~Skies over Vale~
*Narrator POV*
Over the darkened skies of Vale, with the sight of Beacon Academy, though in slight ruins, just in view a flash of silver passes in view while the form was comet-like racing towards the ruined academy, a singular figure, though wearing heavy armor, was taking a more... draconic shape all the while the roaring sounds of anger and hate can be heard from said comet.
~Beacon Academy Vault~
Within the secret vault under Beacon Academy, the corridor was shadowed all around that was until flashes of green and vermillion began illuminating the corridor, and progressively getting more intense and violent. As the more evident flashes occur, it can be seen as both Ozpin, wielding his cane, The Long Memory, while battling against Cinder Falls, now the newly risen Fall Maiden, with all the Maiden's power, as the two began clashing against one another with their weapons. After one clash, Cinder slides back, using her hand to melt the floor below her, and summons ice crystals from the newly-formed substance, hurling them towards Ozpin. Ozpin deflects them all by moving at superhuman speed, and then darts forward and delivers a bunch of strikes at Cinder with his cane, with the last blow launching her back. Cinder then floats midair by unleashing her Maiden power. Ozpin then slams his cane into the floor, forming a spherical force-field around him. Cinder then unleashes a powerful fire blast, with Ozpin leaping into the attack with the barrier protecting him. As he closes in on her, the entirety of the corridor flashes in white.
~Docks near Beacon Academy~
Over near the docks outside Beacon Academy, several air buses and various Citadel transports were arriving to retrieve the last of the students and civilians from the chaos. Even though Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck were overseeing the evacuation, several Citadel species were assisting while others were providing medical assistance to those with injuries.
"That's it! Everyone on board!" Peter Port calls out to everyone. "This is a mandatory evacuation!"
"A safe-zone has been established in Vale!" Dr. Oobleck follows after Peter Port. "Please, remain calm and listen to Citadel personnel!"
Nearby with the evacuation, both Weiss and Ruby, followed by Zwei, found NMDY and SPRD along with Jacob, Zaheed, and Mordin, as the latter was monitoring Yang's vitals. While the group were looking after Blake and Yang, Zwei's barking caught their attention as they saw Ruby and Weiss coming forward.
"Ruby!" Garrus calls out as Ruby then crashes into Garrus hugging him. Garrus returns worried. "Ruby, what were you thinking? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Garrus," Ruby replied while Liara hugged Weiss, worried as well. "What's going on?"
Garrus and Liara, followed by everyone else were silent unsure what to say, earning concern from Ruby and Weiss.
"Garrus, Liara, what's wrong?" Weiss asked this time around. Steeling themselves for their reaction, both Garrus and Liara moved to the side showing the two behind them, which earned a shocked and saddened expression before them as they can see both Blake and Yang on the ground with bandages around their wounds, but the latter was unconscious as Grunt kneeled beside Yang watching over her. Behind the two, both Nora and Ren were battered and bruised, too much to fight anymore. Blake moves her hand over to Yang while Tali was trying to settle Blake's nerves.
"I'm sorry..." Blake apologizes while her tears were forming. Weiss held a hand over her mouth after seeing the state of her friends while Ruby tried to say something but couldn't with her emotional state. Blake cries while curling herself and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry..."
"Blake, this wasn't your fault." Tali comforts Blake while rubbing her arm.
"Yang..." Ruby says extremely concerned about her sister.
"Hey," Shepard's voice called to Ruby as he pats her head. "Your sister's strong, she'll pull through. Right now, there are ships ready to take you all beck to Vale."
"Wait!" Nora called out earning everyone's attention. "But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing!"
Nora tries to get up before wincing in pain.
"Don't move, Nora. Pinga!" Vega says while laying Nora down.
"WHAT?!" Ruby shouts.
"Look guys," Sun called out before pointing at Beacon. "That giant Grimm keeps circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out, well, the ones that didn't get wounded or captured."
"But... (Y/N)-Darling went there!" Weiss calls out after.
"WHAT?!" NMDY, SPRD, and everyone else shots in shock.
"How?" Shepard asked.
"I... I don't know," Ruby replied. "I think Big Brother snapped after you called him."
We tried talking to him, but his Aura and Biotics went ballistic!" Weiss continues after Ruby. "(Y/N)-Darling's power skyrocketed sending all of us back and he made this... Ohm-awful roar before flying towards Beacon!"
"That must've been what scared the Grimm off," Ren says after. "When Nora and I were fighting the Grimm, we heard a roar, and it made the Grimm run off. Thank Ohm for that. Besides, we're not... leaving..."
Ren tries to stand, before dropping from his wounds and letting out a pained groan as he was helped down by Jacob and Miranda. There was silence in the area as everyone held a worried or concerned expression until...
"I'll find them," Ruby said gaining everyone's attention. "I'll find them, and I'll bring them back."
"No!" Weiss says but stood by Ruby. "WE will find them."
"Not alone you two," Garrus says before readying his sniper rifle followed by Liara standing by them. Garrus then looks to Shepard. "Shepard..."
"Don't worry, we'll watch over them," Shepard replies. "You four have 45 minutes. GO!"
From there, Ruby, Weiss, Garrus, and Liara made a B-line towards Beacon Academy while everyone watched them run into the distance.
~Outside Beacon Tower~
Showing the outside of Beacon Tower, with much debris and destruction around, the sounds of Ozpin and Cinder's battle could be heard as both Pyrrha and Jaune raced outside before stopping a few feet away from the tower.
