Huntress Mage Chronicles
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Roughly a thousand years later, Emerald openly walks through Bevelle at the side of recently widowed disgraced Summoner Braska and the equally disgraced Warrior Monk Auron. "I can't believe it's been a decade since we met. I heard they imprisoned a crazy drunk man wearing strange clothes if you want a third Guardian," Emerald says to Braska as they drift towards the holding cells.
"A Summoner disgraced for marrying an Al Bhed, an ancient mage shunned for openly using machina and not wearing clothes, and an ex Warrior Monk disgraced for refusing a political marriage. Now you want to add a drunk athlete who claims to be from a team that died nearly a thousand years ago? It would certainly surprise everyone if we were the ones to bring the next Calm," Auron says with a pessimistic tone.
"We certainly would surprise them. I say we do it," Braska replies in a far more cheerful tone just before reaching the jail. Only a minute later they are led to a disheveled man wearing a strange uniform similar to what Emerald remembers Shuyin wearing so long ago. "So you are the man from Zanarkand?" Braska greets the prisoner.
"Who wants to know," the man says with a confrontational tone.
"Watch your wor-," Auron starts to say only to be interrupted by an uppercut to his chin.
"Watch your own words Sir Auron. While his tone could use work, his question is a fair one. The first to speak is Lord Braska, a Summoner and priest of Yevon. The guy I punched is Sir Auron, a former Warrior Monk of Yevon. And I am Lady Emerald, a Summoner of sorts and honorary Al Bhed. We are going on a pilgrimage to Zanarkand and thought you might be interested," Emerald says.
"Sign me up. Anything to get out of this cell. The name's Jecht," the man says before Emerald uses her passive magic to unlock his cell.
A short walk later, Auron choses to stand guard nearby while Jecht meets Braska's daughter inside the Summoner's home and final preparations are made for the pilgrimage. "Why doesn't Granny Emerald wear clothes Daddy?" little Yuna asks when she notices Emerald and Jecht.
"Yuna, you know your mommy was an Al Bhed, and your daddy is human right? I'm an honorary Al Bhed and look human but can be considered a Deathbringer as are Granny Ginny and Granny Astoria. Granny Daphne is an honorary Deathbringer as are Grandpa Neville and your other relatives on your mommy's side who don't wear clothes," Emerald explains while Jecht listens curiously. Yuna nods and serves nonalcoholic drinks to Emerald and Jecht.
The next morning, before sunrise, Yuna is dropped off at a temple run childcare center and Braska begins his pilgrimage turning to Lake Macalania while Jecht complains about the lack of cheering crowds given the purpose of the pilgrimage to defeat Sin, explained to Jecht last night while Braska purchased some last minute supplies. "If we see crowds from Bevelle cheering, it will be for our expected deaths. None of us are popular in Lord Braska's home city." Emerald explains to Jecht, pointing out the early time of departure.
At the transition from forest to lake, Braska pulls out a pair of simple shoes suggesting Jecht should wear them to protect his feet from the cold of the lake. "I'm used to extreme temperatures while nude. I doubt your Blitz stadiums used freezing cold water in Zanarkand." Emerald replies when Jecht points out she is wearing less than he is.
Despite putting on the shoes, around half way to the temple Jecht is clearly too cold to continue. Since the slow pace means it is lunch time anyways, Braska convinces Auron they should stop and warm up inside a travel agency run by an Al Bhed named Rin. "Emerald! You are joining a pilgrimage?" a familiar voice greets Braska, Auron, and Emerald.
"Of course Astoria. I need to keep little Lord Braska safe even if he wants to challenge Sin." Emerald replies before acknowledging Daphne's presence and introducing the sisters to Jecht. After two hours and a good meal, Daphne and Astoria join the pilgrimage as they continue to Macalania Temple. To Jecht's surprise, Astoria wears just as little as Emerald while Daphne wears a pair of short swords on a thin belt.
On entering the cloister of trials, Emerald takes one look at the ice based test before creating an ice bridge from her magic to go directly to the chamber of the Fayth. Despite Auron's complaints, Emerald follows Braska into the chamber after sealing off the doorway between the cloister and the anteroom before the chamber proper. Inside, Braska performs the Yevonite prayer once used as the Blitz ball symbol for victory before a young woman appears above the Fayth statue in the center of the room. The young woman is obviously the spirit of the Macalania Fayth, but her clothing wouldn't look too out of place among the Al Bhed or Bevelle's red light district.
