Chapter 19: Change
Two more months had passed. The last two more months had passed by slowly for the huntsmen and huntresses of Beacon. Every day it seemed that a task force was sent out to eliminate as many Grimm as they possibly could before they were to return. Yesterday, team RWBY had destroyed a rather large gathering of Ursi, and the day before team JNPR discovered a nest of Nevermores. They had the call in backup from SMMR and CRDL, but the next was eradicated in an orderly fashion.
The time was now.
The Grimm population was back near normal levels in most of the surrounding areas; all they had to worry about now was the concentration that was gathering in Horrida Campi. Sun's Bullhead, the one Roman had flown, had passed over the area once a day for the last two months; the gathering was incredible. It was a larger force of Grimm than those that caused Yang's death. In fact, many of them could possibly be survivors of Yang's burning fury.
Sun and Militia had started noticing a change, however. The number of incoming Grimm was decreasing; there were fewer and fewer monsters arriving to bolster the ranks. The time had finally come.
Today, the day after RWBY destroyed the Ursi in the Emerald Forest, Glynda organized everyone into the courtyard. Since Roman had brought a small fleet of Bullheads, many of the huntsmen and huntresses had been training to fly them; today would be the first and last time that they would all fly at the same time.
"You are all former students of this school," she began with everyone in attendance. "You graciously and courageously decided to stay when Ozpin gave you the option to return home. Let it be known today: hunters who graduate from Beacon are the bravest of them all. Even in the face of death, you have stayed. When your friends were killed before you, you perservered and remained dutiful to your oaths. You swore to protect not just your friends and family. Not to protect your home or yourselves. You swore to protect Remnant."
Each of them shouted a war cry, sounding almost like one would imagine a group of ancient warriors from long ago would shout.
"Today," Glynda continued. "You will fulfill your oath, or you will die trying. There is no turning back now. Should any of you survive this day, and should we succeed, you are all welcome to return to Beacon of your own free will to serve future generations of huntsmen and huntresses. That is, of course, if you so choose. But that is a decision you will make later. For now, we move forward. For now, we fight for Remnant!"
Again the war cry, almost a chant now, erupted among the young warriors. Glynda fought back a fit of tears briefly. See them, Ozpin? See how your dream for them has come true. These are the greatest warriors I have ever seen...that I have ever served with.
With a command from Glynda, they all began to march into the Bullheads. The aircraft began to take off, and they started flying northward.
North, bound for Horrida Campi. The Grim Valley. Ruby retrieved Yang's scarf from her pocket and tied it to her right bicep before climbing into a Bullhead. She couldn't wait to send the Grimm straight to hell. Every last one of them.
The figure's spirit once again roamed Remnant. He knew that today was the day. The day that would decide if he could continue to enjoy this bittersweet series of events of varying forms of repetition, or if Remnant would be saved by the very girl that he had cursed. In hindsight, it seemed only natural that she would eventually find a timeline where they would win. After all, he himself re-lived the same ten thousand year span over five million times before he found the outcome he longed for. That was why he made the Cycle to begin with; to put his foes at a disadvantage. It almost worked too. Almost.
He now "stood" above the valley. It was full of dark, despicable creatures that sought only to consume the mortals who resided here. They reminded him of the Wraiths from another world he had once visited. What had the locals of Remnant called them again? Grimm? Yes, that sounded right. However, unlike the Wraiths, these creatures were completely physical: no spiritual assets were present within these monsters. For some reason, he liked that about them.
If he were a reasonable man, he would think that this "sport" of his was cruel. But, then again, he was set to be in prison for all of eternity. He barely had enough magical essence to conjure up his spiritual body, let alone to recreate his famed Cycle. It was an incomplete conjuring, to be sure, but it was the best he could manage. When your captors were just as immortal and all powerful as yourself, it made using your "talents" that much harder.
He could hear the roaring engines of the Bullheads. They're here! he thought excitedly, smiling widely. But something happened. Suddenly, he could no longer see Remnant. His vision had instantly gone dark. "What the hell?" he asked.
"That's what we'd like to ask you," came the angry, yet cool female voice of one of his captors. "What have you done, Crim!?"
His vision returned. His body was stiff, and he was laying sideways; his hands and feet were both chained to the floor. The walls around him pulsated with purple, glowing magical circles; spell dampeners. They worked. Just not as well as their makers had hoped. The man, Crim, sat upright and met the gaze of one of his captors. She wore a sort of wizard's robe, no shoes, and her hair was bright silver, coupled with her purple eyes; the signs of an active magic user. "Lucia Bavol," he whispered. "To what do I owe this pleasure? It's not every day that you grace my humble cell with your beauty." He looked around. She was alone. "Is there any reason, actually, for dragging my spirit back to my body? It was just about to get to the good part."
She glared at him. "What. Have. You. Done?"
He grinned back at her. "Man's gotta do something to pass the time. Do you know how long eternity is, Lucia? You should. You've lived for over ten thousand years yourself. The least you bastards could have done was given me a deck of playing cards or a set of dice. Hell, a cellmate would be nice. Any other omnipotent, eternally living criminals around here?"
Lucia kicked him, and he grunted. "I thought I sensed that you'd done something, Crim. What spell did you cast? A deathrite? A mindseal?"
"Neither," he said, trying to ignore the pain in his ribs. "Just a sort of...temporal anomoly."
Her eyes went wide. "The Cycle," she whispered. "You realize that Lia won't be merciful this time." Lucia was clearly upset.
