The acute stress of the situation had awakened Ruby's mystic inheritance from the depths of her being. A flash of brilliant light surged from her eyes, the windows to the soul, engulfing the battlefield like a tidal wave. The demon that embodied the Winter instinctively shielded itself, yet nothing could save it from the light that purges all darkness. Weakened by it, Fimbulvetr had lost control over its own incarnation, manifested through the graying of the colors it adorned as it knelt to sustain itself from falling.
Some of the snow had retreated as well, revealing the crazed cultist trapped in the melting icy prison. The curse that fell on Weiss and Yang had lost its grip on their souls. Yet the heavenly gift that was revealed in front of them was still far too abstract for them to acknowledge in favor of the fact that the first real opening for an all-out attack had just become available. Blake and Ruby went into an offensive while Coco left Yatsuhashi and Velvet to take care of their fallen team member.
Despite the inflicted weakness, the Winter's avatar was sturdy enough to withstand Ruby's scythe slashes across the body, inflicting only surface wounds no matter how much strength she placed behind each swing. Blake's attacks had the same results whether she used her blades or guns. Ruby, still clueless about the power she had gained and lost in a blink of an eye, racked her brains for an answer to the problem in front of her.
"Step aside, he is mine!"
She and Blake heard Yang's boisterous proclamation as they saw a golden meteor flying past them and crashing into the demon. Yang, burning like a human torch, howled with each punch that connected with the avatar's flesh, smacking the arms, chest and head with all the might her rage could create. The demon stood silent as it took all the punishment, its ocean-deep eyes now turned into foggy orbs deep within its monstrous skull.
Meanwhile, Coco dug up the panicking cultist with her hands, trying her best to ignore the frostbite. She grabbed him by the tattered robes and pulled him close to her face.
"Do something about this before anyone else gets hurt, or I swear I will crush your throat like a toothpick!" she snarled, her nerves having reached a breaking point.
The cultist nodded mutely, having glanced at the weakened avatar with a mixture of fear and wonder. He ran as far away from the battlefield as possible, followed by Coco, and threw himself on his knees. Muttering to himself, the man bit his thumb to draw blood and used it draw a circle around his body.
Back to the fight, Yang had delivered an uppercut to the demon's skull. An echoing crack could be heard as it snapped backwards, nearly lifting the body to its feet. Yang stopped her barrage, unsure of what would come next as the demon remained in that position. Shaking her head, the Huntress-in-training readied another punch for where she thought the heart should have been. But when her fist flew forward, Fimbulvetr raised one arm and caught it with a swiftness that had stunned everyone present.
"His light will not save you from my wrath."
With speed that such size shouldn't be able to accomplish, the demon struck Yang with its other hand, sending her flying in the air. A pillar of ice erupted from the snow and went straight for her. Had it not been for the measly construct summoned by Weiss to take the hit instead of Yang, the latter would have been impaled through the stomach. Ruby turned her eyes at the heiress, who was barely able to stand on her feet. Yang crash-landed into the snow, her soul writhing in pain.
The storm grew in aggressiveness. Winds blew and whistled had descended upon the land. Fimbulvetr raised its hand at the sky above its head.
"The price of the sin for summoning Winter before its time comes is to be paid by the entire world. The Eternal Winter will claim this planet and snuff the life corrupted by the Sin of Pride."
The heavens opened as the very essence of Winter leaked through the tear in reality under the form of an icy star that threatened to destroy everything. The Huntsmen-in-training could only watch helplessly as doom was about to fall upon Remnant. Despair began to worm its way into the hearts of every present individual as they began to understand the insurmountable wall between them and the hostile entity.
But just as all hope seemed lost, a scream caught everyone's attention. A pillar of crimson light shot towards the star that promised destruction, shattering it into hundreds of fragments that rained upon the whole Agricultural District. The tear in reality closed, before the light fell down on the demonic avatar. It lowered its hand and stood still, contemplating about a hidden message only its ears could hear. The light faded along with the storm.
"Children of Man, hear my proclamation."
The voice boomed, reaching every ear in the Agricultural District no matter the proximity.
"The transgressors that dared to summon me to this world had paid the price in full. In exchange for their souls, I am to leave this planet intact as per agreement between the involved parties. Let the Creator be our witness, however, as I cannot leave without giving a reminder of my passing to this sinful generation. The fragments of my being had touched the soil of this land, bringing with them my curse that will last for a hundred generations. As long as these fragments remain, this ground will be cursed by the Eternal Winter. Through painful toil you will struggle to survive as wilderness will reclaim what has been given to the Children of Man. Know that, should you summon Summer, Fall or Spring to your aid, so that you might think of abating the curse, know that my curse will grow stronger and they will punish you also. May your suffering never cease until the end of the Fourth Age."
