Hey there everyone, I'm back with another chapter. Thanks for those who have reviewed and favorited the story so far. I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the story thus far. This chapter will start a little different. It will delve into Pyrrha's emotions and thoughts surrounding what is currently happening within the story currently. From there it will resume where the story left off last time.
Since the dark elves are present, events surrounding the fall of Beacon will ultimately differ from what happens in the original story. You guys will find out as you read. Trishaaa15 I'm glad you are liking the story, makes me happy as a writer. And thank you for your support of this story! Anyways, before we go, comment who you'd like to see become a couple (aside from the main pairings lol: Odyn x Ruby, Roy x Yang, Khanna x Mercury)
Baron x Flare
Daikon x Weiss
Blake x Shallot
Val x Jinjer?
Scarlett x Yatsuhashi?
Zero x Velvet? /Zero x Emerald?
Giblet x Velvet?/ Giblet x Note?
Beat x Note?
The ones with question marks are those that could change depending on what is chosen or that me, as the writer, ultimately choose to do.
With out further ado... On to the story!
P.s.: RoseSaiyan2 only owns the elven oc's that appear in this story, he doesn't own the characters from Dbz/db super, Black Clover, or Rwby. Those belong to their respective creators! He has permission from a friend to use the characters of Daikon and Tarro for his stories.
Opening theme:

Rising shield hero season 2 opening 1: Bring Back by MADKID
Visuals: Odyn, Ruby, and Mercury standing up as lightning strikes across a darkened sky, Yang in her room looking down until Roy puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, JNPR,and KDBNB watching the tournament match between Pyrrha and Penny. A transition of flames later, hundreds of Grimm are seen to be invading Vale. During the breakdown before the chorus each of the teams participating in the tournament are shown until a large airborne Grimm is shown in the sky above the city. When the Grimm is seen, dozens of golden pillars of light then erupt into the sky, lighting up the skyline of Vale. During the chorus, all of the teams are seen to be fighting off the Grimm, while Odyn and Ruby are fighting Cinder and Emerald. Ruby is pushed back while Odyn transforms and charges at Cinder again, while Cinder has power sweeling around her as she charged towards Odyn. Roy, Yang, and Blake are fighting off Adam, Tirion, and a rather familiar face that has black shadows covering his body. The final breakdown of the song ends with the image of Odyn and Cinder charging towards each other while the characters on their respective sides of the screen follow them to charge at each other.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Elven Rage — The Fall of Beacon
---
The wind at this altitude had its own voice.
Ruby heard it under everything else — under the shrieking of Grimm circling the hijacked flagship, under the distant percussion of the battle spreading through the city below, under the creaking of a warship that was not, at this moment, where it was supposed to be. The wind under all of it, saying the same thing the wind always said: *you are very small and very high up and this is not where things are safe.*
She gripped Crescent Rose and looked at the horizon and felt Odyn's hand settle on her shoulder.
The specific warmth of it — steady, deliberate, communicating something through contact rather than words — was sufficient.
She turned and looked at him.
"Ready, Little Rose?" he asked, his voice low against the gale.
She looked at him for a moment. At the blue hair flattened sideways by the wind. At the flame-colored eyes that had been looking at her with that specific quality of attention since the first time they met, and had not changed, and were not going to change.
"As long as you're with me," she said, "yeah."
He looked at her — the full, unhurried look she had come to know as the one he produced when something had landed — and nodded once.
They turned toward the cockpit.
Ruby did not think, in this moment, about the fact that she had grown. She had noticed it in small ways over the weeks since Beacon — she no longer needed to look quite so far up to meet his eyes, and the mirror in the dormitory bathroom had started telling her things about her own silhouette that were different from what it had said in September. The hair, too: longer than it had ever been, and when the light caught it at certain angles it showed veins of silver threading through the black that she had not put there and that had not been there before.
She did not think about this now.
She thought about the cockpit and the people inside it and the very large warship that needed to stop being a weapon.
The Griffon dropped from the clouds without announcement.
The scythe did not announce itself either. The creature was simply there and then was not, its darkness dispersing in the gale before it had finished arriving.
Ruby pivoted.
Odyn's arm came out.
She stopped.
The shimmer of pink materialized from the air with the unhurried quality of someone who has been waiting long enough that they no longer feel the need to rush. Neopolitan settled into visibility with the small, satisfied expression of someone who has been where she intended to be and is pleased with the result.
She held up her scroll.
The shutter sound was barely audible over the wind.
*Guess who?* The message arrived below.
---
*The control room — simultaneously*
Roman Torchwick's relationship with surprises was not a good one. He had spent his entire professional life engineering situations in which he was the only person who knew what was coming next, and the erosion of this principle over the past year had not improved his temperament.
He stared at the image on his scroll.
He stared at it for a full second.
"Why," he said, to no one, to the scroll, to the universe, "*that elf.*"
He picked up Melodic Cudgel with the specific energy of someone who has decided that the only solution to the problem is to address it personally, and he walked toward the deck.
---
*Above — the hull*
What followed had the quality of a fight that exists partly as a fight and partly as something else — Ruby's exchanges with Neopolitan had the pure, exhausting quality of a contest between speed and adaptability, neither of them able to land the decisive blow that would end it cleanly. Neo moved with the elegant economy of someone whose entire style was based on the principle that other people's force was more useful than her own. Ruby moved with the commitment of someone who had stopped managing the gap between herself and the threat and was simply addressing it.
Odyn made Roman dance.
He was not, technically, trying to fight Roman Torchwick. He was trying to make Roman Torchwick fight him — which was a different thing, and considerably more effective than the alternative. The light daggers materialized and dispersed at intervals that kept Roman's attention fully engaged, and the result was that the crime boss was expending a significant amount of energy on a man who was not, at this particular moment, expending very much at all.
This was sustainable for Odyn.
It was not sustainable for Roman.
The explosion that ended Ruby's exchange with Neo sent her sliding across the hull — Crescent Rose hooked into the plating, the drop below her absolute and cold and very far down.
Roman walked toward her.
She looked up at him and felt the specific feeling of someone who has been told that what they believe is foolish, and has decided, very clearly and very firmly, that it is not.
"What are you doing?" she said, over the wind. "Without these ships—"
"That's the plan," Roman said. And he said it with the quality he used when he meant what he was saying — not performance, but the actual conviction of someone who has done the math.
She caught the undertone of it.
She heard what he was not saying.
"You're afraid of them," she said.
"I'm *realistic* about them," he snapped, and the word had more heat in it than the rest of the sentence, which was information.
He swung.
She blocked.
He was good in the specific way that experience produces — not elegant, not disciplined in the aesthetic sense, but effective in the exhaustive, practical way of someone who has been doing this in contexts where failure meant something real. He fought like a man who had survived long enough to know which shortcuts worked and had no interest in impressing anyone.
She was fast and she was good and she had been training for a year with people who had forgotten more about combat than Roman Torchwick had ever known.
She was also pressed to the edge of a very tall object above a burning city.
"You wanna be a hero?" he said, his voice rising over the wind with the specific quality of someone who has something to express and is expressing it. "Play the part. The real world is cold. The real world doesn't care about your spirit. It doesn't care about any of it—"
The wind hit him from the side.
Not weather. Something deliberate, compressed, the specific application of ki as directed force — the kind of wind that has a sender.
Odyn stepped between them.
He looked at Roman.
Roman looked back at him with the expression of someone who has encountered something he has miscalculated.
The distance closed.
Roman went backward, and then went up, and Odyn's hand was around his throat with the controlled certainty of someone who has made a decision and is implementing it.
"I think," Odyn said, and his voice had the specific quality that it had when he was angry in the organized way — the kind that had been filtered through patience until it had become something very quiet and very complete — "that you have said enough."
The shadow fell across both of them before either could do anything further.
The Alpha Griffon dropped from the cloud line with the absolute commitment of something that has been drawn by the specific emotional quality of a man who has been ranting at full intensity about the futility of hope in the middle of a warzone.
Roman did not survive the beak.
Odyn looked at the Griffon.
The Grimm registered his aura — the full, unmanaged version, the thing that existed when he was not making an effort to contain it — and made the specific calculation that apex predators make when they have encountered something above them on the hierarchy.
It fled.
A halo of light swords dissolved around him.
He turned.
Ruby was at the edge, breathing carefully, Crescent Rose still hooked into the hull plating.
He extended his hand.
