Chapter Ninety-Three
Weiss… was having a day.
It had almost looked like it was going to be her last day.
Grimm in numbers more befitting a Tide, but with tactics which Grimm were not supposed to have.
Grimm of types and varieties that she'd never even heard of.
Grimm that, she had only realized in those last moments, had been playing with them!
And if it wasn't for… whatever this was, they'd have surely been dead.
So they'd passed through a door sitting in mid-air, and found themselves somewhere else, the Grimm physically unable to follow, and the shrieking…spider…thing that had been latched onto Mr. Alyashm had been destroyed completely, like one burning away under Jaune's flames.
The Schnee heiress knew of teleportation Semblances, their instructor, Mrs. Sepper, possessed one after all, though gate-subtypes were rare in the extreme, and usually had strict restrictions on their duration, distance, and so on.
But while that explained the doorway, somewhat, that didn't explain the Not-Faunus.
The very very very NOT-FAUNUS, that had greeted them, standing behind the desk, wearing a vest of a make that she could not place, and which was a seven-foot tall bipedal wolf with literally golden fur and glowing white eyes.
Ruby, her partner, gave the… whatever it was a friendly wave. "Oh, uh, hi? Uh, 'House of Mercy'? That's what this is?"
It nodded, gesturing them forward with very sharp looking talons, and they all started to walk towards the… whatever it was. "Yes, a place of respite for those in need, though not a guaranteed one, appearing only once, providing a second chance, but not a third. Huntsman, should you find my door again, another must step forward, as you will find the way barred."
Their guide nodded. "Better than the alternative."
The Man-Wolf, because, as they neared it, the thing was unquestionably male, pulled its lips back, the teeth bared in its muzzle giving a sense of a smug, indulgent smile. "Most agree. Now… hmmm," it mused, looking over them. "How unusual. But is it my actions, or his?"
"His?" Weiss echoed, pulling on her politicking lessons, not looking around like Rube-y, though she was noting the various decorations, all of them… foreign, in a way she could not put her finger on. It was as if someone took a small subset of Valian design sensibilities, combined them with portions of Mistrallian ones, and gave them all embellishments found in neither.
The Man-Wolf took a probing sniff, it considered something for a moment, and finally asked them, "Does the name 'Lee Elric' mean anything to you?"
Exchanging looks, they all shook their heads.
"Then more butterflies," it commented obliquely, eyes turning to focus on Nora, who was still heavily injured. "Oh, let me take care of that for you."
Lifting a paw, a nimbus of white light billowed, out, covering the Mistralian, seeping into her skin, and the bright red electrical burns, which formed branching patterns across her face, faded away, healing her.
The orange-haired girl took a deep breath, standing on her own, Ren giving her a concerned look as she stretched, announcing, "Oh that is brrrrisk! Thanks, Mr. Wolfie."
"Call me Mr. Sparkle," it replied.
"Wait, your name is Sparkle?" Ruby questioned disbelievingly, and Weiss winced, as you didn't ask people that kind of thing!
Glancing at the girl, the Man-Wolf with literally golden fur thankfully took no offense, despite its words, "Is there an issue with that, Ms. Rose?"
"Oh, no, no! I mean, I guess you do Sparkle, so, uh, it fits?" the girl babbled, as Mr. Alyashm took a step forward.
"How much do we owe for this service?" he questioned, which brought up another question, and possible problem.
"You do not. We have… other reasons for why we do this. Reasons which we are duty-bound not to share," Mr. Sparkle informed him. "You are permitted to stay for three days, with access to our facilities, upon which you must leave, and face your fate, if it still awaits you, prepared and rejuvenated."
Mr. Alyashm nodded. "And if we still can't handle it?"
"Then you had as much of a chance as you would ever have," the Man-Wolf stated. "I cannot give you more than that." Looking past them, Weiss glancing that way, but saw nothing, only the long row of doors they'd first seen, having come through the fifth down on the right. "Fighting is not permitted in this place of rest, nor are you allowed to leave through any door other than the one you entered through. These rules are non-negotiable, no matter how much I would prefer them to be." Looking off to the side, it called, "Heather?"
A door Weiss had overlooked opened, and a young woman with brilliantly red hair, along with red wolf ears and a wolf tail, entered, requesting, "Yes, Honored Ancestor?"
"Please take these Hunters to their room. Also, you don't need to call me that," it added, with fond exasperation.
"That is not what Ancestress Ishiyama has instructed," she replied, formally, with an almost mocking smile.
