I do not own RWBY or AdventureQuest Worlds.
The ground underneath the city continuously shook. The quiet waters of the bay near the city rumbled. The great serpent beneath the city shook and wriggled, watching the three people that had woke it up fight the golem made of shadows.
]|[
"So you have an idea where Johnny might be stuck right now?" Torchwick asked, sipping coffee from a mug. The thief and his partner was stuck around Beacon, in a pseudo-house arrest, until Johnny returned and sorted out their conditions. Ozpin and the others had taken the time to squeeze the thief and the assassin for whatever they knew about Cinder and her future plans. Unfortunately, most they could come up were theories.
Ozpin nodded. "I do." He pushed a button on his desk and an image of an old sketching appeared. It was an image of a city, with a pyramid at one end. "The old necropolis of Darkvalley Depths. I had Bartholomew dig up some old records for this. This is a construction from a predating the kingdom of Vale."
He remembered his old kingdom, after his incarnation from his first life. The kingdom he had ruled with Salem. His poor daughters, killed by their own actions. He had searched what happened after the kingdom fell to ruin. It had split into differing factions, but some remnants of the old kingdom had remained. Namely, the old ruined necropolis deep below the kingdom of Vale.
Salem had insisted on letting more of the higher status nobles and heroes be buried in elaborate mausoleums. A way of honoring them, he had guessed. The people loved it, and they even had installed an honor guard of their fiercest soldiers to guard the pyramid. The pyramid was meant to be the graves of their most honored friends, but the way that the kingdom had fell, Ozpin doubted that it was ever used other than the entrance to the necropolis from the surface.
When Salem wanted to restore magic to the world, she had mourned every single death of the people that had the highest potential to use it. A waste, she had mentioned. He had suspected that every single death had unhinged the woman, pushing her into a deep abyss of brutality and disdain for the current form of humanity. That had ended their little paradise together.
Neo tapped the table, shaking the headmaster out of his thoughts. She pointed to the veiling of the sketching, where a light was flowing down to the city. "That? Apparently, just the light source of the city, made from a huge dust crystal. It's nothing special."
"So…is there any way that we could help Johnny from up here?" Glynda asked. Ozpin nodded. "I already contacted Ironwood." The headmaster replied. "They're letting us borrow some boats to search the waters near the bay. Hopefully their more advanced tracking systems would help us track where exactly Johnny is at."
"Wait. The bay? Why there?" Qrow questioned.
"Well, because," He pointed to the light source Neo had pointed to. "That's where this was located, along with the old entrance. If Johnny finds it, we might have to rescue him from being drowned."
]|[
Johnny and Ella watched the woman practically dismantle the golem into pieces with her two swords. Each time the shadows tried to reform, light washed the black smoke away, and it let out pitiful screeches of pain as the black smoke dissipated.
"What is that?" Johnny observed the great light that emanated from the woman's eyes. Ella stayed silent. "It almost looks like the Exorcism spell of the Undead Slayers back home, but it feels…" He hesitated to say divine. He wasn't sure, but it almost felt like something beyond the normal magics that he had been using.
He thought about the goddess of war that helped him through Malgor's scourge and the pantheon of gods that he had faced in the Mana Plane. Something about that light reminds him of them.
The golem might have been destroyed, but the skeletons were still pouring from every corner of the plaza they were at. Taking advantage of the distraction, the woman sheathed both her swords to her back and grabbed Johnny and Ella, dragging them to a nearby alleyway away from the skeletons.
"Wait. Wait!" Johnny yelped as he almost tripped from being dragged. The woman had surprising strength. "Where the heck are you taking us?!" Ella herself had stayed silent, letting herself be dragged by the woman that looked so much like her. She stared at the strange warrior with a look that Johnny couldn't place.
The shadow bound skeletons barred their way as they ran across the twisting path across the necropolis, and Johnny covered them by blasting their location with Blinding Light, and the undead screeched in pain. Those unlucky enough to be too close were eradicated immediately, and those that stalked from afar were forced to back off.
