"Nice of you to have me on such short notice~"
"You're not here for pleasantries. What do you want?"
Cinder Fall remained perpetually insufferable, but one thing he could never fault her on was her word. One year ago, the moon mysteriously reformed within the sky, startling the entire planet. The waves of uncertainty and fear should have erupted into mass incursions on a global scale, but by some unseen miracle, nothing came from it. It didn't make any sense, and yet with Cinder having shown the effect her lot had around the Grimm, he had to assume she had a hand in that.
And so, when she ordered they fall in line with Atlas and Vale's decision to delay the Vytal Festival for a year, they begrudgingly shifted the plan on the backburner and returned to casual raids and liberation.
"How rude," she taunted, stepping up and wrapping herself around him. A somewhat spicy move, but he couldn't be bothered to care at this point. She and her group had shown the extent of their skills and influence over time, and so he could suffer these minor obstructions and games. Coughing up a sigh, the wind now swiftly swiped from her sails, she relented. "But I suppose time is of the essence whenever it comes to you~"
"I'm receiving word from another sect, so if you have news to offer, say so."
Amongst her dismissive head shake and cross expression, Adam Taurus spotted something... intriguing.
Cinder had dealt her cards too many times with him, to the point they had become predictable. If he had a say in it, he'd argue she'd gotten lazy. Her attempts at knocking him off his feet were effortlessly bad, almost comical with how overtly stereotypical they had become, and she knew it. Cinder more than settled into their partnership, and even if her demands and orders annoyed him, they were never problematic enough to warrant fighting.
With such a lax relationship, he found it odd she harbored genuine dissatisfaction in her tone.
"We need to cancel the assault on the Vytal Festival entirely." He'd have hit her with an, "excuse me," had she not also informed him of the reason behind this ludicrous decision. "A very important visitor will be attending the celebrations this year, and so we can't have the White Fang causing any trouble... As in, at all."
Had this been a year ago, Adam would have probably snapped at the spontaneousness of this wasteful decision, but in the current year of which he'd grown used to these rolls of the dice, all he could manage out was a simple follow-up question.
"Are you asking we cancel all of our operations in Vale?"
"I wouldn't say "cancel" just yet. Depending on what follows, you may be able to continue with your activities."
"And on the other hand?"
"The other hand has you waging your war elsewhere." From underneath his mask he grunted, and sensing what he felt, Cinder openly wore her frustrations. "For as irksome as it sounds, trust me when I say you don't want to upset this guest. She is... more than you can handle."
"Salem, then?" Cinder fell into an uneasy stare.
"Yes."
Shaking his own head and already dreading the amount of bullshit he would need to pull out of his ass just to get the rest of the White Fang to accept this decision, Adam toughened up. It couldn't be helped; no one crossed Salem. While the rest of the group weren't in on the Grimm Queen's existence, Adam knew that anyone capable of controlling the Grimm on mass was not to be messed with, least of all their official ruler.
"Fine, I'll have the others back off, but I'm not a miracle worker. Don't be surprised if some go rogue and take things into their own hands."
Slipping on a little grin, Cinder rounded on her way out.
"Defectors can be punished later; just behave yourselves for now and you'll face no trouble."
This is going to be a real headache.
He could ponder the troubles to come as much as he liked, and he planned to do just that, but as expected he began receiving the prophesied call. Placing his scroll on his desk, Adam stood before the projection of the White Fang's high leader: Sienna Khan.
"So you've finally picked up," she opened, disgruntled, but not overtly angry; probably sour over having to commence this meeting to begin with. They never did get along all that well since she took over the Fang, and while Sienna allowed him to lead his followers as he saw fit, their loyalty to him more than troubled her.
"You only now instigated the meeting," Adam led in, chuckling under his breath as she grumbled. If there was one thing that hadn't changed, it was the ease of which they found ways to poke and prod one another; the last reminder that, once upon a time, their partnership stood for more than business.
"I've tried three times to get through."
"I've only received this one." The fact they faced problems at all, of course, meant that the connection they were supposed to have ironed out for this particular line wasn't quite so; no surprise, seeing how frequently calls from home to pretty much anywhere else dropped one out of the three times. Menagerie stood perfectly fine on its own, but running its own personal network meant they didn't share in all the advances the other kingdoms enjoyed from their CCT towers.
"The usual garbage then." Recollecting her composure, and standing a tad stiff, Sienna began with the obvious. "Technical issues aside, how are operations going in Vale?"