She took it.
He pulled her up, and her arms found him, and he held her in the specific way he held her when something had been very close and was now not — arms around her, steadied, his chin at the top of her head, not saying anything because the saying of things was for other moments.
"Please," he said, into her hair, and his voice was less steady than he would have preferred. "You nearly—"
"I know," she said. "I'll be careful."
"You said that last time."
"And I was careful last time."
"Ruby—"
"I was mostly careful," she admitted. "I'll be mostly careful again."
He exhaled.
The flagship was beginning to list.
He looked at the angle of it, did the calculation, and scooped her up.
"Odyn—"
The drop was significant and immediate and Ruby's feelings about it were immediate and significant.
He slowed their descent somewhere above the rooftops, the magic doing what it did — quiet, certain, without spectacle — and they touched down in a street that was more or less intact.
Her legs communicated clearly that they did not feel intact.
She looked at him with the expression that lived between embarrassment and the residual terror of a very long fall.
"I forgive you," she said. "But you have to carry me."
"Of course," he said, and lifted her. "Where first?"
"Weiss," she said. "Then we find everyone else."
He walked through the burning city carrying his girlfriend.
She decided, provisionally, that this was acceptable.
---
The dining hall — simultaneously*
Blake Belladonna had spent two years building distance from this.
Distance was not the same as safety. She understood this now with the specific understanding of someone who has had the lesson delivered in person by the thing they were trying to stay ahead of.
Adam Taurus moved through the ruined dining hall with the particular quality of someone who has rehearsed this moment so many times in his imagination that the actual occurrence of it feels, to him, like a kind of homecoming.
She had known, some part of her had always known, that there would be a moment like this. That the thing she had run from would eventually stop being behind her and start being in front of her. She had tried to prepare for it in the ways she knew how — weapon training, combat tactics, the specific work of making sure that when it happened she would be able to respond.
What she had not entirely prepared for was the weight of looking at him.
"You and I were going to change the world," he said.
She looked at the student under his boot.
She looked at the blade aimed at an unconscious person's chest.
She stopped thinking about preparation.
She moved.
The collision of their blades carried four years of weight. The sound it made in the ruined dining hall had more information in it than either of them would have been able to articulate.
"I'm not running," she said.
"Not yet," he said.
She fought him with everything she had, and the specific problem with everything she had was that everything he had was larger — not in technique, in which they were comparable, but in the specific way that someone who has nothing left to lose fights differently from someone who has things to protect. Adam had decided what this was. Blake had not.
He sent her across the room.
He followed her with the patient, terrible patience of someone who has decided how this ends.
"I understand," he said, his boots clicking on the floorboards, "because all I want is you, Blake. And as I set out to deliver the justice humanity deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."
"Starting with her."
Yang came through the window.
Blake's voice broke on his name.
"You don't understand what comes with her," Blake said. "Who is *behind* her—"
Adam was not listening.
He had decided.
---
*What came with Yang was Roy.*
This was not the entrance either of them had planned, but the geometry of the evening had produced it — Roy and Yang arriving at the same window from the same direction, Yang first because Yang was always first when she had something to move toward.
Roy saw Adam.
He saw Yang.
He saw what was happening.
"Blake," he said, crossing past her to interpose himself, his blade coming to his hand with the fluid inevitability of something that has been done enough times to become a reflex. "Take her to the wall. Now."
Blake obeyed — carrying Yang's weight, finding the corner, getting them out of the center of what was about to be the center of the room.
Adam Taurus looked at Roy Albanar.
Roy looked back.
Adam had a quality, Roy acknowledged: the specific quality of genuine conviction. He believed what he was doing. He had organized everything he was — the anger, the skill, the years of accumulated grievance — into a coherent purpose, and he was executing it with the specific terrible sincerity of someone who thinks they are right. Roy had encountered this kind of opponent before. They were the most difficult kind, because the certainty was real, and the certainty gave them access to things that performance could not replicate.
"You speak highly for a creature that shouldn't exist in this world," Adam said. "You think your tricks can match the justice of the White Fang?"
"Justice," Roy said, and he took one step forward and then another and the pressure that accompanied the steps was not performance. It was simply what Roy Albanar was when he stopped being careful about it. The floorboards cracked under his feet. "You maimed a defenseless girl out of spite and called it justice." Another step. "You're not a revolutionary. You're a man who can't face his own insignificance, wearing a mask so he doesn't have to."
Adam's expression became the expression of someone who has been named correctly and hates the person who named them.
He drew.
---
The Moonslice arrived.
Roy did not dodge.
He absorbed it the way a cliff absorbs a wave — not by resisting, but by being a fundamentally different kind of thing than the force hitting it. His blade came up in the single-handed motion that Odyn had spent three years correcting and that Roy had finally gotten right in the past six months, and the catch was clean.
The shockwave hit the walls.
"Is that all?" Roy asked.
The kick that followed was the specific kick of someone who has taken something seriously and is expressing the seriousness through the available language. Adam went through a structural pillar with the sound of concrete deciding to stop being load-bearing.
Blake, from the wall, had both hands over her mouth.
She had known. She had been told. She had seen enough to understand that the Elves were something categorically different from anything Remnant had produced in recorded history. And still, watching Adam Taurus — who had been the most terrifying thing in her world for the better part of four years — be cast aside with the ease of a person removing an obstacle from their path produced a revision in her understanding that went all the way down.
Adam rose from the rubble with the specific quality of someone who is angry in the way that makes them more dangerous rather than less, because they have stopped calculating and have started expressing.
Wilt glowed.
The Moonslice that followed was the full version — everything he had collected across the fight, the stored kinetic damage, the aura he had been building toward this moment, all of it concentrated into a wave of destructive red energy that tore the floor open as it moved.
Roy brought his hands together.
The ki sphere formed between them with the compressed patience of something that has been waiting for a context that could contain it.
The two forces met.
For three seconds, the question was genuinely open.
Then it was not.
When the smoke cleared, Adam was on one knee, his aura fracturing, and Roy was standing precisely where he had been standing.
"Leave," Roy said. "Now. While you can."
Adam stared at him.
Roy raised one hand toward the wall behind Adam.
Lightning answered — not a technique, not an arcing strike, but the direct opinion of something that has been asked to incinerate a specific section of wall and has done so with comprehensive enthusiasm.
Adam looked at where the wall had been.
He looked at Roy.
He picked up his scabbard.
He left.
Roy watched him go. He catalogued the severed prosthetic arm lying in the debris — *that might matter for her recovery* — and picked it up. He looked at Blake.
She stared at him.
"She needs to get to the docks," he said, nodding at Yang. "Can you walk?"
Blake looked at her own legs as though genuinely uncertain.
"I can walk," she said.
"Good. I'll carry Yang. Stay close."
She stayed close.
---
*The courtyard*
The battle had the quality of something that had been going on long enough that everyone involved had stopped being surprised by what was happening and had started simply being effective.
This was, in Hailfire's experience, the most useful stage a battle could reach.
She worked the courtyard's northern section with the economy of someone who has been doing this since she was old enough to hold a shield — not trying to fight every enemy, but positioning herself so that her teammates could fight the enemies she wasn't fighting, and covering the angles that everyone else was leaving open, and ensuring that the ground held long enough for the situation to resolve.
Velvet was still on her feet.

(I may fall by Cassie Lee Williams)
Velvet's Symphony of Battle
As Velvet stepped forward, the heavy, driving rhythm of a familiar melody seemed to echo through the air.
I may fall... but not like this...
"What are you doing?!" Weiss cried out in horror. "She's going to get killed!"
"Just watch," Coco replied, her voice filled with absolute pride.
Velvet reached out, and her weapon, Anesidora, flashed with a brilliant golden light. It solidified into a perfect replica of Ruby's scythe, Crescent Rose.
Leaping into the air, Velvet dodged a stream of cannon fire. With a flawless imitation of Ruby's overhead spin, she descended, carving a deep gash across the Paladin's faceplate.
In a flash of light, the scythe vanished, replaced by Myrtenaster. She parried a heavy metal fist, counter-striking with blinding speed before shifting her weapon into Yang's Ember Celica, blasting the mech backward with explosive kinetic rounds.
She slid under the second Paladin's legs—perfectly mirroring Blake's fluid agility—using a holographic Gambol Shroud to trip the massive machine. Before it could hit the ground, she lopped off its arm with a giant cleaver, jabbed it in the head, and finished the sequence by peppering it with heavy holographic rounds from Coco's minigun, Gianduja.
