Chapter 45: Would you still say, "I love you"?
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Dante's eyes snapped open, and he quickly pushed himself off the ground. He thought for a moment he was staring at the black sands of Scylix's Materialized World, but he wasn't touching sand.
It was… nothing… It felt solid, sure, but every time his hand brushed against it, it let out ripples from the contact, like if leaves fell on the surface of water.
When the teen saw his own hands, he immediately jolted up, staring at them and turning them over.
He wasn't in his armor… And he wasn't in that place either…
So where was he?
All he could remember briefly was reaching out to Inuba, and…
…
He grabbed her hand, right? But… someone else was there too, right? Someone he didn't recognize. Or… maybe he did and just didn't know it…
Dante staggered up onto his feet, spotting no visible wounds on his body. Not even his right leg and arms that were heavily damaged showed any signs of injury.
"That's not possible…" He said softly to himself, looking around.
All around him was just pitch black darkness. Was this… his Inner World?
…
Couldn't have been. It was always null and void in that place, but this place…
This place had life in it. Hopes, dreams, wants, desires… It had everything and more to it once upon time.
As he thought this, shards of white light in the form of petals had scattered past him, and when he reached out his hand and caught a few, he felt a jolt in his head.
All he saw was a brief flash of Inuba, before it faded shortly after
The image didn't just disappear though… It broke apart into pieces and crumbled away into dust.
"No..! She's being erased?!" Dante shouted, his hand squeezing tightly.
Kareina never explained what happened to a Yōkai that had a Deity as ancestors, and vice versa with concerns to a Divine Beast. But he knew exactly what happened, now that he saw it for himself.
It was clear now… that if a yōkai with those qualifications became either a Divine Beast or a Deity, anything and everything that they were as person is erased to make way for their new form of being.
Simply defeating Inuba as a Divine Beast wouldn't have solved anything… The problem was much more internal than he thought it was… which meant that right now, he was in Inuba's Inner World. And since he was here, then he had to go deeper inside until he found her.
It wasn't even a question in his mind.
He took off immediately, running in the pitch black void he found himself in, following the flow of the white petals of light.
It was as he was running that jolts of pain ran throughout his entire body, the pain sharper in his chest around where his heart was. The jolts continued, and grew more painful until he collapsed onto the ground, clutching his chest as the current ran through him.
Voices drew his attention off to the side, and when he looked up, he saw what was like a mural of memories on display of him and Inuba, only… this wasn't recent memories.
These were from two years ago, before they came to Remnant. Their reunion… Their battles from that point on… The down time they spent together just having fun with each other or with their friends.
The movies they saw with each other, the restaurants, the festivals and all sorts of wonderful places and Worlds they went to… All wonderful memories…
All disappearing like ash.
Dante looked down towards the ground, and saw his reflection at last but… he looked different. He looked like he did when he was fifteen, and acting as Primordial's Black Knight. Black coat, black gauntlets and greaves, it was the whole set.
…
Something like that wasn't important right now. He needed to keep moving, and so he picked himself up, his body having grown heavier all of sudden. The teen could still run, but he wasn't running nearly as fast as before, as if weights were tied around his limbs and body.
Moments after, the teen fell to his knees once more, another shocking current of pain running through him stronger than before, this time making him cry out as he crashed into the ground.
Straining to pick himself back up, his eyes opened and saw his reflection in the water, noticing he had gotten younger. This time it was when he was fourteen after he had taken down the CGA, officially joining the Eihei Nine in the Apparition World, working with Inuba under her brother.
They traveled around the whole realm within that one year as they took assignments from Akihito. They met and helped so many people, saw so many wonderful sights, ate delicious food, learned so many new things; their travels together were like the trip of a lifetime until they came back to depose the old Deities who had strayed from their duty.
That too, had begun to fade away into nothing in but mere moments.
The teen's muscles tensed up as he slowly pushed himself back up onto his feet, dragging himself forward with staggered steps, clutching his chest all the while.
"I don't think… I've got all that much longer…"
Why did his body feel so heavy? Was the condition of his body catching up with his soul? He did suffer extensive damage, especially before coming into contact with Inuba.
If he felt so weighed down like he did… then he had to be dying again…
…
All the more reason for him to get to Inuba quicker, and pull her out from this disaster.
And if he were to die afterwards… at the very least, he would have done one good thing for his longtime partner.
Until he accomplished that goal, Dante wasn't going to die. He'd jolt himself back to life with his Aura just to keep going.
As if on cue, another jolt of pain, worse than the last ran through him with great intensity, crippling him entirely as fell forward on his hands and knees, face almost touching the ground.
His face present in the watery surface, he could see he had gotten younger once again. Ten years old, and just starting operations as a field agent of the CGA. This was probably the worst time of his life, mainly for the fact that he was working for the wrong people. But that changed when he met Inuba and partnered with her.
Everything gradually improved, and she changed him for the better. It wouldn't be so far fetched to say she's the reason he decided to bring them down in the end for their evil deeds.
Inuba stuck by him and took the time to fully understand him, and never once looked at as anything less than person.
She was always on his side, no matter what.
But like everything else, that chunk of memory dissolved into nothingness as well.
His body had never felt so weak before in his life. Life was draining out of him quicker than what he would have liked, and everything that made Inuba her was fading away just as quickly.
"Damn it… How much further do I have to go..? Can't I… get a break.. for once..?" The smaller Dante spoke out, crawling forward a few paces until he finally got back up on his feet.
The boy was practically limping forward at this point, pain wracking his entire body. It was so unbearable… It was absolutely dreadful. Part of him wanted to close his eyes and just drift off, but he couldn't do that just yet.
He had his duty to fulfill. And he was going to accomplish it.
Every step he took drew him closer towards the source of the light petals, which grew in concentration the closer he got.
The pain came back in an immensely electrifying force that ran through his body, as if knives were flowing through his veins and tearing him up from the inside.
One last glance at the surface of the ground showed an even smaller form. He was dressed in black shorts and shoes, a grey shirt, and a black zip up hoodie without sleeves.
