The Lost Dragon

Falling was the first thing she remembered.

Distant voices echoing inside her head.

She had acted without hesitations, saving her sister and was peaceful and content in what she believed to be her final moments.

Then she was here.

"Yang."

She turned around and her eyes widened, seeing a familiar face that resembled hers along with a dark mane of hair and blood red eyes.

Raven Branwen.

"Mom…"

"So, you are still alive after all." Her birth mother noted with a small smile. "I knew it all along."

"Where are we?" She asked, looking around, seeing the strange empty void they were standing in. "This place looks familiar…"

"For me, it was where I was during my experience with the last Spring Maiden." Raven stated.

Yang then turned, looking at her mother. "…No."

"I'm afraid so, kiddo. Funny, I ran away because I realized Oz's fight with Salem was unwinnable but, in the end, she wasn't even the one to end it all. Pretty much makes me feel even more worthless, knowing everything I did to stay alive was all for naught." Raven shrugged, not seeming to mind she was admitting she was dead. "At least I know you're still alive. Qrow was sure you all died when Atlas had gone down."

"But…How…What…" Yang was trembling, trying to process what she had heard. "You mean-"

"It's all gone, Yang. Our world was attacked and destroyed by…something. A force of darkness, not Salem and the Grimm but something darker." Raven crossed her arms, looking away.

"No…You…Dad…Uncle Qrow…" She fell to her knees. "All gone."

"Yeah." Raven said softly as she knelt down in front of her daughter. "…I'm sorry."

Yang cried out and actually hugged her mother, the woman who abandoned her twice and held her tightly. Raven seemed hesitant but slowly hugged her back, letting her cry on her shoulders.

"At the least you and your friends are alive. Be sure to tell them thanks for looking out for you in my place." Raven closed her eyes as she began to fade. "This is my final gift to you, Yang. Use it however you see fit."

"No! NO! NOOOOOOOO!" Yang tried desperately clawing at her birth mother as she began to vanish but her attempts were in vain.

She woke up, back in what was left of the Paper Pleaser village, surrounded by her friends and all of them displaying the same power in the form of flames surrounding their eyes as Jaune got up and stared at them.

"Your eyes…" Jaune whispered, staring in shock. "You're all Maidens."

"…You all got it too?" Yang asked, already knowing the answer.

Weiss was the first. "Winter told me Remnant was destroyed."

"So did Cinder." Ruby said and chuckled bitterly. "Ironic that she sent the power to me, but it was probably random on her part."

"I saw the Summer Maiden…" Blake nodded. "She said something about a dark force, not Salem and the Grimm-"

"Destroying Remnant?" Yang finished. "My mom said the same thing."

The three plus their blond-haired friend looked at her.

"Your mom?" Weiss asked.

It was then she realized she had said it out loud. "…Yeah. My mom was the Spring Maiden. Vernal was a decoy at Haven."

The three just stared at her, unable to believe what they had heard.

"Yang…All this time…You didn't tell us." Blake murmured in shock. "You didn't tell me."

"Or me." Ruby said, looking heartbroken that her own sister had lied to her.

Yang just looked away. "…I had my reasons."

"Had your reasons….Had your reasons?" Ruby muttered and then chuckled darkly. "That's your best excuse?"

Yang glanced at Ruby. "I…I couldn't tell…It was personal…"

Blake stared at Yang in shock, unable to believe what she had just learned.

Yang had lied to her.

After everything they went through, Yang had still kept a secret this big from her.

"That's your best excuse? Ever since Mistral you have been the most outspoken against keeping secrets but you have been keeping the identity of the Spring Maiden a secret! And it turned out to be the woman who abandoned and betrayed you and almost got us killed at Haven! And you didn't stop there, you went behind Ironwood's back and told Robyn about Amity and we didn't know until he turned on us!"

"We were trying to help!" Yang barked.

"And how was keeping the identity of the Spring Maiden a secret from us helping?!" Weiss questioned angrily. "How did that help us?!"

