Flames and Strife
POV Cinder Fall
It had been a month since Death fell into a comatose state, and not many people had been allowed in to see him, though a few were, so at least they all knew that he was fine. Among her team, only Neo had gotten to see him, but Cinder understood that just fine. She might have been the Team Leader, but Neo was Death's lover, as well as a maiden, so it made sense for her to get preferential treatment when it came to visiting him. Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald were simply friends with Death, though both Cinder and Emerald were moderately interested in Death.
It took some time coming to terms with their growing attraction to Death, given that she and Emerald had been together as a couple for more then a decade, and had not taken interest in other men or boys before, so they hadn't realized what it was until Neo teased them about just asking Death out on a date if they were interested in him.
Both she and Emerald wanted to deny it, but realized that would be lying if they did. that realization hit like a ton of bricks.
Neither Cinder or Emerald, however, had acted on this romantic interest, and the reason was simple. They still were in love with each other, so was it even possible for them to love a man as well? They just did not know the answer to that.
Even though they were all eager to have Death come back, life had to go on for them all, and today herself and Emerald had a weekend pass to Vale where they were meeting up with Strife and their childhood friend Vernal, who was Strife's girlfriend. Well, Vernal was more Emerald's friend, but Cinder figured she should go with her Emerald and after the meet up with Strife and Vernal for a while, enjoy the rest of the weekend with her girlfriend.
Mercury seemed to be planning something with Fury for the weekend as well, but she did not care about his romantic life when her own was already feeling a bit of a mess due to these unwelcome feelings that were growing in her heart. She accepted that it was not her place to intervene in his relationship in any case, since the woman he had fallen for was not a very typical or 'feminine' kind of girl. Cinder wasn't sure how she could help him even if she had the desire too.
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POV Strife
While he was certainly concerned about Death, who was still unconscious, Strife, Fury, and War had not stopped preparing for the so-called 'Battle of Beacon'. Thanks to Hazel Rainart switching sides, they now knew the identities of Salem's remaining servants in Vale, as well as the Head of Vale's branch of the Bloody Fang that had been cooperating with Salem's followers.
Salem's followers were Aeden Torchwick and Anastasia Tremaine, while the Branch Head of the Bloody Fang was Lenore Nivens. War and Fury were planning to take down these three this weekend in one swift action, but Strife was assigned the task of keeping Cinder distracted.
Anastasia, it turned out, was the new Summer Maiden, and she had a major 'hate-boner' as Hazel had called it, for Cinder. If Cinder was involved in that battle, Anastasia would go all-out trying to murder Cinder by any means necessary, and it would make her harder to deal with, even with Amber and Neo fighting her.
Team CFVY was also involved at Velvet's insistence, along with Team RWBY at Blake's insistence, though they were going after Lenore Nivens and the Bloody Fang. Blake really wanted to get rid of the Bloody Fang because they were a threat to everything that the White Fang stood for, and Velvet was after Lenore Nivens because it turned out that the woman was her cousin, and that she had no idea that she was involved with the Bloody Fang.
Strife believed that if all went according to plan, then the threat to Vale was over, and they could go after Salem at their convenience.
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POV Death
After sleeping for a month, his dreams were interrupted as he found himself in an office sitting across from Morgan Freeman. "One-Above-All?" Death guessed "I didn't die, did I?"
"No, you didn't die, and you guessed my identity correctly on the first try, way to go" One-Above-All chuckled.
"Well then, I'm happy to see you, but why am I here?" Death asked "Shouldn't I be recovering at Beacon?"
"Your physical body is still doing that, yes, I just brought you here for a little chat." One-Above-All insisted "Have to defend my honor since you've been bad-mouthing me a bit, after all." he chuckled.
"I have? What have I been saying?" Death asked with confusion.
"I did not influence the women around you to fall in love with you." One-Above-All insisted "When I let you choose your semblance, you chose Divine Regeneration. As the name implies, you inherited a tiny spark of divinity as a result of this choice. The mere act of having divinity naturally draws followers towards you, and a divinity often feels protective towards their followers. There are certainly exceptions, but this is a commonplace phenomenon. In other words, if is a by-product of your semblance, and not due to any specific intent on my part. As someone with a spark of divinity, you just have a naturally magnetic personality and attract like-minded people to you. I am not someone that messes with free will."
Death nodded "I see. I certainly meant you no disrespect, sir." he insisted "I just didn't know what was going on, and wanted to disclose what I did to not feel bad about possibly brainwashing people I've grown to love."
"It is not brainwashing. They might have changed as a result of being around you, but it was a change that they each willingly accepted, even if it was at a subconscious level. Those that do not want to so closely tie themselves to you will never be affected by your magnetic personality." One-Above-All explained "I know that you meant no disrespect, though. I just decided to seize upon an opportunity to correct my image with you, and hopefully with your friends."