He was so small now… Around five maybe?
Is this why a memory of a smaller Inuba popped up in his mind earlier? Because he knew her at this age way before everything? But how did he know her? For that matter, how did she know of him?
Dante looked up, trying to make sense of what he was seeing, but it was scattered and in disarray. The memories he was viewing were jumbled up and out of order. The more he watched however, the more he began to understand just how deep his connection with Inuba was.
It was a connection that they had to one another for more than twelve years. And for the first time, the questions that the boy had been asking about concerning his youth were finally being answered in the most unexpected of ways.
He finally had his answer.
Even with an answer in hand, he still had to finish his task, his reason for coming here. But his body was burning up too intensely, and it was far too heavy to move any longer. All he managed was to crawl forward a few inches before collapsing onto the ground.
"Can't… go on…" the boy said, laying his head down on the ground, panting heavily.
His vision started to blur up, and he felt himself drifting off, all while clawing at the floor to drag himself forward. Eventually, he stopped moving entirely, the only thing he could do now being trying to keep his eyes open.
Something reach down and grabbed his arm, pulling him and slinging an arm over its shoulder.
"Lying down on the job? It's not in your nature to be this pathetic."
Dante's head turned, and with what strength he had, his tired eyes widened when he saw who it was holding him. It was him… Or rather, the other him.
His Proxy.
It had reverse of his clothes colors; grey shorts and sleeveless hoodie, and a black shirt. His hair was also a lighter shade than Dante's, platinum colored now instead of black like all the other times.
He still had that smug smile of his too…
"You… How..?"
"Am I here? You should know the answer already Dante. I am a part of you. Wherever you go, I go as well." The Proxy answered, shifting Dante's body to support his weight, "That also means that I will follow you towards the end of the world."
His Proxy walked forward slowly with Dante in tow, it too showing signs of struggle.
"Unfortunately, as I am bound to you, I also die with you. Regardless, I'll carry you as far as I can go."
Some help… How fortunate…
"Ironic that… you start remembering everything at the end… Almost cruel really…" The Proxy spoke in a more strained voice.
It was ironic. And cruel. But that's how his life had always been. Cruel and ironic. A life he had always tried to change to little avail. Whenever he had anything good, or received some good fortune, it was always short lived before turning completely sour.
What good was it to sever his own fate from control if misfortune was all that followed?
Both he and the Proxy fell over, and when it looked back, it saw its right foot had fallen apart, slowly dissolving into black mist.
"Damn…" he said, lowering his head, "I can't do this myself… Which means you have to."
How could he go on any further when he could barely move?
"Take what I have left and move onwards." The Proxy said, grabbing hold of Dante's hand.
The pain started to fade away, and Dante could feel the immense weight being lifted off his shoulders, allowing him to prop up onto his knees. He meant to get up and run as fast as he could again, but he didn't want to leave the Proxy as it was, the one who sacrificed much of its own power to keep him moving.
"Leave me and go, if you want to save your partner. Take what I've given you… and complete your task. Save Inuba… and save yourself."
The Proxy let go of Dante's hand and pushed him away, the boy seeing his Proxy's body had almost faded.
"I said go!" The Proxy urged, making Dante jump onto his feet and take off running.
As the boy ran further in, The Proxy stayed where it was, smiling as its body began to change shape while it faded.
"Good luck…" it spoke, voice changing as it did, "May your desire… finally take shape…"
Dante's small legs came to a staggering halt as he flailed his arms to stop himself from moving further. His breathing was unsteady, evidenced by how he bent over and placed his hands on his knees, trying to calm his breathing down. When he looked up, he saw something troublesome standing in his way.
A large double door made of silver, etched with carvings of nine tailed foxes and the like. More importantly… the centerpiece piece of the doors featured two children. One a kitsune, the other not, each on a separate door. The boy was facing away from the kitsune girl, yet she looked towards him, hand reaching out for him.
The representation was ironically accurate, but angered the boy all the more with the rather cruel reminder.
The boy pushed himself and approached the door, placing both hands between the crack in between and shifting them appropriately to get a good grip and pull as hard as he could. But no matter how many times he tried and how hard he pulled, the door wouldn't budge in the slightest.
"Damn… door..! Open… the hell up..!"
More attempts ended in failure, and Dante eventually had to stop himself, taking more breaths before he ran up and punched the door, a loud "thud" echoing throughout the ensuing void and the petals of light.
Giving up wasn't an option. Neither was praying to some God that was more than likely absent from Creation in pursuit of other works. Dante wasn't the kind of person to pray or put his faith in beings of higher power. The only person or people he had faith in was himself and those close to him.
So he wasn't going to pray either. Faith in himself… was what he needed now more than ever…
"You know… We've been through a lot, you and I." Dante said, raising up his arms.
They became coated in pitch black Aura, but no armor formed. It was simple Shadow layering his arms like a second skin of sorts, but even so, his arms began to crackle slightly like static, signifying his time was almost at its end.
"We've been many places, seen a lot of things most people would go a lifetime without seeing…" The boy said, sticking his hands in between the doors once more, "Through it all… one fact remains irrefutable..!"
The boy's small hands continued pulling at the door, trying to pry it open with all the force he could Muster.
"You've been the one person… who's stuck by me since the very beginning!" Dante spoke, cracks forming on the edges of the door, "You've supported me and stuck by me through thick and thin!"
Blood started to seep from the edges of the door, the boy's hands tearing up from the immense strain.
"Truth be told… I wasn't the one saving you all the time..!" Dante said, budging the doors open bit by bit, "It was always the other way around! You were the one saving me!"
The doors were opened, but still not enough for him to slip through.
"That's why..! This time..! I'll pay you back for everything..! And save you..!"
His declaration made, Dante's bloodied hands ripped the doors open fully in one final tug, yelling as he did.
Without a moment's hesitation, he fell down inside the door, letting himself drift. On his way down, chunks of debris remained motionless in the air, his final obstacle of sorts as descended down in the void.
