Episode 3: Chapter 6: Clashing Shadows

Chapter 6 of Episode 3 of War of Seasons

            As the airships continued to fly through the sky towards Aequo, Ember continued to stare out the window, still processing everything.  Gray walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder.

            “You seem surprisingly calm” Ember said with a sigh.  Gray lowered his head, trying to hide his tears.

            “You weren’t home a lot once you left for Beacon.  Me and mom had to deal with seeing the worst in dad come out before he left us.  Honestly, this feels more like it was inevitable than it was a shock.  I didn’t want to believe it, heck I was as horrified as you when I first saw him back at the mountain, but when he did what he did at Beacon?  The way he treated our aunt?  I saw the version of our dad that spent his nights yelling at mom and storming off to do his own thing fully realized.  I saw the person that I ended up dreading and fearing standing before us, not our father.”

            “But it’s still him Gray.  It’s still our dad.  How will you find it in yourself to fight him?”

            “By telling myself that I’m not fighting our father.  I’m fighting Ferish Tenebris, the man who killed him even before this war began.”

            “You make it sound so easy.”

            “I know it isn’t.  But that’s all I can do for right now.  And it’s entirely likely I’ll freeze up the moment we see him out there, but until that moment arrives, I’m going to fight for my family no matter who stands in front of me.”

            “When did you grow up so fast?” Ember said with a slight smile.  Gray gave Ember a quick hug and strapped himself in, as they prepared for their final descent into the valley of Aequo.

 

 

 

            “Okay,” Miles said whispering into his Scroll while still hiding in the air vents, “how far out are you guys?”

            “I’d say maybe five-to-ten minutes” Natalie replied back.

            “All right then.  Well if what you’ve told me is true, then Nathan used his medal from the Battle of Vytal to overwrite all these commands and essentially take over our entire system of command.”

            “That about sums it up, yeah.”

            “Okay, from what I can tell, the Order is putting all their eggs in this one basket.  Leaving their main command ship all but defenseless.  I think I could sneak onto the bridge and turn the tables on them with a similar trick.  Maybe use my own medal and credentials to give them a taste of their own medicine.”

            “That’s good and all, but we still would have the command ship to deal with.  Even if they don’t have everybody aboard right now, they’re sure to still have some key personnel on board for weapons and things like that.”

            “I might have an idea about that.  Talk to you later.”  With that, Miles hung up, and looked over out of the nearest vent, and surveyed all the crates of Dust that the Order had stockpiled in their armory.

 

 

 

            Anima stepped out of her dropship, with several soldiers following behind her.  They pulled out the three Relics, as well as the chamber containing the body of Zenoma Mortem.  While the troops made the final preparations, she pulled out her Scroll.

“Lord Sangui,” she said growing more and more anxious.  “What’s the status of the final line of defense?”

“Everything is in place” Lord Sangui replied.  “We have all the troops and warships ready for battle in case anything happens.  Although I doubt that any of them will risk the lives of innocents so long as we control the entirety of Atlas’ androids.”

“Don’t be complacent Lord Sangui.  That will be our downfall” she said hanging up.

“What do you plan to do?” Ozpin asked as several Order soldiers dragged him out next to Lord Imperia.  She simply laughed as she continued her preparations.

“The Relic of Life is to restore the body of our former superior.  To ensure he has a proper vessel upon his return.  The Relic of Death is to act as a guide for the Relic of Connection to open a door to the Realm of the Dead.  And then you provide the most important piece of the puzzle.  While it is possible for the Relic of Connection to open a gate to the Realm of the Dead, it is impossible for a soul to pass through without a conduit for the magic to flow through.  That is where you come in Ozpin.  You’ve died and come back to this realm before.  So, I will use the Relic of Connection to create a portal to the Realm of the Dead and use you as a medium to ensure that the superior returns to us after all this time.”

“You can’t do this!” Ozpin yelled.  “I am one of the anchors that keeps this world intact!  If I die….”

