Patriot-112: Hey, hey, hey! Wazzup and Happy new year! ... Of course if it's way passed that, then...oops! Also, recent episodes of RWBY... HO. LY. TURD-ON-A-STICK! Ain't gonna spoil it for you guys, you just have to see for yourselves. Anyway here is the new chapter for Aurea Mors: Alter Zwei...
Note: Beta Read by 117Jorn
Chapter 8:
Never go back on my word
Unknown
How was this possible?
That was the thought as she continued to embrace the woman that was her mother tightly. How was she here? With her? Right now?
She so wanted to ask these questions, but for the life of her, she just couldn't. Feeling that if she uttered a single word, she would disappear.
"Ho... How?" she finally managed to say, after nearly twenty (in her mindscape) minutes of crying, "How are you here?"
Pyrrha ended the embrace, though a bit reluctantly, and looked in the same green eyes like her own.
"Before I died... the second time," Dorée winced at the memory, making her look down in shame, but Pyrrha would have none of that as she gently, but firmly, lifted her daughter's chin to look at her, and seeing the look in her eyes that she knew well when she possessing the body of Cinder Fall, Dorée wisely listened, "...I knew I didn't have much time. And, knowing that the time will come that the Geist will try to manipulate you into going into that Beowolf berserker state in order to gain control of your body, I had used the last of my remaining Aura to implant this imprint of myself, so if the chance of that ever happening did occur, I will be here to help you take your body back,"
Dorée's eyes widened in awe at that, before they suddenly gained a sorrow look to them.
"But... why would I do that... I...," she gulped slightly as what happened moments before repeated itself in her mind, "I-I killed you, the younger you... What can I do, not you're-,"
"What you saw was an illusion, Dorée," Pyrrha said, making her daughter snap her head up at that, eyes wide in shock, and a little hope. "Cinder had Emerald put you into one of her hallucinations, made you think you killed me,"
Dorée was shocked to the core... if she hadn't killed her... then that meant...
"I... I didn't fail?" she managed to whisper out, which Pyrrha smiled, as said champion's hand caressed her face.
"No..." she said, before her face morphed into a worried frown, "But I'm afraid that the Geist would soon make it a reality,"
Dorée's eyes widen in horror, before she quickly stood up.
"I have to stop it!" she said, and looked around the dark void. "How do I get out of here!?"
Pyrrha watched as her daughter looked around frantically for a way out of her mindscape, even running from one side to the other, looking for a wall that could to a door in order for her to escape this darkness.
"Dammit! Where's the exit!?" Dorée said, desperation now coloring her tone, "I gotta get out of here!"
"Dorée...,"
"I NEED to get out!"
"Dorée,"
"I can't let it happen! Not again!"
"Dorée!"
"I WON'T GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"
"DOREE!"
The girl looked at Pyrrha, who was giving her a firm scowl, surprised that she actually shouted. Said redhead took a deep breath as she stood up and looked at her daughter.
"Please...," she began as she walked up to Dorée and gently grabbed the sides of her head in order to make her look into her eyes. "...breath. Just breath. Take a moment, and calm yourself,"
Dorée blinked for a few moments, before finally doing that, as she took a deep breath, while closing her eyes. The two stayed there for a full minute, not saying anything, until Pyrrha spoke again.
"That's it... just calm yourself," she instructed, "Calm down, and think,"
The daughter of Arkos did exactly that, calming herself down, until she was finally able to control herself.
She opened her eyes again, and looked into Pyrrha's own. Said Spartan smiled as she saw that Dorée had finally calmed down.
"Good... now, listen to me very closely," she said, "Right, my past self is fighting the Geist, however she is outmatched. But, we are in your mind, and time moves faster in here than it does outside. Which gives you time to think of a plan in how to counter the Geist,"
Dorée's head bowed at that, a look of self-disappointment on her face, before it rose back up.
"What must I do?" she asked, causing Pyrrha to smile, as she saw the spark she remembered in Dorée's younger days coming back.
"Well...," Pyrrha said, as she motioned for the clo- no, her daughter, to follow her. "The Geist doesn't know of me being here, and helping you, so you have the element of surprise. And, since it loves to brag... a lot, it'll screw up and reveal to us something we could use to get back control of your body,"
"How do we do that?" Dorée asked, and Pyrrha smiled.
"Even though the Geist has control of your body, it doesn't have complete control of your mind... your subconscious. It is here where it can't touch you, and also a place where you can plan your counter attack," she then held out her hand forward, and made a sweeping motion.
With that, an area of darkness cleared away and Dorée could see that they were still Emerald Forest, but noticed that Cinder was no longer in front of her, but rather... Raven Branwen.
