEASE!" Nora shrieked. "YOU PROMISED ME!"
"No…" Ren strained as he held on, but Nora screamed in agony as she felt her body being stretched, even breaking what was left of her aura.
Up above, Penny continued to battle against the Grimm when the Hound suddenly launched itself towards her and tackled her out of the air. The two crashed into the floor and it snapped its jaws at her savagely, snarling as it glared down at her. But as it was about to tear into her, Emerald jumped overhead, wrapping Silent Judgement around its throat and yanked it away from her, allowing Cinder to fly towards the beast and kick it in the side of the head.
The Hound tumbled across the ground, then Sun helped Penny back to her feet. "Everyone! Come on! The path is clear!" Sun yelled as he fired Ruyi Jingu Bang at the Grimm who tried to climb over the walls to reach them past the Witches's barrier. Maria shot across the battlefield, slashing through the leg of the Whisperer to bring them to their knees, and clearing more of a path for everyone else. Team R.W.B.Y sprinted ahead, but they looked back to see Ren, Jaune and Pyrrha refusing to let go of Nora.
The Lord of the Wood stood directly behind the Witches with its finger pointed towards her, the long root still tugging Nora towards it.
"No… What do we do?" Ruby stammered as she looked at her dear friend, who was begging them to let her die.
Ruby turned as the Whisperer started to reconstruct its leg, forming into Tyrian once again, snarling viciously as it stared at them with madness in its eyes. "GUYS! WE HAVE TO GO!" Cinder yelled, but neither of Team J.N.P.R heard.
"PLEASE! JUST LET ME GO! YOU PROMISED ME!" Nora screamed as tears streamed from her eyes.
Ren was sobbing as he desperately held onto her, and neither Jaune nor Pyrrha wanted to leave her, either.
… but Nora was begging them.
She did not want to watch them die… not like that.
She squeezed her eyes shut; then stared at them. "I'm sorry." She sniffled, transforming Magnhild into its Grenade Launcher form and firing it. The explosion blew Ren, Pyrrha, and Jaune away from her, and Stormflower's grappling hook retracted back.
"NORA!" Ren wailed, but Maria suddenly looped her arm around him and started pulling him away.
Nora dragged her fingers into the floor, blood leaking from fresh wounds in them before the Lord of the Wood held her above the ground with her arms stretched out, roots holding her in place. The Lord of the Wood walked beneath her as it stared up at her, finally able to get what it's been waiting two decades for. Left with no other option, they had to flee to the door, but they still refused to abandon her, waiting at the door.
Yet… the Higher Demons were not pursuing them yet, neither was the Hound.
As Nora was held, hiccuping breaths and crying, the Lord of the Wood stared her directly in the eyes, snarling darkly at her with the Whisperer standing beside her, forming into her Father's body.
Just as her nightmares showed…
Kragen
The False God was on the field now… and Kragen knew their end was drawing near.
Vir Nominis Umbra was faster than he could have imagined, even in such a massive form, and he held a pair of enormous blades and swung his powerful wings to fly towards the brave soldiers. He swung at them with substantial force, slicing ten soldiers in half with a single swing before jumping and slamming them both into the ground. The impact was so heavy the ground shook. Then Umbra tore the blades from their corpses and smashed the blades together, calling lightning down from the sky, conducting the red forks of energy across them.
A Silver Eyed Knight slid across the snow, blasting a focused beam of Silver Light from his eyes at Vir Nominis Umbra burning into his flesh. Umbra snarled, folding one of his wings over before smashing the blade down with all his might. The impact with the conducted lightning created an enormous explosion which killed the soldier instantly, reducing him to dust. Umbra shot forward in a flash of black energy, throwing one of his huge curved swords towards another soldier, killing him instantly, then swinging around towards Yatsuhashi.
He stood his ground and swung Fulcrum into the enormous blade, shattering it instantly, then thrusting the blade towards Umbra's leg to drop him to his knee. But Umbra spun on the spot, smashing one of his wings into Yatsuhashi so hard that it launched him away from him.