“Your sister died, and the world is still here” Imperia said with a chuckle.  “All that matters is that your power lives on, and then the world will be as it should be.  Besides, I’m only opening a small portal.  It seems extremely unlikely you would die from that.”  Having said her piece, she began to set up the area, planting the staff holding the Relic of Death in the ground, followed by tying the chain of the Relic of Life around the tip of the Relic of Connection.  From there, she moved the pod holding Mortem’s body in between herself and the Relics, placed Ozpin right in front of the Relics, and prepared to start an incantation.  She spun the Relic of Connection around, creating a circle of energy.  It wasn’t a fully realized portal, but it was taking the shape of one.  From there, she pulled back, and guided the energy towards the Relic of Death and Ozpin’s body.  As it grew closer, the portal started to become more and more powerful.  Soon, once it reached Ozpin, the portal became fully powered, and it opened, revealing a pathway into the realm of the dead.  This caused Ozpin to scream in excruciating pain, as the portal tore through his entire being, but Imperia didn’t care.  As she stared through the gate, she saw the city of Aequo, standing there in all its former glory, with wisps of souls moving through the space.  Suddenly, she saw a wisp growing closer to the portal.  As it took shape, she started to recognize it.

            “Lord Mortem” she said falling to one knee.  “At last, you’ve returned to us.”

 

 

            Nathan stood atop the ridge overlooking Imperia’s actions.  As she continued her actions with opening the portal, he pulled out his blade and started running down the side of the cliff.

 

 

            “All of my actions have been to bring you to this very point in time.  And now, all that is left to do is pass on what I know to you.  To share with you the vial piece that may just be the key to reaching your true destiny.  The destiny that you so desire.  The chance to bring back those you lost, and to gain revenge on everybody who betrayed you.”  Nathan glared at Memoriare, but stepped away from the cell, and looked straight at him.

            “I’m listening.”

         “The ritual that Anima Imperia is enacting is a process meant to resurrect the superior, Lord Mortem.  However, resurrecting a body is not as simple as placing the Relic of Life on a body and rebuilding it to its full potential.  Nor is it as simple as going to the Realm of the Dead and bringing the soul back to the realm of the living.  The body requires a soul in order for it to function, and the soul requires a vessel in order to exist in this realm.  That is why Imperia plans to open a gate to the realm of the dead, bring Lord Mortem through it, and from there, use the relic of life on the superiors old body so that it can return to its former glory and be a proper vessel for him to use.”

            “So how does that help me?  How do I stop him?  How do I achieve my goals?  How do I make the world a better place?”

            “The first step is to remove a key element from the field.  Take away a critical piece, and the machine cannot run properly.”

 

 

 

            Nathan leapt up into the air, and slashed down at the container containing Lord Mortem’s body.  The container shattered into a million pieces, and the body was cleaved right in half.  Imperia leapt backwards in surprise and shock when this happened.  From there, Nathan proceeded to strike his tuning fork sword into the ground and sent out a shockwave that caused the Relics to fall out of alignment, and caused the portal to move off of Ozpin’s body, causing him to black out.  With that, the portal began to wobble and fade.

            “NO!” Imperia yelled rushing forward, trying to salvage the Relics.  But in that moment, she looked through the portal, and saw Lord Mortem say something.  As she listened to what he had to say, she fell to her knees, and started crying.  As the tears rolled down her face, Nathan walked up and placed his sword at her neck.

            “You lied Anima” Nathan said with a growl.  “You are just as bad as Mortem was.  You never really cared about the world.  You were a part of his splinter cell from the start!  If there even was a splinter cell!”  Anima heard Nathan say this, and realized what was happening.  She dried her tears and started laughing.

            “You still think you’re above all of this?  You think you’re better than me?  Lord Mortem was to me what Ember was to you.  Somebody who truly cared about me and supported me.  What makes you think you are so different from me?  We are both trying to bring back people we care about.  Why am I suddenly the villain in this story to you?”

            “Mortem was a monster.  And so are you.  You both have killed innocents.  You’ve both attacked bystanders.  You….”

            “And you haven’t?” Anima said mockingly at Nathan.  “Admit it, we’re the same!  The only difference is you won’t accept it and keep convincing yourself that you are different when you and I are clearly the same!”

            “I’m nothing like you!” Nathan yelled at the top of his lungs.  “I’m not like Mortem!  Ember isn’t like Mortem!  I’m trying to make the world a better place!”

            “So am I.  We both want what we desire.  What makes you any better than me?”

            “The fact that I’m right and everybody else is wrong” Nathan said taking up a battle stance.  Imperia smiled, and got into her battle stance as well.