"Not often that two Summoners approach at the same time. It is an honor to meet the Summoner of the War-forged Lovers. I will assist the 'fallen' Summoner, but you must adopt me Lady Emerald," the Fayth says.
"Sure thing. Hold out your left hand and try not to scream too loud," Emerald says before releasing the first stage of her soul-forged weapon and cutting her own left hand. After the screaming stops, the Fayth introduces herself to Braska as Shiva before forming the traditional Fayth/Summoner bond with him.
"So…judging by the scowl on Auron's face, how much trouble are we in because you two both entered the inner chamber?" Jecht asks when he sees Emerald and Braska again.
"Little to none since Bevelle doesn't like any of our group and there are technically no rules against multiple Summoners entering the chamber at the same time." Emerald says as she quickly summons all four of her current Aeons.
"So how're…" Jecht starts to say only to be interrupted by Shiva snapping her fingers to shatter all of the ice blocking the way to the entrance chamber of the temple. As they make their way out of the temple and towards the travel agency, an army of ice type fiends appear to block their path. As Jecht's jaw drops and Auron prepares for a tough fight, Lyrica and Striker execute their ultimate combo attack and Shiva finishes off the fiend army with her Diamond Dust technique while Bahamut rolls his eyes. Suddenly, as the fiends dissolve into pyreflies, everyone feels a sharp sting in their necks and lose consciousness.
As she regains consciousness, Emerald notices her magic has formed a visible barrier around her skin and all of the group's supplies including any clothing are missing. With the exception of Emerald herself, everyone appears to have a crystal implanted into their left wrist. "Any idea where we can get new supplies? I don't know about you Lady Emerald, but I would like to find new clothes to protect from Fiends and rough terrain," Braska says once everyone is conscious.
"I suggest you worry more about finding a replacement weapon since you are fairly reliant on a focus for your white magic and we no longer have access to Shiva and Bahamut. You might also want to study the implants in everyone's left wrist since it must have a purpose," Emerald says as she observes the beach they are on as well as the nearby forest. A moment's tinkering by Jecht reveals the crystal implants are comparable to highly interactive memory spheres combined with storage and diagnostic capabilities. Unfortunately, the only thing stored in any of the crystals is a deck of Muggle trading cards Daphne received from Loony for Christmas.
While Daphne looks through the cards for ideas on how they may help the group survive, a swarm of small bipedal lizards with razor sharp teeth appears and starts chirping at the group. Plucking a random card from Daphne's deck, Emerald channels her magic and summons 'Baby Dragon' before summoning the War-forged Lovers and the Hunter's Moon Twins. Working together, the spirit weapons, card spirit and Aeons make quick work of the lizards without heavy damage to the environment or injuries to Braska and his guardians. "Why did you kill those scavengers and how did you summon Aeons," Jecht asks as Emerald eats one of the lizards whole.
"The teeth are not those of scavengers. These creatures are pack hunters that rely on numbers and wearing down larger prey through small injuries." Emerald says before noting that they taste like chicken and uses a few tendons and bones to create daggers for everyone. "As for the War-forged Lovers, their Fayth statue is magically contained within me and came with us when we were brought wherever 'here' is. The Hunter's Moon twins are the souls of my soul-forged weapons and linked to my own soul, and Baby Dragon is a magical construct built off one of Daphne's cards."
"Just how powerful are you? The level of magic you describe is beyond anything I've heard of the Bevelle Mages using." Auron asks just as three giant squid type creatures surface from the water and begin attacking the shore. Turning to the creatures that Braska identifies as Kraken according to the database in the crystals, Emerald swipes her right hand across her face and a harness of bones and blood forms on her back giving her demonic wings and a six-foot tail. Along with the harness, Emerald gains scythe claws in place of her nails and her eyes glow acid green.
"Digital Shrapnel." Emerald calls out as she leaps into the air and fires the bones of her fingertips as well as the equivalent toe bones at the three Kraken. As Emerald lands at the waterline, the rest of the group are showered with Kraken chunks from the three sea creatures exploding when hit by the 'Digital Shrapnel'.
"Why do I get the feeling you've been holding out on us Emerald?" Jecht asks as he starts gathering the meat and hide of the Kraken.
"Probably because Lady Emerald has never fully let loose in combat since before the Deathbringers came to Spira," Daphne says as she wades out to the largest chunks of Kraken to collect any bones she can find.