The mechs tried to regroup, but Velvet was unstoppable. She switched to Sun's Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang, deflective strikes cracking metal, before leaping high and bringing down Nora's hammer, Magnhild, with shattering force, severing another limb.
Leaping off the falling debris, she summoned Penny's Floating Array, the ring of glowing swords slicing the second Paladin's legs to ribbons before she vaporized it with a concentrated dust blast.
But her triumph was short-lived. The first Paladin, having broken away from Scarlett and Yatsuhashi, blindsided Velvet with a devastating backhand.
"Ah!" Velvet cried out, sliding violently across the cobblestones.
"Velvet!" Coco screamed.
Coco unleashed a furious barrage from her minigun, joined by Neptune, Nadir, and Reese. But the bullets sparked uselessly against the Paladin's heavy frontal shields. The machine loomed over the injured Velvet, raising its massive fist.
Furious, Weiss rushed past the others. As she ran, a strange, instinctual power welled up within her. A massive, intricate white glyph manifested beneath her feet.
She thrust Myrtenaster forward, bracing for impact and closing her eyes.
BOOM!
A heavy, metallic thud echoed. Weiss opened her eyes to find a giant, spectral blue arm wielding a massive greatsword—the arm of the Arma Gigas she had defeated in her family's trial. The summoned construct effortlessly blocked the Paladin's fist, before cleanly bisecting the machine in a single, elegant sweep.
Weiss stared at her summon in disbelief.
Flash!
She blinked, startled by a sudden camera flash. She looked over to see Velvet, holding her camera with a bright, grateful smile.
But before they could celebrate, a third, highly advanced Paladin burst from around the corner, sprinting directly toward the vulnerable Velvet.
Before it could crush her, a black-haired boy intercepted it, catching the massive metal fist with his bare hands. The ground beneath his boots cracked from the sheer pressure.
It was Giblet Zenkai.
"Miss Scarlatina." Giblet Zenkai set the machine's momentum aside with the specific quality of someone for whom this was not a significant effort and whose only concern was whether she was alright. "Are you unhurt?"
Velvet looked at him.
She had been in combat for the better part of an hour. She had carried the weight of her team's hope on top of her own. She had done things with Anesidora that she had been told were possible but had never been given the opportunity to do.
She was exhausted and her aura was low and her ears ached from the noise and she was looking at a boy who had caught a Paladin's fist with his hands and wanted to know if she was okay.
"I'm fine," she said. "Thank you. I'm Velvet."
"Giblet," he said, and turned back to the Paladin to finish what she had started. "Your weapon is extraordinary."
"Thank you," she said, and the blush that accompanied it was not something she had planned.
Coco, from across the courtyard, observed this.
She did not say anything. She had the gift of timing.
Weiss's summon came up with the specific dramatic authority of something that has been stored for years and is finally being given a context that deserves it — the spectral arm and the spectral blade and the Arma Gigas's judgment delivered cleanly and without hesitation.
She stared at it.
The flash of Velvet's camera was the best possible punctuation for the moment.
The third Paladin came from the corner.
Weiss pulled up her next glyph and felt herself being caught before she had completed the reach, and looked up into Daikon's expression, which was the expression of someone who has been watching this from across the courtyard and has arrived at the correct position with the appropriate timing.
"*Daikon.*"
"In the flesh," he said. He was examining her with the specific attention he used when he was checking whether she was alright, which was a different kind of attention from the one he used when he was teasing her and she had learned to distinguish between them. "Still standing?"
"I was going to catch myself," she said.
"You absolutely were not."
"I was going to try."
"Also true." He set her down with the care of someone who means the care. "Your summon was excellent."
The sincerity of the compliment — no performance in it, no edge — produced the specific reaction it always produced, which was Weiss not knowing where to look.
"Thank you," she said, quietly.
"Of course," he said, already turning. "Ready?"
She straightened.
"Yes," she said.
They went.
Duel on the Deck: The Fate of Roman Torchwick
Back on the flagship, the battle raged in the howling wind.
Ruby lunged with a low swing of her scythe. Neo somersaulted over the blade effortlessly, ducking the follow-up strike before flipping backward into the wind.
Meanwhile, Odyn moved like a phantom around Roman, his light daggers flashing in the dim light. He wasn't even trying to kill him; he was making the crime boss dance, dodging and weaving in a display that was highly amusing to the dark elf.
Ruby spun Crescent Rose, launching another sweep, but Neo shattered into a million glass-like illusions. The real Neo materialized behind Ruby, swapping places with Roman.
The crime boss didn't hesitate. He leveled Melodic Cudgel and fired a dust-propelled explosive, sending Ruby tumbling across the metal hull. She hooked her scythe into the plating to keep from being blown into the abyss.
"Little Red, Little Red," Roman mocked, walking slowly toward her. "You are just determined to play the hero of Vale, aren'tcha?"
"What are you doing?!" Ruby screamed over the wind. "Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!"
"I'm aware," Roman sneered. "And... that's the plan!"
Ruby swung her scythe, knocking his cane off-balance. But before she could capitalize, Neo leaped from above, her boot connecting sharply with Ruby's cheek and sending her crashing onto her back.
Before Neo could strike again, a powerful knee caught her directly in the stomach.
"Don't think so," Odyn growled, stepping between them. "You and I have some unfinished business, Neo."
Roman took the opportunity to corner Ruby. As a seasoned fighter, his brutal, practical experience easily overcame Ruby's raw talent. He deflected Crescent Rose, kicked her feet out from under her, and slammed the butt of his cane heavily into her abdomen, sending her sliding to the very edge of the airship.
Ruby clung to the metal siding for dear life, the sheer drop to the burning city yawning beneath her.
"But why?!" Ruby gasped, clutching her bruised ribs. "What do you get out of this?!"
Roman gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with genuine anger. "You're asking the wrong questions, Red! It's not about what I have to gain—it's that I can't afford to lose!"
He slammed his cane down again, knocking her defensive stance away.
"I may be a gambling man," Roman said, his voice cold as he pointed the barrel of his cane directly between her eyes, "but even I know there are certain bets you just don't take. Like it or not, the people who hired me are going to change the world! You can't stop 'em, and I can't stop 'em!"
Ruby looked up, her silver eyes burning with a fierce, defiant light. "No."
"What? I couldn't hear you over the wind, Little Red," Roman laughed.
"I said, NO! I don't believe that for a second!"
Roman blinked, taken aback by her sheer stubbornness.
In that split second of distraction, Odyn made his move. Having anticipated the opening, the dark elf maneuvered Neo toward the edge. With a swift flick of his wrist, he pressed the release button on the bottom of her parasol.
Fwump!
The umbrella snapped open, catching the violent gales and ripping Neo right off the deck. She let out a silent, terrified gasp as the wind swept her away into the dark, Grimm-infested skies.
"NEO!" Roman screamed in horror, turning his back on Ruby.
"I don't care what you say!" Ruby shouted, channeling her Semblance. A flurry of rose petals exploded around her as she charged. "We will stop them, and I will stop you! Bet on that!"
But Roman was fast. He swung his cane, catching her mid-dash and hurling her back onto the cold steel. He stomped forward, his face twisted in bitter resentment.
"You have spunk, Red! But this is the real world!" he screamed, striking her across the shoulder. "The real world is cold!"
Another strike hit her legs.
"The real world doesn't care about your spirit!"
Ruby kicked upward, catching him in the knee and throwing him off-balance, but Roman recovered instantly, his eyes manic.
"You wanna be a hero?! Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history!"
He raised his cane for a final, crushing blow. "As for me, I'll do what I do best: lie, steal, cheat, and—"
Before he could finish the word, a violent burst of Ki-generated wind blasted him backward.
Odyn stepped between them, his eyes glowing with an ancient, terrifying elven rage. Before Roman could raise his weapon, Odyn closed the distance, burying his knee into Roman's stomach before seizing him by the throat, lifting him off his feet.
"I think you've said enough, thief," Odyn hissed, his voice cold enough to freeze the air. "Do not belittle my lover again, human."
But before Odyn could hurl him into the sky, a massive shadow fell over them.
An Alpha Griffon, drawn by the immense negativity of Roman's bitter rant, dove from the clouds. In a horrific split-second, its massive beak snapped shut, swallowing the crime boss whole.
