The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 35: Horizon of Life
A/N: Hey guys… Sorry, I've been really down and sick the past few days, so I haven't posted much or written much at all. I'll try to get out of this sickness and this funk that I'm in and write quicker, no promises. Regardless, enjoy.
A Dimensional Rift
Kryata
11:21 PM
Weiss had a headache.
Traveling through dimensional portals isn't exactly the most fun thing to spend your free time doing, regardless of what awaits you on the other side.
"Ah, Orion! How good to see you awake! How have things been losing the war?" Xalveris asked as he stood above Orion, a black dress shoe firmly pinning the God of Fate to the grass below.
This would happen to be bad thing to await someone on the other side of said portal.
"Weiss, you okay?" Orion asked, looking towards the now awake heiress.
"Ah, excellent. The group is all awake. You've been out for quite some time, Miss Schnee. I wouldn't want you to miss the show." Xalveris cackled in a sinister tone, adjusting his tuxedo.
Weiss nodded to Orion weakly, slowly standing up before Rook grabbed her by her neck, hoisting her to her feet.
"Be gentle, Rook. She's breakable."
Commander Rook simply grunted in response, releasing his grip as he grabbed Weiss's left wrist, holding her in place.
To her left were Ozpin and Doctor Firefall, both in what appeared to be a pair of black hand-cuffs, forged of pure darkness. Two of Xalveris's Fallen Gods stood behind them, keeping them in place.
"Where... Where is Ruby?" Weiss weakly asked aloud, looking around as Orion grew uneasy, biting his lip.
"Oh? I was under the impression that Orion told you all his secrets... Especially ones involving our young Goddess." Xalveris spat vilely, crushing Orion more with his shoe.
"Orion...?" Weiss asked the God, who gave a solemn look in response.
"I'm so sorry, Weiss..." Orion said with a bit of fear as Xavleris looked down at Orion, pointing an empty palm at the God.
The shadowy haired God smiled a twisted smile, his palm creating a small black circle in the center, glowing and flashing an ebony color.
"It's a shame. You would be able to see the finale... Yet, I can't let you live..."
Right before Xalveris would have fired the glowing orb in his palm at Orion, a large Beowulf emerged from the shadows behind the Elder God, howling loudly.
"My lord," The beast said with a feminine voice, bowing towards its master. "I have returned and followed your commands."
"Ah, Sear... How... good to see you." Xalveris said, quickly turning to face Sear, firing the black orb at her.
The orb sent a small black beam of light at the wolf, soaring right through her stomach with no effort. The beam was constant, and the second it passed through the Goddess of the Hunt, her skin and fur began melting, turning into grey ash.
"M-master..." Sear said weakly before she completely dissolved, blowing away in the wind.
"I don't accept those into my ranks who don't follow my exact orders, Sear." Xalveris said aloud, looking towards his minions. "And may that be a reminder of your place!"
The group of 40 in total, many just standing around, all stood at attention at once, standing with a salute.
"Hail Xalveris!"
"Ah, that is a wonderful sound." The Elder God of Darkness commented, crushing Orion even further into the ground.
"Now, I assume that our guest will be joining us right about..." Xalveris said slowly towards the end, looking off into the distance as a sharp gong was heard, echoing across the land.
"Now."
As if summoned by the tuxedo wearing man, a violet portal, akin to the one back at Doctor Firefalls office, appeared about a mile away upon the flat land, simply hovering there, pulsating.
"This is a Dimensional Rift, a broken part of Time and Space... You know what that means, dear Orion..." Xalveris said softly, looming over the God below. "Premature Transcendence can be a very dangerous thing..."
The portal began collapsing in on itself; sparks of blue lightning struck the surrounding land.
"Luckily, I like dangerous."
Instantly, the portal caved inward on itself, exploding into a ball of black fire, scorching the grassy plains below.
As the ebony flames cleared, a lone figure stood in the portals spot, radiating a powerful Aura, one to rival Orion's very own, their back to the group.