The woman gazed at Johnny from behind her shoulder. She looked curiously at the light that had destroyed the shadows around them. Johnny hadn't stopped there. Bolts of light rained from above, hitting the skeletons, Exorcising them immediately and forcing the shadows to release their hold on the remains. Ella had noticed it as well. Johnny's attack was similar to the light from the silver-eyes.
The huntress certainly hadn't missed the series of coincidences that had been playing across her eyes in this short amount of time she had returned to Vale. Her young kin she had fought, the strange warrior woman with the same silver eyes, and now Johnny's powers.
After a few more minutes of running, the woman, with surprising strength, threw both Johnny and Ella into one of the mausoleums, following shortly after. She placed her hands on the stone doors, grunting in effort a bit, and managing to slam it shut, crushing a stray forearm from a skeleton that struggled to reach the three.
The woman turned to them with a questioning gaze, and two swords aimed at their throats the instant both had relaxed.
"This how you usually treat house guests?" Johnny can't help but snark at the woman. That only made her insistently point the tip of the sword at their necks. "Not even some drinks first?"
"Who are you?" Ella asked, ignoring Johnny's byplay. She stared deeply into the silver eyes that mirrored her own. The woman's gaze softened a bit, sword wavering in her grip. She let out a sigh and sheathed the swords to her back.
She walked to the coffin in the middle of the room and with a finger, traced something along the dusty cover. She pointed to the word she had written, and pointed to herself.
"I can't read that." Johnny said. The woman facepalmed and thought a bit. Ella though, had stared at the writing in the coffin. She can't shake the feeling that she knows what the writing meant. "Is that…your name?" She asked the stranger, who smiled a little and nodded.
She peered closely at it, trying to remember her own classical education on old Sanusian. The language was actually much like the current tongue, but with influences from the other kingdoms removed. The script was familiar as well, so it made it easier for her to read it. "Vic-to-rika?" Ella read syllable by syllable. The now named Victorika nodded happily. She quickly schooled it back to a cold professional mask however and wrote on the coffin again.
[Victorika, Gravetender]
"Right. Now that I really can't read." Ella said. Victorika frowned. Johnny had an idea however. He brought out the journal he had taken from the explorer. He opened the pages to the picture that depicts the people carrying coffins down the tunnel to the pyramid from the surface. "Here." He pointed to the tunnel. "We need to get here so we can get back up to the surface."
Victorika eyed him with suspicion. She pointed to the jewelries and accessories he was wearing that he stole from the other tombs. "Oh this? Just found it lying around." Johnny lied through his teeth brazenly. "Finders keepers dude."
The warrior held out a hand expectantly and Johnny rolled his eyes. "And why? Not like they're using it. The owners are literally dead."
Victorika insistently held out her hand. "I think it's the principle of it that matters to her." She said amusedly. The huntress frowned when a thought entered her mind. "Wait," She turned to Victorika. "How did you get here in the first place? And why are you protecting this place?"
The woman scratched her head and turned away. Now it was Johnny's turn to chuckle. "That's because Victorika here," He gestured to the white haired gravetender while taking some of the rings off his fingers. "Is a spirit of the dead. One that had probably persisted since her age."
]|[
"So Vale was built on top of a grave? Creepy." Torchwick shuddered. "That must be the reason why this city had been so full of godsdamn tragedies; this entire place is cursed!"
"Never took you to be superstitious." Qrow chuckled. Even as he did, he took a swig of his flask. The small revelation drove him to drink. His misfortune made him more sensitive to the more supernatural side of the world, especially ones that affected his, or his loved ones, luck. Living and walking on top of the graves of people long gone? Bad juju, that.
Torchwick shook his head. "I'm a thief. Aside from my world class skills," Neo rolled her eyes at her partner's ego. "I do have to rely on lady luck from time to time. How do you think I became THE crimelord of Vale?"
"By being a world class prick for one?"
Torchwick responded with a raised middle finger. "Screw you, birdbrain. The only reason you caught me was because we got taken out by a magical demon that threatened to consume our souls. We'd be halfway across Sanus to the desert by now if not for Johnny." That was a lie. Johnny is their key to getting out of this cursed city. Not that they'd tell them that.
