New Remnant: Odyssey

by Ben10Extreme

Ruby Rose dreams of becoming the Demon Queen, in a more benevolent nature than one would expect from such a title. She begins her odyssey in a revitalized World of Remnant, alongside her beloved Jaune Arc and friends, as she gradually amasses the influence and power to realize her dream. Ruby's goal soon picks up speed when they encounter a ferocious Dragon...Cinder Fall.

21. Bloom

Here we are!

This one was fighting with me for quite a bit and did NOT want to cooperate with me. There is even a myriad of issues that continually blindsided me when I never realized it until my ever-supportive beta EmperorLuffy gave me a direction on where some of these issues lie. Bad habits, I have several. I'll work on em' tho!

We have several big appearances in the making, and a major development around the end.

Now, with all that being said: Let's get started.

---

With the current situation surrounding Mistral, currently being consumed in chaos, many of its warriors and heroes have been called in by their superiors in an attempt to restore some of the peace. Though understandably, they had no idea just how difficult a task that would be.

Arslan Atlan sent another powerful punch towards the incoming light-bearer, sending them crashing through the wall. She panted softly, her long golden hair briefly falling in front of her before pushing it to the side. "Tenacious bastards…"

"That's the last of them!" Reese Chloris exclaimed with glee, blasting at the nearby Grimm in front of her with her twin pistols, the ammunition engulfing them in swirling vortexes of fire and ice. She landed on her feet, sighing with a bright smile.

"Good. That means the threat is dealt with for the time being." Arslan stretched, her bandaged hands pulsing with Aura, cracking a few joints in her musculature form. Her fingers briefly extended, glowing with Aura. "We should still be prepared for any unexpected adversaries."

"You worry too much, Double A! We handled it!"

"I'm with Arslan. I don't think we should celebrate too early." Bolin Hori's extended black hair flowed in front of his face for a brief period of time, his amber eyes gazing towards the dawn skies, pulling his staff out of a disintegrating Grimm's skull. "We'd better keep our eyes peeled just in case something goes wrong."

"Well, if things go wrong, then we can just make them right again." Nadir Shiko stretched his arms as he pulled his sword out of the slashed throat of another Grimm. "It shouldn't be that hard, right?"

Arslan sighed as she rubbed the side of her neck, her red beaded necklace clicking around her neck. "Looks like we're divided on how to approach this again, as if that weren't a surprise on its own."

Reese placed her arms behind her neck, while looking back towards Haven, the facility seen from quite a distance away. "...Hey, do you think any of those things are true? About what happened with the Grimm Devils and such? They were wiped out like crazy, as if they were never even an issue in the first place."

"I don't buy it. The ones who killed them didn't exactly embody the picture of trustworthiness. I doubt that they mean well." Arslan narrowed her eyes as Aura channels through her hands. "We need to be wary of their intentions, and then act accordingly."

"I've been worried about them too. I've been afraid of my daughter being swept up by their words." Heather Shields mutters, long black hair being pushed to the side, similarly black irises briefly reflecting the lights. "I'm already concerned about my husband falling into their thrall. I never trusted their intentions ever since they first showed up, and now with what happened to the city of Boreas…"

"It was about to be overrun with Grimm." Shiro Wan utters, his white hair briefly swaying, as he tugged on his white coat, shielding on his shoulders. "There's nothing that could have been done. And in a festering Grimm spot like that, potential Grimm Devils will take advantage and make it all significantly worse, like what happened in Vale."

"Shiro, surely you don't mean that?"

"I'm just being honest, Heather. I'm not happy that it happened, but what else could have been done for them?"

Heather lowered her eyes at this, hands over her chest. "It just sounds so cruel to put it like that. That nothing could have been done to save them…"

Reese sighed as she pulled back a bit more, hands in her pockets. "Well, this is getting depressing pretty fast. How about we talk about something else?"

"Yeah, I think I'm up for something a bit more positive." Nadir raised his hand with a shrug and a smile. "Looking on the bright side can't be too hard. It can't get any worse!"

Something crashed down a few feet in front of them, just then. They immediately turned towards the arrival, feeling an intense pressure washing over them. Arslan was the one who recovered quickest, the sheer potency of the woman's potent Aura, glittering with a silver light. The intensity and frequency of her aura came off of her in waves with an otherworldly pulse, akin to a heartbeat. Something about it felt righteous, but undeniably sinister. Most people's Auras could be sensed like the free flow of water, but this woman's Aura was something akin to immovable steel.

"What is she doing here…?"

Juno.

After taking a brief moment to survey the area, she slowly walks forward towards the group, which immediately begins reaching for a fight. The sheer weight behind her steps made them sweat, with something within their souls attempting to persuade them against this action before they were ultimately crushed by it.

"Arslan Atlan. Reese Chloris. Bolin Hori. Nadir Shiko. Shiro Wan. And Heather Shields." Juno listed calmly.

"What is the meaning of this?" Auburn wondered, eying Juno cautiously. Her complexion is light, almost porcelain, but touched with the rosy hue of vitality. This delicate skin belies the strength and athleticism of her physique. Juno boasts a buxom frame, a testament to both her femininity and the hours she's spent honing her body for battle. Her shoulders are broad, yet not imposing, leading down to toned arms capable of wielding any weapon with finesse.

Her waist cinches in, only to flare out to her voluptuous rear and powerful thighs, perfectly balanced for agility and strength. "Seeing her in person…she's bad news."

"Hah, are ya counting your opponents?" Nadir taunted Juno, slightly smiling.

"Counting the dead." Juno uttered with a measured voice as she pushed her hair away from her face, her tone still laced with thunder, along with the thoughts and memories that echoed through her mind and heart.

"If this world were truly as great a place as many say that it is, then why is it so evil?" Juno wondered one day with a curious twinkle in her silver eyes. Her husband was nearby tending to her daughters, who were busy playing in the background under the daylight.

"Beats me, Juno. Sometimes things are just the way they are."

"But they can be changed, can't they? If there were someone to wipe out all the evil and darkness in the world, would that be enough to make me feel fulfilled? Maybe then I'll have brought true prosperity to my family?" She smiled while turning her head towards her family in question, smiling softly.

Her husband smiled knowingly at her, with the both of them hugging and kissing, arms around each other's backs. "Well, if there's anyone who could do it, it's you."

"Well then, we'd better get you started on furthering your training." Her grandmother smiled sweetly towards her, maintaining her balance on her cane. "You certainly want to make yourself and your family proud, don't you? This will be a difficult and trying journey for you. Are you willing to commit your soul to this?"

"Of course I am! Anything for the others!" Juno smiled with a promise hand across her heart. "I'll eradicate the darkness for sure!"

Juno raised her hand as lightning crackled from her fingers, forcing the group in front of her to scatter and avoid her strikes with swift abandon. Reese slid to the side as her dual pistols blasted beams of fire and ice towards her, which her Aura immediately reflected without a care in the world. She immediately caught the Aura Infused fist from Arslan attempting to attack her, pushing it upwards and kicking her in the side, immediately sending her tumbling away.

She looked to the side and parried a blow from Bolin's staff, seeing it was also infused with Aura to increase the force behind the blow. "We know what you've done. We're not letting you leave here." He said this as Nadir came up from behind Juno and attempted to swing his blade at her, only for her to jump over it and send lightning infused kicks across both of their faces. She landed on her feet, her silver eyes glowing and leaving a glittering trail.

"There's no way this can be real…" Juno wasn't quite aware of what had happened to get things to this point; she couldn't puzzle it together.

There she stood, watching as her lover had just destroyed a town and all innocents inside, killing them all. And within the center of the event, emerges a powerful Grim that manifests from the sheer negativity and malevolence, managing to strengthen it tremendously. This Grimm was called forth through sinister acts, and she tried to convince herself that her husband and Grandmother were not responsible for its rampage.

Her faith was not rewarded.

"Poor, naive Juno. Your faith in light has misguided you far away from the truth." She heard her taunt her with a sinister gleam in her silver eyes, her light shining a more menacing silver at the moment. Dark magic emitted from her hands, a signal which Juno considered as her reward for sacrificing so many to the Grimm as she did. "Hopefully you don't mind dying right here, dear granddaughter."

"You'll have to, Juno. In order to prop up my rampant ascension." Juno heard her husband declare to her, a silver glowing blade manifesting in his hands, red flowing wings sprouting from his back, and a circular rune below his feet. "You're the final piece of this ritual, Juno. I won't be bound to just the light any longer. You'll have to die for me so I can ascend into a true legend!"

Juno barely comprehended it because her mind was still running circles around the betrayal. She didn't even snap out of it when both her spouse and her grandmother attacked her with their newly empowered darkness.

By the time she fully recovered her awareness, she looked towards the shards of lightning, crackling in the rain, having impaled both her husband and grandmother into the ground, right through their hearts and heads. Her mind was unaware at the time, but her body still acted on its own; it killed those with darkness, with evil in their hearts. And her husband, her grandmother. The two people she entrusted with her heart the most, whom she loved the most….

They were evil. The darkness had seduced their hearts fully.

When did that happen? For how long? Recently, or the entire time? It took her too long to fully process that her family really has betrayed her with fully malevolent intent, and her instincts, trained to always smite evil, immediately pushed her to kill them both without hesitation.

She collapsed on her knees and then fell on her side, blacking out.

Juno conjured silver lightning around her body, her hair flowing in the gathering winds. Nadir and Bolin both came at her from opposing sides, while Shiro And Heather formed shields around themselves as they too attempted to get closer to Juno, to cover their allies' approach. Bolin twirled his staff and attempted to smack her with an overhead strike infused with Aura.

Juno's eyes flashed and glowed silver, and jumped right before it impacted, letting it crash into the ground and create a frater, as she landed on the tip of the weapon, her head tilted at his efforts. He wasn't given much time to wonder what just happened, before he was kicked in the head and away from his weapon. She stepped into the ground and grabbed the weapon in her hands, infusing it with lighting.

"You won't take us down so easily!" Reese called out from above, shooting multiple blasts of fire and ice from her twin pistols. Juno used Bolin's staff to twirl it and deflect each of the blasts away; she then reappeared in a flash of lightning, behind Reese. She had little time to react before a swift strike to her abdomen sent her crashing back into the ground, her pistols sliding away from her. She grimaced from the impact, dust clouds forming around her. Juno leaned against Bolin's staff with a hum as Reese tried to pull herself up.

"My dear, I can't 'take you down' if you're already on your knees." Juno utters with a slight tilt of her head, her chin resting in her hand.

She pulls herself back as bullets miss her by seconds. She turned towards Nadir, who's sword shifted into a submachine gun, which she casually rolled her eyes at. With a step towards Nadir, the lightning around Juno intensifies greatly, surging around her and torching the ground below her feet. None of the bullets were able to reach her, disintegrating before they could even get close. Nadir immediately sees the approach wouldn't work, so he switched the weapon back to a sword and slashed at her as she took another step towards him.

She catches it with one hand, locking him in place. He grimaced at this as she raised her finger to point directly towards his chest. "Yet another soul that carries darkness in his heart…"

"H-Huh?"

Juno's eyes glowed silver: "Your life is unnecessary."

She was uncaring of Reese's panicked yell when the beam of lightning pierced straight through Nadir's heart.

"I don't understand. Grandmother was evil? And my husband was evil? But I've loved them both…." Juno uttered in her room, hugging her arms as she stared soullessly at the ceiling of her room, which was now lonelier and colder. "And I thought they loved me, too. For all of those years…was it all a lie? A cleverly crafted deception to prepare them for sacrificing me…?"

These thoughts ran through Juno's head for months. She couldn't go outside, she couldn't face her family or her children, and she even refused to let the sunlight touch her. The light has let her down in the worst possible way. She gazed into her own silver eyes within a mirror reflection. She was a warrior of light, a symbol of righteousness, and yet those similar to her, those she opened her heart to and loved, have viciously betrayed her. It left her wondering if there was any point to loving anyone or anything since they've never loved her at all.

If their love was fake…how could she trust anyone else's? What love COULD she trust after that? After spending an extended time pondering it, she slowly refocuses. Cutting herself away from her current bonds, obsessed with finding an answer, she eyes her reflection in the mirror as the light shines upon her. Right there, she finally manages to come into her own resolve.

The world itself. She loved the world. She loved it more than anything, she realizes that now. It's beauties, its bounties, and it's benevolence. All of those things deserved to be loved, all of those things deserved to be protected. And so long as a majority of living beings within this world hold darkness in their hearts, they will inevitably be consumed with malevolence.