"She wasn't going to help us anyway! I thought it wouldn't matter!" Yang defended herself.

"Didn't matter?! Who do you think you are deciding what matters?! That woman abandoned you, kidnapped me and almost got us killed! And for what?!" Weiss threw her arms up. "Hoping she'll love you, is that it?!"

"Shut up, Weiss!" Yang stood up as her own Maiden power flared. "Don't you dare go there!"

"Why shouldn't she?" Blake got up with her own powers circling. "You lied to all of us and I had the nerve to go along with you about Robyn and you couldn't tell me your little secret? After all the trouble I went through to regain your trust and I promised I would never leave you, you couldn't trust me!? You're a complete hypocrite like…like…"

"Like who, Blake?" Yang asked, her eyes turning red.

"LIKE ADAM! HE KEPT GOING ON THAT HE WAS MAKING THE WORLD BETTER FOR FAUNUS BUT HE KILLED ANYONE WHO GOT IN HIS WAY, HUMAN OR FAUNUS! IT DIDN'T MATTER TO HIM IN THE SLIGHTEST BECAUSE ALL HE CARED ABOUT WAS MAKING THE WORLD FEEL HIS PAIN!" Blake shouted as a whirlwind started to appear around the four Maidens.

"OH WELL MAYBE WE SHOULDN'T HAVE KILLED HIM THEN IF YOU FEEL THAT BADLY, BLAKE!" Yang shouted back. "MAYBE I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAVED YOU FROM HIM BACK AT ARGUS!"

"WHAT?!" Ruby and Weiss exclaimed.

"AND MAYBE I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAVED YOU FROM HIM AFTER HE CUT YOUR ARM OFF OR AGREED TO KEEP THE FACT THAT WE KILLED HIM A SECRET FROM THE OTHERS!" Their voices grew louder as the whirlwind around them intensified. "ALL THIS TIME YOU ACT LIKE YOU'RE THIS BIG STRONG, CONFIDENT WOMAN BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, YANG? YOU'RE A SPOILED, COWARDLY HYPOCRITE LIKE YOUR MOMMY WAS!"

"SPOILED?! COWARDLY?! I WAS DOWN ON THERE IN MANTLE RISKING MY LIFE TO HELP EVACUATE THE PEOPLE AND ENTERED THAT GRIMM WHALE TO RESCUE OSCAR! WHERE WERE YOU, BLAKE?! SLUMMING IN THE SCHNEE MANSION, SITTING ON YOUR BUTT AND TWIDDLING YOUR THUMBS WHILE PEOPLE WERE FIGHTING AND DYING!" Yang roared. "I SACRIFICED MYSELF TO SAVE RUBY FROM THAT ICE CREAM BITCH WHO FELL WITH US AND YOU COULDN'T KEEP HER SAFE! AND WHAT IS THIS ABOUT ME BEING SPOILED?! YOU'RE PRACTICALLY A PRINCESS AMONG FAUNUS, YOU GREW UP IN A MANSION LIKE WEISS DID AND YOUR PARENTS ACTUALLY LOVED YOU BUT YOU RAN AWAY FROM THEM AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO CALL ME COWARDLY!?"

"ARE YOU SAYING I'M THE SPOILED ONE?!" Blake growled. "I'M NOT THE ONE GOING ON ABOUT NO SECRETS WHILE KEEPING MY OWN!"

"That's not-"

"No, she's right, Yang!" Yang was shocked to see Ruby agreeing with Blake. "You didn't just lie to Blake, you lied to me too! Why didn't you say anything about Raven or Amity to me?! And now I just find out you two killed Adam Taurus and didn't tell me or Weiss?!"

Yang gritted her teeth. "Ruby-"

"What happened to me being team leader? What happened to me being your sister? You demand people be upfront with you but keep secrets for such a stupid reason?!" Ruby shouted, marching up to Yang.

"Yeah, Yang! Why didn't you say anything? And you had the nerve to criticize Ruby's leadership when you were as much to blame, if not even more!" Weiss cut back in.

