AN: I guess I'm a little eager to get this part over with... Oh well, let's see how badly I wrote in a hurry XD
Spirit Crucible Elpys
It was now morning. Everyone had eaten breakfast and was now outside the village gates. Everyone had their expectant eyes on Azurda who was fluttering in front of them.
"So gramps. Could you finally tell us what exactly we're doing here?" Rex asked.
"Did you know that Fonsett has another name?" Azurda asked, earning bewildered looks from everyone.
"Huh? Another name?" Rex mouthed out.
"Hero's rest." Azurda then said.
"Hero?" Rex sounded out before he realized it, "As in...?"
Azurda nodded, "This village was founded by Addam himself at the end of his travels."
"So then... Rex truly is Addam's descendant?" Dragunov said, earning several gasps out of everyone.
"Whaaahh! That's so cool!" Ruby said with stars in her eyes.
"B-but my parents weren't from Fonsett." Rex protested with an embarrassed look.
"If Addam lived here 500 years ago, then it's possible that some of his descendants might have left the village and gone somewhere else." Ren pointed out.
"In other words..." Zeke muttered, "There's a chance that Rex might actually be Addam's descendant."
"Please, stop!" Rex practically yelled, "I... I can't be descendant of someone like Addam."
Mòrag chuckled at this before addressing Azurda, "I believe we should leave this topic. Please continue."
The tiny Titan was more than willing to do that, "As I was saying, Addam left me in charge of protecting this village after the war."
"Is this village really that important?" Rex asked, very happy that the topic shifted.
"What do you think I was protecting?" Azurda asked almost smugly.
This caused everyone to stare at the Titan.
"Was it the third sword?" Yang was the first to ask with excitement.
"Yes! This was easy!" Nora cheered before giving an inquisitive look to the Titan, "Where is it?! Cough it up!"
Azurda chuckled at Nora actually putting her hands in front as if expecting to receive something.
"Nora... It's obviously not on him." Ren pointed out with a sigh.
"It's not?" Nora asked, genuinely confused.
"...Nora dum-dum." Tora dead-panned.
"Very dum-dum." Poppi agreed.
"Sh-shut up!" Nora didn't like being told that by a talking pillow, or a mechanical child.
"How could someone that small have a sword anyway?" Electra also asked innocently, causing Nora's cheeks to redden.
Azurda chuckled at this exchange, "Follow me, kids." With that, the Titan fluttered away on his tiny wings.
With that, everyone followed Azurda to a small mountain nearby that had steps leading up to it. Thankfully no one felt like teasing Nora anymore.
Weiss and Ren were surprised to see some stone pillars evenly built along these stairs. And even an archway at both the bottom of the stairs and the top, once they reached it.
"Here we are," Azurda said as he stopped in front of a large stone monolith in the middle of the small area they were in now.
"The Village Guardian?" Rex questioned.
"The what-now?" Jaune asked.
"The Village Guardian. They say that the village's guardian spirit dwells within it." Rex explained.
"It just looks like a stone pillar to me." Nia said with a skeptical look.
"Is there a reason we're here?" Qrow asked, getting a little impatient now. Honestly, part of him was now wondering what they were even doing here.
Azurda seemed to ignore the veteran huntsman and turned to Rex, "Rex, try turning that stone tablet clockwise."
Rex turned towards the small altar in front of the Village Guardian and looked to the stone tablet on it. "This?" And then Rex turned it clockwise with some effort. The tablet then split, revealing a glowing blue crest within. It looked like a stylized flame. "This crest." Rex said in wonder.
"You recognize it Rex?" Roc asked as he took a look at the crest.
"Yeah. I've seen it before. On the sunken ship where I was hired among other salvagers. That's where Pyra and I first met." Rex explained.
"Now, Rex. Place your hand on the crest." Azurda then instructed.
The salvager did as told and the crest glowed. Then the stone pillar began sinking to the ground. Then as the statue sank to the bottom, the top part was revealed to be in the shape of stairs, which then led underground with a portion of the floor in front of them moving back to allow access to the path beneath.
"A secret passage." Ruby said with a look of awe.
"That's... kinda cool." Oscar said, looking in slight awe. This was like from those adventurer stories he red back at the farm.
"This passage leads into the very center of the archipelago." Azurda then explained, " There lies the cavern known as Spirit Crucible Elpys."
"That's quite a name." Rex commented, with Ruby and Yang nodding in agreement.
"This entrance and the gate to the Spirit Crucible are sealed in such a way that only a Leftherian can open it." Azurda then explained.
Rex's eyes visibly widened at something he remembered. "Ahh! So that's why Jin needed me back then."
"Wait, what?!" Yang exclaimed, "You worked for Jin?"
"Jin hired me and several other salvagers from Leftheria to get a sunken ship up from the Cloud Sea. There was a door that Jin said would only open for 'one of you people'. It had a crest like this."
Blake noticed in her peripheral vision that Nia was looking away.
"What was behind that door?" Nora asked eagerly.
Rex looked a little down before answering, "...Pyra. She was sealed there."
"Oh." Was the universal reaction.