It was with this words that the Last Dirge of the Universe had departed, as a veil of mist and snow enveloped its being before retreating and dissipating. Its final words struck the souls of many Huntsmen, survivors and hidden cultists alike. As it promised, the shards bombarded the Agricultural District with the force of a meteor impact, causing massive damage and, in some cases, wiping out dozens of lives, innocent or otherwise. The ground froze wherever they hit as snow grew out of the soil like mushrooms after a rain, to the horror of all witnesses. Sunny and warm climates were replaced with heavy clouds and storms. Hail obliterated all plants that aren't naturally immune to harsher climates while the unfortunate animals were killed and heavily injured.
With the proclamation completed, the demon Fimbulvetr disappeared, its essence crumbling into snow. The Huntsmen-in-training, unaware of what had transpired all over the District, were still stunned at the display of supernatural power that happened moments ago.
"Wait, it can't just end like this!" said a recovering Yang, her fighting spirit still not abated.
"Looks like it did, though." replied Blake as she helped Weiss and Yang.
Ruby, shaken by the demonic threat, rushed to the corpse of the professional Huntsman. Her sister rushed to her side as soon as she saw tears running down the cheeks of the girl in red. Yang hugged her sister tightly, herself shaken and nearly hysterical.
"Ruby…"
"If only I acted sooner. I could have prevented all of this."
Blake and Weiss came to comfort their leader as well, taking their time to process all of the insanity they witnessed as well as figuring out what to do next. Shouts of fear and anger came from team CFVY's side. They had their own problems with Fox, who seemed to be at death's door, should he fail to get medical help.
Coco had returned from wherever she went, her clothes smeared with blood. Members of team CFVY ran to their leader. When asked, she recounted the situation that happened with the crazed cultist. Through the incoherent ramblings they managed to understand that the man had performed some kind of a ritual in exchange for his life, which explained the strange light. When it came to the ritual itself, Coco just shook her head and refused to talk further about it.
For a moment it seemed as if the world had returned to normalcy. Signal became available once again on their Scrolls and the Huntsmen-in-training wasted no time in calling for help. And help would certainly come, they said, though clear signs of frustration and terror could be heard in each call.
It was only after both teams were flying in a Bullhead that they realized how much did things change for the worse. The staff looked at them strangely when the teenagers asked for an explanation. How could someone not see the curse that fell on the district?
"Look out of the window."
Their collective heart sank at the display of chaos. Ruby and Velvet couldn't take this final nail in the coffin, crumbling into hysterical cries of sorrow. Others were shocked, even more so when they began to think that it might have been their fault.
"We should have never accepted that damn mission." Said Coco later qhen giving the official report.
Reality pieced itself back together noiselessly, in chunks that plastered themselves on the fabric of spacetime as if someone threw buckets of paint at a canvas. The process was catastrophic to a naked and untrained eye such as Jaune's, who spent his whole life with a sense of pre-established normalcy.
The young Huntsman-in-training had lost all sense of direction. He felt weightless in that empty space. Emerging matter brought to him noise as well, muffled at first and then "natural", even though he could hardly use that term anymore. With the last pieces of reality emerging and repairing themselves into existence, Jaune could see that he was brought to the very top of the tower he sought to reach. It was larger than he had assumed, built entirely out of black stone.
Massive claw-like pillars held the "star" that brought light to the ruins with their sharp tips. It occurred to Jaune that, when looking at it from a certain angle, the whole tower could probably resemble one gigantic hand resting above the city that was once a jewel of a long dead civilization. There was also a control tower right under the source of the light, a spiral staircase leading to the very top.
The "star" itself gave no warmth, which made Jaune sigh in relief, as it meant that it wasn't a real star and he wasn't going to be incinerated. Though brilliant like Remnant's sun, the light itself wasn't blinding his eyes. He could stare at the object all day long and never lose his sight due to burned retinas. It made him feel that much weirder. A faint breeze blew towards him, bringing with it a barely perceptible whisper that had sunk into his mind.
"Sometimes I like standing here and gaze at it. A star that never was, shaped by truths that found their rightful place in this universe. It all comes down to purpose. Something I never had."
In the stillness of the moment, Jaune heard something metallic clinking behind one of the pillars. Readying his sword and shield, Jaune swore under his breath at the prospect of yet another fight to the death.