"Okay, I think I have Glynda's number, the same with John and (Y/N)'s," Jaune says before stepping to the side looking through his scroll. "Oh, where are they?"
Pyrrha turns and silently looks at the tower in the time.
"Pyrrha..." Jaune's voice calls out breaking her sight as an open rocket locker was nearby. "What was all of that?"
"I..." Pyrrha goes to tell Juane but a sudden explosion interrupts Pyrrha followed the sight by Cinder using fire to fly up through the elevator shaft. The two teens stare at the tower in surprise.
"But... Ozpin..." Jaune says in disbelief.
"There's no time..." Pyrrha says before earning a determined expression and looked to Jaune. "Go. Get to Vale and call for help."
"Huh?" Jaune asked confused. "What are you gonna do?"
Pyrrha didn't answer but began looking at the tower earning Jaune's answer.
"No... No, Pyrrha, you can't!" Jaune says trying to steer Pyrrha away. "You saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha, (Y/N)'s the only one who's strong enough to face her. I won't let you do-"
Jaune was silenced when Pyrrha hugged Jaune as a silent tear fell before her eye.
"Thank you, Jaune, for being my friend," Pyrrha tells her as she placed a hand on Jaune's chest. "But... I'm sorry..."
Before Juane could question, Pyrrha, using her Semblance, shoves Jaune into the open rocket locker before the said locker shuts itself from the impact.
"No, wait! Pyrrha, stop!" Jaune calls out from within the locker while Pyrrha places coordinates onto the keypad. "STOP! Pyrrha, please, don't do this! (Y/N) wouldn't want you to do this!"
Pyrrha looked into Jaune's eyes one last time before the locker flies off away from Beacon. Once it vanishes into the distance, she clenches her fists and, once again, adopts a determined demeanor as she walks toward the tower. Once she steps through the entrance, she runs to the nearest elevator and uses her Semblance to force the doors open. Inside, she finds that Cinder has left a large hole in the floor and roof of the elevator on her way up. Pyrrha steps inside the elevator, closes her eyes, and begins mustering all of her strength. The elevator begins shaking. She focuses even harder, straining herself, until the elevator begins a quick ascent toward the top.
~Near Beacon Academy Courtyards~
Back onto the group of four, they were nearing the courtyard of Beacon until Weiss's Scroll goes off making them stop.
"It's Jaune!" Weiss says before answering Jaune's call. "Jaune, where are you?!"
"Weiss!" Jaune calls out Weiss's name from a street somewhere in Vale. "Where's (Y/N)?! He has to stop her!"
"What?" Weiss asked confused.
"Jaune, what are you talking about?" Garrus asked over Weiss's shoulder.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouts earning worried expressions from the four, especially Weiss and Liara for their harem sister. "She's going after Cinder, at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"
The four look up towards the tower's top before looking back onto Weiss's scroll.
"Jaune, what are you talking about?!" Weiss asked Jaune. "Where are you?!"
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" Jaune shouts earning surprised expression from his tone. "Please... find (Y/N)! Please... you have to save Pyrrha..."
"We will, Jaune. Are you okay?" Liara asked Jaune, but in a final fit of emotion, Jaune cries out in anger and throws his scroll, breaking it, before kneeling down and cried his emotions. With the four, the call ends suddenly after hearing Jaune's emotional roar. In that time, Liara was able to pinpoint Jaune's location and sent it to Shepard. "Shepard, I managed to locate Jaune. Send a team to retrieve him."
"Got it, I'm sending Vega, Jacob, Zaheed, and Miranda after him. Hurry, that Wyvern is circling around again!" Shepard replied until a sudden quake alerts the four to the incoming danger as the Wyvern Grimm flies around dropping black ooze forming Grimm until it perches itself on one of the tower's arches before uttering a roaring screech. As the Grimm forming from the black ooze, Ruby draws out Crescent Rose in its scythe form.
"I have a plan." Ruby says while Garrus readies a clip into his sniper rifle.
"You always do." Weiss says after unsheathing Myrtenaster while Liara flares her biotics until the four charge at the incoming Grimm.
~Top of Beacon Tower, Former Ozpin's Office~
At the top of the tower, in Ozpin's office, a large amount of smoke flows out from the elevator, masking the entrance of Cinder Fall as she confidently strides to the window across the room with a evil smirk on her face. As if sensing her presence, the Wyvern climbs up to the top, peers at her through the window, and screeches.
"Shhh... This is your home now." Cinder tells the Wyvern in a comforting, gentle tone, though evil, nonetheless. The Wyvern stares at her and utters a shorter, quieter screech. Cinder backs away from the window and holds her hand out to the side, creating a fireball in her palm. The sound of sparks distracts her, and she looks over her shoulder at the elevator, her fireball dissipating. After a few moments, the sparks come to a stop, and immediately upon the elevator doors' opening, Pyrrha's spear flies toward Cinder, who casually leans to her right to dodge with a smirk on her face.
The spear is soon followed by Pyrrha's shield, backed by Pyrrha herself, and Cinder puts her arms up, blocking it and pushing it away. While Cinder uses fire to hover in the air, Pyrrha calls her spear and shield back to her with polarity, staring down her opponent. Cinder gains a fiery glow around her eyes and swipes her hand through the air, attacking Pyrrha with an arc of fire. She then shoots a stream of fire, which Pyrrha dives over. Six small fireballs form in a circle behind Cinder, and she sends another streak of fire toward Pyrrha, who barely avoids it.