One clawed hand lifted up, to gently pinch the bridge of its nose. "I'm aware, but I am the Alpha."
With a nod, Heather replied, "Of course, Honored Ancestor." At his annoyed growl, she smiled, turning to their team. "If you would follow me?"
Looking to Mr. Sparkle, it waved them on, shaking its head, and they left the main room, following the girl, who wore a white-robe-like top and a red-gold ankle-length skirt, her tail poking out of a tailored hole in the back, swishing back and forth with every step.
They had left, entering a long hallway, when there was suddenly the sound of combat, shooting, screaming, and a Grimm's roar that made them all stop and look back to the slowly-closing door. A different door in the main hall slammed shut, someone swearing, another person crying, while Mr. Sparkle's voice could clearly be heard.
"Rest Well, Good Hunters, And Be Welcome To The Hou-"
And then the door they'd left the entryway through closed fully, all sound cutting off.
"Please come, there is nothing you can do," Heather prodded them, and Weiss glanced around to see her team tense, weapons out, but, slowly, they put them back away.
"Does this… uh… happen a lot?" Ruby questioned.
"Off and on," their guide answered, completely unbothered. "I have only assisted the Honored Ancestor for forty years, and this is the busiest I have seen things, though my mother, says it was quite busy nine decades ago."
Weiss frowned, as that would be the time of The Great War, the worldwide conflict that shaped Remnant into what it was today.
Nora blinked in surprise, "Wait, how old are you? You don't look a day over thirty!"
Holding up a robed arm to cover her face, the red-haired woman laughed, "Fufufu. Consider it the benefits of a good diet. And other things starting with D."
"If you're mother is that old, how old is Mr. Sparkle? The Schnee questioned. "Also, if you don't mind, what is Mr. Sparkle?"
That got another laugh from the woman. "Oh, it is always a delight to see new Hunters' reactions. The Honored Ancestor is a We-ghck!" she coughed, wincing, and stumbling for a moment.
"Are you okay?" Ruby questioned, beside the woman in an instant.
Waving away the tiny team lead's concerned look, Heather replied. "Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell. Even to you."
Mr. Alyashm questioned, "Geas Semblance?"
With a slight smirk, the Faunus nodded. "Something like that. Without it, the House of Mercy could not exist. Everything has a price."
"But you are letting us stay here for free," Ren remarked carefully.
"The Honored Ancestor is paying the price," the woman replied, picking her words carefully, "For reasons I cannot share."
There wasn't much to say, really, as they all piled into an elevator, a basic one designed like an ornate wooden basket, the dark stone wall of the shaft visible through its construction. However, it rose so smoothly that it was almost as if the world itself moved while they stood in place, the stoneway giving way to-
"What is that!?" Ruby gasped, looking out through the glass that now enclosed the shaft, beyond which lay a vast coastal city of steel and stone, glowing with millions of lights, the building they were in on top of a hill overlooking it, the ocean a dark void only visible as waters lapped on the distant shore, a couple fires burning on its beach, people gathered for some kind of celebration.
"That is the area outside the House of Mercy, where you are not permitted to go," Heather informed them. "And that is all I can tell you."
The elevator came to a stop, and they followed the woman down a long hallway full of doors, each one with a different symbol inscribed on it. Their guide slipped a rectangular piece of metal from a pocket in her skirt and pressed it against one that bore a red rose. The wooden entryway shimmered for a moment, something shifting at the edge of Weiss' perception, like ice subtly giving way, only for an odd twist of energy to come from their guide, and, with a flick of her wrist, one tablet unfolded into five.
"These are your keys, and this arrow will lead you to your room," Heather stated, indicating a thin disk set into the rectangle, turning it back and forth, the disk rotating as she did so, to show how it functioned, then holding one up to the door, which unlocked and swung open, the woman handing them out after. "When you have three hours before you must leave, it will chime, and display a timer when you are on your last hour with us. Have a pleasant stay, Good Hunters," the woman wished them, turning and heading back to the elevator.
Not sure what else to do, having been fighting for their lives five minutes ago, Weiss' team filed inside and found… a very upscale suite, akin to what would see in a reputable Atlesian or Mistralian establishment, if upscale suite's came with in-unit weapon repair and modification workbenches. Partially open doorways led into three two-bed sleeping areas, and two bathrooms, as they all drifted towards the large table off to the side, where five packets, laid out, waited for them. Taking a seat and picking one up, Weiss saw the top page elegantly declared, 'Guide to Your Stay!'