Then Rex placed a hand over the green X on his chest, "It was also there where Jin stabbed me and Pyra gave me this piece of her Core Crystal to save me."
"Rex... I'm sorry that happened to you." Ruby said with a slightly sad look.
"I'm not." Rex said with a smile, surprising everyone, "I got to meet Pyra, so it's okay." Then Rex turned back to Azurda. "Gramps... is the third sword down here?"
"Yes, Rex." Azurda said, "When Addam founded the village, he hid it deep within the Titan that forms the Archipelago's center."
"What we waiting for, let's go." Tora said eagerly. Nora, Electra and Ruby already looked excited about entering the cavern.
"I don't know, how word got out." Azurda then said, ignoring the eager kids, "But many were led here by the rumors of the legendary sword. More than a few have entered the Spirit Crucible, but none have ever returned."
"Why am I not surprised." Qrow muttered in annoyance.
"Well, that is to be expected," Aizen said with a small sigh, earning curious looks.
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked the nobleman.
"If this had been the only security measure, then someone would have taken it by now." Aizen said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"That makes sense," Mòrag agreed with Aizen, "I'm sure Addam wanted ensure that the sword is safely sealed away."
"Indeed." Azurda confirmed as he crossed his tiny arms across his chest, "Addam put many measures in place to stop the sword from falling into the wrong hands. Only to the hands of someone worthy. Addam said that taking this sword would be the mark of the Aegis' true Driver."
"Their true Driver." Rex said with a determined look.
"What do you say Rex?" Azurda gave the boy an inquisitive look.
"..I'll do it. No. I HAVE to do it." Rex said resolutely, "Every moment we waste now, Pyra and Mythra could be..."
"Then you are ready for what lies ahead?" Azurda asked one more time.
Rex nodded resolutely before turning to everyone, "Guys... I know you already said you would help, but if you're not up to it, then-" "Oh, save it." Nia interrupted rudely.
"Do you seriously think any of us are about to back off now?" Nia asked with her arms crossed.
"What my lady said." Dromarch added in. Dagas merely huffed.
"Tora and Poppi want to help." Tora said, bouncing in place.
"Poppi agrees." Poppi said with a firm nod.
"Chum, who do you think you're telling to back off." Zeke said with a cocky grin and hands on his hips, with Pandoria mimicking the stance.
"There you have it, Rex." Mòrag said with an amused look, "None of us are backing out."
"And neither are we, right guys?" Ruby added in while turning to her team.
"...If Malos gets his full power, then he might bring an Aegis War to Remnant." Weiss said with a determined look. Dahlia smiled at her Driver.
"We're already here." Blake shrugged, and Nox just stood in silence.
"I ain't backing down." Yang said with a confident grin and bumping her fists together. Dragunov looked at his Driver briefly before turning away.
"We're gonna save Pyra, right?" Jaune then said, "So I will help too."
"I shall go where Milord shall go." Joana said resolutely. Talos just stood with his arms crossed, not making a sign of backing away.
"Yeah!" Nora said, "Pyra is our friend now too, so we're gonna save her and break those guys' legs." Electra nodded eagerly at the last part.
Ren also nodded in agreement, while Otohime rolled her eyes at Nora's threats on their enemies.
"I'm going where friend Ruby's going." Penny said with a smile. Kos-Mos made no comment, although everyone thought that she would probably do with Penny what Joana does with Jaune.
"I'm helping too." Oscar added in as he turned to Herald, "Will you help me Herald?"
"Of course." Herald said with a faint smile.
Qrow let out a sigh, "Someone has to watch out for you kids." He would have preferred having Harbinger fixed first, but from what he had seen none of the blacksmiths in Tantal had means of fixing a mecha-shift weapon. Then the veteran let out an exasperated sigh when he felt Kasandra's arms wrapping around him in a hug.
Rex smiled at everyone before turning to Roc, "Hey Roc, since Pyra and Mythra aren't here-" "Are you implying I haven't been your strength already?" Roc asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Rex chuckled as he got his answer, until he also heard a growl at his side. "I get it, Wulfric. Thanks."
The beastly Blade grunted in approval. With that, everyone entered the Spirit Crucible Elpys.
In Monoceros, Salem was waiting for good news from Watts who was allowed to examine the Omega Fetter...Under very, very, very strict supervision.
Unfortunately, Watts didn't have good news, "I may have to retract my previous statement about the technology of this world."
"Is that so?" Salem asked with an intrigued look, "What exactly is it that you find difficult about this Omega Fetter?"
"Truthfully? Everything." Watts admitted in shame, "I can't make heads or tails of it without attempting to pick it apart, and our hosts would never let me do that. Even then... I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but this is practically alien technology. And I'm not even sure if that thing is technology at all."
Salem found herself chuckling, "So you have no idea what it does?"
"Other than the little bit about the thing being used to control this 'Ophion', no I do not." Watts sounded ashamed of himself.
"Did you happen to hear where our hosts are taking us?" Salem then asked, seeing as the ship had been moving for a few days now and they weren't told where they were going.
