A Grimm Light

by Nasha Rei-Kun

Among the darkness that was Salem's island, Summer Rose expected to find one of two things. Victory or... unfortunately, a loss so great she knew her family would never get over it. So, when the weirdest third option showed up, a single piece of light in this land of darkness, she'd been confused... and then she'd been happier than she ever imagined.

13. Earth Altar

~NRK~

Naruto adjusted his Apprentice Scarf around his neck as he checked his one-piece orange jumpsuit that bore several black sun symbols on the back and pants legs. Tapping his black ninja sandals against the floor, he nodded to his reflection as his ax hung off his waist.

Time to go and solve another potential Black Gate case!

The bathroom door opened to reveal Penny, the carrot top nodding to him.

Wearing a simple ensemble of a thick grayish-green sweater, black pants, and a pair of black and green high-heel boots, Penny tightened a series small pouches on a brown waist belt before tying her own Apprentice Cloak around her shoulders along with a black cap that had most of her hair coming out the back.

"Ready," Penny said as she tapped each of the pouches on her waist belt, each tap coming away with a small green glow that revealed a magical array on each. "Hmph. I've got medical aid, extra clothes, my sword, and an electricity enchantment."

Learning a bit more magic had been a small boon as the two had gained a series of enhancements for their respective elements.

Naruto got what was basically a Wind-based buff magic while she got an enchantment spell.

They wouldn't hesitate to use them if necessary.

Naruto nodded before they left their room and moved to the living room where they found Mercury, the teen nodding to them.

Wearing a gray and black tracksuit, silver boots, metal greaves around those boots, and a pair of black fingerless gloves, he put away a small notebook that they knew held the boy's series of small spells he could use.

His methodology was a simple but effective one, 'memorize, memorize, memorize.' and try out new things when he could.

For now, he could simply use the two tier-1 spells of his elements but Ether had eluded the group to this day, Ozpin having said that it wasn't a skill to learn until far later.

"I'm here!" Nora announced as she ran out of her room and into the living room. "I'm ready-freddie!" She declared with a raised fist.

Wearing fuzzy gray boots, black tights, a pink kilt, a thick gray sweater, and a pink mantle over her shoulders with a 'Heart N Anvil', as Nora called it, as her emblem, Nora grinned as she had her mallet across her back, the slightest sparks of static electricity forming over the shaft in a display of effort and good work.

"Alright, so the thing is, we're going to be traveling by bullhead this time around," Naruto said as the two kids nodded. "I'll carry us to Vale so we don't have to park our boat in an obvious place that can get ransacked. Kokyuko was a bit sulky today so prepare for a bit of snugness without him."

~NRK~

Reaching Vale had been a simple thing, reaching it in a matter of two 'Naruto' hours, they came to a stop outside of the city before going up to the guard post.

Mercury had a wig in hand as he handed in his, the four getting their faces checked before they went on in.

"Geez, you just come in with the weirdest group," the guy at the outpost said as Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah. Life found a way," he said and the man's mouth fell. "Later."

The two at the outpost simply sat there gobsmacked as they left, Penny looking confused.

"I wonder why they looked so surprised," she considered as Mercury put on his pink wig.

"They were just weird, I think," he said as Nora nodded.

Traveling to Beacon had been as simple as getting on the bullhead but Naruto's new 'sight' certainly garnered enough excitement.

The bullhead ticket puncher gaped at the more humanoid Naruto's ID, gawking as he and the others got on, ignoring the Beacon students who were staring at him.

Finding their seats, Naruto hummed as Penny nodded.

"It was bound to happen," she said as he nodded. "For now, let's focus on our mission," Penny reminded them as she and Naruto pulled out their Scrolls. "We should make sure you get yours, Merc," she realized as Mercury shrugged while Nora grinned.

"Alright."

"Alright so the mission we're dealing with is finding out what's going on in Gormhen," Naruto reiterated. "Right now, the number of people who've been kidnapped is worryingly high at thirty folks. The pattern is… oddly routine," he frowned as Penny opened up her Scroll some more to show the times, patterns, faces, and the number of kidnappees. "You see, it was like five every month, honestly, I'm worried about those we missed."

"Did this thing try and eat them?" Nora asked with a gasp as Mercury huffed.

"... We know what's going on, yeah? What if they're sacrifices?" He grimaced as the other three winced. "Exactly, there's… there's not a good chance if you get my drift."

Naruto and Penny nodded as Nora looked a bit saddened.

"... I hope they're not that," she said and Mercury looked surprised.

"W-Wait, I thought you…"

"Hey, I get this stuff, I've seen a lot of it…" Nora frowned before growing determined. "We have to save 'em!"

"We'll do our absolute best," Penny said with a smile as their bullhead flew. "Though, knowing what we do, this might be a worrying fight," she added with a look. "You remember the last one? And he was far better and this is supposed to be a level below that."

"Yeah," Naruto winced. "You remember what he said? Way stronger than the guys of today. If we're going in, we need to make sure to stick with the plan."

As the four chatted and planned, the odd or so student looked at them with interest.

One of them blinked as she sat next to him, the Grimm, right? That's what he was… she thinks.

The teen was relatively tall for her age and had brown skin, chin-length dark brown hair, and hazel-colored eyes that snapped to the four before going back to her lap. She fidgeted in her black pants, gold-colored boots, white long-sleeve tunic, and brown coat, the young woman messing with her fingers around a small baton-shaped object that was silver in color.

'Ahhh, Hazel, I'm sitting next to him!' She thought as she fiddled with her weapon. "..." Still, listening in, she heard the little bits and pieces of their surprising quest. 'Are they really going to take their children with them?' W-Well, she said their children but s-surely they were adopted… right?

This form of the Grimm was new, she didn't know how long, maybe it was recent? But he'd never done this before so…

Her cheeks reddened something fierce at the thought that… t-that that woman had… conceived with him when he was just in a werefox-like state, right?

Her mind ran away with the idea, making more and more obscene ideas that were eerily reminiscent of the videos on CCHub.

As she boiled in her self-inflicted, porn-coated, reverie, Naruto and the others continued planning.

"So, with this, we need to figure out where specifically we have to find it," he frowned. "Honestly, I hope I can just sense it out the moment we get there."

"Hope this goes well," Mercury said as he leaned back in his seat, arms folded behind his head. "Still, we're heading to a whole new place, maybe something cool will happen."

"Yep!" Nora grinned as she messed with a sloth keychain on her mallet pommel. "Though… it's got 'hen' in its name," she gasped. "We should get chickens," she told him.

Naruto considered the idea. "... Ya know what? I do think I should get some," he said as Penny considered the idea. "Fruits, veggies, wood, metal, we've got a good thing and I'd never want to try and eat Kachi and his people. I think some chickens would be nice."

"Hmm, chickens, cows, maybe?" Penny considered with an excited look as Naruto chuckled. "I-I've always wanted to see one of those! They look so comfy."

"Yeah! We can get cows and straw hats!" Nora squealed a bit as Mercury snorted.

"Yeah, no, I can live without manure, thank you very much."

"Come on, Mells! Think about it, all those spots."

"I'd hate spots in my vision."

"You know what I mean!"

Naruto and Penny chuckled, all the while, the Beacon student next to them, having broken out of her 'reverie', was blinking at everything she'd just heard.

'Well, maybe he has a biome in Atlas?' No, wait, she'd seen a lot of the videos, chats, and forums.

No one knew where the one known as 'Naruto Uzumaki' lived. Many from Atlas said that he had a secret location somewhere and many had tried to follow his boat but could never trace it at some point. Something about unnatural boat speed and navigation.

That Grimm 'man' knew and did his utmost to hide his pathing but there were knowns.

He knew a family on Patch. The Xiao-Long Rose family which had not only a good reputation on the island but was saddled with a legendary Huntress by the name of Summer Rose in it.

That had been shocking enough but the fact the Grimm had multiple children on his boat with other people, adults, headmasters, important figures, and so on. The sheer amount of connections and power he likely had, in the social world, had no end to envious admirers who were trying to get an 'in' with the Grimm.

'The world's really gone crazy, hasn't it?' Ins with Grimm, socially powerful ones, a Grimm friends with a powerful Huntress?

Life was insane.

The bullhead then bounced a slight bit and she hummed as the sound of hydraulics reached their ears.

"We've arrived at Beacon. Please leave in a calm fashion through the side doors."

Following the speakers' instructions, she followed behind the four individuals of interest. 'It's probably best to not worry about them,' they seemed content with their idle chatter and smiles.

They really did remind her of a family, though…

'I'll probably call Hazel when I get the chance," she smiled.

Gretchen Reinhart was feeling a bit homesick, anyway.

~NRK~

Moving to the Beacon Academy dock, Naruto and co. nodded to Glynda as she waved them over to the bullhead they'd be using.

"Now, Penny, you were capable of flying one of these, correct?" Glynda asked the former android who nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I'd downloaded all forms of manuals before I became an actual human," she said as Mercury blinked.

"Wait, what?" He asked as Naruto chuckled nervously.

"I'll tell you on the way there," the Grimm man said as the boy raised a brow. "So, Penny-chan, you'll be our pilot for the evening," Naruto said as his significant other smiled.

"Hmm, do we have any reservations?" Penny asked Glynda who nodded.

"I was able to call ahead and get you all a room at one of the hotels nearest to the biggest cluster of the incidents," she said as she adjusted her glasses. "I've sent the information to your Scrolls."

