A chapter right before the year ends!

Honestly didn't think I could pull it off in time, but I managed to pull through somehow! Having gone through it with my beta EmperorLuffy, this one is the best I've done in a while. I might have made several more strides when it comes to writing this, and that fills me with a bit more confidence, and a surplus of more happiness.

Had to cut and trim a few things and save a chunk for the next chapter. Which might be for the best considering what's to come. So, let's just focus on progressing through this chapter in particular, to close out this year.

Time to start!


This place…

Blake wondered, calmly surveying her surroundings. For the most part, all she could see was the night sky, and the ground she was stepping on was almost immaterial. Not only was this night sky all around her, but it was decorated with countless stars all around her, the brightness of the moon being the only other source of luminance. It made for majestic scenery.

"How close to death was I, with that gamble…?"

"Honestly? I'd say it was pretty close."

Blake calmly turned towards the source of the voice, only to look up and see the source of it; a large, demonic cat, with glowing purple eyes, razor sharp fangs, and a wild coat of violet and black fur all over. The energy emitting off of the feline was intense and in waves, making it impossible for Blake to not sense it. And yet despite that, she wasn't even close to being intimidated. Instead, she mostly felt intrigued.

"Ciaran. How are you here?" Blake quietly questioned, gazing towards what she guessed was Ciaran's true form.

"Yes, that is a fair question, isn't it? I have to say, the inside of your soul isn't too shabby. Dark yet majestic. How fitting." 'Ciaran' chuckles while turning over and lying lazily on his side. "Don't worry. I'm not the real one, your enemy. You've definitely killed him, and his soul was obliterated. But that doesn't mean his cursed presence has completely gone away."

"What do you mean by that?"

His ears flicked as his tail gently thumped the ground. "Think of me as an 'echo' that he left behind after you killed him. I have all his memories, knowledge, and personality, but not the experiences that shaped them. As for how I'm here? It's very simple."

Blake, with the few clues that he laid down in the briefness of their interaction, beat him to the punch; "I've taken on your curse."

Ciaran shot her a sinister and horrific smile, that was all fangs and no muzzle. "Ah, you're not a bookworm for nothing, it seems. You catch on pretty quickly."

Blake looked at her hand, her tail swaying side to side in stoic wonder. "I've put together that I'm cursed. But why are you manifesting now?"

"With how much energy you've exhausted trying to corner that Juno woman, the curse has fully manifested in an attempt to continue existing. It's temporarily filling in for the Aura and Magic you've burned in that battle." Ciaran yawned slightly, turning on his back and grabbing the moon from the sky, then began playing with it like it was a ball of yarn, batting it this way and that with his paws. "And because of the curse power surging so strongly to keep your body functioning, it allowed this 'echo' of Ciaran to manifest." Ciaran' lightly licked the back of his paw and groomed his head. "Rest assured, once you've settled into your curse, this echo of Ciaran will be extinguished. In terms of being his own entity, I'm the last of him, before he completely ceases to be."

Blake rubbed her chin. "So, when I killed you, your cursed presence latched onto me and remained dormant, until it was activated when I completely burned out my Magic and Aura in a bid to kill Juno."

"In the essential sense, you've unknowingly absorbed the original Ciaran and obliterated his soul, while your body took his cursed power and made it your own. For a Cursed Beast who devoured souls to sustain his existence, it was a fitting fate." Ciaran turned over again, with a yawn. "And with the manifestation of that power, you've taken on his curse. It won't fully come into effect until you wake up."

"...What are the downsides? It is a curse after all." Blake narrowed her eyes cautiously. Ciaran smirks at how quickly she's catching on.

"There will be at least four." Ciaran held up a paw. "Firstly: This curse has been fully integrated into your being, down to your soul, and will be with you for the rest of your mortal life. If someone tries to purge this presence from you, your soul will be obliterated along with it, without question." The Cursed Beast rolled into his back and playfully stretched his paws. "Soooooo, try to avoid that whenever possible, okay?"

Blake folded her arms, her ears twitching. "Go on."

"Secondly: Due to my original's immense malefic nature from centuries of devouring human souls, you'll be attracting all kinds of cursed beings wherever you go. They'll want to devour you to absorb your curse power for their own benefit." Ciaran continues slyly, back up on his belly. "Thirdly, your presence, that very malefic nature leaking off of you, will greatly empower all Grimm within your vicinity, and overall make them even harder to kill, since they benefit the most from being around negativity. You'll probably even cause many weaker Grimm to become sapient and intelligent alongside their immense increase in power."

"...What about the fourth?" Blake beckoned him to continue on once more.

"Ah, the Fourth. When you awaken, the curse will also be attached to all immediate family members that you currently have." This actually caused Blake's eyes to widen slightly, and Ciaran ended up smiling because of it. "That's right. Ghira and Kali Belladonna will similarly be cursed like you, as their daughter. All of the above effects will be applied completely to them as well."

"... And there's no way to prevent that?"

"Oh, there's a surefire way to do so. Make the curse dissipate right here and now so that it can't attach to anything else. There's one definite way to make sure it can't spread to your parents." Ciaran suddenly appeared close to Blake, eyes connecting with one another as the area around them suddenly glowed a static violet, the space around them beginning to fall apart and glitch. "You can go on ahead and off yourself right now."

"Not happening." Blake deadpans.

Ciaran blinked, with all of the chaotic imagery stopping immediately. Then he backed off and sat on his haunches. "Okay, wow. I was actually not expecting you to decline that option…well, I did, but not that quickly." He tilted his head, rail swishing idly. "Are you sure? You'll be putting your friends through even more hardships just by being near them, and those will also apply to your family."

"We're used to hardships. A few more of them won't be enough to break us." Blake declares, resolute. "And besides, I can't put my parents through that. They would prefer to share this burden with me than to let me kill myself to free them from it." Blake's eyes narrowed with focus, her ears flickering. "And my friends aren't so weak as to let this stop them."

"You sound so certain."

"As for my parents…loving parents that have to bear the burden of outliving their children is the worst curse they could ever experience, especially to something like their young taking their own life." Blake's taciturn expression calmed. "A curse like this is far more bearable."

Ciaran whistled. "My my, such an iron will, you Belladonnas have. It appears I've underestimated you again. My apologies. You'll make a fantastic Cursed Beast."

"A sincere apology? You really are a more polite echo of the vile original…" Blake utters while folding her arms under her breasts. "At any rate, I'm prepared to deal with the costs. Now, what are the benefits?"

Ciaran' smiles wickedly. "Straight to business. I like that." He suddenly appears on her shoulder, lazily lying forward over it. "This part of the chat will be far more fun!"

As Blake listened on, the prospects became more and more appealing to her, as she was already made well aware of the risks. But if she can gather herself and incorporate the rewards into her next moves, then dealing with those cons for the long haul will be easier for her. This image training will do her well until she wakes up.

Time to see what the power of curses can really do.


{Kuchinashi: One Week and Four days Later}

"Alright, Yang. I'm going to send you this way." Raven pointed forwards, gesturing towards a glowing dome appearing as a silvery barrier. The dome was emitting gentle, silver waves with every pulse of energy, as if it was gradually being strengthened from its maintained existence. "You're going to go and clear out the area of hostiles there."

"Phew. What kind of hostiles are we dealing with, here?" Yang questioned, stretching her arms upwards. Her hair was messier than usual, multiple strands going this way and that. She hasn't brushed or groomed herself in a while, which had her hair looking much more unkempt and wilder like Raven's. Her eyes were currently flowing crimson, meaning she was focused on the next battle to come, already raring to go. "What am I going to be dealing with?"

"Grimm, most likely. Powerful ones too. Possibly sentient. I won't be able to guide you with this one, as this barrier is keeping me out." Raven deduced while her black wings flapped behind her, a slight hint of annoyance in her voice. A barrier that's specifically and carefully crafted to keep certain people out and everyone who's caught in it inside is a dangerous ability to have. Raven is one of the people who can't enter these barriers, so Yang has to go inside on her own. "These damn barriers are not only tough, but their esoteric properties are also unique. Even trying to warp on the other side of it won't work. I've already tried."

"Really? So, they've been planning around you, huh?" Yang whistled while cracking her knuckles slightly.

"Thoroughly." Raven lightly scratched the top of her head. "These harlots are cocky, but they're not complete fools. The barriers are specifically keeping me, Calavera, Goodwitch, and Summer out. They know who the threats are and are minimizing our access to crucial areas to their machinations."

"So, it looks like I have to go at this alone, then."