 

 

 

            Lord Sangui stood at the edge of the valley leading into Aequo, and stared out into the horizon.  It was almost too quiet to his liking while keeping watch.  The main command ship was hovering just overhead, and all the soldiers were mostly standing around either chatting with one another or inspecting their weapons.  As Lord Sangui continued to pace, he noticed there was a small dust cloud approaching on the horizon.  Pulling out a pair of binoculars, he tried to see what it was.  As it came into focus, he saw several airships flying straight towards them.  Quickly, he pulled out his Scroll to try and command the androids to attack, but he found that he had been locked out of the command menu.  He quickly switched to the communications channel to try and warn people about what was happening, but even then, he couldn’t access the information.  Growing more and more frustrated with the situation, he quickly split himself into several different clones and sent them out in different directions to spread the word of the incoming attack.  While the clones went out to spread the word, Lord Sangui took another look at the incoming attack, and something caught his eye.  There were airships rushing towards them, but they were high enough that they wouldn’t be able to create any form of dust cloud, but dust clouds formed on the ground all the same.  Adjusting the focus, he took a closer look at the dust cloud and saw a horde of Grimm charging straight towards them.  He dropped his binoculars and quickly tried to use his Scroll again, but still to no avail.  He was about to try and see if he could flag down somebody from the command ship to bring him up so that he could try to communicate with the troops that way, but suddenly, an explosion went off inside the command ship.  Debris was flying everywhere, soldiers were scrambling, the command ship was slowly falling to the ground, and it almost seemed like the Order was completely out of luck. Lord Sangui yelled at the top of his lungs in anger as everything collapsed around him.

 

            “Man,” Miles said as he fired a few more rounds at the fire dust crystals he managed to collect and place in the engine room of the command ship, “I hope I’m not too early or this is going to go south in a hurry.”  With that, Miles quickly made his exit as the command ship continued its slow decent to the ground.  Several Order troops were evacuating via either parachute, their own landing strategy, escape pods, or still functional airships.  Miles opted to leap straight out of the main cargo doors, and adjusted his gravity pull to guide him towards his friends that were charging ever closer to the valley of Aequo.  As the command ship went down, Miles finally reached the lead airship for his friends, which contained Blake, Aurora, Jacob, Ty and Evan, where they helped him inside super quickly.

            “Glad to see you’re still in one piece” Ty said patting Miles on the back.

            “For the moment” Miles said rolling his neck.  “But we’re just about in the thick of it.”

            “What can you tell us about what the Order is planning?” Evan asked as the airships got closer.

            “Not fully sure myself, but it looks like they are planning on bringing back Mortem from the dead.”  The airship fell silent at this news.

            “And Nathan is okay with this?” Jacob asked growing concerned.

            “Far as I can tell he doesn’t even know that’s their plan.  But that’s irrelevant now.  We need to make sure we stop them, no matter what.”  Everybody nodded their heads in agreement, and everybody got back in position, but not before Blake and Aurora tightly embraced Miles, with tears rolling down their eyes.

            “Please don’t scare us like that again” Blake said with a smile.

            “I make no promises” Miles said with a chuckle.  They held each other for a few moments more before getting ready for the battle that lay ahead.  In a few moments, they were right on top of the Order’s front line, where it was clear that the troops were scrambling to try and not only prepare for the attack from the Huntsmen and Huntresses, but the overwhelming number of Grimm that were pouring into the valley and decimating their defenses.  Hera continued to guide the Grimm from her own airship, and then finally, once there was an opening, everybody leapt out of their airships and began their attack, pushing deeper into the valley.

            “I hope we aren’t too late” Jacob said grabbing his chest in pain.

 

 

 

            Nathan spun his blade around in a circle, trying to block a stream of fire from Anima’s staff.  She tried to make him move away from the Relics, but Nathan refused to budge.  Acting quickly, Nathan leapt forward, taking the full force of the fire, and struck Anima square in the gut.  Reeling back, she tried to recover quickly, but Nathan took the opportunity he had and continued to land powerful hits on her body.  Her aura was fading fast, and she needed to react fast.  Acting swiftly, when Nathan was pulling back with his sword for another powerful blow, she tapped the ground with her staff, and caused a giant gust of wind to push out around her in a circle.  Nathan got knocked back a few feet, but still managed to keep his balance.  In that moment, Anima reloaded the dust crystals in her staff and rushed towards Nathan, the two of them trading blows back and forth.  For a time, the fight seemed like it could go either way.  But eventually, Nathan’s skill and power started to overwhelm Anima’s own abilities.  Anima tried to stab Nathan straight in the chest when she thought she had an opening, but Nathan easily parried the attack and knocked her staff out of her hand.  Anima still had a few loose dust crystals in her pockets and tried to use them against Nathan, but when she threw them at him, he simply moved out of the way and let the chaos that the crystals brought ensue behind him.  He then grabbed Anima by her neck, and lifted her straight up into the air.

