A/n: I'm back! Took a break for the holidays, plus exams are coming up close, so updates might get a bit slower. I'll do my best though.
I do not own RWBY or AdventureQuest Worlds.
The next lesson came from the image of a friend of Artix, the paladin Moon Called. She had offered perhaps what was the most important lesson of all: that sometimes, to save a world, a sacrifice was needed. Sometimes the life of people he held dear to him.
As he had destroyed the remnants of the first proto-chaos beast Carnax, Chaos marched on, engulfing the mind of the professor even as he held on, and malicious whispers threatened to turn the constructs from their master.
As Chaos continued on, a being from the darkest depths slithered to the light, intent on capitalizing on the current mayhem…
]|[
Sirens echoed around the city. Ambulances raced to the sites of entrances to the underground systems beneath Vale that had collapsed; some workers had been injured by the falling debris caused by the sudden quakes. Firemen and other emergency workers worked around the clock and around the city to save the people injured by the ominous earthquake.
Ships quickly backed into the ports before the waves wrecked the vessels. The normally calm sea were getting restless, and they feared that something worse might happen. It was more worrying, because some of the natural barriers against the sea were blown up by the White Fang in their bombings. In anticipation for the worst, the city had announced opening of evacuation shelters, but actual movement to the shelters were, for now, optional. The quakes might simply pass on harmlessly, after all, but the experts were watching closely at the sensors just in case something would happen.
A big quake was bound to happen. The city was bound by the mountains around them, and the kingdom was situated near the continental plates that had created the mountains that served as their natural barriers against the Grimm. The kingdom had at least prepared for something like this.
Among the emergency personnel were the huntsmen, who were placed on standby, in case another incursion happened. Tensions around the city were rising, and an earthquake put a damper on the cheer generated on the anticipation for the festival. Not to mention the recent terrorist attacks.
"You don't have to go Miss Rose." Glynda Goodwitch told her student. "You have earned your rest after your team's recent actions. You and team JNPR can stay behind and tend to your teammates first."
The fire in the little reaper's eyes flickered in hesitation. She was determined to not let another tragedy happen; she had a gut feeling something might get worse, as it often usually did these past few days and weeks. The reminder of her still sleeping partner and sister made her step back, however. Glynda's eyes softened at the doubt she saw in her student.
"Your actions are commendable, Ruby. But right now, your partner and family needs you than the kingdom does." The professor told Ruby gently. Ruby turned to look at Weiss peacefully sleeping, unaware of the panic everyone was feeling. "We can cover it. You stay here and help your team and friends in case something does happen."
"But I could help…" Ruby muttered weakly. Even as she said it, she could not imagine herself leaving Weiss' side.
"I know you could." Glynda conceded. "But there are many that could help as well. All your professors are out in the field now to help the active huntsmen in case something does happen. You," She pointed to Ruby. "Have to be here to help your friends evacuate, if worst comes to worst."
"Put a little faith in us Ruby." Glynda smiled at the silver-eyed teen, who looked up at her with wide, worried eyes. "We'll keep everyone safe."
]|[
Johnny, Ella, and Victorika charged outside of the crypt they were hiding out on when they heard the earth-shaking roar. The gravetender gritted her teeth and unsheathed her weapons, pointing to the massive problem they had on their hands.
A massive, black body slithered around the edges of the city, pouring out from the darkness of the cavern. The shadowy serpent was armored white on its back, and the plates scraped against the tombs on the walls of the cave, destroying the coffins and the remains within. Each time it slinked around and wriggled, the trio could feel the earth beneath them shake.
It was truly gigantic, the serpentine maw hung open, and the head of the beast loomed over the pyramid. A testament to its size, just its lower jaws seemed to be as large as the pyramid it wrapped most of its body on. It let out a guttural groan that seemed to shake the earth just as it moved. From its mouth, more and more shadows poured out, clouding the pyramid and in black smoke.
Skeletons shambled from their graves, puppeted by the shadows. Some picked up whatever weapons they had been buried with, or even just bars of steel ripped from the mausoleums around them. Their eyes glowed maliciously, and they echoed the roars of rage of the great serpent that had called out to them.
"That's a big snake." It was all Johnny could say. "Not the biggest I've seen though." He smirked, remembering Quetzal. Even then, it had taken the combined strength of a great number of people to bring the beast down, not to mention the weapon forged to destroy the beast itself. At least we don't have the World Ender to deal with this time. The adventurer thought to himself. Kezeroth was arguably the bigger problem, even beyond the world devouring serpent.