"Not completely alone, but yes, I'm not holding your hand. Not that I intend to, but these barriers aren't giving me a choice." Raven pointed again. "So that's that. Go in there and kick their asses."

"Once again, you're not really saying who 'they' are, Ma. These Grimm, what am I dealing with?"

"You'll know who and what they are when you sense them."

"You're really not helping right now, ya know that?" Yang sighed while rustling her own hair. "Do you even know if I can handle it or not?"

"You'll handle it." Raven answered resolutely. "And that's not a matter of simple belief, I know that what you're capable of is more than enough to handle this. You've the strength, the skill, and the will. It falls upon you to channel them towards a path of victory."

Yang lightly looked at her hand, then tightened it into a fist as it heats up slightly, before lifting her head. Wordlessly, she enters through the barriers a ripple effect sounding outwards from her presence. Raven watches her from where she stood, a hand on the hilt of her sword. Her daughter's faith in her own strength has been shaken ever since losing to Juno, with Ruby and Jaune suffering for it and disappearing. So, the first thing Raven had to take care of was helping her build that faith back up, by reminding her of why her own strength was reliable in the first place. Raven wasn't Summer; she won't be able to encourage Yang the way she would, so she'd have to do so in the way that she knew best, and also knew that it would work for Yang in times like this.

Fighting.

"There are some realizations about ourselves that words alone cannot help us reach." Raven uttered, turning around and suddenly appearing in a different area in Kuchinashi. She slightly extended her fingers and gripped the hilt of her sword. Her black wings fluttered, as she slowly turned around to face something hovering before her, in a brilliant light. An angel was flapping its wings and was in the middle of focusing its power squarely on her. "But you guys wouldn't be able to understand something like that, would you?"

They attempted to smite her with their beams of sacred light, bringing down their wings and arms to fire them. They would never get the chance to do so, for they already found their arms and wings severed from their bodies, her flying past them with her sword drawn. Another one appears and brings down their blade, only for her to quickly turn around and parry the blade, knocking them off balance. This leaves them severed in several pieces once she struck again, then slashing downwards to send a larger once crashing into the ground, the slash leaving a crevice in the ground that extended for several yards.

Raven sheathes her sword, her eyes softly glowing red under the shadows of her hair. "How about you morons just go back to your dimension instead of causing undue chaos?" She grumbled in annoyance, as they attempted to blast her with sacred power from all sides. She stabbed the ground, and a field of malefic power surrounded her and deflected every ounce of energy sent her way. She pulled it back out and swiped her blade to the side, her eyes blazing. "You guys as a whole tend to be bad at taking no for an answer. It makes you all look pathetic."

"That tends to be how they operate, Raven." Summer hummed, hopping right next to her in a spiral of white rose petals. "How are you doing?"

"Well enough that I hardly need your help. "Raven scoffed but didn't actively shoo Summer away. "What about you? Weren't you hanging with the brats?"

"I was, but then I got word of the angels appearing across Mistral and causing destruction in their wake, so I could stay for long." Summer pouted, palming her face. "Which is a real shame, that I had to leave so soon. I really wanted to talk with Cinder."

"Well, you're here now. It's time for work." Raven utters as she cleaves through another beam of light, the waves causing trenches on both sides of her. This is an opening Summer took, as she nodded and dashed towards the angels ahead, eyes shimmering.

"Members of my bloodline have appeared and have allowed angels to come pouring from the other world into ours. They're even creating some outright." Summer narrowed her eyes as she dodged another swift beam, turning over and leaping overhead. She manifested a glowing ax construct made of glowing white roses and smashed diagonally. She ended up slicing through several angels that were in her way, as well as the top half of a mountain behind them. It ends up slicing and falling off, only to dissipate into rose petals before it could seriously damage anything else. "Mistral is going to get torn apart at this rate if it keeps up, and we can't even attack the ones responsible. They were really prepared for our presence."

"Doesn't matter. We know what we have to do." Raven muttered as multiple swords were constructed around her. They all began glowing red, being infused with diabolic power, her eyes flashing a malevolent red, a similar sinister red glowing across her black wings. "Let's see you self-righteous bastards handle this." With a wave of the sword in her hand, the swords flew forwards and landed simultaneously, forming a circle around the other angels. Her eyes flashing again, the swords began glowing again, and soon an eruption of demonic power shot upwards, obliterating the angels in a massive explosion of energy.

And Yang knows what she has to do…

Yang was running through the streets of Kuchinashi, some of the citizens immediately getting out of the way and finding shelter when more angels began attacking. Every now and then, Yang would jump over one of their projectiles and smash their skills in with a fiery fist. Their armor would be scorched off and pulsating pumps of flesh would be revealed, along with several eyes that stared at her, affronted at her audacity.

Yang would punch the eyes as well, burning them, and keep on moving. She landed across a clearing with narrowed eyes, blazing red with her inner fire. She clenched her fist and uppercuts another, incinerating it in a pillar of inferno. She turns around on her heel, punching off the head of another, with the added kick of Ember Celica firing off a blazing bullet.

'Keep this in mind, brat. Angels are less about good and more about light. It doesn't matter if the light is benevolent or malevolent.' She recalled Raven lecturing her with caution. 'When it comes to the supernatural world, they want to be in charge of everything, while leaving Remnant's people abused and abandoned. The foreboding glint in Raven's eye stayed with Yang for a long time when she told her this. 'The chances are not impossible for them to be potential benevolent allies, but those chances are cripplingly low. I assure you, more often than not, they're an enemy.'

Yang bashes her fiery first through another angel's chest as they caught fire, and she continues to dash towards her destination. "These angels aren't nearly as powerful as the ones those four summoned. Must be foot soldiers. They're likely saving the big guns for their own personal use." Yang narrowed her eyes as she slid into a wide-open space, and her eyes focused on the path ahead of her, as well as the sinister Aura that she senses in front of her.

A Grimm was tearing into the corpse of an angel that seemed darker than the others, with their wings being jet black, being surrounded by a malefic red aura, which was slowly being drained by the Grimm in question eating them. Yang clenched her fists slightly as she raised them in a preparatory stance.

'Fallen Angels are like angels who've abandoned their self-righteous bullshit and fully embraced their evil nature without a filter.' Raven slashed through a Fallen Angel in question at the time, cleaving it clean in two as her wings flapped in defiance. 'It doesn't mean that they're inherently on the side of darkness, but that their light fully embraces becoming malevolent, with energy colors of red and black. They can unleash their more wicked impulses to their hearts content.'

The Grimm, which Yang could see appeared to be a much more menacing Sphinx than they tend to be, chomped on and tore free another piece of angel flesh from the corpse, then turned towards Yang with a gleam in its eyes as it pulsed with power, surging from the angel corpse to the Grimm.

'The most severe downside to this turn of their nature is that they empower the Grimm around them enough to defeat and devour them, due to Grimm feeding on and being strengthened by negativity and malevolence. The Grimm are one of the few natural predators that can render a Fallen Angel completely helpless.'

Yang clenched her first as the Grimm dashed towards her and lashed its claws towards her. She blocked with her arms crossed, its masked skull face before her as its eyes cleaned behind it. She was briefly taken back by the sheer malefic presence it was emitting after eating the Fallen Angel.

"You're looking to be eaten too, human?!"

Shit! This feels a lot like Lilith from back then. A Grimm Devil?! It's within that ballpark, but slightly weaker…did they expand their hierarchy? Yang wondered, gripping the Grimm by its throat and punching it away, getting some distance for herself. It landed on all fours, roaring in outrage at her audacity. "Yo! Since you can speak, the hell is your deal?!"

"We've been inspired and reenergized by the calamity that our fellow Grimm have brought, and the rallying words of Salem, and the encouraging destruction across Vale caused by Lilith!" It extended its claws, malefic energy surging through them. "We've become inspired to craft our own era of evolution!"

Yang was barely able to block the blow in time, tumbling across the ground several times before crashing back first into a wall. She ducked her head to dodge a sharpened pair of claws, before clenching her fist and punching the beast in the chest to send it back. "Ugh, that's the last thing people need in the middle of all this bullshit; the Sphinx feeling extra fired up by the chaos!" She blocked its next blow with the back of her hand, the ground surging around them slightly. Yeah, this feels like a Grimm Devil's strength alright, just not as potent as Lilith's back then.

She jumped back as a surge of energy swirled menacingly above her head, and she dashed back as an explosion of black and red happened where she just stood. She slides across the ground, raising and clenching her fists with her eyes glowing with focus.