The beast turned its glowing red eyes toward Odyn, sensing his immense power. But Odyn merely narrowed his eyes, summoning a brilliant halo of glowing light-swords around himself.
The Griffon shrieked, backing away in primal terror from the sheer aura of the dark elf. With a panicked flap of its wings, it took flight, escaping into the storm.
"That's right, you oversized chicken," Odyn muttered. "Don't forget what I am."
The swords vanished. He turned back to the edge of the ship, extending a hand to Ruby with a soft, warm smile. "Need a hand, Little Rose?"
Ruby let out a shaky breath, taking his hand. "Y-Yeah."
Odyn pulled her up easily, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. Ruby buried her face in his chest, holding him back just as tightly.
"Please, Ruby," Odyn whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "Don't be so reckless. You nearly sent me into hysterics."
"I know..." Ruby murmured, rubbing his back. "I can't promise I won't fight, but... I'll try to be careful. For your sake."
They pulled back, refocusing on the burning Academy below. Ruby folded Crescent Rose onto her back. "Now what?"
"Now..." Odyn smirked, suddenly scooping her up into a bridal carry. "We go down!"
"O-Odyn, wait! What are you—"
Before she could finish, Odyn leaped off the falling flagship, plunging into the open sky. Ruby's screams of terror echoed through the air until Odyn activated his magic, slowing their descent to a gentle, floating hover just above the rooftops of Vale.
He set her down gently, but Ruby's legs immediately buckled. She pouted up at him, her face bright red.
"Odyn... please... for my sanity, don't ever do that again!"
"Alright, my Little Rose. I promise," Odyn chuckled, offering a hand. "I'm sorry for scaring you."
"I'll forgive you," Ruby said, a sheepish laugh escaping her lips as she pointed at her trembling knees. "But... you have to carry me for a little bit. I don't think my legs are working right now."
Odyn smiled, lifting her back into his arms. "Where to?"
"Let's find Weiss first."
Vale: The General's Stand
Down in the streets of the city, Glynda Goodwitch was a force of nature, her riding crop sending waves of telekinetic force that shattered a pack of Creeps. Beside her, Qrow Branwen cleaved through infected Atlesian Knights with Harbinger.
A young student cheered as he knocked an Ursa back with his mace, only to find himself instantly surrounded by a squad of rogue androids, their rifles aimed at his head.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The androids' heads exploded in rapid succession. As the smoke cleared, General Ironwood emerged from the alleyway. His uniform was torn away on the right side, revealing the cold, complex cybernetic half of his body. With ruthless efficiency, he fired his revolver, Due Process, using the butt of the gun to smash the final knight.
"This area is secure! We need to—"
A sudden flash of steel interrupted him.
Three figures emerged from the shadows: Sybyrh, Zero, and Tarro. Sybyrh elegantly sheathed her sword, walking past the stunned General.
"You should watch your back, General," the dark elf said coolly.
Suddenly, a massive Griffon lunged at Qrow from above. With a single, fluid swing of his scythe, Qrow sliced the beast in half, landing smoothly next to Sybyrh.
"What about you, then?" Qrow smirked, rubbing the back of his neck. "What was that about watching your back?"
Sybyrh gave him a dismissive look. "You really are foolish for a human. I let you kill that Grimm."
"Ouch," Qrow chuckled dryly. "Cold."
Ironwood approached Qrow, his expression heavy with guilt. "Qrow... I hope you know I didn't mean for this to happen. Any of it. This isn't my doing."
Qrow sighed, his harsh demeanor softening slightly. "You idiot. I know you're not responsible for this."
Ironwood let out a long, exhausted breath, lowering his head. Glynda stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"So, what now, General?" Qrow asked.
"Someone has done the impossible and taken control of my fleet. And that colossal Grimm dragon is fixated on the school," Ironwood said, regaining his commanding tone. "Glynda, rally the local Huntsmen and establish a safe zone here in Vale. We need to evacuate Beacon. Qrow, I'm leaving the school's evacuation to you, your men, and the elven soldiers. I need to get to my flagship."
A loud, groaning screech of metal echoed from above. The three looked up to see Ironwood's massive flagship slowly nosediving into the plaza, crashing with a deafening boom.
Qrow winced. "Well... at least it won't be a long walk."
Around them, the remaining Atlesian Knights suddenly sparked, their red optical sensors fading to black as they powered down completely.
Courtyard: The Aftermath
Back at Beacon, the students braced themselves as a rogue Paladin charged toward them. But before it could reach them, electricity crackled across its chassis. The machine groaned, powering down mid-stride and sliding to a halt just inches from their defensive line.
Sun blinked. "Huh. That went better than expected."
Weiss collapsed slightly, leaning heavily on Myrtenaster, utterly drained. Daikon immediately caught her from behind, supporting her weight. She looked up at him, offering a small, tired smile.
The sound of running footsteps drew their attention. Yang and Roy rushed into the courtyard, their faces pale with worry.
"Weiss! Everyone! You're okay!" Yang cried, running to them. She looked around frantically. "Have you seen Ruby?"
"No," Weiss shook her head. "But she's with Odyn. He'll keep her safe."
Yang let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Yeah... you're right. What about Blake?"
"She and Shallot went after an Alpha and some White Fang members," Weiss said, pointing toward the direction of the dining halls.
"Go meet up with Ruby and Odyn," Yang said, her eyes hardening. "I'm going after Blake."
Weiss nodded, giving her a supportive thumbs-up before they split up.
The Vault of the Maiden
Deep beneath Beacon Academy, the elevator doors opened with a soft hiss. Ozpin, Jaune, and Pyrrha sprinted down the long, metallic corridor.
"What is this place?" Jaune asked, looking around the high-tech, clinical vault.
"It's... a type of vault," Pyrrha replied softly.
"You've been here before?"
Pyrrha looked down, unable to answer. In that quiet moment, a voice echoed in her mind.
Pyrrha, the dark elf soul, Sarai, spoke.
Sarai? Pyrrha answered mentally.
There is something I must tell you. It is of the utmost importance, Sarai's voice was heavy with sorrow. I have seen the threads of fate. What happens next... it is not favorable for anyone. Least of all you.
Pyrrha closed her eyes mentally. I see... I had a feeling. I meet my end here, don't I?
Sarai sighed. You are far too smart for your own good, sister. I do not wish this fate upon you. If anyone deserves a future, it is you.
Pyrrha smiled warmly within her mind. Thank you, Sarai. You are the sister I never had.
There may be a way to save you, Sarai continued, her voice turning serious. Though it is risky. A final resort. We can prevent the Fall Maiden's power from falling into the hands of the enemy.
How? Pyrrha asked.
We must become one being. I must fully reincarnate within your body.
Pyrrha fell silent. She understood the gravity of those words. It was the same sacrifice she was being asked to make for Amber.
That would mean...
Yes, Sarai confirmed gently. Our souls would fuse. We would, in the truest sense, become a brand-new person. The Pyrrha Nikos you are now... would cease to exist.
I... Pyrrha hesitated.
Take some time to think it over, Sarai whispered, retreating into the recesses of her mind.
Pyrrha blinked, pulled back to reality as Jaune's voice broke her thoughts.
"What could a school possibly need to hide down here?"
Jaune stopped dead in his tracks as they reached the chamber. Before him sat the massive Aura transfer pods, humming with high-voltage electricity. Inside one of them lay Amber, her breathing shallow, her face pale.
"What...? Who is she?" Jaune whispered.
"Jaune..." Pyrrha started, her voice trembling.
"Pyrrha! Quickly, get into the pod! We have no time!" Ozpin urged, his fingers flying across the holographic interface.
Pyrrha looked at Jaune, her heart breaking. She ran to the secondary pod.
"Mr. Arc, if you wish to help, stand guard at the entrance," Ozpin commanded.
Jaune looked between them, confused and terrified, but he drew his sword and shield, stepping into a defensive stance.
"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked, stepping into the pod.
"We do nothing," Ozpin replied, his voice devoid of his usual warmth. He turned to her. "You, Miss Nikos... have a choice to make. And I suspect your dark elven companion has already made you aware of the stakes."
Pyrrha looked at the pod, then at Jaune's back. Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks. She took a deep breath, climbed into the pod, and watched as the heavy glass door slid shut, locking her inside.
Confrontation in the Ruins
In the dining hall, Blake and Adam clashed, the ring of their blades echoing off the ruined walls. They spun and parried, moving in a deadly dance they both knew too well.