In the moment, Cinder sends forth a powerful stream of fire towards Pyrrha, who blocks the stream with her shield. She leaps toward Cinder, powering through the flame, and as soon as the fire stops, she spins around and attempts to slash Cinder's arm with her spear. However, Cinder catches the blade and pulls, turning Pyrrha around. Cinder slams her palm into Pyrrha's stomach, and fire bursts forth, blasting Pyrrha away.
Pyrrha slams into a wall and falls to her hands and knees before standing back up and faces Cinder with determination still in her eyes. Cinder propels herself forward with flames jetting from her hands, smirking once again. She attempts to slam into Pyrrha's abdomen, but Pyrrha leaps into the air above her and wraps her arm around Cinder's. As Cinder slows to a stop, Pyrrha positions herself to place her feet on the wall behind her and pushes off, flipping herself over Cinder. She uses the momentum to flip and toss Cinder across the floor. This, in turn, causes a series of slashes and strikes from Pyrrha's spear until Cinder knocks Pyrrha into the air while Pyrrha redirects herself into the air and tossed her spear towards Cinder while firing the gun mechanism. Cinder knocks Pyrrha's spear away before doing the same with Pyrrha's shield. After being momentarily distracted by the shield, Cinder returns her attention to Pyrrha and gains a look of slight surprise, then annoyance.
Pyrrha launches herself toward Cinder and puts her arms around her, tackling her. The two turn each other in mid-air, fighting to be the one on top. Upon their landing, the room fills with a white cloud. When the dust settles, Pyrrha has Cinder in a choke hold, and Cinder is barely managing to hold Pyrrha's spear away from her neck. The Wyvern flies away, and Cinder's eyes begin glowing as she applies heat to the spear in her hands. Her grip tightens as she heats the spear more and more, staring over her shoulder at Pyrrha. That was until the screeching sounds of the Wyvern could be heard earning a smirk from Cinder, but also a look of fear from Pyrrha. In Pyrrha's distracted sight of the Wyvern, Cinder snaps Pyrrha's spear into pieces. While the Wyvern's wing strikes against the roof of Ozpin's office, Cinder elbows Pyrrha into her abdomen as a green glow emits after the windows shatter as Pyrrha goes flying across the room. Various debris and giant cogs come crashing down within the office while the roof of the office, followed by the structure containing the tower's CCT transmitter, fall onto the courtyard outside in pieces.
Once regaining her composure, Pyrrha crawls over to her shield before noticing Cinder levitating over her with flames jetting from her feet. Pyrrha looking for a way to distract Cinder, notices Ozpin's desk and used her Semblance to throw the desk onto Cinder sending her away. Pyrrha then grabs her shield before rolling across the ground and lands on her knees holding her shield up. In a burst of flames, Cinder throws the desk off herself before levitating once more before sending forth two streams of fire towards Pyrrha who dodges out of the way before attempting to block a third stream but stumbles backwards as teh floor momentarily catches on fire while Pyrrha rolled to her feet. From behind the wall of flame, Pyrrha throws her shield at Cinder, who confidently backhands it away. She then looks up in surprise to see a multitude of giant cogs floating in the air around her. Using her Semblance, Pyrrha directs her shield to knock Cinder's feet from beneath her before slamming a cog onto Cinder in attempts to pinning Cinder to the floor. Once recalling her shield back, Pyrrha then brings the cogs together into a pile on top of Cinder. However, Cinder blasts them away with a powerful burst of fire, sending them in all directions. One of the cogs flies toward Pyrrha, who raises her shield to block, in vain. The force of the impact slams her into the remains of a wall, taking away the last of her Aura.
~Beacon Academy Courtyard~
Into the courtyard, both Ruby and Weiss fight off the Grimm while Liara uses her various Biotic abilities to corral the Grimm in one setting before sending forth a Biotic shockwave before the eruption of Biotic power. Garrus, however, snipes away every Grimm with precision and accuracy.
"We've got to hurry!" Ruby calls out after slashing through a Beowolf. That was until Weiss looked up along the tower's side and creates a line of glyphs.
"You can do this." Weiss tells Ruby.
"Ruby, you and Garrus get up there and help," Liara tells Ruby after lifting an Ursa up before throwing it towards a pyramid line of Creeps knocking them over in a "strike" one would say before looking at Garrus. "Watch over Ruby."
"Hehe..." Garrus chuckles before reloading his sniper rifle. "I always do."
Ruby gives both Weiss and Liara a nod until Ruby uses her Semblance to propel herself and Garrus onto the first glyph before running up the tower side.
~Top of Beacon Tower~
Back to the top, Cinder forms an obsidian bow in her hand while drawing the bow back with an obsidian arrow in hand. Pyrrha charges forward, spins, and throws her shield towards Cinder as she fires the arrow. The arrow shatters upon the shield's impact, but glows orange above and below Pyrrha' shield before reforming once more into an arrow and continue its path onto its directed target: Pyrrha's ankle. Once made its mark, Pyrrha scream in pain and soon collapses. She tries to stand up but falls once more as the pain was too much. Pyrrha tries to remove the arrow until both ends break off making removal impossible, or to Cinder's case. Pyrrha turns over onto her hands and knees while Cinder moves to stand in front of her.
"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours," Cinder tells Pyrrha before she kneels down and lifts Pyrrha's chin, staring into her eyes and giving her an evil smile. "But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."