'With the mass shakeup following Lilith's defeat and a majority of other Devils being wiped by these four Celestians, the layout of the Grimm hierarchy went through an overhaul.' Yang recalls Raven informing her, while she's punching away the blows from the Grimm attempting to pounce upon her. 'Feral Grimm operated solely on instinct and attack like mindless beasts. Alpha Grimm is immensely stronger and have gained awareness and are now able to lead Feral Grimm around as their own packs.' She punched the paw that the Grimm launched towards her, clashing blows as it cracked the ground around them. 'Then there are Grimm Devils who have fully awakened their demonic self and are now capable of more arcane abilities. The amount of danger they can bring will vary, but they remain a high threat level amongst the Grimm.'

"A new era of Grimm Devils. Yeah, that's not a good look." Yang narrowed her eyes as she blocked another blow with her arm, Aura surges around her arm with a bright golden glow, which was similarly brimming with heat. "You guys are keeping up with the times even with all these changes. Should've expected that, but I definitely didn't want it." They clashed fists again as the energy around them exploded against each other. Yang slid back, with the Sphinx also sliding black, both of them ending up slightly sizzled from the blast. "Of all the creatures to evolve with the times, you're the last ones that need it! You've been hounding every other creature during the Dark Ages! We don't need a repeat of that!"

"That's not up to you!" Its black wings spread outwards as multiple feather blades fired forth from them, which forced Yang in a retreat to avoid and dodge a majority of them. She burned several barrages of them away with a fiery Aura, before she jumped back as the Sphinx Grimm slammed its pawed fist where she was just standing, cracking the ground apart. Her eyes widened as its serpent tail lashed at her with bared fangs. She dodged to the side, but that left her open to the Sphinx Grimm dashing forth and striking her across the face with a malefic infused paw, sending her hurtling across the ground and through several structures. "While other creatures keep beholding themselves to the meaningless argument of whose way of life is right, we Grimm are waiting to tear you all apart. That is what makes the Grimm superior to all other creatures! No matter how different our motivations become due to our growing awareness, our goals always remain aligned!"

Yang ended up crashing against a corner with her back against the wall, breathing heavily as blood ran down her face. "Well…yeah, I can't even argue with that. No matter where you approach it individually, you guys tend to have a nigh-unbreakable united front." Yang pulled herself up, as she is reminded of the Spider Grimm, Fuzzy Wuzzy, and how he integrated himself comfortably with the Malachites Family. He was proof that Grimm are perfectly capable of acting outside of their instincts if given the awareness and the choice; it just wouldn't be one that a majority of them would make. "But you ought to know that not every Grimm is going to be on board with that."

"The Grimm adhere to their instincts and use them to destroy everything else, they're the ones who are truly worthy of dominating. The world was helpless before us, unable to decide upon what they wanted or how they wanted to get it. Something which our nature allows us to realize instantly."

Yang huffed at that, as she stood up and swiped her thumb across her nose. "You truly are proud of yourself, huh. Can't say I'm against that in of itself."

Yang slowly stands on her two feet and puts her fists up in preparation, as they ignited on fire. Her eyes narrowed as she focused, dashing towards the Sphinx Grimm, who came at her with its black flames and slashed at her with its flaming claws. She parried the blow and went for a punch to its side, though she was forced to duck under its serpent tail to dodge. This in turn gave it an opportunity to lash its tail across her face, sending her tumbling across the ground. She didn't stagger too much, stomping the ground and snorting to regain her focus. Her eyes glowed brightly; her hair lit with golden flames. She closed her eyes and channeled power into her fists as she dodged under another claw swipe.

So many souls around me, wracked with pain… Yang thought deeply, channeling her soul, as a golden aura surrounded her, but also hints of red and blue circling around her feet. She dodged around another claw swipe from the Sphinx, even as a slight scrape appeared across her cheek. Combine the energetic passion of red, and the calm trustworthiness of blue. To be able to uplift and enlighten people towards the possibility of tomorrow, I have to be creative and imaginative. The serpent tail grazed past her, tearing a gash in her side, but she paid it no mind, her concentration unbroken as the red and blue energies surrounding her began to mix. I can sense it…the flames of compassion…and arcane power.

"My golden flames have the illuminating power of the sun going for me. Confidence and success." Yang utters as she dodges under the winged blades of the Sphinx Grimm, which leaves it open for her next attack. "My father's eyes are a calming and committing blue, while my mother's eyes are a strong and powerful red. Whaddya get when those colors and energies are mixed together?"

Yang's eyes opened as they returned to being lilac, but they were still glowing brightly. Her right fist remained ignited with bright golden flames, while her left fist was ignited with a sizzling entanglement of red and blue flames, until they fully combined and mixed together to create…

"Purple."

A flaming pillar of gold and purple launched towards the Sphinx Grimm, completely overtaking its attempts to blast her with a pillar of black flames. The combined arcane flames completely overwhelmed the malefic black flames, incinerating the Sphinx, their flames being consumed by her combined ones. When it was completely obliterated by the flames, Yang nearly stumbled forward. But she stopped herself, standing strong. She took a few breaths, before she raised her fist, ignited with golden flames.

The people around her could see her, her golden aura shining brilliantly, the warmth of it washing over everyone in the area. The purple outline of her flames also brings an uplifting warmth across them as well. After taking a moment to realize that the threats had been defeated, they all began to cheer with tears of relief and joy. Seeing all of them gathering around her flames, as if she were a living campfire providing an uplifting warmth after enduring dark times, made her smile tiredly, yet triumphantly.

"It's okay now…it's okay…" She reassures, her smile beaming with sunshine.

Off to the side, far outside the barrier, Raven and Summer could see Yang's triumph from where they stood. Summer awakes pleasantly pleased, holding the torn wing of an angel in her werewolf paw, while Raven was still wiping blood off of her cheek.

"It seems that Yang was able to realize more potential for herself." Summer smiles proudly while tilting her head towards Raven. "You think she's ready for…?"

"No. Not yet. There's still plenty of time left before she gets to that point." Raven declares while watching Yang from afar, seeing her brilliantly shine, her uplifting warmth washing over everything in the area. Eventually reaching her as well. "...But for the situation at hand, this advancement will suffice."

"Is that so?"

"Tch, shouldn't you be worried about the other daughter of ours?"

"Obviously I'm worried about Ruby. Maternal instincts don't just suppress themselves that easily." Summer calmly shakes her head. "But I'm able to keep my cool. Because I know she'll be alright."

Raven nodded softly, not saying anymore. At any moment Yang will leave the barrier, and they'll be able to take her to her next destination. It will be a rough time, with Yang still wanting to reunite with her sister. But for the time being, she'd have to resolve herself so that she doesn't fall against her current enemies again.

This is an inner strength Yang cultivated thanks to Summer. And Raven, without regret, is forever indebted to the latter for that.


{Argus: One Day Later}

Oscar was trying not to feel too worried, after everything that happened. But it was pretty hard for him to do so, when considering the consequences and results of the previous few days. Blake was currently the worst injured of the lot at the moment, and until everyone was properly healed and prepared for another encounter, it was ill-advised to start another clash with the enemy Celestians. They needed time to recover, as much as they could afford for themselves.

Though it would take time for Sienna to return, as she's the one who made the play for everyone to gather in the Faunus homelands for recovery. But since that would take an extended amount of time, the group has little choice but to hold out in Argus until she returns. It made for an uneasy waiting period for sure, but there wasn't much else they could do. Ruby and Yang were still missing, and Blake was out of commission due to the sheer extent of her injuries. It wasn't the easiest thing to accept, but in this instance, they simply had to grit their teeth and bear it for the time being. It still didn't make the wait any easier to handle, given the circumstances.

Pyrrha was also sitting idly, her arms hugging one of her knees. Her emerald eyes glazed across the city of Argus, her hometown. Eyes lowering, she wondered just how much things have changed here and yet so much remained the same, with how the people have reacted to her. Some of them have recognized her while passing by, with mixed reactions of disappointment or uncertainty, muttering unsavory things about her. 'Forsaken' was amongst them, and it made her wince more than she was willing to admit to herself.

On one hand, she could still see the resentment in their eyes towards her for her perceived crimes back then, even though she's been legally cleared of them. On the other hand, her performance and dedication to the Red Riding Hood Guild were undeniable within the eyes of those not stuck in tradition. She can't quite erase the fact that the incident, no matter what, damaged her reputation within Mistral's eyes as a whole. It left her feeling isolated within her own homelands. She couldn't even go to her old house here; that's long since been broken down and destroyed after the incident.