Right as he had finished his thought, a figure emerged into view; a shambling metallic armor, of humanoid shape and motifs belonging to the alien race he had seen among the ruins. But it was broken, battered and held together with a kind of shining force, of a color that he couldn't grasp. A marionette on a string would be more of an appropriate description, thought even that failed to understand the core principles of what was happening to that being. It was accompanied with a smell that made Jaune retch, one that he could hear spreading in the air with all the grace of a cat's claw on a chalkboard. *
The reanimated puppet held a weapon as well. Something that couldn't decide whether it would be a jousting lance or a longsword, held together by the same eldritch source. It was used as a crutch, as something that held the whole puppet from falling into pieces.
An expressionless mask rose to meet Jaune's gaze.
"We can talk about how the world is unfair. For me. For you. For what I am about to do. But in the eyes of those who can see more than us it all has to happen in one way or another. We can say it was meant to be this way. Does this excuse our actions? No."
"Are you… controlling one of these aliens?"
"Borrowing husks is not a crime. Whoever this individual was has long since been erased by history. What does it matter to you anyway? Are you assuming that you are speaking to a person?"
"And I guess you are willing to do the same to me if you win?"
The puppet shifted in place. Its mask seemed to stare at something past Jaune.
"Your guardian… he doesn't approve. He will probably intervene and make me fail. How lucky you are, to have someone watch over you. As I said earlier, I won't apologize for my actions. It is in my nature to be this way."
(Blasphemous – Su Beso De Plata)
The puppet raised its weapon and lunged with stunning speed. Jaune deflected the attack with his shield, though the force behind it threw his footing off. His opponent didn't waste time and chose a spear jab to the fumbling blonde's midsection. The otherworldly material clashed with his Aura.
Jaune's senses went blank for a few seconds, suffering from a condition similar to TV static. Unable to cope with the sensation, even after returning to normal, confused him enough to give the puppet another free attack. It swung the weapon like a baseball bat, knocking Jaune on the ground. The puppet jumped in the air, bursting into flames of alien color.
"Crap!"
Jaune rolled to his feet and raised his shield as the impact was about to happen. The explosion sent him flying, though he was able to mitigate further damage by putting his shield below him as he landed. The area where the explosion occurred had its color faded, like looking at a very old picture. It returned to normal a few moments later.
"Do you see how denied I am here? My desires are meaningless in this world."
With a tremble that shook its body whole, the puppet assumed a stance and moved its spear as if trying to dash forward with it. Figuring how it was meant to be a powerful attack, the Huntsman-in-training protected himself with the shield. The opponent vanished in a blink of light, spear colliding with the defending metal, only to reappear several meters behind Jaune, who deduced that it would try the same trick again.
The second attempt had even more force behind it. No matter how hard he dug his feet into the ground, he couldn't stop being pushed back. Thinking of a way to fight back, Jaune went for his gun and shot at the puppet while hiding behind his shield. Two energy bullets out of five had actually hit the target, creating a sound like paper being ripped to shreds. Jaune fired twice more into the puppet's chest, urging it to retreat, though he didn't have the feeling that it had any effect in his favor.
Shrill cries and abnormal noises could be heard in the distance…
"You struggle in vain. Nothing you think of can help you here."
Light began to leak through the puppet's body, sucking the color out of reality it came in contact with. It jumped high into the air, where the light kept expanding further.
"Oh damn, that's gonna be a powerful one!"
Jaune ran towards one of the supporting pillars that held the fake star. He jumped behind cover the moment that the puppet landed. A high-pitched explosion could be heard for only a few seconds before the entire world had lost both its color and its noise. All that was left was an eternal buzz and a bleary pastiche that had replaced everything else.
It suddenly became harder to focus. Lines that divided objects mixed together, making it harder to distinguish them. It all came crashing down for Jaune, who stumbled and fell, his brain unable to process the eldritch state of reality. Moreover, the explosion seemed to attract the lesser entities, remnants of a forgotten age, who crawled out of their nests and rapidly swarmed the structure. The reanimated puppet observed the rejected abstracts.
"Pitiful dregs. All of them. They seem to think like I do. A fitting logic for those who were never meant to be."
It turned the dizzy Jaune over with its leg. In the mind haze, the Huntsman-in-training could see the tip of the thing's weapon, ready to strike his chest. It was a struggle to think, even harder to come up with words to express his despair over what seemed to be his inevitable end. This opponent was something he alone couldn't deal with. Even in his current state, it became painfully clear that there was an insurmountable wall between them dictated by the vast differences in their innate natures.
