Chapter 82
Chrome
Kneeling down, Chrome offered his hand to Neo. The two had managed to climb the cliffside.
Neo contemplated smacking his hand away, but hesitated. Taking his hand, Chrome pulled her up. After brushing herself off, the two continued to walk. They remained silent, the sand crunching beneath their shoes as the waves lapped the shore far below them.
"You ever get tired of everything?" Chrome asked suddenly.
Neo continued to walk beside him.
"The constant war. The fighting. The Grimm. The loss." Chrome said. "The… anger." Chrome looked at his hands. "I feel drained, constantly." Chrome sighed. "You know what I mean?"
Neo glanced at Chrome from the corner of her eye before returning her gaze forward.
Liam
Slashing a Beowolf in half, Thomas ducked as one with black eyes lunged over him to strike another Grimm.
With it turning to dust, Thomas did a quick sweep. Clear of enemies, one of the Grimm with black eyes brushed its snout against Thomas' hand. Petting it, Thomas heard Sasha approach from behind.
"Is that all of them?" She asked, holding an axe in her hands.
"I believe so." He affirmed. "The remaining Grimm-" he paused, scratching under the Beowolf's chin. "-will protect the village."
Chrome
As the duo walked, they soon came across another cliffside. But, at closer examination, Chrome noticed it wasn't another cliffside. It was the exact same as the one they had just climbed.
"What the hell?" Chrome questioned audibly. "How?"
Neo was just as lost as Chrome.
Looking out at the trees, Chrome saw the largest one, far off in the distance.
"Come on." He said as he began heading into the trees.
As the duo changed direction, they soon walked by a knocked over tree. Thinking nothing of it, they continued. Until they walked by another fallen tree. And another. And another.
"We're walking in circles!" Chrome shouted in frustration as he kicked the dirt.
Neo walked by Chrome, continuing towards the tree. As for Chrome, he was done with the mind tricks.
Pulling out his weapon, Chrome created a bridge of Glyphs, leading up and over most of, if not the entire forest.
Walking up the path, Chrome and Neo could tell they were now making some progress towards the tree.
"Neo." Chrome said her name, getting her attention. "Why are you going after Ruby?"
Neo's first instinct was to draw her weapon, knowing this was probably the first in a line of questioning. However, Chrome didn't even glance at her. His guard was down entirely.
Neo, using her semblance, created an exact replica of Roman Torchwick. So much so that you couldn't tell it was a fake.
"She's why I'm dead, kiddo." Roman said, twirling his cane as he tipped his hat. "I'm the one thing Neo had." Roman gripped his cane. "And Ruby took me away."
"Revenge, then." Chrome stated. "Can't say I blame you. I want Cinder dead for what she did to Nicci. I…" he sighed. "Nevermind."
Neo took notice of Chrome's grief. She understood the pain he's in. And knew it was only a matter of time before he deadlocked his sights on his target.
Suddenly, the branches in the trees beneath them bristled as a large creature launched towards Chrome. With a slash, the creature knocked both itself, and Chrome off the path.
Having lost focus, the Glyph path vanished, causing Neo to fall to the forest floor.
Opening her parasol, Neo glided down to where Chrome and the creature were fighting.
Slashed away by the creature's claws, Chrome hit his back into a tree. Quick to recover, Chrome deflected the next three attacks launched at him. Seeing an opening, Chrome slashed the creature, causing it to spin around and meet Neo's parasol directly to the snout.
Following up her attack with another, the creature growled before slashing at Neo. It's claws shattered her into pieces as Neo appeared behind it, striking it in the back of the head.
With Chrome joining Neo's side, the two readied their weapons, only for the creature to turn and flee.
"I'm not finished yet!" Chrome shouted before giving chase with Neo right behind him.
Liam
As Thomas lay in bed next to Sasha, he found himself unable to sleep. Hearing a couple creeks in the house, Thomas slipped out of bed to investigate.
With his and Blake's weapons in hand, Thomas entered the living room, only to be faced by Raven, helmet in hand.