Umbra's wings suddenly extended wide, and the lightning crashed down onto his body, and he flew high into the air, floating before them all, before spiralling towards them, his razor-sharp claws glowing red with primordial energy slashing through the air, tearing through the soldiers, leaving their screaming bodies behind, carved into little pieces. Blood rained down upon them all, and he flew high above them, before coming crashing down and killing another twenty.
Yenna rocketed off the ground and formed a huge spear of ice, throwing it into Umbra's chest them exploding it with a fireball. The shards tore through his body, making Umbra snarl with anger. He jumped towards her and slammed at the ground with his hand, then he slashed at the air. The eyes of everyone widened as they saw stars inside of the hole he just tore into the air, reaching into the tear of time and space, pulling Primordial Energy from the void and letting it course across his body.
He jumped into the air and channelled all that energy into his jaws, and blasted down into the ground, sending flames of countless different colours crashing down into the snow. The soldiers caught in the attack were completely atomised, not even embers remained as they tried to flee. Umbra landed, then formed an enormous glowing gold bow, firing it directly at Kragen.
He rolled aside, cast his silver gaze upon his Isomacium Staff, lacing the ancient hieroglyphics with his power, and with the energy still inside his eyes, he opened them once more on Umbra, firing a sudden bolt into Umbra's face. Umbra grunted as half of his face was turned to stone, then he turned to see Hazel jumping towards him and punching Umbra in the face. The impact was so hard that the stone side of his face shattered, leaving black blood pouring from the wound.
Vir Nominis Umbra tumbled backwards before conjuring blades in his hands, throwing them at Hazel, before lunging across the snow towards him. Hazel dodged the blades but could not avoid the monster as he grabbed him and smashed him into the ground with all his might.
Umbra jumped away as a large squad of soldiers sprinted towards him with his weapon, but he conjured a huge scythe as he jumped away, cutting them in half, leaving them all shrieking on the ground as they bled out. He rested the scythe across his back, just like how Ruby would when she would fight. His eyes glowed bright red, and he sprinted towards Coco, who fired Gianduja towards him, only for her to suddenly take off and punch him in the face, forming a tornado in the clouds above.
It came crashing down and the two of them flew up into it, with Yenna following after them. Yenna tossed bolts of lightning towards him as he flew with them. Umbra breathed deep and unleashed a beam of plasma and fire from his jaws at the two of them, a beam they only narrowly dodged. Coco activated her semblance, amplifying the dust in Gianduja and she open fired on Umbra. The sudden explosive force of the bullets knocked Vir Nominis Umbra out of the sky, and as he fell, Yenna formed a huge spear of lightning and threw it into his chest.
As Umbra came crashing down, the explosion was incredible, creating a gigantic shockwave as he landed. More soldiers charged towards him, screaming with fury and defiance as they rushed towards the crater where he fell. Only for Umbra to suddenly emerge, his wings spread wide, and he held out his hands, tearing enormous boulders from the ground with his telekinesis.
"Continue to throw your meagre lives away at me… nothing you can do will ever harm me. All this hope I feel in you? WHAT GOOD COULD THAT POSSIBLY DO?" Vir Nominis Umbra roared, launching the boulders towards the soldiers, crushing them into a red paste on the ground.
The sensation of their hope…
… it made him feel sick to his stomach.
He flew above Kragen and Velvet, who continued to fire Junior's rocket launcher up at him, sending Hardlight Missiles up at him. But the missiles were doing nothing at all to the False God, who suddenly formed a pair of lightning forks and came slamming down with them. The explosive force threw the two of them away and electrocuted the few remaining soldiers.
Carmine sprinted across the battlefield towards Vir Nominis Umbra, launching her Sai towards him once more. The small blade punctured Umbra in the eye, making him snarl with anger as the black blood leaked from his eye. She yanked it back and jumped towards him, only for Vir Nominis Umbra to suddenly form a huge spear and impale Carmine through the chest, pinning her to the ground.
