When Nexus Shade regained consciousness, it was to the familiar, distinct warmth of Weiss Schnee lying on his chest, his fiance snuggled against the crook of his neck. Her steady heartbeat—dub, dub, dub—drew a quiet sigh from his nose. Her armour dug into his torso, supported by his weight. The grass on his back tickled his spine. Their tough blades poked through his coat.
Odd. He took a whiff of the stale air. Iron. Rusty. As if someone bled all over the ground and kept doing it every day—all day—for the past century.
"Weiss," Nex whispered, shaking her shoulders gently. Her armour clanked as he said, louder, "You have to get up."
"Ugh..." Weiss yawned. She blinked, her eyes fluttering open. A smile curved her coarse lips. "You look like you're enjoying yourself, Mr Shade."
Nex shrugged, managing a wink and a grin. "Correction. You're the one enjoying yourself, Miss Schnee."
"Uhuh," Weiss said, rolling off him. Her skirt clanked as she dusted the dirt away. She offered him a hand and helped him to his feet. "Where are we?"
Red.
That was the first word that came to mind.
Alien was the second.
Barren plains dotted with spiked bushes stretched past the horizon. The trees were half-sunk, their barks almost the colour of midnight. A harsh, crimson glow washed over the landscape, pouring down cloudless skies and illuminating the small Grimm that roamed its twists and turns. Black pools bubbled in the crevices between the trees, the tainted ichor forming entire rivers and lakes. Only stars formed the heavens, crowned by a shattered sun, asteroids buried in its dying light.
"It's not spinning," Nex said.
"What isn't spinning?" Weiss said.
"Remnant," Nex said, the earth surprisingly still under his boots. His semblance only confirmed it. "We're definitely not on ours anymore."
Weiss shut her eyes for a second. She pinched her nose. "Mom's gonna bite my head off."
"At least we have a story to tell," Nex said, shrugging. "How many people can say that they got to meet their kid and travel to the future?"
"Oh, I'm sure there's plenty," Weiss said, frowning. "Where is she? And where are the others?"
"Dunno," Nex said. "Scrolls?"
It was a stretch, considering how the shit-hole looked. But it was worth a try.
Weiss whipped hers out, shaking the rust loose from its sleek surface. "No signal. Although..."
A red dot blinked on the map, just an hour's walk north. It simply read Vagabond's Retreat.
"A dot," Nex said, licking his lips. "You think there's desert cannibals out there?"
"Desert cannibals?" Weiss said, chuckling. She looked at him as if he were a child, her eyes crinkling. "Have you been reading Ruby's comic books?"
"A little," Nex said. "Hard to say no when she's Ruby Rose."
"You haven't been playing her games," Weiss said, grinning.
Nex shrugged. "Some lines you don't cross."
Weiss giggled, her hand slipping into his. "Let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover."
They crested the tall, sloping hills, dodging Grimm along the way. The oppressive heat squeezed the sweat from his pores. His shirt clung to his chest by the time they made it halfway.
Nex groaned and slipped his coat off, his shirt along with it, and stuffed the latter in his pack. He wore his trench coat like a vest, leaving his front bare and fastening the strap over his pectorals.
Weiss cleared her throat, her eyes burning holes through his stomach.
"What?" Nex said. He sighed as the comforting cold seeped into his abdomen. "Something on my stomach?"
"Nothing," Weiss said, pink tinting her cheeks. She shook her head furiously. "This isn't the time, lover boy."
Nex shrugged, turning back to the trail. The trees swayed in the bloodstained breeze. Whatever happened that transformed the Remnant they were on into its current state, it must have been a catastrophic event beyond anything that their world had ever seen.
They made it some odd fifty metres south of the dot—according to the scroll in his hand.
Weiss squatted beside him, peering over the brush. Her breath hitched. She elbowed him, twice, the pointy bone digging into his stomach.
"Look at that," Weiss said. "I can't believe it."
Nex tore his eyes away from the map, his eyes widening a smidge. "What the fuck..."
The words died.
As dead as Atlas, their home splintered—torn—before them.
The flying city was splattered in rust, its towering skyscrapers bent and ruined. Tilted. Fallen like dominoes. Pieces of the once-proud kingdom littered the valley. Crimson veins pulsed over the city. Grimm, most of them Grombies, shambled across the ruins. Thousands of them, thick smoke concealing their steps. Broken carcasses—of humans and faunus alike—cracked under their misshapen hooves.
Something, or someone, out there had enough firepower to take out the entirety of Atlas. And probably the whole world along with it. Judging from the smoke, the destruction only happened a few dozen hours ago. Or not. It was difficult to determine exactly what effects Remnant stopping its magnetic spin had on the movement of particles in the atmosphere.
"There's Qrow with Ruby and Blake," Weiss said, pointing at the three named dots—just five minutes west. "I don't think Inky and Leli have scrolls. Do you?"
"Nope," Nex said, licking his lips. "Maybe they have magic radars or something."
Hell, Inky probably had something up her metaphorical sleeves already. Something to get them home and away from this hellscape. Although, if they travelled here, then did that not mean that Cinder did as well?
Somehow, the thought of Cinder Fall loose in a barren world ripe for the picking drove Pareidolia up the wall. Who knew what she could discover out there? Arcadia existed, and only now he remembered that the golden city was part of an obscure Vacuan fairy tale—one he had encountered in his research. What else could be real, just waiting to bite their asses?
Nex shook his head, eyeing Ruby as she helped Qrow along the path, her ankle propping him up. Blake kept watch, Gambol Shroud levelled at every swaying leaf and creaking branch. Her eyes glowed in the red-stained dark.
"We're here," Blake said. "Are you two alright?"
Qrow groaned, blood dripping between his fingers as he held a palm over his wound. "No one's injured?"
"Shouldn't we be asking you that?" Weiss said, arching an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"
"He'll walk it off," Nex said.
"Gee, thanks for the concern, kid," Qrow said, grimacing.
Ruby scowled. "He's not healing."
"It's been only an hour," Blake said. "Give it time."
