What is Thy Desire? Chapter 9: The Second Resurrection, a rwby fanfic

FF Ch.9 - The Resurrection

She had never been more confused in her new life as she watched the strings of fire burn away. How was a Command stopped? Who was this "hostile entity"? Why did the Contract have countermeasures? Did this scroll of light at her feet do anything else?

She had so many questions, and all of the possible answers suggested deeply disturbing things. Once again, her moment of victory had been ruined.

Command Here: When the battle against the Brother gods is over, create a companion—the appearance, personality, and name (but not the state of memories) of which will be decided by the Cosigner of this command and sent through the Contract—who will be with you for wherever you decide to place yourself within Remnant's timeline; keep her safe and, most importantly, alive to the best of your abilities.

Her hand moved, reaching out in front of her. Energy cascaded through her arm before exiting out of her palm. The energy formed a new crimson body. It was feminine like hers without the cat parts. Practically a clone of herself, though mortal-sized. Yet, one without a mind. Crimson stood there as she watched and waited for this Cosigner to send the details. She was curious how this companion would turn out. She just hoped this other woman would be pleasant and easy to get along with. They were going to be stuck together, after all.

…

A full minute passed without anything happening. The blank slate of a woman just stood there, doing nothing. Oh, and being basked in the glow of the same golden light.

Has the Cosigner not sent the details yet?

Countermeasures effective. Resume session. Engage next Command. Reload interrupted-Command to the end of the order.

From when you've defeated the Brothers, you will act out the following at the earliest when possible: apply goat ears and a goat tail to Darkness—or whatever his name may become when he is stripped of his power—and make them permanent; and also, if Darkness complains or reacts harshly to these changes, justify yourself that he will be replacing the goat he incinerated and that he was once a goat himself (he will not need to act as a goat to replace it, simply the ears and tail will do).

I will reinforce this Command.

Crimson winced. Then winced again when the compulsion kicked in. Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, she reappeared on Darkness' planet, golden scroll-mat included. Time had passed, but the bodies of the Brothers were still there. Their corpses were remarkably preserved for being outside for a time. Mummified to a degree. That was weird before she thought about it. No life on this planet, including microbes and bacteria.

She walked up to the purple, draconic corpse. Fin's attack had sliced him down the middle, so his head had split in twain and fallen in opposing directions. Trying hard to reassure herself that this did not count as desecration, she gestured to the two halves of his head. Goat ears, healthy ones, sprouted next to each horn. His tail had been cut into two pieces, though not evenly. It had been curled to his right when he had been chopped up. She pointed, and the thick, reptilian appendage shrank into a fuzzy goat's tail. She stepped back with her task complete. (Still confused what the Cosigner meant that Darkness had originally been a goat.)

She failed to not feel guilty.

"After all that effort to spare both of you, it didn't matter in the end. …I should do something."

Burial was the obvious answer but where? Remnant was their world, but they had left it. This planet only belonged to Darkness. It didn't feel right to bury Light here, and it felt wrong to bury them separately. Not after Light's sacrifice.

I don't have a lot of time before th-

Oh shit, she's going mad with power; (well… uhhh… what now?) She's claimed two gods' powers essentially… what about you, other commanders?

Commanders? The Contract labeled the beings from the other dimension as Cosigners, but I can see how commanders make sense. Well, they can call themselves whatever they want.

More importantly, she didn't need to do anything yet, which left her time to think on how to handle the Brothers. As much as she wasn't a fan of it, she decided that she would bury them together and on Remnant. If she was going to bury them together though, that ruled out interning them in their respective domains.

That left two other options: the spot where they had arrived on Remnant after creating it or the place where they had left it. Since the latter was the Domain of Light, it only made sense to go with the former. Plus, she didn't even want to indirectly honour their decision to leave Remnant and wipe out First Man. A crimson forcefield wrapped and lifted their remains into the air.

Their destination was Mount Ciel. Well, it would eventually be called Mount Ciel in 1,400 years. It would have half a hundred names before then, sometimes a dozen at a time, but Ciel would be the one that would become its official name for the Kingdom of Aquitaine. The mountain's name would outlast Aquitaine in time. It was the tallest mountain of this continent. It would be the first land created by the Brothers out of a planet of water.