She choked on her own blood, grabbing at the spear, before Umbra blasted a cloud of fire down onto her, reducing her to ashes. The False God snarled as magma dripped from his teeth onto where Carmine's body once was, walking away from where he slew her. Hazel gritted his teeth with rage, punching his fist into the ground and ripping a boulder from the floor, throwing it towards Umbra.
The rock exploded against his chest, knocking Umbra back a couple of steps, leaving shards of the rocks in his body. Umbra launched a spear from thin air towards Hazel, then immediately formed an enormous hammer which he rested on his shoulder, and just as Hazel rolled underneath the spear, Umbra jumped and flipped through the air, bringing the hammer down with terrifying force, shattering the ground beneath him, and blowing Hazel away.
Hazel crashed against the rocks, his green aura flickering as he laid there, groaning in pain. Umbra walked towards him then turned as Yatsuhashi launched Fox who was standing on the blade of Fulcrum towards Umbra, driving Sharp Retribution into the side of his neck. Umbra stumbled away from Hazel, snarling as he heard Fox's voice in his own head.
"Laugh all you want, you son of a bitch. You're gonna lose… Ruby will take you down." Fox snarled, but Umbra just smirked.
"You cannot even begin to comprehend how many brave heroes have said that exact same thing to me over the years." Umbra replied, grabbing Fox and flinging him away, but Fox stuck the landing, sliding across the ground. Soldiers fired their rifles at Umbra and the Silver Eyed Warriors continued to blast beams of white light at him. Kragen sprinted across the chunks of broken battlefield towards him, then jumped, smashing Ebony Duchess across Umbra's face, the Silver Light laced into the Isomacium, creating an explosion against his face.
Umbra grunted, his eyes red eyes widening from feeling pain there, then he gritted his teeth, before spreading his wings, and blasting upwards into the sky.
Vanishing.
Silence fell upon the mountain range, and they all looked around to figure out where he went, until Kragen saw him descending towards them, his body engulfed in fire as he came down like a meteor, crashing into the ground and leaving only a couple of soldiers left alive. The flames surrounded them all, and Umbra's body remained coated in fire.
Umbra slammed his razor sharp searing claws down, cleaving soldiers apart, then forming an enormous glowing sword to cut down even more, before finishing them off by blasting a vast cloud of red flames from his jaws, snarling. He turned as Yatsuhashi sprinted towards him with a furious roar, but Umbra caught Fulcrum's blade and ripped it from his hand, spinning around and driving it straight through his pauldron, breaking his aura and nearly cleaving him in half. Yatsuhashi gasped as blood erupted from the wound, then collapsed onto his back.
"NO!" Fox roared, blasting towards Umbra only for the False God to catch him and launch him into the floor so hard his aura burst, and his legs were left broken, but Umbra swiftly ended him with a sudden brutal stomp onto the back of his head, leaving his twitching corpse behind.
Coco's eyes widened as she watched them both die… then her eyes ignited and she let out a scream of anguish and rage, whilst Velvet dropped to her knees in heartbreak as she saw Umbra kill them both. Umbra turned around and raised his wing as Coco blasted all the elements at once at Umbra as tears streamed from her eyes, the air around her being so cold the tears froze to ice as they fell.
Umbra slashed his burning hot claws at her, then his wings extended wide, flapping them towards her, blowing her away from the sudden gusts of wind. He floated high above them all, gravity itself changing around him, causing rocks to float into the air, then he launched towards them all, creating an enormous explosion upon impact. Umbra spun around with his long tail stretched out, slashing through the legs of a couple of soldiers, leaving them screaming in agony.
He smiled as he relished in the sound of their suffering. Hazel snarled as he glared at Vir Nominis Umbra, sprinting towards him, dodging the incoming blades that Umbra launched towards him, then Umbra formed a pair of spears of Primordial Energy which he slammed into the ground in front of him, and they glowed brighter and brighter, pulling the bodies of shrieking fatally wounded soldiers into it, then the spears detonated in a terrifying explosion.
But Hazel jumped through the flames, his aura being burned away, and he slammed his fists down on the top of Umbra's skull. The power of Hazel's Blood Rage was still enough to challenge Umbra, then when Umbra thrusted his sharp tail towards him, Hazel dodged and wrapped it around his arm, and jumped onto Umbra's shoulder, running across his back and wrapping the tail around his throat, before jumping down and slamming him onto his back.