"Unfortunately no." Watts said before looking to the door of Salem's cabin which was guarded from the outside. "If you don't mind me asking, ma'am." Watts then said in a quiet voice, "Why don't you simply destroy these folks and take the Omega Fetter for yourself?"
"The same reason I asked you to try and examine it," Salem replied quietly, "I don't know how to use it. But our hosts do, so we will let them use it and... Well we will see." Salem chuckled at the last part. Honestly, she wasn't sure this "Ophion" could be any kind of threat to her, but if there's a way to skip the tedious part of fighting, then she would take it. It's not like she was in a hurry. "You may go." Salem then said.
Watts bowed before moving to the cabin's door and knocking. Signaling that he was ready to return to his cell. As soon as Patroka began escorting Watts, Salem brought a finger to her chin in thought.
"I wonder... What kind of secrets does your memory still hold," Salem thought as she tried to concentrate on something she was a little curious about since her subordinates mentioned hearing about. Artifice.
No sooner had Salem started than she was now living a memory of a time in what looked like a large mess hall. She was sitting on one table with the two men from the flash she had previously about. But their faces were still missing... Except the black haired one was now wearing round glasses.
"How was your day?" The black haired one inquired from the woman Salem was seeing through.
"Fine, thank you. What about you, ***?" The woman answered and Salem was pretty sure she was smiling.
"Oh, the usual, sometimes I feel like I got put in charge of idiots." The black haired man with glasses said in irritation.
"Are you sure it's not because of your obsession with perfection?" The blonde haired man asked mockingly, "I mean, there's a reason I got your previous job."
"Shut up, Klaus!" the black haired man snapped, "I can't understand what the Director sees in a pompous prick like you."
"I get more results than you, that's what." the man named Klaus said smugly, and Salem was pretty sure he was smirking.
"Stop it! Both of you! It's been a year since then, can't you two finally move past it?" The woman said in an attempt to break up the two bickering scientists. Then the woman shifted focus on the black haired man. "***, the job you are doing requires your expertize, and ensures that everything we discover here doesn't fall upon wrong hands."
The black haired man sighed as he shoved a generous helping of his food into his mouth. After swallowing he finally spoke, "You're right. The cyber security was in desperate need of an update anyway. And the Artifices are also facinating."
Klaus chuckled at this, "I admit, you did a good job on stopping an attack that was already happening. The security and back-ground checks have been stepped up too, but that's to be expected."
"We can't let any of our research here fall into the wrong hands. The fate of humanity depends on it." The black haired man said as he adjusted his glasses, before turning his attention to the blonde man, "Speaking of which, have you uncovered anything new recently?"
"Nothing too significant since the Artifice production that the Trinity Processor began, "Klaus admitted, "Which reminds me, you were also in charge of researching them. Have you discovered anything yet?"
The black haired man looked around the mess hall before leaning in, "Officially, I'm not supposed to discuss this, but these new weapons will help us keep the Beanstalk and by extension, this station protected. And the specs on these things are just... phenomenal. Although I would want more than new weapons technology out of this project."
"We all do." The woman said, sounding hopeful, "We are trying to build a better tomorrow here. I hope we succeed eventually and there will be no more need for wars."
"That's quite a pipe dream," The black haired one said in amusement, "But one can always hope. Humanity has unlimited potential after all."
Then Klaus lifted his glass, "To the better tomorrow, then?"
The other two joined in, "To the better tomorrow." And the glasses were clinked. The woman was happy that these two got along once again. Hopefully this time it will last.
And then Salem was out of the memory. "...Trinity Processor." Salem muttered. She didn't understand what it could be, but it had something to do with the Artifices. And the woman seemed to be close to some pretty important scientists if the little bits of conversation from the memory are anything to go by. Of course, the woman herself might have been important too to have a casual conversation with those two. Or she was simply assigned to keep those two out of each other's throats. That last one made Salem chuckle. "So many questions, so few answers." Salem muttered in mild amusement.
Back with the heroes, they have now entered a long cavern which seemed to stretch for a while now.
Suddenly, Electra stumbled on seemingly nothing.
"Electra." Nora said in concern, "Are you okay? What happened?"
."Sorry, Nora." Electra said as she got up on slightly shaking legs, "I'm just feeling a little dizzy."
"You too?" Brighid piped up.
This earned the attention of Dromarch, "Have you been feeling dizzy too, lady Brighid?"
"Yes, for a while now." Brighid admitted, "Though I'm still capable of standing."
"Hey, same here." Pandoria piped up, "What's up with this place? It's kinda creepy."
Ruby then looked to her own Blade, "Roze?"
It didn't take a genious to figure out what Ruby was asking, "Yeah, I've felt a bit dizzy too."
"Dahlia, have you been feeling strange?" Weiss also asked her first Blade.
"Yes, but I'm fine, Weiss." Dahlia said with a smile.
Blake had also turned to Nox who nodded at the silent question.
"What is going on here?" Mòrag questioned as it seemed that every single Blade had been feeling weird.
"I feared as much," Azurda piped up from Rex's helmet.
"Gramps? You knew this would happen?" Rex almost sounded accusing.