When he looked further down, he could see her. She was now a small child of five like he was, and slowly being consumed by the shadows of her own despair.
"Inuba!" Dante shouted, voice carrying out through the dark as he crashed through some debris, "Don't just sit there and drift off! WAKE UP!"
The kitsune's eyes slowly opened, crimson eyes meeting a familiar pair of sky light blue eyes. All she could do at the moment was tear up when she saw him, almost unable to believe what she was seeing.
"Master..?!"
Dante's body suddenly began to slow down, and slowly drift upward, but the boy forced himself further down against the current threatening to take him away.
"Grab my hand!"
Inuba pulled and pulled, freeing a hand as the dark void around her began shattering apart like glass to reveal light, the other side doing the same the moment she freed her other hand.
The kitsune struggled with all the might her little body could, stretching herself far just so she could try and grab the boy's hand. At first, the feat seemed impossible with how many times their hands failed to meet, but that didn't stop either of them. They both reached for each other as the darkness gave way to light, until finally.
The tips of their fingers met, and with that simple contact alone, they used their fingers to pull each other closer, Dante's hand finally grabbing hold of Inuba's entirely.
Firm grasp on one another, the two pulled each other close, arms wrapping around each other in tight embrace, Inuba unable to stop herself from bawling as they knelt on the solid space beneath them.
"I… I thought… I thought you were gone..! I didn't know what to do, and..! And..! I'm just so happy to see you!"
The boy gave the kitsune a light chuckle as his hold on her loosened slightly.
"It's… going to be alright now… promise…"
Dante's hands fell down to his sides as Inuba's eyes snapped open, holding onto the boy tightly as the light around the grew brighter and brighter.
I wonder… if tomorrow I were to turn into some unsightly beast… Would you still say "I love you"... just like you always have?
"Master..?"
His eyes were already closed, a smile on his face as the light completely consumed them.
"Master?"
The stilled inferno began to shrink away, decreasing in size until it faded away, leaving brief flickers and small streams of smoke to blanket the area.
Everyone peeked out from behind Jaune's shield to safely survey the area, and once they noticed that all traces of white flame had faded, they slowly stepped out from cover altogether. Ruby, however, bolted ahead using her Semblance, sliding down into the pit and stopping briefly.
It was there she saw the two of them.
Inuba sat in place of where the Divine Beast once did, her hair elongated to her waist and her nine white fox tails remaining large and in bundles around her. Her hands remained in her lap, but only one of her hands held onto to another.
Dante's.
He remained where he was, lying flat on the ground. His armored form had long since receded, leaving him his normal self with torn, shredded, and burnt clothes. Cuts, bruises, and burns littered his body, but no wounds were more serious than his heavily burnt arms, and his mangled right leg.
Ruby rushed up to their still forms, taking caution briefly before slowly overturning Dante. He was just as badly injured frontside… His face had barely been injured though, only having small cuts and burns present.
Once the reaper pressed her ear to his chest, her worst fear became reality once she realized he had no pulse.
"No no no..!" She said faintly, unsure of what to do as her mind was in a panic.
Between her tangle of thoughts, her eyes lit up once she remembered something crucial. When they were still at Beacon, Dante had everyone in RWBY and JNPR learn basic mediocre techniques from bandaging, to stitching and many more simple applications.
But one of the more important lessons was on CPR, something Ruby could clearly remember after the small embarrassment her older sister put her through.
Regardless, she learned how to perform the maneuvers and immediately set to work on trying to resuscitate him, moving from blowing air into him through his mouth to applying pressure to his chest repeatedly.
"Ruby! Move!"
Hearing Jaune's voice, Ruby scooted over to the side to let Jaune near her, watching him throw his Scroll to ren. Reaching into a pouch near his back on his belt, the blonde pulled out a pair of small paddles, ones Dante specially developed so that they took in one's Aura through the contacts and discharged them into shocks strong enough to restart someone's heart if needed.
Quickly unhooking Dante and Inuba's grasp, Ruby let go of Dante as well as Jaune pressed the paddles to his friend's chest, and let them perform their task.
One charge emitted.
"Ren?!"
"No pulse!"
Considering Jaune's Scroll was never able to properly attenuate Dante's Aura Signature to determine his Reserves, he settled for determining his heart if ever he needed to.
Another quick charge up and discharge.
"No pulse!" Ren told Jaune, shaking his head as he kept track of the heart rate monitor.
A third charge.
Jaune looked back to Ren, and all he did was shake his head silently at the blonde. The knight's eyes met Ruby's, who looked at him, pleading quietly.
Fourth charge. Fifth. Sixth.
He kept going, trying to get anything. But eventually, he couldn't keep at it any longer. Jaune fell back onto his rear in disbelief, staring at Dante's body and expecting him to get back up as he usually did. Everyone was hoping for that to be the case.
But he remained and silent.
Ruby was shaking him, sobbing as she did while the others watched in dismay.
"Please don't go… Please don't leave me too..!" She said, clutching the teen tightly, "Please come back..!"
She was only met with silence.
Until she saw a glow.
Her eyes followed the glow, seeing white flames enshroud Inuba's hand where she held Dante's.
Ruby didn't know what she was thinking at the time, but all she knew was that she was willing to try anything at this point. Taking Dante's hand, the reaper in red quickly moved it over to Inuba's, clasping the two pairs of hands together and holding her own hands over them for good measure.
The kitsune's white flames flickered brightly, enshrouding all three pairs of hands in soft, gentle flame. Ruby noticed her many wounds had begun to heal, albeit slowly, and when she looked to Dante, she could see the same result. His cuts began to seal up, and his burns and bruises began to slowly fade away as color returned to the teen's skin, and with it, a pulse as Ruby heard the teen exhale in a quiet, wheezy tone, his chest rising and falling evenly.
There were no words to describe the immense joy she felt in that moment as she squeezed Dante's hand tightly. Whatever magic Inuba's white flames had, they managed to resuscitate the teen and heal some of his wounds at the very least.