"Oh, sweet! Look, Rennie! They got a pool! And All Day All You Can Eat Breakfast!" Nora gasped, flipping through the documents with no care or regard to proper reading order. "I knew this trip was gonna go well!"
Weiss stared at the girl in disbelief. "We almost died, yousimpleton!"
For a single moment, it looked like the Mistralian girl was going to take things seriously, for once in her life, before she shrugged.
Shrugged!
"But we didn't, and now I get to have Pancakes!"
DR
Being here, in the 'House of Mercy' was… surreal.
It was a place of peace, yet everyone here knew that they had to go back out. Those that had run from Human or Faunus threats would probably be fine, but for those that ran from Grimm, they weren't so sure.
Weiss, and the others, had gone down to eat 'breakfast for dinner', as Nora had requested, then gone to bed, waking the next morning, finding clothing in their sizes on the main table, and had set out, in pairs, to look around, Mr. Alyashm informing them of having heard of this place before, but also giving them a warning their guide, as well as Mr. Sparkle, had neglected to mention.
They would not remember much of their time here.
The 'Golden Wolf' and his 'House of Mercy' was known amongst certain circles of Huntsmen, however it was all word of mouth, despite the fact that, with the advent of Scrolls, a place like this should have become common knowledge, with undeniable proof of existence easy to ascertain.
But, then again, so should Behemoths.
The gear they crafted would they would keep, and any replenishment of supplies like Dust Rounds would stay, but any additional goods would disappear, along with any record of this place, and trying to take a picture of the door they had entered through initially would have, according to the Faunus, just shown an empty field.
Because this was a place of rest, not discovery.
Written records could survive, if they were sufficiently vague enough, and so would the small booklets available, religious tracts for a faith by the name of 'Domum', though the staff steadfastly refused to acknowledge the pamphlets' existence, even as they restocked the display holding them, only stating, when Weiss pressed them, that, "The Rules are Absolute."
The booklets were small, outlining the Golden Wolf's task, as he wished to aid Remnant to make way for the arrival of 'The Dragon', a savior-figure who would come to unite the nations, Human and Faunus, in opposition to 'The Grimm Queen,' and bring peace and prosperity to the land. To this end, there were four 'Seekers,' chosen and blessed by the Wolf personally, gaining power over nature, whatever that meant, who were then supposed to help aid Remnant while searching for him, and the text was very specific that 'The Dragon' would be a he.
Jokingly, Ruby pointed out that maybe Jaune was 'The Dragon', getting a laugh from all of them.
Past that, it was fairly basic, extolling the benefits of kindness, care for other, the standard things most religions pretended to uphold, though it did insist that Faunus and Humans were the same which was obviously incorrect, but part of the Schnee's extensive education was the defunct religions of older civilizations, none of them true, of course, disproven by the advance of Atlesian Science.
Except… except she'd spoken to the Golden Wolf himself, and was in an area that didn't make sense.
At first.
The first night, or technically second, had been what had given Weiss a clue on what was really going on.
Because the stars?
They were wrong.
She hadn't noticed before, but, looking out the window at the nigh-Atlesian city below them, which extended out in every direction before petering off in the distance, her eyes had tracked upwards, trying to pick out the constellations she'd learned, to better navigate by, and to better place where, exactly, they were.
But she couldn't find any.
Not a single one.
And it was then she'd had her breakthrough:
They were underground!
The Schnee heiress knew it sounded crazy, but, having been to one ancient, lost, underground city, was it truly so unbelievable that there were more?
And, with that idea in place, everything else started to make more and more sense!
The 'door' they'd come through wasn't a Semblance, it was an ancient device, just like her pendant was, just like the air-purification 'candles' they'd found in that Aranea-infested ruin were, Mr. Alyashm stating that others were known of as well, but they were rare in the extreme, and used almost exclusively by Huntsmen and Huntresses. It was a device, not powered by a single person, but, but managed by one, which is what the staff, a mix of Humans and Wolf-Faunus, were referring to.
From there, the city she could see was obviously an ancient civilization, but it was one that was still functioning, but that was also why they… smoothed over their visitors memories! Because, if the information people could gather on this place was accurate, they could be tracked down.
As Weiss had been attempting, though her intentions were purely academic!
They obviously had the capability to reach inside their 'visitor's' Scrolls, which meant they could gain information from the people they saved, gathering intel, while paying them back in a way that, considering how bad things had been, was a trade that Weiss was very much agreeable to. That was also why they couldn't say anything about the city outside, as whatever mind-effecting device or Semblance they utilized could likely either not do so if they left its area, or could not remove that much information.