Only a few people have truly stuck by her before and after. And two of them were missing. Nora was definitely a comforting presence that kept her spirits up, but she was still worried about the whereabouts of Ruby, Jaune, and Yang. She was unable to be there for their friends and now they could be anywhere, in any kind of danger. It wasn't a lack of faith in them to handle themselves, she's the last person to doubt their ability to take care of themselves. She believed in them as fellow fights, warriors, and heroes. But as a friend, she couldn't help but worry about them.

Be that as it may, she also has to focus on the friends right before her, because their wellbeing is the only thing she can directly influence at the moment. She looks to the side, seeing that Oscar was in just as deep thought as she was herself. Wanting to fill in the anxious silence, she brings herself closer to him.

"Hello, Oscar." She greeted him with a soft smile, getting his attention.

"Oh, hi Pyrrha. Was I spacing out?" He utters sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm just thinking about stuff."

"How coincidental; so was I." Pyrrha seated herself next to him, and both of them simply stared out into the expanse of Argus, the various citizens simply going about their day. Pyrrha's crimson hair flowed with the oncoming breeze, along with the sash around her waist. "Have you been able to talk to your aunt lately?" She began, hoping to take both of their minds off of unsavory subjects.

"I have, but she's been worried sick about me ever since things started going crazy wrong around Mistral." Oscar mutters while scratching the top of his head. "I haven't been able to sit down and talk to her in a while, at least not recently. I've been wanting to for a while, but so much has been happening in-between my last visit." He groaned while shaking his head. "I really meant to message her earlier, but I lost track of it with so much on my mind. Of course, that's no excuse. I've just finished messaging and apologizing to her now."

"But of course, she still wants to see you in person." Pyrrha deduced, and Oscar could only sheepishly look away with a confirming nod. Pyrrha smiles softly. "I want to be honest, Oscar. I do sometimes miss that feeling. Of being able to come back home to family members that love you." Pyrrha hums wistfully, gazing outwards towards Argus at the thought of her parents. She remembers the days that she felt more at home being with her friends than she ever did with her family. There was a bit of gratitude for her friends in that manner, but there was also a bit of melancholy over the fact that she never felt as safe with the family that raised her. "At a certain point, I did wonder if I was simply living my life incorrectly, and they were punishing me for it."

The silence lasting an extended time, Oscar wasn't completely sure how to respond to that. Meanwhile Pyrrha's smile lowered slightly, as if she brought something burdensome up that didn't need to be. But before she could apologize, Oscar collected himself, lightly palming the sides of his face. "Sorry, I'm spacing out again. I was just thinking." He smiled as he turned to her with a bit more confidence. "Anyway, there is something that you count on us for, and it's that you'll always have a place to belong with us. No one among us is ever going to make you feel unwanted, or that you don't belong. Nothing about how you lived your life is wrong."

Pyrrha turned to Oscar with a soft smile, sliding her arms around him for a tender hug. "Thanks, Oscar. The uncertainty tends to get to me. But I'll keep conquering it again and again, as many times as I need to."

"That's what really makes you a champion in our eyes." Oscar reassures again, and Pyrrha feels the weight on her shoulders becoming a bit easier to bear, as it wasn't only hers.

"Are you two doing alright?"

Oscar and Pyrrha turned towards Leonardo Lionheart, who was returning from a meeting with Empress Miyako. They could see the stress under his eyes. Not from the Empress herself, she was playful and generous most of the time unless things were truly dire. Which they were, but most of the stress came from the various other officials who weren't as understanding or as patient as she was, even though she and the final say after taking their considerations into account.

Needless to say, Lionheart's position was not an envied one.

"Sir Lionheart! Yes, we're doing fine. We're just talking about, well, each other." Pyrrha politely greeted, with the lion Faunus raising a hand.

"Please, dispense with the formality. You of all the young warriors back then are more than welcome to address me however you like." Lionheart turns to Oscar. "Oscar, my boy. How are you holding up?"

"I'm surviving." Oscar utters with a soft nod. "I know that doesn't exactly mean I'm doing well, but until things are more stable, I'll have to settle with that for now."

"I see. You're as stressed as I am, then. For different reasons." Lionheart sighed while punching the bridge of his nose. "The Mistral Assembly is growing restless. Empress Miyako is keeping them in line, but they're also trying to keep her from joining the front lines herself. She dearly loves her home, so seeing it being put in such disarray deeply angers her." He shook his head. "Be that as it may, she cannot be allowed to risk her life by joining the battle, unless there is absolutely no choice."

"Because that means that everyone else failed to perform their duties…a grave mark of dishonor." Pyrrha utters, and Lionheart nodded solemnly.

As much as the warriors and champions of Mistral could probably use help from their Empress, that last resort would mean that they've failed to live up to their titles and their duties. They would prefer getting wiped out completely than resorting to relying on her strength. Pyrrha did not agree with this conclusion, but she currently did not have the power, and especially not the influence given her past, to change this perspective. She wondered if there was any way to improve things on this front.

Off to the side, Weiss was folding her arms while gazing towards where the military base for Argus used to be, which has been eradicated amongst Juno's lightning strikes across Mistral. There was no time to plan for an evacuation or prepare for battle, so there were no survivors.

Which most likely was the point; strike hard and fast enough to completely erase the possibility of a reaction. Atlas was of course not going to take this lying down and have already made arrangements to send some support over to Argus. The idea should have given Weiss some degree of comfort and relief, but she got the distant feeling that it would turn out to be a bad idea.

But she couldn't quite think about that right now, there were things she could only control in the present. The future could be taken into deep consideration, but until she could place herself in a position to properly handle it, she could afford to let it distract her. She was still hurt from the previous battle, but she can move. And so long as that was possible, she was not out of the fight just yet.

Blake was still unconscious, having taken the brunt of the damage taking to the front lines against Juno. She's had time to recover, but she hasn't woken up yet. Hence why they're trying to wait for Sienna to return with Arcadia. It's the safest they could rest at the moment, since currently all of Mistral has been compromised. Their reach became extremely vast extremely quickly. It's becoming clear that they have the power and the will to back up their threats as well as their boasts.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by Nora and Penny clapping her shoulders, which made her jump slightly. "Heeeyyyy Weiss! /Salutations, Weiss!"

"Oh for-can you not just jump out of nowhere like that!?" Weiss scolded, though this did not wipe the smiles off either of their faces. She sighed while massaging the bridge of her nose, before shaking her head. "Honestly, you two. It's utterly surprising that you're still able to stay this energetic, even during times like this."

"It's not that we're not taking it seriously, Weissy. We're also just keeping it simple." Nora flashed her eye as she pulsed her bicep, lightning surging through it. "We take on any enemy that tries to mess up Blake, and we smash them! See? Simple!"

"The simple approach does seem to be the best one in this instance. At least in terms of mentality." Penny adds with a nod. "We only need to focus on holding our ground until Lady Sienna arrives with Arcadia, and while we do so, we're protecting Blake until she awakes."

"True. But the fact that they could happen upon us at any moment has me concerned. I haven't been able to sleep as well as I did before."

Nora lightly pats Weiss's shoulder. "That's why we took shifts, to watch each other's backs. Alert the others when they can sense those jerks coming. Although Cinder insisted multiple times that she could handle the job herself."

Weiss shook her head in exasperation. "Cinder's impressive self-confidence will claim she can do a lot of things, that doesn't mean she can support them all."

"I HEARD THAT, SCHNEE!"

Weiss rolls her eyes. "Anyway, the main thing is that the enemy is preparing for us like we're preparing for them."

"Plans don't always survive contact with the enemy, Weissy!" Nora cheerfully pointed out.

Weiss turned to her with a flat stare. "You realize that applies to both sides, right?"

"Yup!"

Weiss still flatly stares at her, before she begins massaging the bridge of her nose with a soft sigh. "...You know what, fine."

"Success!"

Weiss turned to the side, seeing Cinder off to the sides eating quite a bit. Cinder took to gorging herself on all the food she could before a major outing at the moment, which was her way of shaving off her impatience and fury building up within her. She's been like this for days.

Cinder grunted as she munched on a soft pretzel, looking around, vigilant. Her eyes narrowed sharply, her instincts on high alert despite currently indulging her gluttony. She knew she had to be on her toes, her wings flapping every now and then in readiness. There was a barrier around Argus, undoubtedly created by Celimene. There were many who couldn't leave, and a specific few who could not even enter.

Summer was one of those few.

"If they're crafting these barriers specifically to keep Grand Witches like me out and nothing else, that means that they know that we're one of the biggest threats to them. This unfortunately means that I'll have to be elsewhere to kill angels that are popping up all over Mistral. Please take care of yourselves in the meantime. We'll find another opportunity to sit down and mingle. Pinky promise!"