"This could have been our day!" Adam roared, his strikes growing wilder, fueled by betrayal. "Can't you see that?!"
"I never wanted this!" Blake screamed, tears stinging her eyes as she looked at the destruction around them. "I wanted equality! I wanted peace!"
She fired a series of dust rounds from Gambol Shroud, but Adam deflected them effortlessly with Wilt.
"What you want is a fantasy!" Adam spat.
With a brutal spin, he sheathed his sword, using the momentum to backhand Blake across the face. She crashed to the ground, her weapon sliding out of reach.
"But I understand," Adam whispered, stepping over her. "Because all I want... is you, Blake. And as I set out to deliver the justice humanity deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."
"Blake!"
A voice echoed from the shattered window. Yang leaped into the ruins, firing Ember Celica to blow a White Fang grunt backward. She looked around wildly. "Blake! Where are you?!"
Adam looked down at Blake's horrified face, a sick, twisted smile spreading across his lips. He looked up at Yang.
"Starting with her."
"No, Adam, don't!" Blake begged, her voice cracking in pure panic. "You don't know what you're doing! If you touch her... you won't survive what comes next! You don't know who is behind her!"
But Adam ignored her pleas, his eyes locked onto the blonde brawler.
The Void of the Soul
Back in the vault, Ozpin looked at the monitor. "Are you ready, Miss Nikos?"
Pyrrha took a shaky breath and nodded.
"I... need to hear you say it," Ozpin insisted.
"Yes," Pyrrha said, laying her head back.
"Thank you, Miss Nikos. And... I am deeply sorry."
Within the quiet chamber of her mind, Pyrrha spoke. Sarai... I have a favor to ask.
Of course, sister. Anything, the dark elf soul replied.
If... if something irreversible happens to me today... please, promise me you'll take care of Jaune.
Sarai's voice was incredibly soft. Are you sure you want it to end this way? Without him ever knowing how you truly felt?
A single tear slipped down Pyrrha's cheek in the real world. Of course not... but what choice do I have?
Survive, Sarai commanded gently, yet firmly. Survive, and tell him yourself. You and I are one and the same now. Your feelings are my feelings, and mine are yours. I will do whatever it takes to ensure you live through this. I don't want you to die either.
Thank you, Sarai.
You are welcome, my dear sister.
In the physical world, Ozpin initiated the sequence.
Amber's pod glowed with a blinding orange light. The energy surged through the overhead conduits, pulsing down into Pyrrha's pod.
Immediately, an agonizing, burning sensation ripped through Pyrrha's veins. She screamed, a sound of pure torture that echoed off the vault walls.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune cried out, rushing to her pod, his face pale with panic. "Ozpin, stop it! What's happening?!"
Ozpin closed his eyes, unable to look. "I am... so sorry."
Shatter!
An arrow of pure black glass pierced the vault's reinforced window, shattering the glass of Amber's pod and burying itself deep into her chest.
Amber gasped, her eyes flying open for one final, agonizing second before they went lifeless. The machines blared a frantic, high-pitched alarm.
No! Amber! Sarai screamed in terror inside Pyrrha's mind.
In the blinding white void of Pyrrha's consciousness, the souls of Sarai and Amber stood face to face.
Amber looked at her friend, a sad, peaceful smile on her face. "Thank you, my friend."
"But... Amber, you..." Sarai wept, reaching out to her.
"Please, Sarai, do not worry about me," Amber whispered, her form beginning to dissolve into golden light. "I'm just glad I was able to see you... and talk to you... one last time."
"Amber..." Sarai cried, her tears falling into the endless white void.
Amber looked at the fading light of her own soul, then back to Sarai and Pyrrha, offering a final blessing as the darkness of the outside world began to close in.
Cafeteria: The Fury of the Elven Warrior
Back in the ruined cafeteria, the atmosphere was suffocating. The air rippled with the visible distortion of two massive clashing energies: Adam Taurus's blood-red Aura and Roy's brilliant, blazing Ki.
Between them lay Yang, pale and unconscious, with Blake desperately holding her close, trying to stem the bleeding with trembling hands.
"You speak highly for a creature that shouldn't even exist in this world," Adam sneered, his hand resting on the hilt of Wilt. "You think your strange tricks can match the justice of the White Fang?"
"Justice?" Roy's voice was dangerously low. The dark elf took a slow step forward, the sheer pressure of his aura cracking the floorboards beneath his boots. "You maim a defenseless girl out of spite and call it justice? You're not a revolutionary, Taurus. You're just a pathetic coward hiding behind a mask because you can't face your own insignificance."
Adam's expression twisted into a mask of pure rage. "Die!"
In a blur of crimson light, Adam vanished, executing a lightning-fast draw stroke meant to decapitate the elf in a single movement.
CLANG!
The sound was deafening. Roy hadn't even shifted his stance; he had simply raised his sword with a single hand, catching Wilt's razor edge directly on his blade. The impact sent a shockwave through the room, blowing away the remaining glass shards from the window frames.
"Is that all?" Roy asked, his burning eyes narrowing.
Before Adam could pull back, Roy unleashed a swift, brutal front kick infused with raw Ki, striking Adam squarely in the chest. The faunus coughed out a spray of saliva as he was sent flying backward, smashing through a concrete pillar and tumbling into the debris.
Blake gasped, her wide eyes locked onto Roy. She had known the dark elves possessed terrifying power, but to see Adam—the unstoppable shadow of her past—cast aside so easily was staggering.
Adam rose from the rubble, his breathing ragged, his red hair disheveled. The mask covered his eyes, but the raw hatred radiating from him was palpable. Wilt began to glow with an ominous, saturated crimson light as he absorbed the kinetic energy of Roy's strike.
"I will tear you apart!" Adam roared, dashing forward to unleash his Semblance, Moonslice, sending a massive crescent wave of destructive red energy tearing through the floor straight toward Roy.
Roy didn't dodge. He sheathed his sword in a split second, bringing both hands forward as his Ki condensed into a brilliant, swirling sphere of energy.
"Take this! Elven Vanguard Burst!"
Roy thrust his palms forward, releasing a massive torrent of blue-white energy that collided directly with the Moonslice. The two forces ground against each other for a terrifying second before Roy's Ki completely overwhelmed the crimson wave, exploding violently in Adam's face.
The shockwave shook the entire cafeteria structure. When the smoke cleared, Adam was on one knee, his Aura flashing violently as it neared its breaking point. Realizing he was completely outmatched, he glared at Roy, then at Blake.
"This isn't over," Adam hissed, throwing down a smoke pellet that filled the room with obscuring darkness. By the time the wind cleared the haze, the rogue leader was gone.
Roy let out a slow breath, his blazing aura fading back into his body. He immediately turned toward Blake and the injured Yang. "We need to get her to the docks now. The structural integrity of this building won't hold much longer."
The Apex of Beacon Tower
At the top of the tower, the heavy elevator doors tore open with a violent screech of metal as Pyrrha Nikos stepped out onto the roof. The wind here was fierce, carrying the scent of ash and ozone.
Standing at the edge of the platform, looking out over the burning kingdom of Vale, was Cinder Fall. The newly crowned Fall Maiden turned slowly, trails of vermilion fire dancing lazily around her eyes.
"You're persistent, I'll give you that," Cinder purred, her voice dripping with malice. "But your headmaster is gone. The maiden's power is mine. What exactly do you hope to accomplish here, little girl?"
Within Pyrrha's consciousness, Sarai's voice burned with an ancient, unyielding hatred. 'Let me handle her, Pyrrha. Together, we can crush this parasite.'
'No,' Pyrrha answered back mentally, her hands gripping her shield and spear with absolute resolve. 'We fight as one. For Amber. For Ozpin. For Jaune.'
Pyrrha's eyes flashed with a dual brilliance—her own golden aura blending seamlessly with the dark, mystical energy of Sarai's elven heritage.
"I'm here to take back what you stole," Pyrrha said, her voice echoing with a subtle, supernatural undertone.
Cinder chuckled darkly, raising her hand as a massive spear of superheated glass materialized in her palm. "Then come and claim it."
Pyrrha charged, her boots leaving scorched marks on the metallic flooring. Cinder hurled the glass spear, but Pyrrha used her Semblance, Polarity, to violently deflect the projectile into the sky. In the same motion, she leaped forward, bringing Milo down in a sweeping strike.