Visions of his friends and family came through the mind fog. As faces and memories came and went, his mind's had set on Pyrrha. A sudden pain swelled in his chest for reasons he couldn't explain. He wished to see her one last time and to thank her for being a good friend. Now he wouldn't be able to do that. In desperation, he begged for a miracle, one that could give him another chance at life. He was heard.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
The puppet jumped backwards as golden lights tore through its weapon, shattering it into pieces. Unable to regenerate it, the possessed corpse looked up, only to see a perfect copy of the Huntsman it had defeated, with an aetherial aureola floating above its head. Other rejected abstracts stopped their advancement, pushed back by the overwhelming aura of the presence.
"For a Guardian to manifest… you…"
(Limbus Company - Leviathan)
Everything around Jaune regained its color, as if reality itself was healing back. It went beyond that as the world seemed to gain a luster that previously hadn't been there. His eyes could see every detail in a different light, giving him a sense of pure awe. He looked at the figure and couldn't believe the resemblance to him. And yet, there was something greater hidden in the firm gaze and matchless posture. His copy turned to him and smiled benevolently.
"Thank you for being able to stand your ground. Take a rest now. I promise that no harm will be done to you."
An otherworldly calm descended upon Jaune, who immediately fell to sleep.
"I see you dealt with the more desperate ones…"
'Jaune' turned to the puppet, regaining back his hostile gaze.
"You are not going to answer?"
"I am not allowed to meddle in mortal affairs…" he raised his sword, burning with aetherfire, "But I have very little patience for those who overstep their boundaries like you."
"So you are going to destroy me, destroy us, before our time?"
"What I'm doing is pulling the weeds and throwing them into the fire. In your case, it's sending you back to where you belong."
"I see. Though unfair, I refuse to surrender."
"Then you will taste defeat."
Two swings of the blade banished nearly all of the lesser abstracts that swarmed "Jaune" and the puppet, each leaving behind a jumble of inexplicable after effects. The latter jumped away from the stream of aetherfire that erupted from the floor. "Jaune" kept pressuring it with further attacks while also increasing in speed. Unable to further avoid in time, the puppet raised its hands in a defensive gesture as the sword went for a stab. Both limbs crumbled to dust as soon as they came in contact with aetherfire.
Some rejected abstracts with monstrous forms flew to attack the sleeping human. His protector jumped into the air and performed a downward swing with his sword. As if cutting reality in half, space itself changed for an aetherial green shade, where every abstract was a white silhouette. He then swung the sword in a diagonal motion, ripping away the aetherial light while also cutting in half every silhouette. Once the world returned to normal, all the enemies were erased from reality.
The Guardian returned to the possessed puppet.
"I have vanquished the remnants that defiled this place and threatened my protégée. You won't gain anything by struggling further."
"Do what you must and spare me the sermon."
His gaze never wavering, "Jaune" cut through the remains, burning the essence of the rejected abstract with pure aetherfire. A black rift opened above their heads, sucking into itself the eldritch miasma that leaked from alien remains. The abstract thus went back into the realm meant for its ilk.
But the fight was far from over. Their reality-altering commotion had attracted the attention of the remnants of the automated defensive systems scattered across the ruins; living evidence of mistakes done long ago. "Jaune" observed many contraptions shining like stars in the distance, as they soared collectively above the ruins to reach the top of the tower. Sensing more abstracts trapped within the machines, the Guardian raised his sword and declared:
"Wretched spawn! I will exile you back to where you came from!
The battle raged on, with Jaune sleeping calmly on the floor.
With this chapter done, the side plots with team RWBY and JNPR are complete. We will return to Braylon and his encounter in the next chapter, then continue with his side of the story for a bit before returning back to the aftermath of both teams. Thank you all for reading the story up to latest chapter!
*Entry #237: Sozomen, Grand Archivist
Type: Riftspawn - Construct
Faction: None
Description: "Some things just don't fit into the picture as a whole. It's not even a matter of personal taste. If you have a perfect painting, of what use is to add more details? Or can a chair complain to a carpenter that it lacks its proper place? We are allowed to think that the Creator God can sometimes make flukes. It takes many failings to make a perfect end result, right? Or maybe what we think of mistakes are actually intended features, for even mistakes are needed to make things as they should be. There is no way to know the answer. Only God knows. But sometimes, I wonder whether is he as ignorant on the subject as we all are." (Rejected Cosmic Abstract: increase for 10% the Critical Damage done by Critical Attacks, reduce for 10% the Critical Damage received by Critical Attacks / Extradimensional Refraction Variant: non-Construct targets hit by attacks receive "Mind Overload" status effect (reduced overall speed and defensive abilities))