Azurda came a little out of his ride, "They say that Spirit Crucible Elpys saps the power of Blades. That is one of the reasons none have ever returned."
"And you're telling us now?!" Yang said accusingly, "What other secrets have you been hiding?"
"Yang. He said this place is dangerous, " Dragunov sounded out before glaring at the tiny Titan, " Though it would've been nice to know why." Azurda cowered a little in Rex's helmet.
"Ether flow is very scarce here." Otohime said, having brought her tendrils forward, and they were twitching weakly.
"Like in the Tantal's jail?" Oscar asked.
"That not only thing," Poppi then piped up, earning everyone's attention, "Glowing particles in air. They absorb ether. That is source of light."
"So not only do you have less power, the power you do have is being absorbed." Zeke summarized.
"Oh, joy." Qrow piped up, just when he was now forced to use Kasandra's weapon, he can't even use it to it's fullest.
"Are you alright, friend Poppi?" Penny then asked in concern.
"Poppi just fine." The artificial Blade said cheerfully with her fists on her hips, "Poppi never better."
"Poppi is an artificial Blade," Kos-Mos piped up, "Perhaps that is a factor."
This reminded Ruby of something, "Penny, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Ruby. Why do you ask?" Penny tilted her head for emphasis.
"Because... what if Dust stops working again?" Ruby asked in concern.
"But I was fine in the stasis field in Tantal." Penny pointed out.
"Come to think of it, why was Penny the only one who's Dust supply didn't lose power?" Ren then pointed out.
"I have an emergency back up that uses Aura." Penny explained, "Luckily we didn't stay long enough for my Aura to have run out." Penny's cheerful tone did not match the content of her information.
"Are you okay now, though?" Ruby then asked.
"...Yes. The Dust reactor is still active, and the emergency power has not kicked in yet." Penny said simply.
Ruby let out a sigh of relief, "That's great."
"We should move on." Roc then said, "Even if we are slightly less powerful, it doesn't exactly change what we need to do."
"You said it, Roc." Rex said with a small smile, being reminded of Vandham again.
Although all the Driver's were slightly worried for their Blades, they were still moving onward. It took some time, but they soon arrived at a large cavern with a bottomless ravine. There were also stairs that led to a wooden rope bridge across it to further inside this place.
"We have to cross that?" Rex was the first to ask about the old looking bridge.
"Yes, though we must proceed with caution." Azurda replied.
"As if we need to be told that at this point," Dagas huffed.
"Yes you do." Azurda said, "Because once we cross that bridge, Blades will be sapped of most of their power. If you run out of energy, you might be forced to revert to your core states. And there's a chance that you could never be reawakened."
That put some various scary thoughts into the Drivers and several of the Blades.
"...Electra, you should go back to the village." Nora said, sounding unusually serious.
"What? Why?! Did I do something bad?" Electra asked in distress.
"No, it's just... It's not safe for you." Nora said in a tone a mother would use. Something that no one thought she was capable of.
"But who will protect you?" Electra then asked.
"I can take care of myself." Nora replied, "Besides, I got everyone else for that."
"But I want to protect you too." Electra said with a very stern look.
"No." Nora said with her arms crossed.
"Yes!" Electra refused to take a no.
As Nora told Electra to stay behind, Zeke had the same idea with Pandoria.
"Pandy, I think you should just stay here and guard the fort too." Zeke said simply.
"Why? Don't you want me?" Pandoria asked.
"Don't ask dumb questions. You know very well why, don't you?"
Pandoria didn't like that, "If I'm staying then you ought to-" "I'll be fine! When am I ever not?" Zeke shot back.
Yang resisted a chuckle at that before turning to Dragunov.
"No." The dragon said immediately.
"Oh? So you're not coming?" Yang asked with a grin.
The draconic Blade had a blanched look before growling, "Well played, girl... Well played. But I'm not staying behind."
Yang shrugged, "Wasn't gonna tell you to." The blonde didn't want to admit how happy Dragunov made her by saying that.
Blake had also turned to Nox, "Nox, I think you should stay behind."
The ninja showed his answer on the scroll which made the Faunus Driver frown, "With all due respect, my lady, I refuse."
"That's an order." Blake said sternly.
"One I cannot obey."
Blake let out a sigh, "Fine. But if you start feeling like you're about to shut down, tell me."
"Yes, my lady."
Unlike Blake, Jaune knew that Joana would rather risk shutting down than stay behind, so instead. "Will you be alright, Talos?"
The metallic Flesh Eater was honestly surprised he was asked that. "I feel dizzy, but I'll manage. As will Joana, no doubt." At the last part, Talos turned to the knightess.
"Naturally, Master Talos. I shall endure whatever I must to ensure Milord's safety." The knightess banged her high-tech chest plate for emphasis.
Jaune rolled his eyes at the declaration, but he did appreciate it.
Qrow was listening in on Pandoria's and Zeke's argument with a defeated look. No doubt he would have a similar conversation with Kasandra if he even suggested something like that... Not that he could, because without Harbinger, she was his only source of weapon. Although it would take some getting used to.
