Long ago, beyond the remembrance of humanity, there were three peoples: Humanity, the dominant species, Faunus, the submissed species, and Monsters, the extinct species. Said to contain magical abilities beyond humans, the Monsters attempted to coexist peacefully with Humanity and Faunus. However, that all changed when Mankind declared war. With the combined slaughter from Humanity and the vile forces of the Grimm, the beasts that crave only destruction and death, Monsters were driven to extinction in less than a month. The Monsters that survived the genocide were sealed away beneath a mountain in the south of Remnant, far from the prying eyes of man. There, they held some semblance of peace.
However, peace never lasts.
After the son of the Monster King perished by the hands of humans, he declared an eternal war against Mankind and all those that would stand by them. And the weakness of the barrier became clear to them in time: the mere removal of the sword. The day the sword is removed from the peak of the mountain is the day a war begins.
For them, it was merely a matter of time. This is the story of the one who set the Monsters free.
This is the story of the one who saved and destroyed the world of Remnant.
"Light recon, huh? Sounds kinda boring." Yang said.
"Well there aren't many other missions the school is letting us go on. After Glenn, they're obviously gonna be more strict." Ruby stated.
"Doesn't this feel weird though? I mean, after the Breach, they should be way more strict than this. We're lucky that they're letting us go on missions at all." Blake said.
"I'd like to remind you that I voted against going on a mission at all. What was your reasoning again?" Weiss said with no small amount of snark.
"Cool it, Ice Queen. The Vytal Tournament was pushed back a month because of the Breach, this is just their way of giving us extra training. Besides, it's only light recon, it's not like we're storming a nest of Nevermores." Yang said, pausing for a second. "But we could—"
"Yang, absolutely not." Blake said calmly.
"Fiiiiine." Yang said with exasperation.
"Looks like we're covering… the southeast. We'd better gear up for some mountain climbing." Ruby stated, the four of them heading to the lockers to properly prepare. Ruby in her black dress with red trims, identical to her shortly trimmed hair, and iconic red cloak, equipped with her foldable scythe sniper rifle hybrid. Yang with her leather midriff jacket and black shorts, a purple bandana wrapped around her ankle the same shade as her eyes, and gauntlets that mirrored the color of golden locks. Blake in her black coat with a white undershirt, her leggings also black with a purple hue mixing with it, meshing well with her black hair and sharp yellow eyes, and her black machete sheathed in a scabbard that doubled as another blade. And Weiss with her white dress that complimented her white hair, tucked in a side tail, with the dress having a red inside and blue trims, and at her belt a rapier with a revolver-like chamber connecting the hilt with the blade, each cylinder loaded with a different element.
As they came to the airship docks, they were surprised at the sheer number of teams heading out that day. Some of them were even veteran teams. They passed by one team, a girl with pure white hair glancing over at them, or more specifically, Ruby. Her blue eyes seemed to pierce her soul, the large burn on her left eye only serving to sharpen her gaze. But as quickly as that piercing feeling came, it left as she turned away from the group. With her was only one other. A man with black hair as long as hers, equipped with a black and gold hilted katana, an emblem at the center of the hilt. Simply being near them had a pressure like nothing they had ever felt. But the team merely dismissed the feeling as they took off.
The airship ride took them past the first mountain, but beyond that would push the fuel limits, so they were dropped off at the base of the second mountain. From there they followed a trail often used by hikers that took them around the base. The easiest of the recon was past them as they approached the third mountain, several more mountains spanning off into the horizon. The emerald glow of Beacon tower was cut off from them, as was any view of Vale. Their scrolls were also losing connection to the tower, now having to rely more on local communication.
As the sun set midway through the third mountain, they began to set up camp for the night. "This is strangely easy. I mean, we only had a run-in with a single Grimm so far between two and a half mountains." Ruby said, her words putting the others on edge.
"Now that you mention it, that is unnerving. I didn't even notice that." Yang said.
"Isn't that a good thing though? It means the hiking trails are safe from Grimm." Weiss stated, but Ruby shook her head.
"I just can't shake this terrible feeling that something's wrong. Like something's waiting for us to drop our guards." Ruby said. The air suddenly turned heavy, as if her words were altering the world somehow.
"In that case, it'll be wise if one of us stands guard. I'm still wide awake, so I'll take first watch." Blake said.
"You're a lifesaver, Blake." Ruby said.
"I'll be second. Wake me up when you start to get tired." Weiss said. After a while, the three of them went to sleep as Blake kept a watchful eye over them. Her Faunus advantages made night watch like sightseeing, the darkness of the night nearly as clear as day with her cat-like eyes.