The figure was a female, wearing a black blouse and a skirt with red trimmings, complete with a red cloak. The cloak was fairly strange, the red cloth adorning a face of a grandfather clock upon its center, a pair of hands pointing to the numerals of one with the smaller hand, and five with the larger, the clock face glowing a dark ebony color.
"Ruby..." Weiss said weakly, her head still pounding with pain.
"The Goddess has been born, or reborn, to be correct. A fascinating event that only a few get to witness occur, let alone survive the aftermath." Xalveris commented on the appearance of the teen, his men growing uneasy.
'Survive...?' Weiss through, Commander Rook seeming to be having a minor panic attack next to her.
"My lord, we should leave." The Commander decided, throwing Weiss to the ground below as the Knight walked forward towards his master. "We have no idea of her power."
"Hmm... Fair point, Commander. Men," The Elder God decided, looking towards his minions. "Allow us to be on our way. We will return later to retrieve our prize... And the bodies." Xalveris cackled as he summoned a portal before him, walking through with perfect posture as his minions rushed in after him, Rook being the last one to the portal.
"Do not perish so soon; my master likes a show." He said before entering the portal, the rift disappearing afterwards.
Now only the group of four remained, along with Ruby standing a mile away from the group upon the flat grass lands.
"Ozpin? Where in blazes are we?" Firefall asked aloud, tugging at his handcuffs as Orion slowly stood up.
"It would be best for you to simply keep quiet, old friend. Attention here isn't exactly the best thing." Ozpin said with a tad of worry, looking over at Ruby's form.
"Orion!" Weiss said, running over weakly and helping up the God, feeling a tad wobbly.
"Thank you, Weiss." The God said, gently poking her forehead, cleansing her headache. "Payment for helping me up."
"Thanks, Orion. Now let's get Ruby and get out of here!" The heiress exclaimed, dragging the God towards the duo of handcuffed Beacon Hunters.
"While I would love to make it that simple, we have a problem..." Orion said, looking over towards Ruby.
As Weiss looked over at her girlfriend, she froze in place, stricken by fear.
Ruby was looking right at her, a noticeable black and red Aura coaxing the area by her body, her cloak flowing with the wind.
As Weiss looked into her eyes, time seemed to slow down, her vision somehow zooming in on the girl across the field.
Ruby's silver eyes flashed brightly, causing Weiss to catch her breath as she realized what was wrong with the girl before her.
Within Ruby's silver eyes, were two grandfather clock faces, one in each eye, the pupil within her iris acting as the center piece of the clock face, a pair of clock hands connecting to the black dot, both eyes showing the time of 12:00 AM.
The birth of a Goddess, her first moments of new life...
"What happened to her..." Weiss spoke aloud, questioning no one in specific.
"Weiss, we need to get hel-" Orion began before his Saber sprung to life in his hand, running before Weiss and slashing in the air.
The blade connected to an invisible object, which when hit, showed itself for a moment before exploding into thousands of fragments.
It was an arc of pure energy, flying in from Ruby's direction, made of a dark purple solid substance, radiating pure Aura as it melted away into nothingness among the grass.
"This is not good..." Orion thought aloud, staring down Ruby as she slowly began advancing.
Ruby raised up her palm to the sky, making a slashing motion before her body towards Orion, ejecting a light blue arc towards the collective group, the grass below it freezing in place without ice as it traveled, pausing in time.
Orion slashed forward with his Saber, the blade connecting with the light blue arc of energy before it exploded as well, sending his Saber flying from his grasp, landing and impaling itself a few yards away.
Orion growled as Weiss worked on the two Huntsmen's hand cuffs, breaking open Ozpins with his cane as she worked on Firefalls. The God of Fate pushed his hands forward, catching another light blue arc in his hands as he was pushed backwards a bit, tearing up the turf below him as he grunted on impact.
The God felt his hands freeze in place, gripping the arc as he spun around, throwing it towards Ruby, who simple smacked it aside with her left hand, sending two more towards Orion.
Both of the arcs made contact, one slamming into his torso and the other into his legs at once, freezing him in time from the neck down, the man trying as hard as he could to break free to no avail.
