"Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

- Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

Crescent Rose sliced through another Grimm, its form dissolving into black mist. Ruby skidded to a halt, her lungs burning and her muscles aching. She gave herself a single deep breath before dashing back into the fray.

She was a blur tearing through the maelstrom of violence that was Beacon's courtyard, leaving black mist and unconscious terrorists in her wake. She stumbled to a halt beside Weiss, immediately hunching over and panting her lungs out.

Weiss looked little better, her normally pale complexion tinted a dark red as Myrtenaster performed an elegant dance through the air that dissected an Ursa.

Ruby twirled Crescent Rose, the scythe shifting into a chainsaw which promptly met a Beowolf mid-lunge, turning it to mist less than a foot from Weiss' back.

Weiss didn't even get a chance to take a deep breath before she was lunging over Ruby's shoulder to skewer a charging Boarbatusk through the eye, returning the favor. They shared a grateful look.

A large man in a White Fang mask was closing on Weiss, a long knife poised to stab down on her partner. Ruby didn't think twice, raising Crescent Rose and pulling the trigger, expending precious ammo on the immediate threat.

But he didn't burst into shadows like her usual targets, instead a red mist exploded from behind him, and Ruby's shocked eyes met his empty gaze through the mask.

He fell forwards, revealing the shredded red mess that had once been his back. Ruby retched, covering her mouth to hold back vomit.

"Ren!" Ruby distantly heard someone call out before she felt a warm mist settle over her, another White Fang assailant crumpling to the ground in front of her, clutching the waterfall of blood that fell from his neck.

She let Ren help her to her feet — when had she fallen? — and accepted Crescent Rose — when had she dropped it? — numbly, acting on autopilot as she and Weiss fell back to team JNPR.

They backed into a small circle near the middle of the courtyard. Brief flashes of light illuminated other areas as other pockets of students doubtlessly tried to hold out the same as they were, but they might as well have been a million miles away.

Ruby swung her weapon with every shred of energy she had in her, shifting Crescent Rose back into a scythe and cutting down Grimm and White Fang as they came. She hardly registered the blood and death — just that if she didn't kill them first, they would kill her. They would kill her friends.

She hated it more than anything.

JNPR fought like a thunderstorm, the long day of perpetual combat apparently taking far less of a toll on RWBY's sister team. They cut down Grimm faster than Ruby had seen professional huntsmen do. Pyrrha dived into the fray, gracefully slicing off the head of an Ursa and nimbly dodging the swipe of a Beowolf's paw. Jaune slid into the fray next to her, blocking a charging Boarbatusk and allowing Ren to dismantle it with several precise jabs. Nora followed behind, single handedly smacking a diving Nevermore out of the sky.

Ruby's eyes darted across the battlefield, her heart pounding with fear. the tide of battle seemed to be turning against them. The Grimm were relentless, their numbers overwhelming. They didn't have time to take breaks — it was just constant fighting for survival, and that was ignoring the Grimm Dragon headed their way. Ruby felt a cold dread creeping into her heart. Were they going to die here?

But she wouldn't give up hope. No matter how bad the situation got, Ruby refused to give in. She would keep fighting, she would find Yang and Blake, and they would get through this as a team. Because that's what heroes did.

Mom… Is this what you felt like?

Her resolve strengthened. She couldn't let Yang lose her, too.

A Boarbatusk charged at Weiss' back, but before Ruby could react the iconic pristine white of the Schnee emblem appeared in front of Weiss, stopping the Boarbatusk's charge dead before shattering and sending the Grimm sprawling backwards. Ruby sent Weiss a relieved look, only to see her partner was just as surprised as she was.

Another large glyph appeared far above their heads, the Schnee emblem spinning lazily, shining a brilliant white that illuminated the entire courtyard. The glyph's spinning began to slow, and Ruby noticed her breath begin to mist. She shivered, and goosebumps crawled along her skin. She tried to raise her hands to her mouth, but realized with growing horror that her arms were moving in slow motion, and they were getting slower by the second.