CRASH!
Cinder blocked the blow with a pair of dual obsidian blades she conjured instantly. The sheer pressure of the Maiden's magic forced Pyrrha back, but as she skidded across the roof, she unleashed a wave of dark elven magic—conjuring a circle of glowing light-blades that shot toward Cinder from all angles.
"What?!" Cinder gasped, forced to abandon her offensive to summon a massive ring of fire to incinerate the magical constructs.
The heat was blinding, melting the structural steel of the tower's peak. Pyrrha wove through the flames, her shield absorbing the intense thermal energy as she closed the distance once more.
Rebirth of the Albanar Princess
Cinder Fall stood triumphantly over her battered opponent, her lips curving into a cold, merciless sneer. With a flick of her wrist, she manifested a massive bow of black glass. She notched an arrow of superheated obsidian, drawing the string taut as she aimed directly at Pyrrha Nikos's heart.
At the edge of the tower roof, Ruby Rose dragged herself over the stone ledge. Kneeling in the ash, her breath caught in her throat. She could only watch in absolute horror as Pyrrha sat amidst the rubble, her head bowed and her eyes closed, quietly accepting the finality of her fate.
Twang.
The arrow flew. It struck true, burying itself deep into the center of Pyrrha's chest.
"No!" Ruby's voice was a choked whisper, her body paralyzing as Pyrrha gasped in sudden, blinding pain. A deep, ominous crimson glow began to seep from the wound, fracturing across her skin like cracked porcelain.
Cinder slowly approached her fallen foe. Raising her hand, she placed a palm directly onto Pyrrha's head, channeling the raw, destructive fire of the Fall Maiden to incinerate her opponent into nothingness.
"Don't worry," Cinder gloated, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "I'll use these powers far better than you ever could."
But the ash didn't scatter. The flesh did not burn away.
Suddenly, a hand shot up. Fingers of surprising strength clamped tightly around Cinder's wrist.
Crack.
Cinder's eyes widened as she felt the bones in her hand grind together under a crushing, superhuman grip.
A low, resonant chuckle echoed from the figure before her.
"Nice speech there, witch," a voice spoke—but it wasn't Pyrrha's. It was deeper, dripping with an ancient, authoritative malice. "But don't assume you've won that easily!"
Before Cinder could process the words, a heavy boot slammed into her midsection. The sheer kinetic force of the kick sent the Fall Maiden skidding backward across the cracked stone of the tower.
Cinder clutched her stomach, coughing as she struggled to her feet. Her eyes darted back to the girl she had supposedly incinerated.
Pyrrha was standing.
A brilliant, burning golden aura flared around her body, defying the dark magic of the Maiden. But it wasn't just her aura that had changed. The crimson hair ornaments that once bound her high ponytail shattered, clattering to the stone floor as her deep red hair cascaded down past her waist, growing longer by the second. Her fair skin darkened to a rich, warm olive, and her ears lengthened, tapering into sharp, elegant points.
And her eyes—they were no longer the soft, empathetic green of Pyrrha Nikos. They burned with a fierce, fiery orange, bright as a dying star.
"H-How are you—?" Cinder stammered, her voice cracking as she took an involuntary step back. "Those eyes... Who... who are you?!"
An intricate, glowing tribal crest manifested on the girl's forehead, pulsing with raw magical energy. The entire tower began to tremble violently under the weight of her presence.
"I'm surprised you've forgotten me," the voice spoke, echoing with a dual resonance that vibrated through the air. "The one you slaughtered so mercilessly all those years ago. Of course... I suppose it has been four years, Cinder Fall."
Cinder's face drained of color, her eyes wide with a terror she hadn't felt in a lifetime. "No... it can't be... how... HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!"
With a deafening roar, the golden light surrounding the girl erupted, forming a massive pillar of divine fire that pierced the dark storm clouds above.
The Call of Reincarnation
Across the burning streets of Vale, the sudden shift in the atmosphere was felt by every living soul. Brilliant, stardust-like golden particles began to drift upward from the pavement.
"What the—?!" Neptune Vasilias yelled, shielding his eyes as the ruins around them began to shake. "Hailfire, what is going on?!"
Hailfire stood amidst the dust, her shield lowered. She looked up at the golden pillars of light erupting into the heavens, a serene, knowing smile gracing her lips.
"Ah..." Hailfire whispered. "So, it has finally begun."
Throughout the city, every dark elven soldier was suddenly bathed in a soft, ethereal gold.
On the lower streets, Weiss Schnee stumbled back as Odyn was suddenly enveloped in the same blinding golden aura. The sheer pressure of his rising energy cracked the pavement beneath his boots.
"O-Odyn?!" Weiss demanded, her rapier trembling in her hand. "Would you care to tell me what is happening?!"
Odyn looked toward the colossal beacon tower, his expression hardening. "Simple. The reincarnation spell has activated. My sister has returned to us. The seal is broken, and our true abilities have been unleashed."
"So... in other words, you're even stronger now?!" Weiss gasped.
Odyn gave her a short, sharp nod. "Stay here, Weiss. Keep the perimeter secure. I'm going to check on Ruby."
Before she could argue, Odyn took off, rocketing into the sky like a dark comet, leaving a trail of golden stardust in his wake.
The Sanctuary of the Mind
Within the boundless, quiet void of Pyrrha's consciousness, she felt herself floating in a warm, white light. The pain of the arrow, the burning of Cinder's flames—all of it had vanished.
"Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha opened her eyes. Standing before her was Sarai.
"S-Sarai...?" Pyrrha whispered weakly.
"Oh! Thank Udiya, you're awake!" Sarai let out a breath of pure relief, rushing forward to clasp Pyrrha's hands.
"I... I died, didn't I?" Pyrrha asked, her voice soft and accepting.
Sarai shook her head. "No. Not yet. I seized control of our body just before that monster could finish you. But... your physical vessel was failing. I had to initiate the final reincarnation spell to keep us anchored. Our souls are beginning to fuse."
Pyrrha looked down at her hands, which were slowly turning translucent, blending with Sarai's golden light. "So, there really is no going back."
"No," Sarai said softly, her orange eyes filled with a deep, sisterly affection. "Once the fusion is complete, we will be one and the same. It was the only way to save your life. I am so sorry I had to force this choice upon you."
A warm, serene smile spread across Pyrrha's face. "Thank you, my friend. For saving me. For giving me a chance to keep protecting the people I love."
"You're welcome, my sister," Sarai replied, her voice thick with emotion. "Now... rest. Let me handle the witch."
"Alright..." Pyrrha murmured, her eyelids growing heavy. "I think... I'll take a short nap..."
As Pyrrha's consciousness drifted into a deep, peaceful slumber, the fusion locked into place.
On the physical roof of the tower, the blinding pillar of light subsided. Standing where Pyrrha once stood was a warrior of breathtaking majesty. She wore elegant silver and gold elven armor over her crimson tunic, complete with a polished silver breastplate. Engraved upon her chest was the proud crest of the Albanar Tribe: two crossed flaming swords over a shield, cradled within a single ember of eternal fire. A deep blue cape fluttered behind her in the howling wind.
She drew her elven blade and raised her heavy shield, her fiery orange eyes locked onto Cinder.
"You're..." Cinder breathed.
"The princess of the dark elven tribe of Albanar," she declared, her voice ringing with absolute authority. "Sarai Albanar."
The Wrath of the Siblings
Cinder took a step back, her Maiden powers flaring defensively. The sheer, oppressive weight of Sarai's magical signature was staggering—far surpassing anything she had faced today.
Sarai chuckled, a cold, dangerous sound. "Come now, Fall Maiden. Surely you didn't think humans were the only ones capable of utilizing the old magic?"
From the edge of the roof, Ruby's eyes finally cleared. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at the transformed warrior.
"PYRRHA!" Ruby cried.
In that moment of overwhelming grief and relief, something unlocked deep within Ruby. She clenched her fists, her arms curling inward before flinging them outward. Her silver eyes erupted into a brilliant, blinding white light.
The divine light of the Silver Eyes flooded the entire tower, enveloping the screaming Wyvern and Cinder in a paralyzing, purifying glow.
As the flash faded, Odyn descended from the sky, landing heavily beside Sarai. He looked at his sister, a proud smile breaking through his serious demeanor.
"Glad to have you back," he said.