"..." Pyrrha was silence for a moment before moving herself away from Cinder's hand and matches Cinder's stare. "Do you believe in destiny?"
Cinder frowns for a moment before narrowing her eyes at Pyrrha until answering...
"Yes." Cinder replies as she forms an obsidian bow with an arrow drawn, aimed at Pyrrha's heart. Pyrrha readies herself for her final end.
"(Y/N)... I'm sorry... I love you... Goodbye..." Pyrrha thought while giving a smile one last time... or so she thought. Before Cinder could fire her arrow, a silver flash drops in between Cinder and Pyrrha making Cinder back away dispersing her bow and arrow. A large plume of dust emits around the tower top. "What... What happened?"
As the dust and smoke cleared, a light of silver can be shown as it was glowing brighter as the dust passes. Cinder, however, wasn't too happy being interrupted.
"Who are you?" Cinder questioned until the smoke finally cleared revealing an individual in a bright silver draconic armor as the more noticeable silver wings and horns could be seen, but the addition of a flowing silver cape and a small ethereal crown floating above in between the horns while burning a silver flame.
(A/N): Add the silver draconic wings and horns, the cape is silver, while a floating silver crown in silver flames hovers over the helmet.
"(Y-Y/N)?" Pyrrha asked in shock, but also in happiness that (Y/N) was there.
"Not quite, True Maiden." The figure, although (Y/N), replied but in the same disoriented voices spoke.
"T-True Maiden?" Pyrrha questioned. "I... I don't understand."
"You will in time," "(Y/N)" replied before looking upon Cinder levitating in the air. "You... are a False Maiden."
"Excuse me?" Cinder questions while earning an angered tone. "This power is mine, and mine alone! Only I can use it. This is MY promised power!"
"From whom? Salem?" "(Y/N)" asked earning a confused expression from Pyrrha while a scowling expression from Cinder. "Child, you are a pawn in her game. Once you outlived your usefulness, Salem will only discard you and you'll be forgotten. Just like the others before you."
"Who... WHAT are you?!" Cinder asked once more, but anger in tone.
"We... are the Past Silver Emperors united as one, and you..." "(Y/N)" replied before summoning a sword created of silver aura and held it tightly in his hand.
(A/N): This weapon in silver.
"...will be removed from history, False Maiden." "(Y/N)" continues after while gripping his sword in hand. Cinder, screaming in rage, sends forth a stream of fire towards "(Y/N)" while Pyrrha crawls away to hide but also watch the battle in play. As the stream inched closer to "(Y/N)," he lifts his free hand up and conjures a silver flame shield that not only stopped the fire stream but added more power to the silver flame shield. Noticing her Maiden powers wouldn't help, Cinder forms two obsidian blades and rushed over and tried to slash at "(Y/N)" only to find out her obsidian blades were VERY ineffective against "(Y/N)'s" silver sword as they shattered upon impact, but never reformed afterwards. IN her moment of shock, "(Y/N)" grips Cinder's throat and lifts her into the air before choke slamming Cinder, as she coughed up spit and some blood, and bounced from the ground only to be roughly kicked away by the metallic boot.
From the side, both Ruby and Garrus reached the top only to see a battle between Cinder and "(Y/N)" but Garrus noticed Pyrrha with an injured ankle.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby calls out while also caught Cinder's attention as she quickly forms her obsidian bow and fires an arrow... straight towards Ruby.
"Ruby, look out!" Pyrrha shouts while Garrus shields Ruby with his body, but the arrow never hit the two. "No..."
Feeling no pain, Garrus removes himself from Ruby as the two looked at the shield that was "(Y/N)."
"Big... Brother?" Ruby questioned before the hulking armored figure drops to the ground with an arrow in his chest. Cinder, from the side, smirks victoriously while teh Wyvern Grimm drops down and screeches. Ruby, however, looked upon the body of her elder brother in shock before tears came rushing down before she screams. "BIG BROTHER!!!!"
As Ruby screamed, a silver flash emits from her eyes covering the entire area reaching over to both Cinder and the Wyvern Grimm. The Wyvern Grimm screeches before freezing into stone, while Cinder was in complete shock.
"WHAT?!" Cinder cries out, but never noticed a silver chain wrapping around her right arm until it was too late. The chain rips off Cinder's right arm earning a pained scream from the false maiden.
After a minute of the silver light covering the area, it dispersed leaving Ruby standing for a moment until she fell only to be caught by Garrus.
"Ruby!" Garrus shouts in worry before laying her down. "Ruby, can you hear me?"
Ruby opened her eyes for a moment before looking at her elder brother's corpse until she went unconscious. while Pyrrha crawled her way over and cried onto her lover's chest.
"(Y/N)... please... wake up..." Pyrrha pleaded while crying. Garrus, though worried for Ruby and (Y/N), looked around and noticed the Wyvern Grimm encased in stone while Cinder... disappeared, with the exception of an arm on the ground. Before Garrus could think, a crow appeared before shapeshifting into Qrow as he looked upon his niece and nephew and rushed over at the two.
"Garrus, what happened?" Qrow questioned while looking over Ruby. "Ruby's unconscious, but okay."
"By the time we arrived, (Y/N) was encased in some silver armor with his wings and horns in view and he was fighting Cinder while she was using the Maiden's power," Garrus replied earning a shocked expression on Qrow's face. "We know about the Maidens and their power and a few other things, but not now. When Ruby and I were watching, we saw Pyrrha injured which made Ruby call out to her, but Cinder fired an arrow at us. I was prepared to take the hit, but (Y/N)... he... he shielded us taking the hit as he fell over. Ruby cried out "Big Brother" before her eyes shunned like (Y/N)'s did and covered the area in silver. Once the light receded, Ruby fell unconscious, the Wyvern turned to stone, and Cinder escaped, though with injury."