"We made a promise didn't we?!" Pandoria almost screamed at her Driver, earning everyone else's attention, "Don't you dare say you've forgotten! I go where you go. End. Of. Story." Pandoria made sure to put extra emphasis on the last three words.
"...Fine." Zeke relented.
"Is there something wrong?" Mòrag asked the two.
"Nah, just have to deal with a stubborn Blade." Zeke said.
"Tell me about it." Qrow finally piped up, "I have to deal with that too."
"Oh? Who?" Kasandra asked innocently. Which was followed by the sound of Qrow's palm impacting his face.
While everyone else's attention was shifted to Qrow and Zeke, Dromarch was facing Nia. "My lady."
"I'm fine." Nia said discreetly, "We can't give up now that we've come this far. Don't. I know what you're gonna say."
"I...understood." Dromarch relented on whatever he wanted to say to Nia.
Mòrag let out a weary sigh, "It seems that we are all going down there. But aside from Tora and Poppi, we will find our abilities severly weakened. Be careful, Rex."
"Yes." Zeke added in, "Healing Arts will probably be less effective too. One nasty wound and that'll be the end of you."
Weiss meanwhile checked her Scroll. She frowned about something before waving her hand, and a glyph appeared. "Well, looks like my semblance isn't affected. Or at least I don't feel anymore difficulties than normally."
"Then I guess we'll be fine here." Ruby said, finding some comfort that this thing doesn't seem to affect Aura.
"I see." Rex said with a thoughtful look before turning to address Tora and the Remnantians. "Tora, Poppi. We're gonna need you to take point alongside Ruby and the others. If that's alright with you." That last one was directed at Ruby."
"You got it, Rex-Rex." Tora said happily, "Poppi is artificial Blade, so request is very extremely not a problem."
"We can do that, right guys?" Ruby also added in, addressing her team and JNPR. This earned her various signs of acknowledgement.
"Technology saves the day! Three cheers for Nopon know-how!" Tora cheered as he danced in place.
Poppi then put her fists on her hips, "Where are Poppi's cheers?"
"Or ours?" Yang asked with her arms crossed and an amused look. Although she was a little bummed that she had to leave Bumblebee behind. Then again, who knows if this place has any driveable areas.
"Let's just go guys." Rex said with a smile. With that, Tora, Poppi, and team RWBY alongside Qrow took point, while JNPR and Oscar acted as the rear-guard.
As the gang began crossing the bridge, a question popped into Weiss' mind. "Dahlia, is this like that time in Merlot's island?"
"What? Oh, that. No, this is different," Dahlia replied simply.
"Excuse me?" Aizen said with a quirked eyebrow.
"Right, we never told you," Weiss said, "Some time before the Vytal Festival, we entered a mad doctor's island that had strange green substance, it made Blades feel terrified. And just the vapors of that stuff erased ether."
Aizen turned towards the fellow Blades of RWBY.
"The land itself felt like it wanted to kill you." Roze said, shuddering at the memory.
"Yeah, I hear you." Dragunov muttered, barely audible. He still felt anger at the memory of such an evil place.
"What're you guys talking about," Rex asked as they now moved past the bridge and into a tunnel that honestly looked like the inside of a ribcage. They might have thought it was, if it wasn't made of stone.
"Oh, well..." Ruby searched for a short version of the story for a moment,"Basically we went to an island of a mad scientist who mutated Grimm with this weird green stuff that eats ether. Dragunov almost shut down because of it."
"Did you have to remind me," Dragunov growled, causing Ruby to jump a little and hide behind Roze. "Didn't you say on the Titan ship that you would take me down?" This time Dragunov was amused.
Everyone's jaws who wasn't in the know dropped at Ruby doing something that absurd.
"Ruby... what were you thinking?" Weiss wasn't even mad, just exasperated. The question only made Ruby cover herself with Roze's cape for good measure.
Yang on the other hand gave her Blade a threatening look, "What did you respond back then?"
"What do you think? I laughed." Dragunov said with a grin, before chuckling, "It's still funny."
"Ruby must seem very non-threatening to you." Kos-Mos commented in monotone from the back.
"Oh, I experience her as a docile little bunnit that couldn't harm a fly." Dragunov said, causing some snickers among everyone, despite themselves.
"Hey!" Ruby dared to peek out of Roze's cloak with an unusually angry look.
Tora and Poppi just looked on with tilted heads at this exchange, while the Alrestians all felt varying levels of amusement(Rex, Zeke, Pandoria, Roc), or exasperation(Mòrag, Nia, Brighid). Team JNPR and Oscar looked between each other and chose not to comment.
Qrow... since Dragunov didn't do anything to Ruby physically, he decided to just stay out.
With embarrassing Ruby over with, the gang had just entered a more spacious cavern. Pandoria slowed down and breathed heavily.
Everyone stopped at this.
"Are you alright, lady Pandoria?" Aegaeon asked the Tantalese Blade.
"Never...better." Pandoria said with some difficulty, "I'm right...as...rain."
"The deeper we go, the thicker these particles become." Mòrag noted on the greater quantity of particles that light their way. Which also means that Blades have their abilities further restrained. "You can still turn back."