"Ruby's mother. Summer Rose. Thanks to these barriers created by Celimene, she can't intervene in critical areas. How vexing." Cinder uttered while biting more into her pretzel. She's already heard Ruby speak about her mother, but it was a different experience entirely to be right in front of her. It's unfortunate that they didn't have much time to speak to one another, there was plenty that Cinder wanted to know about her, from one of the two matriarchs. But that would have to wait, for the current problem prevented them from having that opportunity. "Now then. With them securing their advantage, how will those trollops strike, and from where? Or are they building up their forces and spreading their influence? Both can be simultaneously applicable, but which will they prioritize…?"

Cinder wasn't given much time to ponder it. She senses something in the air, something materializing before then. Looking upwards, she was able to sniff out what it was in no time.

High above Argus, nearly completely hidden by the clouds, the Sanctuary was hovering overhead, its radiant glow currently hidden for the time being. Standing on the edge, Juno was overseeing the city, eyes glimmering with silver sparkles. She was thinking over her next move, her thumb on her chin.

"There's a certain art to these things, Juno." Themis chimes in as she stands beside her, folding her arms under her cloak. "You're useless as you are right now. I'm going to take over things here. You'll only need to sit back and watch."

"Hmph. Calling me useless. That's pretty bold of you." Juno rolled her eyes, folding her arms as her hair flowed with the oncoming breeze. "Bold enough for me to kill you over."

"As if you could." Themis scoffed as she spreads her hands, before bringing them together. Up ahead, she could see a fleet of Atlan ships over the horizon. Themis' eyes shimmered brilliantly as she extended her fingers, chains appearing in-between them. "Now then, I think it's about time we engage in some culling, wouldn't you agree?"

"Do it."

Themis opened her arms, as several chains extended outwards, before they gradually vanished. Her eyes glowed softly as she could see her chains from afar, how they each began wrapping around the pilots of the Atlan ships and empowering them with her energy she distributed between them. Their guns, canons, and other weapon systems were slowly transmuted to generate a sacred energy source to serve as fuels for their ammo. She then began extending them and directed them towards Argus. The chains wrapped around the ships and the pilots and soldiers within them. Their minds were quickly subsumed by brilliant light overriding their thoughts, and they were soon thinking of nothing but following Themis' orders.

"This is Divine Punishment."

Penny sensed something was wrong, almost as immediately as Cinder did. Both of them ended up turning towards the skies as something began gathering within them. It took a few moments, but soon enough it clicked for them instantly. Their eyes widened as they immediately turned around.

"EVERYONE RUN AND TAKE COVER!"

The onslaught rained down upon them.

A hail of bullets, a barrage of missiles, and cannon fire. Each of them created from sacred energy that glowed a bright mystical silver, began devastating and destroying everyone that they targeted. Buildings were torn apart, the streets exploded, shielding failed instantly due to the sheer potency and sheer number of attacks raining down on everyone and everything.

The citizens were not spared the onslaught; even as Cinder scurried to scoop up Nora, Ren, and Weiss before flying to cover, using her own transformed dragon body to protect them from the hailstorm of bullets and rockets. Many of them were still gunned down right before their eyes, bullets piercing through their skills and hearts in a matter of seconds. Pyrrha was the one who quickly gathered a field of esoteric magnetism over herself as she deflected most of the bullets, the field surrounding herself, as well as Oscar, and the area where Blake was still currently resting. Penny provided shielding over herself, as she attempted to expand her shielding as much as she could around passerby. Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of bullets and explosive rockets raining down from the skies, she couldn't focus her field enough to expand further, meaning civilians were left either being gunned down or engulfed in fiery explosions.

This onslaught continued for about four minutes, before the ships departed, and continued their assault in other areas.

Penny and Pyrrha slowly opened their eyes, and they widened slowly as she surveyed the damage that was done to Argus…

Passersby who were just minding their own business had no way of preparing for the sudden attack and were mercilessly struck down. Some who were able to notice in time attempted to find cover, with the unfortunately unsuccessful ones either being shot through the back with a hail of bullets or scorched alive from the sheer heat of the explosions, if their bodies didn't end up blown apart or destroyed either. Bullet holes decorated the bodies of men, women, children, and elderly. The attack was completely indiscriminate, and the casualties were high.

Penny, nearly falling into a near robotic focus as she calculated the number of lives lost by doing a wide scan over the entirety of Argus, easily reached the thousands, with exactly a hundred and twenty-four survivors, not counting those who were quickly dying from their severe wounds. Most of the Atlan soldiers that were set in Argus to protect it couldn't even return that some of their brethren would turn on them and slaughter them en masse, thus the last thing on their minds before being killed was likely to be disbelieving shock. Penny being here should have emboldened them with her presence; she could now only look at their lifeless bodies with her eyes lowering softly, shaking her head as she kept the tears away.

Pyrrha simply walked across the road, eyes still surveying everything that had transpired before her eyes. Nearby buildings ended up collapsing when the damage done to them completely compromised their integrity. Weeping and crying citizens who had the fortune-or misfortune-of barely surviving the onslaught could only plead with their deceased loved ones to wake up and move. Finally, she came across the scorched remains of Sanctum, which had been destroyed much earlier. The place where she trained with her fellow warriors and at a certain point called her home. She was kicked out during one of the lowest periods of her life, and in fact one of the lowest moments of her life happened here, but she still considered it home. And now she comes back to it once more, with nothing but rubble to its memory.

Weiss coughed slightly as she shook dirt off of his head, she stood up with her eyes slowly widening in horror as she saw the aftermath of the destruction for herself. She looked across the scorched ground, where many civilians have been killed, and livelihoods have been utterly destroyed. She looked towards some of the fallen soldiers from Atlas, seeing their dying struggles from trying to help their fellow brethren before falling to the ground, never to get up again. The sight of soldiers from her home having fallen so disgracefully and without any warning, anguished her, her eyes watering slightly from the shock of it all, before she shook her head and wiped the tears away with her sleeve. At the moment there was really only one thing she could question about all of this.

"...How could they…?" Weiss uttered quietly, the frost beginning to build around her once she sensed the approach of hostels. She already knew well who it was, and why they were here. She turned towards them, her hand tightly gripping Myrtenaster in the process.

Descending onto the scene was Themis, alongside Celimene, and finally Orella. Juno was nowhere to be seen amongst them, but Weiss could sense the woman's presence regardless. And even from a distance she could also feel her condescending gaze bearing down upon her. Themis regarded Weiss with nothing but a scoff. "You know full well why this happened, Schnee. It should be quite obvious, shouldn't it?"

"Can't you see that what you're doing is wrong?!"

"Your perspective of right and wrong is skewed and invalid, Schnee. I already know that I'm right. What's wrong is trying to convince me that you and Atlas aren't a problem that will eventually need to be culled." Themes scoffed as chains channeled around her, glowing silver. "If you truly had even an inkling of Atlas's true colors, you'd agree that it deserves to be destroyed. Did you not do battle with the Glass Unicorn not too long ago? The organization and the leader of it, both came from Atlas. They collaborated with Lilith." She lashes her chains towards Weiss, who had to use her Glyphs to maneuver around and dodge them with haste. "And if they're willing to keep an operation like that under wraps until the time is right…then what other sins is Atlas hiding? What else are they guilty for?"

Cinder slowly watched as the people who were previously mourning their losses, their eyes slowly glazed over into a dull silver, and an ominous serenity graced their facial features, smiles spreading across their faces. One at a time, they slowly moved away from the corpses of their loved ones without ever looking back. She turned towards Celimene, who was gazing knowingly towards her with a soft smile sent Cinder's way, which ignited a quiet burst of fury within the dragoness. "It looks like these good folk have proven worthy of our grace. This is quite a miracle. Don't you think, Cinder?"

"Tch. Do you have such little faith in your own natural charisma that you have to resort to something like this?" Cinder scolds, her claws clenching and unclenching, her eyes glowing sharply towards Celimene.

"It wouldn't be right to let these poor souls be forever scarred by the events of this day, would it? So, I instilled peace into them." Celimene smiles while lightly patting some of the people's heads as they pass by her, engulfed by the warmth of her Grace. "If they are at peace, they will not have to think about what transpired here. If they truly could not handle it all, it would be better to spare them the pain. Would you not consider this a boon?"

"Not when one considers the cost." Cinder raised her arm as it ignited with blue flames. "I'll eradicate you, so that you can't spread foolishness any farther."