"...My love for this world is boundless." Juno resolved, the shine returning to her Silver Eyes as she pulled herself out of bed. There may be time yet to bring salvation to this world, and she shall be the steward to that destination. But first and foremost, she needed to cut herself away from what may ultimately hold her back.

She needed to prove that her love was true and unyielding.

Nadir went down, his eyes glazed over from the sudden blast through his heart. Arslan and Reese looked on in complete and utter disbelief and fear. Juno's silver eyes slowly turned towards the others, shimmering brightly with determined intensity. Lightning crackled along her fingers as her eyes brightened serenely, lightly tracing her finger up her hip, where it eventually lifted and rested over her heart, lightly onto her generous bust.

"Would anyone else like to try me?" Juno hummed softly, which was taken up when Reese attempted to shoot her with her pistols, which she deflected with her lightning-infused Aura. She turned her head towards Arslan, whose fist slammed into the ground. Juno's eyebrows rose a tad as surges of Aura erupted from the ground, until they circled around her feet and forced her to be launched upwards. Juno's eyes briefly widened as Arslan soared towards her, her Aura glowing a bright golden and rising rapidly in potency.

Juno held her arms in front of her chest as she felt the fierce impact of Arslan's kick, and briefly felt her bones cracking from the strain. Juno was pushed back as the sound of a lion's roar, briefly seeing the construct of one surrounding Arslan, and she was sent crashing into the ground and tumbling across it several times, before ultimately coming to a rough stop. She could sense Bolin coming up behind her, having recovered his staff.

"This is the end for you."

"A rather premature assumption."

Bolin staggered slightly as he coughed blood. He blankly gazed forward, as Juno had flashed through him with a bolt of lightning. And before he knew it, she took a piece of his torso along with her. Juno huffed as Bolin lifelessly fell forward, a bloody hole torn through his electrified side.

"For having such a leveled head, resisting me was the most reckless thing you've ever done. And now it's the last." She briefly swiped the blood off herself, somewhat ignorant of the disbelieving cries from Reese or the angered yell from Arslan. She soon turned her attention to Shiro Wan and Heather Shields, both of them unable to believe what they were seeing.

She didn't take too long to get to them both. Shiro Wan attempted to hold up his fortitude Aura shield, but it was instantly smashed to pieces with a lightning infused kick, sending him rocketing outwards and into Haven's building. Heather Shields was much the same away, with Juno balancing on one foot and kicking her upside the head, sending her hurtling into the building in question. Arslan and Reese both came at her with their respective attacks, with Arslan's Aura infused blows missing Juno each time, her lightning field deflecting all of Reese's bullets simultaneously. Juno briefly sweeps Arslan off balance, kicks her in the abdomen to send her crashing into Reese, then sweeps her hand across and blasts them with lightning, a crash of it coming down and blasting them both away until she could no longer see them.

She soon turned her sights towards Haven.

"Mom? Is something the matter?"

"Are you sick?"

"Don't be sad, mama."

"You can come and sleep with us!"

Juno took a deep breath, towards her young daughters, each of them oblivious to the fact that she's the one who killed their father when he sunk into evil. And ever since that day, she's become paranoid of them falling into a similar fate, of the world corrupting their sweetness and purity, and to ultimately turn them against her.

She couldn't let that happen. They needed to preserve that innocence, before it could ever be tainted.

"...My dears. I've birthed you into a world that's truly horrid. You were born too soon. The darkness will eventually rob me of you. I won't let it." Her daughters were confused as Juno raised her hand towards them, a blast of lightning aimed right towards them. "I must repent for bringing such sweet souls into such a terrible world…I grant you salvation, my daughters."

The lightning incinerated them instantly. They had no time to question her or even panic at her sudden decision. In hindsight, that probably made it easier for her to do, to not let them tempt her into turning back on her decision by stopping the chance from ever manifesting, denying them the chance to even utter a breath before the magic struck them down.

After that, killing the rest of her family and friends was easy. If she was going to commit to her mission, she can't have any lingering attachments potentially forcing her back into doubt. She could not afford to doubt, for that would be her downfall.

So she went. Lightning crashed down and blasted houses to pieces, lightning bolts pierced through her neighbor's heads as their eyes expressed confusion before becoming lifeless, and the warriors that did attempt to stop her were effortlessly pierced through with arrows of lightning, right through their hearts. She continued forward, lightning continuing to surge around her and blast everything in sight.

"My love for the world is boundless. And that is why, I will never fall into despair again." She utters, as several denizens that have fallen under her Love grace, sitting with her legs crossed as several of her enchanted followers carried her about on their backs, content with being under her whim, and to be used by her however she sees fit, so long as it brought her happiness that she believes she is owed.

Juno opened her eyes.

"Orella, Celimene, Themis. I'm in position. The circles?"

"They're well prepared, Juno."/"The preparations are complete."/"All they need is your signal."

"Very well."

Juno raised her hand, as a large circle glowed under the entirety of Haven. Far from her location, similar circles appeared under Sanctum, the Mistral Train Station, and the Atlas base in Argus. The symbols crackled with lightning, to the confusion of those unfortunate enough to be caught in it or to be right next to it.

"To begin something anew, it's always best to cleanse what came before."

Lightning soon crashes down onto Haven, utterly obliterating it, and everyone that was still within the building. And she sensed thundering lightning crashes slamming down across Mistral from the skies above them. Sanctum was similarly destroyed in a flash of lightning, as well as the Mistral Train Station. Even the Argus Military Base stationed was utterly torn apart by blasts of lightning attracted by the magic circles, with many of its personnel suffering under the relentless, merciless onslaught of chained lightning strikes.

Juno briefly turned and swiped her hand across the ground, sparks of electricity scattering across the ground, managing a smile as her cape fluttered in the wind. She turned towards her newly gained followers, both of them calmly following her with a slight silvery haze in their eyes.

"Juno's truly proven her love…and the strength it brings."

"She's a light of guidance that the world needs!"

"Erase the darkness that perverts this very world, Lady Juno!"

Juno softly smiles. "It would appear that I have even more supporters for my cause. As I should, for such a great task requires resources that I'm certain you'll provide." Juno soon turns about face and begins to lead the way back to the Sanctuary. Some of her followers basked in her beauty and power, allowing themselves to be embraced and enchanted by it. From the lusciousness of her hair to the glitter of her eyes, the radiant glow of her Aura, the might of her lightning. She even managed to draw attention to the way her ample and plush, heart-shaped rear sways with her wide hips, how her every step was mature and practiced, nearly untouchable with how they proved the weight and power of her approach. "There's no need to worry. So long as you prove useful, there's recognition to be had for you all." Even her very voice managed to draw them in, to give themselves to her easily.

To them, there was nothing about Juno that couldn't be loved. Including her plans for Mistral, and then the rest of Remnant.

As she slowly departed with them, emerging from the wreckage and barely alive from the clash, was Arslan and Reese. They were weakly hobbling away from all of the ruins left in Juno's wake. Beaten bloody, badly bruised, and truly embittered by everything that just transpired with little input from them, and little chance of stopping any of it.

But they were not broken; not even close.

---

Since returning to the Red Riding Hall was no longer an option-for obvious reasons-everyone bit the bullet and decided that it was best for them to meet up elsewhere. Likely to be somewhere nice and quiet where they could hopefully sit down and take the time to think about everything that's happened. And to attend to several things. Albeit in a more calming manner, since it was rather difficult to ignore how Cinder was literally simmering with fury, steam emitting off her body.

On the other hand, Maria was seated comfortably, with Blake being the one to hand her some snacks for her trouble, as well as something for her to drink. Once she found herself situated, she sighed pleasantly as she leaned back with her cup in hand. "Ah. This is lovely. Mistral does know how to make some uniquely flavored drinks. Not too much like the drinks in Atlas. They're alright, but far too cold." Maria huffed hike waving her hand. "I don't see how Fria can stand it, honestly."

"How long are we going to just sit around?" Cinder eventually gritted out, her claws sharpening and digging into her own arms. "Ruby and Jaune are missing. So is Yang. And yet you're here sitting us down and being focused more on having some tea and cashews rather than finding them!"

"Calm yourself, Cinny." Maria softly hushes while she sets her things aside and begins standing up. "You probably don't see it that way right now, but I'm here to help. Well, mostly with the overall Mistral situation since it's escalating so quickly-and people are desperate to avoid a second Vale incident so soon-, but I figured that helping you youngin's will end up benefiting all of us." Maria stretches her arms and tilts her body side to side. Cinder was briefly taken aback as Maria's muscles tensed and pulsed under her combat dress with her movements. Despite her advanced age, which was only slightly noticeable due to her grayish hair and slight wrinkles, Maria's was incredibly healthy and youthful all things considered.

"You…even from a glance, I can tell you are powerful." Cinder uttered. Putting it like that wouldn't even be doing it justice.

Maria stretches her arms. "Ever since the rejuvenation of the world during the Barren Age going into the Dark Ages, the vibrancy and strength of all beings with souls have been greatly enhanced. Some more than others depending on who or what they are, but it's clear that many souls have been significantly more powerful than they were in the Genesis Age, on top of Magic also returning." Maria placed her hands together as her teal blue Aura began glowing calmly around her. "Longevity, power, stamina, vitality, and healing capabilities. While Magic is overtly more powerful, the power of the soul is what allows us all to sustain and enhance the colors of our soul, which in turn does wonders to hone the powers of our Aura, the life energy that flows within all living things with souls."

Ren nodded to this, as he held his fist out, his pink Aura channeling around him. "The potency of our Aura will indicate the potency of our souls. Which means that the more potent our Soul, the more enhanced those listed aspects will be."

"So…that means…" Cinder turned towards Maria, who cackled in a rather witchlike manner.

"Don't let the wrinkles here fool ya, sweetie. Despite hittin' my eighties, I still feel very well in my youthful prime!" Maria grinned. "Enjoy that part, for it's significantly extended, so long as you take good care of your souls, nurturing them and keeping them strong. Then everything else smoothly follows."

"What does this have to do with our current situation?" Cinder uttered.

"Glad you asked! In this current situation, having a grasp on how your soul channels power is going to be essential in how we tackle these upcoming troubling times. Pain in the ass if ya ask me." Maria grumbled while rolling her shoulders. "But somebody's gotta do it, and I was nearby. Might as well make the most of it."

Cinder tilted her head. "Aren't you worried about Ruby? She's your student, isn't she?"

"Fussing over her whereabouts ain't gonna anyone. Furthermore, it's because she's been trained by me that I trust her to get out of any jam she's in on her own." Maria easily shrugs off as she pulls her hood over her head. "You can't afford to worry about her and the Arc fellow right now. I know that won't stop you from doing so anyway, and I won't tell you that what you're feeling is wrong. But the current focus is to deal with things here so that we can make sure there's nothing to obstruct them when they return." Maria then places her skull mask over her face. "For now, we've got other things to do and places to be, and the time on the clock will be running down very quickly."

With that in mind, everyone was soon on the move. As they were making their way to their current destination, which was one of the focal points for the Sacred Selection event to engage, Cinder was in deep thought, keeping to herself for the most part.

Maria is right. Worrying about Ruby and Jaune isn't going to help me right now. Wherever they are, I will have to simply trust that they can make their way back here in due time. She briefly pushed some of her hair away from her face, having grown it out a bit. What I need to do now is think about how we're going to progress. These Silver Eyes say that they wish for proof of worship, reverence, and devotion in order to pick who gets to watch them devastate Mistral and who doesn't. They have a process for all of this, we'll have to disrupt it somehow.

Cinder watched as they crossed into another part of Mistral, which after a quick peek, was the city of Oniyuri.

Glittering gold and crimson red decorated some of the houses lined up, giving a subdued sense of class and wealth to them. But everyone was far from acting classy. The stomping of scurrying feet filled the air, along with the confused questions of those oblivious to their situation. Wisps of smoke could be seen in various areas, the scent of burning ashes from previous attacks remaining present. Multiple scents, that of panicked sweat and the salt of terrified tears, also managed to reach her, as well as the constant passing around of food to be transported to other towns that would need it more than they currently did.

She narrowed her eyes at this, at how easily they allowed themselves to be culled once they came across something so powerful. It's not like she didn't understand it, because she did. The instinctively wiser thing to do when faced with a superior power-knowing you don't have what it takes to stand against it-would be to submit to it and hope it spares you. She's known this for the first decade of her life, under Marzikeen's shadow. But to see people so willingly and readily throw away their freedom in the face of such was making her furious. Which doubles over because she knows it's not their fault, but simply seeing it was infuriating. Someone like her, a dragon who had to claw her way to freedom, and they were prepared to throw theirs away at the first sign of major hardship.