"Thanks. Your concern is touching," Pandoria said, but made no move to turn back.
"Worry about yourself, yeah?" Zeke piped up, sounding a little tired himself, "I can look after her.
Rex noticed Zeke's slightly tired tone, "Zeke, you don't look so good yourself. Are you alright?"
"Your vitals do show signs of exhaustion," Joana noted, having deployed her helmet.
Zeke let out a sigh, "Alright, didn't think it was worth mentioning, but..." Zeke then moved the left side of his coat to the side, which allowed everyone to see what was beneath it. Especially when the rear guard came to the front to see.
"How did you get that?" Rex asked about the glowing blue sideways triangle on Zeke's left breast. It had some scarring around it.
"What even is that?" Nora felt a little queasy for seeing it.
"Well... Pandoria mentioned about that time I almost bloody died, right?" Zeke said, "I got a real nasty wound back then and was dying. Pandy and I were trying to reach a settlement that was supposed to be not too far from where we were, but I lost conciousness after a while."
Pandoria then took over," I tried to carry him the rest of the way, but with his wounds growing worse, so did I grow weaker. That was when we were surrounded by people. At first I thought they were bandits. But it was Praetor Amalthus with some of his warrior monks. They took us in and... planted a part of my Core Crystal into my prince to save him." At the last part, Pandoria touched her rectangular Core Crystal that had a triangular piece missing.
When everyone's eyes shifted between the hole in Pandoria's Crystal and the glowing triangle in Zeke's chest. They saw that it was a perfect match.
"They can do that in Indol?" Rex asked with a slightly worried look.
Zeke grinned a little, "I guess you and I are more alike than you thought, chum? Though mine was just a surgical procedure."
"You make it sound so simple," Mòrag commented, astonishment clear in her voice, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."
"You know, the people of Indol can trace their roots back to Judicium." Zeke then said.
This caused Talos to perk up, "The ones who made Flesh Eaters?"
"And the ones who created that Titan weapon thing we fought back in Temperantia." Nia added in.
"Yeah, them. They carried out, experiments. Fusing human cells into Blades, creating Flesh Eaters." Zeke's explanation made Talos place his hand over his blood-stained Core Crystal. "And since I have part of Pandy's Core Crystal within me, I'm a Flesh- No, a Blade Eater."
"A Blade Eater." Nia sounded out with a frown. Talos also looked down a little, which Joana took note of in worry.
"...But those practices still persist in Indol?" Mòrag said apprehensively.
"Hey, so they took advantage of Blade regeneration and patched me up with Pandy's Core Crystal." Zeke defended a little.
"I would offer the same to milord faster than a heartbeat if it meant saving his life." Joana said supportively.
"Joana, I'm not sure I would feel comfortable having stolen part of your life," Jaune said, barely understanding it himself.
"It is not stealing my life if I offer it to you myself," Joana said simply.
The Arc Driver shook his head, not knowing how to counter that kind of logic.
"Although this must also be why this place is affecting you too." Otohime then noted, remembering that Zeke wasn't exactly at one hundred percent himself.
"It's all good, let's just push on." Zeke then said.
Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to her team," Hey guys. What if we let our Blades sit these fights out?"
"Ruby, what're you talking about?" Blake was the first to ask.
"Well, if they're not at hundred percent, we should make do without them while we're here." Ruby said with a determined look as she took out Crescent Rose. "It's not like we can't fight without them."
"Ruby... Remember that arachno we fought in Forever Fall? Our weapons didn't harm it." Weiss pointed out, "It took our Blades to kill it."
"And that sauros could withstand Atlesian weaponry. I'm not confident in our normal weapons harming anything from Alrest." Blake also added in.
"Then we switch back, but as long as we can kill monsters without our Blades, I say we do it." Ruby shot back.
"Don't we have a say in this?" Roze said with a hard look, "I can't speak for others, but I will not stand back and let you do all the fighting.
"You might as well have spoken for us," Dahlia added in, crossing her arms under her breasts. "I will not stand back and let Weiss do all the fighting.
"Letting my lady fight, while I stand back is unacceptable." Nox showed on his scroll.
Dragunov didn't say anything but he crossed his arms with an unimpressed look directed at Ruby.
Qrow let out a sigh as Kasandra was giving him puppy dog eyes, "I don't have a weapon right now anyway." The self proclaimed lucky Blade beamed at her Driver.
Team JNPR and Oscar didn't even try to argue Ruby's point with their Blades. For Jaune, he knew he would be talking to a brick wall. Penny, she didn't have a weapon either. Ren, Otohime would never accept it. For Nora, she couldn't bear to see Electra's sad eyes at being told not to help. And Oscar... he made a promise to keep Herald in check, so he might as well get some practice at it.
"Let's just go." Rex said almost demandingly, "You can work it out as we go."
This surprised everyone a little, but the group did move on. Fortunately on their way, there didn't seem to be much of enemies to speak of. Except some Vangs that started attacking them, but those were easily dealth with by those who had ranged attacks. Although Weiss had pointed out that their supply of Dust Ammo was still limited, so they had to use Blades with ranged attacks to shoot them down. But then a problem arose.