The trees rustled.
"Ayieeeeeeeh!"
Eir gave a surprisingly Jaune-like scream as he crashed face-first into the forest floor. The impact caused an explosion of rusted leaves—and blood.
Archer fell with more grace, white feathers bursting as she landed crouched next to Eir. A brooch in the shape of a snowflake—embossed with gold instead of white—now pinned her cloak around her bare shoulders, just above the left of her corset. A large wolf in the likeness of Vigilance, almost cartoonish really, was stitched into the back of the fluttering cloth.
Nex grinned. Now that was how you wore a cape.
"Archer," Weiss said. "Do you know where we are?"
Archer breathed a sigh, patting some withered leaves off her combat skirt. "'Tis home." She tugged her hood on, almost in reflex. "Welcome to the future."
The colour drained Ruby's face, her eyes popping as she stared at Archer.
"Great," Blake said.
Nex licked his lips for the third time in the span of five minutes, his semblance buzzing non-stop. "Not a very warm welcome."
"Nope," Qrow said. "So it only gets shittier, huh?"
Nex rolled his eyes. Like that was new.
"You do not—we do not belong here," Archer said. "We must find a way back to the present."
"That's... true," Weiss said, pursing her lips. "I can't believe you grew up in this wasteland."
"Nay," Archer said, taking Weiss' hand and pointing it at the smoking ruins of Atlas. "That is where I grew up. Before it inevitably fell."
"That's better," Weiss said. "Much, much better."
Admittedly, she was right. The place looked shitty even by his standards. Although, it was definitely shittier than his bedroom.
"The hell could sink a fucking Atlas?" Qrow said, giving voice to the question on—no doubt—everyone's mind.
"In the dying hours of my world, a great calamity came," Archer said. She parted the bushes, motioning for them to follow. "'Twas then that the last beacon of hope fell. Left with no recourse, huntsman, I fled through the rivers of time. Only now, I find myself back in this desolate place, where it all began. And ended."
Nex watched her silhouette as she blurred through the bloodstained wilderness, her steps light yet falling heavy with every thud and crunch under her boots. Moments passed as she chatted with Eir about something too far away for his extra pair of ears to hear, Archer striking a pose with a palm on her face and a smirk on her lips. The knight eyed him sideways as Archer's strides quickened. Eir tore his eyes away far too quickly, peering at the shadows. Caution. Or something else. Paranoia, maybe. If anything, it only betrayed what hid beneath the knight's haggard face.
Nex licked his lips, catching up to the knight. "Something you wanna say?"
Eir jumped on his heels, though no doubt it was only an act. A mask that the knight had learned to don for a modicum of levity in a world as grim as theirs.
"Eep!" Eir squealed. "Uh—uhm, I mean—"
Nex parted his hair away from his eyes. "Sorry. Just lost in thought, huh?"
Eir craned his head towards Archer, the woman farther ahead. "Yea—yeah! I mean, ending up here again… It's, like, you know. Awkward."
Nex shrugged. "Must have been hard."
"Are you…" Eir gasped under his breath. "Like, making small talk?"
Evidently, he must have done something wrong. Or inappropriate as his fiancee liked to call it.
"Yep." Nex scratched at his upper lip. "You don't like it?"
Eir hummed. "Uh… like, no. Where I come from, idle chit-chat isn't exactly the order of the day."
Right. Of course not.
Nex sighed. "Too busy surviving, huh?"
"Gesundheit?" Eir said. And for a moment, he was Jaune after learning about gravity dust.
"I won't ask." To them, it was probably none of his business. "But you and her. Archer. You're strong."
"I guess." Eir scratched his shoulder. "Strong isn't a word I'd use to describe myself though."
The knight had a way of hiding his strength as well.
"Now I get what Weiss thinks when I'm being modest," Nex muttered.
It took one to know one, at the end of the day.
"I'm totally not being modest here at all," Eir said. "Honestly. But thanks for the sentiment anyway."
Nex shrugged, arching an eyebrow. "Why go back?"
The question burning at the back of his head. Something that they had all but assumed. Even though none of the pair ever said something about it themselves.
"Back?" Eir asked.
Nex fixed him a stare. "To the past."
"Your present, you mean," Eir said.
The knight was stalling, the tiny lines on his face creasing. Doubtless thinking about whether it was safe to divulge something to him. Or not.
"Heroes, fate, destiny," Eir said, the lengthy moment of silence passing. "Well, me and Archer's lack of belief in it, anyway."
"Been wondering about that. What's the point of your mission?" Nex asked. "Time isn't a room you can just enter and rearrange as you see fit."
It went against everything that he had seen so far. Ruby's semblance among them. But... Could it be possible that time was both a river and a house?
Eir grinned. "My young padawan. It's either you understand or you don't."
Apparently, the knight had decided against sharing what he knew. Nex found his eyes narrowing as he peered through the stained clouds floating under the burning sky. Fate, destiny, time... It was either he understood or he did not. His semblance buzzed in his brain, a bee stuck in a foreign hive. None of it made sense. Maybe he had to stop thinking about it for now. At least, until they were in safer territory. Or at a safer time.
Archer led them towards the flickering red dot, away from the ruins of Atlas. It was a cave carved into the side of a mountain with human hands. The lines on it were too smooth, too deliberate for it to be nature's work. Sweet incense greeted his nose like an old friend as they took their first steps into the damp hole, the warmth staving off the chill on his limbs.
When they reached the bottom of the cave, it was to the sight of a fully functional hideout. The kind that Roman would be proud of. Torches—scented with the incense—dotted the walls, in tactical spots so that a span of shadow always stretched across them, offering places for the would-be rogue to hide. Iron railings fenced the alcoves, a giant network of wires, screens, and computers taking up the middle, blinking.
A familiar, grey-haired woman slouched before it, tapping the steel with a chipped nail.
Archer gasped.