Mind you, the few Staff that Weiss had tried to ask about it, in a way that would get around the restrictions, just shrugged and said things that amounted to, "Oh, It's Magic," which didn't help, because magic didn't exist. No, that copout was merely an 'explanation' used to describe misunderstood Aura expressions and technology the user did not comprehend.
There was also the way that the Staff could all use their Aura to operate the 'devices' placed about the House, the key-replicating trick something they could all do, with the same exact odd braiding flow of energy, though, for some reason, Mr. Alyashm hadn't been able to feel it, not like the rest of her team could, when she'd asked, but nor had any of the others Huntsmen and Huntresses that she'd talked to been able to notice it!
And she didn't know why!
What was it about her team that made them special, other than their obviously being a cut above the common Huntsman and Huntress, even Ruby.
Thus, in closing, this was an ancient underground empire, who used the illusion of stars and the sun to pretend they were still on the surface, to the point that it was likely that the people didn't know they were underground.
And then, on the night of the second day they were there, Weiss was completely vindicated, to the point that she wondered how anyone could be so stupid as to not realize it was an illusion for one simple reason:
The moon was a single solid circle!
Really, who did they think they were fooling?
Though she hadn't just been investigating, having taken the time to meet with her team, and Mr. Alyashm, to make a plan. They would need to plan on the Grimm going after them, and in numbers, so they needed a way to level the playing field.
By levelling the forest.
It wasn't the most refined of strategies, but, as the heiress had just gotten an education in, quantity had a quality all of its own. Ren and Ruby were single-target fighters, and while Nora could have some wide-ranging attacks, only Weiss could truly work on a massive scale on command.
But, they had an answer to that, one that was only available due to the House of Mercy's more advanced weapons bay, which was open to all visitors.
Muspel Bloom.
Ruby and Nora's Engineering Final Exam Project.
The Wind-Fire Dust Explosive was very touchy and by no means something that should be taken out into the field, but they weren't deploying it while they were in the field, now were they?
So, yes, they were availing themselves of the, to be honest, five-star services available, with the food amazing, though Weiss would admit she missed her breakfast shakes. It really was a pity they'd had to leave them behind when they ran for it, even though that hadn't worked. However, they were also working very, very hard, Nora, Ren, and herself taking turns assisting Ruby in the construction of the scaled up version of Muspel Bloom that Nora had taken to calling 'The Beacon Buster', which, skimming their schematics, was an exaggeration, but not by much.
Furthermore, they'd attracted the attention of other groups of Huntsmen and Huntresses, who were desperately trying to find a way to deal with their own Strange Grimm Tides, and began constructing their own versions, most scaled down, with many, many warnings about the instability of such a device, warning it should be used only before leaving the HoM, as otherwise there was effectively no minimum safe distance that would be reachable before the Grimm overtook them.
When checking with the Staff that were overseeing the construction area, the Fox-Faunus, this one with blonde, though not gold, ears and a tail, and a Semblance that let him float, which he claimed to get from his ancestress, Victoria, a Valian name as opposed to the previously mentioned Mistralian Ancestress, which suggested polygamy, though Mr. Sparkle, as a Man-Wolf, would likely work in those paradigms, the man had shrugged, and told them that the Staff were not allowed to 'materially support Hunters beyond consumables, resupply, and access to materials freely available to their guests normally', of which novel schematics did not fall within, but they were under no restriction to disallow other Hunters in assisting each other, the Staff merely could not direct them to do so.
Very obviously there was some sort of odd Semblance at work, or some kind of ancient item that replicated effects of a Semblance, something that, from what little her sister was able to tell her, Weiss knew Atlas was working on, with some tenuous successes!
Though Winter would not say what those success were, which was understandable as they were Atlesian military secrets, and Weiss would never ask her sister to act unprofessionally!
So, by day three, they had built two upscaled Muspell Blooms, and took the evening to relax, allowing themselves to check into the 'Combat Spa', that gave them skin treatments and massages that helped work out their rising tension without leaving themselves too relaxed.
Though something that Weiss' masseuse, a human girl with the odd sounding name of Chaya Finkelstein, though the Schnee supposed a place that hadn't had the Great War would thus not conform to the color naming scheme it created, had said caught the Heiress' attention.
She didn't know what Grimm were.