The two beeps had Naruto and Penny nodding. "Alright, we'll depart immediately."

"Alright, take care, nee-chan," Naruto said as he hugged Glynda a bit, the woman chuckling as she reciprocated. "We'll be back, hopefully, in four days."

"It's gonna be super long?" Nora asked as Mercury nodded.

"Definitely. From here to Gormhen is like a thousand miles," he said as Nora's mouth fell. "Why do you think Penny packed so many of our clothes?"

"I thought it was for one night!"

"Nope."

Quickly leaving, the travel via bullhead was estimated to take maybe four hours and so, in that time, a Naruto clone sat with Mercury as the original sat with Penny while Nora was with one of Naruto's clones in the cabins, watching TV.

"Hmm," Penny watched the world pass them by as Naruto rested in the seat next to her. "What do you think of this, Naruto-kun?"

"If things go the way they usually do?" Naruto offered. "Then we're gonna have to fight something big and tough. No questions about it. All we can do when we get there is to go to our hotel rooms, get some rest, and go after this thing at night or early morning. We all know that the Spirit can't be allowed to be seen by normal people unless… unless we're too late."

Penny frowned at that. "... I didn't think about that," she realized with a wince. "If someone's made the proper guess, we'll be in for more trouble than we ever expected."

"Ain't that the truth."

~NRK~

Reaching Gormhen's airspace, the group looked down at the rather darkly-colored city that held a light fog or mist that filled the space around it and the ocean nearby.

"So, here it is," Naruto said as he closed his eyes. "Hopefully, I can find it…?" His eyes snapped open as he looked around, alarmed.

"Naru-Pops? What's going on?" Nora asked as Mercury frowned.

"You look worried," the boy said as Naruto frowned.

"... the presence of the Earth Spirit… I can't… it's like it's all over Gormhen," Naruto explained as Penny hummed.

"Well, it is an Earth Spirit. What if it diffused its energy into the ground?" She offered as Naruto considered it. "Still… This is going to make things difficult. If it's fused with the ground, that means we'll have to ask around if we can't find anything tonight."

Nora hummed as she looked at the rather big city below.

There was a mystery afoot!

~NRK~

Docking the bullhead at the private vehicle yard reserved for higher status guests and Hunters, the four walked out, the cool air frosting their breath as they looked around.

"This place feels like a big bummer," Mercury said as he pulled up a cloak around his shoulders, hood up. "Talk about dreary."

"Y-Yeah, it's creepy," Nora said as she pulled up her own hood, holding onto Penny's hand nervously. "... Ugh."

Naruto nodded, leading the way with his Scroll out. "Alright, the place is…" He looked into the distance. "This way."

The walk had lasted for well over 15 minutes, the distance being understandable as the further they went, the more fog that had begun to thicken.

"... No wonder," Naruto said as Mercury nodded.

"I'm less surprised that they got napped when things are like this," he said with a frown. "And… maybe it's me but…"

"This isn't a normal fog," Penny said as she looked around before nodding. "Phosphene."

Her normal examinator module spell sprung to life and her eyes narrowed as the visual obstruction was examined.

"It's not just growing more powerful as a visual deterrent. It's mixed in with some kind of black particles," she said as Nora blinked.

"Uh…?" She blinked, the girl blinking as she raised her hand out to the fog. "... Spark."

The pink electricity sprung to life in a growing shocker before the group blinked as the fog dissipated, Penny gasping.

"I-It's being affected," she realized as Nora tilted her head, glowing symbols forming across her skin. "... Nora, are you using your defense spell?"

The girl nodded, her electricity growing in intensity before she raised her hand.

The sparks flew, dividing the fog with ease as it climbed into the air before it pulsed.

The fog utterly dissipated, leaving them able to see many of the shocked onlookers who tilted their heads at the glowing girl.

"... That's going to be useful, Nora, good work," Naruto said with a nod as Mercury hummed.

"God, being the newbie is not doing my ego any favors," he groaned as the others chuckled before they blinked as they saw an approaching individual.

It was a teen, likely a boy maybe one or two years younger than Mercury, so around Nora's age, with a look of hope that grew in the bed of despair that seemed to cover him.

Naruto tasted the boy's negative emotions. "Yo, you alright?" He asked him immediately and the young man's eyes widened before he rushed over.

"Yo?! You're that dude, right?! That Grimm dude?" The boy started before whispering. "R-Right?" He asked again, a long yellow monkey's tail curling up.

"Yeah, what's up?" Naruto asked him as the boy swallowed before bowing to him.

"Please help me, dude!" He asked, short blonde hair shifting as he did. "I need your help, seriously."

~NRK~

They'd taken the conversation to their hotel room, carrying the Faunus boy with them until they were all resting in a rather big hotel room.

"W-Wha?! T-This is?! Are you guys loaded?!" The boy asked in disbelief as the original four, themselves, gaped a bit.

"N-No, we were here on a mission as unofficial help and… G-Glynda really didn't hesitate, did she?!" Penny squeaked a bit as Nora squealed, running in and jumping on a bed.

"Yay! It's somehow better than my own bed!" She said with a grin, rolling on the sheets while keeping her boots out of it.

"Nora, come on, take off your shoes, please?" Naruto said as they walked in, that boy from before doing as they did removing his brown sandals.

Now left in a pair of brown shorts and a small brown cloak, he had blonde hair, as noted before, slightly tan skin, and blue eyes.

"S-So, you're a Hunter now?" The Faunus boy asked Naruto who shrugged.

"Well, not officially… honestly, I probably should get a license, huh?" Naruto said to Penny who hummed.

"... no, I think we're fine how we are," she said after some thought. "Despite being unofficial, we're basically granted any kind of access due to our reputation. Staying out of more systems would also be for the best, most likely."

"She's got a point," Mercury said as he sat down on the bed Nora was sitting on, the younger teen already having kicked off her boots. "It's for the best that you stay discreet, especially for the future."

"Yeah, I get you," Naruto nodded before they focused on their little guest. "So, kid, tell me about yourself. What's going on that you reek of negative emotions?"

"H-Huh?" The Faunus flinched at that before grimacing as he looked down. "... I had a friend who came down here to chill with his family," he explained as the group frowned. "A-And he got kidnapped!"

Their eyes widened. "Crap," Naruto said with a grimace. 'That's the worst-case scenario!' Now they were on the clock!

They had to find this kid before he ended in the past tense!

"That's not good," Penny said with a grimace. "Young man, we were going to check for the area where individuals have been getting kidnapped. Do you know anything?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah! Neptune was taken earlier today and I've been looking everywhere for him!" He said. "And I know where most of those guys were taken, at least, where it all mostly happened."

"Really?" Mercury blinked. "Then we can just go there and make some chaos."

"... He's right. Now that we know about this Neptune kid, we're on a timer," Naruto said even as he cupped his chin in thought. 'What's the end goal? Is it honestly sacrificing to become a Dark Spirit?' But, in that case, was this a known method for all Spirits?

What about the Black Gate? It was making one? But no one here was showing the signs of being drained of energy and like so what was going on?

"... did we ever ask him about this?" Penny winced as Naruto sighed with a shake of the head. "Right, we ran right into this without the proper information we needed," this wasn't good. 'Those sacrifices… how is it supposed to use them? Does a Black Gate require human sacrifices?' Now that she thought about it, what did they know about the creation of the Black Gates besides vague general information?

An assortment of Grimm, or a powerful one, took a hold of the area with some kind of Dust at the center that had been corrupted, correct? So… what exactly corrupted the crystal?

Grimm had never shown such power before, had they?

"Hmmm," Nora whined before she got up. "It's been so long~"

"... kid, can you give us an hour to ready up?" Naruto asked him and the Faunus boy looked nervous but nodded.

"A-Alright, yeah, sorry for just springing this on you," he said.

"No, it's fine, we get it. Your friend is extremely important to you and I won't say that's not valid, we're just gonna use this time to prepare ourselves… actually, what's your name?"

"Oh!" The Faunus blinked as his monkey tail curled. "The name's Sun, like our great fireball in the sky! Sun Wukong!"

Hmm, curious. "Alright, Sun, you can stay with us while you wait. Well, unless you've got somewhere to be."

"Nope, I usually just bunked with Neptune's fam," Sun admitted nervously. "I told them I was gonna find him and… h-hehe, ran off."

Well, that was going to be a thing.

Going over and flopping down on the bed Mercury and Nora were sitting on, Naruto focused as he folded his arms behind his head. "Hmm…" This situation was more urgent than they expected. "Nora, you're probably going to be a big part of this with Penny, you get me?"

"Yep!" Nora grinned. "I can make things go foom foom!"

"That's true," Penny considered Nora for a moment. "A pulse, we'll have to be careful about the nearby power lines," she noted. "Still, Sun, the location, where is it?"

"At the docks," the Faunus said with a frown. "It's weird, though. T-They got taken under, I know I saw it b-but it doesn't make sense!"

"Why?"

"It's like they just get absorbed into the ground!"

Naruto shot up as his and Penny's eyes widened. "That's what it is!" They realized as Sun blinked.

"It's under the city!" Penny added as Nora and Mercury choked. "No wonder! If they're just getting sucked into the ground with no clues, it'd be like they disappeared without a trace!"

"R-Really?!" Sun was shocked beyond words. "B-But what does that mean?"

"... It means we've got some spelunking to do," Mercury answered with a huff. "So, we've gotta drill underground?"