"Consume your souls?" Glynda asked with a wince. "Was that really the terms of your contract?"
Neo signed. "That was a joke. Johnny said that the contract totally won't damn our souls to the void." She did so with a winning smile. Even Ozpin winced at her statement.
"You don't seem very concerned about your fate." Ozpin commented at the criminal pair's casual reaction to their Contract.
Torchwick waved the headmaster off. "Eh. In this career, sometimes you have to ally yourselves with evil bastards to survive." He turned to Ozpin with a serious look in his eyes. "Like Cinder."
The atmosphere changed with the mention of the woman that had helped orchestrate much of the tragedies around the city. "How exactly did you get in contact with Cinder?" Ozpin asked. "Or did you willingly go to her for help?"
"No such thing. Cinder was the one that approached us for our services." The thief recalled the woman and her two minions. "Threatened to kill us to comply, and promised tons of Lien for the making." Neo shuddered remembering the black haired woman. She tugged at Torchwick's sleeve, gesturing to Ozpin and the others. Torchwick nodded.
"Right that. There was one time she fucking incinerated a guy alive for trying to question her orders." Torchwick reminisced with a frown. "Just put a hand to the guy's cheek, he glowed red, then he turned into fucking ashes." He mimed the woman's motions.
The huntsmen listened intently, eyes narrowing. So what was the woman's semblance? Qrow would think it a fire related semblance, after their fight, but that could be the result of the woman using Amber's powers for herself. Either way, it still marked her as dangerous.
"Not to mention she had roped Adam Taurus and fucking Beatrice Astraluna into working for her." Ozpin grimaced. That move from their enemy lead to a whole lot of headaches for them. Ironwood and the local police force were working round the clock to keep the city from imploding into pogroms. "If you can believe it, Adam was pretty chill." Torchwick continued. "But Astraluna? She was a full schizo. We were lucky that Adam reined the woman in, or we'd have to dump more corpses than we had to every night than we already had. At least Cinder cleaned up her messes. Astraluna loved to play with her food."
The macabre image had Glynda be thankful that her students were at least safe after facing Beatrice. Perhaps she'd have to emphasize fighting huntsman level fighters in her lessons to prepare them for these kinds of situations.
Ozpin had noticed a different pattern from what Torchwick was saying however. "So Cinder allied herself with others…" He considered. The woman was still in the city, he could assume as much, if her, or Salem's, intent was the maiden beneath them or the relic. So… "Now that she doesn't have an ally, who do you think she would go to for help next?"
Torchwick rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, the Mouse and Parrot are gone. Hei Xiong got killed already, and the Xiong family are laying low for now after Atlas… Spider already fled to Mistral." He smiled a bit, reminiscing how he and Neo met. Said assassin smiled darkly remembering how she had freed herself from her old life. "The only thing that would be left are the smaller mercenaries around the city, and some crime families, like Cavendish, the Ruggines, and Saint-Carmen."
"Cavendish?" Qrow snorted. "He better behave if he wants another council seat." Ozpin nodded, agreeing with him. "With Atlas being so buddy-buddy with Vale right now, and the council under fire for the recent events, I don't think Cavendish would risk his own neck to work with Cinder."
Glynda frowned darkly. "The fact that that pig even has a seat on the council is unacceptable. How was he even retaining that seat if we all know his ties to the underworld?"
"Bribes. A lot of it." Ozpin steepled his fingers on the desk. He was so focused on the war with cinder that he let corruption fester within his ranks. Now Salem was using that to her advantage as well. It was no wonder they had been able to access the documents from the government to weaken the city. "Cavendish had almost certainly built a web of blackmails and bribes spanning the entire city and its administration, with none of it traceable back to him. Even if it was common knowledge, we have no way of detaining him for his crimes, now that even his own victims are protecting him." The headmaster narrowed his eyes. "But Ironwood would deal with him. Our old friend's inflexibility would make the parasite's influence near useless as long as Atlas retains its connection with Vale."