Across the ruins, Pyrrha was eying Orella, who levitated softly to the ground, landing right before her. The psionic energy surrounding Orella didn't deter Pyrrha's incoming advance at all, as she lifted her hand, causing various bits of rubble to rise behind her. Orella briefly watched as the debris gathering around debris gained a tinge of magnetic forces, which caused even more objects to attract themselves to them until they began gathering more and more. Until at last, three large orbs of rubble were levitating around her, hovering above her head in a rotating circle. Orella simply smiled, while Pyrrha glared harshly at her.

"You don't seem very happy to see me, Pyrrha Nikos. Doesn't eradicating the home most responsible for your fall from grace bring you joy?"

"You already know that it doesn't. Nothing of the sort could ever bring me joy!" Pyrrha lowered her hand towards Orella, the large orbs of rubble being launched towards Orella at high speeds.

Orella raised her psychic energy and expanded it rapidly, pushing against the debris, with the attracting forces attempting to force its way through her psychic energy, nearly causing it to collapse from the sheer magnetic pressure. Soon the debris shattered, exploding like a magnetic bomb, which did manage to disorient Orella enough to break her focus. It gave Pyrrha the opening she needed to catch up to Orella and nearly slash her through the throat with her short sword, then bashed her chest with her shield; the repelling forces attached to it ended up launching Orella much farther than initially anticipated. Orella managed to stop herself mid-flight, before she could crash into anything else. She gazed at Pyrrha's indignant eyes locked onto her, which in turn allowed any magnetized objects to lock onto her as well.

"You're able to magnetize objects and people, regardless of whether or not they're capable of being magnetized." Orella observed as she levitated in place, a hand under her chin as electromagnetism charged around Pyrrha, swirling around her. "This potential of yours continues to thrive, and it managed to do so outside the confines of Mistral. Do you not agree that I've done you a favor?"

"Not. At. All." Pyrrha uttered as she tossed her shield towards Orella, repelling forces surrounding it. The projectile expands its repelling forces further, to the point where the ground begins to tear in its presence. The magnetized force repelled Orella further, with the energy around her managing to push her back enough to make her crash through a wall. "I've never agreed with a single thing you've said and done, and I never will!"

"My dear, that's mostly because you're not quite getting what I'm really trying to do. The purpose behind it all. I wish to show you."

"I think I've seen enough."

Themis lashed her chains about, which tore through the remaining buildings with ease. She then set her sights on Penny, who was not paying her any mind outside of acknowledging her as a hostile; instead, she was holding the hand of a dying soldier whose wounds were heavily grievous…a whole chunk of her right half was no longer there.

"Penny…I…have I fulfilled my duty…to the best of my capabilities…?"

Penny solemnly nodded. "You did, Karleen. The civilians you protected are alive because of you. They can still be saved."

The woman smiled tiredly. "Oh…. what a relief…"

"Don't ignore me." Themis declared as multiple silver chains lashed towards Penny. In retaliation, multiple swords appeared around Penny and deflected each of the chains before they could reach her, infused with Aura and Magic, as she kept her attention on the soldier in front of her.

"I'll be sure to save them. None of this will be in vain." Penny assures with a soft smile, squeezing Karleen's hands to let her know she was still there. "You carried out your duty sensationally."

"That's…that's really good, Penny. That's…good…" Penny solemnly closed her eyes as the last breaths left Karleen, and she no longer sensed her soul within her body. She took a breath, before she stood up, and turned towards Themis with a coldly steeled glare.

"Lying to someone within their death throes is callous, Penny Polendina." Themis scoffed.

"Nothing that I said was a lie. This atrocity cannot go unpunished, Themis. What you've done is not right!"

Themis simply sent another wave of chains towards Penny, who grabbed two of her floating swords and slashed through each of the chains, before soaring towards Themis. "You have no decree on what is right or wrong, for you are a being from Atlas. People from Atlas do not know a single thing about justice, believing they're the end all be all decider of it because they have the resources and power to enforce them." Themis then surprised Penny slightly; the chains around Themis vanished, and they were instead replaced with a silver glowing, judges' gavel. "They will only comply with their pitiful sense of justice when it suits them. My dedication to my duty is absolute!"

Penny crossed her arms, as the judges gavel swung towards her and swiftly enhanced its size mid-swing, meaning she blocked the striking force of a giant hammer. She was sent flying from the force, crashing into a wall. Themis's gavel switched into a glimmering blade, and she attempted to stab through Penny, which she parried with her own sword, their blades clashing and creating sparks against one another. Penny glared back at her while her blades summoned and struck back, with Themis deflecting them one after another. They eventually spiraled and spun around until they closed forward, until they fired a green beam towards Themis.

With her blade switching back to a large gavel, she managed to knock the beam away from herself, sending it soaring upwards until it detonated, lighting the sky with a bright green. Penny resolutely locked onto Themis, forming laser cannons over her head with her Magitek Magic, then launched even more beams towards her. Themis effortlessly knocked each of them away with her gavel, before Penny closed in on her with one of her swords. Themis managed to deflect these as well, only to duck under a sword that nearly managed to slice her from behind.

But it was a diversion, for Penny came from under with another sword that nearly impaled Themis where she stood; she managed to cut into her side slightly before Themis pulled back again. In return, chains materialized around Themis and launched both a chained hammer and a chained sword towards Penny. She managed to parry away the sword and kick away the gavel in record time, but soon found them being yanked towards her again. The blade launched a slicing wave of glowing silver energy, with the hammer being coated in the same energy and launching towards her.

Penny shielded herself with a green barrier, and both projectiles collided against it simultaneously, resulting in an explosion of energy. Penny grimaced as she fell from the skies, falling harshly onto the ground from the force of the explosion.

"Atlans have always seen themselves as above everyone else. Their self-righteousness allows them to believe they can manipulate and order whoever they wish, under the guise of 'duty'. They've no idea what it is to truly be worthy of respect or being truly dutiful. They demand obedience while having done nothing to actually earn it." Themis utters with quiet incense as she pulls down her chain, which is attached to the mallet she had and sent it slamming down on top of Penny, who managed to roll out of the way in time. "Your compliance to those who have naught a single ounce of earned worth to their name is appalling. Atlas has tarnished its people's sense of right and wrong with their devout dedication to 'duty', when it's just another excuse to exercise control that they did not earn."

Penny grimaced as she stood up again, this time punching away the glowing gavel that was launched at her, her fist infused with Aura. "Atlas has done many good things, for its people and for the world around them! It's my home! You don't get to say whether it does or doesn't have any worth!"

Themis generated more chains around her, as they began tunneling into the ground, before erupting upwards and attempting to restrain Penny. "You're merely a subservient puppet to Atlas's whims, and nothing more; they'll gladly cut your strings and leave you to the ashes, when either your usefulness or your compliance runs out." Chains clanged against each other as they shot towards Penny, who cut them apart with her swords once more, deflecting the rest of them with a barrier. "You're not an asset to them, you're a weapon for them to point their targets. And weapons have no sense of autonomy, nor do they have a need for it. Your subservience is not only pitiful, but also ultimately a falsehood. Not a single thing you've done in your life was decided by you."

Penny skids to a stop as the chained mallet knocks her across the streets. She glares, several gashes across her clothes glowing green, but she pays them no mind. "...Even weapons that exist only for fighting, can be happy with other things. Yes, I am a combat cyborg who has a duty to support Atlas's future, but I managed to craft an existence for myself outside of that. An existence that I value highly." Penny raised her hands as multiple swords manifested around her, glimmering with green light. "What about you? You seem to value your ideals over your own existence…and if you cannot create an existence outside of that in which you value, doesn't that make you a subservient puppet to it in turn, rather than a dutiful supporter of it?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Themis glared as more glowing chains appeared around her, as they shimmered a bright silver. "That precious existence you value is a mere facsimile created by your superiors to keep you submissive. There's nothing about you that you can call your own."

"No. I believe you are wrong about that." Penny grabs one of her swords and holds it towards Themis. "I value my existence, regardless of how it began differently than others. That is a truth that I live by, and the truth that gives me strength."

Themis narrowed her eyes. "Very well. Then I will take apart your value and your truth!"

Juno was observing from high atop her Sanctuary, seeing that Pyrrha, Cinder, and Penny were holding their own against the others. She looked off to the side to see the remainder of their group attempting to search for any other survivors, which gave her an opportunity.

"How about this?" Juno quietly hummed, placing her hands together as sacred energy gathered around her palms. Particles of light gathered around and began taking shape. Sensing this from a distance, Celimene, Orella, and Themis did a bit of the same.

