Cover Art was done by MarloMora on DeviantArt!


Prologue


The Shattered Moon watched from above, staring across the World of Remnant.

A little girl laid in her bed, still wide awake, and nowhere close to falling asleep, with her mother sat on the foot of her bed. Her long red hair hung down her back, and her beautiful emerald eyes gazed down at her beautiful little girl, with a head of red hair and blonde mixed in with the crimson. "Momma… can you read me a bedtime story?" she asked softly. The mother smiled softly, caressing her cheek.

"Okay, sweetheart… let's see." She pondered, flicking through the pages of the Book of Fairy Tales, and she landed on one story.

"Well… ever heard of the Deacon's Promise?" She asked with a small smile, and the little daughter tilted her head curiously.

"No?"

"It's actually the newest one in this book, was written one year after the Dark Queen was defeated." The mother said.

The little girl's eyes widened with surprise at that, usually Fairy Tales were way older than that. Then her curiosity drifted to a certain word.

"What's a Deacon?" She asked.

Somewhere… in a dark abandoned workshop, the sound of a hammer striking steel upon an anvil echoed, and golden sparks flashed, revealing his silhouette as he hammered, whilst the words of the mother spoke to her child. "A Deacon is a sort of messenger." She answered. The hammer continued to strike. The only other light in the darkness came from the worktop lamp, shining upon the armour that was being forged. "Usually someone of from a Religious Clergy, who would spread their gospel. But a Messenger nonetheless, one who would stop at nothing to spread the word." She explained.

"But this man was no ordinary Deacon, where most were at the bottom of the hierarchy of a Religious Organisation… he stood near the Queen, and he alone would carry out her words." The mother narrated.

The hammer struck once more, and the sparks bounced off the walls, revealing the carved scars that shaped the Salem Eye marking on the man's back. The pain could be seen as sweat trickled down his spine, covered in so many scars, signs of torture.

"Go now, my Deacon. The Queen commanded. Deliver my words to all who will hear them, to those who would follow, and cut down those who would not."

"Did he… hurt people?" The child asked.

"If he had to." The mother answered.

The hammer struck once more; the sparks flashing off his furious eyes.

"But this Deacon was different, whilst his Queen was cruel, and he was expected to carry out dark deeds like every other Deacon who came before him… he chose a different path. He chose to help people instead, defied his Queen, and in the end, walked his own path, and spread a word of his own." The mother narrated.

"What did he want to tell people?" The little girl asked.

"Any who would tread on the hands of those seeketh light shall meet the embers of their punishment, by the cold steel of my blade. No longer shall we suffer under such a tyrant's rule… for the good… and the kind deserve to prosper… and the weak and the cruel… will only know the flames of their own oblivion." The mother continued.

The man set the hammer down as he stared at the armour, binding each piece of armoured metal together, and wiring the electronics together.

"What did the Queen do that was so wrong?" The child asked.

"She betrayed her people… chose her own selfishness and hatred over their own safety. She would have destroyed the world if it meant she could have the revenge she sought. This final Deacon… saw the truth… that vengeance is a cycle that only brings pain. To themselves… and everyone else around them. And nothing has ever been worth the price of revenge." She explained.

"Is… this a true story?" The little girl asked, and the mother smiled, revealing herself to be Pyrrha Nikos.

"All Fairy Tales are based on some kind of truth… even the spookiest ones." She giggled, tickling her daughter.

"Did the Deacon win? Did he make things better?" She asked curiously.

"He did… the world we live in… wouldn't have been possible without him…" she said with a smile. "But he was not the only hero who helped give us this world… many gave their lives to stop that Queen… many brave heroes… who never got to see this beautiful world we live in now."

"I hope I could get to meet him some day…" the little girl said.

In the dark workshop, the man held the helmet in his hands, his face shrouded by shadows, staring at the helmet, and activating it. Its green eyes shone bright and air burst from the vents for him to breathe through.

"I hope so, Ori… we all need heroes…" Pyrrha said with a smile.


Vacuo


Sand danced across the dunes, and the cries of distress echoed as a sandstorm set in. A man's boot tread across the sand, only slightly unearthing a chrome gun buried in the dunes. He stopped for a moment, then continued on.

Ahead was a town, full of Nomads, people who lived out here in the Dunes before the Kingdom of Vacuo was founded, and have lived out here long after it fell. But now, the Nomads cried out as they were forced to their knees, a man being beaten bloody by a larger man. His wife screamed in anguish as his blood splattered across the grains of sunbaked sand. The leader of the Bandits bore a Salem Eye tattoo on his cheek.