"What's she doing here?" Dorée said with an edge to her tone, as she remembered all the stories she heard about the bandit leader, and not all of them good. Pyrrha had a small glare on her face as she looked at the woman who helped Cinder during the Battle of Haven, and was partially responsible for Weiss' being grievously wounded.
"Apparently, from what I was able to hear, Canus had told her everything about you," the champion said, making Dorée's eyes widen at the name.
"Wait, Canus!? Then that must mean...," she didn't finish the sentence, as Pyrrha nodded.
"Yes... though I question his sanity on that decision," she remarked, "Despite what he says about Ozpin being ignorant and unable to adapt to the times, which are true, Ozpin still means well, and regretted his actions. Not to mention Canus has his own flaws as well."
Dorée scowled at that part, "Doesn't mean I will forgive him for getting you involved... and remind me to give that grey cloaked bastard a kick in the balls next time I see him," she said, and Pyrrha gave a sheepish laugh at that last part, as they continued to watch the fight, until finally seeing the Geist succeed in pinning the Branwen sister down.
But before it could deliver the final blow, and much to the shock of Dorée, the younger Pyrrha arrived and tackled her Grimm possessed body. The conversation between them was heard, and after hearing Pyrrha's vow to free Dorée, said clone's only widened in shock.
"She... she doesn't care that I... that I'm a...," she couldn't finish as he tried to process what she heard, before Pyrrha's hand placed itself on her shoulder, causing her to look at her mother, as the Sanctum chamption gave her a fond smile.
"You may be a clone of me and Jaune, Dorée... ," she said, "but that doesn't make you any less human, and despite what Merlot said, you're ARE our daughter. I judge people by their actions, not how they were born into this world,"
Dorée didn't say anything at first, too shocked by her mother's words, before she turned back to the fight, and immediately felt dread, when she saw the Geist place her own pistol against Jaune's head.
"F... Father...," she managed to whisper out, her eyes now wide with horror and fear. The same expression that was on the younger Pyrrha's face, before said champion backed down.
She then watched as the Geist then spoke on how Merlot proceeded to tell on how Merlot implanted itself and the Beowolf DNA inside her, causing her to listen intently, while watching as the Geist removed her armor, and reached behind her back.
Dorée's eyes widen in realization.
"...The brand mark," she said, before her eyes hardened as the Geist continued to talk.
"And thus, hidden behind this scar of burned flesh, Merlot, with all of his genius, placed me, in order to not only sabotage your little spawn's mission, but, to also serve as a messenger to the Merlot of this time...of course he didn't expect for his plan to go awry! Hahahaha! If Dorée were listening to this, I would gloat that all along, the old geezer was using her like a string on a puppet,"
Dorée's blood boiled at that, as her hatred for Merlot just skyrocketed even more, while her aura began to glow brightly.
'That. BASTARD!'
Pyrrha watched as her daughter's aura, and her spirit began to return full force, as a smile formed on her face.
'Jaune... I hope you're watching. Cause our little girl is going to show what happens when you mess with a child of Arkos...,'
Outside
"So yeah, that's how Merlot managed to graft myself and the beowolf to your little brat," The Geist said, having turned back around, Tékno Xífos still aimed at Jaune's head, "Of course, you two lovebirds are not gonna live long enough to do anything about it... since I'm gonna kill you both anyway!"
G-Dorée then turned to Jaune, the crazy smile still plastered on her.
"So then... you first, Fake Knight!" with that, she squeezed the trigger, and Pyrrha too shocked by the revelation, just now caught on.
"NO! JAUNE!"
BANG!
The sound of the shot echoed around the ruins, and then it was quiet.
With the rest
Team RWBY, along with Canus, Qrow, the rest of Team JNPR, their friends, and the Professors, all stopped when they heard the shot.
"Shit! Hightail it, now!" Canus shouted, and everyone didn't need to be told twice and they did exactly that.
Ruby herself, was now growing more worried for her friends.
'Jaune. Pyrrha. Please be okay!'
Pyrrha looked with wide eyes... not with horror or fear, but in surprise.
And the reason for that, the hand holding the combat pistol to Jaune's head had moved to the left, just enough where the bullet would just whiz by his face. Said Arc, was also surprised, so certain that he was going to die...by his Grimm possessed daughter's hand.
However, the one most shocked about this, was the Geist itself as it's eyes were wide, and the irises shrunken almost to the size of a pea..
"Wh...What!?" was the only thing it could say.
"You won't touch them!" a voice sounded in her head, making the Grimm take a double take, "I won't let you take them from me! NOT AGAIN!"
"NO! HOW!?" the Geist shouted, catching the two partners' attention, "I have complete control of your body! Your will was shattered! So, how are you-!?"