It was here she laid their bodies to rest. Several hundred feet below the mountain's top, she formed a mausoleum and buried the two dragons in a sarcophagus for each. Time did not give her much room for decoration nor was there a means to enter the mausoleum from the outside. Still, leaving it bare felt... rude. She couldn't help but adorn the four walls with quick murals of the two Brothers. On one wall was an image of them in their true form, on the opposite wall was them in their humanoid forms, and the walls in-between featured their creation of Remnant and their deaths.

Command: Crimson, at my digression, you have gained hair!

Hair?

Black hair erupted from her bare scalp. It was short, reaching her neck. It came out asymmetrical, longer on her right side. Her lion ears stuck up through the mess.

A shaking, slow hand reached up and grabbed a lock of midnight. She did not have eyes like mortals did, but she couldn't stop the old habit of pulling the lock in front of where her eyes would be. It was extra silly since her own omniscience (although that was feeling less accurate as time went on) meant she knew exactly how many hairs were on her head, their specific color, and every bit of information contained within a strand. She stared at them as she felt her emotions shift in a deep way.

"...this is my hair," she whispered to herself.

Additional Command: Crimson, this is a second command, separate from the first: you are to write a religious text for your followers, and there must be at least five chapters that are dedicated to a figure known as the "Milkless One". (You are free to write those chapters as you wish.)

Command: I reinforce the command of religious texts, but to the Milkful One.

Her moment of profound introspection was spoiled.

Followed by utter confusion. She was supposed to write an entire holy book!? But she didn't want to, and what was this about milk!? She wanted the cult to die away, not get more evidence!

The Command didn't care. Her hand moved on its volition as she held it up in front of her. A book appeared in her palm. The pages were blank, but they would not be allowed to remain so. Well, if she had to, she'd do her best job of it.

So, a good chunk of her new life was spent writing an entire holy book. It was kind of surreal, actually. Up until a few minutes ago, the entirety of her second life had been consumed by battle. Years had passed on Remnant during the battle, while she might have counted it as lasting no more than half an hour of personal time. She ended up spending a full week writing this book. In the mausoleum she just created. It was the weirdest thing. As a deity, she had no need to eat or sleep and possessed limitless energy. Nor could she stop with her task as the Command demanded it be done. Yet, for all of her power, writing didn't come naturally to her. Any word known to existence would answer her summons. She understood all of the rules for writing in every language, living and dead. Yet, even she wasn't immune to writer's block.

It was a very frustrating week.

For the book itself, she prayed that these words would be forgotten in the ages of time. After all, she'd be leaving it here among the ancients before jumping centuries forward. However, in case it wasn't forgotten, she decided to keep it simple and straightforward. She wrote the history of the Brothers, their lonely coexistence as one being before splitting into two, and their creation of Remnant. She wrote of the Divine Age, its rise and fall at the hands of Salem. Finally, she, reluctantly, wrote of her own part in this history. Her arrival from another realm, the divine battle, and the concluding fight between herself and Fin.

It was straightforward, but it felt incomplete to her. Writing about the origins of herself gnawed at her. It forced her to remember she was not the only Crimson, and that she had signed a Contract with someone else. One of the Cosigners (Commanders?) had mentioned something about the One who had sent her. She wished she knew more about this One. With the battle receding with time and forced to reflect on all that had happened, she ached to know more about her past. The memory Commands had left her in this agitating halfway status. Her heart could feel things, while her mind remained empty of those memories. The desire to know more vexed her, and she had no means to ease it.

Thus, she was in a foul mood when she considered the last two sections to handle: morality and the Milkful One. She wondered if she should even bother with the morality section. She had only resurrected life on Remnant. What right did she have to tell them what was right and wrong? However, her perspective did give her insight into the moral nature of the universe, and wouldn't it have been more wrong for her to not give some warning? Complicating the entire issue was the knowledge that, no matter how much she wrote, she knew the wisdom would be twisted the wrong way and misunderstood by others. That would cause more evil to sprout, and she wouldn't be around to set the record straight.

She hated it.

Against her own trepidation, she did choose to write about morality, choosing to keep it to a core of four principles centered on unity and peace: within oneself, with other people, with nature, and with the rest of existence, mostly about the afterlife with its realms of reward and punishment.

That left the damned section about the 'Milkful One'. She had absolutely zero idea what the Commander was even referring to. Which meant she had to make something up! But what!? It was Milkful One, so it had to be a singular entity. And milk had to be involved.

Somehow.