"Smoothly," Adam relayed truthfully, only to begin the first step of many in quelling the shitstorm on the horizon. "We should finish our last raid in the coming week."
"Your last?" Her bubble of confusion got a nod from him.
"Yes. The Vytal Festival is upon us, and as a show of good faith and that we mean the innocent no harm, we have voted to leave Vale be for the extent of the celebration." Okay, now was the time to start bullshitting. "Sending raids and assaults onto the public during a time meant to showcase union and equality, we feel, will send the wrong message. The White Fang stands for the lonely Faunus who cannot stand up for themselves against the Humans who wish to rain tyranny upon them; we are not merely guns aimed at every Human in sight. Proving this is as simple as letting go of the trigger until the final flag is waved."
"That's... strangely reserved for you."
"If I didn't know better, I'd assume that to be a jab towards my self control."
"It was." No shame whatsoever. Adam rolled with it; like with Fall, he'd grown used to Sienna's quirks. But, and also like Fall, Sienna also played an unexpected hand. "But the idea is sound. And, dare I say it, you might be onto something."
"How so?" Sienna rarely ever praised him like this. Normally, this would wind up making him regret the decision in question. Unlike those other times before, he had no real choice in the matter, and thus was forced to go with the flow.
"The White Fang openly refusing to act during the Vytal Festival will send a stronger message than any raid or bombing. Actually, if we can get a genuine voice wrapped up in the discussions and organization of things, we may be able to make more headway than we ever have in the past."
"And how do you propose we do that?" The idea of sending in one of their own nearly made him queasy, what with all the things that could go wrong. The kingdoms would sooner arrest and make an example of any olive branches.
"Blake Belladonna is among the officially accepted teams in Beacon, correct?"
"Yes..." Oh he was not going to like this, was he?
"Well... The Belladonnas once ran the White Fang, so it would make sense for them to carry at least some connections with our organization, right?"
"Sienna, what are you getting at? You know they openly stepped down from the title." This sounded unbelievably risky, and she hadn't even proposed the idea yet.
"Oh, she did, but most people still assume she stands for us and with us. Besides, Kali has been wanting to see her daughter again, and in lieu of the celebration wouldn't now be the perfect time for one of the founders to lend a helping hand? One of the heads of Menagerie itself, and a previous founder of the White Fang, chose to offer her hand in organizing and running a festival about peaceful unification and acceptance. And, with such an important guest having blood in Beacon itself, it would be political suicide on a national scale to turn her down; and everyone important would know that. Beacon accepted Blake, after all, so to turn down her mother would call into question Blake's position, alongside Beacon's decision making process; and they can't have that, now can they?"
Adam never got a word off afterwards; the rest of their chat being a blur of the high leader of the White Fang not only scheduling the departure and trip of one too excited leader of an entire island, but also requesting he prepare an escort to get her into academy territory. Ghira would be staying behind, thankfully, but he expected the utmost protection for his wife; a wife who would be, in essence, touring the premises of Beacon looking for her daughter, and offering herself as an ambassador for the whole of Menagerie and the White Fang.
What could possibly go wrong?
Oh wait… everything.
.
.
"I'm being serious."
"I know you are."
"Pyrrha, come on..."
She couldn't help it; his idea was just so... so silly.
"Jaune, I don't think we'll get too far with just reflections alone."
"I know it sounds dumb, but hear me out." Jaune pointed to the various shards of the mirror he'd accidentally dropped while helping move things from the back of the school at the behest of Professor Port. While he hadn't gotten detention because it was accidental, he was no longer allowed to move anything fragile on his own; Professor Goodwitch imparted that new rule. "Depending on where I point it, I can blind up to three people. Imagine it, being on the field, lining up your shot, and then BAM, you're blinded by light!"
Only you, Jaune… Only you.
Why she wound up dating the only guy to ever propose ideas like this, Pyrrha couldn't say, but she didn't once regret it. Jaune, after he had gotten over his obsession with Weiss earlier this year, had wound up drifting into a quaint little show of self-loathing, believing himself unworthy of any real affection; having finally come to recognise how one-sided his crush was and how little of her input he'd truly valued. Nora had, thankfully, snapped him from that, saying everyone makes mistakes and it wasn't the end of the world, proposing Weiss might not exactly swing straight.