"Seems like it," Naruto said. "Though, at present, the issue is that we don't know how big this thing's area is. And we have to be careful about fighting down there, Merc," Mercury winced with a hiss.

"One bad mistake, one too-large explosion," Penny said with a frown. "And we might very well cause irreparable damage to Gormhen."

"Yeah and I don't doubt, for a second, that this is gonna end with a large battle. We need to find a way to lock this thing down in a good locale."

"Hmm, sadly, this seems really impossible," Penny said before Sun considered something.

"Um, well, why not smoke whatever Grimm this is out?" He offered the group. "We used to do that with a bunch of Drybees in Vacuo. Well, that or make a big box for them to stay in that they couldn't break."

"... Wait, that sounds perfect," Naruto grinned as the Faunus boy grinned. "Sun's right, what we need is to make a location that's stable enough and I might be able to do that," he said as bones slowly grew over his right arm, becoming a form-fitting gauntlet of white and blue. "What I need is to prepare to make a full-area bone box of some sort… I honestly haven't been using my bone abilities that often," he noted as he looked at his gauntlet.

"It probably increased like most of your other abilities," Penny said and Naruto nodded, clenching his hand.

"Get some rest you guys, we'll be searching in an hour."

An hour later, in the evening, the group stood atop their hotel and spied the docks.

"Sun, are you sure you should be here?" Penny asked the Faunus boy who frowned.

"H-Hey, I have to go! Neptune's like my bro I never had, I can't stay up here and wait!" The Faunus said disobediently.

"If we leave you up here, are you going to try and follow us?" Naruto asked the boy without a look.

Sun flinched as Nora snickered.

"Gottem~" She giggled. "What should we do?"

"... Sun, do you have your Aura unlocked?" Naruto asked the monkey teen.

"O-Oh, well, yeah…"

"... you're a bad liar."

Sun looked embarrassed before finding Nora in his face, grinning.

She grasped the sides of his head and focused as he blushed only to blink as their bodies glowed pink.

"It's with the superpower inside of me that I give you superpowers!" Nora grinned as Naruto, Penny, and Mercury blinked in surprise. "This way, you can help lots of people and get strong enough to not let any bad guys beat you!"

Sun's body then glowed gold as his eyes flashed.

"With that, welcome to the squad!" Nora grinned as she let go of his face, the Faunus looking down at his hands with awe.

"D-Dude, I really have my Aura unlocked?!" He nearly squealed as Naruto hummed.

"Basically," he said as Nora hummed while Penny cupped her chin. "Though you do know, you're not going to be running off on your own, right? You're not even used to your powers, you're gonna be staying back with Merc and Nora when things get rough. You three will have to watch each other's backs, alright?"

"Yeah, I get it," Mercury said.

"Alright!" Nora grinned.

"... alright, alright, aw man," Sun whined as Penny giggled a bit.

"Come on, let's-" She made to say, the group turning back to the docks only to blink at the sight of something. "... Phosphene," her eyes glowed as her vision enhanced.

And when it did, she gasped. "U-Uh-oh," she said as Naruto frowned.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It seems that we have numerous Grimm coming out of the waters!"

The group's eyes widened and as seconds passed, they could see the black 'dots' growing in number.

"Tsk! Come on! Let's go!" Naruto said as he picked up Nora and Sun. "Merc?"

"I can hop, let's go!" The gray-haired boy said.

The group jumped down from the hotel roof, forming blurs towards the ground.

Penny's hands sparked before they swung out, the group's forms distorting as electricity crackled, their bodies landing on a shorter building.

They kept going, eyes narrowed as they focused on the Grimm.

Penny's eyes narrowed before her form became cloaked in lightning, vanishing in a roar of thunder that shook the air as their destination erupted into a tower of smoke and electricity.

Mercury's eyes narrowed. "Ventus!" He declared before focusing his wind magic into his legs.

Glowing marks formed over his greaves before each of his steps became small explosions of wind, body rocketing towards Penny's location.

Naruto nodded before crouching lower on a roof and jumping high into the sky above the docks, the flashes of light caused by Penny a perfect target.

His tails quickly began to sport large bony spikes that shot off them like missiles, his sensory abilities guiding them into the tide of Grimm without hitting Penny or Mercury.

Down below, Penny ran between the bone projectiles, hands alight with lightning, each Grimm she passed quickly beheaded as she slipped by.

'These Grimm aren't anything special,' she thought as her eyes locked onto Mercury.

The boy's legs flashed with white fire that crushed the head of Grimm after Grimm, the former assassin's son grinning as he landed on the floor before sliding low and performing air-flares.

The tornado of fire lit up the area and allowed her to move on without worry, form flashing between the hordes of Grimm.

Naruto, meanwhile, finally came crashing down, his grip on Nora and Sun absolute and perfectly comfortable to the two young teens.

"Don't move too far from here, you two," Naruto said as he faced the oncoming tidal wave of Grimm. "This won't take too long," he said as he held out his hand.

Darkness began to coil into a ball of familiar destruction, one Nora still hadn't gotten around to learning but loved to see every chance she could get.

"Odama Rasengan," she said in awe as the Rasengan grew in size before Naruto lunged and jumped high into the sky.

"ODAMA RASENGAN!"

The Grimm man came down like a hammer of the gods and the destruction he wrought couldn't be underestimated.

The ball of darkness tore into the assortment of Grimm, going so far as to even destroy those who'd still not breached the ocean's surface, and expanded into a ball of darkness that vanished in a swirl of powerful winds, leaving behind nothing but a large crater half on the docks and half in the water, the sheer dent in the waters' surface more impressive than Nora remembered as Naruto landed in the middle of it.

Two soft impacts landed near them, Penny and Mercury nodding to the two younger ones.

"Whew," the young man wiped his forehead. "Geez, I've never killed so many Grimm all at once," his mouth set into a grin as Penny chuckled. "I feel GREAT."

"T-That was so cool!" Sun said in awe, fists pumped. "By the gods, that was AWESOME!"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm glad you think so but now I'm left confused," he beckoned the group over, the four hurrying. "When was there a giant hole in the side of the foundation of Gormhen?"

Looking into the large 'imprint' Naruto had made, their eyes widened at the sight of a part of a hole in the side of the foundation that they could barely see through the water.

"I believe that might be where we need to go," Penny observed as her Phosphene spell activated. "There's a coating of some sort over that hole, it might be how the Grimm came up here as dry as they did."

"Oh, yeah," Mercury blinked as he looked back to the Grimm corpses fading away. "None of them were throwing water at me," he realized. "So, are we swimming or drilling?"

Penny smiled nervously. "U-Um, well, errr…" She blushed as Naruto chuckled.

"We're digging," he said with a smirk as she slumped.

"Thank you."

Transforming into Beast Mode, Naruto began to dig with his powerful claws. "I've got this, we'll be doing this as quietly as possible," he said to them as he formed darkness over his claws.

Each dig was muted and silent as he eroded and crushed time and time again.

As Naruto dug, Mercury sat down with the others.

"So, we're about to go into the enemy's lair," he said to them as Penny nodded.

"At present, we have to remember our objectives," the woman said. "One, find the kidnappees. Two, find the source of this event. Three, allow Naruto to create enough bone to cover the area so we can fight without issue. And, lastly, something I've realized, we might need to find the corrupted Dust."

"Didn't that Naruto guy say something about that a year ago?" Sun considered with his arms crossed. "I-I don't remember."

"He did," Nora said. "There's a whole thing on the internet."

"Oh, well, I did hear about something like that," Sun said. "Don't got a Scroll, though. That's for those guys with money."

"Mmmm," she understood that. "I know how you feel. Back before Naru-Pops found me, I was just… uhh, in Mistral," Nora winced as Mercury nodded with Sun.

"That's rough," they said in unison as Penny hummed.

"We're glad we got to take care of Nora," she said with a grin as Nora blushed but grinned all the same. "We can't help everyone, that's the truth, but we'll help who we can and do our best!"

"Yep!" Nora said with a bigger grin as Mercury hummed.

"Yeah, it's like that," he said before turning a flat face to the curious Sun. "You're not an orphan."

"Yeah and nah," the monkey snickered. "Like I said, I hang out with Neptune's fam and a lady I know. They're like the family I never had and it's been awesome having a home there but I'm an adventurer," he said sagely as Mercury snorted. "I get to pass between two homes or move around, it's great!"

"Well, as long as you're happy," Penny said.

They chatted as they rested, Nora and Mercury practicing their elemental manipulation as they did.

"Oh, wait, you guys don't know a weird lady in Vacuo, do ya?" Sun asked as Penny blinked.

"Why?" She asked him as he hummed.

"Well, she could also use elements and stuff like you," her eyes widened. "Except she could do, like, a whole bunch more and could use fire, wind, sand, and stuff. She didn't have lightning, though."

"N-No, well, I haven't met anyone like that," if what Sun was saying was true… "Wait, is she the one who's taking care of you?"

"Yeah!" He grinned as she chuckled. "Old Lady Ramaal. She told me that she had 'siblings' around the world."

So, it was true.

Sun was being raised by a Maiden, well, at least partially.

"Well, does she teach you?" Penny wondered.

"Yeah, though, not about a lot of stuff," he admitted. "T-Though, she did something really cool for me!" Sun grinned as she blinked.

"What?"

"She gave me Ruyi-Jingu!" He said and Penny's eyes widened.

"A-And those are?"

"My favorite weapons in the entire world!" He grinned. "Well, at first, she had me go through some trials and stuff to find the right material but then she took it and made 'em! They're shotguns that turn into a staff! That's amazing!"