Torchwick smirked. He was one of the few that had took advantage of the corruption within Vale's ranks. Slow and lazy cops and easily paid off officials made his and Neo's job a whole lot easier. Being a criminal also meant Cavendish had nothing on him, so he was one of the criminals not under the corrupt councilor's control.
"Ruggine would probably be hiding in his hole." Torchwick voiced his thoughts aloud. "Old man Erl was always too careful for his own good. Too quiet. But it had allowed them to stay in Vale for far too long, even managing to survive that clash with the Spider." The criminal narrowed his eyes. "Old man Erl is dangerous though. I think the old man is hiding far more than we could see right now."
Torchwick continued. "Saint-Carmen… I have no idea. Lapis was always a musclehead nut case. Maybe? Cinder always loved easily controlled minions."
Two crime families. "How can we monitor them if either Erluccio or Lapis decided to move?" Ozpin said. He was familiar with Erluccio when he was younger. Even in his youth, Erl was slippery and cold. In his mind, if Cinder allied with Erl, it would make for a dangerous situation. Not to mention the kinds of people that swore loyalty to Erl…
"Lapis is easy. Just go to Junior's and ask. She'd take any opportunity to be infamous." Torchwick said. "I have no idea with old man Erl." Neo's eyes widened in attention at that. She took out her scroll, browsing through the images on it. Finding the right picture, she showed it to everybody.
"Oh… yeah. Her." Torchwick groaned. The picture showed a short haired brunette, with sharp eyes glaring at the camera. "If you find news reports of people being frozen to death, or shops being trashed somehow? That would be Erl on the move."
"Who's that on the picture?" Qrow asked. Neo smiled and signed.
"An old pal. Neve"
]|[
"Wha-What do you mean a spirit?" Ella questioned slowly, shock bleeding into her words. Johnny smirked as he examined one of the rings near the blue fires of the torch near them. Victorika rubbed a hand on her white hair, looking away. She disappeared with a brief blink and reappeared inches from Ella's face. The huntress yelped in surprise and jumped back, her back hitting the wall as Victorika peered at Ella closely. "Why are you looking at me like that?!" Ella shrieked, freaked out that a ghost was staring at her so intensely.
Johnny snorted. "Probably because she's curious why the both of you looked so much alike?" He offered, letting blue light glint off the gold chains of a necklace. The shine of the dull gold made the treasure hungry adventurer smile. As if to prove his point, Victorika traced a hand along Ella's face, and ran her hand on the white hair.
"I mean, look at you both." He looked at the two white haired women stuck with each other. "Same white hair, same near anemia paleness, same silver-eyes…" His eyes narrowed at that last point. "What exactly is special about your eyes? I've seen three of you now with that eye color now, and all of you had some, hm, special abilities." Ruby's sudden berserk-like mode, Ella's prodigious control of her semblance, the purifying light of Victorika's eyes; it was obvious that silver-eyes hold some special power in this place. Combining it with his earlier theory, it seemed it was a power that was given to a bloodline from divinity. And if that were true… "So does this special power run through the family, Victorika?" Johnny asked pointedly.
"Wait, you mean…" Ella looked at Victorika, who stared back at her curiously.
"Exactly that." Johnny rubbed a gem on one of the rings on his shirt, shining it and letting it shine on the blue light. "Victorika might be your distant ancestor or something, and it would mean Ruby is a distant family member of yours?" The adventurer laid out his theories. "A spirit, doing her duty from beyond the grave, tending to the tombs of her people. A prodigy huntress-in-training fighting for justice, and…" He looked at Ella. "…an adrenaline junkie combat addict," Ella took a swipe at him with her claymore with that, looking supremely furious, and Johnny simply pulled his head back to avoid it. "All of them with special silver eyes that let them fight beyond the norm. What is it about those eyes of yours really?"
Victorika shrugged, seeing nothing special about her own eyes. To the gravetender, it was just a tool to banish Grimm, nothing more. What concerned her was if Ella was family. She wrote on the dusty coffin again with one word, then pointed to Ella.