Followers of Salem.

"We told you that we were the ones who ran this desert, and all you had to do was pay the money that you owed us. It could've stopped there… but no… you just had to go and insult our Queen, huh?" The Ringleader scoffed before throwing another punch into the man's face, making him spit his bloodied teeth across the sand. The man whimpered in pain as he grabbed at the sand until the Ringleader pushed his boot against the back of his head.

"Rory? Do me a favour and give him a kiss with your boot?" He asked his man, who approached his face with his cowboy boots, then hooked the spur inside of his mouth, ready to kick away and slice his mouth open. "Hope you get used to this taste… gonna be all you know before you choke to death."

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" the man's pregnant wife shrieked as she got up, only to be smacked in the face by the other Bandit.

"On your knees, bitch!" The Bandit yelled, putting her sharp knuckle dusters on. "Otherwise you'll be kissing these."

"Salem's rule remains… and we are not alone… we will rebuild the world she wanted to build, piece by piece. You all thought you were safe now, that the shit that would have got you punished once was okay… but guess what? You're not… and one way or another you will all learn that our Queen's way… is the only way." The Ringleader stated with a cruel grin on his face.

The Ringleader turned to look at his right-hand man, Rory, and noticed he was staring off into the distance. He followed his gaze with confusion and immediately spotted what he was staring at.

A stranger… walking out of the sandstorm towards them.

It was hard to make out any features through the mirage, but he was very tall and looked like he was wearing a cloak. "The hell is that? Who just walks around the desert on their own like that?" The Ringleader scoffed, walking away from the leader of the small town, and Rory dragged him back to his wife, who immediately wrapped her arms around him.

The Ringleader stood in the centre of the town, staring at the stranger who approached, and all of his ten men stood ready, machine guns in their hands, ready for a fight. But the man just slowly approached them. He was in no rush, that was for certain. But eventually, he arrived at the town, slowing down a few feet away from the Ringleader.

His helmet was black, made of Non-Ferrous Metals, and had a pair of high-tech visors that glowed green, and air escaped from the vents in the Knight-Shaped Grill, creating an unnerving mechanical breathing sound. He wore a dark cloak over his body, leaving his weapon completely unknown to them. But the most unnerving part was his silent glare, and how motionless he was.

The Ringleader kept his hand close to his pistol on his hip, ready to shoot the man if he needed to.

Then… the man spoke through a Voice Scrambler, making him sound even more intimidating, since his voice sounded so metallic, and far deeper than it should sound for a human being.

"Hans Tanner." He spoke, and hearing his real name be spoke by a total stranger made Hans' hairs stand on end with fear. But he hid the fear, and swallowed it deep before replying.

"And who might you be? Stranger from the Dunes?" Hans questioned, but the man remained quiet. He did not answer that question in particular. All that could be heard was that metallic breathing through the grill of his helmet.

"Salem's Tyranny is over. She is dead and gone, along with the cult that followed her. Accept this fact and leave these good people alone." He commanded, his glare never breaking from Hans' direction.

"Who the hell does this freak think he is?" A bandit scoffed as he smacked a random civilian across the side of his head.

"Y'know… I think it's kinda unfair. You seem to know my name, but here you are, not giving me the common decency of introducing yourself." Hans scoffed, planting his hand on his hip. But the Stranger just glared at him the whole time, before grabbing his cloak and casting it aside, letting it blow away. All their eyes widened when they saw his cybernetic arms, coiling with vials of Grave Dust inside of them, ready to print out whatever weapon he desired. His armour was extremely well crafted as well, alongside a huge shoulder plate on his right shoulder.

"I am no Huntsman… I will not give you a second chance." He warned.

Hans chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, Freakshow, I've had enough of this. We're gonna take that nice helmet of yours, and you're arms too. Could fetch a nice price for those."

"That so?" The Stranger asked him.

"Damn right… I'm gonna enjoy tearing you apart." Hans stated as he went to grab his gun.

"That's my line." The Stranger answered, suddenly forming Scarlet David's Weapons – Hook and Darling, swiftly firing his Flintlock Pistol into Hans' chest, knocking him to the ground first. He caught the Cutlass and launched off the sand, slicing straight through Rory's jugular in a single swing, splattering his blood across the ground. "Everyone get inside." The stranger ordered, and the civilians wasted no time, getting up and running inside of the houses as fast as they could. The Bandits all surrounded the stranger, then they opened fire.