            “I once thought you were somebody I could trust Anima.  But now I see I was wrong.  I can’t trust anybody.  Nobody in this world deserves to live.  It’s high time that I corrected this wrong and did what was right.”  With that, he tossed Anima to the side, and made his way towards the Relics, as they were just sitting there.

 

 

 

            “So after I defeat Anima and take the Relics,” Nathan said staring intently at Memoriare, “what happens after that?”

            “You wish to reclaim those you lost after the battle of Aequo, correct?”

            “Most of them.  I don’t want my birth parents to come back.  They never supported me.  Not like Ember did.”

            “Regardless, if you want to claim what is rightfully yours, the answer lies in the Relics.  Individually, they are powerful indeed.  But bring them together, and they will create something unlike this world has ever seen before.  Take up the Relic of Death and pair with the Relic of Connection.  From there, create a portal to the realm of the dead.  Then, cast the portal and the Relic of Death and the Relic of Life into the sky, with death striking the ground first, followed by the portal, then the Relic of Life will follow after.  This will create an effect that will cause the world to reset and be rebuilt as you desire it to be.”

            “How do you mean?”

            “The Relic of Death will strike the sky, and create a veil over everything.  It will cover every inch of the sky on all of Remnant, and will kill everything it touches.  From there, you will lower it to the earth below, and once it has killed everything and everyone, the Relic of Life will provide the spirits of the Realm of the Dead to pass through, and claim the vessels of the dead beings of this world as their own.”

            “That sounds extremely complicated and a bit out there.  How do I know that it will do what I want it to do and not just kill everybody?  How will it not kill me?”

            “I have learned many things from my years of serving the Order young one.  In this world and in others.  I have learned many secrets, and I know that there is always once constant.  The Relics always yield to the power of a god. Use Ozpin as a battery.  He should be more than enough to power the veil”

 

 

 

            As Nathan approached the Relics, he turned towards the broken body of Lord Mortem, and watched as the power of darkness ebbed from his body like boiling lava.  Nathan reached into the pool of darkness and took a clump of the ooze and slapped it on his chest.  The ooze began melding with Nathan’s skin, and started to become one with his body.  The darkness flowed through him, causing his veins to bulge and turn black, and his right eye to turn black with a red iris and pupil.  He laughed manically as the power flowed through him, and he took the relics.  After grabbing the Relics, he picked up Ozpin’s limp and unconscious body and placed him on the ground, surrounded by the Relics.  Following Memoriare’s instructions, he took the Relics of Life, Death and Connection, and created a powerful ball of energy over the body of Ozpin.

 

 

 

            As everybody charged forward through the valley, the Order was scrambling to try and find any way that they could retaliate against the attack.  But it was too late.  The Huntsmen and Huntresses had broken through, and were well on their way to completely routing the Order.

            “I wish it was always this easy” Brooklyn said as she slashed a random Order soldier.

            “This is just the warmup!” Ruby yelled.  “The real fight is just ahead!”  But just as she said this, a beam of light shot up into the sky at the far end of the valley.  It was a powerful light, made up of light and darkness.  As it hit the sky, energy poured out, creating a canopy stretching out across the world.  The sky was black for a split second, as dark as night.  But then, the canopy lit up and turned red.  All of Remnant was bathed in this red light.  And all of a sudden, small wisps of light came pouring out of the sky, flying around, passing through people and trying to interact with the world.

            “What the heck is happening?” Christy asked as she stared up at the sky.

            “I think we might be too late” Natalie said shaking a little bit.

Author's Note

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[Shep]

Oh damn, you had to end it there when it was just getting good. Now, I have nothing left to read until you post it. looking forward to it. please be kind and return the love.