Crim smiled. "I'm looking forward to it." A little change in the routine is always a good thing, after all.
The hunters dropped from their Bullheads and landed in the valley, ready to fight. The Grimm in the area all stopped in their tracks and caught site of the enemy; fresh meat, ripe for consumption. Ruby deployed Ember Rose and revved up the heated blade. She smiled, looking left and right at her fellow comrades. They had all landed and armed themselves. The pilots of the Bullheads were the only ones not fighting, and they had at least one extra person per Bullhead to defend against Nevermores.
Ruby's grinned widened. "Fuck 'em up!" she cried angrily, followed by a deafening battle cheer from the other hunters. They charged into battle.
It was like a blur.
Chaos reigned supreme.
This was a true battlefield.
The Grimm had made a return charge, attacking the hunters head on. Screams of anger and anguish blended with growling snarls and yelps of pain. Beowolves lunged and huntsmen slashed. Ursi swiped and huntresses fired. Up above, Nevermores assaulted the Bullheads and the hunters that occupied them fired upon the great beasts. The birds shrieked, both in pain and annoyance.
Ruby had burned and beheaded over a dozen Grimm before she paused to watch one of the Nevermores fall from the sky. "Yeah~!" she cried. Her joy was short lived.
Weiss and Blake had become separated from Ruby in the hectic battle. Not that it mattered. There were no team based stratagems in this battle; it was just an extermination of Grimm. Weiss heard the gunfire and the Dust discharges from above. Glancing up she saw that the Nevermores in the area were engaging the Bullheads, sensing a threat to their own airspace. Weiss smiled as the Bullheads' hunters fought back aggressively, not sparing any expense as they willed the birds to die. One of them shrieked painfully and reeled back; it was dying.
"Blake!" she cried happily, turning to her team mate. "We're bringing them down!" Blake paused and glanced upward, smiling at the sight for a moment before her grin faded; horror replaced the joy on her face. Weiss looked back up and saw what Blake was staring at. Weiss leapt at Blake. "Blake, move!" she cried.
The next instant, the Nevermore's limp body landed upon the ground, crushing those who were beneath it during its descent.
Ruby had seen Weiss and Blake. They were under the Nevermore right before it hit and aura didn't protect very well against gravity. They're dead, Ruby thought. They're dead. They're dead. They're dead. They're dead! She turned to face the army of Grimm before her; the only thing she could see now was the deaths of her comrades. One had his arm ripped off by a Beowolf. Juane had a huge gash across the left side of his face, gouging out his eye. Nora had a large open wound tearing open the back of her shirt. Velvet was missing part of her right ear.
It was a nightmare. Something had changed.
Ruby's vision went black; the only thing she could see was herself, and a massive cross in front of her; a tombstone. It wasn't there before. Needless to say, it wasn't really there. Her anger and her imagination had taken over completely.
She was alone. Just her and the tombstone. After what felt like an eternity, she finally looked at the cross. On it, she could see every name of every person who had died during this terrible war against the Grimm. Had she miscalculated? Had she still failed? What had she done wrong?
She'd gone mad. That was the real answer. Clouded by bloodlust and anger, she saw her friends become crushed by the Nevermore. She looked away from the cross, and now there was nothing. Remnant was going to die. She was willing to die with it. But...
"Not until I've killed every one of you mother fuckers!" she screamed, her true vision returning. Eyes burning red and rose petals flying in every direction, Ember Rose burned hotter than it ever burned before. She charged the army of Grimm.
This must be what it was like for Yang, she thought. With no backup, she plunged head first into battle. As she fought, she recieved wound after wound. It didn't matter. Everyone is dead! she thought repeatedly. It doesn't matter! I'm all that's left! I'm all that's left! Fighting on, she was oblivious to the truth.
She was not all that was left.
The dust cloud had settled, and the Nevermore's corpse had disintegrated. Beneath where it had landed, Weiss stood over Blake, holding one of her glyphs above her head; she had caught the Nevermore right before it had landed. A wave of cheers erupted before they were drowned out by the growling Grimm.
"You okay?" Weiss gasped as she helped Blake up from the ground.
"I'm fine," she answered. "That was a bit too close, though." She looked around. "We still haven't regrouped with Ruby, have we?"
Weiss shook her head. "I hope she's alright."
"I think you'll find that to be a bit difficult," came the voice of Velvet. Weiss and Blake turned to face the rabbit faunus as she limped over to them. The tip of her right ear had been torn off; she was fighting back the tears of pain and resisting the urge to cover the ear with her hand. "She just went berserk and ran straight into the whole lot of them."
She pointed, and the two members of team RWBY followed her finger. There she was; angry, red eyed, and flower pedals flying in every direction as she hacked, slashed, and burned every Grimm in her path.
"No!" Weiss whispered with wide eyes. They would have to fight their way to her if they were going to help her.
She was, after all, in the very center of the horde. She had nowhere to escape to.
Song: Change (In the House of Flies)-Deftones
Author's Note
Here we are; the final battle. Sad to say that there really isn't much to this part of the story. It's very important, and we witness it, but it's a very quick battle. Spoiler alert: when we get to the next chapter, the battle will already be over. It's going to wage on for a few hours before finally ending...and it's that ending that we're going to see.
Prepare yourselves. The end of the story is just around the corner. Chapter 20: Just Like You Imagined will be out soon (maybe Friday), followed shortly by the epilogue.
Also...Crim is in a lot of trouble. Just saying.
Till next time.