"I can certainly respect that" Death agreed "Even though you didn't have to do it, the explanation is appreciated, but why wait until now to speak to me about this?"
"Your actions activating the sword of Edicts allowed you to break through the systems level cap, which was 255." One-Above-All insisted.
"255? Isn't that an odd number for the level cap?" Death asked with confusion.
"Your system was built using my power, but was inspired by humans of your world and their concept of 'programming. Your level was recorded in binary with eight digits, so the level cap was eleven million, one hundred eleven thousand, one hundred eleven, which translates into level 255. I have by necessity ungraded your system, though, so now your level is recorded in Hexadecimal, with the max value being F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F, or level four billion, two-hundred ninety-four million, nine-hundred sixty-seven thousand, two-hundred eighty-five. After this, I shouldn't be forced to have to update your system again." he chuckled.
The magnitude of a level exceeding FOUR BILLION left Death momentarily shocked.
"But, you are all-knowing, right? So why not make that my level cap from the start? Isn't it that there was another reason you wanted to see me again?" Death asked.
"Yes, I plan to give you a gift. You have chosen the next world you want to go too, right, and you want to bring your important loved-ones with you? Wont you need a means of transportation once you get there?" One-Above-All asked.
"So you are offering me a spaceship?" Death asked.
"No, I am offering you the schematics of any space-faring vessel you desire." One-Above-All insisted "You could even choose a borg cube, though that wouldn't be a comfortable place to live."
Death's eyes grew large with sudden realization of what he'd just heard "Atlantis! The Lantean City-ship from the Stargate Universe!" frankly all of the Stargate FTL travel methods were vastly superior to the ones in Star Wars, and the City-ship had not just one method of FTL travel, but two! The wormhole drive could travel from the Pegasus Galaxy to Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy nearly instantaneously! Of course he would want to study that with his technokinesis/technopathy.
This, he thought, would be a very good way to use the relic of creation!
One-Above-All chuckled "As expected. Very well."
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Received :
Schematics (Atlantis)
Schematics (Puddle-jumper)
Schematics (Zero-Point Module)
Schematics (Stargate)
Schematics (Intergalactic Gate Bridge)
Schematics (Drone)
Schematics (Naquadah Molecule)
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Death was shocked when he saw the notifications he had just received. He thought that he'd only get schematics for Atlantis itself, but this was much more then he could have hoped for. With this he could not only use the relic of creation to make a version of Atlantis that he could study, but he could also weaponize it against Salem!
"You know, if I hadn't included the Schematics for the Naquadah Atom, even the Relic of Creation would not have been able to make a functional version of this technology. Aren't I generous?" The One-Above-All chuckled "Oh, don't use this method to defeat Salem. It wont be necessary. Backed into a corner as she has been, she will be coming to Vale personally. You will not have sufficient time to get to the relic of creation and get back to Vale once you wake up. There's a method that will do the job for you, but you have not touched that ability since you received it."
Death carefully thought back, trying to think about what ability he received that he has never used, and then it hit him "Gigai creation? But how can that help?"
"Soul Magic." The One-Above-All answered simply "The condition for you to learn soul magic was a hidden quest to create your first gigai. You assumed that since you are not in the world of Bleach and not a shinigami, that you couldn't do anything with it, and you just sort of put it aside and did not think about it after that. You forgot that Hidden Quests, though, could be a thing, and in the case of that power, there is indeed a hidden quest tied to it. You will find that soul magic will be quite useful in the fast approaching battle."
Death nodded in understanding "Do you have any other advice for me?"
"Once you receive dimensional magic, create and modify an Intergalactic Gate Bridge to allow you to connect this world to other dimensions. If you do not do this, then after losing contact with you for too long, the power of the Sword of Edicts, which is tied to your life, will weaken and eventually be disabled." The One-Above-All advised "Think of the dimensionally modified Intergalactic Gate Bridge as an antenna, that will be able to connect to you in any other reality. And if you find a universe that you want to permanently connect to Remnant, then create a second one in that universe. I do not advise this, though. Instead I suggest just making one here to function as an antenna to maintain what you created here with the sword."
Death sighed, realizing that as soon as he woke up, the final battle would already be starting, and it would happen in Vale. Everything he knew about the Haven and Atlas arcs was now completely useless. He had done a lot of good, but ended up pushing everything forward and forced Salem's hand to an extent far greater then he realized.
"Can you tell me more about how things went so out of expectations? Salem was always really patient, so why come personally now?" Death asked,
"Because right now, in Remnant, your allies just sprung a trap, and are in the process of taking down the last of Salem's allies. For the first time in thousands of years, Salem will literally have no pawns that she can depend upon, apart from the Grimm, which now are finite in number, since they are no longer multiplying." The One-Above-All answered simply.
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Hidden Quest Completed : The love of the Summer Maiden
The Summer Maiden gives herself to you, mind, body, and soul.