"DON'T TURN MY SISTER AGAINST ME!" Yang snapped.

"YOU ALREADY HAVE!" Ruby snapped back, shocking Yang. "I mean, why would I stick by you when my input is clearly not valued anymore? Here we are, trapped in a dangerous world with virtually no way out while being pursued by a psycho who wants to kill ME SPECIFICALLY! You wanted me to help comfort Jaune over his FAKE FRIENDS and now you want me to back you up about lying to us about Raven being the actual Spring Maiden!"

She snapped a fingers and there was a gust of wind that kicked up dirt.

"Sure, let me snap my fingers and we'll just wake up back at Beacon again with no Salem, no world threatening fight that we have no chance of winning and no more DEATH! Oh wait." Ruby adopted a look of mock shock on her face before shouting. "I CAN'T BECAUSE THE WORLD IS ALREADY GONE! AND IT WAS PROBLABLY OUR FAULT TOO! So sorry to disappoint, Big Sister but I am DONE trying to stay positive while cleaning up YOUR mistakes!"

"My mistakes?!" Yang exclaimed, looking completely afront by Ruby's accusations.

"Yes, your mistakes! Their mistakes!" Ruby pointed at Weiss, Blake and Jaune next. "All our mistakes!"

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Oh, need a reminder, Blake. Let's go down the list, shall we?!" Ruby looked to Weiss first. "Weiss, your father contributed to the Fall of Atlas and YOU stood by and did NOTHING because you had 'family issues' to deal with! We spent a whole DAY in your house, listening to you work through your problems with your brother and mom. CONGRATS, YOUR PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED AND YOUR BASTARD FATHER IS DEAD! Now shut the hell up and don't bother giving your input until you DON'T require immediate assistance in EVERY FIGHT YOU PARTAKE IN!"

Weiss looked stunned as Ruby then turned to Blake and Yang.

"Yang, Blake, I'm going to address both of you since it's clear Blake hasn't had any decision making since you decided to start making out with each other! CONGRATS, we're all so HAPPY for you two! Maybe if you had focused on STOPPING THE END OF THE WORLD, instead of sucking face, Atlas might not have fallen! After all, YOU TWO were the ones who went behind everyone's back by blabbing to Robyn!" Ruby shouted at the two. "It was YOUR FAULT that Ironwood stopped trusting us! It was YOUR FAULT Ironwood abandoned Mantle. And it was YOUR GODDAMN FAULT THAT OUR OWN PLAN FAILED! And Yang, congratulations, you're just LIKE YOUR COWARD OF A MOMMY! RAVEN MUST BE SO PROUD OF YOU NOW!"

Yang growled, her eyes flaring while Blake just stepped away from Yang as Ruby turned to Jaune.

"AND JAUNE! Time for some harsh truth: You are not, never have been, AND NEVER WILL BE a hero! You are nothing more than a pathetic liar who has slowed everyone else down! And now I'm supposed to be in mourning over your MAKE-BELIEVE FRIENDS!"

"They're gone because of you!" Jaune barked back, marching up to Ruby. "The walkers came for YOU because NEO. HATES. YOU!"

He pointed his finger right at Ruby's face. "And let's not forget the REASON we are in the Ever After in the first place. Because of YOUR plan that DIDN'T WORK! What about you?! IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!"

"All about ME?!" Ruby snapped back, the red fire around her eyes intensifying. "You were the one playing folk hero because you couldn't handle being a LOSER in the real world! In fact, I'm surprised you even care at this point! You've lost your sword,"

She pointed to Jaune's broken sword.

"Your family and the only girl who ever gave a DAMN about you! So, you want to blame ME for MY plans failing?! AT LEAST I TRIED TO CARRY MY WEIGHT!"

"Carry your weight?! Were you carrying your weight when I was on the bridge and had to KILL PENNY?!" Jaune shouted back.

For a moment there was silence.

Ruby stared back with a shocked look on her face while Blake and Yang mimicked her looks while Weiss looked ready to burst into tears.