"You're back," Raven Branwen said, waddling on the sides of her feet. Her eyes—the left one white with the glow of the moon—flitted towards them, before gluing themselves to Archer. "Troublesome child." She sighed, leaning against her katana like a cane. "What mischief have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"Grandmother!" Archer surged forward, sweeping the aged Raven into a crushing hug. "You're alive!"
Grandmother, huh?
Nex glanced at Weiss, with her pretty much doing the same.
They were so fucking screwed.
"What of the others?" Archer said. "Is Selene here?"
"Bah," Raven said, patting Archer's back with a crooked, wrinkled hand. She smiled and muttered, "Get off me."
Archer giggled, unwrapping herself from Raven. "Tell me you're not the only one who survived."
"I'm the only one who survived," Raven said, brushing past her.
"Ooof," Eir muttered.
Raven stopped before Qrow, staring at his bleeding wound. "Surprised to see me, little brother?"
"Kinda," Qrow said. "Too stubborn to die, sis?"
"Do you even need an answer to that?" Raven said. "Well, I'm assuming the girl mucked it up."
"Nay," Archer mumbled, her eyes dark behind her mask. "'Twas a mere fluke, grandmother. I was well on my way to preventing this tragedy from ever happening."
"Seeing as I'm still around, you seem to not have succeeded yet," Raven said. "I assume you're going back."
"'Tis of the trueness," Archer said.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Raven said. "Go cast your fancy spell and take them with you."
"I... I cannot," Archer said. "'Twould appear that there is another Maiden of the Fall, and with her hold on half of the magic, I cannot—"
"Cinder," Eir said, eyes on the mouth of the cave. "Like, fuckin' come out already."
Nex rested his palm on his sword. If it came to a fight, the odds were stacked in their favour. They had Archer as well as Ruby—even though he was unsure how exactly her eyes worked. The tales only told of silver-eyed warriors being paragons on the battlefield, and the greatest of them all was a man who slew a Maiden—one who had consorted with evil—with the power of his eyes.
Anecdotal, perhaps. Maybe even exaggerations. But it was the best thing they had.
Nevertheless, risking a fight was foolish. None of them were really in a position to exchange blows.
The torches swayed for a few moments, before heeled footsteps cracked over stone.
"Well, well," Cinder said, a wick of fire flickering on the tip of her finger. "Look what we have here."
"Yeah, like, you're not gonna win," Eir said. "I'm pretty sure I can wreck you one-v-one. And that's just lil' old me."
Cinder chuckled and snuffed the fire out. "I've heard how you ripped Hazel's back open, Arc. For that, I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt."
Qrow's eyes darted towards Eir. No doubt sizing him up after Cinder's words sunk in.
"So, you're, like, leaving?" Eir said. "Wow. That's mighty generous of you."
"Making me leave already?" Cinder said. "I suppose you don't need my help returning to the past then."
So it was like that. Of course. Like it or not, Cinder was stuck with them as well. Doubtless, being stranded in some hellish future was not part of her plans—or those of her enigmatic mistress.
Nex licked his lips. Maybe it was a trick. As far as he was concerned, the woman before him was a venomous snake, cunning and deadly. One who already employed his services before. Someone who was actively plotting to destroy the system and establish their own. The new world order as she called it.
"No deal," Qrow said, wincing as he groped at his sword. "You think we're friends now, just like that?"
"Just like that," Cinder said, smiling. She looked like a man-eater seizing up her prey. "I gain nothing in this cesspool of a future."
Nex shrugged. So even Cinder was scared of wandering around a wasteland crawling with Grimm. Good to know.
"Haven't you seen the weather, girl?" Raven said, sneering. "That right there is where your path leads."
Cinder chewed on the corner of her lip, a hint of something human flitting through her eyes. Something soft. Something buried under layers of steel and flame.
So that was the difference between them. Her eyes burned bright as meteors. His were as cold as ice, colder than even the fjords of Atlas.
"We're wasting time," Cinder said. "Tell me what we need to do to return."
"Hmph!" Archer said, folding her arms under her breasts. "'Twould be sufficient for the Maiden of the False to do the stabbing of her heart!"
"Odd way of saying go fuck yourself." Eir snorted.
Cinder scoffed, her smile fading. "Don't test my patience, Schnee. I'm well aware of who your parents are." She played with a strand of her hair. "I wonder, if they die, do you cease to exist?"
Archer's eyes narrowed as her bow snapped open, the midnight blue glimmering in the dark.
"Try it." Weiss said, scowling. Myrtenaster creaked. "I think you'll find that we're more than a challenge."
Nex shrugged, placing a hand on her tense shoulder. "Relax. She's not gonna do it."
"She tried to kill Uncle Qrow." Ruby glared at Cinder.
"I did no such thing, girl," Cinder said. "But I don't expect you to understand even that."
The eight of them stared Cinder down, waiting. Waiting for what, none of them knew. The woman had a point. They were wasting time. Dallying. Talking while they could have been making progress to reverting things to normal.
"Alright," Nex said, sighing.
All eyes darted towards him.
"I've decided," Nex said, loping towards Cinder.
"The hell are you doing, kid?" Qrow said.
"What's necessary," Nex said. And Cinder nodded as their eyes met, the woman just an inch taller than him. "We work together."
"We work together," Cinder said. "It appears that you're the only one in this cave with a functioning brain."
"And balls," Eir muttered. "Like, mega fuckin' atomic balls."
"This is so gonna turn out well," Blake said.
Nex parted his fringe back, cracking his neck as he stared Cinder down. "If we're working together, let's make some things clear, Miss Fall."
"Oh? What kind of things, Mr Shade?" Cinder said.
Nex leapt.
Hrunting and Vigilance flashed, its joints clinking as it shrunk into a dagger. The blade pressed against Cinder's neck, the golden, serrated tip almost digging into her pallid, blood-starved jugular.
Cinder chuckled, a blade made entirely of orange flames hissing in her hand, its embers stroking his stomach.
Weiss gasped. A glyph tinkled at the edge of his hearing, the tell-tale hum of gravity in his ears. No doubt ready to pull him away at a moment's notice.