Nora must have shouted that last bit louder than usual, because within a week after Weiss was openly questioning at their shared lunch table why multiple other women were hitting on her, and why no guy had approached her for the upcoming dance. Nora's unintended goof aside, she did help set the record straight when it came to Jaune and her.
Pyrrha knew she wasn't exactly subtle in her feelings for the loveable blonde; Jaune, it turned out, just wasn't used to girls actually pining for him. It took Nora indirectly forcing her to make the first move for Pyrrha to actually come out and open up; then again, when your team leader is told you want him on standby while you ask your crush out, what else was either of them to do?
And so, with a text from Nora screaming at her to "JUST DO IT!" Pyrrha did. Right as he gave her the thumbs up a little ways away while she stood before Team RWBY's dorm, she worked up all her courage to swing right back around, stride up to him, look him straight in the eye, and ask in a mechanical adrenaline fueled voice, "Will you go out with me?"
A little over a semester later and here they were, giggling over how to handle the upcoming tournament and Vytal Festival. Really, it should have commenced during their freshman year, but due to the wave of panic to follow the Lunar Reunion, Atlas and Vale agreed to postpone the event for a year.
"Maybe we should just ask if Nora and Ren have any ideas?" She didn't like shooting him down, but the prospect of blinding their opponents didn't seem all that effective when they had a plethora of other senses at their beck and call.
"Well fine then!" He spit, his irritation poorly masking a laugh; not at all as hurt or offended as he was making out to be. "I'll go get Nora, and I bet she'll be all about it."
Marching off like the champion he was, Pyrrha decided to go and see how their sister team was doing, wondering to herself if Yang took her advice on what gift to give Blake for their anniversary. But while the suggestion of leathery cuffs - don't ask - seemed a tad blatant even by her terms, Pyrrha knew it would fare better than the same perverse reading material Yang had in mind. While still loving her less than appropriate literature, Pyrrha often saw how the silent night-stalker's eyes would dim a little more whenever "gifted" another novel from a partner who, in all fairness, was trying her best.
Inappropriate musings over her friends' love lives came to a startling halt when Pyrrha rounded a corner and bumped into someone. While not quite violent enough to send anyone toppled over onto the floor, Pyrrha still felt the profuse need to apologize.
"I'm sorry," she said, sincere and feeling a bit stupid. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
"That's quite alright." The woman, whose visage sported far too much shadow for this weather, seemed none the worse for wear. "No harm intended, I presume?"
"N-not at all!" Despite all her best efforts over the year, Pyrrha couldn't shake her occasional stutter; an unfortunate carry over from her tournament days, and only glowing occasionally. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"Oh please," the figure dismissed, her pale hand waving away any notions of otherwise. "If I were fragile enough to cave under a mere bump, the breeze would have done me in by now." Something about the way her dark eyes glimmered sent both chills and excitement down Pyrrha's spine; whether a good thing or not, she couldn't tell. "Believe me, child, I far outclass the wind."
"Of course..." Pyrrha didn't know what to do next. Normally, people just walked off, but this woman, who seemed ripped from a tapestry of monochrome save a set of piercing scarlet rings embedded in her eyes, simply stood there looking at her. Eventually, Pyrrha managed to ask, "Is there something I can do for you?"
"As it just so happens, there is." Resting the gothic parasol she held aloft diagonally over her chest, the unnamed lady questioned, "could you perhaps direct me onto Headmaster Ozpin. I am scheduled to meet with him, however I have not visited Beacon in person before."
"Oh." Okay, that was manageable. Planting a friendly smile over her face, Pyrrha beckoned the school's guest to follow, and lead her out to the front. Pointing ahead at the CCT tower, she exclaimed, "just in there. You should be able to ask the secretary at the desk for the headmaster, and she'll send you right up."
"Wonderful~" The woman exclaimed, again her tone stitching both butterflies and salt into Pyrrha's spine. Rounding one last time, the woman nodded in thanks. "You have been a great help. Thank you."
"N-no problem." Pyrrha saw her off with a wave, questioning just who this mystery guest of the headmaster's was.
.
.
"Everything is in order?"
James nodded.
"To an acceptable degree. We're certain some internal damage has yet to be found, but nothing threatening the functionality of the arena or the safety of the crowd. All broken bleachers have been repaired, and the battlefield itself is fully operational. Amity Arena i, once more back online."
"That's good to hear." Ozpin, for what felt like the first time in a while, relaxed himself, releasing his held breath and taking a seat before his desk.