"Now this is a surprise."
Ruby's eyes went wide, and she immediately jumped up and unholstered Crescent Rose, aiming it at the source of the voice as Nora, Ren, and Jaune did the same.
RNJR took their stand in front of Dante and Inuba, guarding them against Scylix, who now stood a few dozen meters away from the group.
The Dark Entity chuckled to herself as she raised her hand, and with it, her six black serrated chains with dagger tip points, dangling up above her head like viscous snakes.
Expecting an attack, RNJR readied themselves, but the girl cloaked in white apparated in front of them in a small flash of white light, hood folded towards the ground before it raised upwards menacingly at the woman ahead of her.
"Come now, don't you think the time for hide and seek is over, little mage?" She asked, palm brimming with purple and black Aura.
Immediately, the white cloaked girl brought up her own hand from underneath her cloak, and with it, a weapon of her own.
It was a black wood grain staff that stood at six feet, just three inches taller than the girl herself. There was a thick, half a foot branch that extended outwards, and on the end of that branch was another branch of the same length facing upwards to the sky.
Stuck through the center of the first branch that extended horizontally was a white scabbard for a sort of sword, which resembled a Spada da Lato, or side-sword. Near the center of the staff was a white leather grip, and sticking outwards was a sort of hitching prong that kept the sword sheathed in place.
From the scabbard attached to the staff, the girl cloaked in white grabbed hold of her sword, the hitching prong vanishing a moment after to allow her to draw it and point it at the woman.
A black leather grip sat snug just over a thin, white, outwardly flowering two prong pommel and just under a hilt-guard of protective, crown-like rings. A thin, long hilt sat just between them, jutting out further than the two rings did, and each ring had a decorative point facing forward at their center to give it that elegant crown appearance.
A single white hand-guard curved down over the handle to protect the fronts of the fingers, its end nearly reaching the pommel of the blade. An outwardly rounded, thin set of secondary guards curved up from where that hilt met the blade and connected the guard-rings to a second, smaller set of crown-like rings sat just a few inches above the first.
The second set protected the ricasso resting just between the two duplicate sets of rings, the white crowns acting as a nested guard for a grip at the unsharpened part of the blade. The pure white blade itself was long and tapered, a thin fuller spanning up the first half of the blade before the long, second half gradually tapered off into a narrow tip.
"Oh? A mage that fights with a sword? Well, you've certainly become far more impressive in these last few seconds alone."
The girl stood there silently, keeping her weapon pointed at the woman.
"Think clearly about what you are going to do. The two of them couldn't defeat me." Scylix said, nodding her head in Inuba and Dante's direction, "Those fragile humans could barely lay a finger on me. What hope do you have of standing against me?"
"Enough that I will vanquish you, witch." The girl spoke, bitterness and anger heavy in her tone.
Scylix laughed at the girl, "You? Vanquish me? You certainly know how to make good jokes, little mage. I'll make this as quick as possible."
The burning Aura in the woman's fingertips brightened, and the cloaked girl crossed her staff arm over her sword arm, white and black Aura brimming from her person in both rays and sparks. But something strange happened that Scylix didn't quite understand at first.
Everything stopped.
There wasn't the slightest movement anywhere from anything. No wind, no sound. The only thing she could hear and see was herself moving. The mage girl couldn't have done something, she too was frozen like the others.
Then she heard it. Footsteps crunching in the black sands behind her, causing the woman to drop her hand and turn around. In the distance, a tall figure walked towards her, dropped in a tattered black cloak. The only thing she could see was black, twisted armor legs walking towards her, and from within the hood, a pair of perfectly round, glowing white eyes that stared back at her.
The stranger took his final footsteps forwards and stopped suddenly, his glowing white eyes peering at the woman in a sort of abyssal glare.
"And who exactly might you be?" Scylix questioned, glaring back at the figure.
"My name… is of no importance. But the message I bring to you is."
"Message..?"
The figure's cloak bulged, a hand reaching out from its darkened depths to point a clawed, armored finger at her.
"End this foolish pursuit of yours. You will not be met with what you seek. And come time for the end, you will fail."
"Are you an acquaintance of the boy? If so, then your message carries no weight. I've already bested him."
"Is that so?"
Scylix didn't understand what happened in that moment. She didn't so much as blink, and yet, the stranger was completely out of sight until she heard his footsteps behind her, approaching the group of teens. He stopped a moment in front of the girl cloaked in white, placing a hand atop her head and bowing his own before he moved past her, ignoring the others entirely.
He stopped when he stood over the fallen Dante.
The figure's body descended slowly towards the black sands to get a closer look at the teen, and then placed a hand on his head as well, doing the same he did for the cloaked girl before he stood back up and moved past the group of teens, standing at the front of them.
"You will gain nothing from this venture of yours. Only defeat."
"Defeat? Can you not see with your own eyes? The boy and his pet fox have been defeated. Those human children behind you will amount to nothing in terms of ability to defeat me. And the little mage girl is still leagues away from being any form of danger to me." Scylix stated, "Where in this situation do you see a chance at victory?"
"You make the mistake of believing they are the only ones that will stand in your way."
"Oh? And who else will stand to oppose me then? You? You haven't the slightest traces of Aura within you."
"Is that so?" The figure spoke, his voice carrying towards the woman in a chill and ominous tone.
What's going on here? My arm won't stop shaking. Am I… afraid of this unknown?
Scylix clutched her arm shaking arm to still it, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
"You say there are others, but I see and feel no one else within this realm of mine. So again, I ask you… what hope is there that remains, that I cannot see before me?"
Underneath the pair of perfectly round white eyes, a small crack of white opened near where the mouth would be, and formed into a twisted smile of sorts, an action that chilled the woman down to her core as she took a step back.
"If I do battle with you, I will surely be the end of you, of that there is no question. But that would take away too much from me in order to achieve my own goal. Therefore… I will not be the one to challenge you."
"Then who?"