"You killed her…" Ruby whispered. "You killed her!?"

"I had to! I was the only who could do it! She was going to die and Cinder was going to get the power!" Jaune was trembling as he fell to his knees. "And I've had to live with that…I'll always have to live with it, in this world or back home."

Ruby stepped back, tears slipping down her face. "You killed her…"

They all stood or lied on the ground, overlooking the remains of the village, hope completely lost and their hearts filling with despair as dark clouds formed overheard.

"YOU KILLED HER!" Ruby shouted and launched herself at Jaune, knocking him down and grabbing him by the collar, shaking and slamming him against the ground. "SHE HAD JUST BECOME REAL AND YOU KILLED HER!"

"RUBY STOP!" Weiss pulled Ruby off Jaune. "IT WASN'T HIS FAULT!"

Ruby spun and glared at Weiss. "YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME DIDN'T YOU?! YOU KNEW AND DIDN'T TELL ME!"

"I didn't want you blaming Jaune! He stopped Cinder from getting the Winter Maiden powers!" Weiss argued. "My sister has…Had them."

Ruby didn't care that Weiss was about to cry from mentioning her sister. "YOUR SAME DAMN SISTER WHO WAS IRONWOOD'S LAPDOG UNTIL THE LAST SECOND! THAT SISTER?! IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!"

"Oh, sorry! Was I supposed to make you feel better?!" Weiss snapped. "Pardon me, I forgot my place on this team!"

It began to rain.

"Guys, please stop!" Blake tearfully spoke. "We're all that's left now!"

"Blake, shut up!" Ruby shouted. "I will NOT be talked down by someone whose only major accomplishment was kickstarting a TERRORIST GROUP!"

Blake gaped, stepping back.

"DON'T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT!" Yang snapped.

"Or what, Yang?!" Ruby snapped back. "You'll make out with her and ignore everything else like you've done since you came back!"

"Excuse me for having a life outside of you? Am I supposed to cater to your needs every time, Little Sister!" Yang shouted, her hair flaring. "I'M ONLY DOWN HERE BECAUSE I TOOK A HIT FOR YOU!"

"WE'RE ONLY HERE BECAUSE YOU SCREWED UP AND YOU CAN'T EVEN ADMIT IT!" Ruby shouted as lightning flashed from above. "IF YOU KEPT YOUR MOUTH SHUT MAYBE ATLAS WOULDN'T HAVE FALLEN AND PENNY WOULDN'T BE DEAD!"

"OH SORRY! SORRY I WAS TRYING TO HELP! AT LEAST WE DID SOMETHING!" Yang retorted. "YOU HAD THE IDEA OF LYING TO IRONWOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE! WE SAW IT WASN'T WORKING AND WE DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT!"

"DON'T DRAG ME INTO THIS!" Blake stepped back, unable to look at Yang. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AFTER ADMITTING YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT EVERYTHING?! ABOUT RAVEN BEING THE ACTUAL SPRING MAIDEN!"

Yang stared at Blake, looking absolutely shocked.

"I WORKED SO HARD TO GAIN YOUR TRUST BACK AND YOU COULDN'T TRUST ME!" Blake was crying now as more lightning flashed overhead and thunder boomed all around them. "IT'S JUST LIKE WITH ADAM! HE LIED TO MY FACE OVER AND OVER!"

"ARE YOU SAYING I'M LIKE HIM?! HE CUT MY DAMN ARM OFF!" Yang shouted, holding up his mechanical arm. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY I'M LIKE HIM!"

"HARD NOT TO WHEN YOU LOOK JUST LIKE HIM NOW!" Blake shouted as a literal tornado appeared around the girls. "AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I LET MYSELF BELIEVE THINGS WOULD BE DIFFERENT! THAT YOU WOULD BE DIFFERENT!"

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Weiss screamed, unable to take it anymore.

The tornado dissipated and the four Maidens and the Rusted Knight stood in what was left of the village. They all fell to the ground, unable to handle the pressure anymore.