Ever since the Lunar Reunion sent waves of panic and terror across the face of Remnant, he had never felt... normal. It took over half a year, but he had finally deduced why: he was once again mortal. He couldn't explain how, or why, but for some reason the click of immortality which bound him to a new soul following death had ceased. Had the gods taken pity on him, or was this a sign of their impatience? Perhaps he had taken too long to unite the people and they now sought to rain down death and destruction, or maybe they were done shackling him to this plane, indirectly stating that this was his final chance to make things right.
Either way, it changed little in the grand scheme of things; their impatience would not save Remnant, and it would not ease Salem's wrath. But all of this was merely speculation; he had no way to prove their intentions, or whether they even had a hand in this at all.
Forgetting all that for a moment, Ozpin addressed Glynda.
"And how is the public responding to things?"
"According to a recent report from the Vale Council, many citizens are relatively set on the idea of commencing the Vytal Festival celebrations, but even still, a good chunk of them admitted to a level of paranoia. They're worried another celestial catastrophe may occur."
"Tch," Qrow spat, rolling his eyes and pushing off of the window he'd been leaning back against. "Catastrophe, huh? Yeah right. If anything, I'd say the Brothers decided to throw us a bone for once." Soon, however, Qrow flinched, stealing a glance his way before admitting, "or, at least a piece of one."
"You're not wrong." While the prospect of losing his immortality had, to some degree, sparked a level of unease amongst their circle, Ozpin himself couldn't deny the sudden show of mercy from the Grimm. Remnant had never exuded such fear before the Lunar Reunion, and yet they seemingly ignored the salivating scent, resorting to their animalistic behavior as if Humans and Faunus were no different than woodland cattle. "My spiritual alteration aside, the destruction of the moon had long been a sign of their irritation. But to see it reforged into its previous glory, and the unquestionable stroke of tolerance in the Grimm following the event, these speak volumes on the omen."
"Yes, but to what-?" Glynda got cut off by asudden beep from his desk, and in came the voice of the young intern manning the front desk at the base of the CCT.
"Um, Headmaster Ozpin, we have a visitor for you. She says you're expecting her. Should I send her up?"
"A visitor?" mumbled Qrow before the rest, a perplexed twist masking his face as he shot an eye over. "You didn't tell us you had company?"
"I didn't call for such." But, to tell the truth, it wasn't all that surprising. Chances are, one of the schedules for the Council mandated visits and discussions on how the proceeding festival would play out got messed up. "Give me just a moment." Clicking the reply key, he asked openly, "might I get her name please?"
"Erm... She won't say; she's just smiling. Wait, hold on... I didn't know you were married?"
"What did she just say?" Glynda chimed in, her own surprise more reigned in. "Ozpin, what's going on?"
"I'm sorry," Ozpin threw out carefully, his own face wrought with concern. "Might you repeat that?"
"She's saying she's your ex-wife- Wait! Wait ma'am! Sir, she's heading up; shall I call security to stop her?"
"No!" Breathing in hard, Ozpin calmed his nerves; that came out too hard. With more restraint, he clarified, "no, that won't be necessary. Leave her be; I'll see her."
"Sure thing... I guess."
Following the cut-off, Ironwood muttered a complaint.
"Are you sure it's wise to let this... ex of yours interrupt us?"
"Our discussion can wait." Disappointingly, that also came out jagged; he needed to get a hold of himself. "Let us see who exactly wishes to pay us a visit."
"Oz," Qrow stepped in, his face losing that previous carelessness. "You're jittering."
"Am I?" Correcting that as well, Ozpin fought back the urge to ready his cane. For years he had planned for trouble of all kinds, be they far and wide, but never once had he believed trouble would waltz right up to his front door, and knock before stepping inside.
No... It can't be her. She would never try something so bold. And yet, despite these thoughts, he knew only one person who would ever refer to him as 'ex' so blatantly, when most other miscreants and con men would instead claim direct relations. To imply your relationship a thing of the past did little in swaying people, unless of course you were collecting adversaries to one you hated.
And then the elevator dinged, and in stepped a figure who stopped his heart.
Garbed in an elegant, pitch black dress more befitting of a ball or gala, whose arms bore none but a small little bracelet which covered her wrist. In her hands a parasol warded off the sunlight from outside, now closed and used more as a walking stick. Ivory mats of straight hair flowed down around her back and chest, pushed aside so as not to obscure her face, which itself had seemed to have lost its garnet cracks and webbing.