"I like your eyes." Cinder smiled. "Killer," she whispered, her rotten breath on his chin—as if there was a corpse blooming inside her.
"Takes one to know one," Nex whispered back.
A breath. And a whisper. Then they pulled away, dismissing their weapons, almost as if the exchange never happened at all.
"Well, now that everything's clear," Cinder said. "Let's proceed, shall we?"
"Hmph!" Archer said, chopping a line between them with her arm. "'Twould be best for the Maiden of the False to be keeping of the distance."
"There's nothing to be afraid of, Schnee," Cinder said, inching away despite her words. Her black magic swelled around her, rabid like a cornered animal at the faintest touch of Archer's hand. "I'm not so foolish as to jeopardize our chances."
"We shall do the seeing," Archer said. "Grandmother? Will you be remaining here?"
"Bah," Raven said. "Do you take me for a helpless cripple, child?"
Archer shut her eyes for a moment, tugging her hood tighter around her head. Her extra pair of ears drooped hard against the fabric. "Nay. 'Twas a mere slipping of the tongue. Pay nought but the slightest of heed, grandmother."
"You look a little worse for wear, Ray," Qrow said, grunting as he finally ripped off part of his cape and wrapped it around his wound. "Maybe the girl's right."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I'm the one with a gaping hole in his stomach," Raven said.
Qrow winced as Ruby helped him tighten his makeshift bandage. "How do we get out of this shit-hole?"
"Lemme guess," Eir said. "There's a leyline somewhere, you two have to siphon mana off it, then a portal opens and we're suddenly home-free."
"Hmph! Verily!" Archer grinned. "'Twould appear that the Guardian has conducted the observation of the most fair!"
And with those words, they slunk out of the cave, treading the narrow path in threes. Archer and Eir stuck to Weiss like a pair of shadows, gazes drawn to Cinder, the woman at the head of their group.
It was much safer that way. Any move she made, they could see it and react in time. His semblance mewled, already halfway to licking its metaphorical wounds shut.
"Hey, kid," Qrow said, limping, favouring his left foot as the path sloped upwards. "You okay?"
Nex rolled his eyes. "Odd time to be asking, huh?"
As far as he was concerned, they were strangers with an axe to grind. Irreconcilable differences, they said, even though the sentiment would probably break his mom's heart. But the simple fact of the matter was that not every tree sprouted back after being torn in half. She would simply have to forgive him.
"I fucked up," Qrow said. "I'm... I'm sorry."
Nex chewed on his cheek, his fangs almost drawing blood. "Why'd you go?"
They were lagging behind the group now, Eir leading them in his stead.
"I couldn't take you with me," Qrow said. "It's too dangerous—"
"Bullshit." Nex hissed. "I can fight," he said. "I can do more than fight." The sting of iron spread over his tongue. "I could have helped you protect Ruby. With your mission. Or whatever it is. I'm not useless."
"No," Qrow said, turning away from his glare. "You're not. You can probably kick my ass, huh?"
"You think?" Nex said. "So why?" He licked his lips, the words cracking at the end no matter how hard he steeled his voice. "Why'd you leave me?"
"I guess," Qrow said, "You have her eyes."
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Nex said, his fist clenching in his pocket.
"I was scared," Qrow muttered. "When I looked at you that night, I didn't see my son." He grimaced, his eyes scrunching shut as he traced the crimson lines on his bandage. "I saw her. I saw my failure. I saw Mary."
"So you ran," Nex said, "and you kept running."
"I did," Qrow said, his tattered cloak billowing in the breeze. "All this time, I keep asking myself: what if I stayed?"
"You'd both be dead," Nex replied, the answer painfully obvious. "And if mom's anything like me, she wouldn't let that happen."
Qrow chuckled. "That's what she said too."
The words stilled in the huntsman's throat. For a moment, it almost seemed like he had more things to say. Some sort of confession. But he remained silent. And the silence changed nothing. He left. Not even an eternity of regrets could scrub the scars away. It was... simply too late. Too late for amends, and far too late to salvage the remnants of his family, his stolen youth.
The realization, the bitter dose of irony, stung more than a pint of beer poured over an open wound.
Nex growled. His fist blurred out of his pocket, slamming into Qrow's face with a nose-shattering squelch.
He hated to admit it. But it was far more satisfying than lashing out with his sword.
"I deserved that," Qrow muttered, snapping the crooked cartilage back in place before the rest of their curious group could see. "Happy now?"
Nex shrugged, fixing his eyes on the ruins of Atlas. "Yep. And I'll be happier once we get back."
Then they could return to being strangers. Maybe even bury the hatchet. Anything to let go of the rage churning inside him—the secret fire that had kept him alive throughout the years.
After all, he already had another flame to carry, and the proof lay before him—a child, a daughter, a woman who stirred a strange sort of pride within his hamstrung heart.
Archer stopped right at the outskirts of the city, gesturing for them to stop. "The leyline lies aught but ahead."
"You still haven't told me what spell we're gonna cast," Cinder said. "I do not appreciate being kept in the dark."
"Silence, Maiden of the False," Archer said, holding up her bow as she peered at the sprawling urban ruins. "There lies nought but shadows here. 'Twould be best if we proceed most cautiously."
"Agreed," Weiss said, nodding as she drew Myrtenaster. The guard spun until it stopped on a cartridge of ice. "We should be careful."
Cinder's face contorted in annoyance. Still, purple light flashed into her hands, a pitch-black bow settling in her grip. The weapon was made entirely of inky glass, shimmering like the night sky. She notched an arrow and tugged the string back a few times.
"Lead the way then, Schnee," Cinder said, coughing. Tiny, black veins crept over her arm, almost invisible if not for his eyes.
Nex hummed. So it was like that. She was probably infected too, just like those Grimm. Maybe she was well on her way to dying and turning into one of them. Was she holding on, looking to become a Maiden so she could stop her fall? He could respect that, admittedly, if it were true.