Her only comfort was that it seemed to be happening to everyone. Grimm slowed mid-lunge, and Pyrrha's spear moved through the air like molasses. With a sound like a shard of ice crystalizing, the glyph in the sky stilled and everything stopped. Grimm were suspended in the air, bullets sat unmoving halfway to their target, even rain halted its fall to freeze into tiny crystals of ice that hung in mid-air.

A figure, a blur of motion, darted through the frozen courtyard. Ruby's eyes strained to follow, but the figure was too fast

CRASH!

The glyph shattered, time snapping back into place. Pyrrha's spear met thin air, and Nora's hammer fell on nothing but pavement.

The Grimm were gone, replaced by a thick, black fog that clung to the ground like a shroud. The White Fang scattered around the campus crumpled as one like puppets with their strings cut.

Click.

Ruby spun on her heel, lifting Crescent Rose in a desperate defense from the attack she was sure was incoming. But instead of a Grimm, she found herself staring at a woman in a white Atlesian military uniform. The woman's face was familiar, her cold features marred by exhaustion.

"Winter!?" Weiss's voice was a shocked whisper.

"Sister," Winter nodded, sparing her sister a brief smile as her eyes scanned the courtyard. "Is anyone injured?"

"I don't think so," Jaune answered, leading JNPR up to their group. "Are you the one that saved us?"

Winter nodded curtly, "I am. Where a-"

"Yang and Blake!" Ruby interrupted. "We got separated, they went towards the infirmary!"

Winter's expression hardened. "Lead the way."


CLANG!

Twin crimson blades collided, one easily overpowering the other and sending it careening up into the air.

Adam leaped back, face slack with confusion. What was that?

Above the blonde girl, a dark red vortex swirled. From it a long, red blade emerged, followed by a boot, and a short, frilled skirt. When the woman finally emerged, Adam was only more confused. She wore a white Grimm mask similar to that of the White Fang, but Adam had no illusion she was here to help.

"A traitor?" he muttered curiously.

Ilia lashed out at the mysterious turncoat with her electric whip to no effect. The masked woman swiped at the weapon and sliced clean through it, the impotent end of the whip bouncing off of her harmlessly.

"Leave her to me." Adam righted himself. Whoever she was, she seemed to be out of Ilia's league. "Take Blake."

Ilia crouched and picked up Blake's unconscious form, wearily eyeing the woman watching passively just a few short feet away. Even as Ilia began to back up cautiously the woman remained motionless, blade angled defensively.

Adam's eyes narrowed. Curious. She didn't care about Blake, just…

His eyes found the blonde girl at her feet.

Adam struck without warning, Wilt being ripped from its sheath and swung into the woman in one quick motion. She reacted quickly, meeting his blade with her own. Adam grunted with frustration as she held strong.

He followed up the attack with another strike, and then another, and another. He gave her no room to retaliate, only stay on the defense. His muscles burned, but he pushed on with the onslaught. He put every bit of his strength behind every blow, making sure she knew it would be the end if she allowed a single one through.

But she didn't. Even as he levied all of his inhuman strength at her, she refused to budge. She parried and blocked his attacks in kind, without a hint of fatigue.

Taking a risk, Adam backed off and leaped backwards to create distance. With wide eyes, Adam watched as her sword moved with incredible speed in a downward swipe. It connected, dragging along his face with a crackle of aura.

He hastily raised his sword, but a follow-up never came. She stood poised over the blonde girl, watching him like a hawk but unmoving.

Slowly, each half of Adam's mask slid off of his face.

He snarled. She had scored a solid hit, but he had plenty of aura to spare.

"Leave," the woman finally spoke, her tone brooking no debate. "I have no interest in your affairs, but if you remain you will die."

Adam eyed her cautiously. She was a threat, it would be stupid to leave her be. Especially if she was a traitor. She was a loose end involving herself in a plan that could have no unknown variables.

So Adam made his choice.

He lunged again, hurling blow after blow down on her, before leaping back the same as before. This time he was ready for the follow-up, parrying a stab with a swipe of his sword.

She went on the offense, and Adam stifled his grin.

She was good, there was no doubting that. Adam grunted, struggling to take on the full force of her blows. Instead, he gave ground to soften the blows, parrying and dodging where he could.

She was a veritable storm, and Adam wasn't afraid to admit she was faster and stronger than him. He was genuinely struggling to keep up in a straight fight, but he knew he could still win.