One shot him across his back, only to reveal Hardlight Dust Shields around his body, and he suddenly rolled aside, forming Ruyi Jingu Bang and firing the Gunchucks at that soldier, blowing his hand off, before jumping towards him and switching to Russel's daggers, Shortwings, spinning through the air and driving them into the Bandit's ribcage, killing him instantly. The stranger dodged to the side as a Marksman fired on him, only for him to spin the blades through his fingers, ducking the next shot, then turning as another Bandit rushed him, only for the Stranger to throw the knife into his skull, killing him instantly.

Suddenly the Grave Dust swirled through the air, extending into the shape of Sky Lark's Featherwing, a huge Halberd with a firing pin attached to the very tip, and he launched it like a spear towards the Marksman, pinning him to the house, the detonating the pin, blowing the man clean in two, splattering his blood everywhere.

The Stranger jumped down towards the next Bandit, smashing his fist into his skull so hard that the skull collapsed and his blood shot up his metal arm and across the side of his helmet. The next Bandit charged towards him with her knuckle dusters, swinging a couple times at him, only for the Stranger to catch her arm and suddenly form Dove's Shortsword, Hallshott, and he sliced her arm clean off, before spinning around and slicing her across the mouth, and then formed Neptune's Trident, Tri-Hard, and rammed it through her chest.

Two more Bandits sprinted towards him, but he gripped onto the Trident in her chest, then spun around, slashing it towards the bandits who rolled away, only for the Stranger to leap into the air, firing bullets from the opening of Hallshott's blade, wounding one soldier, then slamming the Trident down into the neck of the other, nearly cutting him in two. The Stranger rolled across his back, then threw Hallshott into his chest, pinning him against the wall, then summoning all the Grave Dust back to him.

Ruyi Jingu Bang was reconstructed as the three remaining Bandits sprinted towards him, and he smacked one of their guns out of their hand, then struck him across the jaw so hard it broke it, splattering his teeth across the floor. The Stranger suddenly punched him up that same jaw, making him bite his tongue off, spinning Ruyi Jingu Bang around, gunning the other two down, shredding them with the shells, covering the sand in blood.

Then as the falling Bandit came back down, he switched to Sage's Greatsword, Pilgrim, slicing him through the gut and cutting him in half, killing him instantly and covering the sand in his blood. He wasn't even tired, turning to see Hans trying to crawl away as he bled out across the floor, all the civilians watched as the Stranger walked towards him, dragging the Grave Dust replica, coated in the blood of his allies through the sand.

"What the hell are you? I'll pay you anything!" Hans begged as he stood over him, but the Stranger did not say a word, and showed no mercy, bringing the sword down onto his throat, beheading him in seconds. He then let the sword crumble into dust, and the Grave Dust swirled back into his arms. Air escaped from his mask as he sighed, turning to all the people hiding in their homes.

"I've already called for Local Police to clean up this mess. I promise you… Salem's Influence on this world… even in death… will end. I give you all my word." The Stranger assured as he turned to walk away towards the Sandstorm.

Until a little girl ran out of the house towards him. "Honey!" The father yelled as he ran after her.

"Wait!" the girl called out to the Stranger, and he stopped, looking down at her, blood still dripping from the side of his helmet. She was admittedly scared… but he had saved them. "Who are you? You saved our lives…" the little girl asked, luckily not seeing the brutal fashion he dispatched those bandits.

The Stranger stared at her, then exhaled.

"The Deacon." He answered, exhaling mechanically, before walking away and disappearing into the Sandstorm, like a wraith.


Author Note - WE'RE BACK!

Sorry for the long wait, took a bit longer to plot this one out than expected and get the Cover Art nailed down BUT ALAS WE ARE HERE! Been so excited for this Act, the one that technically started it all. Since my brother came up with the idea aaaaages ago and did artwork of him, and now we're finally at the story where he appears.

I can't wait to see all your theories on who the Deacon is out of the 7 people it could be. And I loved this intro with Pyrrha telling her daughter the fairy tale story, and then it cutting to the very event that inspired that story in the first place.

And yes, this is the final Act of Eclipse, the one that is going to round up the entire series. I'm very happy with what I've come up with so I hope it will be a fun ride for all of you reading!

Please review, follow and favourite!

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

- Matt