All of this frustration builds upon the sheer helplessness she still feels since she has absolutely no idea where Jaune and Ruby are, which her power can do nothing about.

…Calm down. I need to calm down…

She tried to mentally will herself to keep calm before she did or said something troublesome at the wrong place at the wrong time, but that almost came to an end when she and the others stopped before what appeared to be a church, far outside the outskirts of Oniyuri for the moment.

"What are we doing here?" Ren asked Maria, who placed her hand on the door, adjusting her hood so that it hid her face.

"Remember how I said I was in the area when Blake pulled me aside to help you lot? Well, you're about to see what I was called in to investigate." Maria uttered. "And I could use the input of a few youngsters so that I can get a more balanced scope on things." With this, Maria pushed the door open, and everyone stepped inside, one after another.

The scent of blood met Cinder and Blake's noses first, and it nearly proved strong enough to make them stumble. Though once they managed to get a glimpse of the source, everyone nearly froze up completely, aside from Maria, who kept walking forward. That was the first thing that caught everyone off guard, but the second was somehow even more unnerving.

The clapping.

They were walking in on applause as citizens were serene, smiling and clapping even though dried blood stained the floors all over. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a while, having firmly turned into hard to remove stains by normal means. Pyrrha slowly walked through and followed Maria, with Cinder cautiously taking point as well, unable to properly react at first.

But Ren could sense what was amiss, nearly immediately.

All these people. Their souls. They were…silent. Tranquil. And not because they were the ones who calmed them. That only meant one thing.

"What happened here…?"

As Weiss was asking this, Nora happened to have a dove land upon her shoulder, cooing. She smiled and lightly scratched its chest, before it once again flew away and landed on a railing joining the many other doves that had gathered about. They appeared to have a sort of ethereal glow around them, their eyes focused on the new arrivals. Maria folded her arms as her eyes softened behind her mask.

"Go on, little ones. Tell them what you told me." She requested gently, slowly. Cinder wondered what exactly that was about, for it could mean plenty of things.

Then she heard one of the doves speak.

"…Nobody will hurt us here?"

Cinder froze. That…sounded like a child's voice. One that echoed and reverberated, like a specter's.

"Not while I'm around, sweetie." Maria softly reassured them. "Anyone who tries will regret it. For the rest of their very short lives."

The room was silent for a moment, half caused by Maria's casually implied willingness to kill any soul that tried to do what the doves feared. Cinder felt sincere fear in her heart for the first time in a while, instinctively knowing that Maria didn't do empty promises. Other than that, she could tell that Maria was dead serious about whatever this was about, and it left everyone curious and nervous.

Recognizing the sincerity in Maria's words, the doves began speaking.

"...We lived normally, peacefully." One began, sounding like a young boy. "Our parents loved us, and we loved them. We didn't want much, and they didn't demand much. Everything was fine, everything was nice. But then…then someone approached. She pretended to be nice, surrounded by brightness. Yet despite that, we felt like something was terribly wrong."

"We are not going to like this story, are we?" Penny cautiously asked Maria, who calmly shook her head.

"Recognized as the Dove Priestess. She talked with our parents, sounding nice and sweet." Another spoke up, with the voice of a tired little girl. "She was always surrounded by doves. They glittered and shined, very pretty. And while she was nice to our parents…she said some things to us. Very mean things."

"You've burdened your parents with your births, failing to honor them, and that is considered a sin." Another spoke, with the voice of a rough-edged boy. This time the room was cold silent. "Every time she spoke with our folks, they seemed happier and happier. While they also paid less attention to us, to the point where they barely cared for us."

"Which means they didn't try to fight against the Dove Priestess when she decided to collect us away from them. She said that we don't matter to our parents, and by that point there was only one way we could bring back balance to their lives."

"...How?" Ren almost regretted asking, the nanosecond it left him. The only reason it was an 'almost' is that it still defeats being completely oblivious.

"By dying." The doves uttered collectively.

Oscar was quickly beginning to see why Maria brought this to their attention.

"The Priestess kept telling us that we were burdensome to our parents, of how they were better off without us, and that they would never come back for us. And the happier that our parents seemed to be without their attention on us…the more we believed it. We thought we were only taking up their space. Eventually she pushed forth that the only way to redeem ourselves of being burdens is by killing ourselves."

"So…we did."

"And our parents clapped happily when it happened…which let us think they really did believe they were better off without us."

Weiss felt physically ill hearing this; she almost lost all of the emotional will to stand, because that was not a revelation she could shrug off.

"We cut our own lives short, our souls wandering from our bodies, with our parents disconnected from us, in peace with themselves thanks to Queen Celimene…it was all part of her plan. The Dove Priestess claimed our souls, and turned us into doves. We scattered across Remnant, getting information for her and serving as her eyes and ears. Said that we were pretty little helpers, in her quest to bask in the glory of Queen Orella's light."

Celimene and Orella.

Cinder and Pyrrha's souls pulsed furiously at the names.

"We tried to escape. Many times. We cried, we fled, we fought, we bled. But there was nothing we could do. So long as our souls are tied to her, we can never escape her reach. She's grasped our souls, and she's never letting go. So forever we wander. Freedom…we'll never know."

"...I think I'm gonna sit down." Nora eventually utters, leaning on Penny for support. "...when I clear my head…we need to find this Dove Priestess. I just….I just wanna talk to her. Just for a little bit. And if she ends up dead by the end of it, we'll chalk that up to a happy whoopsie."

"Agreed." Ren's voice was silent, but the weight behind them could shatter mountains. "Lady Maria, how do we find this Dove Priestess?"

"That's what I'm looking to you all for. Since she knows I'm in the area, she's made damn sure that I can't track her down directly. She won't show her face for as long as I'm here. Which is where you youngsters come in." Maria declares, mask lifted upwards."You're gonna drag her outta hiding so we can kill her, and I can free these poor chained souls. I was only able to restore parts of their individuality, but I can't free them from her until we kill her." Maria narrowed her eyes. "Because let's face it, she's never going to willingly let them go."

"So we pry them from her cold dead hands. Good. I see no reason to let her live." Blake quietly growled.

"Let us discuss this outside." Penny nodded, as everyone began to leave.

Pyrrha and Cinder were the only ones still sitting in the Church, with the former wondering about the mental state of the latter. As she pondered and questioned what the hell she just listened to, and picturing the images. And once again hearing the clapping of the people that gathered around her. It created a picture that severely repulsed her soul.

These doves were the souls of children. Children that were gaslit into believing they were burdens on their parents and how they would never truly love them. And since the parents' actions reflected this, they believed it to be true. Collectively, because of this, they chose to kill themselves rather than weigh down their parents any longer because they loved them far more than they loved themselves. And yet the last thing they heard before taking their own lives was their parentsapplauding it.

"...Pyrrha."

"Cinder?" Pyrrha cautiously responded. There was quietness in Cinder's voice right now that was unlike her; the kind of silence that came before the bomb went off. Nobody would have time to react, even to the initial flash right before the actual explosion.

"...Should we…kill them all?" Cinder genuinely wondered, with Pyrrha realizing she was referring to the applauding parents. She was past the point of being furious about this. Somehow it looped back to a truly unnerving sense of tranquility, when she can't express the current state of her rage properly. "I probably won't even care about it if we do it right now."

Pyrrha clenched her fists, hard enough that they began leaking blood. They've happened upon something truly, horrifically sinister, and Cinder was begging for an excuse to unleash her wrath on the closest available targets that she could justify it with. And for a brief moment, Pyrrha nearly had a moment of weakness and said 'yes' to that question.

But Ruby and Jaune, Cinder's more notable anchors, weren't present. Therefore someone had to present something to keep her from descending into a sinister spiral that scenarios like these would begin.

"...No. There'd be no purpose to it." Pyrrha shook her head. "These people have been influenced by Celimene and Orella. So even if they were coaxed into giving into these deep thoughts, it overall wasn't under their own power. Their actions are deplorable, but they are not solely to blame. At best they will spend the rest of their lives agonizing over what they've celebrated, once we finally purge them of the influence." Pyrrha clenched her fists. "That would be a far crueler punishment, to remind them that they've outlived their children and were compelled to feel joyful about it. It'll shatter their peace irrevocably, until the day they die. They should be punished that way. Death would be too light for them."

"...Purpose." Cinder uttered, slightly focusing on the word. "Purpose. Does something like this…really need a purpose to it first?"

Pyrrha paused for a moment. "...It is especially important that decisions like these have a purpose behind them. Otherwise, we'll make decisions like that habitually, then end up losing sight of ourselves in the long run. We must hold onto what makes ourselves, ourselves."

This was not something that Cinder could fix with her power. With all the power she has she was completely helpless at changing this situation for the better in a meaningful way.

Pyrrha understood the feeling far too well.

"...I see." Cinder quietly sighed, looking less likely to explode. Pyrrha's considered that a success for now.

She eventually decided to take the conversation outside, away from the tempting influences that would push Cinder to push past the remaining, rapidly thinning layers of patience she had. Once they were a safe distance away from the Church, but close to their friends, Pyrrha spoke up again.

"I was blessed with incredible fighting talent. At the time, much more than the young me knew what to do with. Many people said that I had the potential to become a known pinnacle, a paragon of humanity. My parents and supervisors, on the other hand, found more than one way to exploit that." And exploit me. Went unsaid. "There was hardly a decision I could make on my own back then. They were too focused on what I could do with my innate power and skills, never really asking me what I wanted."

Pyrrha passed by several children who were playing outside with one another, which included drawing on the ground, hopping along squares, blowing bubbles, and dancing silly. She wanted to join them, but her mother pulled her along and insisted that her training was more important. She was too important to waste time on something so frivolous. She had no time to relax.

She has no time for friends.

"They directed a majority of the things I did, up to when I was allowed to sleep." Pyrrha rubbed her cheek absentmindedly. "It didn't really register to my mother in particular, that I could only go on for so long before my body starts collapsing from lack of nutrition paired with a lack of rest, until I physically couldn't move anymore. That was the only time they decided to be gentler in their treatment of me, and even then, it was more pragmatic than them caring."

Pyrrha's mother was sounding a lot like Cinders, and somehow it was worse. From what Cinder understood, it was far easier for a parent to mistreat their adoptive children rather than the children they actually birthed. Cruel all the same but it made sense from a certain perspective, those children weren't actually theirs, in the sense that they brought them into the world. Even Mara treated her daughters far better than she treated Cinder, even if she saw them as disposable pawns all the same once she found an opportunity to kill her enemies with them.

But the concept of birth parents horribly mistreating the children they birthed was confounding to Cinder. Because it made her ask:

What was the point of having them?

"I trained relentlessly, and I was a part of several tournaments as I grew up. I conquered them all, each with greater ease than the last. That set my reputation as some sort of 'Invincible Girl', and my parents latched onto the benefits of such a reputation for all it was worth, while leaving me behind to endure its backlash." Pyrrha pushed her hair away from her face, smiling solemnly. "People hated me for being so talented, and so well trained. In manners and says that they can't match up to, or didn't feel like pushing themselves hard enough to try. Whatever the case, they hated that victory came so easily to me. And from then on, I allowed myself to get fully enveloped in competition, because I had thought I truly destroyed all of my chances of making friends."

Now Cinder understood better, why Ruby and Pyrrha mentioned so strongly about the gifted ones also being as abused as the powerless ones. When you're powerless and helpless, you don't have what it takes to build your own purpose. When you're gifted like Pyrrha, the chances of being your own person risk being taken away from the start, as people want to use your talents for their own purposes.

Pyrrha softly smiled. "Of course, I ended up changing my tune, when I was horribly late for the next tournament…because I met Nora."

"Nora?"

"Nora."

It wasn't too much of a challenge, how Pyrrha bested the Beringel Grimm that was upon Nora when she was hungry and weakened. Though after it was felled and Nora got some food in her, she was fit as a fiddle once again. Her energy took Pyrrha off guard to a degree, but she found it somewhat adorable.

The way she smashed the Grimm into pieces with Magnhild with uproarious laughter did make her seem a little unhinged, from the outside looking in, though.

"This was fun! We really wrecked them!" Nora beamed while kicking her feet about, sitting on one of the boulders nearby. Pyrrha smiled and rubbed her arm.

"I'm happy that you're well." Purrha gasped, hands over her mouth once she saw the time on her Scroll. Oh no, I'm late! I need to go!"

"But why?" Nora tilted her head, her eyes glimmering slightly in the light.