"Weiss!" Orion shouted towards Weiss, who had freed the two men from their cuffs, the group pausing as they ran towards him. "Get out of here! Now! She will tear you apart!"
"What are you saying?!" Weiss yelled back as Ruby drew closer to Orion, the trench coat wearing God panicking.
"She isn't the Ruby you knew before! She will kill anything that she can get her hands on! Get help! Try to get to the Wellspring! And don't let her see Xalveris! She coul-" Orion tried to extended his message, Ruby grabbing him by his neck and hoisting him up, the clock in her eyes ticking aloud as they began functioning like a normal clock, displaying the current time and giving her an insane demeanor.
Ruby suddenly made a cutting motion forward, a light purple arc of Aura slashing right through Orion's stomach, traveling through and cutting the God of Fate in half, his lower body falling to the side as Ruby held him up by his neck, what remained of him.
Ruby crunched her hand, snapping the mans neck before she tossed him aside, Weiss screaming in fear and utter horror as to what just occurred, Ozpin holding her back from running forward.
Ruby looked down towards the nearly dead God, who was coughing up golden blood, grinning a tad at the girl before him.
"Nice... trick... Ruby..." Orion said before she pointed an index finger at him, a massive beam of black and red light exiting her finger tip, disintegrating the God into nothing, leaving a smoldering pair of broken glasses in its wake.
"ORION!" Weiss shouted out, tears trailing down her face as she ran forward towards the girl, despite Ozpins and Firefalls protests.
The heiress ran up to Ruby, burying her face into the girls chest and slamming her left hand into Ruby's shoulder, clenched in a fist, sobbing loudly.
"Ruby! Remember us!" Weiss cried out, Ruby looking down at the heiress's. Ruby's form seemed to flicker between her current Godly form, and her old self, a pair of ghostly wolf ears popping up on her head before disappearing.
Ruby grabbed Weiss by her neck and tossed her aside; turning her back to the girl before walking towards the area she appeared in.
Weiss struggled to get up, a complete mess of emotions instead of the proper Schnee she should be, briefly noticing Ozpin running after Ruby through her tears.
Once Ozpin was in arms length of the girl, the Headmaster activated his Semblance, pausing time, and looking Ruby over. Only one yellow spot appeared on Ruby, the object teleporting around on her body as Ozpin attempted to jab at it, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
Then, suddenly, Ruby turned around to face the man; time around them still paused, causing Ozpin to freeze in fear.
"Impossible..." He muttered before Ruby pulled his cane from his grasp, spinning it in hand and jabbing him in the chest, sending him flying back towards Weiss, throwing the cane in boredom back at Ozpin.
The Huntsmen groaned in pain as he landed with a thud, tearing up the turf as he slid to a halt beside Weiss, Firefall poised in front of them to protect.
Ruby turned back towards her original spot, walking over and standing above it, looking down at the burnt grass.
The girl knelt down, tapping the area with her palm, causing a sharp gong to echo around the area, repeating several time before all went silent.
Suddenly, Ruby simply disappeared from view, the ground shaking below where she once stood.
Out from the spot rose a massive white tower, spearing through the burnt grassy plains, rising upward into the sky.
The tower was an exact replica of the Cross Continental Transmit, aside from the now crimson red designs of roses adorning the exterior of the massive building, towering over the group below.
Once the tower rested, fully structured, and the ground ceased its constant quaking, Weiss slowly stood up, wiping her tears away with her jackets sleeve.
"R-Ruby?" Weiss asked aloud, Ozpin getting lifted up by Firefall, who was frowning with unsettlement.
"Ozpin, what is happening here exactly?" The Doctor said with a raise of the eyebrow, offering the Headmasters cane to him.
Ozpin took the canes handle in hand, holding it to his side as he regained balance, brushing the dirt and grass off his clothing with his left hand.
"Simply put, old friend, an alternate dimensional plane of existence. Some rather... unfriendly people reside here." Ozpin explained simply, not giving too much away.
"Fair enough, but I would like the full version once we get back to Beacon." Firefall joked in response, scratching his white beard upon his chin.