"Not the time to be comparing sizes…" Ella muttered breathlessly beside him, staring at what was probably the biggest monster she had ever faced. "How in the world are we going to get to the pyramid with that hanging around?!" She shouted at her two companions.
Before she could receive an answer, Victorika had already sped away into the smoke covered streets, her twin swords flashing in the darkness as she slashed away at the undead that dared to block her path. Johnny nodded to Ella who was staring slack-jawed at her ancestor's reckless charge. "Looks like the choice been made for us." He said, straightening his baseball cap. He took out his katana again and crouched low. "We have to follow her now. I assume she has something of a plan." With that, the adventurer took off after the rushing gravetender.
Ella clicked her tongue, but made to follow after the two. There was no point in dawdling around.
]|[
The silver-eyed gravetender destroyed the skeletons barring her path with furious flurries of steel. Racing through the streets, she dodged the clumsy strikes of the reanimated dead with great agility, but remained steadily on her path. She jumped and glided through the fallen stonework tombs destroyed by the movement of the snakes that had crash onto the streets, and gracefully evaded the larger debris that rained from above. She maintained her pace even with the ground shaking beneath her, almost flying above the ground with her sheer speed.
Johnny was no amateur in the 'escaping collapsing tombs' business either. After the first dozen or so, he had already developed the speed and dexterity needed to not be buried alive while carrying tons of treasure or a fellow adventurer while an ancient structure crumbles around them. Blasts of white light burned through the reanimated skeletons, launched from his fingertips while he muttered a small prayer under his breath. His shadowforged katana cut through the undead with ease if one got close enough. He kept his eyes on the back of the still charging Victorika, who was rushing ahead straight into the pyramid. He can already see the steps of the pyramid just beyond the hordes of boneheads and the black smoke that covered the streets.
Ella was behind both of the two, but she was no less effective. Even without aura, she was still a powerful warrior, and the weight of her claymore crushed the skeletons easily. Each wide swing destroyed an entire group, and she was cutting a swathe through the hordes that sought to bar her path. With the agility famed from huntsmen training, she weaved through the crowds of skeletons. She jumped high, and with light footsteps, even appeared walking on the craniums of the skeletons, crushing them under her heel as she propelled herself to catch up with her two companions.
Destroying skeletons wholesale brought up old memories before Johnny's eyes. It really was much like Doomwood. He smirked. The adventurer considered bringing out the Axe of his good friend, but with how easy they were rushing through this undead horde, it seemed to be overkill if he did so. Jus the skills of a Paladin and Undead Slayer was enough to destroy the skeletons before them.
In fact, he thought to himself, it seemed rather much easier than he had thought it would be. As they raced through the streets, Johnny kept an eye on the shadows pouring from the mouth of the serpent. Its red slit-like eyes glared at the city fiercely. It wasn't quite…Grimm-like as he had thought it would be. Sure it had the shadows and the white plates with red markings, but the great beast seemed more…organic. Like it wasn't fully Grimm.
The great serpent roared, as if sensing the adventurer glaring at it. Welp, didn't matter if it was Grimm or not, the thing still wanted them buried with these bony bastards!
The snake heaved its head back, closing its mouth, sucking in a great breath and swallowing the smoke nearby. Johnny narrowed his eyes, not liking where the snake is doing. He curled his left hand into a fist, feeling a mass of energy forming on his palm, in anticipation of what the monster would do next.
With an earth-shattering roar, in breathed out the great mass of shadowy smoke from within itself, directly down onto the street where the trio were at.
"Duck now!" Johnny screamed, and unleashed the Light from his hands, the beam of light cutting sharply through the mass of shadows headed towards them. As soon as the light hit the dark, the two attacks collided against each other in a massive explosion, sending powerful shockwaves across the cavern. Ella and Victorika duck and hid against whatever cover were available for them, shielding themselves best as they can. The undead caught in the blast of force of the attacks were shattered in an instant, and some were blown far across the city.
The beam propagated across the mass of shadowy smoke and hit directly the inside of the great serpent's mouth, who roared in great pain, reeling its head back away from the apex of the pyramid. It writhed around in pain, its body spasming around, shaking the cavern and destroying parts of the city its serpentine length was coiled around. Stone began to fall around, and the cracks on the walls of the cave started to slowly grow larger.
"We need to get up there now!" The adventurer shouted, seeing the place around them collapse. "Before we're buried down here! Hurry!"
The trio double timed, the street now cleared of most of the undead, who were either entirely shattered to dust by the shockwave, or were still in the process of being reanimated by the shadows. The only hazards left were the debris now threatening to crush them. They weaved through the street fast as they could, avoiding falling stalactites and newly reformed arms of the skeletons at started to grab at them from where the skeletons were lying.