Ironically, the morality section came to her rescue. Right before she slammed her head against one of the walls out of frustration, inspiration finally took pity on her. The 'Milkful One' didn't have to be based on a real person. Instead, she invented a cow Faunus woman to feature as part of Crimson's lessons on morality, who she used the title 'Milkful One' exactly once, and addressed the fictional character the rest of the time by the name of Milka.

There, problem solved. She closed the book with a thought before she considered the other part of the Command. She had to deliver it.

…

Wait, no, she didn't. The Command was just for her followers, it didn't actually require her to send it to them!

Clarification on my catgirl command: I intended for you to have house cat traits; make sure to adjust your ears and tail accordingly.

This command loosens that of the cat ears and tail commands from a house cat to any feline in general, letting you choose still what you wish for your feline ears and tail to be (you cannot choose no feline ears and/or tail as an option; both ears and tail must be from the from the same feline).

Honestly? Although she had spent the last week on Remnant fulfilling a Command, it was kind of weird to hear another one after such a long break. Even more surprising for two of them to arrive at the same time. Another pair where one established a rule, only for the second to turn it in a different direction. It was a simple disagreement, though she admitted she wasn't that big of a fan of the first one. The lion parts felt more right given her past as a griffin.

So, given the choice, she let her lion parts remain.

The decision didn't take more than twenty seconds. That left some time for her to just wait and rest. She placed her holy book on the floor between the two coffins. She frowned. No, that feels disrespectful. I'll hide it somewhere else.

She teleported to the ruins of Emuna's keep. This was where Griff had made his appearance. No one was around, still too scared to approach the 'cursed' ruins. She walked to the exact spot where Griff had manifested before sinking below what was left of the floor. In the earth below, she created a new chamber of stone with a pedestal in the center. There, she placed the new scriptures. Perhaps it would be found, perhaps not. By the time it was, it'd probably be treated more like an archaeological mystery than a proper religious tome.

Command: "You are in a bit of a tight spot. I'll lend you some power to help you."

She was grateful. She still wasn't sure what this 'hostile entity' the Contract had spoken of, but if there was a chance it would try to strike at her, she would welcome additional power. There was a lull but not a true end in sight. After these Commands, there would still be the final call. Only once she was on Remnant, would she consider the danger truly over.

She scanned the chamber around her, considering adding a bit of decoration. Was that wise? Would it add to the mystery? Or would it give too much away? Would it appear too divine? She looked to the future for the answers.

And was shocked when something blocked her vision.

Command: "Beep Boop"

Were it not for the power bestowed on her, that would have been the most annoying thing to happen to her in her new life.

Yet, she couldn't be bothered by that as she focused on what had just happened. She should be able to peer that far into the future, an ability she would lose when she incarnated officially with the Contract's completion.

Why?

What was stopping her?

She tried again… and flinched when something combusted behind her. She spun around to see something fall to the floor. Whatever it was, it was long and thin. It burnt quickly, gone in a few seconds.

What was it? Why didn't her omniscience tell her the answer? The latter mystery unnerved her far more than the first. Compounded by the fact that she had no idea how to determine the answer.

Don't worry MercenaryGrok, I have a plan (it's my fault that this is happening anyway), also the proper term is Cosigners for others, also milkless one!?

She reluctantly set aside the mystery as she dealt with the current.

One Cosigner is planning something, she noted. It was an anxious thing. The Commands she had received had been quite the variety, from the helpful to the chaotic. Some of those Commands had affected reality in big ways. Planning suggested that it would only escalate everything more.

Still, it wouldn't matter soon. Just one more round to endure then her will would be hers forevermore.

At least someone else was confused by the whole 'milk' thing.

Here's to hoping the Cosigner responsible for this can fix it or at least mitigate the damage (I had my initial concerns about the extra clone too, but to see my concerns realized...); command Here: When the battle is over and the remaining of the twin goats is alive, impart the goat's memories of what it has witnessed during your battle with the Brothers and Fin—nothing before—to the Wildling (From, Yip the Goatherd).

Crimson froze.

She had completely forgotten about the goat!

In an instant, she was back in the spirit realm. The crimson goat bleated as it clopped up to her. It nuzzled against her thigh. She relaxed before leaning down to pet it. It was fine. Barely any time had passed for it. Likewise for the inanimate body that was still waiting to be defined. The Scroll of light continued to travel with her beneath her feet. Though now, black ink wrote across the scroll. Before she could start reading, the Command reminded her of what her purpose was.