"Because I'm off to fight in a tournament."

"Why?"

Pyrrha blinked. "To compete in said tournament?"

"Why?"

"So that I can win said tournament."

"Why?"

"Because…I have to be the best."

"...Why?"

…

Never before had a single question and a single word, said in repetition no less, managed to make Pyrrha feel so confused. And the more that it was asked, the less confident she felt in answering them. And she got closed and closed to the true issues behind her insistent desire to be the best.

"I have to fight. I have to win. I have to always win. Because if I don't…then I'll never get anybody to like me…the actual me…" Pyrrha uttered while sitting down and hugging her knees. "If I end up faltering now, after all this time…I'll never be able to make friends."

Nora ends up picking her up and setting her back on her feet, patting down both of their skirts. "Ya don't have to put yourself through all that just to make friends. I'll be your friend!"

Pyrrha thought she misheard her, so she looked towards the smiling lightning fiend that was Nora Valkyrie. "...Really?"

"Really really!"

The sheer sincerity in Nora's bright smile managed to melt Pyrrha's heart. And suddenly, the tournament was the farthest thing from her mind.

It was Nora that introduced her to the rest of their friend group, particularly Ruby and Jaune. And once she saw Jaune, who she remembers smiling and greeting her in a somewhat oblivious manner, Pyrrha couldn't help but blush and hide her face away with a stutter, which had Nora laughing. And Ruby, on the other hand, eyed Pyrrha intently…before shrugging and skipping alongside Nora. Ren smiled and shook his head at his friend's antics, though more than happy to make another one that day.

"That's when you met Jaune and the others…?" Cinder uttered. She met them all through Nora. "And you…"

"I admittedly did become infatuated with him…" Pyrrha awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "And I can't say that his culinary prowess didn't have a hand in it, once we began to know each other…"

Please don't make me hungry for Jaune's cooking. We have no access to it right now! Cinder mentally begged, her stomach on the verge of roaring in protest. She kept a straight face, though it was a struggle to do so.

"It was a nice feeling at first…" Pyrrha lowered her head as her smile slowly vanished from her face. "Though that's when things turned for the worst, before I had even realized it."

Pyrrha's parents didn't take kindly to her skipping out on the tournament to make friends. She had an obligation to fulfill and she failed to do so. Thus when she eventually returned home she was met with vicious punishment and words of intense vitriol.

"You realize how much you've made a fool of us, don't you?! After all of these successes, you've managed to come up short during the time that it mattered most! Have you no shame?!" Pyrrha ended up saying nothing, fearing further rebuke if she spoke up without permission. "How do you intend to redeem yourself of this horrendous embarrassment, Pyrrha?!"

Her mother's voice thundered, while her father simply focused on how they were going to pull themselves out of this well of shame and disappointment that they believed their daughter threw them into, on a whim. The whole time, Pyrrha could only keep her head bowed and silently beg for forgiveness for letting them down.

But she never could have imagined that their desire to reclaim the glory they believe she cost them, could lead to what eventually happened later.

She was on her way back to Sanctum in Argus to train in their facilities, only for her to stop and gawk with widened horrified eyes. The balls were shining white and gold, the brilliance of the chandeliers above bringing even further attention to the scene before her; which was that of her manager standing amidst many gathered warriors nurtured by Sanctum, of which have been killed at their hands.

She can't deny it, for she sees the blood. And yet still, she couldn't quite process it.

Her parents were among the victims.

"W…What did you do…?!"

"The only thing I can do in this situation, since you've permanently ruined one of our other avenues." Her manager shook his head. "We won't be able to hold onto our share of glory through you, so we've been inspired to carve a memory into Mistral ourselves."

"By…by killing Sanctum's warriors and heroes?! That's how you intend to be remembered?!" Pyrrha shook her head, trying to convince herself this was a terrible, horrid nightmare. But she didn't wake up, and likely would never wake up, because it was all too real. "And not to mention, my parents?!"

"Unfortunately, they didn't read the fine print. When it became clear that they didn't intend to cooperate the way that would be necessary for them, I culled them like all of the rest." Her manager briefly gestured to her parent's corpses, in disbelief that they could have agreed to this, only to suffer the same fate over a disagreement.

"If we cannot remain memorable in fame, then we shall do so in infamy. I will NOT be remembered as the supervisor of a failure that threw her chance of further glory away!" He seethed. "...Although, we're not entirely over you just yet. You do have one chance to make things up for us; to redeem yourself in our eyes."

Pyrrha's eyes widened as the hidden light revealed something before her; Nora was crucified upon a beam of light, her head and wrists bleeding profusely. She was breathing heavily, with her clothes in tatters, her jacket barely hanging onto her.

"...Nora…?" Pyrrha utters in quiet disbelief.

"This one has proven irritatingly resilient. Kill her." Her superior set down his ultimatum, and Pyrrha looked at her as if she couldn't comprehend what he was demanding. "If you can at least finish her off, then we will consider forgiving you for your failures. You'll be given a proper second chance to redeem yourself in our eyes. All you have to do is kill this orphan girl."

"What…?"

"She's an orphan, trash with no valuable identity to her name. No one would mourn for her if she died. It makes her an ideal candidate." He sees Pyrrha still gazing at him in disbelief, raising his hand towards her. "All that needs to happen is for her to die by your hand. It should be rather simple for you."

Pyrrha paused in place at the moment, trying to process, and somewhat failing, that her own parents were asking her to kill one of her friends in order for them to accept her fully. Such a proposition they put forth, with no hesitation. It was only right that she meets that lack of hesitation with her own.

"I cannot. Nora is my friend."

She heard him scoff. "Pyrrha dear, you're of a much higher stature than she is. Associating with orphan trash is beneath you. But don't worry. It shouldn't be too difficult for you to find newer and better friends, ones who don't parade their filth everywhere."

Pyrrha shook her head as her Aura hummed softly around her body. "I can't agree with this, mother. And I'd never agree to it." Pyrrha declares as her weapons, Miló and Akoúo̱, flashed into her hands. She was already well aware that they were beyond the point of talking, but she still wanted to try. "Release her. Things don't have to be like this!"

"I was expecting you to say that. And yet still hearing it disappoints me." Her supervisor glowed softly, his Aura pulsing outwards around him. "I suppose your name will have to be used as that of a martyr. That should be suitable enough to send waves throughout Mistral and beyond."

Pyrrha felt her heart clench up. And yet despite this, all she could do was prepare herself, with her xiphos raised towards her parents with a resolute yet troubled gaze. Her superior simply sighed at her before she prepared to engage, with her father standing by her with a thoroughly disappointed gaze.

"I had to do battle with my superiors in order to save Nora. I wasn't going to let them kill her. I couldn't. Especially not after I found out what my family was up to all this time" Pyrrha muttered, as she gently clenched her fists, hanging her head. "At that moment, during the fight…I recalled something someone once said. It was that family means everything…but only if family matters to you." Pyrrha clasped her hands. "And that was when…

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she came down from her desperate adrenaline to realize what she just did. She could see one of her managers, down on the ground with a bullet torn through his throat; it happened the moment his Aura weakened just enough.

She impaled one of her other supervisors with her blade, and for a moment she still can't believe she actually went through with it. But she was spluttering blood into the ground, which further convinced her that it wasn't a delusion.

"...To bask in…the glory of the light…anything…is permitted…" The woman uttered, before she collapsed right then and there, crashing in her side. Pyrrha was still shaking from the overwhelming realization, after she came down from her high adrenaline, that she killed so many, to protect…

Nora.

She's been released from her restraints once Ruby and Jaune finally caught up to them, realizing that from a certain perspective, they were too late to stop things. Nora could see the distant stare in Pyrrha's eyes as she rushed to hug her, her weapons dropping to the ground. Ruby immediately joins in afterwards, hugging her from the other side. And Jaune was the last to approach, and it was his reaction she was most scared of, after what she's done.

"...You killed all of your superiors? You?" Cinder blinked, her eyes glittering as her understanding of Pyrrha Nikos suddenly changed drastically.

"I was scared. Terrified on the inside. And because of how that incident transpired, everyone believes I was the one who killed my parents along with the rest of them. Which had me gravely dishonored." Pyrrha shook her head. "Mistralian culture involves the honoring of one's family, and for children to honor their parents. Kinslaying, from Mistralian point of view, especially if the children are the murderers, is one of the most heinous crimes you could ever commit." Pyrrha's knuckles turned white from how hard she clenched them. "And because my parents were so well known for their 'kindness and honors despite their overall declining fame, nobody else believed me when I tried telling the truth. I was sentenced to be banished from Mistral, with approval from the previous Mistral Emperor."

Banished? Cinder couldn't imagine someone as gentle hearted and selfless-in her opinion a bit too much-as Pyrrha being banished for any reason. But after hearing bits of her story, she felt as if fate was conspiring against the young woman. It's no wonder she and Ruby took up the mindsets they did.

"Empress Miyako advocated for me to be welcome back into Mistral two years after she became Empress, but the damage was done. Even if I was legally allowed back, I was no longer welcome in the community I grew up in. Everyone shunned me and pretended like I didn't exist or hated me outright if they did." Pyrrha briefly took off her circlet, allowing for her hair to flow freely. "At that point a majority of its people already forsake me. I was no longer a champion in their eyes, but a blasphemer who turned her back on Mistralian honor to save herself…"

"...How did you get through that?"

"Honestly? Ruby and Nora helped me out the most. Ruby gave me a direction to go in, and Nora was there to make sure I didn't fall on the way. But it was Jaune who helped me take the first step." Pyrrha softly nodded. "He didn't realize it, and to this day he still doesn't for the most part, but what he said during that time, lifted a heavy burden off of my conscience."

"I believe you. You don't need to be sorry. You did everything you could with everything you had and knew. That's enough for me to take your side."

Cinder scoffed. "How disgustingly sweet of him. I can definitely believe he'd say something like that." Cinder pawed her chin. "You were in love with him. Weren't you?"

"...Emphasis on were. Previously I did love him in the romantic sense." Pyrrha shook her head. "But after everything that happened that day and what followed, I had to rebuild my own identity from the ground up. Romantic love was a distraction and even a detriment to me at the time. I needed to focus on myself, so I put those feelings to the side. I never picked them back up. And I realized I no longer held the desire to." Pyrrha lifted her head and smiled. "I'm at peace with that, though. Jaune is still my cherished friend, and that's enough for me to feel content about the two of us."

Cinder hummed. This is what Ruby meant when she once considered Pyrrha to be her potential sister wife, but ultimately reconsidered it. Pyrrha was going through a serious identity crisis, possibly even an existential one, at the time. Romance was a detrimental distraction for her, not a boon or benefit. If she focused on her feelings for Jaune as one of the beginning foundations of her new chapter of her life, then he would become a crutch to her identity. Which was something she didn't want, due to her already shattered sense of self, even if her heart would hurt for a while at the choice. It seems that it was ultimately the right one, given how well she's doing today.

And it slowly dawned upon Cinder because Pyrrha chose to stop her. She was understandably shaken and wrecked by the consequences of her choice despite her intentions, but ultimately, she still had a purpose to her actions that ended up saving Nora. There was a meaning behind her actions, even if they caused her to suffer. Cinder killing these people wouldn't save anyone, as their victims were already dead. There'd be no point to it that actually mattered, aside from petty retribution that they wouldn't even be in the mindset to comprehend due to their current states.

Cinder pressed a finger to her head to quell an incoming headache, closing her eyes with a growl. "Having a conscience is so damn annoying…" And for a dragon of her type, one who lives on whatever pleases her and scorns what doesn't due to their own pride and greed, this was doubly irritating for her pride. It was a constant restraint that chafed at her.

But if it wasn't for that, she wouldn't have her current bond with Jaune and Ruby and the others. No amount of brief satisfaction was worth tossing all of that aside. And as the final nail, she thought about what Rhodes would think of the decision, if he were to be here right now.

Cinder wasn't entirely fond of the whole 'they'll always be watching over you' schtick that people pull when their loved ones die, because it doesn't change the fact that they're no longer physically there with you. Their physical presence ceases to be a factor, which has its own kind of influence on how people think and act. They're no longer there to guide you, judge you, scold you…love you.

She promised that she'd never do anything that would make her think Rhodes was wrong to give his life for her freedom. And because of that, for a moment, she imagined what he would think of her if she had gone through with that slaughter. After that, she didn't need to be convinced any further.

Although she did have the brilliant reminder that having a conscience, while she accepts is necessary, is still a major pain in the ass.

"Do you feel better now?" Pyrrha asked carefully. Cinder shook her head.