Reward : Fire Magic Skill Tree, Darkness/Destruction Magic Skill Tree, 1 Skill Point
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Hidden Quest Updated : The love of the Seasonal Maidens
The Summer Maiden gives herself to you, mind, body, and soul. (Completed)
The Fall Maiden gives herself to you, mind, body, and soul. (Completed)
The Winter Maiden gives herself to you, mind, body, and soul.
The Spring Maiden gives herself to you, mind, body, and soul. (Completed)
Reward : Space-Time Magic Skill Tree, Dimensional Transfer Skill, 2 Skill Points
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Death was shocked by the two notices he just received "What just happened?" he asked the One-Above-All.
The One-Above-All chuckled "I'll be going now, but first I'll let you see what just happened.
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POV May Zedong
Since Ruby and her Teammates, accompanied by Team CFVY and Team STRQ (Except for Summer), were dealing with the Bloody Fang, she was assigned to assist the elder Rose, War, Fury, Mercury, Amber, Neo, Uriel, Hazel, and Ultear with Aeden Torchwick and Anastasia Tremaine.
Summer, Hazel, Neo, Amber and herself went after the Summer Maiden, though her job was only to harass the Summer Maiden as a sniper. With Summer, Hazel, and two other Maidens ganging up on her, and adding on May's harassment, Anastasia looked like she was doomed, and the realization started to dawn in her eyes as well.
Unexpectedly, however, May saw Anastasia slip free from her attackers and charge in her direction with homicidal intentions.
May tried sniping her, but the onrushing Summer Maiden deflected each of her bullets, and May saw the woman's sword reach her and pierce her straight through the heart. It hurt a lot, and May's eyes grew as large orbs, filled with shock and confusion.
Anastasia yanked out her sword and resumed fighting the others next to what she assumed was May's dead body, only rather then dying, her heart healed and she recovered thanks to being connected to Death's Divine Regeneration semblance.
May seized upon the opportunity left by Anastasia assuming she was dead, and she retrieved Ebony, the gun that Death had left her with, and pointed it at Anastasia "Bitch!"
With shock, Anastasia turned towards the sounds of the voice, just as May pulled the trigger. The last thing that she saw was May and a flash before the bullet struck her between her eyes, completely ignoring her aura.
In that instant, May felt different, and not just different because it was her first time killing a person. A red glow appeared over each of her eyes, burning away her eyepatch as she inherited the Summer Maiden's powers.
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POV Mercury
When Fury invited him to come to vale with her for the weekend, this was not what he expected to happen. Currently, they were on a rooftop, discretely watch over what appeared to be a double date, with Strife and Vernal as one couple, and his teammates, Cinder and Emerald, as the other.
Well, he was observing the double date, while Fury seemed to be distracted by a bird. He wanted to ask her what the whole point of this charade was, but usually he just trusted her and followed her around like a puppy.
"Gotcha" Fury muttered under her breath.
Mercury glanced back towards the bird she had been watching and saw it trapped in a cage that hadn't been there before.
Mercury had been surprised when he heard of Strife's newly awakened semblance, which he called invisibility screen, which he had been using on them, apparently ever since they left the school, and it made it so that no one seemed to notice them at all. It seemed moderately similar to Emerald's semblance, but a lot more restricted, since it could only make people and objects invisible, and couldn't make them see what he wanted them to see, but the benefit was the ease with which he could affect everyone and everything around them. Apparently it could even fool camera's, so in that way he suppose it was a bit like his partner, Neo's, semblance as well.
Behind the cage that held the bird, the big guy appeared, apparently having been hidden by Strife's semblance as well. 'The Big Guy' was of course, Fury's younger brother War. This surprised Mercury a lot, considering War was the furthest thing from Stealthy, yet he still appeared to have snuck up on the bird and caught it unaware.
Strife's semblance did not cover up sounds, so he knew that they must have used some other method to keep him silent, since War did not seem to know the definition of stealth and moved like a rampaging goliath.
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POV Fury
A short while later, she brought Mercury to the rooftop where Was was holding a cage with one very angry Raven Branwen trapped inside of it.
"We meet again, at last, Raven Btanwen" Fury announced and chuckled as she approached the caged bird, which had gone suddenly silent.
"Raven, you have nothing to fear" Fury insisted "We just want to have a talk with you. You have been spying on us off and on for over a decade, and you never once came by to say hello" fury tsked "How rude."
"Raven Branwen? Isn't that the name of Yang's mom?" Mercury asked.
Fury swatted Mercury's ass "Yes, it is indeed Yang's mother" she then looked at the caged bird "I'm going to let you out, and then we will have a civil conversation, then you'll be allowed to leave. Note that I really don't like people like you. I am willing to engage in civil discourse with you rathe then just killing you because you are yang's mother, and my eldest brother is in love with Yang, so you can thank your daughter for the chance to talk it out. If you try to flee before we finish our conversation, I will kill you. I am well aware of your semblance and it wont work, so it is best to just hear me out."