Ozpin slowly turned to the massive tower before them, Firefall following suit as Weiss took a few steps towards it.
"Miss Schnee..." Ozpin warned, causing Weiss to turn around to face him. "We need to follow Orions message."
"I won't leave her..." Weiss said as she walked towards the main doors to the building, determined to bring her friend back, sniffling a bit. "Not again."
Meanwhile
Vale
Local Bar
Midnight
A lone figure sat in the back corner of a distant towns local bar, leaning on the back legs of the wooden chair as he relaxed in yet another days successful job completion, along with its handsome reward.
The figure ran a lazy hand through his spiky orange hair, rearranging bits of it to its perfect state in his opinion; not one hair out of place. He lit a match from his match book, watching as the flame glowed in the dark corner of the bar, intrigued on how the flame is so willing to spawn, if only for a minute, just to disappear into oblivion. As the flame danced before him on the small wooden stick, his cloudy red eyes narrowed in on the light, thinking deeply.
"Cobalt!" The bar owner shouted out, drawing the figures attention.
"What?" He spoke without a care, not interested in anything at the moment.
"Got a call for ya, someone's looking for a Freelancer and has an offer for ya."
Now he was interested. "How much?"
"2 million Lien!" The owner called back, amazed at the amount of Lien that this person had to give out.
"Send the details to my phone." He replied, pondering the job that he was about to take.
As a message alarm rang on his personal phone, the figure pulled the black device from his red cargo pants pocket, opening it up.
"To Jacob Jules Cobalt,
We are willing to offer you a substantial reward for the extermination of a Grimm hive deep within the Emerald Forest. If you are interested, meet me at Beacon Cliff at 8:30 PM tomorrow. I will be waiting, Freelancer."
No signature, no name. Just the letter O.
Jacob smiled to himself as he pocked his phone.
"Heading out, keep the ovens hot; I'll be back later." He said, putting on his blue denim blazer over his white tank top shirt, covering up his many scars and muscles as he left the bar, set towards this reward.
A Dimensional Rift
Kryata
As Weiss walked into the glass doors of the replica C.C.T, the heiress caught her breath at the seemingly impossible exactness of the structure. Everything was replicated, from the carpets to the potted plants in the lobby floor. Weiss should have been completely stunned, but after all, this was Ruby's favorite structure in all of Vale. That girl knew how to take notes of small detail when she felt like it.
Weiss walked over to the main elevator, pulling out her Scroll, assuming it followed the same physics that the real one did, and that it had the same A.I system.
"Hello, and welcome to the Cross Continental Transmit. Please place your Scroll on the scanner." The feminine A.I voice spoke soothingly to Weiss as the elevator doors shut, the heiress following the voices instructions before pocketing her Scroll.
"The roof, if you would be so kind." Weiss asked the computer, adjusting her golden ring upon her slender finger.
"Sorry ma'am, only those with specific access codes from Lady Rose may enter that area. If you have a code, say it now towards the microphone." The voice replied, a small ding responding afterwards.
"Code...?" Weiss muttered before thinking of the girl in question.
"Cookies?" Weiss suggested, earning a loud ding in response.
"Access granted, proceeding to roof top platform."
Then the elevator made its climb upwards, leaving Weiss alone to her thoughts.
'What if she doesn't remember me...? What if she just throws me over the side? No, she won't do that. Orion is protecting my Fate. But he's dead...' These thoughts plagued her mind as the elevator ascended upwards, suddenly stopping.
"You had reached your destination, have a nice day." The computer said cheerfully before the doors opened, allowing Weiss to step out on to the platform.
The roof was completely flat, save for the massive antenna built for communicating with other Kingdoms, and save for a large marble throne at the edge of the roof, a sea of rose petals coaxing the surface below.
"Ruby!" Weiss called out before quickly cupping her mouth, gulping audibility as Ruby stood up from her throne, looking off into the sky.
"Can you feel it, Weiss Melody Schnee? Time flows through here, and ends here. Space distorts here, and stabilizes. This place is the beginning and the end; the Alpha and the Omega." Ruby said in a serious tone, looking downward towards her right hand, now formed in a fist, her hand glowing a purple color.