Her attention shifted back to the goat. Her hand petting it cupped the top of its head. As she dragged her hand off of its head, she pulled out a hand full of glowing, glass spheres. They shined with different colors, depending on the mood of the memory. Most of them were split between calm light blue and fearful orange. She held her hand out toward the blank body before opening it.

The memory spheres flew out in a stream. The one in the lead finished its journey as it phased into the body's forehead. The rest joined it, disappearing as they entered the being's head. Once the last sphere was absorbed, she paused and waited. When nothing happened, she mentally shrugged. She had thought maybe the empty body would come to life but apparently not.

When is this going to happen?

Oh? Commands are compulsion effects? Interesting…

Oh! Someone hadn't realized that each Command overwrote her free will? Well… now this Cosigner knew. She hoped this didn't herald a nasty Command in the future.

Just one last round after this, she reminded herself. She was so close to freedom.

Loved the action - this definitely feels epic and the overall escalation in the action as these cosmic beings wage war across the stars.

Thanks, I guess?

It was so strange to be praised for a spectacle. Like, it was a nice thing to say to her, but she hadn't started a battle with the Brothers for the glory. So, it bothered her a little.

…which made her feel worse since it was only because of that attention that she won in the end. Felt hypocritical to complain about it at all. She had no mouth but still sighed.

The weapon to end all weapons, Crimson, is a giant farting, cross-eyed squirrel; use the Squirrel Of Victory!

I cancel the squirrel command.

That was a close one!

First goats, then cats, and now squirrels? Some really like their animals. Better than dragons, at least. What would I do with a giant squirrel anyway? And why did the Cosigner try to make it cross-eyed? Or farting? Why farting! Such a silly, stupid Command. Supposed to help me with a battle that's already over. Was I supposed to just release it into the Wilds when everything was over?

Her head tilted down to her animal companion. She didn't have eyes, but the goat seemed to feel her stare. It looked up at her with its strange, square eyes. "Myeh-eh-eh-eh."

Speaking of putting animals in their proper place, what do I do with this one?

The simple answer was to release it into the wild and let nature take its course. However, the thought that a random predator killing it after protecting the goat from Fin felt… wrong. But what could she do? If she blessed it with additional protection, it might be found by someone and only reinforce the cult. She could pick somewhere remote, far from people. She could bless it to be able to survive in that place. Make sure the blessings didn't outlive it.

She nodded to herself as she settled on this plan. She lifted her hand, until only her index finger rested on the center of its head. Crimson energy pulsed over it. To the naked eye, no change had occurred. The spiritual eye saw the truth. "Take care."

The crimson-haired goat teleported to Remnant in a flash.

To the commentors of this event (my Discord username is the same one here): do you wish to have a more active role than being able to give commands? (If so, I have devised a way for us to do so, check in with me on Discord.)

Well, that was concerning. Was this the same Cosigner who said something about a plan? She had already seen some coordination between pairs of Cosigners. What would happen if they acted as a trio or more? The amount of chaos could be... no, she shouldn't worry too much about it. After all, the one saving grace is that this would be a one-time thing. She wasn't sure why this Cosigner was convinced that they'd be able to do more. The Contract was clear, and she hadn't even looked at the Permanent Contract Door. Once the final call was over, that was it.

Except that wasn't quite true, was it? There was this Cosigner companion for one. Then there was that Arcana system she'd been forced to agree to. A system about developing bonds with others. Oh, and there was that one time where a Cosigner had tried to create an entire polytheism based on the Commanders.

I was so shocked about the conditional Commands that I never gave that nightmare much thought. Another Cosigner, thankfully, had canceled it. Unfortunately, I guess some things can outlast the Contract's end…

How many more Commands were there left?

Create an exact, mortal clone of yourself as you are now. You will then take on a male appearance that is comfortable to you.

I cancel the flipping of genders for Crimson, but the new clone can choose whatever form it wants.

MORE CLONES!? Please, no more! How many times do I have to see versions of myself die?

Ignoring the existential angst, the Command took over. One more damned time, her hand reached out palm flat to the space in front of her. Her form glowed brighter as energy gathered before surging out of her.