"We can exchange pleasantries later, brother," Sarai replied, her shield raised. "Right now, this pest needs to be exterminated."
Battle Theme: Tales of Arise — Kisara's Strength
With synchronized speed, the two elven royals charged.
Cinder, still reeling from the blinding flash of Ruby's eyes, struggled to raise her obsidian bow. Before she could notch an arrow, Sarai channeled her magic, her shield glowing with a golden, roaring light.
"Beast Assault!" Sarai roared.
A massive, ethereal construct of a roaring lion's head surged from her shield, slamming directly into Cinder's chest and sending her crashing through a stone pillar.
Cinder snarled, conjuring a dozen explosive fireballs and hurling them toward Sarai. But before they could connect, Odyn bypassed the line of fire.
"Pay attention, witch!" Odyn snapped.
He slipped past her guard, landing a devastating sucker-punch straight to Cinder's jaw. The impact sent her spinning, her fireballs dispersing harmlessly into the wind.
As Cinder stumbled to regain her footing, Sarai was already there, using the momentum of her sprint to ram her heavy shield into the Maiden's face.
"Guardian Battering Ram!"
The metal collided with a sickening crunch, sending Cinder flying across the roof. Frustrated and bleeding, Cinder slammed her palms onto the stone deck, channeling her magic to create a massive wall of jagged ice to block their path.
Odyn didn't even slow down. He tossed his sword high into the air, clenching his fist as his Ki flared to life. With a roar, he slammed his fist into the roof. The shockwave shattered the ice wall into millions of sparkling shards, the explosive force throwing Cinder backward.
Catching his sword as it fell, Odyn locked eyes with his sister. They moved in perfect unison, their blades executing a flurry of lightning-fast strikes that Cinder could barely parry.
"Azure Demon Storm!" Odyn roared, swinging his blade in rapid succession.
Three massive waves of concentrated blue Ki sliced through the air. The first two shattered Cinder's magical barrier; the third struck her squarely in the chest, leaving her wide open.
Sarai's sword suddenly shifted, the blade extending and widening into a massive, heavy battle axe as her shield condensed onto her gauntlet.
"Incineration Blade!" Sarai yelled.
She swung the massive axe, releasing a torrent of pure, golden flames that engulfed Cinder, burning through her remaining Aura. Before the flames could clear, Sarai lunged forward, executing a devastating roundhouse kick that sent Cinder sprawling.
The two siblings stood over the defeated Maiden, their weapons raised as they prepared the final, decisive blow.
"Curse your own fate for angering those who were never meant to be disturbed..."
"Pray to whatever false gods you worship to spare you of the torment you are about to suffer..."
"For we carve wounds into your flesh that are never to heal..."
"And we crush our enemies to absolutely nothing!"
"Divine Twin Beast Fury!"
Their blades moved in a blinding cross-slash of blue and gold energy, tearing through the roof and striking Cinder with apocalyptic force.
When the dust settled, Cinder lay on her side, bleeding, her armor shattered and her magic flickering weakly. She coughed, trying to drag herself away, but Odyn stepped forward. He manifested a sharp spike of solid Ki—a Blade of Light—and plunged it directly through her leg, pinning her to the stone.
Cinder shrieked in agony. Odyn knelt beside her, his hand wrapping around her face, his fingers squeezing her skull with terrifying strength.
"Give your master a message for me," Odyn whispered, his voice dangerously calm. "Tell Salem to prepare herself. We have not forgotten what she did to our people. The rage of the entire Albanar race is coming for her head."
Beside him, Sarai walked over and gently picked up Pyrrha's fallen bronze circlet. She walked to the unconscious Ruby, scooping the young Huntress up into her arms before taking flight, hovering safely above the tower.
Odyn released his grip on Cinder's face. He stood up, channeling the absolute entirety of his Ki into his right fist, which glowed with a terrifying, destructive light.
With a roar that shook the heavens, he slammed his fist directly into the center of the tower roof.
CRACK.
The colossal stone structure fractured. Deep fissures of light tore down the length of Beacon Tower, before the entire monument collapsed inward, exploding in a blinding, apocalyptic flash of white light that consumed the screen.
Aftermath in the Ruins
The screen faded back in to reveal a desolate, smoke-filled courtyard. Qrow Branwen stood amidst the rubble, staring in stunned silence at the absolute annihilation of Beacon Tower.
From the smoke, Odyn slowly descended, carrying Ruby bridal style in his arms.
"Is she alright, kid?" Qrow asked, his voice rough.
Odyn nodded. "Yes. She's just exhausted from using her eyes. She will recover."
Sarai landed beside them, her blue cape fluttering. She looked at the bronze circlet in her hand. "I must go, brother. I need to let Pyrrha's team know what has happened."
"Go," Odyn replied. "I'll see you back at the docks."
With a brief nod, Sarai rocketed away, leaving Qrow and Odyn alone in the quiet ruins.
On the other side of the academy grounds, inside the shattered cafeteria, the air crackled with raw, unsealed electricity.
Adam Taurus knelt in the rubble, his breathing heavy and ragged. He clutched the stump of his right arm, his crimson blade, Wilt, lying shattered several feet away.
Roy stood over him, his dark elven blade resting on his shoulder, his body cloaked in violent, crackling blue lightning.
"I'm warning you, faunus," Roy said, his eyes burning with an unsealed, terrifying power. "Leave this place now. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee you will leave with your life."
"Grr..." Adam growled, glaring up at him through his cracked mask. "Why... why would you get in the way of my reunion with my love?!"
"If you're talking about Blake, it's because you harmed someone precious to my family," Roy replied coldly. "Leave, or I will put you down."
"Please, you can't possibly—"
Before Adam could finish, a lightning bolt struck the wall behind him, completely incinerating the solid concrete structure. Adam turned pale as a ghost, the sheer heat of the blast singeing his hair.
"The next one won't miss," Roy warned.
Defeated and humiliated, Adam used his scabbard as a crutch, dragging himself out into the smoke.
Roy watched him go before sighing, dispersing his lightning aura. He walked over and picked up the severed prosthetic arm from the floor. This might be useful for her recovery, he thought, before using his lightning dash to speed back toward the evacuation docks.

Dragon ball kai intermission screen (see 03:57 instead of Goku and frieza it's a split screen of Roy and Adam Taurus)

The ost the plays in the background of this clip from black clover is what is playing when the scene in this story plays out. (Clip from Black clover episode 96 i believe)

Insert: Tales of Arise vs Kisara ost (this will be Sarai's theme for this fight against Cinder)
A Final Farewell at the Docks
At the Beacon docks, the remaining students and soldiers huddled together. The sky above Vale was pitch black, filled with the distant, horrifying screeches of thousands of Grimm.
As the elven forces gathered, Sarai walked toward Team JNPR. Jaune, Nora, and Ren looked up, their eyes widening as they saw her.
"Um... excuse me?" Jaune asked, his voice shaking. "Where's Pyrrha?"
Sarai stopped, her expression softening into one of deep sorrow. She looked back at Odyn, who gave her a supportive nod.
"What I have to say regarding Pyrrha... is not going to be easy," Sarai began, her voice carrying a familiar, gentle undertone. "But before that, Nora, Ren... there is something you deserve to know."
"What do you mean?" Nora asked, her eyes darting to Sarai's elven armor.
"While I may look like your teammate, I am not her. Pyrrha and I are now... fundamentally the same person. I am the soul that resided within her. I am Sarai Albanar."
"Albanar?" Ren's eyes widened. "Are you related to Odyn and Roy?"
Sarai nodded. "I am their younger sister."
Nora's jaw dropped, her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "Wait... if they are your brothers, then that means... YOU'RE THE PRINCESS?!"
"Nora, please," Sarai smiled gently. "Just call me Sarai."
Jaune stepped forward, his eyes red. "Sarai... is Pyrrha... is she okay?"
"Yes," Sarai said softly, placing her hands over his. "She is alive. But her soul was fading fast. The only way to save her was to merge our souls. We had to become one person."
"So... Pyrrha won't be herself anymore?" Ren asked quietly.
"She will still be here," Sarai explained, "but her regrets... she wanted to say goodbye to you all before we fully fused."
Nora stepped up, tears streaming down her face. "Pyrrha... I'm so sorry we weren't there when you needed us. I hope... I hope you'll always remember us."
Ren stepped up next, placing a hand on Sarai's shoulder. "This isn't a farewell, Pyrrha. Just a see-you-later. We know you'll still be with us."