Because she had a weakness he didn't.

Dashing back and sheathing his blade, he pulled the trigger on blush, the slew of shotgun pellets that came from his sheath showering his opponent and delaying her pursuit.

It gave him the time he needed.

He unsheathed Wilt, channeling his semblance to expend some of the energy he'd built up over years of combat. He didn't need long to built it up, the girl was defenseless and without aura, and the resulting crimson arc was just strong enough to bisect a human as a result.

His opponent whipped her head to where the girl lay and lifted her arm, but Adam didn't care to see how she would respond. He dashed in, delivering a punishing blow to her midsection and swinging upwards in a follow-up she just barely managed to catch with her blade. He continued his onslaught, strike after heavy strike taking advantage of her lapse.

"Enough!"

A ring of fire erupted around her, followed by a strong gust of wind that spread the flames, scorching Adam and sending him flying back. Around them, the library began to smoke and smolder, flames rising up the bookshelves and across the floor.

Adam scrambled to rise to his feet as the woman pursued him, lifting his sword in time to block the first strike, but his sword was swept aside and in no position to block the second.

Adam cried out in agony as the tip of her sword raked down his torso, grinding against his aura with a roar of red sparks.

She extended her other hand, and a pillar of flames emerged. Adam screamed in pain as it scorched the side of his face, marring his flesh. Through the smoke and haze, Adam saw her step back and raise her blade, preparing to deliver the final blow much like he had to the blonde just seconds before.

And much like the blonde, Adam was saved.

His adversary dived to the side, narrowly avoiding two glass daggers being stabbed into her back.

"Go, Adam," Cinder addressed him, but kept her eyes on the masked woman. "I will take care of this one. Proceed with the plan, you've done well."

Adam gnashed his teeth, but nodded. The plan was more important. Stumbling to his feet, Adam had to admit he'd been defeated.

The connection between the two was evident. Like Cinder, the new combatant seemed to have multiple semblances. He suspected that if he was able to see under that mask of hers, he would find two flaming eyes to match Cinder's.

Adam departed, leaving the two maidens to confront one another. One's eyes burning a crimson red, and the other's a dual fiery orange and icy blue.


Winter led her sister, Ruby, and Pyrrha's team through Beacon's crumbling halls. Smoke billowed from ransacked classrooms, debris littered the hallway, and the roars of Grimm and gunfire echoed through the corridors.

They sliced through any opposition they came across, Winter cutting down any White Fang on the spot and ignoring the Grimm for one of the others to skewer.

Soon they burst into the infirmary, the scene before them an array of devastation. Beds were overturned, medical equipment lay scattered across the floor, and the air was thick with the metallic tang of blood.

But there was no sign of Yang or Blake.

Before Winter could ask for more leads, the ground trembled beneath their feet as a deafening roar shook the very foundations of the building, sending tremors through the walls and shattering the few windows that remained.

"Was that…?" Weiss' partner's — Ruby's — voice was faint, her eyes wide with fear.

Winter's face was stoic. "The Grimm Dragon," she agreed, her voice heavy with dread. "It's close."

"Shouldn't we do something about that?" The blonde boy asked, panting hard.

"Percy's dealing with it," Winter replied, her face tight.

"Percy is fighting that thing alone?!" Pyrrha demanded. "We need to help him!"

"We need to help your friends," Winter countered. "That is the task that Percy has entrusted to me. We will have to trust him to accomplish his."

The two locked stares, but Pyrrha dropped her gaze.

Winter suppressed a sigh. She was just as worried, but she had a job to do. She wouldn't let him down.

"Now, your friends. Where else could they be?" she asked.

"We last saw them a couple hallways back," Her sister supplied. "But they were heading this way."

"What else is in this direction?" She demanded snappily. Every second counted.

"The library!" Ruby exclaimed. "Blake spends tons of time there, too!"

Winter nodded. "Lead the way. Quickly."

The red-clad girl grinned, drawing a leg back and leaning forward before taking off at a sprint, her body turning into a red blur as she accelerated.