They raced up the stairs of the step pyramid. It was where the clouds of dark smoke were the densest. Johnny felt it on his skin with a slight stinging sensation, but he grit his teeth and shrugged it off. It was much like the blood of the Grimm wyvern. It felt like it was trying to seep down through his skin and into his bones, trying to corrupt him from the inside. He turned to his other two companions.
Victorika clenched her jaw and continued her climb, but she was steaming from the reaction of the shadow with her own self. She was already a spirit, and it was trying to devour her. The light within her resisted the encroaching darkness, and it was working, but it did not mean it wasn't painful. She swallowed the pained grunt threatening to escape from her throat and focused on the serpent just up ahead.
Ella wasn't as used to the shadows as her ancestor was, however. The further in the smoke they got, the worse the pain got for her. She held the same light on the inside like the gravetender, but the pain was slowly getting to her. She pushed on, step by step.
Johnny knew it was much harder on the two than it was for him. He was muttering prayers underneath his breath, letting the healing light of the Hymn of Light wash over them, and purifying them of the darkness trying to eat through them. The light even strengthened their spirits, and Ella and Victorika felt themselves becoming as light as a feather.
The gravetender glanced to behind her, giving Johnny a curious glance. Ella was much more vocal in her queries. "What was that?" Ella asked. She felt like she could run a marathon after this. Better, she felt her aura actually slowly returning! The aches of her previous battle with Johnny seemingly fading away, the huntress felt pumped. Johnny smiled at both of their reactions to the power of the Archpaladin. He didn't answer them, and focused on the serpent slowly recovering from the beam of Light.
The snake shook its head, attempting to clear its own head from the searing light and its own wooziness. It let out a low growl, glaring at the three racing up the stairs. It mustered up the shadows again, the smoke permeating the top chamber of the pyramid where the stairs led to.
"What the heck is that thing doing?!" Johnny yelled. Victorika grit her teeth. Considering what the shadows of the snake can do…she has a bad feeling about what's happening.
]|[
Eons ago, there was a family that lived in these lands. They ruled the world, by virtue of their mother and father having great powers, beyond those granted by the miracles of Dust and Aura. The two ruled the lands as gods of their world, guiding humanity under them into prosperity.
They were powerful, and they used their powers for their kingdom. While the father had remained true to his commitment of helping those under them, the mother was not. They say power corrupts, and it was clearly showing here. Maybe it could be argued that the mother was corrupted even before ruling the world with her husband. Whatever the case may be, the mother eventually held disdain for those what she perceived as beneath her. This humanity, unable to bend the world to their will as much as she or her husband can, they were an inferior species. She saw them as even lesser than what she perceived humanity should be.
This led her to slowly become crueler and crueler each day. Each day, the father watched as his wife slowly become more and more of a monster. Eventually, he had found the extent of her scorn for humanity: one day, upon finding out that their daughters had the same powers that they do, his wife declared her intent to replace humanity of beings like them Beings that could use their powers.
The idea disgusted him. For once, he saw the monster she had become, and he stole into the night with their children, trying to escape the monster she had become.
They never got far. Caught in the crossfire of their battle, the children had died, and it started the cycle of his death and rebirth.
So what happened to the kingdom after this tragedy?
Even if the king had gone, and the queen had fled, what remained were four children killed needlessly. They had held on even as the Grimm covered the kingdom, but even after the herculean effort of their heroes, even they could not hold back the tides of darkness forever. Those that fell were interred at their great necropolis deep below, including the four innocent princesses of their kingdom.
What was once a kingdom, now only graves remained. Great warriors of the kingdom now let themselves guard what was the remnants of their home down below. They sealed the entrances to the surface and maintained their long vigil down the necropolis, watching the eternal rest of the once prosperous kingdom. A certain gravetender, handpicked to be one of the personal guard of the royal family due to her special powers, persisted for even longer, even beyond death.
The queen, even beyond her hatred for her once-husband, still had loved her children. Guilt drove her to despair, and all she could do was install another guard that would forever be beside her children. She could only create monsters however, so how about a monster so terrifying none would be able to stand against it?
And so, she had raised a dead Valean Serpent from the brink of death back with her powers, and sent it down to Darkvalley Depths.
The gravetenders eyed the monster from the caverns with great suspicion, but they knew that fighting it would only destroy the necropolis, so seeing it be docile around them, they let it be. A certain silver-eyed gravetender held a disdain for the serpent, but she let it be, for now.