"Which way now?" Nora asked Azurda as the road split to two different directions, circling a pit with purple water. Otohime had said that it was poisonous, so they shouldn't touch it. Dromarch had agreed, so everyone made sure to not touch that stuff.
"Hmm... I'm afraid I can't answer that." Azurda replied.
"But weren't you guarding this place?" Jaune asked the small Titan.
"Yes, but I have never actually been here." Azurda revealed, "My old body was too large to fit through the entrance."
"Oh... That makes sense," Rex said with a sigh. "Hey Roc, could you go and scout ahead?"
"I can do that." Roc said, seeing as the current cavern they were in was large enough to allow him to fly.
"Come on, that's boring!" Nora complained, "Why can't we just split up?"
"Nora, that's not a good idea." Ren shot the idea down.
However, Mòrag looked thoughtful, "Our group is large enough to split up without too great of a risk."
"And how exactly are we gonna split the teams?" Qrow piped up, "Then again, these pathways are a little inconvient for a group this big."
Indeed the pathways were a little narrow. Only two people can stand next to each other comfortably.
"Besides, there's only one Tora and Poppi." Penny pointed out.
"Why not split the Remnantians evenly and two Alrestians with each?" Wulfric of all people suggested.
"Sounds reasonable," Aizen piped up, "But who will Tora go with?"
"Tora want to go with Rex-Rex." Tora instantly piped up.
"Poppi agrees." Poppi added in.
"Well, there's five Alrestians here." Zeke shrugged.
It didn't take long for everyone to decide the teams. Team RWBY, Qrow, Tora, Nia and Rex, along with their Blades took the left path, while team JNPR, Oscar, Mòrag and Zeke took the right path."
"I still think I should've done scouting," Roc said, less informatively and more in amusement.
"We'll be fine." Rex said, having utmost confidense in the other team. JNPR aside, Mòrag and Zeke were more than capable of taking care of themselves.
Yang then turned towards Dragunov who looked fine, considering what this place did to other Blades. "Drag, aren't you feeling anything here?" It wasn't so much that she was conerned, but more curious.
"I'm fine," Dragunov said as he lifted a palm and made a flame appear, "I can still use fire."
"That's not what I meant." Yang shot back.
"What do you want from me?" Dragunov was already getting irritated, "I feel dizzy as everyone else. But I can take it."
Yang shook her head, though she didn't press the issue.
As they crossed a strange cubical bridge, they looked a little down to see team JNPR climbing up a wall to a higher ground. Although it was funny seeing Nora seemingly complaining to Talos about jumping ahead of them. meaning that instead of climbing, he jumped all the way to the top.
Soon enough, the gang made it through a downwards path to a wall with a hole in it. There was also a pond next to it. Although previously on the path was a couple monsters with a larger one waiting for them. Fortunately they didn't pursue the team and were content to just move past the side-way where their nest apparently was.
"...Is it just me or is anyone else having hard time breathing?" Ruby then asked, finding herself slightly out of breath.
"You too?" Qrow piped up, "For a moment I thought I was... nevermind."
"Well... I wonder how far team JNPR-"
"YEEEEHAAA!" Was the sudden scream that interrupted everyone's musings, which was followed by the sound of a splash.
Turning to the source, the gang saw Nora getting up from the pond. Right in front of a river that was flowing into it. "That was totally awesome!" Nora cheered just when Electra came sliding in by the river flowing into the pond. But when she reached the bottom, her momentum was suddenly stripped from her and she fell face first into the pond. The little electric Blade picked herself up, while shaking her head from the water.
"Can we do that again, Nora?" Electra then asked happily. Soon enough, Zeke came sliding in too, quickly making a jump so as to avoid Electra before landing to his feet slightly further in the shallow pond. Except his landing failed when the ground on the spot he landed gave up beneath him and he stumbled on the only really muddy looking spot.
Qrow let out a sigh of relief as that seemed to be the worst of Kasandra's mask rattling did this time. Soon, Pandoria followed up, but when she jumped, she landed on Zeke who wailed in pain. Causing everyone to wince. "Nevermind." Qrow muttered under his breath.
And then, Nora and Electra quickly moved out of the way as Agate and Aegaeon slid down the makeshift water slide with Mòrag and Brighid right behind them. Penny and Kos-Mos right behind the last two.
"The trail isn't slippery at the bottom." Aegaeon warned before bracing himself for a sudden stop. As did his fellow Blades and two Drivers.
The six landed safely. "That was fun." Agate said with a smile as they moved out of the pond to make way for Jaune who had stumbled somewhere on the way from up and was now sliding down while spinning uncontrollably on his back.
"I'm gonna be siiiick!" Jaune wailed as he slid down with Joana and Talos right behind him. As soon as Jaune stopped on the bottom, Joana braced herself for the sudden stop so she wouldn't fall. But Talos had no room to stop safely so he made a long jump that put him over the entire pond, and almost made him hit the opposing wall.