But not all of them could rest easy. Despite the reassurance of Blake holding night watch, Ruby's dreams were assaulted with fear and something foreign. She couldn't move in her dream, and yet nothing restrained her. As if the air around her had solidified to be as hard as stone. She couldn't even move a finger. She couldn't inhale, and yet she didn't feel as if she was suffocating. It was as if she existed in a paradox.
Before her was a dim white light, all around it a rainbow that turned black and white. She wanted to reach out to it, but she couldn't. Though faint, she could hear a multitude of voices, millions of them all chanting, though what it was they were chanting was a mystery. But there was a distinct feeling from each of the voices, not even the faintness of their voices could mask it.
They were all sad. It was as if Ruby could feel the sorrow of every person on Remnant in that single moment. It was too much for her, and before she could begin to process everything, she woke up, tears streaming down her face. She wiped her cheeks, still trying to understand what that dream was. She looked over to see Blake still wide awake, looking at her inquisitively.
"You alright?" Blake asked quietly, Ruby still wiping the tears off her face.
"I don't know. I just had a weird dream." Ruby said, holding back more tears. The feelings she experienced in that dream still weren't subsiding. But before she could explain further to Blake, they saw a wave of fire erupt from the side of one of the mountains in the distance north of them.
"Must be another Huntsman team. They must be using a hell of a lot of fire Dust." Blake said.
"Has this been happening for a while?" Ruby asked.
"Started about half an hour after you guys went to sleep. It's been going on for about two hours now." Blake said, still in a hushed tone.
"Never seen a Huntsman that can produce that kind of fire. Dust only makes red flames, but I think I saw some blue fire in that blast." Ruby stated.
"Now that you mention it, yeah. It'd have to be extremely compressed Dust in order to make even a small amount of blue fire." Blake mused, the two of them contemplating who or what could produce those waves of fire as another one blasts over the peak of a mountain. This time, they felt a slight quake a few moments after it happened.
But after that quake, the fire stopped. An hour passed and nothing happened. After that, Ruby felt her fatigue catch back up to her, and she went back to sleep. Thankfully, that dream didn't return, and she was able to get a good night's rest. Eventually those feelings from the dream also faded, like nothing happened at all.
At the break of dawn, the four of them set off refreshed and well rested, able to clear the third mountain before noon. So far, the only thing out of the ordinary was the distinct lack of Grimm. Which wouldn't be inherently bad, except for the fact that there have been reports of Grimm activity spikes happening all across the continent. This place should be no exception.
As they scaled the fourth mountain, they saw the end of the mountain range just after the fifth. A mountain rarely ever explored by people due to rumors of disappearances around that area. Six different cases from what people say. But at the peak of this mountain was a strange white light. Not a single tree grew on it. As if all life is drawn away, even the Grimm.
"That looks like the mountain furthest to the southeast. Beyond that, we'll rendezvous with the other teams performing recon in this area and return to Beacon. Honestly, this feels a bit too easy." Yang said. A sense of unease washed over all of them. Like the world was holding its breath for an inevitable scream that none in the world could ignore.
As they got ever closer to the mountain range's edge, Ruby could feel something gnawing at her in the back of her mind, as if a thought was trying to claw its way through her skull. No, not a thought, rather someone within her head, as if her mind was unintentionally invaded by someone desperately trying to escape. And yet, that someone hosted no hostility, this Ruby somehow knew. Words and names began to come into her head, ones that she had never heard, words from a language trillions of years dead, names of people that never existed.
Then concepts began pouring in. Concepts of worlds long turned to ash, knowledge that has never been learned in the entire history of Remnant. It was too much for her brain to hold onto. As soon as she learned of these things, they vanished just as quickly. Knowledge as fleeting as sand within one's grip. Then, as they reached the base of the mountain, the chanting from her dreams returned, more clearly this time. She could barely hear the others as they began their investigation. Almost all sensory input was cut off from Ruby, as if her mind existed somewhere else. She simply moved for the peak.
The voices of the others were but mere mutters in her ears. Even as they tried to shake Ruby back to reality, she didn't falter. She only saw the silver light at the peak. A silver sword, black hilt, and a circular crossguard with runes all around it, enough to make up an entire sentence, and yet more runes on the blade, only six letters though, in an ancient language far older than their universe, a language as old as time. She reached out to it, her heart racing faster with each step she took. Each step felt like a marathon, her body was covered in sweat, and yet she expressed no exhaustion.