The others quickly moved to follow her, but stopped suddenly when the red blur shot right back into the room. Just behind her, a wave of crimson energy surged down the hallway and crashed into the wall adjacent to the infirmary, sending brick and dust scattering through the air as the wall ruptured.

Ruby scrambled to bring Crescent Rose to bear, shaking hands aiming at the entrance to the infirmary. The others followed suit, Winter cautiously striding in front of the girl and lifting her saber.

The approach of heavy boots on marble sounded in time with Winter's heartbeat, a steady staccato.

The footsteps stopped for a moment, before the leader of the White Fang stepped into view.

"Taurus," Winter spat as the leader of the White Fang revealed himself. "Your treachery will not go unpunished."

"Maybe," Adam granted, his voice a low rumble. "But it won't come at your hands, Schnee."

The Faunus Commander looked the worse for wear, cuts crisscrossing his clothes that hinted at heavy punishment. His mask was missing, an SDC branding covering his left eye barely distinguishable from his scorched skin, the entire left side of his face suffering harsh burns.

Winter bit back her distaste at the act of cruelty performed in the name of her family. But she had renounced her claim to that legacy long ago — nor did her father's company still exist.

She was in a better state than the Bull Faunus, but not by much — she had been running on fumes for over an hour. She may not have had as many physical signs of her weary state, but she knew he couldn't be much more beleaguered than her.

She steadied her hand. None of that mattered, because she had something to protect; a task she could not fail.

Adam started their inevitable clash with a sweep of his blade, sending a wave of crackling red energy ripping through the air.

Having seen what the same attack did to Beacon's wall, the students scrambled to get out of the way, diving out of the path of the arc.

Winter held steady, letting her blade fall and extending her empty hand. A glyph sprung to life at the tips of her fingers, the white emblem brimming with power.

The sharp edge of Taurus' crimson wave crashed into the Schnee insignia, the resulting impact reflecting concussive force in a semi-circle facing away from Winter, at once obliterating what had remained of half of the infirmary and sending Taurus flying into the hallway on his back.

Part of the arc of energy passed above the glyph, tearing into the ceiling and carving through wood, concrete, and metal alike.

"Stop the building from collapsing!" Winter ordered without looking back, dashing to engage the Faunus with a burst of speed.

She had been through battle after battle today, but she couldn't afford to let her exhaustion stop her.

For Weiss and for Percy, she would win.


The six students stared up at the ceiling and shared a helpless glance. How were they meant to fix that exactly?

It began to sag inwards, threatening to bury them beneath.

Pyrrha acted quickly, lifting her hands and calling on her semblance. The metal in wires, pipes, vents, and bolts all screeched in protest as Pyrrha forced them to hold the ceiling up, momentarily countering the pull of gravity. But even as she held it up, she could feel her hold weakening — pipes bursting, vents caving, and bolts and screws being ripped from their wooden foundations.

"Everyone, out!" someone shouted, to Pyrrha's relief. The others scattered, leaping through windows onto the grass outside.

"Pyrrha, now!" Weiss called.

Deciding she had no real alternative but to trust Weiss, Pyrrha released her concentration and dived for the nearest window. For a single, terrifying moment the ceiling resumed its cave in and it looked like Pyrrha would be buried, until a faint white glyph appeared just beneath it. It propped up the compromised center for a precious few seconds, allowing Pyrrha to make her escape before the glyph shattered and the ceiling finally gave in. The rooms above it followed suit, weakened and destroyed walls folding inwards like a house of cards as the entire thing came down, a great cloud of dust billowing outwards from the impromptu demolition.

Pyrrha emerged from the dust in a similar state to the others; covered in soot and wet grass, coughing her lungs out.

"Yang-" Ruby hacked. "Blake."

"But-" Weiss protested, looking around frantically.

If Weiss finished her objection, Pyrrha didn't hear it. Harsh wind suddenly buffeted over her, the pressure of the air so intense it felt like she would be crushed. She fell to a knee in the muddy grass, dust from the collapsed section of the building soaring past her to cover the campus. She scrambled to her feet and looked up just in time to see a dark behemoth pass low overhead, the tip of its gargantuan onyx wing grazing Ozpin's tower and cleaving straight through it. The top third of the tower tilted and fell, the rest of the tower collapsing with it.