Archer swept her cloak towards the city, beckoning them to follow. The rusted path soon gave way to glass, the pieces cracking under their boots. And just like that, they made their first steps into the ruined streets of Atlas. The half-buried remnants of their home. Although, some of the buildings were unfamiliar.
Weiss shuddered, the flicker of a dilapidated billboard—one of the SDC's—casting a dim glow on her ashen face.
"Will this happen in our time too?" Weiss whispered.
"Probably," Nex said. "Everything dies. Apparently, our world isn't an exception."
Weiss shook her head. "I'm not letting our home be destroyed."
Nex smiled and slid his sword out, his semblance warning him of the Grimm lying in wait, lurking in the shadows of the fallen skyscraper ahead.
"Hostiles," Nex said. "Should we engage?"
"Nay," Archer said. "We ought to prepare the sneakery, for time is aught of the utmost."
Her eyes darted to an alleyway. She vaulted off, her cloak whipping behind her. Their kid was a rogue, alright. Every measured step she took and jump she made revealed her familiarity with the back alleys of Atlas. And probably Mantle as well, judging from how she melded with the darkness despite the dazzling whites and golds of her outfit.
Nex grinned. "Now that's my girl."
Weiss sighed, muttering something about like father like daughter.
"What?" Nex said, raising an eyebrow as they dashed after their kid.
"You don't really trust Cinder, do you?" Weiss said.
"I trust her to help us get back," Nex said, eyeing the woman as she took to the low-hanging rooftops. "Beyond that? Not really."
"You know her," Weiss said.
Nex cracked his neck, landing perched on a folded car. "I know of her," he said, keeping his voice down. "Rogue from Mistral. Probably the one who tried to kill the old Fall. Has a penchant for on-the-nose monikers."
"Ozpin has to know about this," Weiss said. "About the future."
"No," Nex said as they took a sharp turn, Archer leading them past swarms of Boarbatusk. "We don't tell anyone."
"Why not?" Weiss said.
"Because, sometimes knowing is half the battle," Nex said. "If we tell Ozpin that the end of the world's pretty much guaranteed, what do you think he's gonna do?"
"He'll take steps to prevent it," Weiss said. "We might—"
Nex snorted. "Have you even talked to the guy?"
Ozpin's parting words when they last spoke flitted across his mind. There's no point in fighting a losing battle, Mr Shade, the headmaster had said, I'm sure we're of one mind on that ideal.
Those were the words of a tired, broken man hiding behind a veil of pragmatism. He knew the feeling well. If they told Ozpin that they were fighting a losing battle all along, who knew what he would do? Leap off his tower? Maybe shunt the job to someone else?
No. Nex shook his head. Let the man fight a little bit more. The enemy of his enemy was a friend, after all. Or, at least, a convenient tool.
"Fine." Weiss pursed her lips. "But what about Qrow?"
Qrow shot them a glance, his ears perking up as he chugged at his flask. "What about me, huh?"
"Don't tell your boss about this hellhole," Nex said. "Or we're gonna have a problem."
"Alright," Qrow said.
"You're not going to object?" Weiss said, arching her brow.
"Nope," Qrow said, shoving his flask into his shirt. "Good ol' Oz has enough things on his mind. No need to give him an acid trip."
Nex quirked his head. "Huh." He scratched Hrunting's hilt. "You know, I've been itching for a fight."
"Heh," Qrow said, turning his gaze to the heart of Atlas, the remains of the academy itself. "There's one right there."
"'Tis of the trueness," Archer said, landing beside them. "For in there lies aught but the Forge of Creation, no doubt guarded by the creatures of the dark."
"The Forge of Creation?" Cinder said, curiosity practically dripping from her words.
"'Tis no concern of yours, Maiden of the False," Archer said. "For in this time, the relics that your dark mistress seek have long since faded into the dustiness of the history."
"How unfortunate," Cinder said, tapping her chin. "However did that happen?"
"Bah!" Raven scoffed, her katana leaving a line on the rust. "There's no purpose in telling you, girl."
"Oh?" Cinder said. "I'm sure there's purpose in it somewhere."
Raven would have spilled more about these relics, if not for the fact that Archer already went ahead. They followed, Eir taking the lead along with her, shield raised, and sword held at the ready. The red glow of the magical steel lit the walls. Black roots pulsed over them, like twisted mockeries of the ones under the earth.
The fumes of death marched into his nose. Blake gagged beside him, staggering as she walked.
Hell. It must have been hell for a pure-blooded faunus like her.
"What happened here..." Ruby said, swallowing thickly as she held on to Crescent Rose like a lifeline.
"Death, for the sun will shine and the snow will thaw," Archer said, "and all things must pass into the unknown."
A flicker of pain ghosted behind her mask. Before it vanished, almost as if it had never been there at all. Still, her sage words lingered at the back of his mind—a saying he would probably carry for the rest of his life.
Weiss frowned, her eyebrows creasing as she walked beside Archer. "We're still alive."
"Hmph." Archer's arm trembled as she raised her bow, the string twanging. The icy bolt lanced through the dark. It dashed a Beowolf's brains across the mossy floor. "'Twould be wise for the heiress—"
"Mom," Weiss said, pulling Archer into a sideways hug. Her fists crushed the fabric of her cloak. "Call me mom."
Archer stiffened as Weiss tightened her hold. "Very well, mother," she mumbled. "If you find it most pleasing."
"I said mom." Weiss smiled. "Stop being so formal."
Nex ruffled the back of Archer's hair, the coarse strands clinging to his digits. "Now that's something you don't hear every day."
"Like, Schnees, right?" Eir said, chuckling.
Archer sniffled as she squirmed in Weiss' embrace. "Can you let me go now?" Her voice shrunk. "Mom?"
"I'm not done hugging you," Weiss said, beaming. She let Archer go, patting some specks of blood off her chest. "But we can continue after we're safe."
In silence, they trekked deeper into the halls of Atlas Academy. Eir and Archer dispatched the few Grimm that they could not avoid. Blake led some of the monsters away, relying on her semblance. Ruby lingered at the back of their group and kept watch. Still, her eyes were drawn to Qrow, every time he stumbled on his uninjured side.