Oh, she was aware they were 'Monsters that Hunters like you fought," but the way she talked about them they were something distant, indistinct, like when someone trying to impress Weiss at one of her father's function began talking about Dust Mining when they clearly had no idea that went into it, though not nearly as annoying, as Chaya was making conversation, not trying to get into the good graces of the Schnees.
However, that idle chat was eye opening in addition to muscle-loosening, something that Nora afterwards had suggested Jaune might be able to supply, an idea that caused Ruby to turn very red and nod in agreement over, as he apparently gave 'Sports Massages' to his partner.
The idea of the 'Dragon' Faunus attending to Weiss, his strong hands gently but firmly working her muscles… yes, she was going to ask for that!
Later.
After they survived.
If they survived.
Getting ready, they received an invitation to partake in a 'Feast of Heroes', meant to fortify them for their coming trial, along with two other teams, a group of four Juniors from Shade Academy, and three professional Huntsmen from Mistral, all of them having been beset by Grimm, though only Weiss' group worked with an extreme degree of… unnatural coordination.
They gathered in a rooftop dining room, a view of the metropolis spread out before them, the sun setting in the distance, which would have put the location somewhere in Vale or Atlas had the celestial cycle been real instead of artificial. Furthermore, as Weiss turned her gaze outwards, remembering what Chaya stated, she picked out what had made the city seem unnatural and dream-like, discounting the odd architectural styles, strange technology barely glimpsed, and so on.
It had no walls.
The piers were open, with no defensive locations in sight to bring in and cut down aquatic Grimm, nor were there any exterior walls, the city giving way to homes, and then wilderness, though how far the wilderness truly extended was, of course, in question, as the illusion of 'endless space' covering the cave walls was undetectable, if one didn't know better.
With the city before them in possession of an ancient device that could repel the Grimm so completely that its people barely understood what those eternal enemies of mankind were, the fact that they kept themselves hidden made a great deal of sense, lest others come and try and take it from them. It would, of course, be better if they could share it with the world, but no one knew how to replicate the ancient devices she had researched, and the one that protected this city from Grimm Tunnels was likely no exception.
Being seated at an empty table, the staff member attending them had held up an odd, curved horn, engraved with depictions of fruits, vegetables, and cuts of meat. Bringing the narrow point of it to his lips, the Wolf-Faunus had blown into it, only for his Aura to ripple outwards, forming a very complicated pattern of interweaving energies, that spread out over table, plates laden with food, cups with drink, and a full silverware set shimmering into existence upon the tablecloth.
"How'd you fuckin' do that?" the beaver-Faunus from the Vacuo team asked, eyes wide in wonder, mouth agape and showing oversized buck-teeth.
"Magic," the Wolf-Faunus shrugged with a smirk. "Enjoy!"
After he sauntered away, Weiss turned towards the Shade student, whispering, "It's some special Aura-item. I could feel it at work."
Ruby nodded, "Yeah, I did too, a bit. Is it, uh, safe to eat?"
As another of the Shade-Academy student paused, mid-bite into a rib he'd grabbed, Mr. Alyashm smiled, telling them all, "If they wished us ill, they had ample opportunity. From everything I have heard, they can be trusted."
"Same," one of the Mistralian Huntsmen agreed, the other two nodding in assent as one took a sip of red wine and the last one started buttering a roll.
Looking at the food before her, which still almost hummed with energy, Weiss daintily picked up a small stuffed shrimp and ate it whole, as was proper, then stilled, feeling a bit of the energy sink into her, though… it did not seem to be malicious. To her inexpert senses, she couldn't tell what it was doing, though part of it seemed to settle over her like… like a second Aura, underneath her own.
It was also delicious.
Deciding to go for it, while there was some conversation, they were mostly silent, enjoying the meal, and, after exactly an hour, it disappeared, plates and all, the napkins staying behind just long enough to be used to clean their hands, before they, too vanished, taking the mess with them.
And, with that, the energy within the twelve of them flared, creating a complicated pattern, but one that seemed to protect and guide them, the worries that had been slowly growing in the back of the Dustcaster's mind still present, but no longer having the same grip over her thoughts, now factors to be accounted for instead of mental Creeps that snipped at her heels.
Those gathered exchanged looks, all of them aware of something, though most did not seem to understand, while, Nora, holding up her hand, opening and closing it with a look of concentration, could clearly get a similar sense of the energies at play as Weiss did.