And those crimson irises, drowned in the void of her sclera, stabbed through his own like an arrow shot true.
"Hello again, Ozma." Her voice, elegant and pitched to a perfect degree, carried both unbearable cold and an unmistakable warmth; paradoxically intertwined and unshakingly stable. Eyeing him fiercely, even as those surrounding him fell into a harsh guard at hearing his original name, she soon let go of any killing intent, which he bizarrely hadn't been able to lock down as solid; like she never meant him harm in the first place. "I see... You've felt it too, then?"
"Oz..." Qrow barked low, his throat cracking as he maintained his cool. "She isn't... who I think she is, is she?"
"Felt what?" was all he could ask, starkly frozen in place by her sheer presence.
"Our infinity," she passed along, relief obscured by the shadows her dress would cast. "It is gone. We are finally mortal again; as we always should have been."
"Mortal again..." He couldn't withhold it anymore, and despite her standing in the midst of a space filled with warriors ready to kill on command, Ozpin had to call her name; to cement her not only in his mind, but also in her presence here. "Salem?"
A little grin stretched over her pale lips.
"For the first time in forever, I don't mind hearing my name on your tongue; it reminds me of better days." Almost bearing a loving look, even with everyone now wide-eyed and aiming at her, Salem spoke with honest care. "It's nice to see you again Ozma, in a world where we no longer have to suffer."
.
.
"You coming inside, Rubes?"
"In a bit," Ruby tossed back, her eyes settled on the moon shining brightly in the midnight sky. Her older sister rolled her eyes, waving dismissively.
"Alright. But don't come crying to me if you wind up with the flu or something."
Ruby chuckled following her older sister's march, but nevertheless kept her sights locked firmly on the overhanging beauty. Today had been cut short for some reason, at the headmaster's request over the intercom; probably for the upcoming festival in a few weeks. And so, she'd gotten to laze around for the day, capping it off here by watching the stars and moon. It had been a year since the Lunar Reunion, with today being the anniversary even, which was perhaps what made the gazing tonight so... magical.
I wish mom could see your beauty, and feel your warmth. But those were wandering wishes she'd never obtain.
Ruby didn't feel sad over it, though, because she knew her mother was happy enough watching it herself from wherever she was. Strange... The Vytal Festival was finally coming up, having been delayed due to the panic caused by the sudden reforming of their celestial guardian. Admittedly, Ruby herself never felt all that scared by it; heck, she literally saw it be reformed in real time, because she was looking up at it last time while wondering if she really had what it took to lead her team. Ruby would never forget that odd inkling of thought to follow after clearing her eyes, only to then realize that, yes, the moon's shards were moving back together.
The brief grandiose glow to cover it for a minute after it finally reappeared from the dusty clash stoked a wonder she'd never forget for as long as she lived.
People were afraid the reformed moon was a bad omen: a sign of evil and trouble. But Ruby never felt that way. The moon had forever, since the day she was born, been broken, and people often compared its shattered state to the world at large: fragmented and strewn with strife. So many problems tainting the lives of everyone everywhere, and all of them unfairly hoisted upon the moon, as if it had a say in things.
But now, when the moon had magically fixed itself, Ruby had been expecting the sentiment to change. It did not; people just fumbled up new excuses and complaints.
In the end, it didn't matter. If nobody else wanted to enjoy the moon's beauty, then that's fine by her; more moon for her.
Leaning back, Ruby settled on the little patch of grass overlooking the Emerald Forest. This had been where she first proved she was huntress material, and now it served as the perfect canvas for stargazing. But really, the biggest star in the sky was kind of blotting out the others, outclassing them in ways that felt almost unintentionally rude. Even so, the stars themselves seemingly appeared to be moving towards their newborn friend- not literally, of course, but in a sense that they saw the big ol' rock as their home.
Home... For a moment, she wondered how her dad was holding up.
For over a year she had been a student of Beacon Academy; for over a year she had been away from home. Sure, she could have gone back during the semester break, but she wanted to spend time in Vale alongside the others. Weiss stayed for the sake of Blake, who due to some unfortunate circumstances with a White Fang raid on a warehouse ended up revealing her Faunus heritage.
Now that had been annoying.