Umbra roared with fury as Hazel held him down, his teeth gritted, until Umbra's eyes shone bright red, and he flew up into the air, pulling Hazel up with him. Umbra suddenly spun around and slammed his tail into Hazel's chest. The huge warrior crashed into the ground, and his aura finally broke. He looked up as Vir Nominis Umbra crashed down in front of him, but Hazel still got back up, something that Umbra couldn't help but smile at.
"Your drive… I've always respected that about you, Hazel Rainart." Vir Nominis Umbra said as Hazel spat out blood.
"I'll see you soon… Amber…" Hazel wheezed, then he glared at Umbra with fury in his eyes. Umbra opened his claws suddenly, throwing sparks from the razor-sharp blades. Hazel roared and jumped towards him, fists clenched, then Umbra swung at him.
Blood fell to the floor, and Umbra staggered back from Hazel's punch, resetting his jaw, and chuckling. "Well done… Hazel…" He chuckled.
Hazel landed, coughing as litres of blood poured from the three fatally deep slashes through his torso. He fell to his knees as his raspy breaths left his throat, and as he looked ahead… he saw Amber stood there, smiling as she reached out to him. He reached out to her and smiled, before the end finally came, and he fell forward into the snow.
Vir Nominis Umbra bowed his head to Hazel before turning to the few who remained. Umbra saw them all sprinting towards him, but he held his wings over his body, then suddenly let out a deafening roar. The shockwave from when he swung his wings back blew everyone across the floor. Kragen grunted as he slid backwards, only to suddenly be stamped on by Umbra's enormous foot, pinned to the ground.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… truly Kragen… I expected better. Just throwing your lives away for nothing?" Vir Nominis Umbra questioned, shaking his head. Kragen glared back up at Umbra, but he just chuckled.
"Then you really have forgotten who you're talking to…"
Vir Nominis Umbra narrowed his eyes with a deep, guttural growl.
What else do you have up your sleeve, Kragen?
You haven't made it this far with such recklessness.
Upon the walls, the Knights of Death, Fear and Fury stood together, with Loss still up in one of the towers. But as they stood there, Death looked up, noticing a crow flying directly towards Vir Nominis Umbra for a brief moment in the smoke.
Yet… he just looked away.
All of them did.
And Death had only one thing to say.
"Good luck, Qrow Branwen… tear him apart."
Nora
Starla watched from the tower as the two Higher Demons surrounded Nora.
She turned and saw her family staring back at her, then she looked down at the Bow, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" The Whisperer tutted, walking in Khaki's body beneath her, moving the rubble to form steps so he could stand beside her. The Witches looked back at Nora, still trying to hold the Oncoming Shadow back for as long as they could.
"You have fought bravely, sweet girl… but your valiant efforts have been for nought. Your destiny has already been written… it is not a thing that someone like yourself can escape." The Whisperer snarled.
Nora glared down at them with hate in her eyes.
"There's… no such thing… as destiny!" She argued, but roots wrapped around her throat, and she felt her Cursemark burning more and more.
"Hollow words… spoken from a fool who's fate has already been written." The Whisperer chuckled, stepping aside, and the Lord of the Wood suddenly grabbed her by the head. Nora screamed in agony as she felt her Cursemark burning more and more, becoming more unbearable than it had ever been in her entire life.
Everything was happening… exactly as it did when they tried to break the Curse…
"But now… it is time for your suffering… to come to a decisive end." The Whisperer stated, turning to the Lord of the Wood and nodding. The Lord of the Wood tilted its head and snarled deeply. Then she started to feel the roots creeping towards her skin, trying to bury into her body.
"Your friends? They will not stand by… your love for each other… your emotions? They have always been your weakness… and that weakness? Well… you will get to watch them all be torn apart as they try to save you… and finally… the Relics will be ours. Your death… will be the catalyst for your failure." The Whisperer assured, chuckling sinisterly.