Then at last, she had reached it. The impossible sword, a weapon that shouldn't exist, a paradox in the form of a blade. White light circulated within the crossguard, the center of it completely see-through, made of a glass stronger than any metal on Remnant. The mere sight of it made Ruby's mind race in competition with her heart. Sorrow, joy, despair, anger, cold, then unbearable heat. Rage, elation, sorrow again, happiness, bewilderment, and fear. Millions of emotions and sensations all clashing at once, it felt like her head would explode.
Finally, she touched the hilt of the sword. The full force of a star pushed her back, and yet she didn't stumble. Her body was creaking, the weight of an entire solar system on her entire body, she felt as if her entire body would break. Silver light coursed through her veins, and for a single moment she felt the power of a million men flow through her, it was like her muscles were about to be atomized. She could feel every atom in her being agitated, like at any moment they would revert to energy. Voices overtook her entire mind, so many that not even the entire population of Remnant could drown them out. Probably not even the entire history of humanity could count up to all the voices.
The force it took to pull on the sword shook the planet, the ground at her feet cracking as rocks rose into the air, leaves swirled around her and the air became too thin to breathe. The oceans were roaring like a wild beast, waves smashing the earth as if to fight against this unseen force. Lightning pierced the skies despite the lack of any clouds, which had all but fled the scene. Even the Grimm trembled in fear at the planet's battle. A blinding white light flashed all around the mountain as the sword was released centimeter by centimeter. Even the shattered moon quaked and trembled at the magnitude of power that the sword exerted.
All the while, Ruby saw a single person in front of her. A woman with long white hair flowing in the wind. Her eyes were completely white, and her smile was as warm as a fireplace, providing Ruby a comfort that she had not felt in many years, not since her mother disappeared. Her veins were also glowing silver, though her limbs were lost in a mist of white. And yet, she could reach out to Ruby. The chanting was deafening at that point, but as soon as the woman touched Ruby's hand, everything became clear. The planet's war died, and everything became still, frozen in time.
"Do not despair. We are here with you."
Those words, which brought a strange calm to Ruby, were what she was left with as the sword was fully released from the mountain, and the world's scream ended.
Ruby's senses finally returned to her, the voices that invaded her mind completely gone. In her hands was the Aster Sword, a weapon of which its name came to her mind as soon as it came to her possession. All light that once filled it had dimmed, leaving it peaceful and calm in her hands, not even a whisper of wind blew.
"Ruby!" Yang shouted out, embracing Ruby in a fierce hug. "What the hell was that? You didn't respond to us at all! I thought…"
"I'm fine now. I don't know what came over me, but I'm fine now." Ruby said.
"And what about that sword? Not exactly a conventional design if you ask me." Blake said, pointing at the Aster Sword.
"It seems to have calmed down. Right now it's just any other sword." Ruby said, swinging it around to find it light as a feather. It was only then that she noticed how close to the ground they were. The mountain originally was around two thousand feet tall, and now it was three quarters of that height. Somehow, that calamity shaved five hundred feet off of the mountain.
"Whatever that thing is, it's dangerous. We should report this to the people back at Beacon immediately." Weiss said sternly. But before they could come to a consensus, they heard the sound of marching. They looked at the base of the mountain and saw an army emerge from it, hundreds of strange creatures of all shapes and sizes spreading in every direction.
"That's new. Sort of." Yang said, all of them bewildered at the sight in front of them.
"They aren't humans, closer to Faunus, and yet none of them quite look the part." Blake stated.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Ruby said as they made their way down to observe the peculiar army. But as they approached, immediately the creatures met them with a hostility closer to Grimm than Faunus. But their attacks were unlike anything they'd ever seen. Weapons and blasts emerged from thin air, and not a speck of Dust was ever used by any of them. One in particular rushed the four of them with a bright blue spear, and could even summon more from the earth. The blades rushed at them with blinding speeds, as did the ironclad warrior who wielded them.
The four of them couldn't even get an attack in, and in seconds they were with their backs against a wall. And with a spine-chilling voice, the warrior spoke. "Humanity must be purged. You will pay for the millions of deaths you have brought to us." Without wasting any more breath, they sent a wave of spears at the four. Yang stepped forward to ward off the attacks, but before she could, the white haired girl from before intervened, a large limb of darkness swatting away the spears effortlessly. That limb seemed to come from her, but it couldn't be possible.
"Leave them alone! We come in peace!" The girl said before creating a large dark wall between them and the creatures. "If you're gonna be useless, at least put your legs to bloody use and get the hell out of here!" She shouted before noticing the Aster Sword in Ruby's hands. "You're kidding."