"So…what do we now?" Blake slowly asked, staring up at the dark clouds.

Weiss sat up next. "What's the point? There is nothing left for us. No home to return to, no families waiting for us…It's pointless."

"What is there left to do? What's the point of having these powers?" Blake didn't even bother to move. "It's all gone…"

"Really nice attitude, Blake." Yang grumbled as she sat up. "I thought the days of you just giving up were over."

"Get lost." Blake rolled on her side, turning away from Yang. "I'm done trying to earn your trust. It's clear to me now I'll never truly have it so it's not worth it anymore. You love your secrets more than me so you can keep them."

Yang clenched her fists, her hair flaring, eyes blazing red…and tears dripping down her cheeks. "Fine! I can't believe I ever missed you!"

She got up on her feet, looking between Weiss and Ruby. "…Not like you're any better, Weiss if you really think of me like that."

"Maybe you're not worth it like Blake said." Weiss turned away.

"Go drown in the water." Yang snapped and looked at Ruby, her eyes softening for a second…and then she turned around.

"The feeling's mutual." Weiss stood up. "I don't care what you say, what you do and right now I don't care if I never see any of you again."

"Likewise." Blake stood up next. "At least I'm not the first to run away this time, Yang."

"Go eat a fish." Yang said, so furious she didn't wait for Ruby.

Ruby watched as her sister just turned and walked into the woods, too tired and too upset to call out after her.

Yang was the first to leave.

Unlike her mother who had abandoned her team and family out of fear, Yang abandoned them out of anger, despair, sadness, guilt and regret. She knew she had been lying to her friends and family and it hurt them along with the knowledge they could never return home and see the people they had left behind.

Weiss was the next to go.

"I'm done." Ruby then watched as Weiss turned and walked off, going in what Ruby thought was east.

She even dropped her precious weapon, Myrtenaster on the ground as she walked away.

Unable to cope with the pain, she created an icy replica of her childhood home and gathered a bunch of coconuts and berries to take with her to experiment on. She couldn't make genuine wine, but she turned to them simply to try and drown out the pain and the nightmares that came. She found one of the fruits had an intoxicating effect on her so she stuck with it.

And Blake…

"Nice to know how you all feel!" Blake barked, glaring slightly at Ruby before she did the same as the first two.

She walked away.

She promised she would never do that again, but she did it again without hesitation.

Blake had completely lost her sanity. The revelation Yang had lied to her for so long along with the fact their world along with her family and other friends were gone had completely shattered her sense of reason. Where she was once the calm, cool, collected and rational member of the group she had snapped under the pressure. There was nothing to do but seek comfort in her new madness, even embracing her Faunus heritage.

Jaune said nothing as he hopped onto his rabbit named Juniper and galloped off with no clear idea of where he was going.

As for Ruby…

The loss of Remnant and its people, along with her dad and Uncle Qrow and her friends, the breakup of her team, Ruby felt it was all somehow her fault and the sheer pressure of it didn't cause her to snap like Blake did. Instead, she allowed her heart to be blackened and the only thing she could do was try and take out her pain out on the one person she could still blame for all of this.

Neo.

It was her fault they had fallen here.

So, Ruby would exact the one final remnants of justice left and make Neopolitan pay.

Yeah, the person who got them stranded here and keeping them from saving everyone back in their world.

'Of with your head, Neo!' She thought as she picked up Crescent Rose which Jaune had found on the beach.

The hunt was on.

Xxx

(Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep OST Enter the Darkness)

"Come on, embrace the shadows with me!" Blake shouted in manic glee as she summoned a literal tornado around Aqua and Neo.

Aqua grunted as she grabbed Neo and teleported the both of them outside the tornado, surprising Blake.

Aqua immediately took advantage of Blake's surprise. "Collision Magnet!"

A beam of light shot out of her Keyblade, reaching up to Blake as she turned around and was immediately pulled down to the ground towards Neo who immediately delivered a kick to her chest, sending the Summer Maiden flying back. She crashed into a tree and it fell over but Blake herself was fine as she stood up and flashed a toothy grin at the two.