"I'm glad to see you're alive, nephew."
Thomas took a step back.
"Who are you?" Thomas asked.
Noticing Liam's new appearance, as well as his corrupted silver eye, Raven suspected what had happened.
"What did Salem do to you?"
"Salem?" Thomas repeated.
Raven sighed as she slashed her weapon, activating her semblance and creating a portal.
"Come with me, Liam." Raven said. "I'll do what I can to help."
As she stepped through the portal, Liam rushed forward.
"Wait!"
As he entered the portal, it closed and vanished behind him.
Chrome
Using a black glyph, Chrome froze the creature in place long enough for him and Neo to get a few good hits in. Alternating between who attacked, the duo continued their barrage.
As Neo leapt away from one of the creature's strikes, Chrome rushed in. Just as he did, Neo noticed the creature about to strike. Just then, Neo used the hook of her parasol to grab onto Chrome's arm and pull him back.
The creature missed Chrome by inches, swiping the air. As it went to strike a second time, Neo blocked it and hit the creature with the butt of her parasol.
The creature raised its arm in defense, growling.
"Retreat." It spoke with a distorted and deep, gravely voice.
Neo and Chrome both paused and glanced at each other, stunned to hear the beast speak.
"Run. Return."
Turning away, the creature began to flee once more.
Seeing it jump through the trees, Chrome used his semblance to catch up.
"I told you!" Chrome shouted as he gave chase. "I'm not DONE WITH YOU YET!"
As Chrome stabbed the creature in the back with both of his blades, his momentum caused them to roll across the ground. Neo was about to join when she noticed the members of team RWBY, excluding Weiss, were standing in the clearing.
Hiding in the brush, Neo spectated the fight between Chrome and the creature.
Ripping his swords free, Chrome tried to strike, only to be knocked onto his back. While he recovered, the creature jumped into the forest and vanished from view.
"Chrome!" Blake immediately rushed over and pulled her brother into a tight embrace. "Thank God! I thought-" she stopped and just held her brother. "I'm glad you're alright."
"Blake?!" Surprised, Chrome returned the hug.
Chrome was then embraced by another, Yang.
"Heya." She said to him.
"Hey." He said back.
"Chrome." Ruby greeted coldly with crossed arms. "Glad to see you're alive." Her words were laced with anger, still fueled by Penny's murder.
"Ruby." Chrome greeted back.
Neo watched the four from the bushes, eavesdropping on them.
"Who else is here?" Yang asked, curious to know if Chrome had run into any familiar faces.
Neo adjusted her position in the forest, worried Chrome was going to out her.
Glancing back at the forest, Chrome looked back to the members of RWBY.
"No one." He answered. "None that I'm aware of, at least."
"Neo's here." Ruby said, catching everyone's attention.
"Neo is here?!" Yang repeated.
"She attacked me while we fell." Ruby answered.
Neo continued to watch, wondering what else would be said.
"She's not the priority." Chrome stated, turning to the tree. Meeting his gaze, Neo took the hint and retreated. She wasn't sure why he was helping, but if he was willing, Neo wasn't gonna turn him down.
"He's right." Blake agreed. "Our first task should be getting out of this place."
"What if we can't?" Ruby asked, looking at the ground. "Or what-"
"What if we're dead?" Yang asked. "I thought I was until you guys found me."
Chrome chuckled as he crossed his arms.
"What?" Ruby growled at him.
"We're not dead." Chrome said while Blake split off from the group to explore nearby.
"This may sound crazy-" Blake said suddenly. "-but I think we're in a fairytale."
"What?!" Chrome walked over to see what Blake was seeing.
In the far distance stood the massive tree Chrome and Neo were walking to. However, peeking over the hill, Chrome could see the giant tree was surrounded by many other unusual environments: a red forest with a red castle, an area of creamy dessert and sweets, a forest with giant colorful mushrooms, among other things.
"What the fuck?" Chrome asked in disbelief.
End of chapter 82