"Not exactly. But I'll adapt." The two women stood up, with Cinder clenching and unclenching her claws. As the duo met up with the rest of the group, Maria seemed to be in the middle of speaking with them.

"Now then, info on the enemy is always going to be helpful. And you've got yourself a pretty amazing source right here!" Maria thumbs to herself gleefully, pushing her hair to the side. "Anyway, these annoying bloodline members of mine are up to no good. After destroying Haven, Sanctum, and Mistral Central Station, they've set massive barriers over largely populated areas, including Argus and Kuchinashi. It's trapping many people inside and keeping a lotta people out. People like me."

"What? Why?"

"Cause they know I'm a big problem for them, as one of their own." Maria slowly stands up, her eyes glimmering as she gazes at the group. "They'll be so worried about me that they won't be prepared for you. That will be your time to strike when they're at their most vulnerable. After that, the souls here will find their peace."

Oscar scratched his cheek, uncertain. He briefly eyes Blake, who was off to the side speaking to someone over her Scroll. "Are you sure about this, Maria? This isn't going to be easy."

"We're well past the point of wanting things to be easy, Oscar. It doesn't matter either way." Maria's eyes glowed hauntingly under her mask. "They'll need to answer for the despair they've caused these poor souls."

Cinder couldn't agree more. "They're specifically keeping you out of the way, seeing you as they're greatest threat. In that case, would you mind allowing me to lead the charge for this? It's just become a personal affair."

"If you insist." Maria smiles sweetly, with a courteous bow. Cinder soon turned towards the horizon, her eyes flashing a furious gold. There can be no forgiveness for any of this. Not even a dust mite of it.

We will destroy them completely!

---

The glowing dove was flapping its wings helplessly as it found itself bound, before its body glitched somewhat due to its shifted Aura being condensed. The sounds of begging could be heard in a distant echo, but only the doves' calls could be heard, as something pulled the dove to them as it landed on her finger. The moment a flash of light dies down, a man was thrown against the wall, before slumping to the ground with his back against it, dead.

"You really didn't have to make this so difficult." The woman uttered, with the former home of Heather Shields having been destroyed, and her husband was pierced through with a blast of glowing silver light after he tried to interfere. The result was painfully one sided, and now his daughter was within this woman's clutches. "You only have yourself to blame. You were not of much use to your parents, and that's why they've died the way they have." The woman's eyes gleamed at the dove. "Their deaths are your responsibility, and this is your punishment. I'll be able to make proper use of you. Accept and bear it without question, or risk your soul being obliterated."

The woman continued on her way, as the dove now sits in its cage and quietly cries at its forced predicament. She felt grateful for her benefactors providing her the resources needed, and the opportunity to use them, in order to continue serving them loyally. The doves around her glowed brightly, their wings flapping as glittering feathers scattered around her. She was on her way to her next meeting point.

Had she not stopped and allowed the feathers to push her back with a gust, she might have lost her head immediately. She skidded across the ground as she eyed the ones that attacked her out of nowhere. Something emerged from the shadows, and a pair of amber eyes glared at her from within the darkness.

"Hello there, Dove Priestess." Blake uttered as she climbed out of the shadows, with Oscar, Ren, Weiss, and Nora in tow. "We've come to eliminate you. Is this a bad time?"

"Why do you intend to obstruct me? I can't be hindered by the likes of you. You're interrupting my work." The woman felt a gathering of feathers form in front of her as a blast of pink lightning slammed into it. Nora's eyes flashed pink lightning, her hair flowing along with the wind. "You look like you want to say something."

"I have plenty to say, actually!"

Maria could see the smaller group prepared to take down the Dove Priestess, softly sighing as she had her hands in her pockets, her hood over her head, her silver eyes glowing quietly under it. "Well, it looks like they'll be taking care of her soon enough. In that case, what shall I do, since they were so generous to keep me locked out of certain spaces?" She uttered, holding out her hand as it pressed against a glowing veil that was specifically keeping her out of the main areas.

She soon turned around, seeing that hordes of Grimm were soon coming her way, entire droves of them detecting the immense amounts of negativity from within the designated spots separating everyone. This would do. At the very least she could occupy herself by making sure that, while the young ones took care of whatever was inside, she would keep unwanted interference out.

"Looks like there are about a thousand of you. Isn't that a bit much?" Maria smiled. "Hey now. Just because I wasn't invited doesn't mean you're suddenly allowed to cause a ruckus."

Most of the Grimm from the front attempted to pounce at her, with their fangs bared. She barely moved, but just then, a massive skeletal hand crushed them in a ground shattering slam. It was glowing blue and manifesting from around Maria like a ghostly apparition, while she simply observed with her hands in her pockets. Others attempted to try and pounce from behind after quickly dashing around her; she simply and casually took out one of her scythes and slashed diagonally, rending everything in that direction. A few more of them tried to come at her from all sides at once, only for a glowing skeletal ribcage to surround her and block their strikes effortlessly. She grinned at this, as the skeletal hands smashed them into pieces.

She hummed as she looked towards the other direction where the horde tries to ambush her, and a blue glowing scythe manifested in the glowing skeletal hand, and she swings it across; the slicing waves of Aura cleaved through the Grimm with little resistance, the energy tearing them to pieces without giving them a chance to retaliate. And as she faces down the rest of the horde, she holds out her arm as a skeletal, dragon head opens its maw, an orb of blue energy surrounded by a glimmer of silver- gathering within the maw, until it discharges and obliterates the rest of the horde in a matter of seconds, the beam being seen from miles away. Discharges of energy remained, and Maria's silver eyes glimmered as she smiled under her mask.

"There. Much quieter."

Juno watched the bright light slowly dissipate, as Celimene, Themis, and Orella were overseeing things. Arms folded, one leg over the other, she was sitting on the edge of a cliff. Or to be more precise, she was sitting idly on one of her graced followers when they offered to be, due to considering the dirt too filthy for her to sit on. None are particularly upset about the arrangement; about as much as those under her grace could be, at least. The same applies when they sometimes turn over on their backs with their arms clasped over their chests, though their attempts to speak after that are sometimes muffled by her as a result. Some have even thanked her for giving them the honor of being her seat.

The effects that her Love grace has on others tends to amuse her associates.

Things were mostly running smoothly since they placed a specific veil that was able to keep Maria Calavera from interfering. Though there was the matter of the others being likely to cause trouble for their machinations. And just in time, another array of shadows emerged from behind them, which they each turned towards. Cinder was the first to emerge from them, along with Pyrrha and Penny.

"And here they are, the women of the hour. Oh, except for one." Juno tilts her head, which none of the girls allowed themselves to rise to the bait. "You really believe that your interference is going to change anything?"

"Ah, but it has already changed things. It's not our fault that you're unable to see it for yourself." Cinder declared as she blasts a plume of flames towards the group, which Celimene easily deflects with a barrier around the group. Penny soon adds in multiple blasts from her swords manifesting around her, and from Pyrrha a magnetic pulse pushing outwards, attracting most metallics around her and crashing them against the barrier. It managed to hold true for the moment, before they noticed warmth beneath their feet. They soon scattered, as an eruption of flames jets upwards from where they stood.

Penny immediately pushes Themis to the side, Pyrrha keeping Orella occupied, and Celimene kept at bay due to Cinder's dragon scoffed as she landed on her feet, near a shadow. Which was beginning to move and shift…

"Foolish. As if I'd be courteous enough to allow them such a setup." She went to attempt to join and overwhelm one of them in a duo counterattack, but then something reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her in place. "Who-"

"Hold on. Don't leave so soon. I just got here." Juno's eyes widened as something else emerged from a mass of shadows. And it was not Blake, but another Faunus feline entirely. Her golden eyes gleamed with vicious intent as she tightly grabbed Juno's arm; she almost felt like it would be twisted in half. "So, you're the one that I have to break?"

"Sienna Khan…" Juno uttered with narrowed eyes. The tiger Faunus grinned, before she tugged extra tight and pulled on Juno's arm, throwing her in a completely different direction than the others. She managed to stop herself in place, as Sienna climbed out of the shadows fully. Cracking her neck slightly.

"You lot have been busy, wrecking shit all across Mistral. Bet you're feeling pretty high and mighty about it, huh? I'll correct that very quickly." Sienna grins, her muscular and buxom frame draped over by the White Fang cloak around her shoulders fluttering in the wind, a white and blue symbol and color of a beast roaring with righteous fury. "You shut Calavera out, which is why Blake called me in for standby support. Looks like she made the right call."

Belladonna. Juno derisively thought with an intensifying agitation. Blake was getting in her way on an increasingly large frequency, and it was displeasing to Juno, to say the least.

"Oh? You look pissed off. Funny story: I'm pissed too. You messed with one of my own." Sienna grinned as she took her cape and tossed it to the side, shoulders and arms bared. Her refined muscles within her biceps and her legs briefly flexed as her fingers cracked, her claws extended and her tail swaying readily behind her. "Enough dawdling; time to hunt."

Juno, even with her reflexes, found herself blindsided as Sienna immediately struck; her chest nearly caving in due to the first punch Sienna landed on her before she could process it. She was immediately sent rocketing back and through several trees, a trench being left in the forest outside. Sienna landed off the platform and, on the ground, before she proceeded to follow and hunt down her quarry.

Juno's eyes glowed as Sienna's bestial eyes locked onto her with a fanged smile, before a clawed hand struck at Juno, the attack being encased with an ethereal tiger's paw. Juno tried to block the blow, but found herself nearly caving from the impact, her arms nearly giving away when it made contact, her Aura the main reason she was able to still move them. She was sent rocketing away, the force of her launch leveling the forest around them and leaving behind a massive trench in the ground, the shockwaves uprooting several of them from their roots, and outright snapping some of them in half.

Such destructive force…! Juno grimaced, still trying to shake the numbness from her arms due to the sheer physical force behind Sienna's blow.

Pyrrha slashes with her shortsword, which Orella manages to deflect with blades of silver glowing energy around her. Pyrrha channeled Aura through her weapons as she parried each of the psychic knives, before she jumped back when several of them expanded and jabbed into the ground where she was initially standing. Orella levitated softly in front of her.

"Pyrrha Nikos. Surely you recognize that this design is already designated to succeed. There's really not much use in trying to overturn it."

"Your designs involve massive loss and devaluing of life. I don't place much faith in that." Pyrrha decried as she slashed her blade horizontally, with Orella noticing that many things were being pulled along with it, launching themselves at her in the meantime. She effortlessly pushes them back with a psychic barrier glowing silver.

"But those designs are necessary, as they are progressive." Orella's barrier pulsed softly as Pyrrha tried to pierce it with a powerful throw of her javelin, but it merely bounced off the barrier, with it attracting itself back to Cinder's hand. "Don't you believe so? With all things having certain roles to play, whether they're given to them or not. Your parents and managers were aware of this fact, wanting their own roles that will eventually elevate them into unforgettable legends."

Pyrrha nearly asked her how she knew that but shook tremendously once she realized something significant about the wording. "...You were the one who orchestrated all of that…?!"

"I knew you had potential to be something extraordinary, Pyrrha." Orella points to her head. "I know what you're thinking. And no, I did not influence your family to make all of those choices, nor did I do so towards those who so poorly utilized you. I simply presented them with an opportunity to see if they were capable of capitalizing on it, and it was them alone who chose to pursue that route."

Pyrrha wanted to disbelieve and deny this, to at least have some sort of explanation for the callousness of her parents and supervisors that she wouldn't have to accept that they've fallen into greed and corruption. But she supposed that was too much to hope for. Either way, Orella became involved with her history, and she wasn't about to let that slide so easily.

Meanwhile Cinder and Penny were alongside one another, with Celimene and Themis opposing them respectively. Cinder crashed her claws against Celimene's barriers, the flames around her intensifying as they attempted to break through them. Celimene's barriers held true, and Cinder was briefly forced back, righting herself and flapping her wings. Themis' silver glowing chains attempted to ensnare her, but Penny sliced through them in an instant, keeping them both safe.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Cinder landed on her feet, her wings igniting on fire. "There was no way that their parents could have accepted their children turning themselves into martyrs. You used your power on them to make them more agreeable to the option."

"I could tell that the scenario brought turmoil to their souls, so I brought them peace with the decision." Celimene calmly declares, which only served to infuriate Cinder further. "That acceptance would prove to be what grants true peace, in order to not give into the chaos of dissent and disagreement."