"Interesting." She raised her hands and sand gathered into her hands which then ignited, causing the sand to form into glass.

Neo scowled for some reason but Aqua paid her little mind as Blake's glass weapons resembled a katana in one hand and a large cleaver in the other. With a grin, Blake shot forward and slashed her weapon at Aqua who immediately blocked with her Keyblade. She stepped back as Blake spun and twirled, slashing with her weapons at different angles but Aqua was able to dodge or block each strike. She managed to land a slash on Blake but to her surprise, Blake suddenly vanished.

"Looking for something?"

Aqua spun around in time for Blake to deliver a backhanded strike with her cleaver, knocking her down. With a mere gesture of her hand, the glass made katana turned into a pistol that Blake aimed at Aqua while she was still down.

"I know, hardly necessary but old habits die really hard." Blake snickered.

However, when she pulled the trigger and fired a burst of flame at Aqua, the Keyblade Master surprisingly shattered.

"Hmm?" Blake raised an eyebrow before smiling. "Oh right, I forgot about you."

She turned to see Aqua standing next to Neo, the two of them glaring at her.

"I wonder if I should bother to save you for Ruby or if I should just give her the leftovers." Blake mused as she morphed her pistol back into a katana. "It's not like she asked me to save you for her if we ever ran into each other."

Only now both her katana and cleaver were on fire.

"Or we could just cook you up and split you down the middle."

"Enough." Aqua said as she approached Blake. "I am not interested in hearing any more of this."

Blake giggled as she charged at Aqua, but the Keyblade Master simply pointed her Keyblade at her incoming opponent.

"Transcendence!"

Around Aqua appeared an anti-gravity field that Blake ran right into. The Summer Maiden was lifted off her feet and sent hurtling in all directions. Try as she might, Blake could not break free and it didn't help her that Aqua slashed at her when she got close, causing the purple aura surrounding her strain as it fought to hold off the anti-gravity field, she was trapped in. Finally, it broke and with one well aimed hit to the head, Blake was knocked out.

Aqua dispelled the anti-gravity field and Blake crashed into the ground, completely knocked out but still sporting a funny smile on her face.

(Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep OST Enter the Darkness)

Neo looked impressed by how easily Aqua took down someone as strong as a Maiden, something not even she could do.

Aqua sighed and looked at her. "Shall we go?"

Neo nodded but gestured to Blake.

"Even if she tries to track us down I don't think she and her friends particularly care about us, not even you." Aqua answered Neo's unspoken question.

Neo shrugged and followed Aqua, leaving Blake to rest in the middle of the forest.

Xxx

Aqua and Neo spent the better part of the remaining day exploring the island which was very large. Luckily Aqua had been trained to survive out in the wilds and collected coconuts and berries with Neo and even found a stream of fresh water nearby.

Hey, when you are being trained to travel to other worlds, it's kind of expected to learn a few survival skills.

She could have just taken Neo back to Drasil but she wanted to hold off on that for a bit. As helpful as Drasil and Lokai had been to her she had yet to understand their intentions through all of this. Between sending her to Fantasias and then sending her to that world with the Gods and everything that had happened and now this, she wasn't exactly sure if all of this had not somehow been planned or not.

She knew this island was connected to Izanagi and Erebus but it was clear they were not here or she would have sensed their presence.

Eventually Neo and Aqua found a place to camp out and they sat around a fire to keep them warm when suns had finally set. Both Neo and Aqua were quiet, well it was clear to Aqua that Neo wasn't capable of speaking so silence was normal for her but Aqua couldn't really think of anything to say at the moment. It seemed everything that had happened to her was finally catching up and she needed some time to process it all.

To think she came so far from just trying to get home.

She felt Neo tapping her shoulder and looked over at her. "What?"

Neo held out her device. So what's your story?

Aqua raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I even have a story?"