The once dark night lit up a blinding white.

CRACK

Through the the magnificence of nature's power illuminating the night, Pyrrha made out the afterimage of a bolt of lightning as wide as a city street fall on the mythical beast's head. The crack of lightning rang out sharply, the bolt landing with enough force to level a settlement.

BOOOOOOM

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!

The noise was followed by a rumble of thunder that shook the earth, and Pyrrha would have lost her footing were she not already on one knee. The dragon roared in kind, a monstrous bellow that shook leaves from trees.

"It's coming back around!" Weiss warned.

Sure enough, the dragon's massive wings flapped as it rocketed into the sky — flipping upside down entirely before it began diving back to Remnant.

Pyrrha fought to steady herself on the wet grass, blinking the spots out of her eyes and fighting the ringing in her ears.

"What is that?!" Jaune called, pointing vaguely in the direction of the dragon. Pyrrha strained her eyes to see what he was talking about. It took a few seconds, but eventually she saw it — a small shape falling from the Dragon, barely visible against the sky. But it was falling right towards them.

"A scale?" Pyrrha guessed.

She was forced to reconsider when the rain around the group stopped falling — not that it was no longer raining, but raindrops froze in place, suspended in air. They remained that way for a single moment before rapidly surging to coalesce into a large ball of rainwater. The scene was almost majestic — like a school of a million fish all acting as one.

Her eyes lit up. Did that mean…?

The shadow crashed into the orb of water, falling out the bottom at much slower speeds.

Percy landed in a crouch a few feet away from her, one knee resting on the muddied ground through ripped jeans. Nobody moved as he knelt there, breathing heavily. He took a few seconds to stand, but when he did he opened his eyes, looking directly into hers.

Pyrrha desperately clawed at the water, pulling herself towards the barely visible light of the surface. Daring to look behind her, Pyrrha saw nothing but black — an infinitely deep abyss that pulled at her with an inescapable force. She kicked and clawed, panic setting in as she was only pulled deeper, the light fading as she ran out of air.

The torment seemed to last for an eternity — the barely visible light above her growing dimmer, the pitch black abyss beneath her growing darker, her empty lungs growing more devoid of air.

Pyrrha snapped out of it with a gasp of air, her heart pounding frantically in her chest.

His eyes…

When Pyrrha had seen him after the battle of Mistral, it was the brightest she had seen his eyes. They glowed with immense power, and seemed to see right through her. Yang had told her about being rooted still in fear in that moment, but to Pyrrha it was still Percy. She hadn't been afraid.

She was now.

His eyes didn't glow green or blue, but black. They didn't stare through her, but pulled her in, the unknowably vast depths tempting and threatening her at once with promises of knowledge, of eternity, of the infinite.

Pyrrha quickly averted her eyes.

"Where's Winter?" he asked. He sounded normal — like Percy — but she could feel the words resonating through the ground beneath her and the air around her.

"Fighting Adam Taurus," Ren said, apparently willing to speak up when the rest of them weren't.

"Good. Do not engage Adam under any circumstances," he stressed. "Let Winter handle him, he's more dangerous than he looks. And stay safe, all of you."

Before Pyrrha could ask him to do the same he leaped into the air, propelled by a jet of water that rocketed him into the sky and out of their vision.

"Woah…" Jaune muttered.

"That way!" Weiss broke them out of their stupor, pointing at the hole in the wall Taurus had made earlier just in time to see Winter dashing out of it, the White Fang leader hot on her tail.

Behind them, the ceiling of the hallway was starting to tilt as the entire structure of the building began to lean precariously.

"No!" Ruby cried out.

The building collapsed over the hallway, burying Yang and Blake's last hope under concrete and steel.


Percy let out a cry of exertion as he grabbed hold of the Dragon's wing, being dragged along with it through the air.

It flapped its wings, sweeping up into the air in a loop, leaving Percy to hang off of it for several seconds. But he had learned his lesson from last time, finding a firm grip on the Dragon's wings and holding on until they were the right way up.

He grunted as he climbed his way onto the Dragon's back, the arduous climb taxing his already exhausted muscles. He held on tight to the nearest protruding bit of bone the entire time, enduring the various maneuvers the Dragon was pulling to attempt to knock him off.