"I consider every word you utter to be an unforgivable offense to my ears." Cinder snarled as blue flames gathered around her. Celimene pushed her hand outwards as her barrier shot out numerous extending silver spikes, which Cinder ducked under and maneuvered around, even if some of them left slashes across her cheek and sides. "Your 'peace' is built upon fabricated serenity. I'll tear both it and you to shreds!"

Cinder lifted her hands briefly as a flaming blue bow and arrow appeared in her hands. The arrows multiplied by three, and she pulled back, her eyes focused as she leapt up to dodge a silver spike piercing the ground from below. She soon lets the arrows loose, seeing them soar towards Celimene. She set up a barrier around herself, but her eyes widened with the arrows dispersed right before it impacted the wall…passed around it like particles in the wind, reforms, and pierced right through her side. She briefly collapsed from the sudden misdirect, which gave Cinder the opening to slam right into her, cratering the ground around them both. Celimene's shielding defended her from Cinder's headed claws, but the impact of the tackle could still be felt.

"The slightest pierce through those walls, and the entire thing crumbles."

"That's recklessly assuming one wouldn't have the foundations well-placed."

It didn't take long before Penny found herself running out across the ground, righting herself as Themis' chains attempted to ensnare her. And even one of two of them did occasionally wrap around her limbs; she was quick to shrug or slice them off, leaving Themis back where she started. This frustration continues as Penny finds herself coming along with the other group, who were dealing with the Dove Priestess. Ren has dispersed a flock of doves heading his way, while Oscar was doing what he could to catch and protect the one she recently just turned. Nora and Blake were both on the offensive, both their elements on display as they slashed and smashed at the Priestess, even though her wall of hardened feathers makes that difficult.

Penny soon sliced off another chain, even as it was heading towards Oscar, slicing through the silver chains, which only had her further narrowing her eyes at Themis. "I will not allow that, Themis."

"You're an irritating eyesore, Penny Polendina." Themis uttered as multiple silver chains lashed out and attempted to strike her. Several of them missed Penny, though one managed to wrap around her leg. She pulled the chain downwards, which ruthlessly slammed Penny into the ground with a resounding thud. "And an eyesore that won't swear piety to me. I have no reason whatsoever to put up with you, unless it's for killing you."

The Dove Priestess sent a whirlwind of sharpened feathers towards the group before her, with Blake severing them apart with Gambol Shroud, Ren channeling his Aura into punching a hole through the feather storm, Oscar applying clock magic to make sure the hole lasts longer, and Nora zooming in through the hole to slam her hammer into the Dove Keeper, her back crashing against the ground after being disoriented from the blow. Before she could properly continue the assault, she was forced to her knees by an oppressive force, nearly keeping her from moving.

"Don't act like you could contribute anything to all of this, Nora." Orella utters as she sends Pyrrha crashing through a building behind her. "There's nothing you can do to change any outcomes that approach you."

"You…can't…!"

"There are many here who could change the outcome of the upcoming battles, but you are not one of them. What could you possibly do?" The Dove Priestess utters as a psychic knife flashes cuts across Nora's shoulder, making her wince and fall flat on her front. "Your mother did not want anything to do with you, so she left you behind. Do you know why that is? It's because children are born to enrich their parents' lives, not hold them back. It's perfectly suitable for a parent to discard or dispose of the child when they can no longer enrich those lives. That is what Lady Juno did when she finally understood that her children could not follow her into the next stage of her life."

Oscar's eyes widened. "She had…no…there's no way. She didn't!"

"Her Aura is not giving off waves of falsehoods or exaggerations. She's speaking the truth." Ren utters solemnly. "Juno killed her own children…and like them, left her remorse for it behind."

"There is no point in living and caring for something that only weighs you down. These children were no longer useful to their parents, so they chose to die. Now they're useful to me, so that I can serve my mistresses faithfully." The Dove Priestess sent a feathery blade into Nora's back, which made her wince. "You, Nora Valkyrie, had no worth to your mother, and your worth to your friends is terminal. Sooner or later, you will be left behind again, not even a footnote in their lives. That is the extent of your non-existent worth."

Ren's Aura flared at this, as he punched a hole through another feathery wall in an attempt to get to the Priestess. But throughout the onslaught, Nora slowly pulls herself to her feet, her hair swaying in front of her face. "... Non-existent worth…are you sure about that…?" Nora lifted her head, eye crackling with lightning. "Blake, Weiss! Collab with me please and thanks!"

"What?!"

Blake locked blades with the Dove Priestess, the latter's eyes widening as she saw Weiss emerge from a shroud of one of Blake's shadow clones, having masked her presence. She was standing in the middle of her glowing Glyph, and she placed it under Nora's feet.

"What are you doing?!"

"Evening the odds." Blake declared stoically.

Nora lifted her hammer and slammed it onto the Glyph: Soon enough, multiple shards of ice erupted from below ground and shocked several of their enemies as they scattered in different directions to avoid the blasts of ice and lightning. But it didn't end there, for Weiss put even more refinement into it, and the Glyphs quickly began expanding, thus drastically increasing the range of the combo attack.

Frozen Lightning?! Themis' uttered as she dodged several of the bolts, though one of them got her in the shoulders and she winced in annoyance at seeing it frozen.

"How are you-" the Dove Priestess was unable to retort, as another Glyphs formed in the air, with Blake and Nora standing and sticking to it. It soon quickly turned into a shade of black with a glowing pink outline.

"You all called Nora a mere footnote before." Blake began coldly. "I could read only a footnote from her or about her, and it would still have more worth than all of you put together."

The Glyph soon launched them both, and with a boost of one of Blake's clones throwing her, Nora went even faster. She was catapulted right at the Dove Priestess, breaking through her defenses easily and smashing her in the chest with a shadow-lightning infused blow from Magnhild. The woman coughed while Nora's eye flared and charges due to the devastating blow, eruptions of lightning surging around her.

Nora slowly pulls herself up with her hammer balanced across her shoulders, breathing heavily as lightning charges off of her body. The Dove Priestess wouldn't be rising again, Ren could sense and confirm.

Juno blinked in astonishment as she immediately turned to the place where the Priestess had fallen. "Ariadne was defeated so soon. Well, we've already gathered a surplus of-"

"Pay attention!" Juno grimaced as she raised her arm to block a swift kick from Sienna, which sent her hurtling for a few moments before she eventually righted herself. Sienna grinned as she rolled her arm, before immediately dashing towards her again.

Juno blasts several rows of chained lightning towards her: Sienna weaves through all of them with a growing grin, before throwing a punch towards her, an ethereal tiger paw surrounding her. Juno grimaced and channeled Aura into her arms, the impact sending her back and crashing her through several buildings in a singular flight. Sienna immediately appears from above and punches downwards, with the ground massively caving in and opening outwards as a result, akin to a small several seconds quake rupturing everything around them. Fortunately for Juno dodging in time, she barely missed, and was punished with an explosion of lightning as a result, a large crash of it slamming into her.

Juno appeared a few meters away in a flash of lightning, breathing heavily. Sienna huffed as she climbed out of the giant hole she made in the ground, brushing soot off her shoulders as her ears twitched, spitting towards the ground. "Well, aren't you slippery?"

Juno narrowed her eyes as her arms shook a bit from the earlier, heavy blows that Sienna dealt her earlier. This wasn't an ideal situation, especially when she's aware that Maria Calavera was somewhere in the area, waiting for all of them to slip up. Meanwhile she's been pitted against Sienna Kahn, Supreme Commander of the White Fang. An extensive bout with her could prove counterproductive. She could actually see Sienna's bestial Aura surging around her, ethereal tigers roaring with enough force to shake the ground. Yes, staying to fight would be more costly than it's worth.

Besides, they've gathered the needed amount of energy from this area, so there was no need to stick around personally any longer. Now that she's able to deduce the effectiveness of the arrangements, she could manage them with a better perspective. And with that, she stood back up, she nearly stumbled over in the process.

At this rate I'll pass out…a prolonged confrontation would be unwise.

"...That's enough. Our purpose here is finished for now." Juno rolled her arm while cracking her neck. Blake immediately appeared next to Sienna, her eyes glaring towards her. "Belladonna…"

"Is it true? Did you really kill your own children?"

"And if I did?"

Blake's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And there's not an ounce of remorse in your heart for such a thing?"

"I granted my children salvation, by removing them from this world. It would have corrupted them irreparably, and they then would have eventually turned against me. So, I liberated them, while they were still pure and innocent." Juno's eyes glittered, as she softly raised a hand to her heart. "There is nothing for me to feel remorse or regret for, as I did it out of pure love."

Blake's ears flicker in irritation. Sienna sighed and shook her head. "I thought you were exaggerating a bit about her being deluded, Blake."

"I've never seen more clearly; my mind hasn't been clearer. We're leaving, everyone. This area in particular has served its purpose well. Let us return to the Sanctuary." Celimene, Themis, and Orella soon received the message, and each of them vanished in a bright silver light, with Juno being the last to vanish. Sienna scoffed as she went over to pick up her cloak, sliding it over her shoulders again as her muscles relaxed.

"Well, isn't she wonderful to listen to." Sienna muttered, before she made her way over to Blake, who was just pulling herself up. "Hello, Blake."

"Supreme Commander." Blake immediately stood about face, her ears and tail taking upon formal stillness as her arms folded behind her back. "My apologies for having to call you away on such short notice, but the situation was growing critical and-ow." Blake began, only to stop with a wince as Sienna blankly chopped her on her head.

"No need for that; you're not acting as a White Fang operative right now." Sienna gently scolded as she rolled her arm again, tail flicking. "I've already said that should you ever need some assistance on matters outside of White Fang operations, you need only tell me when and where." Sienna scoffed. "Though to be honest, given the scope of things, this will involve Faunus one way or another."

"It sure will. I'm glad you were able to help. Though I don't think we'll be able to offset them like that a second time."

"Doesn't matter. Now they know that they can't get the drop on you forever. That psychological advantage will give you the edge you need to bring them low at the right time." Sienna folded her arms. "Be sure to take that into account when you clash with them again."

"Yes, ma'am." Blake nodded, before tilting her head. "Oh, I just realized. You didn't bring Hazel with you."

"He has his own business to take care of back in Vale. I was planning on taking him on a fancy romantic outing before you called, and he readily agreed that your request was the higher priority since you used White Fang channels to do it." Sienna groaned while scratching her neck. "I'm going to have to make it up to him later, damn it."

"S-Sorry…"

"Don't concern yourself over it. You know he's a very understanding man." Sienna smiled warmly for a second, before returning to her firmer expression. "Now that we drove off the threat for now, give me a deeper dive into just what the hell is going on."

Meanwhile, Maria had returned for a moment, and she was surrounded by the doves with the souls of the children, as they were surprised by the Dove Priestess's deceased body, her bindings on them slowly becoming undone.

"Is…is she dead? She's dead."

"She can't keep us chained anymore. Does that mean…?"

"We're finally free!"

"But…are we going to a very bad place, now…?"

"No, little ones. I won't let that happen." Maria gently shushed them as she warmly gathered them together. "You were all led astray and deceived. You've done nothing wrong. You're all good children, so I'll be taking you to a good place personally."

"R…Really…?"

"I swear my soul on it."

Cinder watched as the young souls gathered around Maria, thinking about everything that led them to that point. And after a moment of thought, she quietly snarled and clenched her fists.

I grow weary of children being used, abandoned, tormented, and sacrificed by the birth parents that brought them into this world, when they are supposed to care for and love them...if that is really the fate, they ultimately decide for their children... Then why did they bother having them?!

Cinder made sure to burn this experience into her memory. She had a feeling she would need it for reference. Though she did express confusion once she recalled what Maria just said. "Wait, where are you taking them?"

"To the afterlife." Maria casually answers as if it wasn't a big deal. She blinked at Cinder's completely baffled and utterly shocked wide eyes. "Oh, I forgot. You're the new one. This is among my duties; I escort certain souls to their destinations. These little ones deserve a happy, unburdened rest."

She says something like that like it was no big deal to pull off, and more than that, she declared it was one of her responsibilities. It had Cinder quietly wondering just who Maria Calavera was.

Just then, a spiral of rose petals descended onto the ground. But they were white instead of the familiar red that Cinder was used to seeing from Ruby. Maria nodded. "Ah, perfect timing. I'll have my hands full with these little ones, so for the time being I'm leaving this situation to you." Maria raised her hand, as she and the souls vanished in a glowing blue flash.

"Leave it to me, Master Maria."

Cinder balked at the woman in front of her. The Silver eyes. The wolfish ears and tail, both a mystical white. The white rose petals majestically glittering and swirling around her in a gentle vortex. Cinder was already given a visual of the woman…but this was her first time seeing her in person.