Again, a body formed from the spent energy, its palm flat against hers. Unlike before, this clone was androgynous, its form caught between male and female. There was one major difference from last time. This clone did not react with increasing scorn toward Crimson. They both shared weariness and wariness over this process. And the same cat organs. Actually, the new clone possessed an additional struggle. Crimson was clearly female, while the clone was adrift in the in-between. Its aggravation grew, and Crimson knew that the fastest way to a solution was to complete the cloning process. So, with a sense of resignation, the pair of them took mirroring steps back from each other. They lifted matching arms before scything it down in front of them. Their consciousness divided.

…and promptly became awkward with each other as they stood there in silence. They didn't have a lot of time before the next Command activated. At the same time, this Command had made it clear that the new clone would be able to choose its new form at its will, not anyone else's. The problem was that Crimson was intensely curious what choice the clone would make. At the back of her mind bubbled those vexing, casual words from one of the Cosigners. How there was another Crimson out there in the Multiverse. And that Crimson was male.

Even after spending a week writing a book, she was not any closer to understanding fully why her body felt strange to her. She had been wholly focused on the task at hand. Was it just the cat parts or was it something more? For better or for worse, this clone, copied from her with the Memory Commands active, could potentially answer the question. At the cost of setting its gender for the rest of its existence.

She didn't say anything. In the end, she didn't need to. The clone was her. Struggling with the same question. It spoke a single word.

"Male."

The androgyny gave way to masculinity as he looked over his transforming body. His shoulders broadened, his hips shrank, and his muscles grew.

It didn't stop there.

He shrank to half her divine size. As he reduced, the crimson shell molded and transformed. Like her, locks of black hair sprouted from his empty scalp… into the exact same haircut she had. The shell softened into pale skin and crimson robes. New eyes opened to reveal steel-gray irises. The transformation had slimmed his figure some. Undeniably male, but more lithe. He was youthful too, on the early side of his biological prime. Leather sandals appeared on his feet.

To her surprise, he retained the cat parts. Was that a conscious choice, or something he couldn't get rid of? They were still lionlike. The fur color was the shocking part. Instead of golden, both tail and ears were black, like their hair. With one exception. The tuft of fur on the end of his tail was red as was the tip of his cat ears. Not crimson. Just red. Odd. Still, that was the tomcat he was now.

A long, thin scar ran down across his left eye.

If Crimson had a heart, it would've skipped a beat. There wasn't a chance that he had chosen a scar like that. Not if he was trying to do anything but reconstruct their original appearance. The scar would have been suspicious too. The expert eye would note that the scar was too long, too thick. A blade doing that kind of wound would have ruined the eyeball.

That scar was from their past.

Before she could ask anything, the next Command arrived.

Revive the brothers as mortals so that they can atone; I'd also recommend reviving Griff as a mortal or a very weak minor deity if they would like to live more (you don't have enough power to revive him with his original strength).

"No," she whispered.

The clone, the male clone, looked up from himself to regard her. He tilted his head to the side, "What's wrong?"

She didn't answer with words. Instead, she held out her arms. The draconic corpses of the Brothers appeared to the sides of herself. He regarded the bodies before groaning, "Please don't tell me…"

Crimson energy enveloped the bodies. The power reached out between the body parts and pulled the dead meat back into one piece. Darkness' skull was made whole as the two halves were restored to each other. The half dozen pieces of Light reconnected and merged back into one body. In no time, both bodies were restored.

Then kept changing.

Scales vanished as the bodies shrank. Wings disappeared as talons became fingers and toes. Serpentine necks condensed. Tails vanished.

A tunnel opened in the spirit realm, forming behind her. The tunnel was a whirlwind of colors, periodically becoming umbral black. Whatever was on the other side of the tunnel couldn't be seen by casual eyesight as the tunnel stretched into eternity. Yet, not even a second passed before two bright lights, one golden and one purple, shot out of the tunnel. The miniaturized stars streaked toward the two bodies.

The dragons were gone. In their place, lying on their backs, were two men in robes similar to the male clone's... to the tomcat's. One wore a golden robe and possessed quite a bit of hair. A blonde mane covered his head, while two long whispers drooped down past his chin. His eyes were almond-shaped. His skin was bronze. The other man wore a purple tunic. He was clean-shaven, while the black tresses up top were kept short and close. His eyes were round, while his skin was chocolate. Their figures matched their humanoid forms on Remnant. Light was a bear of a man, broad and muscled, while Darkness was slender and limber.

Oh, and Darkness' human body had goat ears and a tail. That had carried over between both forms. She was sure that would satisfy that one goat-obsessed Cosigner.