"Even a thousand years ago my full strength was usually excessive even if the path of honor dictates prey be given a chance at fighting or fleeing," Emerald replies as her eyes fade to emerald green and the bone harness fades away. To prove her point, she flicks her right index finger at the tree line twenty yards away and an entire acre of the forest turns to mulch from the generated pressure wave as well as the beach being destroyed between Emerald and the new mulch patch.
"I see what you mean about excessive strength," Auron deadpans at the sight of what his crystal identifies as nearly an acre of thatch and a handful of wood where a forest used to be.
"I hope we can find something to make clothes before we stumble into any guys," a voice is overheard saying just before four naked girls enter the thatch clearing. One girl is blond with the presence of a brawler, another is white haired and gives the impression of a stuck-up princess while the remaining two girls have black hair. Of the two black haired girls, one has red tips and gives off an impression of innocence while the other has cat ears that could almost be mistaken for a bow if they weren't constantly twitching.
"A little late to avoid being seen by guys, but at least Braska, Auron and Jecht are strangers rather than stalkers or crushes. A bigger concern for the four of you should be weapons to deal with predators tracking the blood from your injuries," Emerald says to let the four know they aren't alone. "My name is Emerald, the older of the two girls with me is Daphne and the younger is her sister Astoria. The stiff guy is Auron, the athlete is Jecht, and the calm guy is Braska. Mind introducing yourselves?"
"True I guess," the red tipped girl says as she blushes at people other than her friends seeing her small breasts. "I'm Ruby Rose. The blond is my sister Yang Zao-long, the ice princess is Weiss Schnee, and the cat-eared girl is Blake Belladonna." Just as Ruby finishes introducing her group, a second group enters the clearing consisting of a blond boy with obvious confidence issues, a black-haired boy with a streak of pink in his hair, an orange-haired girl seemingly in the middle of a sugar rush, and a red headed girl who gives off a feeling of supreme confidence despite the fact all four are just as naked as everyone else in the area so far.
"Guess introductions are in order," the blond boy says as he tries to avoid looking at anyone while turning redder than the red head. "I'm Jaune Arc, the bundle of energy is Nora Valkyrie, the red head is Pyrrha Nicos, and the last member of my group is Lie Ren. Anyone have a decent weapon yet?"
"Technically don't need them, but I have these," Emerald replies as she wordlessly summons her Hunter's Moon sniper-scythes. "I'm Emerald Death, my companions are the Greengrass-Death sisters Daphne and Astoria, warrior-monk Auron, and athlete Jecht."
"Wow, those look like my baby Crescent Rose! How did you make them? Where did you get the paint?" Ruby says even as she vanishes in a burst of rose petals and starts climbing all over the sniper-scythes.
"Ruby! You shouldn't climb on other people's weapons. Given relative sizes it shouldn't even be possible..." Nora says while using thatch, a few sticks and a good size stone to improvise a sledgehammer. "What do you mean about technically not needing weapons?"
"Jecht, Braska and Auron need weapons to avoid relying on girls to protect them, but I made this clearing with one finger and because we have a similar upbringing, Daphne and Astoria should be able to do decent damage with a fist even if they haven't trained in combat as much." Emerald replies to Nora while gently tossing Ruby into a tree. As Daphne raises an eyebrow in curiosity at Emerald's estimate of her strength, Astoria walks to a tree on the edge of the clearing and swiftly punches it with the result being a cone of trees covering roughly a quarter acre being reduced to thatch. Seeing her little sister deal such impressive damage, Daphne goes to a different edge of the clearing and punches a tree only to get the same results.
"So... shelter, food then look into tech advancement while scouting out the current landmass? I get the feeling we're not on Remnant so long-term goals for team RWBY and JNPR include developing space travel," Jaune says while gathering supplies to craft a pickaxe.
"Sounds good, but you might need to research time and or dimensional travel since the guys in my group are from Spira while the Greengrass-Death sisters and myself are from a planet called Earth where Spira is part of a game and Remnant is from a cartoon or comic book," Emerald replies while crafting a thatch foundation.
AN: Thanks for reading and please review. I could still use suggestions for more non canon Aeons, spells/techniques, and dress spheres for later in the arc. Would my loyal readers prefer returning to the main storyline after the Spira arc or jump into another game dimension arc?
