Black dust flickered and blew in the wind...

The destructive power of the Soul Sage combined with the Silver Eyes of Petrification completely eradicated the Monstra, and all grim in a horizontal wave of white energy.

From then on, Atlas had fended off the scraps of Grimm left without their Queen.

Hours past...

No sign of Salem...

No sign of Seth...

This was a devastating blow on both ends, our Protagonists without their leg up on despair, and our Antagonists without their weapon to hope.

Yang, Ren, Jaune, Oscar, and Emerald united back at Weiss' manor with Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and the recovering Nora.

This by no means meant they were out of the heat, because it right out of the pan and into the fire— James Ironwood gave our heroes one hour, to either turn over Seth for the lives of Mantle, or watch as he destroyed it with the bomb he reserved.

In Seth's absence, an Ultimatum was created, usurping the hope that he brought within the minute...

Where he was...

How he was doing...

It's only right, that we find out.

~•~

~••~

~•••~

Well, he was right at their doorstep.

Seth contemplated knocking for ten minutes, since he had just missed reuniting with them by like ten seconds, so it was awkward when he watched them shut the door as he landed.

"Is it bad that I kinda wanna leave now? It feels so weird..." Seth whispered.

"Cap, stop being a pussy and go in. They need you." Laura responded.

"I don't wanna barge i— OW!" Seth was shoved in by Laura and Kaitlyn, completely forgetting they're tangible to him.

Seth crashed in with the doors bursting open, and he looked up to see everyone rushing out of the dining room to see his disheveled face and body.

Ruby was easily the happiest, and used her semblance to leap up and land on his lap as he sat up, making him internally scream since she landed right in his nearly broken right arm.

"You're okay... you're okay..." Ruby cried, nuzzling her head against his chest as he leant back on his left arm.

"I'm... holding on... like always." Seth replied, letting Summer cover him and envelope the two in her presence.

Ruby flinched at the familiar feeling as everyone rushed over and gave a big group hug, Yang giving the same response— but it all soothed the souls as Kaitlyn and Laura joined in.

Everyone was together again.

Even in chaos, as long as they were together, they'd all feel right at home.

These were unbreakable bonds that couldn't be severed by destruction and despair. That only gave them the drive to grow stronger as a team.

Seth let out a yawn, making everyone crouch and huddle around him.

"So... I gotta go turn myself in, huh?" Seth asked, everyone seeing just how worse for wear he was. His hair was dirty and wild, his clothes were shredded, hanging on his shoulders by luck alone, and his pants were now shorts.

"You've really been through it..." Blake commented.

"My team has had my back..." Seth smiled, but his exhaustion was reaching new heights. He slapped himself in the face, before staring into space.

"I gotta get going. I can't let him destroy Mantle. He can open the vault, but he knows that I can stop him. I'm the only one." Seth continued, picking up Ruby as he stood up.

Everyone follows suit, and Seth didn't realize just how tired he was, passing out for a brief moment and falling backward, Jaune catching him by chance.

"How long has he been awake?" Klein asked, arriving with Whitely and Willow.

"83 hours..." Seth answered, "and counting. Cause with her—" Seth pointed to Emerald. "This became a whole lot easier." He gave a wicked grin, making her shudder.

~•~

Ironwood, Winter, Harriet, Elm, and Vine stood at the entrance to Atlas Academy after getting a call from Ruby saying Seth agreed.

They were all ready to detain him, despite being against the odds. They all expected him to be in reaper form, so they were on edge.

However, just as they spotted a blur in the distance, an alert went off in the hanger of the academy— Qrow and Robyn wrecking havoc to find a way out. With swift orders and very little dialogue, the Ace Ops left to quell the commotion.

This left Ironwood and Winter to watch as Seth slowly flew over, landing into a stumble towards the two with his hands limp at his sides, right arm as battered as could be.

They saw his state and gave one thought to just what he had done for Atlas. However, he was too large a threat. Anyone who could fend off— defeat a Maiden, shouldn't be left to themselves...

Or alive...

Seth trotted over, stopping in front of them, but a cold gust blew his hair back, revealing that Maia had landed behind the General.

"I have to say... I expected more resistance. But seeing you like this, and knowing what you've done. The most I can do is thank you. For trying your best... helping where you could... and doing the right thing." Ironwood smiled, but Seth only gazed up in a daze.

"You're right..." Seth began, but his grey eyes suddenly shone red. "I did do the right thing."

The real Seth suddenly punched Maia across the face as Emerald kicked Ironwood the same, revealing Team RWBY and JNOR ready for combat.

Team RWBY and JNOR rushed Ironwood as Emerald flipped back, and surprisingly, Winter turned on him and raced for him as well.

Seth crashed into Atlas Academy after getting kicked in the chest by Maia.

Ramming into a wall, he felt an overwhelming cold as he fell on his ass, too dazed to think straight.

She overpowered him within seconds of his first attack, and he knew he just needed to get her away in case she was in on Ironwood's plan too.

Maia glanced over, seeing her father get knocked out by the combined effort of Team RWBY and JNOR, but Winter dealer the decisive blow, shattering his Aura and knocking him unconscious.

Winter looked back at her, and nodded, making Maia nod too.

Maia picked up Seth by his waist, and slowly began to follow after Phase 2 - Team RWBY, to a bullhead in waiting, driven by Whitely.