You show up out of nowhere like we did only you got magic, except you're not a Maiden like the others. Only Maidens should have magic on Remnant, discounting Ozpin or Salem.

Again with Ozpin and Salem?

That tells me there is some form of magic that still exists on Remnant or…You're not from Remnant at all.

Aqua's eyes widened slightly, not expecting Neo to figure it out but they were on another world separate from her own world so she guess she shouldn't have been surprised. Aqua debated telling her the truth or not in her head as Neo typed out another message.

Not to mention that key shaped weapon you use. It's magical too with the way you can just summon it or make it disappear when you don't need it. I gather that it's the source of your magic.

Aqua sighed, silently cursing Neo's deductive skills and nodded as she summoned her Keyblade. "Well, no use hiding the truth from you now. This weapon is called the Keyblade, for obvious reasons of course."

Because it's a giant key? Neo typed as she looked over the weapon.

"Yeah, and it has some pretty neat tricks. The obvious one is that it being shaped like a key, gives it to the power to unlock or lock almost anything. A door, a chest or even the boundaries between other world." Aqua explained.

Neo raised an eyebrow, a hint of intrigue now shown in her eyes.

"And yeah, the Keyblade is a natural conduit for magic and the only limitations are my stamina." Aqua continued. "It's a powerful weapon, considered the greatest one of all and only a select few are considered worthy to wield it. However, the Keyblade comes with a great responsibility."

Of course, it does. Neo rolled her eyes.

"You see, us Keyblade Wielders are charged with going from world to world, protecting them from a powerful darkness that threatens their core. We call those cores the hearts of the world. Sometimes the darkness of one world will grow and become stronger, manifesting into creatures of darkness. My master called them the Heartless."

Neo just sat and listened with suddenly rapt attention.

"The Heartless are in fact born from the darkness in people's hearts but every world itself is actually composed of light and darkness and when the darkness tries to overcome the light it commonly manifests as the Heartless." Aqua continued, recalling her master's lessons. "And the Heartless will try to seek the heart of the world they appear on. If they do…the world is destroyed along with its people, creating more Heartless to seek and devour more worlds."

Neo's eyes widened as she took in what Aqua said and felt there was a connection. These Heartless…They destroyed Remnant, our world, didn't they?

"I am starting to think they did." Aqua dismissed her Keyblade. "Based on what Ruby, Weiss and Blake said the Heartless must have found your world and devoured its heart."

Neo stared at the fire with an unreadable expression as she typed another message. That explains why they suddenly said Remnant was gone. The world was destroyed and the power of the Maidens transferred to them even though they were not on Remnant anymore. Who knows how long the power spent looking for a new host? How unlucky for me that the four Maiden powers transferred to those four.

"And what exactly are these Maiden powers?" Aqua asked.

"They're the power of the four seasons gifted to four young women." A voice suddenly cut in.

Neo jumped to her feet, standing near Aqua as she stood up and summoned her Keyblade as a new person stepped out of the bushes. This one had long blond hair, dressed on a sleeveless top that showed off her stomach and shorts, both looking torn and stitched together. Her hair was a golden mane that went all the way down to her knees.

And her right arm…

There was only what looked like a metallic skeleton with yellow parts attached to it. The arm looked rusted but was still holding together and heavy work having been done on it was evident.

She stepped out, throwing a harsh glare at Neo while Aqua decided to step in between the two to prevent a fight from breaking out. "I take it you are one of these four Maidens then."

"Yep. The name's Yang Xiao Long, the Spring Maiden." Yang said stoically now that Neo was behind this newcomer. "So, you travel to other worlds, huh?"

Aqua said nothing, just staring calmly at the young woman.

"Yeah, I was eavesdropping." Yang shrugged. "Probably rude of me but I saw the fire from my cave and decided to see who it was. Imagine my surprise to see it was Neo and you, the lady with a magical sword that travels to other worlds and saves them from that darkness you were just talking about. So tell me,"

Her eyes flared red with magical yellow fire blazing around them.

"Why didn't you save my world?"