Nora was making her way through Argus, as she tried to find Pyrrha in order to assist her. But there was a slam to the ground, thunderous in its collision, that kept her from progressing any further. She looked up to see that an angel, a blessed creature, was screeching in a manner that Nora couldn't tell between a caw and a tidal wave crashing down. It held a lance in its hands that surged with lightning, before it slashed at her. Nora parried the blade with Magnhild, the clashing lightning surging with one another, before she was pushed back with a lightning explosion. Nora ended up crashing against a wall, then shifted her head to the side to dodge its attempts to stab her.

"Blessed beasts?! Dang it, I don't have time for this! I have to help Pyrrha!"

It attempted to slash her as its weapons changed form, forming a halberd to swing towards her. Narrowing her eye, lightning surged around her with a bright pink, as she blocked the lightning halberd with Magnhild, her muscles pulsing as she pushed it back forcefully. The lightning aura surges further around her, before launching towards her and smashing its head with Magnhild, sending it hurtling backwards while skidding across the ground.

Ren and Oscar were both hurriedly dodging out of the way of several beams of light attempting to crash down on him. They looked behind them to see several more blessed beasts, their sacred energy attempting to obliterate them on the spot. Ren turned around in front of Oscar and attempted to defend against a majority of the blasts through channeling his Aura. He splits one of the beams down the middle, protecting Oscar. Though he collapsed onto his knees, as his hands were harshly burned from the attempt.

"Ren…!" Oscar knelt by his side, forming a clock glyph around himself and Ren; the projectiles sent their way slowed to a stop, before being forcibly reversed and sent back to sender, slamming into the beasts and knocking them down. He helps Ren up, giving him a moment to collect himself.

"We'll need…to be more careful around these things. They hit with such force…!" Ren pushed Oscar out of the way as a spear made from sacred energy was thrown towards him; he caught it within his Aura infused hands, but still ended up careening backwards until he crashed through a wrecked building. Oscar's eyes widened at this, but was forced to evade himself, rolling to the side as a beam of light crashed down where he was seconds before.

He looked around for a moment, only to see Lionheart collapsed under some of the rubble from the mass attack. He immediately goes to try and help him but is forcibly stopped in place as flail crashes in front of him, erupting the ground slightly. He turned around to see another angel swing around a flail, roaring in a tongue he couldn't quite fathom, before it swung the sparkling silver flail towards him. He wasn't fast enough to channel his Aura as a shield; but Weiss was fast enough to land in front of him, circling her glyph as it reversed the momentum of the flail, sending it back and slamming it into the angel with returning force, knocking it down.

"Oscar, go get Lionheart." Weiss requested sternly as she turned about and parried several glowing blades that were hurled her way. One of the angelic beasts cawed as they slashed their lances towards her. She deflected many of them, feeling the sheer amount of force behind each of the swings, before being pushed against a wall. Multiple slashes, as well as her attempts at parrying them, caused her palms to ache from keeping her grip on Myrtenaster, and she felt herself nearly falling to one knee as well.

We're being overwhelmed, and we're trapped! Weiss thought urgently as looked around.

She sees Themis, her multiple chains were connected to gavels and swords as they attempted to slice and smash Penny, who was flying and weaving around them while deflecting them with her barrier. Pyrrha was holding her own against Orella, who's psionics were forming orbs and blasts to attempt to get past the magnetic pulses that were being sent her way around all the objects being affected. Cinder was blasting plumes of fire towards Celimene, and even shot several fire arrows to have them vanish and reappear around Celimene's barriers; but the latter pulsed her Aura to deflect them away from her, adapting to the tactic.

Nora was being overwhelmed by some of the Angelic beasts, blessed energy attempting to burn her own out. Ren and Oscar were trapped by other beasts, with their weapons attempting to stab or smash them into oblivion. Weiss herself was pinned down as well, and no one was in any shape to rush to one another's assistance.

Her eyes widened as an intense burning filled one of her lungs. She struggled to look down as she saw a shard of lightning piercing her while she was still parrying other attacks. She coughed as blood dribbled from her lips, as she completely fell to her knees while nearly collapsing from the strain and pain alike. She looked up towards the origin of the blast, where Juno could be seen gazing disinterestedly at her with a pointed finger. A finger which was sparking with electricity.

"You can't…possibly believe that…you're in the right…in all this…" Weiss struggled to say, as she was on the verge of blacking out.

"It won't be long now. It's over." Juno declares, her silver eyes shimmering with finality.

Then, an explosive surge of energy could be felt, which everyone within the area could feel. And not only could everyone in the area feel it, but it felt…sinister. Everyone turned towards the source, as something dark and corrupted emerged from the source. There was something coming out from said darkness. No one was really expecting who or what the source of it was.

"The beings that you've created and summoned here. They're filled with blessed and sacred energy. Even angelic forces have come to your aid." The young woman muttered, as she shifted her cloak over her shoulders, her golden eyes glowing from the shroud of sickly dark violet surrounding her. "And yet, whenever you summon them, whenever you create them, and you have them do your bidding, they bring nothing but misery to everyone else, and the only ones you end up blessing are yourselves." She continued, her feline ears twitching, and her tail swaying calmly. "But that's fine; combating your blessings with curses is why I'm here."

Juno's eyes narrowed sharply. "Curses…?" Her eyes then widened in disbelief. "There's no way…!"

Blake's eyes locked onto the first angel within her sights; and with effortless grace, she cleaves through it with a slash of Gambol Shroud, before it could even react to her. There was almost no resistance, she simply moved through it and suddenly it was cut in twain, lifelessly falling to two pieces. Juno was briefly stunned by how this happened despite Blake's still recovering state, but then finally fully recognized the Aura surrounding her.

Her Body, her Aura, and her Magic…they've all been cursed! But when did this…wait! That Cursed Beast! She remembered the clash that the group had in Shion, where it was taken over by that rogue, centuries old witch, and her cursed beast that she made a contract with. Blake was the one who killed that familiar, Ciaran.

Blake cleaves her way through another angel, being unable to physically strike her as its spear phased right her. Its head separated from its body and dissipated. Another angel attempted to crush her with a mallet, but she severs the weapon in two, before she cleaves them apart with a large shadowy claw, imbued with curses. It fell apart with ease, never managing to touch her. Blake cleaves through another, Gambol Shroud being covered in a sickly purple, sinister Aura.

Juno scoffed at the development from her Sanctuary. Blake has entered the fray, but what does that matter? She hasn't fully healed yet, and without the group's resident healer, they'll never be able to recover quickly enough to endure multiple battles in succession. It was only a matter of time before they're eliminated. "Belladonna really believes this will change the outcome. But with her body still ravaged, it will only be a matter of time before she-"

Juno paused. Something was emerging from behind her…from her shadow.

Not wasting any time, she turned around and shot a blast of lightning that obliterated the ground before her. But what she thought was Blake simply dissipated, like she just attacked a mere phantom. Seconds later, blood spurted from her chest as a blade pierced her from behind her back. Grimacing for a moment, she slowly turned her head around, only to see the real Blake, having shoved Gambol Shroud's blade straight through her heart. Her golden eyes glowed softly from underneath the shroud of darkness she was covered by.

"Assuming a beast cannot harm you simply because it's injured, is one of the worst mistakes you can make." Blake utters silently with narrowed eyes. Juno got a better look at her, only to be in disbelief as Blake's more severe wounds have lessened significantly. Even with the gradual self-healing aspects of Aura, she shouldn't have healed from their last encounter so quickly.

Then she sees the gentle pulses of curse magic surrounding black, and how they occasionally glowed over her wounds. Said wounds were looking less and less deliberating the longer the curse magic pulses over her, and her movements weren't hindered by any sort of pain, nor did her wounds worsen any despite said movements being strenuous.

Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud and kicked Juno in the back, forcing her to roll slightly before coming back up, clutching the stab wound through her chest. She immediately noticed that it was healing significantly slower than her previous injuries; she senses a pulsing negative force surrounding her heart, right where Blake stabbed. Now all of a sudden, she couldn't heal properly.

Blake slid her hand across her arm as curse marks appeared over it, and various other parts of her body. "Hexes, Maledictions, Anathema. They tend to have a bad reputation because people only ever use them or bad things. But they are definitely capable of being benevolently beneficial. How do I know this? Personal experience and observations. Also, I'm an avid book reader." Gambol Shroud glowed an even darker purple, and Blake's eyes glowed softly once more. "But of course, they are mostly used to punish."