The soul-stars entered the bodies. Two pairs of eyes snapped open: one set silver and one set red. Both men took deep breaths and shuddered as they adjusted to living again.

Taking slow, almost casual, steps out of the tunnel, a crimson griffin came out. It cocked its head to the side as it regarded the small crowd of individuals. "Well, this is unexpected."

"You wanted to come back," Crimson observed with a mixed note in her voice.

Griff nodded. "I wanted to make sure that the battle was won. I, we, did not go into the afterlife. The three of us lingered in the tunnel. It felt like only a couple of seconds passed before you called us back." He regarded the Brothers as they climbed onto their feet, throwing a quick glance at the blank female body standing off to the side. Finally, he nodded to the newest clone. Light positioned himself in front of Darkness as they both stared anxiously at Crimson. "I hope the corrupted clone isn't returning."

That was a very good and a very painful question to consider. All Crimson could reply with was, "Not yet." She held out a hand toward Griff. "The Command's not done yet. I have the choice of leaving you with a spark of divinity or to render you mortal."

He considered the question for a long moment before nodding. To her surprise, his reply was, "Mortal, please."

She considered asking him for his reasons. What was behind it? Yet, the Command rolled on over her confusion.

Griff reared back on his hind legs. His wings wrapped around his torso as he too shrank. The feathers around his head formed the hair on a human's scalp. Unlike her and the newest clone... unlike Tom, no animal features remained through the transformation. She wasn't sure if it was her subconscious thoughts or his, but a man emerged from the melting griffin body. Silver hair stretched down to shoulders as he donned a crimson robe over his tanned body. He was tall, matching Light's height but was more lithe like Darkness. His yellow eyes pierced wherever they focused. A sharp nose hinted at the beat he once had. Even as a human, Griff seemed to possess a quiet nobility in his bearing as he stood smartly.

The Command was finally marked as complete.

On the plus side, the last of the twin goats lives, and my Arcana contract has been signed! (I'm happy to see that the former of the two angered the rogue clone; Crimson has earned my approval for protecting it.)

"You're welcome," she murmured. The tunnel to the afterlife closed as Crimson, Griff, and Tom shifted their collective attention to the Brothers. Both hers and the new clone's cat ears twitched in irritation. This was not a conversation to be enjoyed.

It was Light, however, who spoke first. "You brought us back?"

Crimson gave a reluctant nod. "I did. You are to make atonement for destroying First Man."

It was little surprise that drew out a reaction from Darkness as his red eyes blazed. "We did nothing wrong. It was our right."

So. Not even death had helped Darkness see the error of his ways. That… honestly really pissed Crimson off. It was like he was spitting on the entire battle between them. Poisoning further her victory, even after Fin had wrecked it as thoroughly as he had with his betrayal. "I'm not having this argument again, and you don't have a choice. You are alive solely at my will." Well, that wasn't completely true, but she brushed past it. "You will be sent to Remnant where you will do what you can to improve the lives of the people."

Before Darkness could snap back, Light held up an arm in front of him, gently pushing his smaller brother back. "Is that all you ask of us?"

Doing her best to ignore Darkness' angry muttering, Crimson nodded to Light. "That's all. Do what you can to ease their burden."

Though I'm curious about something, is there a difference between a communication Command and an explicitly stated communication? Would the latter go through?

In a voice barely above a whisper, Crimson answered, "There is no difference."

Light stared at her for a dozen seconds. Had he heard her? His hearing should be no stronger than a typical human's. Yes, they weren't standing that far apart, but he shouldn't have made out any of her words. Finally, he nodded. "If there are truly no other conditions, then very well. Will you at least keep my brother and I together to wherever you send us?"

As tempting as it was to separate them (it might even be in Light's best interests), it was difficult for her to be mad at Light. Throughout the entire battle, he had done what he could to create a peaceful resolution and even sacrificed his life on behalf of his brother. While she had little love for Darkness and his bitter attitude, she just couldn't bring herself to reject Light's request. "It will be so."

He nodded again. "Thank you."

"What about these!" Darkness scowled as he pulled at one of his donkey ears before flicking his own tail. "Why did you add these to me?"

"As punishment for killing that goat."

"It was just a goat!"

"That attitude is exactly what led to your defeat," Tom chimed in from behind the Brothers, steel eyes locked on Darkness.

