The sky above Dream Vale was like canvas of blood and glass — the fractured moon hung low and its sickly crimson light filtered through the clouds like festering wound. Below, as usual, the land was dead and still. Barren hills rolled like the backs of buried beasts, dotted with crumbling warehouses, half-collapsed rail lines, and the silent bones of an industrial age long forgotten.
High above it all, a transparent sphere glided silently through the air. Its surface shimmered like thin glass, refracting the dim light around it as it cut through the Dream Realm's eerie winds.
Inside, three figures rode the drifting silence.
Qrow Branwen, with his dark trench-coat breezing in the wind, peered down at the terrain below.
"You know," he muttered, voice muffled through the hum of the barrier, "for a world that's supposed to be all subconscious nightmares and psychological horror, this part of Vale is just plain boring."
Winter Schnee didn't look at him. Her hands were raised slightly, palms glowing with faint silver-blue of runic light, maintaining the construct that held them aloft. The glasslike sphere wasn't a shield. It was what Winter liked to call a Sealing Dome, an extension of her Meta Rune, Seal.
Her lips pressed into a line. "We're not sightseeing, Qrow. This is an important reconnaissance mission."
Qrow snorted. "Right. Because we just had to fly halfway across Vale to stare at abandoned hills and broken sheds. Real thrilling stuff."
Perched on his shoulder, a raven of black feathers shimmering faintly with shadows. It tilted its head toward him. Its eyes glowed faintly crimson, and its presence seemed to anchor a quiet weight within the sphere.
Raven Branwen didn't speak, well... she didn't have to. Her silence said enough.
Winter exhaled, steadying the runic field as they passed over another cluster of derelict factories. "If you're so bored, perhaps try being useful for once and scan instead of complain."
"Oh, I'm scanning alright," Qrow replied. "I see rust, dust, and more disgust. Real valuable intel. Maybe the Grimm just packed up and moved to Vacuo?"
Winter gave him a glare sharp enough to cut steel.
Raven's wings ruffled slightly, feathers stirring like smoke. She spoke finally, her voice resonating in the air.
"Enough, both of you. Focus."
Qrow raised an eyebrow. "You can go out into shadow form and search around too, you know. Would make this go a lot faster."
The raven's head turned slightly toward him. "You're too loud."
He grinned. "That's my charm."
Winter muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "More like a liability," but didn't look away from her duty. Invisible information seemed to flicker before her eyes, layers of luminous data projected by her Rune combination. The landscape below was outlined in delicate blue light, every structure and residual aura mapped with surgical precision.
For several moments, silence filled the sphere. Only the whisper of the wind outside accompanied the hush.
Then Qrow spoke again, voice quieter this time. "I'm surprised Ironwood actually assigned you to come out here."
Winter arched a brow. "I'm a specialist. This is my jurisdiction."
"Yeah, yeah," Qrow said. "Still feels weird seeing Atlas brass out here in Vale's backyard. Guess desperate times and all that."
Winter didn't rise to the bait. "General Ironwood understands the gravity of the situation. The Amalgamation Zones are spreading faster than predicted. And if that young Arc kid's story is to be believed…"
"Then someone's creating them," Qrow finished for her. His tone darkened, the humor fading from his eyes. "Artificial Nightmare Zones. That's a first."
"Not the first," Raven corrected. "Just the first that we've found. Extremely dangerous knowledge. If this spreads, containment will be impossible."
Winter frowned. "LUCID protocols strictly prohibit any manipulation of Nightmare zones. Not after all those research tests years ago only made them all worse. If someone's found a way to truly create Nightmare zones..."
Qrow took another swig from his flask. "Then we've got a problem bigger than a Grimm escaping into the real world."
The sphere drifted lower now, nearing the edge of a ravine where twisted metal towers rose from the darkness. Winter adjusted her hands slightly, recalibrating the barrier's trajectory.
Qrow peered out the side. "You know," he said after a moment, "it's a damn shame that Rank 3s can't come into the Dream like the rest of us. Would've been nice to have Ozpin do a once-over with that all-seeing power of his. Probably could've found whoever's doing this in five minutes."
Winter shook her head. "You know the reason..."
"Oh, I know," Qrow said, sighing. "The damned Rank 3 Grimm will start sniffing around like sharks in bloody water. Last time that happened, an entire city collapsed in the real world. What was it called again? Meridian?"