A magical weapon? Penny had a feeling that Ramaal Hara really liked Sun.

She blinked before chuckling. "I'm glad. It seems like you two really care about each other," she said as he blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

"Y-Yeah, well… she's like the mom I didn't have," he mumbled as Penny nodded. "So, yeah, I'd do anything for my not-old Old Lady."

She smiled teasingly. "Be careful."

"Don't I know it? Geez, you call someone 'old' one time and she makes the desert want to eat you!"

'Yo, Penny-chan! I'm in!' Naruto called out to Penny telepathically. 'Bring the kiddies!'

"Alright," she said, getting up. "Everyone, it's time to go," Penny said to the three teens who nodded.

Moving towards the hole Naruto made, Penny held out her hands, a lightning sphere forming around them and glowing softly.

They jumped down soon after, the hole big enough for the fall to be gentle and unimpeded as they reached the bottom in 20 or so seconds.

Naruto nodded to them, back in Oni Mode. "Come on," he whispered as he pointed down the long crude pathway ahead. "I can feel something up ahead."

They moved as a unit, Naruto at the front and Penny at the back, boxing in their younger members.

"... Stop," the man whispered as he raised his hand, the group coming to a halt as he leaned around a corner. "We're by some guards."

Penny, Mercury, and Nora's eyes widened as Sun frowned.

"Wait… t-these might not be what you guys think they are," he swallowed as Naruto blinked at him. "L-Look at them carefully, those are probably not… Grimm," Sun warned them, surprising the group.

"Wait, Sun?" Penny began to say as the boy looked nervous.

"You guys might not know some stuff…" He began to say before Naruto kneeled to his level.

"Sun… does the word 'Altar' mean anything to you?"

The boy's eyes widened and Naruto nodded.

"Y-You guys know?!" He yelled before they all froze, the boy looking very embarrassed as they heard the sounds of something around the corner. "H-Hehe… sorry."

Naruto facepalmed before standing up and coming out with them, the sight of the beings ahead getting a frown out of the group.

"That's… w-what happened to the Guardians?" Sun asked with a wide-eyed look.

Outside of the fact that Sun just cinched that he knew about magic, they could tell why he was confused.

Because of the states the Guardians of the Earth Spirit were in.

For their base, they were seemingly giant stone-like scorpions, their bodies essentially being composed of nothing but stone but the ends of their claws, tail, and head being hard-looking flowers of some sort. Desert lilies with an ink-black color that had red pistils that oozed a dark mist.

The reason Sun had made his comment was because the creatures were… covered by a blackish tar that seemed to have eaten away at their bodies, leaving them looking like mangled corpses instead of the animal they were based on. That tar also didn't 'drip', it just hung off their bodies like it'd become stone, and from those pools came small black heads of darkness with skulls on them.

Human skulls with red eyes.

"... the infection?" Penny asked as Sun turned to them, shocked.

"W-Wait, so, you know about this?! Then are Nora and Merc really related to a Maiden?!" He asked as the two other teens choked.

"Wait, you know about that?!" Mercury asked as Sun nodded rapidly. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Um, we still have to fight!" Nora reminded them as the walls surrounding the small room those two Guardians were in began to sprout more of them. "YIKES!" She took her hammer off her back, ASAP.

Naruto nodded as he, Penny, and Mercury walked into the room without hesitation. "Time to crush some bugs!" He declared before they lunged into the horde, ax in hand.

Naruto bisected the first one he could reach, jumping over it to bring his ax down on another, shifting out the way of a squirting flower's burst of black steaming liquid.

Watching it eat into the floor, the man's eyes narrowed before his leg swung around and carved through the heads of several Guardians. He kicked out, sending another one flying into the wall and creating a platform for Mercury to land on.

The boy grinned before kicking out at a Guardian. He swung out with his legs, releasing blades of wind that tore into their opposition before he jumped off Naruto's leg.

A flash of green tore into the Guardians around them, Penny's feet crushing the Guardian kicked away into the wall before she vanished in a buzz of static.

'The Five-Element Composition!' She reminded herself.

Water-Fire-Wind-Electricity-Earth, the chart flowed around in an infinite circle she knew how to take advantage of. Of course, there were, in fact, more little bits and pieces between the elements but she knew all she needed!

Nora and Sun blinked before rushing in, the girl with her large mallet raised while Sun grabbed something from behind his ear, a 'toothpick'.

Seconds later, the 'toothpick' grew in size before he was wearing a 'staff' composed of two shotguns that were twice his height.

"Huh?!" Nora gaped as he chuckled.

"Magic," he said and she made an understanding sound before pink electricity sparked on her mallet's head and she swung out.

An explosive burst of wind shot out that slammed into a series of Guardians that also spasmed as pink arcs of electricity formed over them.

"Get 'em!"

Sun grinned as he rushed in with more speed than he knew he was capable of.

'So this is Aura?' He grinned wider as he swung his weapon at the paralyzed Guardians. "BANG!"

Where formerly the weapon would take stamina, it now took 'Aura' and the difference to him was like night and day.

The Guardians' forms cracked as a burst of his energy slammed into them, their forms rolling into the wall where they shattered, much to his shock.

"WHOA?!" He choked, looking down at his weapon. "D-Dude! That was awesome!"

"Right?!" Nora grinned as she rushed past him, mallet reared back. "Keep fighting!"

Sun nodded with determination, jumping into the fray.

They fought for minutes, the destruction of the Guardians seemingly only temporary as their stone forms would just reform into bigger ones though that did mean they had fewer and fewer opponents.

By the fifteen-minute mark, the group blinked at the gigantic Guardian that barely fit in the chamber they were in.

"That dark stuff's r-really… Haaa, messing with it," Sun said as he sat on his rear, the Guardian's inability to move properly giving him time to breathe as Naruto kept beating the daylights out of it.

Penny hummed as she wiped off the slight sweat she'd built up. "What do you mean, Sun?" She asked the Faunus as Nora sat next to her, legs crossed and eyes on Naruto's 'fight'.

"Well, if this is an Altar, it doesn't make sense," Sun said with a frown. "Why in the world would the Guardian grow too big for the space it's in? An altar, one that's natural to a Spirit, is made specifically for that Spirit and its powers," he added as Penny frowned. "If that's the case, why is this thing struggling? Before, it made sense. Hordes of guys that basically couldn't be killed, real decent defense… but now? Look at it!"

Mercury finished stretching before looking at the 'Guardian'.

It was currently struggling due to its size, sure, but now, with all the extra bits… had it always been so brittle-looking? Why did it seem slower? Weaker?

"It's hurting hard," Nora said softly as he nodded.

"It looks like it was already on its last leg compared to the previous combinations," Mercury added with a frown. "Is this because of the Grimm element? Darkness?"

"It's likely to do with the Darkness element," Penny said as Sun blinked.

"What do you mean? I never really got the elemental mumbo-jumbo, h-hehe," he said with an embarrassed giggle as she nodded.

"Each element has a natural power to it. Fire burns, water cools, Electricity charges, Light removes impurities or wounds, Earth hardens, and so on. So, in this case, Darkness can erode…" Penny frowned as she cupped her chin.

"Thought of something?"

"Yes, well…" Penny looked up at Naruto as he destroyed the latest bus-sized Guardian. "... Are we sure it was the Spirit who was acting out?"

"Huh?" Sun rubbed the back of his head. "The Spirit? What are you talking about?" The three blinked.

"What do you mean?" Nora blinked. "W-We're here because the Earth Spirit was being mean!"

"You guys are? W-Well, Lady Ramaal told me that she originally sent me here because this Spirit got attacked."

"What?" Penny blinked.

"Yeah, she said the ground had darkened over here," Sun continued. "Usually when that happens, Grimm have a hand in doing something. They weren't brought here by the Spirit, they came here because they were going to do something to it."

Mercury grimaced. "... Penny, that's not good. If that's true-"

"The Grimm is trying to create the Black Gate?" Penny's eyes widened in shock. 'That makes more sense than the Spirit!' But why didn't the Water Spirit say anything?!

Surely, it knew…

"T-That jerk!" Penny nearly shrieked as the teens jumped in disbelief.

"H-Huh?!" Nora's mouth fell as Penny growled before stalking over to Naruto. "M-Ma's never been angry before!" She choked as Mercury nodded, Sun rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I kinda picked up that she was one of those 'Never angry, just disappointed' types," the monkey boy said as his tail curled around his waist. "And still YIKES."

Penny's form sparked and moments following, Naruto was left rubbing the back of his head as she manhandled the Guardian with more rage than he was used to.

"Uhhh… what happened?" He asked the air as the teens came over. "Kids, what happened?"

"Ma got angry out of nowhere," Nora said as Naruto blinked some more.

"Really? That's crazy. Normally, she'd say something," he said as the area rumbled and crackled with lightning. "I guess we'll wait for when she's-"

"DONE!" Penny shouted as she landed by them, huffing a bit as a ball of lightning kept the giant Guardian within it, charring the stone. "Haa… haa…" She still looked mad but now only mad and not angry.

"What's up, Penny-chan?" Naruto asked the huffing woman who looked at him with a look of barely restrained heat. "This must be new to you-"

Penny stomped over, grabbed & pulled the chest of his jumpsuit, and kissed him.

In front of the kids who jumped like they'd been burned before quickly turning away with red faces.