"NORA!" Ren screamed as he stood at the door, trying to run back to her despite Maria holding him back. She stared back at him, then stared at the Lord of the Wood with more anger in her eyes.
She closed her eyes and clenched her hands into fists.
She felt her memories come flooding back.
From Kuroyuri, when Ren found her being bullied by those kids, to when the Nuckelavee attacked… to when it was just the two of them.
To Beacon Academy, meeting Jaune and Pyrrha for the first time and becoming Team J.N.P.R, becoming a family.
Avenging Ren's parents when they killed the Nuckelavee together, the time they all spent with Ruby.
Their first kiss.
Losing Pyrrha and getting her back.
Every… single… happy… moment.
"I will always love you, Nora… always." Ren's words echoed in her mind, and her eyes suddenly burst open. Nora tore her hand free from the Roots, grabbing the throat of the Lord of the Wood and ripping chunks of bark and vines out. Black smoke erupted from the wound, causing the Lord of the Wood to screech in agony, roaring in a demonic voice mixed with the cry of an elk. She scooped Magnhild into her hand and smashed it into the Whisperer's face, breaking Khaki's face apart, and when the Onyx Phantom leapt at her, she smashed it down into the ground.
She collapsed Magnhild down and sprinted towards Ren, never wanting to leave him. Ren broke free from Maria and sprinted out of the tunnel towards her.
"REN!" Maria yelled.
But Jaune and Pyrrha watched with hope in their eyes. "Come on, Nora…"
The Lord of the Wood grabbed at its throat, looking back up at Nora as she fled, snarling darkly as she grew smaller and smaller. Starla continued to watch her run towards Ren, who rushed to her. The Lord of the Wood stood tall and clenched one of its clawed hands into a fist, before pointing its other hand at her, the long curved bark finger aimed right at her.
Manticores and Nevermores descended towards her, and she looked up with wide eyes as a Manticore dove, charging up a fireball in its jaws. Until a Sniper Rifle Bullet knocked it out of the sky, Ren looked back to see Ruby outside, to see everyone outside, firing up at the Grimm trying to kill Nora and Ren.
A Nevermore swooped down towards her, launching Fatal Feathers at them, yet despite the odds against them all the feathers missed, and Ozpin channelled magical energy from the Relic into Mihi Vindicta, carving the Nevermore clean in half. The Lord of the Wood tilted its head in disbelief at her still making it so far.
But it still knew… that her fate was sealed.
It clenched its hands into fists as it growled. A swarm of Crows and Ravens swelled up behind it, its eyes glowing bright red as it prepared to launch towards her. Starla watched the Lord of the Wood, then took a step forward, nocking an arrow into her bow.
Completely ignoring the hallucinations of her family that continued to haunt her.
Feeling the tension in her body loosening.
Nora dodged the falling Grimm bodies as they crashed into the surrounding ground, one landing so close that she tripped, sliding across the bloody snow and mud, but she got back up and continued to sprint to Ren, who kept running to her.
Behind them, the Witches looked at each other and the Alchemist held one hand up to help keep the Forcefield up, revealing the Alchemical Bomb she created.
"It's been an honour, sisters…" The Alchemist said.
"Always." The Sorceress agreed.
The Alchemist threw the potion into the ground, creating an enormous explosion which consumed them, and decimated the Grimm piling up beyond the Forcefield, reducing most of them to nothing at all. The shockwave brought the broken walls down, and even consumed the Whisperer.
Not destroying it, but definitely damaging the Higher Demon.
The Lord of the Wood transformed, and launched towards her from behind, and tears streamed from Nora's eyes and she heard them get closer and closer.
Starla fired the bow.
And the arrow soared across the courtyard, whistling through the air, and hit its mark, directly hitting the Lord of the Wood just as it erupted from the cloud of Corvid Birds to impale Nora, knocking it aside and sending it crashing into the wall.
Nora jumped into Ren's arms, her teary eyes wide with disbelief, and they both turned and sprinted toward everyone. They all ran inside and the Architect fired at the Onyx Phantom as it sprinted towards them, and Kassius grabbed the door and slammed it shut, locking it.