"This is the Horizon of Life, the birthplace of all of that which exists, and all that is to come. This tower will stand regardless of anyone's intentions..." She said, turning to Ruby, the clocks in her eyes ticking away.
"Even from the threat of you."
"Ruby, I'm not a threat! It's me, Weiss! The Ice Queen? Remember?" Weiss pleaded to the Goddess before her, who simply blinked in response.
"I haven't a single clue as to how you know of me personally, but your attitude and hostile tone of voice is a threat to this spire and to all of existence. And I will NOT tolerate your interference!" Ruby shouted, holding a palm to the sky, Crescent Rose springing to life in her hand, the silver blade to the scythe glowing a crimson red color.
"Ruby! Stop! I'm your girlfriend! Remember!" Weiss pleaded once more, the ring on her finger growing heavy.
"I am Ruby Dagonus Rose, the Goddess of Time and Space, and as long as I stand firm, this tower with not be fallen by the likes of you." Ruby spoke loudly, pointing the end of the sniper-scythe at Weiss across the platform.
Ruby did a 360 spin, swinging her scythe along as the crimson blade sent an arc of equally red fire towards Weiss, who was panicking at this point.
Weiss quickly tapped her ring three times waiting for something to happen. And when nothing did, she repeated it once more, eyes darting between the fire and her hand.
"Work, damn you!" Weiss shouted just before the fire reached her, attempting to block the blaze with her bare hands...
Right before the flames would have made contact, out from her ring came a small pink light, from that came a form of a woman, dressed exactly as Weiss, seemingly diving out from the ring itself. The woman sliced in the air with a rapier in her left hand, a white and light blue blanket-like fabric covering all of her right arm as she split the arc in half, the flames dissipating into nothing as she landed before Weiss, breathing heavily.
"Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, state your intentions now or you will subject to the orders of Time and Space." Ruby demanded, giving her technically half-sister time to state her reasoning for showing up.
"Weiss Schnee? Êtes-vous d'accord? Are you okay?" Aphrodite asked the nervous girl behind her, who nodded slowly in response.
"I'll ask once more, state your intentions or perish." Ruby called out to the Goddess of Love, who was still catching her breath.
"Love, my dear. That is my only reason for showing." Aphrodite said, gripping dropping her sword which exploded into a shower of pink hearts. "Sister, do not fight me. Recall your past."
"I-" Ruby began, clutching her head as her form shifted once more to her old form, her ears appearing before disappearing, shaking her head.
"You are a trespasser, and therefore subjected to my power upon this spire. I shall grant you one chance to flee, and if this chance is ignored you will be declared a threat to Time and Space, and destroyed with no forgiveness. Decide now."
"Non, Ruby Rose. I will not let your love be destroyed, even if it costs me my life. Orion learned that the hard way." Aphrodite said with a bit of a bitter taste, snapping her fingers above her head, ten massive golden bows spawning around in the air, floating by themselves, golden arrows with sharpened ebony hearts on the ends drawn back, ready to fire.
"Very well, Aphrodite. As the guardian of this tower, and of Time and Space, I can not allow you to remain." The young Goddess said, somewhat sadly, holding her scythe in hand.
Up in the sky's above, several portals of pure darkness opened up, spitting out several members of the army of the Fallen Gods and Goddesses, Xalveris and Rook leading the group of 7 or so as they watched the scene below with interest, and for Rook it would be bloodlust.
"Such power... It's so appetizing..." Rook hissed aloud from under his armor, his fire sword hooked to his hilt as Xalveris simply nodded in agreement.
"I wasn't accounting for the woman to show, especially after her injuries. Nonetheless, prepare to gather the bodies; I'll handle the young Goddess once the dust settles."
"As you wish, my true master." Rook growled before bowing to his master in the air, gesturing for his allies to begin surrounding the structure.
Down below the Fallen Gods, was the battle between the two Goddesses, Aphrodite and Ruby, who were giving the other no time to pause to catch their breath.