He didn't bother uncapping Riptide, leaving the pen be in his pocket — slashing at the Dragon's leathery skin with the celestial bronze blade had hardly done anything but draw blood, causing several other Grimm to emerge from the wound — seemingly forming out of its blood — before the cut closed itself.

The eyes were not much use either — the twin crimson orbs were out of reach even from the top of its head, such was its size.

He might have been able to do something with enough time, but the Grimm was flying over Beacon, he didn't have time. He needed to get the Elder Grimm close enough to the ocean that he could deal with it for good, and to do that…

Lightning split from the sky, lighting up the night and striking the Dragon on its wing. But Percy wasn't able to hear its roar of pain over the sound of another bolt of lightning striking the Dragon's snout.

Bolts continued to fall in an unending onslaught of electricity, the rain around the Dragon coalescing and quickly freezing, hundreds of spikes of ice slamming into it.

The Dragon turned, flying away from Beacon to the south. Peering over its head, Percy could see it heading for a monstrous flock of Nevermore.

So, it wanted to use the Nevermore to get him off? Fine with him.

The winds began to pick up — the storm turning into a full-scale hurricane in a matter of seconds. All around them, the dark shadows of swirling clouds could be seen — tornadoes forming at his will. They touched down, each whipping winds at hundreds of miles an hour.

The Nevermore were torn from the sky by their dozens, consumed by Nature's fury.

The Dragon was not immune, its wings catching the winds and being swept away. Its frustrated screech was audible over the gale, the ancient creature flailing for control as it was thrown every which way.

But precise control over winds was not something Percy could do at scale, and eventually the beast found its way out of the tornado. It flew away quickly — faster than the tornadoes behind it could chase — determined not to be caught again.

Now free, the Dragon once more began spinning and flipping in the air in a desperate bid to throw him off.

This time, however, it succeeded. Percy let go, allowing himself to be tossed from the Grimm and fall into the forest below.

But the forest was no longer there.

Percy fell into raging black waters, turbulent waves as tall as skyscrapers rising into the sky and crashing back into the sea with a deafening roar. Further out to sea a massive wave had begun to form, towering over the others and growing larger with the tide.

When it crested, it touched the clouds, the truly titanic wave reaching heights tall enough to eclipse any building.

Tall enough to reach the Grimm Dragon.

The ancient monster had time to let loose a single screech of shock and terror before the wave swallowed it, the tides at once dragging the beast down far below the surface.

Percy could feel it scratching the ocean floor to no avail as a riptide swept it out to sea.

He pulled it further and further away from shore, deeper and deeper under water. The Grimm thrashed, clawed, and struggled, but it might as well have been clawing at the air. He paid the Grimm's struggles no mind, only dragging it further and further into his domain.

On the surface the Dragon had been a divine force — an immortal, mythical beast, invulnerable and unstoppable, capable of destroying cities and bringing an end to civilizations on its own.

Here, in his domain, it was nothing, not even an annoyance. It was just another creature he had allowed to exist in his oceans — one he could choose to snuff out in an instant.

And so he did.

The monster imploded as thousands of pounds of pressure pressed in on every inch of its body, permanently bringing an end to the ancient beast.

Allowing his focus to return to his body, Percy opened his eyes.

Now, for Adam.


"Ghastly Grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore,

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

- Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

Strong winds whipped around the library, flames now having crawled up every wall and encompassing the grand room. Only a protective circle of water — previously ice — protected Yang, but Raven knew that it would not last long.

Raven ducked two jabs, catching another on the pommel of her sword. Using her free hand, she scored an electrically charged haymaker on the rival maiden.

But no matter how much punishment she took, she dished out more.

The woman that Raven was growing more and more confident was an agent of Salem disengaged, dashing backwards. Raven tried to follow, but a wall of fire blocked her.

She snarled, waving a hand and dispelling the flames with a gust of wind. But by then the other woman had recovered, dashing in for another bout.

It was frustrating — the girl was skilled, but not especially so. On even footing, Raven was confident she could win handily. The real problem was that Raven was outmatched by every other metric. Her opponent hit harder, she moved faster, and her attacks were twice as powerful.