"You've finally come to your senses? I was wondering when you'd ask for my help." Maia smiled, the unnerving grin on her face foreign to him.

"After the first fight... I was scared. It felt like the world turned its back on me, despite playing the hero. It still feels that way." Seth replied, being set down within the bullhead.

Maia stepped on, making Team RWBY unsettled by her new air and appearance. She did kind of kick Seth's ass, so they were worried that she was stronger than him.

"Don't give her that look. It was an off day." Seth laughed, but coughed and held his chest.

They rolled their eyes as the bullhead hovered under the academy, directly under a whole created from Oscar's descent through the vault.

Replenishing his Aura with a Soul, Seth stood up as his wounds slightly healed, but by no means had more energy.

Ruby scooped up her team in her semblance as Maia and Seth flew up along side her, landing in the vault.

Stairs began to appear from the abyss below, making the path to the golden door floating in the air. The six of walked up, and Maia's eyes kindled an ice blue flame from her sclera.

Touching the door, the ingrained runes began to glow the same icy blue, the metal groaning to life as its long, dormant slumber had ended.

As the door opened, Ruby looked at Seth, and he glanced back. He expected her to walk in, but she grabbed his hand, and took a step forward.

The two saw a vast, infinite plain of grass; not too far away, a stone platform where the golden staff float in wait.

The two arrived, and Ruby nodded to Seth, making him take a deep breath, seeing as it was his first time using a Relic.

Seth extended his hand, and grabbed the staff, making all time stop outside of the dimension. A blue mist poured out of the staff, before a burly figure with a long ponytail appeared, flexing his muscles and showing off the golf he fashioned on his blue body.

"It seems someone has come to engage my creative wiles!" The voice of a young man began, stretching his limbs.

"All I say is— it better be worth it after my last project. A floating city? How pedestrian." They commented in disdain.

"Hi... Mr. Ambrosius, sir." Ruby began.

The spirit of the staff turned, and grew wide eyed after detecting the bracelet on Seth's wrist.

"Oh my gods— it's one of the Heirlooms..." he muttered, making Seth gasp.

"You know me...?" Seth asked in shock.

"Not literally you— but that bracelet... It's a remainder... a Remnant... of one of the Brother Gods. You wield Light's Heirloom: Curse of Hope. The ability to save the world, while being vulnerable to all its problems. All that power with the crippling weakness of being responsible for humankind... tough, isn't it?" Ambrosius asked.

"More than you know..." Seth frowned.

"Then it seems I am here to assist you in that very goal. What shall it be, His Avatar?" Ambrosius said with a respectful bow.

Seth wasn't used to the manners, but didn't falter.

Seth didn't speak, but allowed each individual request, point, location— all the info needed to create a space and walkway to house and protect, to guide and restore, to save all of Mantle and Atlas.

Ambrosius could only smile weakly at the idea, before lifting his hand solemnly.

"Good luck..." He whispered with a snap, before an image burst into Seth and Ruby's minds, his very creation unfolding before their eyes.

Portals appeared all around the survivors, those who had been abandoned... they all led to a cosmic realm deep within the perception of Seth's creativity. A realm of pathways leading to safety, all ending in the ending they'd sought after from the very start.

"Everything appears to be in order. Quite thorough, I might add. Disappointingly so." Ambrosius mused.

"However... this location. It isn't infinite." Ambrosius hovered down to their eye level.

"There is no clarity in where the abyss takes you. Do. Not. Fall." Ambrosius warned, the intensity of his booming voice making the two nod rapidly.

Seth spun the staff, and Ambrosius flew back into the gem at the end. Seth and Ruby returned to the world of the living, making time resume.

A portal stood before the six, and with smiled, all resolved, five walked through.

Seth watched their figures disappear beyond the golden gate, and sighed. He was on the verge of collapse, and the only way he knew how to be fit for what was to come...

Was to find a way.

The concept of stamina.

He needed to overcome it if he wanted to save the world.

Seth took one deep breath and brought the energy of the souls he stored around him, the power making his body jolt, instead of heal due to his infusion, not consumption.

The energy intertwined with his Soul instead, and he felt as light as a feather.

Seth smirked as he overcame another weakness, and stepped into the portal.

•

Only to lose his mind...

Watching as civilians fell at the hands of Cinder's final push to ruin their plot, Team RWBY was struggling to fend her off from the evacuation. Maia was faced with a sight he hadn't seen in a long while.

Nova was in an Angelic form, shrouded in white with orange lines that beamed with energy, white wings that trailed into that same burning hue. The halo over her head was grandiose and regal, but it was a mockery.

Seth's blood boiled.

His rage spiked.

His hands clenched into claws subconsciously.

His body slowly transfigured into his Grimm form as he held his hands over his face, gritting his four rows of teeth with a snarl uncanny to a Grimm.

With a roar the made everyone freeze, Seth screamed into the abyss and reeled his arms out as his mind was set on its first goal.

One he had been blinded from.

Kill Cinder Fall.

Avenge. His. Friends.

Seth's untapped rage burst in the form of a weightless shockwave of power no one had ever felt before, the wings on his back stretching wide as he curled on all fours, before disappearing.

Appearing in front of Cinder with his fist reeled back, a sense of Deja Vu slowed time for the two as they recalled their past encounter.

"GO TO HELL!"