"Ewww! Ew! Ew! Ew!" Nora whined while covering her face, Mercury coughing into his fist as Sun blinked.

"You're not used to this either?" He asked Sun.

"I just wanted to fit in," the monkey answered as Mercury facepalmed.

Moments later, Naruto found his lips released, his cheeks red, and his mind befuddled.

"Oh… you feel better?"

"Haaaa…" Penny laid her forehead on his chest. "Yes…"

"What happened?" He asked as the teens turned to check and then fully turned around. "... Sorry, guys, I guess emotions are running a bit high."

"He was so IGNORANT! A-And I have to align this with prejudice because he's so DUMB!"

"... Let's give her a bit more."

Allowing Penny to rage into his chest for a few minutes, the ginger woman let out another long sigh before groaning.

"The Water Spirit is… ignorant," Penny elaborated as Naruto pat her back as he held her in a hug. "Mmmm, how is it that even Spirits can fall into this rather human trend?"

"Some say art imitates life," Naruto said with a smirk as Penny scoffed a bit but her smile was there. "And that guy definitely thinks he's a piece of art."

"More like a piece of work."

"Exactly. Now, come on, I wanna hear the full Penny Explanation."

Penny nodded before blushing as she turned to the embarrassed or mortified kids, in Nora's case. "A-Apologies, children, I-I was just… ummm," she blushed harder as Mercury cleared his throat.

"Let's just focus on the why, please."

"Right, right," the former android nodded. "The reason our stories might be different is that either Ms. Hara didn't know," Sun shook his head.

"She's seriously connected to the lands around her, it'd be hard for her to not notice," the Faunus said with a frown.

"Apologies, it's simple conjecture," she reminded him as he nodded. "Or, the more likely ridiculous reason, the Water Spirit didn't pay much attention to this and simply said whatever he wanted to hear so the dark aspects of this situation were dealt with as quickly as possible," Penny's eyebrow twitched as a vein throbbed on her smiling visage. "A very ignorant decision if you ask me."

Naruto dragged his hand down his face as Sun frowned.

"This guy sounds like a dick," the Faunus said.

"Yeah, he's something else, God," the Grimm took some relaxing breaths. "Whatever, for now, we need to handle this as soon as possible-"

The space around them, the normally brown and dark walls of the cavern shuttered before gaining a black tint that alarmed them.

"SHIT! We need to go! The Black Gate… I think it's coming through!"

They ran out of the chamber with alarmed expressions, Naruto leading the way with a grimace.

"Dammit! It was there to hold us back! No wonder it didn't make sense!"

"Dammit!" Sun growled as he returned Ryuji-Jingu back to its toothpick size and tucked it back behind his ear. "This isn't good!"

"I-It should be fine, though!" Penny said. "A Black Gate's power is relevant to its age!"

"But this one has a Spirit at the center of it!" Mercury said and the woman's expression shifted in horror. "And that Spirit's probably been around for a while."

"CRAP!" Nora squeaked as they navigated past the cave system via Naruto's senses. "Pops! You know where we're going?!"

"Mostly!" Naruto's eyes narrowed. "There's an oddly powerful source here. Normally, I can't sense it when everything's already affected but I guess it's because this is fresh!"

As they kept going, the darker the area seemed to get… despite it all being black.

So, that wasn't good.

And the further they ran, the more the two adults noticed the change in the air.

"Hmph!" Naruto made a half-handseal and before the kids could comment, they were covered by his clones. "The air it's… dangerous."

The way his tails bristled, the teens nodded, all five of them coming up to the core of the quickly-taking-place Black Zone.

"..." Penny frowned as they slowed down, the sight of the entrance, and the downward slopes, letting them know several things. "It's becoming clear to me, this isn't going to be a fight with a slightly big individual."

They looked at the size of the entrance to the room, the height comparable to that of a parked bullhead, giving them some clues on this opponent.

"... It's gonna be more than that," Naruto frowned as Penny looked at him. "There's another presence here… one that's nothing more than a clump of living darkness."

"What?" Nora blinked. "L-Like you?"

"... I don't know. Be careful when we go in," Naruto whispered as they stepped into the entryway. "... the hell?"

In what could only be called a grand Altar, the group could see two individual beings within, one of whom stopped waving around its clawed hands as its white-cloaked form turned, the sight of the eight-winged insignia on the back of it not going unnoticed.

And when it turned fully, its hood had enough leeway for the ephemeral light of the Altar to show them who or what it was. And when they saw it, their eyes widened.

"Sssssssss," the chittering of the bones in its gullet made a sort of scurrying noise as its empty black eyeholes stared at them with a sort of 'emptiness' that was unsettling. "Ssssssssss…?" Its skeletal head tilted and they saw it for what it truly really was.

A skeleton… It was a freaking living SKELETON that had reptilian features with two long jagged horns coming off the back of its head. The white cloak on its body didn't cover all of it, leaving its double-jointed legs and the giant glowing black core within its chest cavity.

"W-What the hell is that?" Sun flinched as he hid behind Naruto with Mercury, Nora shivering as Penny held her shoulder. "W-What the HELL IS THAT?!"

"..." The thing tilted its head again.

And then it did something that stopped them cold.

"Ssssssss," it… i-it spoke?!

Or… seemed like it did?

"The hell?!" Naruto choked as its jaws moved and it gestured, the Grimm? "... Who are you?!" He demanded as the skeletal creature's bone crackled a bit.

"Ssssssssss?" The creature crackled again as Sun's eyes narrowed. "Ssssssss."

The last chattering of its jaws was emphasized by the core in its chest glowing before haze spewed from between its jaws.

"..." Penny's eyes narrowed as her examination spell sprung to life. "It's a Darkness haze! It's eating at the energy in the air!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed before he walked forward, blue eyes burning bright as he raised his hand.

The haze stilled before shooting into his palm, the muscles on it bulging slightly as he sucked it all up, much to the shock of that 'Grimm'.

"... Ssssssssssssssss," the creature 'spoke' as the group's eyes narrowed.

"?" Nora blinked unsurely as the creature's head snapped to her. "?!" She jumped behind Penny again.

"... Ssssss?!" The creature roared at him as red lights blazed in its eyes as its bones crackled. "Sssssssss?!" A powerful black flame-like haze formed over the creature as it readied its claws.

It crouched and the former blonde reciprocated before they lunged at one another, meeting in the middle of the Altar. Their foreheads slammed together as a ball of darkness burst around them.

'He's strong!' Naruto realized as their heads separated before slamming back together again, the blows echoing out.

His leg came up and slammed into the skeleton's chin before he roundhoused his opponent away, the creature bouncing off the floor before recovering and raising one of its glowing claws.

Naruto skipped to the side, flipped back, and rolled away as small black dots around him expanded before shooting out bones, the man dodging all of them.

"Sssssss," the creature's eyes narrowed before it raised its claws, darkness forming around it like a bubbling mass.

"..." Naruto's eyes narrowed before something piqued off his senses. "What?" His head went back to the group before focusing back on his opponent. "... Merc, Nora, Sun, you guys hurry! Go find the people in the caves!"

"What?" Sun began to say before the Grimm skull over his eyes glowed and he flinched along with the others. "Dammit! Come on, you guys!" He ran to the left side of the entrance to the Altar room, heading towards that thing coming off his senses? 'This Grimm guy's pretty cool, Old Lady!' He thought as Mercury hummed.

"B-Be safe!" Nora said worriedly before Penny nodded, the two hugging as the woman slipped one of her pouches onto Nora's back. "... Alright," she swallowed before following after the boys, form covered in electricity. 'We need to hurry!' She thought as she caught up to them, eyes narrowed before they yelped as she picked them up only to move faster than their running speed.

"Huh?!"

"N-Nora, the hell?!" Mercury grimaced as he facepalmed, embarrassed. "Dammit! Turn left! We'll navigate!"

Naruto smiled as they left, Penny coming up on his side, four pouches on her waist, one of which unleashed her weapon into her hand. "Welcome," he said jokingly as she chuckled before they focused on their adversary. "He's doing something," the man said as the bubbling darkness formed around that odd 'Grimm'.

"Its energy levels are… rather impressive," Penny realized with a frown as electricity began to crackle inside her free hand as Naruto nodded, ax in his right hand while his arms began to be covered in bones.

The gauntlet was like before, when he'd first done it in so long, the smooth gauntlet was pure white and covered in blue sun-like sealing symbols that made him nostalgic, the fingers being tipped with sharp claws while his forearm portions were given slightly wide extra plating that had a powerful bar of bone over the back of his wrists.

Flexing each of his fingers, Naruto nodded to his enhanced bones. "Alright."

Their opponent's machinations came into fruition as the bubbling darkness lifted off the ground into a pair of tentacles that hung at the skeleton's sides.

"Sssss!" The 'Grimm' crossed its arms aggressively before the two warriors vanished from their spots as the tentacles crushed the ground where they'd just been.

The skeleton flinched before a spark of lightning slammed it into the floor, cratering the space beneath him.

Penny's eyes narrowed at the creature's crossed arms, the forearm bones, which were more like bone plates, keeping her blade at bay. 'It can react!?' Her eyes went to the core that glowed brightly. "Hmph!" She vanished from sight as a form appeared above the downed creature.

"CLEAVE!" Naruto brought his weapon down with a burning darkness around the edge.

The ground crackled as the cut sliced through it, creating a fissure, leaving their opponent headless and with cracked bones.