"Meridian," Raven's voice echoed in their ears. "Fifty thousand lost before LUCID had pulled out. No survivors."
Qrow grimaced. "Right. So yeah — keep the Rank 3s upstairs and hope we can handle the mess down here. Great plan."
Winter's expression softened slightly, but only just. "It's not ideal. But you know as well as I do, that even a Rank 2's full power exertion risks bringing down stronger grimm on us. That's why we need to scout first. Make sure things don't become a problem."
"Scout," Qrow echoed, looking down again. "Funny word for 'fly around until something tries to kill us.'"
Raven's eyes narrowed. "Stay alert. The shadows here are off..."
Both of them stiffened slightly. Winter's barrier pulsed, shimmering as she reoriented it. "What do you sense?"
Raven didn't answer immediately. Her feathers shimmered — edges blurring into black smoke as her attention stretched outward. "The air feels… strained. Like living static across dead skin."
Qrow unslung his great-sword hybrid, gleaming dark red in the dim light. "Static's never good."
Winter frowned. "There's interference in her senses. Could be the environmental bleed of a particularly powerful amalgamation, but…"
A tremor shook the dome. Just faintly — like a heartbeat under the earth.
Qrow looked up. The moonlight seemed to dim for a moment, the blood hue thickening in the clouds. Shadows writhed below them in the ruins — long, tendril-like shapes snaking through the warehouses.
"Well," Qrow said dryly. "Guess we found something."
Winter's hands tensed. The seal sphere expanded slightly, energy flashing around them. "Multiple movements — four, no… five."
"Grimm?"
"Not quite."
Raven lifted her head, feathers bristling. "They're human."
Below, one of the warehouses exploded outward as if struck from within. Dust and debris scattered into the air, and in the midst of it a massive bullet streaked out to hit Winter's seal barrier. The bullet was the size of a small truck. Fortunately the barrier was strong enough to tank the hit.
From within, figures began to emerge — human silhouettes cloaked in dark red tattered hoods, rune frames, and grimm-like masks across their faces. Beneath their covers, their eyes faintly glowed with the telltale shimmering power.
The man in front addressed their group, as if he could easily see through Winter's stealth attempts. "Well, well, well. Looks like we got ourselves some company."
Qrow's grin returned, sharp and humorless. "Well, I'll be damned. We really did find those bastard, after all. "
Winter's voice hardened. "Seems its true after all. Someone is manufacturing the Nightmare Zones."
Raven spread her wings, dissolving into a storm of shadow and re-forming a few feet away from Qrow and Winter. Her human outline momentarily visible through the distortion — crimson eyes gleaming under black shadow.
"Then we end this quickly," she said. "Before they can disperse."
Winter's Seal flared, wrapping the three of them in layers of translucent energy. Qrow leveled his weapon and exhaled.
"Finally," he said. "Something interesting."
The red moonlight bled across the shattered landscape, casting every contour in shades of rust and ruin. Winter's Sealing Dome dissipated in a shimmer of light as she stepped forward onto the ground. Qrow and Raven flanked her, weapons ready, though neither spoke.
The group of masked figures waited below in the open clearing. Five of them, four who were armed and one who was standing unarmed at their center. The air around them rippled faintly with residual aura, dark and dense like smoke that refused to fade.
Winter's eyes fixed on the unarmed one. He was tall, easily over seven feet and broad-shouldered. His visible skin was pallid under the scarlet glow. The Grimm-touched masks the others wore were crude, bone white with jagged lines carved through them, but his was smooth, blank, save for a single black streak that ran from forehead to jaw.
Winter's voice carried cold authority. "Identify yourselves. You are operating within Valean LUCID jurisdiction. By protocol, you will state your rank, affiliation, and purpose immediately."
The man tilted his head slightly, and his grin was wide enough to see beneath the mask. "Ah. So it was LUCID I smelled." His tone was mocking, deep and distorted, like two voices speaking at once. "Always poking your noses where you don't belong."
"You attacked first," Winter replied evenly. "If you value your lives, stand down and explain what you're doing here."
The man chuckled — an, unpleasant humorless sound. "You think this place still belongs to your little organization? Vale is… changing. And what's coming doesn't answer to you."
Raven's fingers twitched around her katana. 'Something's wrong with him,' her instincts echoed 'The feel of his aura... his movements... he's not the one who is speaking. Someone is speaking through him— a rune?'
Winter's hands remained steady at her sides, though faint silver lines of energy began to flicker along her wrists. "Last warning. Who are you?"