The Lord of the Wood stared… in total disbelief…
… she survived… her destiny…
"REN!" Nora cried out, hugging him so tight and kissing him passionately. Ren held her so tight, never wanting to let her go. Ozpin stared at her in awe… unable to comprehend… what had just happened.
If it were Ruby, Oscar, Jaune or Pyrrha… it'd make more sense… but it wasn't… it was Nora…
Outside, the Lord of the Wood lunged at the door, smashing its fists against it as it roared with rage to try to get inside. "We gotta go… come on… we can't waste this chance! GO!" Maria yelled.
The Undertaker stayed at the rear of them, prepared to fight in case the Lord of the Wood pursued them.
Outside… the Knights of Grimm looked up at the tower where the arrow came from… and they could feel the change…
And Krekras saw Starla looking at her arms with wide blue eyes. She pulled her veil back and let it fall from her fingers. Her hair was white again, blowing in the wind, and she could no longer see them… she could no longer feel it in her anymore.
And then… black trails of smoke trailed from her body, alongside the whispering cries of the Knight of Loss.
"… did she…" Fear gasped with wide eyes.
"She broke her curse…" Fury gasped with wide eyes. She stared at them, then transformed into her dove form, flying up into the air.
"… how did she do that?" Fear asked.
"I think… she stopped torturing herself over their deaths… her family… she finally accepted it. And chose to fight for something other than her own self loathing… she moved on from her grief…" Krekras realised as she flew up into the clouds.
And all of them could feel it… almost like their curses were waning…
Vir Nominis Umbra
The False God turned sharply towards Dragonspire Keep with terrified eyes, sensing the Defiance of Fate.
"Impossible…" He gasped. "No… something's changed… how did…"
Kragen smirked up at Vir Nominis Umbra. "Heh… never thought I'd ever see you so scared, Umbra… that alone has made all of this worth it." Kragen said, glancing to the clouds as he heard the Crow caw. "But you really oughta be more aware of your surroundings." He said.
Umbra snarled down at him, then turned as Qrow suddenly erupted through the smoke, Harbinger in Scythe form with his teeth gritted and eyes filled with fury. Umbra growled as he stared at him. "You will never learn." He sighed, filled with misplaced confidence. He swung his clawed hand towards Qrow, until Kragen blasted a sudden pulse of silver light from his eyes at Umbra, forcing him back into a vulnerable state. Qrow drove the scythe into Umbra's arm and spiralled around the limb, roaring as he carved it into chunks, flying past his shoulder and transforming back into Crow form.
Umbra howled in agony as black blood erupted from his arm, exploding into chunks onto the ground. He grabbed at his arm with wide eyes, then turned as he looked around for Qrow. "My arm… damn it… where did he go? WHERE ARE YOU, BRANWEN?" Vir Nominis Umbra bellowed, until his vision suddenly went black.
Qrow shot forward, transforming out of his Corvid Form once again and slashed Harbinger straight through Umbra's eyes, splattering himself in the False God's blood.
What the? I CAN'T SEE!
That damned bandit.
He took out my eyes!
Qrow flew towards his wings and slashed through them, completely severing them from his back, then dove down in his Crow Form to get there fast, and returned to human, cutting through one heel and then the other. The weight of his body became his downfall, and Umbra gasped as he collapsed.
AND MY LEGS!
His head smashed into the ground with dominant force and Qrow shot high above Umbra, staring down at the helpless False God from above. "Aww, what's wrong, not having fun anymore, you sick fuck?" Qrow yelled as the black blood dripped from his face. Everyone who was downed got back up, grabbing their weapons with this sudden rush of adrenaline. Qrow, Kragen, Coco, Velvet and Yenna all converged on Vir Nominis Umbra.
"No… MY STORY IS NOT ENDING LIKE THIS!" Vir Nominis Umbra yelled in fear.