Joana quickly picked up her lord Driver to a bridal carry before moving him out of the way of Ren and Otohime. Ren made a jump that allowed him to avoid a sudden stop. As for Otohime, Nora had an evil grin as she hoped for the Imperial Mother to fall flat on her face. But it wasn't meant to be as Otohime slid down the slope on her feet with her arms crossed inside her yukata's sleeves. Then when she reached the bottom, the aquatic Blade simply speedwalked as if there was no sudden stop, earning looks of disbelief from others.
"Perfect form." Weiss couldn't help saying in slight awe.
Yang too had to admit, the most imperial of their female Blades came down with style.
As everyone admired Otohime's entrance, Oscar came down too. Except he was being carried by Herald in a bridal carry as she just flew down. Much to the poor farmboy's embarrassment.
Otohime looked at everyone before directing a small smile at thoroughly soaked Nora. "I see that you enjoy swimming with your clothes on."
Nora replied by blowing a raspberry.
"Are you bloody kidding me," Zeke complained as he looked down on his mud-stained clothes.
"I'm sorry, my prince," Pandoria said in remorse.
"Don't worry, Pandy." Zeke said with a thumbs up.
"Hey, have you guys had some trouble breathing?" Blake then asked, deciding to ignore the craziness. It was the only way to retain her sanity.
"Huh? Now that you mention it, I do have some troubles." Ren was the first to reply.
"This mist makes me feel like I'm swimming through the Cloud Sea." Azurda then pointed out as the area did seem a little misty.
"This mist is produced when a fossilized Titan reacts with the atmosphere," Mòrag then explained, "It's why it's so hard to breathe down here."
"So not only are the Blades hampered, but the Drivers too," Oscar summarized. "That sounds unfair."
"And yet this has been easy so far." Aizen commented on their trip so far with a small scowl, "...Too easy."
"Maybe we're just that good." Yang suggested.
Dagas scoffed at that notion, "It is far more likely that the worst is yet to come."
At that moment Rex turned towards Nia who was breathing very heavily. "Are you alright, Nia? Are you in pain?"
"I'm struggling to breathe like everyone else." Nia said a little snappily, "And I'm a little dizzy, that's all."
"Oh, right... When that happens, you should empty your head of all thoughts." Rex then adviced.
"What?"
"It's an old salvager trick," Rex explained, "When you swim down deep, it feels like your head's gonna implode. You just go with it, don't fight it. Then you stop noticing the pressure. Why not give it a go?"
"...Empty my head of all thoughts." Nia repeated, "You mean I have to start acting as daft as you?" That response made Rex's jaw drop. "That's a tall order."
"Hey! That's not very nice." Rex complained, while all the teenagers in the group laughed at him.
"I believe, miss Xiao Long is more than capable of that task." Aizen said with a small smile.
"Excuse me?!" The said blonde didn't like hearing that.
Although in the meantime, Talos and Wulfric were inspecting the damaged part of the wall that revealed another pathway.
"...Someone forced their way in through here." Wulfric concluded.
"I'm inclined to agree." Talos agreed with the fellow earth Blade.
Everyone else heard them and moved closer.
"But who would do that?" Agate asked with a hand to her chin.
"Maybe it was grave robbers?" Zeke guessed.
"There's not much to steal here." Azurda pointed out, "...Well apart from..."
"Whatever it was Addam hid down here." Rex said with a frown.
"Indeed." Azurda added before crossing his tiny arms, "It's also possible that Jin and his accomplices may have been here."
This information rang alarm bells in everyone's head.
"You mean... They already took the sword?" Ruby said in worry.
"Well if that was the case, you would expect them to have the sword." Azurda said with a small shrug.
"...But they clearly don't have it." Mòrag added in.
"How can you know that?" Jaune asked.
"Think about it," Brighid said, "If they had the third sword, don't you think they would already have used it?"
"Perhaps they simply lack the means to wield it." Aizen pointed out.
"But taking it is supposed to mark the true Driver of the Aegis," Weiss argued back, "Doesn't that mean one of them is capable of using it if they had it?"
Aizen smiled at Weiss' deduction.
Then Azurda spoke again, "I don't think Addam would let the sword be found so easily."
"So it's far more likely that the worst is yet to come." Qrow said with a sigh, "Great."
"Whatever it might be, we must press on." Rex said with a determined look.
With that, everyone moved forward into the further depths. Right after Zeke managed to wash his clothes of the mud. Although, Talos looked away from everyone. Ever since Zeke revealed himself as a Blade Eater he had several questions in his head. One was if he should indeed tell everyone the full truth. Another was how would everyone react to the full truth. And the least of them... "If Zeke is a Blade Eater, and normal Flesh Eaters have no Aura... then what does that make me?"
AN: There we go... Sorry for not getting much action yet. But I wanted to focus on other things. Besides at the early part of Spirit Crucible Elpys there weren't many fights on the way. However, those who have played the second part, especially for the first time, know that it won't be that easy afterwards.
Anyway, Aside from Talos wondering if he should tell everyone after all, Salem got another memory flash. And Watts has retracted his previous statement about Alrestian tech being inferior to Remnant. Well as far as the Artifices are concerned anyway.