The man's grin widened. "Call me whatever you like. Monster. Heretic. Experiment gone right." His head tilted, cracking faintly. "But if you want a name—" He laughed. "You won't live long enough to use it."
Winter's composure hardened into frost. "Then you leave me no choice."
Before she could give the command, Qrow stepped forward, cracking his neck. "I think we're past talking, Snowflake."
He pointed the edge of his blade at the leader. "You and your merry little band there have two options — come quietly or deal with us the hard way."
The man spread his arms mockingly. "And what exactly are you going to do, boy?"
A whisper of movement cut through the air. A tendril of solid shadow erupted from the man's own silhouette, darting like a spear toward his throat.
The impact rang out like shattering glass.
The tendril fractured into a thousand ribbons of smoke and dissipated before it could pierce skin. The man didn't flinch. He only laughed.
Raven emerged beside Qrow, her katana drawn, the edge glimmering with runic red light. "Enough of this farce," she said, voice flat and cold. "If they won't come quietly."
Her stance shifted — deliberate, predatory. "Then we shall end it here."
The moment she said it, the air itself ignited with power.
Qrow vanished in a blur of crimson and black. His first strike hit like a thunderclap, blade meeting flesh that rang like forged iron. Sparks flew as the man slid backward several feet, his legs carving deep ruts into the cracked stone.
"Not bad," the man rumbled, still smiling. "But not good enough."
Behind him, the others moved — four silhouettes rushing outward, each glowing with the distinctive hue of different runes. One bore twin cleavers that pulsed with molten light. Another carried a spear-like cannon humming with energy, patterns of concentric light formed along the barrel.
Winter raised her hand and snapped her fingers. "Seal: Binding Formation."
The air crystallized.
From empty space, chains of silver-white energy erupted in all directions, coiling around the advancing figures. The first two were caught mid-step, shackled by glowing energy that burned against their armor. One roared and shattered the bindings through sheer force, but the delay was enough.
Raven struck.
She appeared between them like a shadow taking shape, her blade slashing once, then twice — each motion surgical. The first attacker blocked the hit without consternation but the second staggered back clutching his hurt arm.
Meanwhile, Qrow and the giant exchanged blows that shattered the ground. His weapon boomed out with slashes, chops, and hook sweeps — but every strike was met with bone-jarring resistance of the man's unarmed fists.
The man's body was strong. Not simply durable beyond the norm of what a peak Rank 2 Body should be capable of.
Each impact seemed to absorb energy rather than deflect it, like his flesh was both metal and living tissue.
"Qrow, disengage!" she ordered. "His body—"
Her warning came too late.
The man's grin split wider as his aura flared a deep, bruised red. His frame expanded — veins of shadow crawling under his skin as his height surged past eight feet. The next punch came faster than it had any right to and cratered the world beneath their feet.
Qrow barely raised his blade in time. The impact sent him flying back into the warehouse wall, the structure folding inward with a deafening crash.
Winter extended her palm, her Seal Rune flaring. "Barrier: Absolute." A translucent field shimmered in front of Raven just as a burst of energy cannon fire erupted from one of the enemies. The spear-cannon user had taken position on the hill, firing condensed aura blasts that took the shape of massive truck sized bullets. Each shot rippled through the air like a sonic boom.
Raven dodged through the gaps, her form dissolving briefly into shadows as she fought against the twin bladed man who moving even faster than she was.
Winter, maintaining her composure, redirected part of her seal — the chains around her hands shifting into sigils that spiraled outward. "Secondary binding."
The ground beneath the enemies glowed white. Their movements slowed — forced, like they were wading through syrup.
The giant roared, his body crackling with dark runic energy that pulsed unnaturally. For a moment, the entire area seemed to quake with the resonance.
"Raven!" Winter barked.
Raven blurred forward, her sword gleaming as she struck — a dozen slashes in an instant. Sparks of black light rippled across the man's body as her strikes landed, but none broke skin. His flesh simply absorbed the damage.
He laughed, the sound echoing like thunder. "You don't understand," he growled. "We're past limits now. Past Ranks. Past rules."
Winter's expression chilled further. "Then I'll seal your madness where it belongs."
"Too late."
To their horror, the man began his chant.
"The Sleeper Beyond the Grave...
.
.
AN: My account on ff.net got deleted. So for those of you who come from there and still want to read it, it's still available here.
Advanced chapters are available on patreon