He jumped back and away from the tentacles crashing down on the bone figure. "Well, you can choose your friends," Naruto smirked as Penny appeared above the skeleton again, blade raised and then brought down on that black core within the creature's chest cavity.

And the tentacles swung up, blocking her blade and sending her flying back before she disappeared in a blur of static, reappearing beside her beloved.

"The core!" She said as Naruto's eyes widened, the sight of the skeleton creature's shivering bones slowly forming back together. "It's not going to be destroyed unless we get rid of it!"

The skeleton hummed before raising its arms and the two's eyes widened as more black haze from before arose around it.

"It's stronger?" Naruto realized as Penny nodded, Phosphene active. "... Each time it DIES?" He considered as they crouched. "We can't let it get any stronger!"

The tentacles around the skeleton convulsed before they watched as bones began to spring into existence on their hides, clacking teeth forming at the tips and making them more like teeth-chattering monsters.

"..." Penny frowned as she prepared to attack only for the two of them to blink at the sound of crumbling earth at their feet.

When they looked down, they saw that her feet were covered by some uplifted stone and the two of them turned to look behind them at the being who'd done it.

They'd noted it before but its former passivity had been deceiving. It was basically a giant horseshoe crab with a long abdomen that had large pincers. It was colored dark brown with lighter-colored pincers, tail, and marks along its shell that formed an intricate shape.

"... Oh," was all Penny got out before Naruto's ax swung out and crushed the entrapments. "... I'll handle him," she said to him as he nodded. "I really hope that o-overgrown octopus doesn't say this is bad," she blushed as he started to snicker.

"Maybe," Naruto said before pecking her on the lips, Penny smiling embarrassedly. "Take it easy, I know you and kids got this."

"I'm worried for them, too," she sighed before approaching what had to be the Earth Spirit. "Here we go."

~NRK~

Mercury huffed as they came to a stop by a cavern of… groaning people?

"Come on, rest," he said as he held Nora in his arms, the girl grinning despite how sweaty she was. 'These bastards,' Mercury huffed at the Altar and its beings. "Sun?"

The Faunus hurried on ahead as Mercury followed behind him, the two rounding the corner of the entrance to find a rather worrying sight.

"NEPTUNE!" Sun nearly ran inside only for Mercury to grab his shoulder. "Dude!? Come on! They're right there!"

"Are you an idiot?" Mercury asked him as he pulled him back. "Look inside that room. You're letting your emotions get ahead of you."

Nora looked from over Mercury's shoulder while Sun grimaced, looking up-

Two pairs of blue eyes widened at the black creatures hiding in the corners, Sun's skin paling as he saw their humanoid shapes and long blade arms.

"..." The monkey boy fell on his rear. "I-I…"

"Haaa…" These guys seriously needed to control themselves. "Look, right now, we know. We can just kill them from here."

The cavern they were looking at wasn't big, probably barely bigger than the living room back at their home on the island. With that, at the four corners, Mercury assumed, at least, were those Grimm that were guards for those in the room.

Speaking of, the group of people in the room were groaning inside of stone coffins that jutted up from the ground. The air within the space glowed an ominous purple and if they looked close enough, they could see blue energy slipping out of the individuals within.

"W-What's going on with them?" Nora asked Mercury who frowned.

"... I don't know? It seems like they're getting drained or something," he said as Sun frowned.

"... Dammit," he returned Ryuji-Jingu back into his hands before taking aim with it. "Let him go!"

The weapon grew in size before becoming what was basically a pillar that slammed into one of the four Grimm, crushing the area it was in… supposedly.

The boy grimaced as his feet dug into the ground. "T-The heck?!" He growled as he tried to push forward but his momentum was arrested as they saw that Grimm pushing back.

"Tsk!" Mercury grimaced before placing Nora down and skipping in place.

He became a phantom of blurring copies before snapping his legs out at the creature, every copies' leg shooting out a bullet of white flames that exploded on contact.

The contact had Sun relaxing as the resistance he'd felt had disappeared, returning his weapon to its regular size.

"Thanks for the assist," he said to Mercury who nodded, Nora coming over with a look of determination. "You good?"

"Yeah, I just needed some rest!" She said before pulling something out from her pocket. "I also had my Emergency Berries!" Nora added as Mercury sweatdropped while Sun laughed.

"Nice!" He chuckled before facing the room again. "Still… how many do you think are in there, Merc?"

"At least three more, definitely."

"Didn't think I was talkin' 'bout the folks?"

"Not even close," Mercury shook his hand. "We can literally see one ahead but we know damn well that the things in this place can multiply," he said with a frown as they saw the one they destroyed.

It fell limp ahead the crater it was in, turning to goo slowly as particles began to fly off its body.

"I'm guessing that's only for the Earth element," he whispered as they looked at the people groaning but they also seemed to have lessened in noise, seeming more relaxed by that sector.

"Well, pops once told us about the Element-Circle thingy, remember?" Nora said as Mercury nodded. "Darkness isn't good against Light and light-making things. Fire is pretty good and with your wind, it's even better."

He hummed as Sun considered her words, looking at his weapon.

"I guess she's helping even now," he said as he hefted it over his shoulder. "So, we'll do the same for the other one we can see, yah?"

They agreed, Nora standing by the back wall of the hall so they could reproduce their former method.

It came with similar results, thankfully, the other Grimm turning to goo like the first.

"... So, you guys do know what we have to do now, right?" Mercury said as Nora grinned while Sun chuckled nervously. "We're not getting out of this without too much of a fight."

They nodded before Mercury nodded back.

"I'll bring them out," he said before stepping forward.

"Take it safe," Nora said.

"I got it."

As soon as his foot stepped past the boundary in that cavern, his eyes went up as he heard them moving.

"So it was three, huh? Pretty smart."

The three figures descended on him and crushed the space where the teen had just been.

Mercury skidded to a stop outside of the room as Nora and Sun balked at the sight of a third, a fifth, one of these things.

"They're pretty good! Let's see if they follow us!" He told them as he grabbed the two short teens before dashing down the hallway as those creatures gave chase. "Thank God it didn't take place fully yet," Mercury said as he minded the light black floors, really a darker gray. "But it won't be long! We need to kill them!" He told Sun and Nora as he skidded to a stop down the hallway, putting them down.

"Smash their legs!" Nora declared. "I liked the sound of that!"

Sun sweatdropped as Mercury grinned, the three readying themselves as their opponents came running into their vision, double-jointed legs sending them into lunges that Sun barely caught.

"Shit-!"

An electrified mallet and glowing Nora came into view, her body covered in lightning-like marks, as her eyes sparkled.

"ORRRYYYAAAAAA!" She swung.

And the two boys blinked as the head of the mallet hit some heads, slamming into two of them at once and sending them crunching down the hall into a wall.

Nora paled, though, as she looked up at the last one that dropped down on her-

A burst of flames and pillar-sized staff sent it flying overhead as Mercury and Sun smirked while she grinned.

"It's our turn!" They said as the creature stumbled to its feet. "BREAK ITS LEGS!"

The Goop-Grimm, as Nora called it, stumbled back before trying to beat a hasty retreat.

It never made it down the hall.

~NRK~

Penny skilled between the pincers of the Spirit before jumping over the odd creature as the earth in front of it caved in.

'Earth-style usage, it can contain, suffocate, harden,' she landed on the wall before jumping off it to avoid a set of big jutting stones that crushed the space. "Terrain control, nearly impossible to destroy Guardians!" Penny continued as she landed on the ceiling before her form was enveloped in roaring electricity. "And it's ALL weak to LIGHTNING!"

She exploded towards the Spirit before spinning, a buzzsaw of lightning that carved into the shell of the creature before lopping off one of its pincers, the woman stumbling as she landed in a crouch.

"O-Ohh!" Penny blinked away the dizziness before jumping away from a thrust of the Earth Spirit's claw. 'I-I may need to increase my awareness for such a movement.'

She coiled her Electricity, Light, and Life elements around herself before absorbing it all and Transcending her arm.

The limb crackled with lightning, the form of it more white than green but that was the point.

This was her strongest skill, her Expansive Lightning, and this skill held more power within it than every one of her other ones.

And it was now in her arm.

Penny's eyes narrowed as she crouched low before rushing the Spirit, arm held out at her side.

The Spirit slapped its tail into the ground and Penny felt the floor crumble before she slipped in and out of pillars that erupted out of the ground with speed only possible due to Earth magic.

She kept advancing as the mid-level Spirit shuddered before a wall the size of itself shot up and covered its body from the floor to the ceiling.

Green eyes glowed as their master reached the barrier.

"Ruptis!"

Her palm slapped against the wall and streaks of lightning shot out, slicing the barrier to ribbons in the same amount of time it took for her to reach the other side.

"CLEAVE!" Her lover's technique found itself in her hands.

And she used it to effective results as she slashed diagonally across the space in front of her where the Spirit laid.

The wall behind the Earth Spirit erupted around it as the cut brought the Spirit to its 'knees', the magical being flopping to the ground as she sighed, allowing Penny to dispel her technique.

"Haaa… hmm?" She blinked as she saw something black leaking out of the Spirit's shell. "..."

---

Naruto kicked at another Tentacle-Head, as he'd called them, crushing the skull of it before rotating and slicing through the other.

He landed on the ground before blocking the skeleton's claws with his weapon's shaft, eyes narrowing as it pushed against his block, crushing the earth beneath his feet.

The former ninja kicked out its right shin before kneeing it in the chin, cracking the skull before he broke its grasp on his ax's shaft and slashed across its face, scalping the creature.