"Someone I have known for a very long time…" the man said in his hollow, echoing voice, looking up past the broken red skies and towards stars he saw above, "Know this, woman who has seen cruel tragedy… Dante will return to defeat you soon enough."
"Really? For some reason, I don't quite see that happening any time soon. He is broken and beaten. Death can now lay claim to him. Even if he does return, the result will be the same. And at that point… he will die."
The man chuckled once again as his body began breaking apart and fading away like clumps of black ash.
"You will remember my words in the end."
With his final say, he vanished entirely. All had begun to move once more.
The cloaked girl's head jolted up slightly as she looked around hurriedly and in a panic.
Scylix glanced back at the mage girl, humming to herself.
Interesting… She sensed the temporal disruption immediately after the fact once the flow of time resumed. Perhaps I've given her too little credit… But… could she be the one that ingrate spoke of?
"What did you do?!" The girl shouted at the Dark Entity, who only looked back at the girl calmly.
"Why nothing. Perhaps it was a small glitch. This world of mine is only a week or so old, and admittedly rushed to creation to set this grand stage for you all." Scylix said, outstretching her arms, "It wouldn't amaze me if there were a few complications."
So she has no idea of who that person is either. She's likely never seen him before, if ever.
"I think it's about time we drop the curtain on this performance. Don't you?"
The girl cloaked in white growled silently to herself, keeping her staff crossed over sword arm as she kept her eyes peeled and her senses open. She was going to fight with whatever she could muster.
But before either of them could move, a chill wind swept throughout the planes, a small gale flowing through the area with it. Everyone looked to the darkening skies up above, and saw a stream of black and amethyst crash into the sands near the group of teens.
The beam lingered but for a few brief moments, and from it, stepped out a man.
He was tall and lean, sporting black dress pants and shoes, a white dress shirt, black tie, and black dress jacket. In his left hand was a white, black-embroidered book with a large, twisted L on the cover. As he walked, he read from the book's pitch black pages, the words on them glowing with soft, white light.
(A/N: Imagine this newcomer with the voice of Robert McCollum, who did the English voices of Mifune from Soul Eater, Jellal from Fairy Tail, Stain from Hero Academia, and many more awesome characters.)
"The hours of folly are measured by the clock..." He spoke in a cool, clam voice, shoulder length, messy black hair fluttering in the wind as he walked past the group of teens, "but of wisdom… no clock can measure."
Stepping past the cloaked girl, he stopped just a few feet ahead of her, snapping his book shut as he looked up at the Dark Entity ahead of him.
Amethyst colored irises, hidden behind a pair of rectangular, black rim glasses that were trimmed with silver, glared at the woman.
"You… You can't be here… You're..!" The cloaked girl lowered her arms in disbelief of the one who stood before her.
Scylix looked up at the man, raising up her hand and shooting her chains forward at the man.
His book was quickly consumed in a blaze of black and amethyst, and was replaced with what looked to be a black cane with a silver Fritz handle design. Oddly enough, the black portion of the cane seemed to look as though it were a thin, double edged blade, its end sharp and pointed.
Holding the cane by its handle, the man lightly tapped its bladed point into black sands, and loosed a brief shockwave of black and amethyst Aura. When the chains made contact with the shockwave, the were instantly reduced to dust.
Scylix's eyes lit up in shock, and when she raised up her hand, the man raised up his left hand, stilling the woman from action.
"I would ask that you cease your ill tempered attacks. But after taking a glance at the situation, I imagine that would be rather difficult for you." The man said, placing both hands atop his cane.
This must be who that shade spoke of… but…
"And who might you be?" Scylix asked, lowering her hand.
"Who am I?" The man hummed as he brought a hand to his chin, "Normally I would say knowing my name isn't important, but I'll do you the honor just this once."
The Dark Entity's fist clenched itself tightly, now getting a feel for the man's Aura Signature. It was vibrant and immense, seemingly boundless and endless in quantity. But its nature… It was Dark like hers, but there was a very different feel to it altogether.
"I am Lucifer. Officially… I am the first Dark Entity to have gained the 'King' classification. As such, I am the one and only ruler of the Dark World."
Scylix was genuinely shocked by the information she was presented with. She thought she was the only one of her kind, but… this man, this Dark Entity that stood before her… claimed to be the one who ruled them all!
"A King, you say… Well…" Scylix scoffed as she took a step back, "You are no king of mine."
"I suppose that is fair, considering this is the first time we have ever met. You will, however, cease hostilities and allow us to leave." Lucifer commanded, shifting his cane closer to him.
"Tell me something, o' mighty king… Are you acquainted with that failure of a child lying in the dirt?"
Lucifer's gaze narrowed when hearing the comment, "I am. I've kept it a secret for this long… but I suppose the time for secrecy is over."
"Secrecy?"
"Yes…" Lucifer said, closing his eye momentarily before opening them up again, amethyst irises glowing with a slight shine, "I suppose that you can say… that he is my nephew."
That was all Scylix needed to hear.
Black and purple Aura surged from her hands and arms, emitting bright and powerful waves as she raised them from the ground up. Black smoke flooded both sides of her for what seemed like a mile on both sides.
From that smoke quickly rose hundreds of Beowolves, Ursi, Creeps, Lancers and Griffons, along with dozens of Deathstalkers and Nevermores.
It was a whole army of Grimm, all risen from the black sands within a matter of a few seconds.
The cloaked girl and RNJR all stared in awe at the unbelievable sight before them, hope leaving them as they gazed upon the seemingly endless army of Grimm.
"Impressive… Your army is quite numerous, I see…" Lucifer said, raising a hand to his chin once more, "However… Though we lack the quantity, I can more than assure you we make up for it entirely with quality."
Swapping his cane to his left hand quickly, Lucifer raised up his right hand and snapped his fingers, and within that instant, numerous figures began to blur into view behind him, standing in front of the group teens.
A moment after the ten figures apparated in front of the teens, directly behind Lucifer, black blurs began appearing out of thin air in a perfect, horizontal row, numbering from twenty, to fifty five, and then finally, one hundred.