Ella struggled to remember the translation, but Johnny already had a feeling what she was going to ask. He kept silent however, letting the two white haired women interact, focusing more on the treasures he had pilfered from the bodies.
Ella can't read it, it seemed, so Victorika thought for another solution. She looked arounf the room, seemingly trying to find something. Johnny ignored her, looking at the way the gems on the rings glinted in the blue flame.
Wait. That's it! The gravetender thought. She pointed at the blue flames of the torch, then pointed to herself then Ella. The huntress frowned, trying to decipher their impromptu game of charades.
"Are you fire?" Johnny snorted back a laugh at Ella's terrible guess. Ticked off, Ella moved to beat up the smirking tomb raider, but Victorika held both her hands to her cheeks and forced her to look at her. She looked at the pile of rings Johnny was sorting through, looking at the gems on them. She picked each one up, trying to find something specific.
She picked one up and showed her the color of the gem, then pointed to the blue flames. "Oh. Oh." Ella understood immediately. "Yes, I am. Ellasar Vader Caeruleum. Or just Ella." She introduced herself. Victorika nodded happily and nodded, pointing at herself.
"Not to disrupt this family reunion of yours…" Johnny said, fully intending to disrupt the family reunion happening before him. "…But we still need a passage to the pyramid that wouldn't end with us drowing in angry calcium?" He pointed to the image of the city on the journal.
The gravetender turned serious and shook her head no. Johnny looked at her incredulously.
"No? What do you mean no? As in there isn't a way? Or no as in you don't want to help us? Look," He grabbed an indignant Ella by the shoulders and grabbed her cheeks. "Your great-granddaughter is already starving! We've been underground for ages!"
Ella forcefully dragged herself away from the adventurer. Victorika looked helplessly, trying to explain her reasons. She drew a long, long tail across the coffin, encircling itself around the picture of the city on the journal, ending in a great maw, and eyes with slit-like pupils.
"Is that a dragon?" The gravetender shook her head no. "A snake?" She nodded. "So you don't want to guide us to the pyramid because of the snake?" Johnny laughed. "C'mon. What's the worst that could happen?"
As soon as he said that, as if to defy the adventurer's words, the world shook for the trio in the mausoleum, the earthquake cracking the walls of the tomb around them. Ella's eyes widened in fear. "Wha-?! Was that the snake?!" She asked frantically, and Victorika nodded gravely." Just how big is this snake exactly?!" Ella yelled, and her ancestor simply pointed to the drawing she put on the coffin.
Johnny looked. An extremely large snake encircling the picture on the journal. "Oh no." He said faintly. Ella looked at him in panic. "Oh no." He said, realizing just exactly why the snake would be a problem.
]|[
The lights irritating the great serpent, it wriggled more and more, shaking the cave around it, and sending shocks up to the surface above. It opened its great maw, spitting more of the black fog out, enveloping the city in it. More of the dead arose from their tombs, shrieking in rage from being disturbed from their great rest. Only the top of the pyramid of the city was left untouched by the necromantic fog.
It slithered along the cracks around the city, disturbing some of the tombs along the walls, and settled its massive head atop the pyramid. It let out a great roar, the great sound echoing around the underground.
On the surface, the quake had sent people into another panic, and people ran about for shelters close by. The still waters of the bay now raged from the shockwave of the shaking of the ground, rocking the boats along the waters and nearly upending them.
The roar, though muffled, was loud enough to emanate through the underground, heard by the workers that was clearing the blockages in the sewers and the debris of the collapse from the bombings. The terrifying sound shook them to their core, and they looked amongst each other at the omen hanging above them.
This ominous event had not escaped the students of Beacon. Ruby Rose, seating beside her recuperating partner looked worriedly beyond the window of the hospital room, finding the waves of the sea raging beyond what was normal. Blake was already calling for their professors for instructions for their downed teammates in case an emergency happened.
Winter's eyes narrowed. She looked at the box left by her superior by the bed. She looked at her sister's still form. The specialist steeled her heart and slowly opened the box.