Finally, Jaune stepped forward. He didn't say a word. He simply pulled Sarai into a tight, desperate hug.
In that instant, Jaune's consciousness was pulled into the serene, white void of his mindscape. Standing before him was Pyrrha, smiling through her tears.
"Pyrrha..." Jaune sobbed.
"It's alright, Jaune," Pyrrha whispered, stepping forward to cup his face. "I'm so glad I was able to tell you how I felt."
"Why?!" Jaune cried. "Just when I finally understand... you're leaving?"
"I have to, Jaune. If I don't, I will die. This way, I can always watch over you. Even if I look different, I will still be your Pyrrha. Please... get along with Sarai. She cares about you too. My feelings are now hers."
Pyrrha leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead as her form began to dissolve into a brilliant, golden light.
"Please, Jaune... do your best."
"I will!" Jaune promised, his voice cracking. "I promise I'll do my best to get along with the new you!"
With a final, warm smile, Pyrrha vanished into the light, pulling Jaune back to reality.
Jaune blinked, wiping the tears from his eyes as he looked at Sarai. "Did... did she merge with you?"
Sarai closed her eyes, placing a hand over her heart. A warm, golden glow pulsed beneath her breastplate. She nodded, smiling. "Yes. We are one now."
She reached out, handing him Pyrrha's bronze circlet. "She wanted you to have this."
Jaune took the circlet, clutching it to his chest. "Thank you... Sarai."
Sarai giggled, a sound that was pure Pyrrha. "It's alright, Jaune. You can still call me Pyrrha if you wish." "You can call me whatever you need to."
"What will you do now?" Ren asked.
"We'll return to our village for a bit," Ren said, gesturing to Nora. "But what about you, Sarai?"
"I think I'll stick with Jaune," Sarai smiled, looking at the blonde knight. "I still need to train him, after all."
Odyn and Roy walked up, carrying the unconscious forms of Ruby and Yang.
"We're taking Ruby and Yang back to Patch," Odyn said. "They need time to recover."
"And we'll follow after Blake," Sun Wukong added, stepping forward with Jinjer. "She's not in a good place right now. Someone needs to bring her home."
Three Weeks Later: Sunset on Patch
Ruby slowly opened her eyes.
She was lying in her own bed, the warm afternoon sun streaming through the window of her home on Patch. Her father, Taiyang, was asleep in the chair beside her bed.
"Ruby!" Taiyang gasped, sitting up quickly as she stirred. "You're awake!"
"My head..." Ruby groaned, rubbing her temples. "Dad... what happened? Where's Yang? Where's Odyn?"
"They're safe, sweetie," Taiyang said, kissing her forehead. "Odyn and Qrow brought you back. Yang is... she's going to be okay, but she needs time to adjust. I'm just glad to have my girls home."
"What about Beacon?" Ruby asked quietly.
Taiyang sighed, rubbing his neck. "Vale is secure, but the school... that giant Wyvern is frozen at the top of the tower. You did a number on it, kiddo."
"I... did what?" Ruby blinked, visible question marks practically floating above her head.
Before Taiyang could explain, Qrow stepped into the room, leaning against the doorframe as he finished a swig from his flask. "It's always a mess."
"Qrow," Taiyang warned.
"Mind if we have a minute, Tai?" Qrow asked.
Roy appeared behind Qrow, waving a hand. "Mr. Xiao Long, Yang knocked her water over again. Can you help me get her a fresh glass?"
"Sure thing, Roy," Taiyang sighed, giving Ruby one last hug before leaving the room.
Odyn stepped into the doorway, leaning against the frame with a soft smile. Qrow dragged a chair over to Ruby's bedside, slumping into it.
"So, how are you feeling, kid?" Qrow asked.
"Everything hurts," Ruby admitted.
"Makes sense, after what you did," Qrow replied, crossing his legs.
"You guys keep saying that! What did I do?!"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Qrow asked, leaning forward.
Ruby thought back, her brow furrowing. "I ran up the tower... I saw a golden light... and then... Pyrrha! Is she...?"
"She's gone, Ruby," Qrow said softly.
"Just as you knew her, Little Rose," Odyn added from the doorway. "In order to save her life, my sister Sarai fused their souls. They are one person now."
Ruby's eyes filled with tears, her fingers gripping her blanket tightly. "I remember... everything going white. And my head hurting."
"The night you met Ozpin," Qrow said, "what's the first thing he said to you?"
"Something about... Silver Eyes?"
"Exactly," Qrow said. "You're special, Ruby. Just like your mom. The creatures of Grimm are terrified of silver-eyed warriors. A single look from one could strike a giant beast down. It's a ridiculous legend... but there's a giant monster currently frozen on top of Beacon Tower, and you're here, safe in bed."
Ruby's eyes widened in realization. "But... what do we do now? If Ozpin is gone..."
"I have to pick up where he left off," Qrow said, standing up and walking toward the door. "But you? You need to rest. Besides, our enemy's trail leads all the way to Haven. That's a long trip for a pipsqueak."
He winked, tapping Odyn on the shoulder as he walked past. "She's all yours, kid. Fill her in on the rest."
Odyn chuckled, taking Qrow's place in the chair by her bed. Ruby smiled, reaching her arms out to wrap them around his neck, pulling him down for a long, tender kiss.
When they finally parted, Odyn's face was slightly flushed. "I'm still not used to how aggressive you are when we're alone, Ruby."
"Well, you're the only one who gets to see this side of me," Ruby giggled, before her expression turned serious. "Odyn... can you tell me what happened while I was asleep?"
Odyn smiled warmly, sitting on the edge of her bed. "Get comfortable, Little Rose. It's a very long story."
As Odyn began to recount the events of the past three weeks, the camera slowly panned up, out the window and over the quiet forests of Patch, fading into the beautiful, golden sunset.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Ruby Rose woke up on Patch three weeks after the Fall of Beacon with everything hurting and her father asleep in the chair beside her and her boyfriend sitting on the edge of her bed looking at her like she was something that had been very nearly lost and was now found.
She had defeated the Wyvern without remembering it.
She had lost Beacon.
She had gained, somewhere in the months between September and the autumn, a knowledge of herself that was not the same as the knowledge she had arrived with. She was taller. Her hair was different. Her eyes, when she looked at them in the window's reflection, had the specific quality of something that had been tested and had not broken.
Odyn told her everything.
She listened.
Outside, the light changed.
Inside, two people sat on the edge of a bed and went through a very long story together, which is the best possible way to go through a very long story.
The world beyond Patch was not waiting politely.
It was waiting.
There is a difference.
Ending:

Ending theme: Dragon ball z Kai (2014) ending 3 Dear Zaruthstra
Visuals: It shows quick panels of each of the cast so far, ranging from Odyn and his team to Rwby, JNPR, KDBNB, and even now to GSSJ. Are shown lying down on the ground as Beacon is in Flames while they struggle to to stand. They eventually do stand as the cast walks forward with each of their portraits displaying them in a fight of some kind with either Grimm or in the case of Odyn against Cinder. Roy is seen to be fighting against Adam with Blake and Yang. Hailfire's portrait shows her with the other students,fighting off Grimm, while Khanna's shows her and the elven army. The song ends as the cast is shown to be fighting Cinder and the Grimm.
Hoo boy that was a doozy! To write! I figured Odyn's explanation to Ruby of what transpired after she fell unconscious was as good of a point as any to end the chapter at. If you guys noticed i mixed in some attacks from the tales of series although I just alternated the names and quotes during the artes and mystic artes lol
I envision the devils/demons coming into the story during the flashback of Odyn's retelling of the events surrounding the Fall of Beacon. They won't be coming in like you'd expect. As for why Cardin and CRDL wasn't mentioned in the chapter... we'll let's just say I have something planned for them. If you thought the Cinder fight against Odyn and Sarai (Pyrrha) was lazy, sorry. Byt the point was for them to proove to her just how much stronger they were.
Plus, she had it coming for awhile anyways. I figured some bonding between some of the pairings was in order. But they'll get their own development as the story progresses. Since next chapter is a bit of a recap chapter, it may be quite a bit shorter than this one. Next chapter will cap off Volume 3 of the Rwby story. And like I said, I didn't kill Pyrrha per se, she just fused with Sarai so she could survive.
Anyways that's all for now!
Next time: Chapter 25: Aftermath