"Ruby must've used her Silver Eyes, that's why she's unconscious." Qrow said before looking at the fallen body of his nephew. Everyone's thoughts were interrupted when a bullhead arrived as the rest of NMDY, SPRD, and the rest arrive to see the Wyvern on stone, Ruby unconscious with Qrow and Garrus looking over her, but what caught everyone's attention, mainly (Y/N)'s girlfriends, was Pyrrha crying over a silver armored individual who cried out (Y/N)'s name over and over. Before anyone could say anything, the corpse flickers catching everyone off guard before the corpse flickers out and back standing up before walking forward before disappearing in front of a living (Y/N).
"(Y/N)?" Pyrrha asked once more with tears still forming.
"As I said before, not quite, but yes," The figure replied before looking over at the stone-encased Wyvern. "Let us take care of this, shall we?"
In the figure's right hand, a small silver orb began forming until it was the size of a baseball, aimed it at the Wyvern, and fired the orb destroying the stone-encased Grimm letting it fall across the tower and below.
"That should take care of that, and now..." The figure says before walking over to Pyrrha and kneels down to her injured ankle. "...for your injury."
The figure removed the remaining obsidian arrow and uses his Aura to heal Pyrrha's ankle.
"That should do it, but rest for now." The figure tells Pyrrha and stands.
"Th-Thank you, but what exactly are you?" Pyrrha asked.
"We said it before," The figure replied. "We are the Silver Emperors of the Past."
"Like that story? The Legend of the Silver Emperor?" Pyrrha asked once more.
"Hm... It seems our tales and legends became more myth, it seems..." The Past Silver Emperors says. "Where is Ozpius?"
"Um... Who?" Shepard asked confused by the name.
"Must've been Ozpin's past incarnations," Qrow replies. "Ozpin did mention reincarnating more times than he can count."
"Ozpin? Hm... It seems she died and moved into a new body... and became a man." The Past Silver Emperors said earning shock, mainly Qrow.
"Ozpin was a woman before? Wow..." Qrow expressed his surprise.
"We do not have much time," The Past Silver Emperors said catching everyone's attention. "This is a warning. Keep "(Y/N)" from the Path of Rage and Vengeance. This path caused the fall of every Silver Emperor in the past. We tried breaking the cycle, but it's inevitable. (Y/N)'s power will continue to rise and his fight against Salem WILL happen as it was said. Farewell."
As the silver armor disappears, (Y/N) falls unconscious but was soon grabbed by Liara and Tali before laying him onto the ground. From there on, it was known...
Beacon had fallen...
~Timeskip Two Days~
~Xiao Long Cabin, Island of Patch~
Since the fall of Beacon and the destruction of the CCT, Vale and its surrounding towns were cut off from the rest of the planet, although the assistance of the Citadel and the new Valean Council, were on works to return communications. However, on the island of Patch, in a cabin, Ruby Rose was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed wearing gray pajamas. That was until the sounds of a grandfather clock ticking wakes her. As Ruby looks around, she spots her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, sleeping on a chair while Garrus was standing nearby going through his omni-tool. After a bit, Ruby sits up onto the headboard and sighs quietly, which woke up Taiyang and caught Garrus's attention.
"Ruby!" Taiyang calls out and rushes over to kneel by her bed while Garrus walks to the other side of her bed. "You're awake!"
"Gave us quite a fright, Ruby, but we're glad you're awake." Garrus says while rubbing Ruby's head earning a small blush but shakes it off.
"What... happened?" Ruby asked.
"Your uncle Qrow found you unconscious with Garrus, but they got you out of there though," Taiyang replies. "They brought you home safe."
"Wait! Yang! Big Brother! Are they alright?!" Ruby cried out, worried for her elder siblings.
"Uh... Yang's uh..." Taiyang replied trying to answer but was stopped by Garrus.
"Let me, Mr. Xiao Long," Garrus says which Taiyang gave a nod before turning to Ruby. "Ruby, Yang... how should I say this? Since Adam severed her arm, Yang's taking this harder than we thought, but she's too strong, and stubborn, to let this get to her."
The sound of Taiyang's sniffling could be heard as Garrus pats Taiyang's shoulder, but soon Taiyang looks back onto Ruby and smiles.
"I'm just glad to have my girls back at home." Taiyang says, but it didn't help Ruby's worry.
"Wh... What about Big Brother? I saw him get hit by--" Ruby says but was interrupted by Garrus.
"That wasn't (Y/N), but a... we think it was an Aura Hologram. (Y/N)'s alive, but also unconscious," Garrus replied which eased Ruby a bit. "He's still out, but we don't know when he'll wake."
"*sighs* What happened to the school? And Vale?" Ruby questioned further. "Were they able to clear out the Grimm?"
"Things at Vale are under control, but... the school? It's... Yeah, it's not that simple." Taiyang replied.
"Shepard is taking over the plan to ease Vale back under control. The same could be said about Beacon, but it'll be a while before things would go back to normal," Garrus replied. "The previous Valean Council were killed in the attack, although some managed to survive, like the Citadel Council, but they're trying to get things under control. It doesn't help that the CCT transmitter was destroyed in the attack."