So…this is her. Ruby's mother, Summer Rose…

Summer turned to Cinder, her tail wagging with a serene smile of recognition. "You're the one Ruby told me about! I'm so glad I finally got to meet you!"

Cinder blinked in astonishment. "She told you about me…?"

Summer walked up to Cinder, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We have quite a few things to talk about, dear."

---

Yang didn't know how long she was out. Only that she knew that she was lying down somewhere. She opened her lavender eyes and shook her head slightly, trying to rid herself of the distracting drowsiness.

"Ugh, my head…where…am I…?" Yang uttered, then her eyes widened. "Ah, shit! Ruby, Jaune, and…Zwei…" Yang clenched her fists and punched the nearby wall once she sensed it. "Damn it, damn it, damn it…!"

"Punching the wall isn't going to make the frustration go away, brat."

Yang's eyes widened as she immediately turned towards the other presence in the room, who was sitting in a chair with one leg on the other, arms folded under her ample bosom, her blood red eyes gazing at Yang's lavender, and her long pitch-black hair running down her shoulders. Yang's eyes widened. "Mum…?" She uttered, in a surprised and formal tone.

"No, the Spring Maiden." Raven deadpanned. Yang winced as her head pulsed, clutching it. "Quit moving unnecessarily. You're going to hurt yourself more and open up your wounds again, and I went through the trouble of treating you. Your Aura can't heal them if you strain yourself."

Yang clenched her fists. "...I couldn't do a thing…she completely…!"

"There's no point in wrecking yourself over what already happened. You got your ass kicked, get over it." Raven deadpans as Yang looked at her exasperatedly. "The only thing you can do right now that will actually benefit you, is to recover, refocus, and then get your due payback when you've built the tools for it." Raven looked outside. "Your sister is alive. The best way you can benefit both her and your little band is to worry about yourself foremost, at least for now."

Yang sighed as she scratched the back of her neck. "...What will we even be doing…?"

"We'll start by you going along on a little field trip with me." Raven stood up, pushing out the door. Yang grimaced a bit while rolling her shoulder.

"Where are we, anyway?"

"We're in Kuchinashi." Raven declared as he gazed out into the darkness of the rainy night, the streets hustling with suspicious figures and the occasional street-fighting along the alleys. "We'll be cleaning up instigators in my territory. They'll be your warm-up. It's a perfect opportunity for you to dig deeper into your true potential, before you rejoin your friends."

As she said this, black feathery wings emerged from Raven's back. Black as the night sky, majestically flapped once, a smooth sheen across its features. Her head turns towards Yang as her eyes meet hers again.

"Now then, shall we get started?"

---

{Ever After}

Ruby was moving along with the person, Shion Zaiden, as they were guiding her away from the area, she initially woke up in. She was silent the entire time, snugly hugging Zwei's body to herself, her wolf ears folded against her ears, and her tail drooping and dragging along the ground. She hasn't said much of anything ever since Shion introduced themselves to her, and she was able to process what happened back then. The skies around her were colorful and vibrant, as were the trees, even the very ground beneath her. Although she couldn't bring herself to focus on anything, not with her mind focused on the dead corgi in her arms.

Zwei.

She still had a hard time processing it in her heart and soul, even though her mind and body could long tell that it was the truth. It was just too much for her to take after immediate failures like the city of Boreas being destroyed, and Madame Mallari dying before her eyes. In rapid succession leading up to Zwei dying as he tried to defend her, was too much for her to take. She just needed something to distract her from her feelings of helplessness, anything at all. So, as she gently, almost sacredly, held Zwei's body protectively to herself, she lifted her head to see Shion's back.

"...So…this Ever After. It's like a different world…?"

"Simultaneously, it is, and it isn't." Shion declared while tilting their hat upwards. "The realm of Ever After is technically a part of Remnant, but events have aligned to an extent where you wouldn't be able to access it normally by just traveling to it. In your instance, your special means was the cat bringing you here personally." Shion explained without losing stride.

"I don't know what I could have said or done to get their attention, though…"

"I'm wondering about that myself, and it is a cause for concern." Shion utters as they escort Ruby further through the forest, with the various flora calmly moving themselves out of the way for the both of them. "Your significant other is nearby, and he is safe, for now."

"Jaune?" Ruby uttered with a hitch in her breath. At the very least he was alive. It didn't dampen the current pain in her soul, but she took solace in the fact that things didn't seem even more terrible after she woke up.

"Indeed. Now that we'll be reuniting you both, I'll need help from both of you." Shion uttered, which got Ruby's confusion as well as her concern, but they happened upon the nearest settlement, where Ruby could indeed smell Jaune nearby, as well as a variety of other scents that began filling her nose. She subconsciously picked up the pace, with Shion briefly stopping her so she doesn't go too far. "No need to rush. We're here."

Ruby blinked, seeing as she seemingly came across an ever-expansive acre, filled with various floras and colors that seemed to embrace its vibrancy with a natural grace. She looked about as Shion continued moving onwards, seeing that the settlement was also assorted with various creatures scuttering about. She wondered exactly what this place was, before she felt something nudging against her foot.

"Another one so soon?" Ruby blinked as she saw that there was a mouse speaking to her, with their eyes looking up into her own. "This one looks a bit different than the other one. I wonder…"

"This Ruby Rose. She is acquainted with our other visitor." Shion relays to them, as they look forward towards the next arrival, whom Ruby was able to smell coming before she actually saw. "Speaking of which…"

Ruby's eyes softened as she could see Jaune's approach, both of them relieved that neither of them was hurt from their entries. Jaune pulled her into a hug, already immediately seeing what she was carrying in her arms. She seemed to appreciate the gesture, closing her eyes and just letting him hug her.

"...I messed up badly."

"Don't even start with that." Jaune utters while tenderly hugging her, rubbing her shoulders. "Remember what you said about self-blame, Ruby? It's not going to help us here."

"Yeah…I did kind of say that didn't I?"

"Sometimes being reminded of our own advice is needed in times like this. You're not likely to properly remember them when you're really going through it." Jaune mutters while he slightly scratches behind her wolf ears. "Listen, we're going to get through this. That's what we do in situations like this; we figure it out. You and me, remember?"

"Cinder isn't with us, though…"

"I believe in Cinder. I also believe in the others, which I know you do too. Thanks to that confidence, it's what will allow me to keep my focus on you until all this is settled." Jaune reassures her as he gently cups her cheek. "Will you let me do that?"

Ruby sighs slightly, before she proceeds to nuzzle his hand with closed eyes. "Okay…okay. Where are we, anyway?"

"From what I was told, this is the Jungle Acres, home of the Hunter Mouse tribe." Jaune recalled, which Shion nodded affirmatively to. "To those who enter this world, this is usually where they end up first. And if we're to make our way back home, we'll have to search for the exit. We can't freely leave it, unlike that stupid cat." Jaune grumbled. " Even Shion can't come and go as they please."

"Because even though I am this world's guardian, I did not originate from it. The cat has the advantage here over me in that regard." Shion explained, as the mouse next to Ruby eventually climbed up and hopped atop her shoulder. "The denizens here come to me whenever anything truly threatening comes across them. Such as this little one."

"Little one, huh?" Ruby turned to the mouse with her wolf ears flicking. "I'm a bit tight on names at the moment; do you mind if I just call you Little for now?"

"Little? Little. Is that my name? I have a name now!" The mouse clapped cheerily. Ruby blinked at this.

"You didn't have a name?"

"Having a name in this world grants you opportunities and recognition as a true being. And in some circumstances, a drastic increase in power." Shion looked to the side. "Many of the beings in this world do not bear true names, but there are some that still bear names that match their disposition or description."

"That's how it works here?" Ruby wondered, before a severe quake nearly sent herself and Jaune off of their feet, with Shion remaining balanced. They narrowed their eyes and turned towards what may be the direction of the source, which they didn't waste any time chasing down. Ruby and Jaune looked at one another, before they proceeded to follow Shion to wherever they were going.

Once they made it a certain distance, they could see a massive black, red, and violet mass gathering around in the center of the space. Ruby and Jaune prepared themselves for a fight, while Shion was narrowing their eyes towards the sinister presence in front of them. It wasn't for too long before they noticed that the multicolored feline from before was knocked on their side, lying limply against a tree.

"Ugh…I did not…anticipate this…at all. This is a real first for me…"

"What did you do?" Shion utters, before they sharply turn their attention back towards the gathering mass before them, and slowly becoming familiar with the sensation. "Wait. It can't be. But nothing else explains it…"

Something slowly began forming and manifesting from the malefic, tar-like mass, and it slowly solidified into a distinguishable shape. Once things cleared up even further, Ruby's eyes widened in sheer disbelief at the sight she witnessed. With black hair, a flowing and fluttering cape swaying behind her, the being before her smiled with a sinister sweetness to her. Jaune was also in disbelief of what he was seeing, while Shion stayed sternly focused on the enemy before them.

It was a splitting image of Ruby.

"Wha…?" Ruby uttered in an extended pause as she locked eyes with the alternate of herself, who was just humming a deceptively sweet tune to herself, swaying back and forth with her hands clasped and her tail wagging. "How…?"

"This being has been rampaging across Ever After since you arrived here. I wasn't able to tend to you immediately because of it." Shion utters with a serious wariness. "It appears to be a manifested inverse of yourself."

"Got it in one!" The alternate Ruby winked with a v-sign and sticking out her tongue. "I really gotta thank ya, other me!"

"Thank you for…what…?"

The alternate Ruby lightly lifted her tail with her hand, feeling the fuzziness of it. "All of those swirling conflicting emotions inside of you managed to interact with this world pretty strongly. All of those emotions-ya know, like rage, hatred, sadness, guilt, frustration, the works-culminated and condensed. Along with every dream and nightmare you've ever had about yourself." Her tail slipped out of her hands, and she smirked. "And with all of that, these lands created me from you. Which makes me an Afteran, like many of these other lovely creatures."

"But…but why?"

"No clue!" The alternate Ruby rubbed her chin with a hum. "Though if I were to hazard a guess, I might be here for the purpose of helping you on your recovery."

Shion sees one of the scurrying mice was eying her curiously, their fur suddenly standing on end at her presence. "No, don't get any closer!" They called out. The mouse's ears flicked up due to this warning and nearly ran away.

Then the alternate Ruby stabbed it through with a claw, pulling back and sending its now lifeless body across the ground.

"But nah, why would I want to do that?" She cheerily sang while her claws were dripping with blood. Ruby and Jaune were now significantly more on edge, as she clicked her name. "Now what do I call myself…? Negative Ruby? Nightmare Ruby? Pfft, no." She snapped her fingers. "I got it! Call me 'Pandora'! Nice to meet you all! Now I'm going to kill ya!"

"You're deciding that on a whim? You even thought about what you're gonna do after that? You just began existing." Jaune uttered cautiously.

"Silly boy, of course I thought about what I'm going to do!" Pandora tilts her head and smiles sweetly, with a dark edge across her lips. "I'm going to kill that rusty Blacksmith that tried to decide the purpose of my existence. Then, I'll take her power so I can do a little 'redecorating' of Ever After, and then leave and do the same for Remnant to better suit my idea of a fun world to be in."

Shion's eyes flickered in genuine fear, tightly gripping their Dream Catcher. "That would be most unwise. The Blacksmith is the avatar of the Great Tree. With that kind of power used carelessly, not only could Ever After fall apart but every ill, trouble, and evil it's ever been connected to will be unleashed solely upon Remnant. In the wrong hands one could cause untold, possibly uncountable calamities to take root everywhere."

Pandora smiled, cheerfully holding out her hands. "And do ya know what these are? The wrong hands!"

Pandora swiped her hands across, as multiple red roses swept across the field and pushed Ruby away, crashing her across multiple trees before smashing her into the ground.

"R-" Jaune was cut off as Pandora appeared before him with a cheeky smile, before she smashed a fist into his chest. He just barely put up his Aura Amped shield in time, forced back hard enough and nearly lost his balance. She appeared before him again with a vicious kick that sent him through a tree, nearly losing his breath from the force behind it. He stood back in time enough to block a blow from the side, and then forcefully push her back.

"Knights really should learn when their chivalry just isn't cutting it." Pandora shrugs, before her eyes flashed and a bright silver scythe manifested in her hands, which was tinted with a malicious red glow. "It just makes you look dumb when it leads to your death."

Ruby's eyes widened as Pandora slammed the scythe onto Jaune, who barely rolled out of the way; the impact of the curved tip of the blade tore the ground around her asunder, making it erupt upwards. Pandora hummed as she sensed Jaune right behind her, empowering his shield with Aura to bash her head. "It won't be that easy!"