Inky and Leli never showed up. He half-wondered if the two were lost in some other world. Or if they even made it at all. Maybe Inky managed to cast some sort of last-minute spell to protect the two of them.
Nex took a sip of his water skin, offering the last of it to Weiss. Whatever happened to their friends, they could deal with it later. Right now, they had to focus on getting back to the present.
"'Twould be here that we make our last stand," Archer said as they stopped outside a fancy door, the emblem of Atlas carved into the steel. "Will you do us the honour, grandmother?"
"Ugh." Raven let out a snort as she limped towards the still-functioning terminal. She pressed her palm against it, the door hissing open. "And so, the queen returns to salvage her kingdom."
"Nay, 'tis no kingdom of mine," Archer said. "I do not belong here. I never did."
Nex scratched his cheek. He shot Weiss a glance. Was it because of her extra pair of ears—the fact that she was a Schnee born with the blood of a faunus?
"It was you who exiled yourself, child," Raven said. "The gates of Atlas have always been open to you. If only you opened your heart as well."
"Hmph!" Archer dragged her palm across the wall, pale-blue runes lighting the chamber. "In here rests the legacy of the future. Of dear friends and fallen comrades. 'Twould be wise for all to refrain from the touching."
Nex gulped, his chest tightening as his eyes roved over the tech. Wires bundled in tight cables snaked over the floor. Dust of all kinds, some present in their time and some not, were suspended in mechanical tubes. A portfolio of unfinished projects—impossibly advanced weapons and bots—lined the corners. In the middle of the room stood an empty pedestal, the outline of the Atlesian staff carved into the marble.
"Whoa..."
Ruby's eyes widened as they settled on a broadsword, the blacks and reds—and the grey filigree—exactly like Crescent Rose. Well, Crescent Rose if someone teched it out to the maximum, the craftsmanship almost on par with Hrunting and Vigilance.
Ruby gasped. "That's!"
Nex shrugged, a grin stretching his cheeks. "Yep."
"This is the best day ever!" Ruby giggled and hopped towards it, roses spinning on her trail.
"Nerds." Blake snickered.
Nex rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please, like, tell me more," Eir said.
Nex rolled his eyes again. They were about to turn into rollercoasters, if Blake and Eir continued their back and forth.
Weiss chuckled. "At least she's feeling a little better now."
Qrow winced at that, dodging Weiss' heated stare.
"Make ready with thine weaponry," Archer said, marching to the pedestal. "What you may wield, you may take. The Maiden of the False and I shall be convening of the spell-work."
"Finally," Cinder said as she followed after Archer. "I was beginning to think that you were blowing smoke up our behinds."
"Asses," Archer said, scoffing. "'Twould be the vulgarity dost thou seek, Maiden of the False."
Nex laughed, even as Weiss elbowed his rib.
Guess where she learned that one, huh?
A minute passed, and the two Maidens finished their work. They stood on opposite sides of the pedestal, Archer's Oathkeeper taking the place of whatever it originally held. Apparently, she only needed Cinder to channel her magic into the blade—she would do the casting, the moulding of the spell, herself.
A wise choice, denying Cinder the secrets of time.
Knowledge like that...
Nex licked his lips as they took up posts around the room, guarding the door.
Admittedly, he would have been lying if he said it did not tempt the scholar within him. He could see it, imagine the possibilities. But some things were forbidden for a reason. And even his semblance feared what he would become if he truly let loose, breaking free from the chains of rationality.
Nexus Shade. The one who broke time. But then again, his daughter was the one who held that title. And there was absolutely no way he could be any prouder.
"Oh, spirits of light and thunder," Archer chanted, her eyes glowing the brightest of silver. "I beseech thee!"
Orange rays burst from Cinder's eyes as she thrust her hands towards her Oathkeeper. Molten fire wreathed the blade, the tell-tale shine of magic flooding the room. Stormy clouds crackled around Oathkeeper and crowned it with darkness, motes of gold shimmering past the hilt.
His semblance squirmed at the build-up of magic. A headache rose from the recesses of his mind. But still, it was not as bad as before.
Good. It was about time it got used to the stuff.
The howls of Grimm shattered the silence.
Red eyes blinked beyond the sudden blackness concealing the door.
Footsteps drummed the tiles as cracks echoed in the dark.
"Oh, wow, there's like a thousand of them," Eir said, craning his neck to peer past the doors. "Like, can't we get a break for once?"
A thousand, huh?
Nex steadied his grip on Hrunting and Vigilance. One thing a hand cannon excelled at was blasting hordes of Grimm with explosives—and he had his weapon assume that exact form.
"Here they come!" Ruby yelled. She brandished Crescent Rose MK2, the weapon shifting into a wicked-looking assault rifle, a grenade canister attached to its muzzle. "Open fire!"
The Grimm barged into the chamber. First, a swarm of Beowolves, their fangs and claws raking Eir's shield, the knight blocking the cramped doors. Ruby covered him with a burst of dust rounds. The bullets razed chunks of Grimm flesh, exploding and littering the floor with gorey bits.
The second wave rolled into the room, with the sound of bone scraping against rock.
Boarbatusks.
Weiss lunged past him, slashing with her rapier. Black glyphs tinkled and formed a maze, caging the Boarbatusks. They smashed against each other. Blood sprayed the air. The Boarbatusks squealed, even as Weiss ran out of steam, leaving half of them dead and skewered.
"My turn," Nex said, his cannon roaring as it blasted a hole through a Boarbatusk's belly.
Ice burst from the shell he fired and froze the ones behind it solid—in a fan-shaped curve that stretched out into the jammed corridor.
Qrow stepped up and joined him. His shotgun spewed buckshots that spread in a huge arc. Raven hung back, taking potshots whenever she could. Fireballs. Shards of ice. Thunder. She had it all at the tip of her sword, reinforced by the ones coming from Weiss' glyphs—and the turrets affixed to the roof that still worked.
The third wave came just as Eir and Blake wiped out the last of the Beowolves.