When their forms took shape, large and tall armored black knights that were each eight feet tall stood in place, their twisted black armor, shields and swords as big as them, all accentuated with trims of silver and shining under the glow of the red skies.
The one hundred black knights all gave out loud and proud grunts as they shifted their swords to their sides and swung their enormous shields down into the black sands, creating an impenetrable wall of black metal.
Lucifer stood at the front of his small army, lowering his right hand atop his left as they rested on his cane's handle. With a loud, echoing "thud", Lucifer forced his cane down in the dirt once more, standing tall against Scylix and her army of innumerable Grimm.
Ruby looked around, and recognized one person out of the ten total guarding them. Tenma Kitsukami stood at the front, and one the sides of him, two kitsune younger than him, and another kitsune on his other side, eyes narrowed to slits.
If the reaper was remembering the stories correctly… the two younger kitsune had to be Akihito and Asahi, Inuba's older brother and sister, while the other kitsune had to be Inuba's mother, Kareina.
One girl with raven colored hair that reached down to her shoulders, and black wings as big as her body that were like that of a crow, stood next to Inuba. She had to be the Crow Tengu Ayame, who was a General of the Eihei nine representing the Crow Tengu. She was also the Apparition World's best journalist and reporter, covering events in both her world and the human world.
When Ruby looked to her other side, she saw three people she didn't quite know, but heard of. One was a teen dressed in a black hoodie trimmed and detailed with lime green, and had a pair of black wings like Ayame, Xera if she recalled. Another was the brunette Skyla, with her dual swords and ribbons. Lastly was the small and petite kitsune Kitsuki, who only had three tails instead of nine, like Inuba's relatives.
One of them stood just further ahead of Dante, a person she heard all too much about. Raum stood guard at the front of their group, arms crossed and standing as still as stone, glaring towards Scylix in the distance. In his hood was the small wolf Faunus child Irene, who at the moment was hiding in the hood.
Last of their rear guard was… some woman Ruby had barely heard of or seen before. She looked to be 5'10, had shining orange eyes that glowed bright like embers, and red hair like Pyrrha's, but her hair was shoulder length, and drawn back behind her bangs like one would ordinarily do for a half-ponytail.
She looked to be in her mid twenties, maybe just a little bit older. Her figure was tight and slightly toned, having an athletic body, but with curves in the right places.
Though, instead of tying it, the ends were lifted up and clipped. The woman's side bangs were left free and loose to frame her face, her right side bangs longer than her left and dangling over her shoulder.
Her ample chest had thin, tight black material covering her front, and acted as an under-armor frame that reached around her torso and stomach beneath all of her armored plating. Two thin straps of the material went up from the sides of her chest, and joined together near the base of her neck, reaching further up to cover her whole neck. The woman's sides were layered with thin, twisted crimson metal that reached down to her hips and just underneath her chest, wrapping around her back entirely and narrowly armoring her stomach.
The black under-armor material frame reached down from her waist, and climbed down the sides of her legs in an almost strap-like, wrapping manner, connecting to her grieves while exposing her upper thighs. Bits of the same twisted crimson armor reached up from the sides of the woman's upper thighs, and bent outwards slightly whilst covering her hips, offering her full flexibility in leg movement.
Black fur shimmered on her upper arms and reached around the back of her shoulders, whilst thin and elegant crimson plating covered the rest of her upper arms down until they reached the center of her arms.
The same under-armor fabric material reached out from those plates to cover her arms entirely, but her arms from below her elbows to her hands were plated in thin, red, twisted armor with tints of black that was molded to the shape of her arms. Her fingertips were also plated in thin black metal, but sharpened into a pair of small claws.
She also wore narrow, twisted, crimson grieves that reached up to just the top portion of her shins. From the ends of the grieves, the same black under armor reached out and hugged her legs in the skin-tight under-armor, reaching up to the center of her thighs.
Her back sported a sort of wing, sleek and elegant in the form of three total mechanical appendages on her left side. Two smaller crimson appendages sat over one large, black appendage resembling a single edged blade. Each of the first two appendages bent up and outward with a joint allowing them to fold inward, letting them furl and unfurl.
The crook of her wing, where the black, blade-like appendage rested, extended into a singular, crimson point, resembling a sort of long handle. Presumably, she could draw out the black, blade-like appendage and use it as a smaller greatsword, given its length and thickness.
Ruby noticed that the weapon in the woman's right hand was a black greatsword that had a crimson trim around the whole weapon, from the butt of the handle to covering the thin edges of the blade.
It had a dangerously sharp, pointed hilt with a recessed bevel close to the guard that formed two mirrored inward curves. They were sharp, and pointed out from the edges of the blade just at the curve's start, going from the blade's actual width inward before bending back out to meet the wider hilt above the handle, all built for glancing off strikes or locking a weapon in the groove of the curve. The greatsword itself had to be as tall as her own body, and had a width of at least four inches…
Ruby had never seen the woman before now, but… She looked so strong… And angry, given she was glaring daggers at Scylix, biting her lip to hold herself back from speaking.
"The way I see it, there are only two options at present. One, we do battle, and eventually you will be defeated by myself and my forces." Lucifer stated, "Two, you cease hostilities for the time being, and we all leave."
"You have the power to defeat me, yes? Then why not end the whole ordeal now while you still can?"
"Because doing so would require a great amount of energy from me, or Aura. I release said amount of energy, those above are liable to take notice."
"Those above..?"
"To be blunt, I am not supposed to be here at the moment. Me leaving the Dark World for any reason could enact a fourth war me and my kind do not need any time soon. But…"
Lucifer's right hand reached up to his face, removing his glasses as he held them in his hand. When he looked up at Scylix, the woman then truly felt the coldest chill run down her spine.
The white sclerae of the King's eyes were now pitch black, encompassing his glowing, amethyst irises. His gaze was focused, fierce, and terrifyingly blood thirsty, almost as if by staring at him, one would be liable to die from the immense terror that would flood their very body and soul.