"Agree to disagree!" Pandora cheers as she turns around on her heel and ends up shocking Ruby and Jaune both as her arm morphed to that of a blackened Beowolf arm and clawed at the center of his shield, pushing him back and rolling him across the ground. He managed to regain his footing soon enough, stunned. Ruby, even more so.

"How are you…"

"Like I said, I'm the culmination of many aspects my double has ever thought about herself, be they in dreams or nightmares. I'm everything she wanted to be." Pandora's smile spreads unnaturally, nearly splitting her skin. "And simultaneously…everything she fears she could be."

Pandora soon leapt into the air, a mass of black tar surrounding her. Before long, she emerged as a large canine Grimm with an eyeless mask, smashing her claws into his shield, which nearly tore right through him if he didn't put it up in time. She pulled her clawed fist back, as it immediately imbued itself with a silvery red light, before she smashed it into him, which sent him rocketing back with a shockwave that blew away nearly everything in that specific direction.

Ruby immediately set off to help Jaune, with Shion staying back and holding onto Little, and guarding Curious Cat and Zwei's body. Before she could reach him, Pandora jumped in front of her and smashed her clawed fist into Ruby, who barely managed to block, wincing as a silvery red flash accompanied the blow. She was sent crashing against the ground before stopping across the forest clearing, wincing as she tried to pull herself up.

Powers of the Silver Eyes and the Grimm mixed together without an issue?! She wouldn't have believed in the concept too strongly if she didn't see it for herself. But then again, Ever After was a land that was most likely to make these kinds of things achievable.

She soon leapt back as Pandora nearly smashed her with her claws again, with a stream of rose petals shooting forth and blasting Ruby in the chest. Wincing from the force, she wasn't given much time to retaliate, before the petals swiftly swirled around her, forming a giant blood red rose that entrapped her. Pandora formed her scythe again as she aimed to bisect Ruby while she was immobile.

She yelped as Jaune came bashing his shield into her side, knocking her off balance and briefly on her side. She shook her head and regained her bearings, with Jaune glaring at her, holding a manifested copy of Crocea Mors that appeared to be somewhat phantasmic. He turned to Shion, who's Dream Catcher was glowing the same as Jaune's Crocea Mors copy, indicating that they formed it for him.

"You're really going to rely on them? You're making a risky gamble!"

"I can't just do nothing." Jaune utters resolutely, as he then charges forth and slashes at Pandora, who parried the blow with her claws. Soon enough they slashed at each other one after another, with Jaune parrying some of the claws sent his way and blocking others with his shield, while Pandora kept her flurry of claw strikes increasing in pace, while mostly unbothered by the slashes Jaune managed to get in.

While they were clashing, Ruby was trying to escape from the giant rose she was trapped in, growling and crashing into and slashing the walls in an attempt to escape. It was to no avail, as she fell to her knees with exhausted breaths. She clenched her fists and bared her fangs, shaking her head.

"I need to get out of here, but these walls are tougher than they look…I have to get back out there, before she kills Jaune…" She attempted to slice at the walls again but slumped against them with another tired breath. "Damn it, tear down, already! I need to help Jaune! I need…" She demanded, before slowly coming to a stop. She stepped back in an attempt to regain her bearings, only to fall to her hands and knees again. What do I even do even if I do get out there…? What can I even…?

For a moment, Ruby was completely at a loss on what to do…or if she's capable of doing anything at all.

Unbeknownst to her, clouds of rose petals from within the conjured giant rose began reflecting upon her inner thoughts. Ever since she founded the Red Riding Hood Guild, she's had fun with her friends, family, and loved ones. But on the other side, while things obviously could have gone worse…things also didn't always go as well as she hoped. The worst of these events stuck close to Ruby's heart.

From Lilith's bloody massacre across Vale, to Madame Mara attacking and nearly killing her guild wholesale while nearly enslaving Cinder again, and then Salem's past villainous endeavors being broadcasted across the world. Being unable to stop Juno at Boreas and killing them all, to Juno getting uncomfortably close to killing Yang and Jaune, and then succeeding at killing Madame Xahn and Zwei.

Ruby became physically and emotionally exhausted as all of these small and large failures and disappointments combined their weight upon her soul all at once, and she began curling up on the ground, tears beginning to leave her.

How can a proper Guild Leader fail so much and so massively? You're only going to get your friends and family killed if you keep this up. Not only that but thousands of lives were lost on your watch!

Ruby laid still as a phantasm illusion of her double exclaimed to her with a sinister taunting smile. She was barely able to notice it, she didn't even turn her way.

Besides, your dream is completely impossible. Nobody will ever truly accept Salem, and because you're her granddaughter, the world will eventually reject YOU too! Everyone you've ever formed a true bond with, will be rejected and erased, because she was the woman who helped raise you! The one who was the world's enemy! How could you have ever truly thought you could change something like that or help anyone despite that?! Helping through negativity, look at you right now! You can't even help YOURSELF through negativity! You're a joke!

"Die…" Ruby uttered as she shook in place. "Just me…just let it be me that dies…if it will mean everyone else can go on, then just let it be me!" She snarled and whimpered as her claws dug into her shoulders enough to draw blood. Those same bloodied claws soon began making their way around her throat, and said claws began to draw blood from it as well. Just die already! Di-

"Ruby. Listen well."

Ruby blinked as she turned towards a warm presence, she's long become familiar with. It was her grandmother, Salem. But it was another memory, seemingly making its way to the front of her mind, seeing the Grimm Witch comforting a fifteen-year-old Ruby as she was crying in her lap.

"There's no need for you to turn away from your negative emotions. They are not there to hinder you but to aid you, guide you. And while it might seem dangerous to think this way, they are your greatest and most trustworthy guide to follow when you're at a low point. Because they allow you to identify what's wrong, and that you can take steps to amend them. Let them run their course, find the proper outlet for these emotions. Allow them to direct you towards focusing on what you can change, and take the burden of not being able to control what happens off of yourself."

Ruby blinked in astonishment at the memory of her grandmother's instruction, seeing herself wiping her tears and looking up from Salem's lap.

"The darkness welling within ourselves, and the negativity that empowers it. It's easy to say we never want to get hurt, but it's through negative emotions that we discover what truly holds meaning for us, and reveals what our core values are. Until you've fulfilled what drives these emotions, you must always keep moving forward."

The petals around Ruby began to fall around her more gracefully.

"Learn from my experiences, granddaughter. Do not allow your emotions to become a cage that isolates and ruins you, like I allowed them to do towards myself."

Ruby slowly brings herself up to her knees. A hand on one of them as she takes several deep, calming breaths..

..I'm sorry, Grammy…this is no way for your successor to act…

The red petals around her slowly began turning black. Her hair, also somewhat becoming even blacker and the red highlights becoming even more crimson, overshadowed her eyes.

My hatred, my fear, and my regrets…don't reject a single one. Realize them, regulate them…then release them!

From outside, the giant rose glowed brightly, and soon bloomed beautifully in a dark yet majestic aura. Something jumps out of it and moves forth with a blur, dashing right past the shocked Shion Zaiden.

Back outside, Jaune was smacked against the field while trying to avoid a series of glowing weapons sent down by Pandora, each of them quickly glowing red before exploding massively, disorienting him further. He hastily jumped back to avoid another blade, only to find himself winded when she struck his chest, his ensuing crash digging up the ground several times before coming to a breathed heavily while his Aura pulsed briefly, before Pandora appeared before him and smacked him down in a flurry of petals. His face ended up bloodied from the blow, as she outstretched her claws, then attempted to impale him through his back.

He vanished from the spot with a swirl of black petals. Pandora blinked as she turned towards the fluttering petals. Her head tilted in confusion at the suddenness of the approach, and then towards the difference in the person she briefly imprisoned.

The darkness began to intensify around Ruby, in swirls of black, red, and purple, as the fluttering rose petals began to turn black, with the outer surface of her cloak similarly turned black. Her skin began to turn much paler, and her hair and fur slowly turned even darker while keeping her red highlights. Her eyes briefly opened, their sclera turning black, and her eyes turning blood red whilst keeping silver pupils. They flashed briefly, as she fully stood up on her feet, her cape hovering around her. Her blackened wolf ears and tail fluffed slightly, her paws having carried Jaune in her arms, resting him against her bust. Before long, she slowly sets him down, and he opens his eyes in time to get a good long look at her drastically altered state.

"Ruby…what happened to you…?"

Ruby briefly looked at her paws, opening and closing them. Her wolf ears twitched, and her tail wagged. Before long, she simply smiled softly at Jaune. "I…feel more…awake."

"What's that you're mumbling over there?! Speak up! I can't hear ya!" Pandora exclaimed with a cheerful howl as her Grimm claws stretched and attempted to impale Jaune again.

Ruby's eyes narrowed dangerously, and to Pandora's shock, a scythe out of Grimm bones and black rose petals manifested in her hands and cleaved Pandora's arm right off. Ruby then gathered a spiral of black petals around her fist that morphed to that of a Beringel fist, and punched Pandora with incredible, increased force due to the combination. Pandora was flown back a few meters, her arm reforming, as she observed Ruby glaring at her with her eyes changed, and her own arm slowly shifting back to normal.

"Wow, you've certainly gotten a makeover! I wonder if your dear grandma had something to do with it."

"Even if she does, that doesn't matter right now. What's important is that I cut you down."

"HAH! You're talking like you could actually pull that off! We'll soon see about that!" With that, Pandora swiped her paw across, and vanished in a flurry of bloodied rose petals.

Ruby narrowed her eyes, before she turned towards Jaune, helping him back to his feet. "We should hurry. We heard about her plan; there's no way we can let her go through with it."

"We're all in agreement, then. Let us move." Shion utters with agency, as they lead the way, carrying Curious Cat in their arms. Ruby takes Zwei's body with her own,with little hopping onto her shoulder. She then realizes that she hasn't changed back from her Grimmified form, and wasn't able to A bit of focus later, and she realizes she couldn't use her Silver Eye powers, either. She still senses them, but it's like they've been locked behind a gate that wasn't there before. It appears she was stuck like this for the foreseeable future. Whether this was a temporary or permanent change, will have to be seen.

But it didn't matter. Whatever was happening to her, she would have to use it to its fullest in order to stop the current threat in Ever After, which would allow her to return home and deal with the other threats back on Remnant. She turned towards Jaune, who gently held her shoulder as his Aura slowly began to heal his wounds.

"Well…for what it's worth, you still look incredible."

"Thanks, Jaune." Ruby softly smiles, as black petals swirled beautifully around her, the darkness of the Grimm undeniably attached to her being. It was such a strange and creepy, ethereal feeling. And yet she felt so much more complete now that she's become aware of it, and the initial shock of the realization died down.

Looks like my heart isn't the only thing I have to figure out…

---

{Remnant}

Salem, within the comfort of her home, softly opened her eyes, sitting calmly in her rocking chair.

As she was reading through another book she gathered, she blinked as a familiar, powerful sensation pulsed strongly within her soul. She was initially confused by it, but after taking a moment to analyze and realize what it was, she slowly, softly smiled as she took off her reading glasses, resting a fist on her cheek with a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

Oh my. Has she finally begun to bloom? I do sense that my dear granddaughter has reached that true critical point. The beginning of proving herself my worthy, wonderful heir…

With sheer grandmotherly love in her eyes, Salem patiently waits for the time when all is said and done, that she can see her daughter's awakened new self in person with her own eyes.

---

As I said, this chappie didn't wanna cooperate with me too much. It fought me the entire time and had me by the neck. But I survived. And now? I'll thrive!

Gosh I'll sure try to. Beta has given me several pointers that I'll have to remember to commit to memory.

Anyway, we have several major appearances, such as Sienna Kahn finally entering the fray, and Summer Rose herself on the prowl! What powerful aid can these guiding forces provide, when the enemy actively plans around figures like Summer to keep her from directly interfering, like they did with Maria?

I'm sure she's got some ideas…

Meanwhile, GRIMM HYBRID RUBY.

I've personally waited to get this aspect for a while. It'll be a massive expansion of Ruby's skillset, as well as her perspectives on a lot of things she's come to know, as well as future important details she's soon to know. All of this will contribute to how she maneuvers onwards, with everything that's happening. Until then, she, Jaune, and Shion will have to tackle 'Pandora', who advertises herself as Ruby Rose at her apex.

Ruby prepares to challenge that stance, and potentially prove it false.

Until next time!