The keycards the Shade students had all chimed at once, a one-hour timer projected over them, counting down. Their team lead, a dark skinned young man, sighed, standing. "That's us. Uh, if you survive, look us up. We'll try and do the same." Glancing out over the hidden city, he shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Man, Headmistress Crowe is never gonna believe this. But we gotta go. Good luck!"
"Break a leg!" Nora grinned back. "Or better yet, break the Grimm's legs!"
"Gonna blow 'em to fuckin' smithereens," the beaver-Faunus replied. "Seeya!"
They left, the Huntsmen from Mistral doing the same, and Weiss' team headed back to their room, taking one last look over the glowing city laid out below them, picking up the two barrel-sized bombs, which were going to take Weiss to launch, and were the cornerstone of their plan.
If they didn't work, well, they were all going to run, and run quickly, rested and ready, breaking through the Grimm cordon and not stopping until they hit the nearest town, over sixty miles away. It wouldn't be the best plan, but giving the enemy time to move into position had almost killed them, and while they'd run before, they'd kept expecting to be able to stop and be safe.
They had no such thoughts now.
Heather came to get them, escorting them down, where Mr. Sparkle stood, and Weiss had to wonder if he'd just stayed there the entire time, the entry hall having been off-limits to guests until it was time to 'check out'.
The Man-Wolf chuckled, seeing the two six-foot tall, four-foot wide cannisters being wheeled out with them. "Good. You have a plan. I hope you have enjoyed your stay."
"It was great, Mr. Sparkle!" Ruby smiled. "Thanks for having us!"
"It is why this place exists," the golden being replied, reaching under his desk, and pulling out a rack of five stoppered vials. "Alyashm, Rose, Schnee, Lie, Valkyrie, I am unable to provide material support, but there is no rule against… apéritifs."
They walked up to the imposing figure, handing it their room keys, and while Nora plucked up one of the glass vials, all of them filled with a blue substance that bubbled and steamed despite no heat coming off of them, Weiss hesitated as they, like the food, held… energy, even more concentrated than their dinner had been.
"If you don't mind me asking, Sir, what does it do?" the heiress questioned. "As, with what we are about to do, alcohol would not be… optimal."
Smirking, still an odd expression given the Man-Wolf's snout, Mr. Sparkle opened his arms, stating, "Consider it a… stimulant. An expensive one. One whose side-effects would only be an issue if you consumed a great many of them."
Their guide eyed the vials, not picking up one himself, asking, "And in return for this gift?"
"Survive," the golden being ordered, with a growl of command, an aura emanating from it for a moment that was almost choking, and which cut right through Weiss' Aura, though something in her resisted it regardless.
Pulling back, without seeming to move a muscle, the Man-Wolf behind the desk repeated, "Survive, for your team seems to have a great deal of potential, and I would rather not see it wasted. Do so, and it will be gold well spent."
Nora, completely unaffected by… whatever that had been, asked, "Wait, when you say gold…"
With a smile, and a flick of its clawed fingers, the being pulled a golden coin seemingly out of thin air, walking the disk over his fingers, before tossing it at the girl, who caught it. Holding it up, the Heiress could see that one side was emblazoned with a skull sitting on two books, the other side bearing a stylized SL with a crown over it, both sides inscribed with lettering that Weiss didn't recognize but, examining them, made her feel… cold, in a way that had nothing to do with temperature.
"Nice," the ginger Mistralian smiled, tossing the coin back to the Man-Wolf, who caused it to disappear.
Ren picked up a vial, looking to Mr. Sparkle and asking, "Now?" At the being's nod, the young man shot it back in one long drink, twitching a little after, to the concern of the others. "That is… interesting," he finally declared.
The others drank, seeing it safe, Weiss trying to pay careful attention to the energy, as, once she'd consumed it all, it, like that of her meal, expanded outward into an interweaving pattern, adding to the secondary 'Aura' their dinner had formed, while the rest sank into her body, adding an additional level of… guidance, though, once more, the Heiress could not tell how.
Stowing the rack of now empty vials, the Golden Wolf formally intoned, "And thus your time with us comes to an end. I hope we never have cause to once more meet, though know that, while the one who opened the door cannot again, you are all welcome to find rest within our halls, should our doorway appear again. Venture forth, Good Hunters, and may you bring death to the Beasts that curse the land."
And, halfway down the hall of doors, on the right, one unlocked with an audible Click.
"Well," Ruby smiled, looking to her team. "Let's go blow up some Grimm!"
AN: And thus, this glimpse of things that lurk at the edges of this Remnant comes to a close.