"For my nephew and his friend, whom you've ruthlessly beaten… I would risk war and damnation across the cosmos, simply to erase your very existence with my own hands."
The air quaked and trembled with violent intensity, crackles of amethyst Aura spanning across the black sands as the immense pressure of Lucifer's Aura Signature flooded the planes.
Even the army of Grimm on the far end behind Scylix cowered in fear.
The woman bit her lip in frustration, letting out an exhale a moment after. With a snap of her fingers, the army of Grimm all turned into dust, those very black grains sinking into the sands beneath her feet.
An all out conflict now at this moment would be disadvantageous. The Grimm would have kept the black knights occupied, surely. But it was those ten new arrivals in the rear that would have been the bigger problem for the Grimm. It's likely they would have wiped out all of them within a few minutes, or maybe even a minute.
This "King", this Lucifer was the biggest problem by far. While Scylix was able to comprehend his Aura Signature, unlike the shade from before, his Aura Signature was still significantly higher than hers.
For the moment, at least.
The Gem was active now, but it would take time to acclimate it's power entirely. Time she didn't have at the moment. He did say he wanted to simply leave with everyone else without further conflict. And should conflict have arisen, he would've been forced in a bad position.
As far as she she saw it, both parties were at a standstill. Both sides would lose something if they engaged the other. The only win-win scenario at this point was for both parties to stand down. They would leave as they wish, and Scylix would have the time she needed to acclimate to The Gem's power.
The decision was obvious.
"Very well then. I'll allow you all to retreat for now, and-"
Scylix's eyes snapped to the group of guarded teens, feeling a sudden shift in someone's Aura Signature. Lucifer and the others behind him did the same, their heads turning quickly to stare directly at Ruby, who looked at them all in confusion. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't the one they were all starting at.
It was Dante, who was slowly pushing himself up.
Something was different about him. Different sections of his hair was turning a shiny platinum color, and when he lifted up his head, his bright sky blue irises now a shining platinum. His voice too, it sounded like someone else's voice was overlapping with his as he let out a loud growl.
"You… scum..!" he said, standing on his feet at last, "I'll kill you… I swear to you… that I'll erase every single scrap of you..!"
Raum moved from his place and grabbed the teen by the arm, but he pulled his limb free and pushed him away, limping forward slowly past the others. Pushing past the line of black knights, the teen stood yards away from Scylix, locking a glare onto her.
What is this..?! It's a completely different presence altogether! Is this still the same person?!
Dante's injured right arm raised itself up, a black Aura Sword forming in his hands as it soon blazed furiously with a torrent of black Aura. Just as he was about to swing it down, a blow to the back of his head dispersed the torrent and made the blade vanish.
Raum's hand caught the teen around the waist before he fell, and then lifted him up into his arms, keeping a tight hold of the teen. Irene peeked out from her hood, whimpering worriedly when she saw the unconscious and injured Dante.
Lucifer walked up to his younger brother's side, glancing at the teen for a few moments before he glared back at Scylix.
"Don't look at me like that, o' mighty king of the Dark World." Scylix stated mockingly, "You may still leave if you wish. I won't stop you. The fact of the matter is neither of us would gain from continuing this conflict, so logically speaking, it would be best to end this now before it progresses further."
Lucifer's eyes narrowed at the woman before his sclerae turned back to their normal white color, prompting him to put his glasses back on.
"Then we've nothing further to discuss." Lucifer said, placing both hands atop his cane, "As it stands, it is unlikely we'll be seeing one another again, so this is goodbye. But know this… retribution will find you swiftly. This I promise you."
With his final words spoken, Lucifer slightly raised up his cane and slammed it back down into the sands, unleashing a wave of amethyst and black Aura that consumed everyone within seconds. The flash of Aura soon disappeared into thin air a moment later, Lucifer, his army, and the teens all gone within that instant.
Scylix let out a huff of air, laughing silently to herself as she reached into her left sleeve. From it, she pulled out an eight sided, rhombus shaped gem, it's black exterior shining with a white glow inside its depths.
"With just a little more time… I'll finally be able to have my wish granted. They can try to come back if they wish. But by then, it'll be far too late. No matter how events unfold from this point forward…" the woman clutched the gem tightly in her palm, turning around to return to her throne high above in the skies, "My victory is all but guaranteed."
(Omake: The Heist)
"What's taking so long?" Raum asked.
"Dude, this isn't just any other electronic lock. This is a heavily encrypted holographic lock." Dante said, waving off the Dark Entity.
"And?"
"Annnnnd… It's tougher to crack."
"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"
"Hell of a lot smarter than you…" the teen silently fired back.
"What was that?" Raum asked.
"I said I'm glad you designated me the tech guy."
"I hate this."
"You hate mostly everything."
"Well… Yes. But there are a few exceptions." The Dark Entity stated, "I just hate waiting for nonsensical things like this."
"You're like one of those old guys who hates technology. I bet you still haven't figured out how to work your Scroll entirely."
"I-I have!"
"Right… You 'totally' know how to add contacts to your Scroll, and definitely know how to use the GPS." Dante said, rolling his eyes.
"That was a one time incident."
"Three times. You called me the second and third time when you got really angry and asked me to show you to your destination, then you threatened to destroy the bus that crashed into you." Dante said, pressing the last few buttons to unlock the door, "Ironically, while you moved and destroyed the bus, the bus, as big as it was, did not move you."
"Heh. Did you expect such a trivial thing to wound me?"
"One could only hope that it would have killed you."
"Quiet. Let's move inside."
Dante moved in through the doors with Raum, the duo walking side by side as the teen moved out of the way of… someone who apparently didn't see them…
"Why do we have to sneak in like this..?" Raum whispered.
"Because your precious cargo is inside, and if they're tipped off before we get there…"
"I'll kill them…"
"Yeah, I know that. So shut up already and be quiet. I may have made us invisible, but I couldn't make us silent, loudmouth."
"Who exactly is the loudmouth?" Raum asked.
The duo silenced each other and moved past another person, calmly walking past the rest of the staff, and eventually the guards when they entered deeper into the facility.