It stopped itself, before a look of horrified realization settled on it's face.
"No... no, that's IMPOSSIBLE!" it shouted, fear now present on it's face, before it looked at Pyrrha, and it then morphed into an angry snarl. "You... you little BITCH!"
The Geist then used Dorée's semblance to pull Aurea Mors to her, and caught the long sword in her right hand, before it began to charge at her, causing Pyrrha to go on guard...
"I'LL KILL YOU YA LITTLE WH-GUHK!"
...Only for the Geist to suddenly stop and freeze in midstep.
"Wh...What the...?" the phantom Grimm suddenly realized it had lost the control of it's hosts legs and couldn't move.
"I told you... I won't let you harm them again!" Dorée's voice sounded in her head, causing the Geist to growl menacingly, before noticing that Tékno Xífos had shifted back into it's dagger form, before the arm began to slowly move toward it. The Geist watched as it fought back to regain possession of the limb as it moved up to the shoulder, causing it to grunt.
"What...What are you doing!?" it said, before suddenly to it's shock, half of it's vision was gone. And then...
"What does it... l-look like!?" Dorée said, grunting as half of her face returned to normal, the Grimm black/red eye changing back to it's original human green, as well as her hair returning back to it's blonde coloring. And also the fact that it was Dorée herself talking through her mouth, "I'm taking back my body...for GOOD! By the way, thanks for spilling the beans on the chip!"
The Geist suddenly realized what she meant, as the now single red eye widened in alarm, before her right hand dropped Aurea Mors and grabbed Dorée's wrist.
"NO! YOU CRAZY LITTLE SLUT! YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!"
Dorée wasn't perturbed as she continued with her task.
"If it means...protecting them...then so...be it!" she grunted as the blade moved closer between the shoulder blades, "I swore to myself that I would protect them!"
The tip touched the 'M' of the Merlot logo.
"And an Arc..." both Pyrrha and Jaune's eyes to widen in familiarity at that, "...never goes back...,"
The tip pierces the skin as blood begins to leak.
"ON THEIR WORD!" With that final shout, and with one last effort, she pushes the dagger into her back, before it hits something, and she knew she hit the target.
"NO! NOOOOOOO!" The Geist shouted, but Dorée didn't stop as she went deeper before both Jaune and Pyrrha heard the sound of a metallic crunch, and saw as sparking electricity arced around her.
"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Geist screamed as the rest of Dorée's body shifted back to normal, before she angled the blade and popped the genetic chip out of her back, sending it flying somewhere into the ruins, to be forever forgotten.
Jaune and Pyrrha looked on as the current died, and Dorée stood there, her appearance back to normal, taking shallow breaths, while her hair foreshadowed her eyes.
Mindscape
Dorée took deep breaths, as she stood on unsteady legs. The battle with the Geist, including the forced removal of the genetic chip, took a lot out of her, and she looked like she would collapse.
" Dorée...," the girl looked up, and saw her mother giving her the warmest and proudest smile she had ever, "...you did it, Dorée. You're finally free,"
Dorée didn't say anything for a moment, as she tried to regain her breath.
"But...Cinder. She's...," Dorée gasped out, and then felt her mother's warm touch on her face.
"Yes, Cinder's still alive and has no doubt used the Geist's battle with Raven to escape Vale by now," She said, but her tone didn't have any hint of disappointment or scold, "But, your intervention will no doubt throw Salem's plan back by a few months...maybe even a year. True they will try again, but now the Kingdoms will be on high alert. Of course, what you did here will no doubt start a Butterfly Effect, so you will need to keep your guard up. But, until that time, you must rest."
Then, a glow started to surround Pyrrha, and her smile turned sad.
"My time is up," she said, as she looked at her hand, "My aura's fading,"
Dorée's eyes widen at that, understanding what her mother meant as tears began to glisten.
"W-Wha...?," she managed to gasp out, before she finally began to panic, "N-No... Please, don't go!"
Pyrrha didn't say anything as she wrapped her daughter in a hug.
"It's okay, Dorée...," she said calmly, "... It's okay,"
Dorée's released a strangled sob at that, "Okay!? How can you be so calm!?" she shouted, as she wrapped her arms around Pyrrha, "I...I just got you back! And now... I'm losing you again...,"
She then started to sob, cursing Destiny and fate as they were taking her mother away yet again. Pyrrha, only continued to hug her as she stroked her hair, while gently shushing her.
"It's okay, shh, it's okay. You won't be alone, Dorée." she said gently, "I won't really be gone,"
"B-...But...," she said, but Pyrrha tightened her hug, which silenced her.
"You saved me, Dorée," the champion said, just she slowly started to turn into red glowing dust, "I'm still alive thanks to you,"
Dorée didn't say anything, as she continued crying, holding onto her mother as tightly as she could, even as she was disappearing.