"Really? After you butchered our friends, you wanna beg?" Qrow scoffed. "Come on… LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!" Qrow yelled as he dove and slashed across his back. Velvet jumped up and formed Hardlight Replicas of Lash Equinox whilst Coco formed ice blades in her hands and Yenna used lightning and fire blades. They all roared with united fury as they slashed into Umbra's titanic body, tearing him apart as he screamed in immense agony. His roars echoed across the mountains.
And back at Dragonspire Keep, the Onyx Phantom and the Whisperer turned alongside the rest of the Oncoming Shadow and scrambled to protect their leader.
All bar the Lord of the Wood, who was still trying to get to Nora, and the Knights of Grimm.
Who were relishing in the sound of Vir Nominis Umbra screaming.
Qrow roared as he dealt the final blow, destroying the False God body, and releasing the Soothsayer from it. Vir Nominis Umbra screamed in agony, turning to be impaled straight through the chest by Qrow and pinned to the floor.
"Got ya, you son of a bitch." Qrow snarled.
Umbra gasped and wheezed in agony as he grabbed at the enormous blade rammed into his chest. "Look at you… nothing more than a pathetic waste of space when someone finally lands a good hit on you. So how about you let us offer you the same deal you offered us. Make it easy for yourself… and tell us how we can kill you quick. Otherwise… we're gonna make you suffer." Qrow growled.
Vir Nominis Umbra snarled at the feeling of such fear and pain as Qrow twisted the blade in his chest. Then he screamed as he cracked a rib. "I know you can hear me… I specifically avoided your ears."
Even with a sword stabbed straight through his chest, it still was not gonna be enough to kill him. Whatever the trick was, it was up to Ruby and the others to figure it out now. "Something… has changed…" He winced.
"The hell's he talking about?" Coco asked with her teeth gritted.
"I don't know but it's got him rattled… maybe… things are actually going in our favour after all…" Kragen said as he looked back. His eyes widened, and he pushed Yenna out of the way as the Whisperer and the Onyx Phantom suddenly attacked, smashing Qrow off Vir Nominis Umbra and blasting everyone else away.
They both lift Vir Nominis Umbra up and start fleeing from them, Umbra coughing up blood. Qrow watched as they got away. "GET THEM! TEAR THEM TO PIECES!" Vir Nominis Umbra screamed, and all the Grimm started surging over the broken walls of Dragonspire Keep towards them all. They all stood their ground as their fate approached.
Umbra screamed in agony as he held his chest, but once they were far enough away, he stopped the Higher Demons from taking him any further. "Argh! YOU PLAYED YOUR HAND WELL KRAGEN! BUT YOU'VE USED UP YOUR LAST ACE IN YOUR DECK! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE LIKE THE REST OF THEM! You may have defeated me… but one way or another… VICTORY WILL BE MINE!" Vir Nominis Umbra yelled.
But Kragen just smirked.
"Oh no, Umbra… I still have one more ace up my sleeve. I won't get to see its results… but you will… and I hope Ruby gets to see the look on your face when you realise you've lost." Kragen promised. They all stood together as the Grimm converged on them.
No fear in their hearts.
For they had already one.
Now?
All that was left was the chance to go down fighting to the very end.
Author Note - Rest in Peace: Carmine, Yatsuhashi, Fox, Hazel and the Witches
God I've been waiting to do this chapter for so long with Nora and Umbra's moments, especially the final scene with Qrow nearly killing Umbra. So satisfying to write Umbra getting absolutely demolished after how many people he has killed over the story but also in this chapter alone. Plus having Qrow do it is one of my favourite things considering he's one of the first characters to actually speak to Vir Nominis Umbra in the series, so it's fitting he gets to demolish him XD
And fun fact about Nora, for a very long time she was gonna die. Alongside Ren here, where originally the Lord of the Wood would kill Nora and Ren would refuse to leave her and Starla would shoot him and just the overwhelming grief would break the curse, but it never made sense for that to be what would break her curse. And instead her finally looking away from the hallucination, leaving the curse with nothing to control her with and saving Nora's life and revealing that something big is happening in this universe against Umbra's favour? Much better than the original XD
(Thank you Stranger Things for finally helping me think of a better thing for this really important moment XD)
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review, follow and favourite!
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
- Matt