"That thing, the Wyvern Grimm, wasn't dead apparently. Don't get us wrong, you did a number on it, but it wasn't disappearing," Taiyang tells Ruby what she did to the Wyvern Grimm. "When you went unconscious, (Y/N)... or the Past Silver Emperors, destroyed it all the way preventing more Grimm around Beacon."
"I did, what?" Ruby asked confused.
"Hm?" Taiyang asked.
"You said I did a number on it," Ruby replied to Taiyang before looking between him and Garrus. "What do you mean?"
"I..." Taiyang tried answering before shaking the topic off. "Look, that's not important right now. We can talk about it later. Things are just..."
"A complete mess, Ruby." Garrus continued after Taiyang.
"It's always a mess." A voice said behind the three as they looked to see Qrow near the doorframe drinking from his flask until he finished the contents and continued. "Mind if we have a minute?"
"What, I can't stay here?" Taiyang asked Qrow.
"Tai... please." Qrow replied. Although Tai wanted to stay, he gave in and stood up giving Ruby a kiss on her forehead.
"I'm glad you're alright," Taiyang tells Ruby before looking at Garrus. "And Garrus..."
"Yes?" Garrus asked.
"Thank you, for watching over Ruby," Taiyang replied while nodding to him. "I appreciate it."
"Of course, Mr. Xiao Long." Garrus replied.
"Just call me Tai, you, Grunt, and everyone else deserve it." Taiyang tells Garrus before heading to the door. "I'll go make us some tea, and some food brought up to you."
As Taiyang goes to leave the room, he gives Qrow a glare as the latter didn't seem to care in the slightest but walked over towards the bed and grabbed a chair before sitting in it.
"So, how ya feelin'?" Qrow asked Ruby.
"Um... I kinda hurt... all over..." Ruby replied earning a chuckle from Qrow.
"That makes sense, after what you did." Qrow replies earning the same confusion from Ruby.
"You guys keep saying that..." Ruby speaks out her annoyance. "...that I did something. What are you talking about?!"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Qrow asked Ruby as he leaned in closer while Garrus stood by.
"Garrus and I ran up the side of the tower, and when we got up to the tower, I... I saw Pyrrha injured, and both Big Brother and Cinder fighting. When Pyrrha called my name, Garrus shielded me but..." Ruby replied until tears began forming and dropping. "I saw Big Brother shielding us... then he fell... that's when I saw an arrow in his chest, then everything went white."
"Anything else?" Qrow asked earning a growl from Garrus. "Easy Garrus."
"I remember..." Ruby continued while wiping a tear from her eye. "...my head hurting..."
"The night you met Ozpin, what was the first thing he said to you?" Qrow asked Ruby.
"I-I... I don't know..." Ruby replied before thinking more about her encounter with Ozpin. "I think it was something about--"
"Silver eyes," Qrow finished Ruby's sentence as she looked up at Qrow followed by Garrus. "That's an extremely rare trait."
"...So?" Ruby asked while shrugging her shoulders.
"Ruby, when we met (Y/N), the first thing about him we noticed were his silver eyes," Garrus told Ruby as he remembers back when he first met (Y/N). "I was on the Citadel during my investigation on Saren when I met him. Silver eyes... Never met any human, or any race, with silver eyes. Hell, every women of all races were attracted to his eyes, especially the asari who took interest."
"Heh, guess Neph was a lady killer, huh?" Qrow joked a bit before turning serious. "You're special, Ruby. The same goes for (Y/N). And not the "daddy loves his special angel" or "dad's favorite son" kind of way. You're both special the same way your mom was. Ruby, remember those flashes of silver when (Y/N)'s eyes shined or glowed? You can do that too. Remnant's full of legends and stories... some of them true, some made up... But there's one Oz told me from a very long time ago. Back before Huntsmen, before Kingdoms, it was said that those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior. You see, the creatures of Grimm, the most fearsome monsters mankind had ever encountered, were afraid of those silver-eyed warriors. They were the best of the best. It was said that even a single look from one of these fighters could strike a Grimm down. Heh. It's a ridiculous story."
"But... y-you think I might be..." Ruby almost asked before Qrow's chuckling cut her off.
"If it weren't for Neph delivering the final blow, there might be a giant monster frozen on top of Beacon's tower, and you're here... safe in bed," Qrow said before thinking about his nephew. "(Y/N)'s a whole different story."
"Wh-What do you mean?" Ruby asked worried about her big brother.
"Like all silver eyes, they were destined to become warriors, but one... one every few centuries would become something greater... one that would lead those warriors into battle... one that would be an emperor to his people," Qrow replied. "They were known as, "The Silver Emperors." These were stronger, powerful, most versatile of all silver warriors. You've seen (Y/N) with those wings... the horns... the silver wisps from his eyes... the disoriented voices... and now, the draconic armor and flaming crown over his head. There's no doubt in my mind... (Y/N) Rose... is this generation's Silver Emperor."
Qrow then stands up before walking over to the window and looked outside.
"I guess Big Brother is cooler than I thought," Ruby said quietly before looking at Qrow. "Wait, how did you know what Ozpin said to me? The night we met?"
Qrow was silent before looking out the window.
"All those missions I go on... all the times I'm away in some far-off place... it's been for Ozpin," Qrow replied. "But he's missing now. Something's been set in motion. With Oz gone, I'll have to pick up where he left off."