"You've made me proud, Dorée," Pyrrha said, as a tear escaped her eye, "And you've made me very, very happy,"
With that said, Pyrrha Nikos finally disappeared into particles of glowing red dust.
Tears came in full force, as Dorée finally collapsed on her knees, prompting Pyrrha, to rush toward her, while using her semblance to free Jaune from his prison, and the paladin rushed over to them.
When they knelt down, and began checking over her, they began to hear a sound, one that both of them knew well.
Sobs...quiet, but still loud enough for them to hear.
"Dorée?" Pyrrha said, with caution and concern. This caused caused said girl to slowly raise her head up, and what she and Jaune shocked them, as they saw two emerald eyes, looking at both of them, shedding tears of sadness.
"I...I...I-I'm sorry," she managed to get out, but before either of them could say a word, Dorée surprised them, as she just grabbed the the two of them in an embrace, and was now sobbing uncontrollably. The two partners were definitely caught off-guard, as they looked at each other in bewilderment, but their expressions soon changed, as they, though a bit awkwardly returned her embrace.
This is the scene that Ren and Nora saw when they came upon them, both of them relieved to see their teammates okay.
"Hey! You guys okay?" Nora said as she knelt to them, as Pyrrha nodded as she rubbed Dorée's back, being careful of the wound.
"Yeah...," said Jaune, "...we got a bit of a scare when she suddenly turned Grimm on us, but... somehow, she managed to get herself back together...,"
Both of their teammates were a little on edge at the 'turned Grimm' part, but, seeing that the girl still looked human, and was now clinging to both Jaune and Pyrrha like a lifeline allowed them to have a little respite.
It wasn't after that the rest of their friends, along with Qrow, Canus, Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Ironwood showed up. With Qrow spotting his unconscious sister near the rubble, causing him to sigh as he went over to check on her.
Canus meanwhile, moved to the said couple, and their clone daughter, and saw the wound that was the former Merlot brand, on Dorée's back. He also, the clone being rather clingy to the Huntsman and Huntress in training, and the obvious tears coming out of her now closed eyes from what he could see.
"I wonder how you managed to snap her out of it and calmed her down," he said, and then sighed, "But right now, it can wait, since she's in obvious need of medical attention, and no doubt a lot of rest,"
"Now hold on a minu-!," James began to say, but received a harsh scowl from the gray cloaked in return.
"Not. Now. Jim," he said, his voice sharp as a razor's edge, "You can give her the Miranda Rights after she's coherent and rested, not before,"
The Atlas Headmaster looked like he was about to argue some more, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he turned and saw Ozpin who shook his head, telling that now was not the time. The Cyborg General was forced to relent as he gave a exasperated sigh, while massaging his temples.
"If you insist...," was all he said after that, and Canus nodded before turning back to the three, with the leading pair of JNPR who were being asked by their friends if they were okay, and what happened. He then decided to intervene.
"You kids can ask them questions on what happened later," he stated, as he took off his cloak, revealing the grey colored cowboy-style shirt underneath, and handed the cloak to Pyrrha, who after a moment, took the clothing to wrap it around Dorée like a makeshift blanket, "Right now, it's best we get her back to Beacon,"
Glynda then spoke up.
"Wait a minute? What about Cinder?" she asked, which made the man sigh.
"She's probably long gone by now Glynda...," Canus said," ...and since neither she, her pet, or Taurus are among the dead White Fang grunts we saw earlier, we can assume Salem called her back. So, for now, let's just focus on the here and now. And worry about what comes next, later."
He then turned to Ozpin, his face turning serious.
"Oh, and Oz." he said, getting the Headmaster's attention, "If I were you, I'd stay a good 300 yards away from her when she's able to talk...she's just like Hazel after you sent his little sister on that training mission that got her killed,"
Ozpin actually winced at that, remembering that incident all too well. He nodded in agreement, which Canus took as a good answer. He then looked at the girl, who had somehow fallen asleep in the arms of her parents, sighing tiredly as he looked up into the now night sky.
"Man, what a day,"
Patriot-112: Aaaannnnnd Finished! Wow, this was actually quicker than last time. I hope you all enjoyed that, and also don't forget to leave a review, which includes your likes, dislikes, advice, and what you want to see happen in the next chapter.
And for those of you curious of what Canus' clothing looks like under the cloak? Picture him wearing a grey version of Revolver Ocelot's Cowboy getup from Metal Gear Solid: Phantom Pain. Until next time my friends, Later!
P.S.: My heart was breaking when I wrote that scene with canon Pyrrha, disappearing for the last time while saying goodbye to Dorée...still hurts man :( .