Its body fell to the ground before he raised his ax and slammed it down onto the core, cratering the floor beneath them but to little effect.

"Tsk!" It seemed like he'd need a bit more force.

Yet, as he wound up for another swing, he frowned as the creature began to reconstruct itself again, the energy increase making him concerned.

'Again? So, is it just constantly gonna get stronger?' He thought as he jumped back, dodging the still alive Tentacle-Head that he'd broken the skull off of, leaving behind the constantly 'dripping' 'meat' behind it, leaving him a bit ill. "Ugh."

He dodged its repeated attempts to attack him before noting that the creature began to grow more bone on its head and then down its 'spine'. The bony ridges becoming spiky and more menacing-looking as the tentacle began to be covered in haze-

His ax cleaved through it and he stopped all that from being a thing as he turned back to the crackling skeletal lizard-

The back of its cloak bubbled and shifted before two large bony wings sprouted from its back, the cloak giving no resistance and resting around the wing bases without a rip or tear.

The darkness around it grew darker as its eyes… Naruto's eyes widened as two 'dots' formed in them.

Yellow dots that made it easier to tell where it was looking. Yellow dots against red sclera…

Has this thing evolved?

"Sssssss," he still couldn't understand it but he knew one thing as he watched its sternum grow more over its core, forming a ribcage for it to reside in.

He had to destroy this thing before it became too dangerous!

He brandished his ax in front of him, one hand holding the shaft while the other was pressed against the flat side of its blade.

And then darkness rocked off the Grimm man's form leaving only his eyes visible, seemingly startling the skeletal 'Grimm'.

"Magna-Tenebris," Naruto uttered before even his eyes were engulfed.

The rising darkness pulsed as it became a ball of darkness, the sphere smooth-looking before it began to dissolve, leaving behind the True Darkness of Naruto Uzumaki.

The bipedal creature before the dragon skeleton had it crouching low as its jaw crackled with a low hiss, the area around them rumbling as the being looked behind him.

"Hmph," the being smiled as his completely human-like feet touched the ground, their slightly floating state odd to his opponent. "So this is what it's like, huh?"

The figure was barefoot and left in only a pair of white pants decorated in fox skull motifs that had two bone bead belts over his waist. White arm sleeves with similar patterns on them went down from his biceps to the middle of his bone bead necklace-covered palms.

Over a powerful chest rested a series of white marks at the center of his sternum while the figure's horns had elongated and went back, growing ivory in color, as his fox helmet shrunk into something more elegant and fitting to his past orientation.

Six powerful fox tails, all black, flowed behind him, the appendages each being covered by a bit of armor with swirls of blue on the sides. The figure chuckled as he looked at his ax.

"Even you, huh, Kurama?" He smiled as the weapon was hefted onto his shoulder.

It'd become bigger and thicker than it'd been before, being as tall as the Uzumaki with its shaft being black while its head had become white. The shaft had become about as thick as a small tree branch while the head had become bigger to compensate if not overdo it as it was more of a giant halberd instead of a greataxe he'd first thought it to be.

Naruto observed the empty easel that was the side of his blade before bringing it around to his front and he placed his fingers on the side of it. He dragged them back and burning gold marks formed off them, leaving the blade's form covered in golden flames.

"Better," he said as his head tilted, the man blinking as his eyes went to the dragon skeleton's claws on his neck. "Rude."

He reared back his fist before punching the bony creature in the sternum, cracking the core and sending it flying to the opposite end of the cavern.

"Hmph," the Grimm huffed before crouching. "Hopefully it's not like when I first got Kurama's power."

In the wall, the skeletal Grimm's nearly shattered form began to reconstruct, bits and shards gathering together to try and form something bigger and greater than before.

All for naught as a pair of feet slammed into its core, crushing the wall around it and cracking its core as their master landed on the ground.

"You were a pain in the ass, you know that?" Naruto frowned, the visible lower half of his face holding his grimacing mouth. "But whatever, later-"

"W-Wait, S-Spirit!"

And Naruto stopped as his eyes widened behind his mask. "Wait! Hold on! You can speak?!"

"O-Of course, Spirit. I've been speaking to you this… e-entire time," the creature's core throbbed. "You've grown stronger than the others of your ilk… you've become what He desires."

'He?' Naruto frowned.

"I can sense your confusion," the core said as its skeletal frame began to reconstruct itself. "You've gained His attention and are a threat," the Grimm said.

"Who the hell are you talking about? 'He'? WHO?" Naruto growled a bit and the darkness around the orb began to lessen, much to its horror.

"Wait! No! I've become stronger after so… Ssssssss," the former blonde realized he'd made a horrible mistake. "SSSSSSSSSSSS!"

The orb hissed at him, leaving him grimacing before Penny came upon his side, staring at the core.

"Naruto?" She touched his bicep and he sighed.

He raised his powerful halberd before cleaving through the orb with ease, even cutting into the wall behind it without meaning to.

It cracked in half, leaving Naruto sighing as he returned to his normal form, his ax following suit.

"Dammit, that's not good," he said as she tilted her head. "I'll tell you when we're back in our place, for now, let's go and find the kids."

Penny nodded before they hurried out of the cavern, Naruto minding the area for any crumbling before nodding as it went back to normal… wait.

'How did it…?' His eyes went to his hand as he realized something. 'If that's true, this is very bad.'

They ran down passageway after passageway, navigating via Naruto's sensory abilities only to come up short as they found a groaning group of people led by none other than Sun, Nora, and Mercury, the monkey Faunus helping a less pained-looking boy as they moved.

"We got 'em!" Nora cheered as the group of people groaned before looking up.

And half of them freaked the hell out.

"AHHHHHHH!" They screamed in horror falling on their rears with their drained bodies. "NOT AGAIN!"

"Don't kill me, you foul beast!" A woman shouted as she shielded a small boy from Naruto, getting a flat look from the Grimm as Penny and the others snickered.

"So, it is an outright 'mother' thing. Fantastic," he said as the boy Sun was helping gaped at him.

"Y-You're that Grimm from the TV…" Neptune said in shock and awe as the horrified, shocked, people looked at their not-scared half's confusion. "H-He's a good guy!" He told them, much to their disbelief.

Wearing a pair of black shorts, a blue tunic, and brown boots, Neptune, as you'd have it, was a boy around Sun's age with short light blue hair, tan skin, and blue eyes that were drained but now far more full of life as he relaxed.

Sun snickered as he held the other boy's arm over his shoulder. "Yeah, it's super awesome!" He said as his friend nodded.

"Alright so I'll send you guys out with a clone," Naruto said as the group, the ones who knew about him, nodded while the other half looked nervous. "No, seriously, it's cool. Penny-chan?"

"I and the young ones who helped you will lead you out," Penny said with a nod to the group who looked less nervous. "Come along, I'm sure you know how long it takes to get here," she added with a smile.

As the group began to be led out, Naruto nodded as he walked at the front with his little crew, making a copy who walked at the back, much to the concern of many of the people in the group while others thanked him for his work.

A quick flashing of light had the people reinvigorated at least a bit, many of whom had some form of trust in his alignment grinning while those who weren't were left confused as they felt energy filling their bodies.

Neptune blinked as he breathed out in relief. "W-Whoa, what was that?" He asked Sun who grinned shakily.

"Umm… well, that was some kind of healing power, duh," Sun said with a grin that certainly wasn't real but Neptune bought anyway.

"I didn't know Grimm had those though I guess it's different for you, S-Sir?" Neptune said unsurely before Naruto chuckled.

"Call me what you want, 'sir', 'mister', 'Mr. Uzumaki', 'Naruto', run with what you're comfortable with," Naruto said as Neptune nodded.

"So, I guess we're totally under Gormhen right now."

"Yes, it's definitely not safe here," Penny said nervously. 'Especially not if the Earth Spirit leaves.'

What would happen if they took it? Would things hold? Would it all collapse? They were decently far underground and that had been why Naruto hadn't reinforced everything but what came after they all left?

As if reading her mind, Naruto nodded. "I'm probably gonna fill this place with my bones and stuff," he said to the group of confused people. "We don't know if this place is gonna support Gormhen."

"PLEASE!" Those who lived there said with pale faces. "PLEASE don't let it sink!"

"I-I get ya, I promise," Naruto said with his hand rubbing the back of his head. "For now, though, you guys are gonna have to leave first so I can go all-out. I don't know how big this place is, either, so I might be down here for a bit," he winced.

"Thank you," an old man said as Naruto nodded. "Still, what of that bigger Grimm? The one that the skeletal one was working with?"

"O-Oh, well, we took care of them! H-Hahaha," Penny giggled nervously. 'Darn! We didn't know if they saw it or not!' If they figured out it wasn't a Grimm…

"Yeah, me and Penny handled them both," Naruto said as he jabbed his thumb at Penny. "Though she handled that horseshoe crab thing."

"Ah! Thank you, Miss," the older gentleman said before Penny shook her head with a smile.

"No, I'm just happy you're all safe."

The return to the surface was a rather long affair without the ability to run due to the actual amount of space in these caves and the fear they still needed to mind with half the group.

So, 20 minutes later they were by the core of the former Black Zone, Naruto peeking into the chamber they'd fought in and nodding to the downed Earth Spirit still being there.

"Alright, I'll be handling this Grimm," he said to them and as the group saw it, damn near all of them paled in some form or another sans Penny, Naruto, and Mercury but the boy was certainly skittish at the sight of it.