"Then what can I do?" Ruby asked Qrow as he and Garrus looked at Ruby. "If Big Brother and I are special, then we can help, right?"
"*sigh* You really want to help?" Qrow asked. "Get some rest. You and Neph aren't in any condition to go anywhere right now. Besides... I doubt Neph would help Ozpin."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"Let's just say... Ozpin should've taken my advice and spoke to Neph," Qrow replied as he walked over to the door. "Besides... our enemies' trail leads all the way to Haven. That'd be quite a trip for a pipsqueak like you. Catch you later, kiddo. Garrus, watch over her, and make sure she rests."
"Will do, Qrow," Garrus replies. "Qrow, (Y/N) knows he could trust you and Glynda. Not Ozpin and Ironwood."
Qrow gives a nod before leaving the room, thus, leaving Ruby and Garrus as the former looks at the window that Qrow looked out of, then stares at herself in a mirror hanging on the wall across from her bed.
"So, what will you do now, Ruby?" Garrus asked Ruby as she stares at him for a bit until Ruby caught sight of Neo entering with a food tray for Ruby.
"N-Neo? I... I don't understand. Why are you here?" Ruby asked confused but accepted the food tray from Neo. "Last I saw you, both you and Torchwick were taken away."
"I can explain that, Ruby," Garrus replied while Ruby began eating the food before her. "Before Neo and Roman were taken away, (Y/N) used his Spectre status to allow Neo to have a new start while Roman would be in jail, but under the condition that Neo stays with (Y/N)."
"So where Big Brother goes, Neo has to follow?" Ruby asked as Garrus nods. Ruby then looks to Neo. "Neo, how do you feel about this?"
Neo took a moment to type away in her scroll before showing Ruby the message.
"I've come to accept it, even though I'd be leaving Roman since I was indebted to him, and he became sorta like a father-figure really," Neo replied. "I know I have done things in the past that hurt you and your team, but I want to make amends. I know it'll be a while until I earn your trust, but I will do what I can to help."
Ruby looked at the message and Neo a few times before smiling and continued to eat.
~Two Hours Later~
*Commander (Y/N) Rose POV*
Darkness... that is what I feel. Ever since I saw Blake injured and Yang without her arm... I lost all sense and reasoning. Everything went white, but now... I feel soft...
"Did I die?" I wondered in thought until I woke up and found myself in an unfamiliar room. Slowly making my way up, I looked around and saw Liara, Tali, and Miranda sleeping on chairs, but their heads were on the bed. That was until I heard a door open revealing Ruby and we stared at each other. "...Ruby?"
Without warning, Ruby used her semblance and launched herself onto me and held me into a tight hug. Her sudden movement caused the others to wake.
"Ruby, Goddess, what are you--" Liara asked Ruby before noticing me awake. "Goddess, (Y/N)!"
Soon Liara, Tali, and Miranda embraced me with Ruby crying. I couldn't help but feel for my sister and girls. With what I could with my arms, I returned the embracement I was given, and we stayed like such for a few minutes before separating, though Ruby was still clinging on. Though normally I would try prying her off, but this time... I'm letting her stay this way.
"What happened since I was out?" I asked while rubbing Ruby's back.
"How do we put this..." Tali began. "Beacon has fallen and Ozpin is missing, but we figured he was killed by Cinder. The Wyvern's been destroyed thanks to you and Ruby."
"What? How?" I asked not remembering much.
"Well... Ruby used her eyes and froze the Wyvern into a statue," Miranda replied. "It would've stayed in place, attracting more Grimm, but you destroyed the statue."
"I... I don't remember much," I replied honestly while Ruby managed to release me but stayed by sitting next to Liara. "The last thing I remember... I saw Blake and Yang's injuries, both caused by Adam... then everything went white. That's all I can remember."
"You... weren't in control of yourself, (Y/N)," Liara tells me while holding my hand. "It... It was the Silver Emperors of the Past that took over."
"Silver Emperors of the Past?" I asked earning nods from Liara, Tali, and Miranda. "Anything else I should know?"
"Besides everything has become a mess from the Grimm AND the White Fang?" Miranda replied. "The CCT transmitter was destroyed, the Kingdom of Vale has no contact with the outside world, majority of the Valean Council were killed in the attack, everyone in Vale are beginning to question who to trust, Penny's been destroyed... everything is a colossal fucking mess."
"That's putting it mildly, Miranda," Tali replies but looked at Ruby. "Not showing the swear jar at Miranda, Ruby?"
"No... not this time." Ruby replied.
"Ruby... how are you holding up?" I asked her worried.
"I... I don't know, Big Brother," Ruby replied as she gripped my arm tightly. "I... I though you died. I was scared... Pyrrha was injured, but she's still alive."
"Oh thank God..." I said though relieved. "What about Yang? How is she?"
Ruby looked saddened by the question.
"Yang... She isn't doing well," Ruby replied. "She... I don't know. I think she gave up."
I looked down as anger took forth directing at Adam for the cause of Yang's severed arm.
"Anything else?" I asked.
"Weiss... she's gone." Liara replied.
"What?" I asked in concern.
"Weiss' father, Jacques Schnee, came and took her back to Atlas, where it would be safe, in that bastard's opinion," Liara replied in anger before calming herself. "Blake... she..."
"What happened to Blake?" I asked.
"She ran away," Tali replied. "Blake ran away before we could even talk to her. She's taking Yang losing her arm seriously and blaming herself."
"That wasn't her fault. It was Adam!" I said.