Between that and the fact that she had two differently colored eyes…

Raven was beginning to have some dangerous suspicions.

It shouldn't be possible to steal the maiden's power, but unless she had somehow gotten two different maidens to willingly think of her in their last moments, Raven was staring at proof to the contrary.

Raven had thought she was the strongest being on Remnant short of Salem. Percy had come to disabuse her of that notion some time ago, but even still she was surprised to find out there was yet another stronger than her.

And from the looks of things, she wanted Raven's power too.

This was bad.

Raven parried another attack, throwing her open palm forward and springing a wall of flame to life, channeling her power to lift off the ground in flight and and and create some distance.

Tiring, she looked at Yang. She couldn't keep this up for much longer, in a straight fight of power and aura she would lose handily. She had decided she didn't owe her old life — or anyone in it — anything.

No, that wasn't quite true. She had agreed — made a promise. Everyone got one. Cinder attacked again, forcing Raven to spend more precious energy to get away.

She needed to take Yang with her when she left. It would be a lot more difficult, but she would stick to the few convictions she had.

Mentally iterating through her connections, Raven searched for someone to make a portal to. Tai? No, he was fighting Grimm at the wall. Qrow? Raven tilted her head curiously. He was near, and similarly occupied to her.

Someone in the tribe, then? No, she would need to spend every last drop of energy to create a large enough distraction to escape. In her weakened state it was almost guaranteed someone would try to overthrow her and take the leadership of the tribe for themselves. She needed somewhere safe to rest.

Percy? He was also nearby, but several hundred feet in the air and moving quickly. Winter? The bond was weak enough that she could sever it if she so wished, but Raven could feel it was strong enough to make a connection. No. She, too, was fighting someone.

Everyone constantly wanted Raven's help, but he one time she needed one of them, she was left on her own. Damn them all.

Raven grit her teeth. She had one more connection, and they were safe. But would she really…?

Making her decision, Raven put all her energy — all her aura — into distracting the other maiden with a massive blast of energy. A symphony of ice, fire, wind, and lightning exploded in a cone from her hands, and Raven had just enough time to see the panicked look on the other maiden's face before the maelstrom enveloped her.

Knowing she had limited time, raven hurried — she flew towards Yang, swiping her blade to rip through the air and forming a portal.

Quickly picking up Yang, Raven turned to enter the swirling vortex.

An agonizing sensation pierced her back, radiating outward like a shockwave of pain. Her vision blurred, and she stumbled. With what little strength she still had she tossed Yang, the girl — her daughter — falling unceremoniously through the vortex.

A second arrow, expertly aimed, found its mark, lodging deep between her shoulder blades. Raven collapsed to her hands and knees with a strangled cry, the portal closing with a sickening snap.

Deliberate footsteps echoed on the wood behind her, hardly audible over the roaring flames and crackling wood.

"You made a mistake coming here today," The other maiden spoke. Her voice was smooth, but Raven could hear the exhaustion — she wasn't as in control as she wanted Raven to think.

"Get it over with, you narcissistic bitch," Raven spat, coughing a wad of blood onto the floor.

Once her footsteps sounded close enough, Raven gripped her sword and turned, stabbing from her knees. To her surprise the strike actually connected, but scraped against aura when it landed.

She cried out as with a swipe of the other girl's dagger, Raven's hand became a sizzling stump.

"I wish I could make you suffer," Spat the woman Raven suspected she would never learn the name of. "But unfortunately, I have more important things to do."

The woman placed her palm on Raven's head, and Raven closed her eyes.

She had one rule — one conviction she forced herself to abide by — and it was what had brought about her end.

I did it. She thought. I put my life on the line for someone else, and lost.

But her daughter would live on.

A radiant blue light engulfed her, a testament to the power that had once coursed through her veins. As her body dissolved into shimmering embers, a serene smile graced her lips.

Are you proud of me, Summer?


This was a difficult chapter to write, for obvious reasons. It took longer than I thought, so what I had managed to write ahead is pretty much used up, and I have a busy month. So, slowing to one chapter a month for this month, and will ideally get a chapter in reserve to safely return to 2/mo for August.

Hope you enjoyed, links are on my profile.

Next Chapter August 1