Grombies. A metric fuckton of them bumping against each other in the corridor. The few that squeezed into the chamber moaned and held their mangled arms out. Blood-red claws sprouted from their hands. Some of them held the weapons of huntsmen—as terrifying as it was.
Their claws clashed against his sword as he took the helm, slicing a Grombie in half. He twisted on his heel. Another Grombie lunged past him, its snapping jaws brushing his nose. Its teeth reeked of blood—their presence, colder than death.
Nex growled as a shard of ice—from Weiss' sword—poked out the Grombie's brains. Still, more of them came, reinforced by lumbering Ursa and Spectres ghosting through the rundown walls.
Eir squeaked—a tiny little sound—before he flung balls of wind at the Spectres and shredded their gaseous forms apart.
Nex grunted. His blade parried an Ursa's arm, the limb as wide as the trunk of a tree. It reared back and crashed its weight against him. Its warm, flesh-bitten breath kissed his lips.
He groaned. Disgusting. His nose died as he summoned the strength to shove it back, following through with a whirling dervish, the Ursa's head rolling on the floor.
"Almost there!" Archer said through gritted teeth before she continued her mumbled chanting.
Nex pulled back, letting Eir act as a stopper for the Grimm.
Doubtful they could last even an hour more—
A shrill shriek, one that cut through the thick stone walls, put an end to that line of thought.
His extra pair of ears flattened, his breath scraping his lungs.
"The fuck is that?" Qrow said.
A slanted shadow flitted across the door.
The entire wall exploded into a rain of debris and gore, the giant forcing its way through.
It stood thrice as tall as Eir—by far the tallest of them all—and twice as wide. Every step it took left deep imprints on the stone, its feet shaped almost like a lizard's. It lumbered atop two legs, leathery, bat-like wings folded on its back. A forked tongue slithered out of its lips. Its crimson eyes glared at them as if they were a feast ripe for the taking.
Nex readied his weapon. A woman's face was laid bare on the monster's chest, her eyes shut in slumber. What struck him the most was how familiar she looked. She looked almost like Blake—
"Selene!" Archer said, her chanting coming to a stop. She drew a harsh, shaky breath, screaming, "Monster!"
The raw anguish in Archer's voice was drowned out by the wails of the Grimm as it charged towards Qrow and blitzed him into a wall. It reared its neck, mouth gaping towards Qrow's face. Poised to eat him alive. But the huntsman had both hands on its forehead, trying to push it off.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shrieked, Crescent Rose blasting the back of the monster's spine. Only for the bullets to bounce off its sleek, bone-white armour.
"I got him!" Eir heaved, drawing his broad chest in.
With a flash of red, the knight flew across the room. He smashed against the monster's side, sending it careening back towards the crowd of Grombies.
The monster's girth bowled them over like empty bottles of beer, the unlucky ones crushed, splattering into pools of viscera.
The moment was upon him, Leli's voice echoing in his mind.
Nex growled and took the chance. His weapon extended into a war spear, then the blade folded to reveal an axe's tip. A halberd. The deadliest polearm in his arsenal. Thunder crackled as he leapt and swung down as if it were a warhammer, the monster's underbelly exposed while it lay on its back.
But it was not meant to be. In a display of intelligence, it rolled on its side, at the last moment, letting Hrunting and Vigilance slide off its armour.
"Balls," Nex said, pulling his weapon back.
Cursing, he upped his footwork, weaving around the Grimm. He swatted some of them away just as the monster's tail lashed at his feet, the wind whistling in his extra pair of ears.
"Weiss!" Nex bit out, hopping over the appendage.
The blade of his halberd folded back to a spear's tip, the shift in its gravity letting him dodge another attack. He scored headshots on the man-shaped Grimm and took three of them out at the same time.
Glyphs tinkled, and Nex let Weiss pull him away, into their backline as Eir rushed towards the crowd, mowing them down with a wide slash of his blazing sword.
"We can't do this all day!" Eir said, locked in a sudden struggle against the monstrous Grimm. "Are you done ye—"
It slipped past him, jaws flying towards Raven.
"Grandmother!" Archer gasped.
"Hmph!" Raven spread her legs, katana held before her eyes. "Observe, Creeper, the pinnacle of swordsmanship..."
Was that?
Pareidolia trembled.
It was.
A technique that he had only half-mastered, rumoured to be the absolute peak of the Mistralian sword arts.
"Damn," Nex whispered, the world turning grey as his semblance tried to etch the moment into his mind.
Raven swayed on her feet the moment the Creeper crashed into her. Her aura surged, a crimson arc blossoming as she lunged past the Grimm. Only a mirage of her remained, the Creeper's jaw crushing its illusory neck.
She did it.
She fucking did it.
And then she withered, her face ageing decades more as she shook like a tree caught in a typhoon, falling into Eir's arms.
Raven Branwen had poured everything she had left into that single strike.
The two halves of the Creeper's head creaked as its eyes tried to find its prey. Not even a second later and the Creeper's body fell with a wet squelch, dyeing the stone red.
"Let my words reach thee!" Archer said, the space before Oathkeeper rippling, cracking into a kaleidoscope of colours. "Grant this Heroine passage, o' beating heart of the fall!"
Golden light streamed from the portal, Cinder letting out a throaty growl as her magic forced it open, just a little wider. The sands of Vacuo swept across the floor, slipping through the tear in reality. Just beyond it, stood Ciana and Inky, their hands joined as their lips moved in a silent chant, heads prostrated before the stormy skies. Leli kept watch with daggers in her grip, a shadow that clung to Inky's back.
So that was where they went.
Archer collapsed on her knees, hands pawing at the Creeper's bloated stomach. Blood caked her fingers. Still, she carried on, her eyes hardening as she dug out the upper half of the girl. The girl who resembled the ghost ninja of their team so much—except for the ashen-blonde hair—that she might as well be her daughter.
"Selene," Archer mumbled, stroking the girl's brow. "You have to wake up."