Darkness whirled around to lob another verbal dart when Light laid a firm hand on his shoulder. "What's done is done."

Darkness stared at his brother before taking a deep breath. Then all of the fight in him collapsed as he closed his red eyes. "I… suppose so."

Communication here: I do not feel remorse for the death of the rogue clone, though it is unfortunate that Griff is dead as well; the Brothers, on the other hand, I only feel miffed about on their death because Darkness avoids his punishment as a result of his demise... (From, Yip the Goatherd; On a separate note, I thank thee for protecting the goat from the rogue clone.)

What an ironic message to receive at this point, Crimson noted. She lifted a hand. "This is farewell between myself and you. I doubt we will see each other again."

Darkness lifted an eyebrow. "You don't intend to set yourself up as the sole," he paused as he regarded the others. "Set up a new pantheon? Mold our creations in your image?"

"I have no interest in such worship. My greatest desire, Remnant's safety, has been attained. I will live among the people, but not of this era. I intend to travel to the future and settle there."

Light's eyes widened with shocked awe. "You possess the means to travel by time?"

"In a sense." She couldn't help but preen a little. "It's not a true mastery. I can only travel forward by leaps and bounds. That's why we will never see you again."

"Not worried we will supplant you in your absence?" On the face of it, the question posed by Darkness could be seen as yet another challenge. But there was only bitter curiosity, not true hostility, motivating the question.

She shook her head. "You wiped out First Man. Even if you declared your origins to all you met, most will respond with disbelief. Nor will that be a means to restore you to your lost power not that it has been destroyed with the death of Fin. The ones who are most likely to believe you are the members of my cult, and they are much more likely to respond with violence. Thus, it would behoove you to hide your identities. And that is my wish, as is my wish that the cult that has developed fades away."

For a third time, Light nodded. "Very well. Is there anything else?"

"No." She pointed at them. "Farewell, Brothers Grimm."

The two vanished in a flash of crimson light as Light waved. Darkness, to the end, only glared at her.

I've got one more here: purge the Grimm, the relics, and the trait of silver eyes from those who possess it.

I will reinforce this Command.

It was here.

The interrupted Command.

The last time she tried to implement this Command, she had mysteriously returned to the spirit realm. The Contract had reacted as though she were attacked.

She braced herself for the comp-.

Fire erupted all around her.

Threads. There were dozens and dozens of threads shooting toward her. From the left, from the right, from the front, from the rear, and from above. As the threads crossed the glowing threshold of the Contract's scroll, the threads combusted. That was what had burned in the now-empty tomb of the Brothers.

The compulsion pushed her to enact the first step of the Command: purging the Grimm. Her mind locked onto Remnant. A second later, every single Grimm across the entire planet, including every Grimm pool, sat in her eyes. Power gathered within her. In one more second, all the Grimm would die.

She was stopped when a fiery thread wrapped around her left ankle. For a second, the compulsion was beaten back, and she was held in place. Then that thread died. The compulsion returned.

Only for a second thread to wrap around a wrist. No, it was two threads wrapped around each other. Doubling the number led to double the life. They lasted four whole seconds before the Contract successfully burned them away. A few feet beyond her, Griff watched with open alarm. "What's going on?"

"Something or someone is trying to stop the Commands," Tom answered. He advanced toward Crimson, reaching out with his right hand. "Maybe we ca-argh!"

He froze mid-step. If they were in the physical plane, then gravity would have knocked him over. Here, he simply stood there with only half of one foot connecting to the 'ground'. A single thread bound around his arm.

"Stay back!" She called out to Griff as she reached out to a set of three combined threads that had latched around her other arm. They lasted long enough for her fingers to wrap around them. The fire didn't hurt her. Because the flames were of the Contract, she assumed. But, when she pulled at the threads, nothing happened.

She had the power to destroy entire planets.

The threads acted as though she was as strong as a dying geriatric.

Her fear spiked. "What is this?!"

Another batch of threads smashed across the barrier of light and fire. Ten threads. Nine surrounding one. The outer ones caught fire. The inner one was left unharmed. They wrapped around her neck. She pulled at it with both hands to no avail.

The Command failed once again.

CONTRACT VIOLATION: ONGOING THREAT PRESENTED BY HOSTILE ENTITY. PASSIVE COUNTERMEASURES DEEMED INEFFECTIVE.

DEPLOY AVATAR.