"We want the information!"
The two froze, then took quick and silenced steps forward, leaping up into the rafters. From their vantage point, Dante and Raum could see a man pacing back and forth angrily, speaking to the one in the chair facing him.
"We know you were seen with the two of them three days ago. What I want to know is where are they?"
A small and cute "Hmph!" was all the man received.
Raum and Dante silently descended from the rafters, and began to stealthy knockout the man's associates one by one, slowly closing in on the man interrogating the small, wolf Faunus child.
"That is the only thing you've said the entire time! Can't you say anything else?!"
The small child Irene crossed her arms, pouting and looking from the man whilst giving him another "Hmph!", something that made the man angrily shout in frustration.
"Alright you little brat! That's it! The gloves are coming off!" The man said, literally taking off his black leather gloves, "I guess we'll just have to motivate you then."
A tap on the man's shoulder stopped him, turning around and screaming "WHAT?!"
He froze when he saw Dante waving at him, and Raum cracking his knuckles before delivering an absolutely devastating uppercut under his chin, shooting the man up into the sky and through the roof like a rocket.
"Ducking assclown…" Raum growled.
"I think you meant fu-"
"Yes, but there's a thing called self-control, something I am working very hard at!"
"Papa!" The tiny child voiced as she hugged his leg, prompting the Dark Entity to jolt his leg upwards and toss the girl up into his arms.
She then wrapped her arms around his head and hugged him tightly as her tiny wolf tail whipped about happily. Irene then made grabbing motions towards Dante, prompting the teen forward as she gave him a few light pats to reward him for his efforts.
"I missed you too, little one."
Raum started leaping up through the rafters, Dante following behind him as they exited through the hole in the ceiling. A few more moments of jumping and they were back on the streets.
"You know, I think I'm a little hungry now. How about you?" The teen said, nudging Raum's shoulder.
One glance at Irene and seeing her nod was all he needed.
"Fine. But I pick the place this time."
(Semblance Encyclopedia 19)
"Why hello everyone! Fancy meeting you all here." Aizûr said stepping out onto the stage, wearing his Grimm-like dragon mask on his face, "It seems as though the usual two aren't available for the segment this week. Therefore, I'll be doing the honors this time. Now then…"
Clapping his hands twice, the monitor dropped down from the ceiling, and when it flickered to life, it displayed Jaune on screen, donning his upgraded black armor and weapon.
"Oh? A man of the Arc family? Now there's a family I haven't seen or heard of in quite a long time. Interesting…" Aizûr said, keeping a hand under his chin, soon turning to face the audience, "Well then, today we'll be discussing mr. Arc's… upgrades per say."
Clearing his throat, the man brought his fingertips together and pulled them apart, forming a small pointing rod of blue lightning in his left hand as he kept his right behind his back.
"From what I've learned in such a short time, mr. Arc's upgrades allow him to absorb the energy from anything impacting his shield and contain them until a time of his choosing. He then releases all of that energy in the form of draw slash from his shield, or in the form of an immense slash in his weapon's greatsword form."
As the dragon masked man pointed it out with his lighting pointer, Jaune performed both sets of actions in a loop until stopping moments after, the cartoonish figure changing into live footage of two events.
They showed Jaune performing a draw slash in both images.
"Now, the changes here are very subtle to spot. In the first clip, you see mr. Arc performing his actions normally. Nothing is all too different about him or his attack. But when you look to the second clip…"
Aizûr pointed down to the second clip with his pointer, tapping areas of significance.
"The changes become apparent. The more obvious is that his draw slash is stronger, even after absorbing the same amount of energy from the impact he took with his shield."
Jaune's sword loosed much more white Aura in that single slash than he did previously.
"This next change is harder to spot for many reasons, mainly because it's subtle. But to the trained eye… one can definitely see that mr. Arc's muscle mass has increased slightly, which I assume, would improve his body's durability as well as his overall strength."
The dragon masked man swiped away his pointer, the rod fading in a few small crackles as he stared back at the audience.
"It's uncertain if this increase in muscle mass throughout his entire body is a byproduct of his Semblance and… upgrade working together to make him stronger with the more damage he absorbs through his shield. Truthfully, there's no official record of his Semblance." Aizûr spoke, chuckling to himself silently after, "At least, not yet anyway."
Snapping his fingers, the huge monitor began sliding back into the ceiling.
"He does seem to show some promise…" The dragon masked man said, rubbing the bony chin of his mask, "In any case, that's all that we have for today. I'm certain we'll find out more about mr. Arc as time goes on. With that, I wish you all a good day." Aizûr said, waving at the audience, "Bye-bye now!"
My oh my, what a spectacular turn of events this chapter was. Dante managed to save Inuba, but to what cost towards himself? Not to mention, good old Luci finally made his reappearance in the story after only showing up in the Origins arcs of the original Hero of Remnant. Bet you weren't expecting the cane as his tool of destruction huh?
Bet you maybe didn't expect Lucifer being Dante's uncle, and for that matter, Raum too, since he and Lucifer are both brothers. Lots of unexpected things be happening. But… I bet there's just one more question burning (literally) in your minds right now.
Who in the world was that red haired crimson Knightess?
She's essentially new, but I started working on her last year really, and only thoroughly fleshed her out fully with the time I had this month. I will say one thing though. This woman is heavily connected to Dante's past, so she isn't just some random insert I decided to drop out of the blue. I've been planning her introduction for a while now.
What better way to intro her than with members of the Origins cast? Like Inuba's family, and Lucifer, etc.
In any case, that's all I have for everyone today. So with that…
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story Rogue Huntsman written by Xera Stark. The story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.
Plus, I'm working on it with him as a co-author, and my characters are in it too. So if you want to see a sort of alternate story and such with my characters in it, go on over and give Rogue Huntsman a read.
And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and tells Rogue Huntsman's story from his characters' perspective, like how Knights of White and Black (my alternate story) tells the tale from my character's perspectives.
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!
Bye-bye now!