Juno coughed blood as she struggled to her feet, focusing her healing on her heart, but the lingering curse on it was making it extremely difficult and agonizingly slow. So instead, she attempted to blast Blake again, only for her to gracefully back flip over it, landing perfectly on the edge of the end of the Sanctuary. She also looked towards the ruined grounds of Argus, only to be in disbelief once more as all of Blakes friends and comrades began vanishing in large swirls of shadows. They were much more potent than before. Themis, Celimene, and Orella rejoined Juno, appearing prepared to attack Blake. Blake stepped back, narrowing her eyes towards them.

"You may have won again with the destruction of Argus, Juno. But I'm not going to let you enjoy it. It's not like you're using that heart, anyway." With that, Blake dropped off of the Sanctuary, and she vanished behind a cloud. One would swipe the cloud away and see that she's already long gone.

Juno nearly swore at the retreating Blake, but she instead coughed more splotches of blood, nearly collapsing on her knees. But she refuses to fall low like that twice in a row; she forces herself to stand up, and simply begins her leave. She forcibly pushes Themis and Celimene out of the way in the process. "Move." She viciously ordered, her eyes signifying pained impatience, her heartbeat alone was causing her agony. "I need…to rest…in the light pool, so that this curse…to dissipate. You three…know what to do next…"

"Suffering a bit of heartache there, Juno?" Celimene coos sweetly.

"Or maybe heartburn?" Orella shrugs with a smile.

"I know a stab through the heart tends to be symbolic, but you took it too literally." Themis scoffed.

"I'll kill you all."

"Doubtful." Themis waves off, unconcerned as she rolled her shoulders, as she, Celimene, and Orella got to work.

Their eyes shimmered and saw the numerous souls remaining that haven't quite passed on yet, which was their intent for the most part. The glowing souls that have lingered on were caught by Themis's chains and forced into obedience, given new orders and directives by Orella with her psionic influence, and lobotomized by Celimene into being peaceful and content with this fate. Resistance was completely erased in a matter of minutes, with the surplus of souls being used to empower their own forces. The pleading voices of these souls were silenced and enslaved, before they could ever be heard.

Juno was painfully moving away from the process, having already ensured that it would progress successfully. She had a curse to rid herself of, but today had been an overall success.

Even so.

If Juno didn't hate Blake before, she absolutely hated her now. Her eyes shimmered with newfound indignance towards her plight and the one who forced it upon her. Blake Belladonna will pay.

But even more than that, something even more deep rooted, was the fact that Blake spouted nonsense about curses being capable of benevolent utilization. That's about the same as believing darkness and negativity can also be wielded for virtuous purposes, which Juno cannot fathom.

That's why she irritates me. Blake and Rose…they think so similarly, they're empowering each other. Did she come to wield this power for her guildmates? No, preposterous. It's the power of curses; curses can't be wielded for good, nor can darkness or negativity! Both of them are spouting and trying to spread such trash around! If only they had never met…!

No. That doesn't matter right now. I need to recuperate. And prepare.

Juno vanished through the corridors of her Sanctuary, unable to completely rid herself of these new irritable thoughts.


{?}

Blake landed feet first, her ears twitching knowingly as her curse power slowly relaxed. Her posture remained in all fours even, until she slowly stood up, the curse marks around her body dissipating. She took a deep breath, then sighed, before nearly collapsing to her knees.

"That took a lot out of me…. but I managed it…" Blake utters quietly, rubbing her shoulder. Next to her, a phantasm of 'Ciaran' soon appeared, levitating in front of her.

"Well, well, look at you. You've adjusted nicely to my power. And you're very quick on the uptake to make it yours." 'Ciaran' smiles towards her. "The original me never imagined that a wicked and malefic power can be wielded towards worthy ends. You will certainly be a worthy wielder of it. Even with the cost?"

"It will help my loved ones in the long run. I'm willing to endure the costs." Blake declared once more, with utmost finality. "I know I made the proper choice. It will work out in the end. I'll make sure that it does."

'Ciaran' nodded approvingly. "Guess that's that, then. This power is fully yours. Do with it what you will…" With that, 'Ciaran' disappeared, vanishing from Blake's sight. She could no longer sense him within her, either. With this, Ciaran has well and truly vanished, while his immense malefic power remains inherited by her. She clenched and unclenched her fists with this realization, before she turned around to check on everyone else.

"Are you alright?"

"...Some of us are." Cinder utters while cracking several places in her shoulder, seeing that Weiss and Nora are both unconscious from the strain of their battles and wounds. Cinder herself, Pyrrha, and Penny were still conscious, with Oscar and Ren barely able to hold themselves together as well. "Blake. Your power…it feels sinister."

"It does. It'll take some time to adjust to."

"Anyway, where are we?"

Blake turned to Cinder with a nod of affirmation. "We've arrived at the Faunus homeland."

"What?" Cinder blinked in surprise, as she sprouted her dragon wings, then flew as high into the skies as she could so she could get a better view of the area they were transported to. Her eyes widened in surprise. "No way…" Cinder has never seen something like this before, at least not with her own eyes.

It was a large tortoise…no. Large would be putting it extraordinarily lightly. It was absolutely enormous. As in, the size of an entire landmass. A large expansive forest could be seen on a majority of its shell, but there were also hints of various bodies of water across it as well, large enough to swim in and fish. From where she was flying, she can also see several large settlements on top of different parts of the shell. There was plenty of greenery to go along with the various sources of water, aside from the wide ocean that it was surrounded by. The creature was easing peacefully across the waters, minding its own business and not being bothered by anything or anybody around it…or living on it. It was able to support a whole ecosystem and civilization on its back, casually. The enormity and strength of the creature blew Cinder away; she's never seen a tortoise of this size in her life. Not the size of an entire landmass.

"What…. what is this…?"

"Her name…is Arcadia. An Island Tortoise." Blake declares as she sheathes Gambol Shroud and places it on her back. "And after the old Faunus homeland of Menagerie was destroyed during the Dark Ages, way before I was born, she allowed FaunusKind to make a new main home, on her shell."

"The Faunus lives on her back? How were you even able to make that work?" Cinder utters as she descends upon the ground once more, wings folding behind her.

"A lot of dedication and cooperation. She knows we mean no harm to her. She becomes our new home, and the Faunus protect her. A fair exchange, as far as we're all concerned." Blake began leading the way. "Our friends need treatment, and I need to check on my parents. I've let Lady Sienna know we're coming since we couldn't afford to wait any longer. Our welcome should be smooth. We can rest while we plan our next move."

"What does your parents have to do with this?"

"I need to make sure they're okay; my curse is attached to them as well. They're the Chieftain and Chiefess of the Faunus Tribe, they'll want to know about all this in detail."

Cinder has questions still, but she figured that it was best to save them until everyone was within safer grounds. She found herself carrying Weiss in her back and noticed Penny gently scooping Oscar into her arms. Blake was helped by Pyrrha in carrying Lionheart and Ren. Soon, everyone was in the move, following Blake's lead. As they did so, Cinder couldn't help but sigh, missing a familiar warmth the longer this goes on. After such strenuous days of battle, she badly needed rest, and a cuddle. But unfortunately, her chief cuddle partners are nowhere to be found, to her growing annoyance.

Jaune, Ruby. I don't know where you two are but get your butts back here soon. Cinder soon sighed softly, shaking her head as more serious thoughts entered it. She was a superior creature. She was more than capable of leading the group and to keep the group alive…but that doesn't mean she didn't have her faults. Any kind of leader could competently keep their charges alive, but Cinder wasn't quite adept at making sure they were okay. She's only ever had to take care of herself; taking care of an entire group and taking charge while she was at it, was a different kind of setup that she hasn't quite adjusted to.

She couldn't quite admit that to herself, but there was a unique leadership quality that both Jaune and Ruby had that Cinder couldn't quite emulate, despite technically getting everything else right. The uncertainty from that was beginning to build within her heart. She couldn't allow that to happen while they were still gone. She needed to endure this.

Come back to me, you two. You're both mine, yet I failed to protect you. I failed to take care of what's mine…but I'll never let that happen again. I'll redeem myself properly for this error…but first, you have to return to me, where you belong.

Please.


And that's that for this chapter.

Honestly, I do feel accomplished with this one, put a bit more into it than usual, I think. It's come out so well, and I'm improving in areas that used to blindside me; practicing making them second nature to a degree.

And now the gang is forced to retreat again, this time after Argus was laid waste upon. Using Atlas' own tech and weapons, to boot! Blake makes sure that they don't get away with it unscathed, tho!

The next chapter is already about halfway done or close to it now that I've split some things in half. Progressing through that one will be a lot easier as a result. Should make for an effective opening chapter for next year.

As for that aforementioned next year, see you then!