"And you beat that?" He asked Penny who smiled embarrassedly.

"I had an advantage," she emphasized as Mercury remembered. "With better speed and piercing power, it's honestly not as hard to beat that on one's own though it takes much training."

Nora, Sun, and Neptune's mouths fell as Naruto chuckled.

"N-No way!" Neptune balked.

"I-It's kind of true," Sun swallowed. "You should have seen what they did to the Grimm above! They massacred, like, hundreds of Grimm! It was insane!"

Most of the former captives paled as Penny, Naruto, and Mercury coughed while Nora huffed.

"I wanted to beat some up…" She pouted as Mercury snorted.

"You literally busted some heads down there, it's fine," he said as Nora grinned widely, getting a roll of the eyes from him. "Ugh, you're the worst."

"Hehe~"

Neptune looked at them all. "Y-You don't take students, do you?" He winced as Naruto blinked. "W-Well, ya know? I… I-I want to be a Hunter when Haven opens up."

"Wait, I thought you were from Vacuo?" Naruto asked.

"We are," Sun said. "But Nep and me are gonna move to Mistral eventually."

"Curious," Penny said before cupping her chin. "... When we get up and back to the room, Sun, Neptune, we could offer a rather big idea."

"AWESOME!" The boys said in unison.

"Alright, I'll follow you guys in a bit."

Watching the group leave with his copy, Naruto nodded before going back into the room with his eyes on the Earth Spirit.

Making it over to it, he crossed his arms as he watched the black goo leaking out of its sides and wounds.

"..." He raised his hands before closing his eyes. "Magna-Lux."

Light coiled from the center of his being, his soul, and slowly spread out around his body before spreading over the Spirit.

The black material began to hiss and bubble as the former blonde formed a handsign. Not one for any real effect but for focus.

The white power that spread over the Spirit pulsed softly as Naruto focused on the dark energy within the creature.

'It's really deep,' now that he was feeling out the Spirit… was that fear? 'It didn't want this.'

Damn that old Spirit and his stupid prejudices! This was serious!

'... it's not enough?' His eyes widened as while he was getting rid of some of that taint, it wasn't enough. "... Hmmm."

Blue eyes closed as he held his hands together in a prayer-like manner.

Naruto felt the Natural Energy in his surroundings before he pulled it all in.

The residual Darkness energy, the Earth energy, and that of the world itself.

He pulled it all in before gaining another tail, one covered in brown kanji as his horns grew, his hands became bigger along with his forearms, and his feet's talons grew thicker and slightly longer.

He separated the three within, unfurling them before locking onto his Light spell and placing his hands onto the Spirit's head.

The shining white light burned gold before Naruto blinked as the Earth energy slipped in as well, leaving him in his previous Magna-Tenebris state.

The Spirit's form burned gold and brown before it blipped into a shining white light that absorbed the entire being and floated off the ground.

"Huh?" He blinked as the light shrunk to a 'him' size before dispersing in a small burst, leaving behind… a horseshoe crab Spirit? "Um?"

"Thank you, sir," the young voice of the Spirit left Naruto's senses on 'protective' mode. "I didn't think I would be able to go back to normal because of that horrid Spirit."

"So, we were right, you didn't want to do all of this."

"I didn't…" The Spirit's head lowered and Naruto pat his shell. "I've been here for such a long time. I just wanted to increase the land. There's so little space in the world and it's worrying."

"I can imagine. The world… Wait, how long have you been here? Remnant's been the way it is for, at least, 80 years, I think," Naruto blinked as the horseshoe crab perked up.

"Oh!" The way its legs clacked against one eagerly had Naruto chuckling. "Well! It used to be so fun! I could go underground and travel from one end of the world to another in three days! Nowadays, I feel like I'd do it in a few hours," it, or maybe 'he' as the Spirit sounded like a young boy, slumped. "Things are so different. There's more Darkness in the land than ever before. Lands are gone and I-I can feel the world's purity has lowered… well, except for the place you live," he said to Naruto who blinked.

"Well, to be fair, I'm what you call a 'Sage'," the man explained. "I react to the world and pull in energy while sometimes purifying it and releasing it out with my own energy mixed in. I've been doing that on an island of mine and it began to copy my energy and stuff so it can produce it now."

"That sounds amazing!" The Spirit's legs clacked together. "Ohh! C-Can I go there?!"

"Well, if you don't mind. I actually wanted to see if you wanted to set up an Altar there."

"I'd love to! A-And I can make a lot of land, right?"

"Of course!"

Well, this little event had come and gone with him gaining a bit of a friend.

Awesome!

"Let's fill these holes up!" The Spirit said as he smirked.

A very awesome friend.

~NRK~

Back above ground, Penny hummed as the Naruto clone with them blinked before chuckling.

"Alright, I think things went well," he said as he peaced out. "There might be a bit of rumbling," the clone said as he turned into vapor.

Then the group jumped as the ground rumbled a bit, the sound of something rupturing coming up the hole they'd returned up getting them to look at it.

Moments later, the familiar figure of Naruto jumped out of it, landing by the hole before he pressed his hands down by his exit.

The ground sprouted into existence, looking exactly the same as the pier's white stone floor.

"Alright, awesome work," he said to someone they didn't see before coming towards the others. "Alright. So, for you all, what's gonna happen? Do you remember where you're supposed to go?"

Many in the crowd blinked before looking at one another nervously.

The old man from before nodded. "We'll find our way. It's… there are likely going to be a lot of things to handle," he said as many grimaced. "But we're alive, we'll figure it out. Thank you, for everything," he said as Naruto, Penny, Nora, and Sun smiled or grinned.

"No problem," they said in unison as Mercury snorted while Neptune chuckled.

"So, uhh, you sure no one's gonna notice?" He asked Mercury only for the entire group to blink as bullheads, cars, and sirens arrived on the scene. "Oh, that solves that."

Mercury smirked.

~NRK~

Back in their hotel room after some questions and thankful nods, the group of Naruto, Penny, Mercury, Nora, Neptune, and Sun relaxed.

"Your parents are going to be here soon," Penny said as Neptune nodded.

"Dad's gonna be here in maybe thirty minutes, my family's all the way across the city," he said with a wince. "Haaa… dammit, I'm gonna get reamed for this."

"Hey, I'll take half of that fall," Sun winced. "It's kinda my fault we were there in the first place. All those bananas…" he drooled a bit as Neptune rolled his eyes.

"Despite how right you are, I still came. And it might have been you who got caught. Things might not have worked out if it was you. So, we'll call it even, with a bit in my favor, and just hope my parents don't ground me and then tell Ms. Hara."

The way Sun's tail broke at the tip as he turned to stone said a million words.

"Dammit."

"We're gonna go home in the morning?" Nora asked with an expression of conflict. "C-Can we look around this place tomorrow, please?"

"Hmph, hmph, sure, it'd be fine," Naruto chuckled as Mercury hummed.

"Maybe I'll find some more manuals here," he said as Penny nodded.

"Then we'll enjoy Gormhen all of tomorrow and leave the following day!" She grinned as Sun grinned while Neptune smiled.

"You should come and meet Neptune's parents!" Sun said. "You guys did say you had something going on, right? If you want to talk permission, you could talk to his 'rents and… m-maybe Ms. Hara-"

The group blinked as they heard a knock on the door, something oddly soft and yet no-nonsense in its force.

"... there's no way that's my mom," Neptune said as Sun blinked before his eyes widened, his tail bristled, and his skin paled, rushing off the bed before hiding underneath.

"CRAP, she came?!"

Neptune blinked before going to the door and opening it a bit. "Hello-Ms. Hara?" He blinked as he opened the door fully, allowing the group to see the caretaker of Sun.

Dark skin, slightly long ears, sharp, grimacing, teeth, short white hair, and narrowed gray eyes looked into the room.

"Where is he?" She hissed as Naruto and Penny chuckled nervously.

Ramaal Hara, the Summer Maiden, had arrived.

Sun was in for it.

~NRK~

And that's a wrap for this chapter.

So, a lot to unpack. For one, we've met Sun and Neptune, the two boys of Vacuo who've got a comedic routine in the making.

Meanwhile, there's more trouble afoot with this Spirit and the Water Spirit whose words are layered with prejudice that the group couldn't expect. While, sure, the Darkness aspect of the world makes him sneer, there's also more to this in the Elemental Alignment Circle. It's a bit like Peerless Dad's elemental Qi but not so obvious.

Next, we've got an odd Grimm whose existence isn't normal, leaving Penny and Naruto confused. The latter now being more unsure of the Black Gates as their existence becomes more and more confusing.

We finally get to see Naruto's combat prowess in his Oni Mode. A show of his True Darkness was brought out by using 'Magna-Tenebris'. We get Earth Magic form, too, so that's a bit of fun.

And, finally, Naruto gets his Earth Spirit companion who I'd relate his personality to Theta from RvB if my knowledge isn't failing me. So, he'll be a fun little addition for future travels.

And, come the end of the chapter, we meet the Summer Maiden, Ramaal Hara or 'Hot Sand' in Arabic. I checked and the Summer Maiden has not been brought up, right? So, for this, we now have most of the Maidens noted.

Fria - Winter Maiden

Raven - Spring Maiden

Ramaal - Summer Maiden

? - Fall Maiden.

As for the last Maiden, well, we're working on it. It'll probably be very important in the coming year.

Ciao. See you in the next one.

Words: 15.5k

~NRK Out~