But after they were gone, one gravetender and the snake had persisted, and it wasn't long before treasure hunters heard of the stories of the lavish necropolis from down below. Pity for them, there were monsters deep below that were waiting for them. The snake, seeing the intruders to the grave of his master's children, raised the bodies of heroes of old to dispatch the trespassers.
The image of her old friends, being used as puppets… It had angered the silver-eyed gravetender. She had confronted the serpent, but it ignored her. Her powers alone were not strong enough. She couldn't bring herself to face the image of her old friends and comrades when the snake raised them, so she hid and ran.
Now, they can't run away anymore.
The shadow seeped into the main chamber of the temple, and into the remains of the four guards left in it. Unlike the skeletons below, the shadows fully encased the four guards, trying to recreate who they were in life, mustering whatever old strength that can be remembered from their bones. They took up their weapons; old and rusty beyond measure, but no less deadly. A red light glowed from the empty holes from their eyes. They shuffled out from their positions, unable to speak, but knowing exactly what to do.
They stared at the trio running up the steps, and they brought their weapons up to guard, prepared to fight even beyond their death to defend the four graves laying within the chamber of the pyramid.
]|[
"Uh…Elite undead up ahead!" Johnny yelled. Victorika grimaced, it was exactly what she was praying to their old gods not to happen. Her old comrades were strong when they were alive, and she was praying they did not retain their skills in life.
[vs. The Four Gravetenders of Darkvalley Depths!]
Ella couldn't wait any longer, seeing the promise of a good fight. She dashed up ahead beyond both Johnny and Victorika, and slashed her claymore in a wide arc across the four shadow enveloped guards, who all jumped back to dodge. "Haha!" The huntress laughed happily, feeling her strength returning after whatever Johnny did to them. "Have at thee, abominations!" She slammed Murakumo down to crush the undead guards. Another greatsword met her claymore with an upward swing, and Ella stared at the undead warrior that stopped her. A young man, face blank and eyes red, and shadows oozing out from the cracks of his skin. "I'll put you all back to your proper rest." The huntress promised, but the guard didn't even react.
"That little-!" Johnny groaned. Victorika narrowed her eyes. They were in it now. She brought her two swords up in front of her and jumped, bringing both weapons down in a cross pattern to slash at the spear wielder who caught her strike. A long haired woman, with an impassive, red glowing stare, spun the spear in her hands, breaking the silver-eyed gravetender's guard and immediately stabbed forward, which Victorika parried narrowly. She grit her teeth, feeling her arms shake from the monstrously powerful strike of her old comrade.
The adventurer finally reached the top of the steps, panting slightly. He was given no time to rest, as a ball of fire just barely skimmed his cheek. "Hey!" Johnny yelled indignantly. "Trying to catch my breath here!" He was answered with a mace to the face, and Johnny had to back up from the sudden attack. As soon as he did, one of the guards charged at him with a curved sword raised, slashing at him furiously. Johnny deflected each of the guard's strikes, moving sideward and catching the mace wielding one with a high slash to the head. He was parried, and Johnny used the momentum to bounce off the attack and turn back to the curved sword wielder to swat the weapon away. The adventurer smiled excitedly. He looked at the curved sword user, someone in a black helmet with red eyes glowing from within. The one with the mace growled at him, a large burly man with a bald head, face twisted in a snarl. Both charged at him at once, and Johnny jumped back, launching a Light Blast, hitting both in their chests making them stumble slightly.
"Tougher undead huh?" He looked at his opponents and at the snake that was watching all of it from above. "Interesting…"
]|[
A black haired woman on a black doll-like dress strolled to the VPD currently still in repair. She nodded at the guards at the front, holding a folder up.
"Your business inside, ma'am?" One of the officers asked.
"Filing a report. Can I go in?" She answered, raising her hands. She let one of the officers frisk her for weapons. The one that inspected her nodded to the others, and she passed on through the metal detectors.
"She's clear." The officer said and turned to her. "Have a good day, ma'am." The woman nodded and continued on to the door. She smoothed up her black skirt and turned to walk to the receptionist.
"Good afternoon." She greeted and placed the folder she held to the table. The officer looked up at her. "I was wondering if visitations for criminals in jail were still up?" She asked.
The officer nodded, adjusting her cap and typed a bit on her computer. "Yes ma'am, but only until five in the afternoon every day and visits are scheduled three days in advance. Can I have name please?"
"It's Snow Thameson."
"And the prisoner you'd like to visit?"
The black haired woman, Neve Townsend, smiled and opened the folder. "Actually, there are many of them. How about we start at the letter 'A'?"