Then from above, the black haired boy sent a massive wave of fire at the other end. "Keira, get them out of—" He stuttered when he saw the Aster Sword. "...Get her out of here immediately!"
"Wu, we aren't supposed to kill them!" Keira shouted.
"It was only a low temperature warning shot! They were advancing! Speaking of which, get moving already!" Wu said, moving his hands as fire swarmed around him.
"What the hell is that?! There's no way that's Dust!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Right, I forgot how useless this planet was. Don't question it too much, you'll figure it out later, just sparkin' run!" Keira shouted at them, the team not wanting to ask anything more from them as they made a mad sprint down the mountain. Behind them, a sheer wall of stone rose from the ground, surging with lightning.
"Great! Not only did we find a magic sword and a bunch of monsters, but now we're dealing with super humans! What's next on the list then, the universe collapsing?!" Yang shouted over the destruction behind them.
"Here I thought Glenn was going to be the craziest thing that happened to us for a while!" Blake exclaimed. As they reached the mountain's base, to their right they saw a large, imposing beast. A goat man, it seemed, sleek white fur and royal purple robes covered in hard iron armor. In his hand, a menacing red trident, made of the same energy as the ironclad warrior from before.
His voice was booming, each word sent chills down each of the girls' backs. "Your blood will only be the first to be spilled. Your kind did not spare our children. We will not spare yours." From his hand, a pillar of fire burst out and struck where they once were, the heat alone seering their clothes.
"Do we fight?" Yang asked, the shotguns in her gauntlets cocking.
"I don't think we have a choice." Ruby said, raising the Aster Sword. The beast snarled at the sight of it as he charged at Ruby, his trident aimed at her heart. She barely parried the strike, only slightly able to keep up with his relentless flurry of attacks. Even the trident emitted an unbearable heat, Ruby only being saved by Yang flanking and striking the beast at the back. He was barely phased by the strike, as if it had simply bounced off him. He swung his trident at her, one of the blades grazing Yang, but her Aura was able to hold up easily.
Blake sent a shadow clone to distract the goat beast, striking at the legs to slow him down, but her blade didn't even scratch his armor. Blake was met with his hand in her face, letting out a massive wave of fire that her Aura was barely able to hold up against. The heat, however, couldn't be kept back, and the right side of her face was badly burnt. Her screams mortified the others, their resolve to fight this beast strengthened tenfold.
"YOU BASTARD!" Yang shouted, unleashing the full strength of her Semblance and striking the monster in the face with a direct hit. That was enough to get a reaction out of it, launching the beast into the side of the mountain. With a moment of reprieve, Yang rushed to Blake. "Blake! Are you alright?!" To Yang's relief, Blake's face wasn't melted. The burns were only surface level, but it was still enough to leave Blake incapacitated. "Weiss, ice, now!"
Weiss didn't waste a second, using a small amount of ice Dust to make a clump of ice, which Yang immediately applied to Blake's burns. Ruby saw the monster already recovering from the slug, and quickly formulated a plan. She would admit to herself though that it wasn't the best of plans. "You guys get Blake to the extraction point and warn the kingdom of the oncoming threat. I'll hold this monster off and buy you some time."
"No way! We stay together no matter what!" Yang shouted, but Ruby wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"This is different! This isn't just another mission, if this escalates it can turn into an all out war! We need to let the kingdoms know as soon as possible, and right now, aside from that other team, we're the only ones that know these creatures exist at all!" Before she could let out her full thoughts, she was attacked by the beast again, parrying his strikes as well as she could. "HURRY!"
With Blake out of commission, they weren't given much of a choice. Weiss created an ice wall between them and the beast and Ruby, and they began running before Yang called out to Ruby, "You come back safe, you hear!"
Ruby could barely get a word out now, all of her concentration being forced onto the battle. The beast was far quicker now. It was evident that he was only going easy on them before. And with Ruby armed with a weapon type unfamiliar to her, she was fighting a losing battle. If she had to admit it, part of her knew she wouldn't be leaving this battle alive. She tried to reach for Crescent Rose, only to find it wasn't holstered onto her belt. It must have been loosened by the calamity, then fell off while they were fleeing.
'At least they're safe. That's all I need.' Ruby thought, being backed into a large cave. The beast had fire in his eyes, and evidently his hands as well as he launched one last blast at Ruby. She could do nothing but try to block it, but the force was too much. She could feel herself be launched backward, and downward into a deep pit. She was too exhausted to even scream as she fell, her consciousness fading with every foot she descended. This was it, she thought. Her head filled with regrets and sorrow, her vision faded, and soon her consciousness followed, left only with the hope that the rest of her team would live on.