Blake froze as she stood behind Archer, eyes fixed on the dying girl. Her mouth hinged open.
"Fio..." Selene croaked, her pallid throat bobbing. "You came back..."
"I missed you," Archer whispered. "Dumbass."
"Nerd," Selene said. Her cracked lips managed a grin, gums beaten black and red. "You're getting the last laugh, huh?"
"Nay!" Archer's hand glowed white. It fizzled out, the magic dying. "I can heal you—"
"You can't..." Selene said. She glanced at Blake, her eyes widening. "Looks like I'm already dead."
Blake's shoulders tensed. "Who are you?"
"What do you think," Selene said, hacking up globs of black blood. "Listen, mom. You have got to stop fingering yourself every night... And get together with dad, okay?"
Archer laughed, tears trailing down her cheeks as she rested Selene's head on the floor. "I promise. I'll succeed. This time."
"Even if you don't..." Selene said, staring at the crumbling roof. "Promise me you'll let go."
Archer growled, glaring at the rows of Grombies piling into the room.
"You have to move on..." Selene said.
Selene winced as she pressed her palms against the floor. Her entire body phased out of the Creeper's stomach like a ghost. She hobbled to her feet, reaching through her chest and pulling out a pair of automatics.
Blake's eyebrows furrowed. A cocktail of emotions flitted across her face.
"Can you still fight?" Raven said, staring at the tides of Grimm.
Selene cocked her guns and spat a mouthful of blood, wiping her chin with the sleeve of her yukata. "Born to fight, baby," she said, aiming them at the shambling monsters.
Nex licked his lips, eyeing Cinder as she leapt through the portal. "We don't have much time."
If Cinder did anything to disrupt the spell, then they would be stuck in the future. They had no time. Neither for grieving nor for processing what they just saw.
Archer swallowed thickly, grabbing Weiss' arm as she led them to the portal. "Farewell," she murmured, nodding at Raven and Selene.
"Bah!" Raven threw herself at a Beowolf, blocking its path with her body. She whimpered as it bit into her shoulder, bone crunching as blood spewed from the wound. "Just go!"
With Raven's screams behind them, and the barking of Selene's guns, they sprinted through the portal. The Vacuan wind smeared their faces with dust and heat. Nex crashed against the temple floor. The portal shut just as he did, having been the last to pass through.
"Are we all here?" Weiss said, helping him to his feet.
Nex did a headcount. All of them made it through. Including Cinder, the woman vanishing behind a pillar.
"Yeah, like, we all made it," Eir said.
"Aye!" Inky said, clapping Ciana's shoulder. "See, big sis? You be doing your good deed for the day, eh?"
Ciana hmphed, sweat pouring down her freckled cheeks as she leaned against her staff. Her spectacles were cracked, barely hanging on to a string tied around her neck. "Forget it not, sister. When we return, we are rivals once—"
Pareidolia let loose an unearthly shriek, rocking the walls of his skull.
Something hissed through the air.
Cinder.
Nex gritted his teeth, heels digging into the sand as he stretched his arms out, trying to tackle Archer away from whatever it was.
He could make it. This time around. His fingers brushed her chin, his other palm already digging into the flat of her chest. A little bit more and he would take her place, like any good father should.
A second. And Nexus Shade made it. Made it close enough to see the blackened spike skewer his daughter's heart, right before his eyes.
Too late.
Too slow.
Too tired.
"Bestie!" Inky gasped.
Archer's breath hitched. Blood trickled down the edges of her pale lips, gleaming like gold under the Vacuan sun.
Weiss' eyes bulged, her lips contorting as she screamed, "No!"
Cinder cackled, fire and lightning coiled around her. "Yes! Now I shall become whole once again!"
Not if he could help it.
The world turned grey as he pivoted on his heel, his semblance guiding his arm while the momentum from his ill-fated lunge lingered. Hrunting and Vigilance slashed at the spike, with Eir's blade a red blur.
A burst of magic slammed against Nex and sent him spinning into a pillar, the stone digging painfully into his back.
Fire.
It was fire.
White fire.
A gout of Inky's flames swamped the sands, turning every grain they touched into glittering glass. The golden city shook as Inky's magic clashed against Cinder's, the false Maiden calling forth a pitch-black barrier.
Ice.
Ciana had her staff out, a hurricane riddled with spikes of ebony ice grinding against Cinder's shield.
Weiss roared like she never had before. She summoned a cloud of purple glyphs and poured gravity down on Cinder's shield.
Hrunting. Crescent Rose. Gambol Shroud. Eir's magic. Qrow with his shotgun. Everyone unleashed their payload, trying to crack it open.
"You traitorous bitch..." Archer said. She pawed at the spike that led to Cinder's outstretched palm, trying to snap it off.
"Die!" Cinder said.
Another spike tore through Archer's eye, piercing her skull. Bits of bloody bone caked the wind. Her chipped, broken mask peeled off her face, sinking into the sand.
Archer fell. Her back hit the floor. A river of blood spread below her, dyeing the altar red.
The life left Nexus Shade's lungs the moment her heart gave its last gasp, his grip on Hrunting going slack.
Dead.
She was dead.
Their daughter was dead.
Cinder laughed, the spikes swerving back to her arms. Her eyes burned. "Finally!"
She snapped her fingers. A wisp of fire danced on her nails. She snapped them again. And again. The fire did not grow any bigger—only the cracks on her shield did.
"It's not possible," Cinder mumbled, her snapping growing furious. "Why?! Why didn't it work!"
A chuckle.
A wet chuckle.
Impossible. She was dead. Her heartbeat stopped—
"I lied," Archer whispered as she rose from the grave, the mangled chasms across her flesh sealing themselves shut—including the gaping hole in her brain. "Not all things must die, Maiden of the False."
"What?!" Cinder said as her eyes grew wide, golden glyphs trapping her in place. "But that's—"
"This divine lightning shall pierce the skies!" Archer said, a brilliant arrow buzzing in her hand. "Requiem of the Gods!"
Gold.
A flash of magic.
Silence.