"We told her that, but she's stubborn," Tali agreed. "Sun saw her leave. As soon as everyone got to the city, Blake took off. To where, we don't know."
I let out an annoyed sigh, but soon took a deep breath and got out of bed. Popping all my bones and joints, though still feeling the effects from what happened, and help from everyone, we made our way towards the living room where everyone, minus John, was gathered.
"Nice to see you back up, Silver." Zaheed greets us while dad brought me some food.
"Thanks dad," I thanked dad as he rubbed my head, but also gave a side hug. Walking over to the couch, I sat down while Liara took my left while Tali took the right. I slowly began eating my food while thinking about the plan ahead. "So, anything else I should be aware about?"
"Shepard's taking charge in Vale with Glynda trying to settle the masses and clearing out any remaining Grimm around," Kasumi replied appearing from thin air. "The White Fang that were captured from the assault were taken into custody and are waiting for trial and such. What's the plan now, Commander?"
"Frankly, I don't know," I replied honestly. "Like everyone's been saying, everything's become a mess."
"Qrow did mention our enemies' trail leads to Haven," Garrus mentioned. "No doubt when Ruby fully recovers, she'll start making her way to Haven, and probably have JNPR join her."
"Is that so?" I asked with Garrus nodding. "From what I can figure, Yang's OTC for the moment, Weiss has been taken back to Atlas, Blake's gone AWOL, Beacon fell, Vale's a complete mess, and Ozpin is supposedly MIA, but we can already figure he's KIA by Cinder's hand."
I took a couple more bites from my food before finishing the plate and setting it down onto the coffee table.
"Here's how I think we should play out," I said after the few minutes of thinking. "Vega, you, Zaheed, and Jacob head back to Vale and help John and Glynda in Vale and try retaking Beacon."
"You got it, Commander." Vega replies followed by Zaheed and Jacob nodding.
"Miranda, you and Mordin head to Atlas and get Weiss back," I told them which they seemed surprised. "Don't worry about Jacques. The bastard should be dealt with soon enough."
"What do you mean, (Y/N)?" Miranda asked.
"Let's just say, thanks to Kasumi... Jacques will be dealt with soon enough, which also reminds me to get Barla Von ready for Atlas," I replied before turning to Grunt. "Grunt, you and Wrex stay here with Yang and Tai. Help Yang however you can and get her back to the fiery blonde we all know and love."
"Right." Grunt replied.
"Garrus," I called to him. "You will be with Ruby and JNPR when they go ahead with their plan. Have Thane and Kolyat accompany you while you do so."
"I'll contact Thane right now." Garrus replied and left to contact Thane.
"Then what about you three?" Zaheed asked.
"Liara, Tali, and I..." I replied with a bit of dramatic silence. "...will follow Blake's trail."
"Oh, you know where Blake's going?" Tali asked while I looked over at Kasumi and we both gave a nod knowing where.
"Yeah," I replied while standing up. "She'll be going home."
"Home?" Liara asked.
"To Menagerie." I replied getting a couple gasps.
"Humans aren't welcomed in Menagerie," Vega stated, which was true. "You think they'll let you through since you and Blake are dating, as of now?"
"Not only that, but I have... a strange feeling that we'll be welcomed there," I replied. "For now, get some R&R. We have some time to prepare until then."
Once in agreement, I brought my dishes into the kitchen to be cleaned, but noticed Neo was there cleaning the dishes with dad.
"Neo, a moment," I called out to her as she agreed. I handed my dishes over to dad to clean while I moved Neo away to talk to her. "Neo, I have a job for you do."
"And that is?" Neo asked via scroll.
~Timeskip a few weeks~
As the weeks went by, what was fall now became winter, in Patch anyways, as snow covered the ground. I was ready in my N7 armor, but looking at my damaged Death Mask helmet, I knew it was inoperable, so I went with the standard N7 Helmet and walked outside as both Liara and Tali were waiting for me.
"Garrus said that Ruby and JNPR are already on the move," Liara told me. "Vega, Zaheed, and Jacob left for Vale hours ago and both Miranda and Mordin took a bullhead heading towards Atlas. Grunt and Wrex are staying put with Yang and Taiyang."
"Right, and Kasumi will be relaying any information to us for our divided missions," I replied while walking forward heading towards the Hammerhead that was waiting for us. "I won't lie, we may encounter more White Fang that share Adam's thoughts and perspectives."
"And when that happens?" Tali asked.
"See about incapacitating them, no deaths," I replied. "If we can get a meeting with Sienna Khan and inform her what Adam's been doing, she'll have to do something. Hopefully..."
"And the coup?" Liara asked while my omni-tool appeared.
"I have the information needed," I replied while also holding up a datapad. "This datapad has the information for Sienna Khan... but once we run into Blake..."
"She'll have to answer for running away like that," Liara finished for me. "What will you do then, (Y/N)?"
"I still love Blake, if that's what you're asking, Liara," I replied. "But I'm hurt that she ran away without saying anything. Enough about that. Let's head to the docks and make our way to Menagerie."
Once in agreement, the three of us piled into the Hammerhead and made our way towards the docks where we had to make a couple persuasions for a boat to Menagerie, and soon, we were off, but little did I know... our separated missions would lead to something we had come to expect, but in ways we did not expect while running into familiar faces from our past... that also includes enemies that were once buried come back to the light.
This... is Commander (Y/N) Rose, this generation's Silver Emperor... signing off.
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[End of Volume 3, Chapter 9]
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