Still, they managed to convince Weiss that Blake had no real bad intentions - thanks in part to what the Fang themselves were doing. Turns out, when you were literally fending off Faunus Traffickers - the real real kind - it became hard to argue that the group as a whole were entirely evil. On the bright side, the commotion ended up drawing in the police, who helped clothe and situate the people they found to safety. Weiss and Blake, somehow, ended up heralded as short-term heroes, with no mention of the White Fang's involvement ever popping up in the news.
While an uneasy acceptance, the following rest of the year had ironed out most of their grievances; Weiss ended up somewhat adopting Blake as a sister of sorts - Ruby didn't know how the heck it happened, but it led to more bonding. According to Weiss herself when asked, she told her that she wasn't entirely trusting Blake just yet, but felt it necessary to give the girl a chance.
"If she has really left them behind to do what's right, then she deserves to prove it."
Blake, in turn and as a way to prove she wasn't with her old gang anymore - as some during the battle had so unhelpfully revealed - had opted to lay off on her obsession of being there to stop their every little crime. Honestly, Ruby thought that was what proved to Weiss that Blake had gone the straight and narrow; what double agent obsesses over sabotaging their gang's every move?
Had Yang not stepped in later on, Ruby assumed both Weiss and Blake would end up like-liking each other; she wasn't even going to begin with how Yang drew Blake's affections.
Giggling to herself, Ruby sent a sassy smirk up at her midnight companion.
"You really do give me the weirdest thoughts, don't you?"
The moon said nothing, because why would it? It was just some big rock; a beautiful rock, mind you, but still a rock.
"But I can't stay mad at you." Sighing, she leaned up, truly admiring the whole of both the land and sky. "Not when you're the biggest sign of hope I've ever seen."
"It is quite the stunning sight, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is..." Following that, Ruby blinked, and sent a curious look around to find whoever had come to join her. Uncovering no one, she entered a spot of confusion. "Um... Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Yes."
Frantically shooting her vision around again, Ruby stumbled to her feet, whipping back and forth while calling out.
"Who's there? Where are you?"
"I'm here."
"Where?!"
"Not out there," the voice chuckled, and Ruby slowed down her jumping. "Inside."
"I-inside?" Okay... So this was becoming creepy. "As in...?!" Momentarily, her focus derailed, and she stared up at the moon again. "I-in my head? Or... Up there?"
"Yes to both." The gentle, almost echoing mixture of feminine and masculine laughter now bouncing around in her noggin unearthed a weird, almost complacent trepidation, and as she looked on, Ruby couldn't overcome the odd sensation of satisfied relief to spill into her heart without a cause.
And then, it called to her again.
"Hello again, Ruby. It's been a while."
~Epilogue end~
Author's note (Again, you might want to read it)
...
Well, we did it: Beyond Destiny has reached its final, final conclusion.
Come on, we all know I couldn't just leave you all hanging on what happened after the moon restored itself. Granted, this follows a year-long time skip, but I think that's for the better. Everyone has moved on past the wave of fear, with each group and faction set on doing their own thing.
The White Fang ceasing its activities for the duration of the Vytal Festival; Kali on her way to find her baby girl and represent both the Fang and Menagerie as a whole during the event; Pyrrha's time with Jaune and his silly plots for the tournament; Ozpin and Salem's reunion and recognition that they are no longer immortal. And, finally, Ruby's response to the moon: stargazing - or, I guess it's more like moon-gazing - during the one-year anniversary of the Lunar reunion.
And, as if that wasn't enough: a certain voice calling out to Ruby as she's in the middle of relaxing during the watch - so much for "Forever alone," eh?
If all this sounds like the makings of more: you're right.
There is indeed more story to tell, but not here. For all intents and purposes, Beyond Destiny has reached its conclusion. What comes next will follow later... when I get a chance to write it.
Will the follow up be another 11 book monstrosity? Hell no; it'll be decently sized, but nowhere near as extreme as this - with only one era to directly follow; that alone would have cut this story in half. Along with that, the sequel will stand on its own.
Yes, the sequel to Beyond Destiny doesn't mandate reading Beyond Destiny.
It should be interesting, seeing as newbies will get a whole different experience than those who powered through this one, all the while still being able to follow along and understand what's happening. But those are wonders for later; I won't start it up until I finish at least one of my other stories - I have enough on my plate as is.
Also, I've decided to change the synopsis of the story to better fit with what we have here; as is, it's a little too cryptic for my liking, and I need to include (Complete) in there too, so people know we're done and this is a full product.
Anyway, I leave you with that. Thank you all for sticking around, and I wish you well in all your endeavors.
Until next story~