The Goddess of Loves arrows soared down towards Ruby in constant streams, drawing back and firing as more and more arrows spawned in, sent flying towards the younger Goddess. Ruby in return spun her scythe in circles before her body, slicing the arrows in half or into complete pieces before they could make contact, creating a sort of stalemate between the duo.
"Ruby, you must recall your past. For Weiss!" The Love Goddess exclaimed towards the girl in red, who slashed forward with her right hand in return, sending an arc of blue light towards Aphrodite, who squeaked in surprise before thrusting her palm forward, spawning in a large, full body sized shield, the sides of it white while a large heart logo adorned the center, only denting a tad as the arc made contact.
'Nora would love this lady.' Weiss randomly thought as Ruby suddenly bolted forward, slashing with her scythe down upon Aphrodite's shield, which held fast under the pressure of the attacks.
Ruby made no small talk during the battle, which, while Weiss stood from the sidelines, made the heiress feel very uneasy. Ruby loved to talk, she couldn't get enough words out in one breath, and she LOVED to have a "fun" battle, which aside from the deadly part of them, seemed semi-logical. But regardless of all that, this Ruby seemed to be... off, put it lightly. She seemed to be in a state of amnesia, or in a bi-polar state of mind, both of which weren't the greatest things in the world to have.
Ruby continued to slam down Crescent Rose upon Aphrodite's shield, sending sparks flying as the two metal bodies collided with each other, neither side giving up an inch. Crescent Rose seemed to act as a powerful offensive weapon, one that could deliver the most powerful attacks, while the shield Aphrodite held firm, seemed to be an impenetrable wall, one that could deflect the most powerful of attacks. Two powers locked in a never ending battle.
And Weiss was the wild card.
She could choose to help Ruby, who was trying to kill her but might be able to make her recall her past, or she could help Aphrodite, and fend off Ruby, possibly retreating if the need would arise. Both were decent options, but Weiss couldn't pick a side.
"Ah the battlefield, often with monsters or demons, but today it is with the monsters within." Xalveris said with a sigh, placing a cold hand on Weiss's shoulder, which would have caused her to jump to the moon and then some had his grip not been so firm. "Who is the victor, Weiss Schnee? Choose a Goddess to vote for."
Weiss tried to shake his grip off, failing to do so miserably, the God of Destruction and Darkness looking towards the battle.
"Seems fitting, wouldn't you agree? Goddess of Time and Space? Ah, I was indeed wondering when the void that was Time and Space would call upon their master to obtain their divine power. It had me slightly confused as to why such an important role wasn't filled yet... Regardless, she will make for an excellent soldier to lead the men into battle." Xalveris boasted, his ghostly black hair blowing in the wind.
"Let go of me..." Weiss growled under her breath, the grip of the man extremely painful upon her shoulder.
"Hmm... I don't believe that to be the best option. Just sit back, relax, and watch the sho-"
The Elder God never finished his sentence as Aphrodite's shield was stuck with such force that it was thrown off her arm and sent soaring towards Xalveris, sending the man flying with the shield and off the side of the structure, leaving Weiss standing there in mild shock.
Ruby slashed forward with her blade, cutting through Aphrodite's stomach, sending her over and onto the floor of the platform, the fabric that was covering her right arm falling to the side.
The Goddess of Loves right arm was completely missing from her body, her wound from her pervious battle with Xalveris in this very spot, the now open wound spilling out golden blood like her stomach.
"L-leave me alone..." Aphrodite said pleading, crawling backwards away from Ruby who was loading in a new clip into Crescent Rose.
"As the guardian of this tower, I cannot allow you to-" Ruby began to monologue before a flash of ebony light exploded behind her, followed by a slash of steel.
Ruby caught the new arrivals massive blade with her scythe, only to have her weapon sent flying off the edge of the structure, falling to the ground below.
"I sensed an anomaly in the fabric of Time... I should have known better." Ruby said softly, turning her attention to the figure behind her, staring into their eyes...
A/N: And now, Jacob, the steel armed warrior, takes a contract that may be more than he bargained for.
G.N Over-Kite is the creator of Jacob Cobalt.
2 more, then the grand unveiling of the 8th.