Darkest Nights: a RWBY Story

Chapter 47: the Guardian Falls

The second Jason stepped into the long, dark tower, the massive stone door slid shut behind him, sealing him inside.
The hallway was as quiet as a tomb as Jason crept forward slowly, Phoenix Fire drawn, ready to strike at anything that moved in the dark corridor. His keen night vision, an attribute of his faunus heritage, allowing him to see some details of his surroundings. As he moved forward, he couldn't help but notice the carvings etched into the black stone along the walls—depictions of battles, armies of Grimm, swarms of ursa tearing through groups of people.
As he walked, Jason could swear he heard whispers coming from the darkness, some in voices that he himself recognized.
"Failure."
They said.
"Loss."
Jason tried to tune them out as best he could as he unsheathed Blackest Night, holding it in his other hand. Then a voice, louder than the rest, made him stop dead in his tracks.
"You can't win..."
Jason spun around, sword and spear at the ready.
There, leaning against a pillar, stood Adam Taurus.
"You."
Jason breathed.
"I killed you!"
As Adam stepped forward, several torches on the wall flickered to life, illuminating the features of Adam's face.
He wasn't as he had been during their confrontation in Atlas. Instead, he gave off a stronger, more powerful video. This was Adam as Jason had known him when he was in the white fang.
Adam smiled, a humorless expression that didn't quite fit his face.
"You didn't think that Salem would let me stay dead, did you? Well, not completely dead anyway."
He reached out as if to pick up one of the torches that lined the walls.
"You killed my physical form, that much is true, but in this place,"
He gestured to the long hallway.
"Even the power of that sword can't contain my spirit."
Jason glared at Adam but didn't relax his grip on Phoenix Fire.
"You said I couldn't win. What do you mean?"
Adam chuckled a low noise that echoed off the walls of the corridor.
"Haven't you figured it out yet? This is where you've always been heading. Everything you've ever done was to lead you to this moment. Tonight is the night the Guardian falls."
With the final word, Adam disappeared as if swallowed up by the torchlight.
As the light faded to black, Jason turned to see what hadn't been there even a moment before, a large set of dark red doors, fitted with golden handles, set into the wall behind him.
Sheathing his spear, Jason reached out with one hand and pulled open one of the doors.
The view that greeted him on the other side was like something out of a nightmare.
Blood red carpets and tapestries covered what appeared to be a throne room. More torches lined the walls of the room, casting long shadows across the whole scene.
At the very center of the room, sat on a tall throne behind a large stone table, sat Salem.
She stood as he entered, the red glow of her eyes seeming to pull in the light of the surroundings.
"I was wondering when you'd get here, little hero."
She said, a wicked smile forming on her face.
"It's rude to keep someone waiting."
Jason attempted to walk towards her, sword in hand, but felt rooted to the spot. Each step seemed to take a massive effort, the sword in his hands feeling heavy.
"Only one of us leaves here alive."
Jason said, in a voice that sounded a lot more confident than he himself felt.
Salem laughed, the cold, metallic sound that Jason had heard before, back in the cave.
"Quite the contrary."
She said, walking around the table towards him.
"I think I'll leave you alive just a little while longer after I have what I want. Just to see the pain it causes you when I crush the life out of the ones you love."
Jason advanced slowly, concentrating on keeping his sword arm steady.
"And to think I gave you a chance to be truly happy..."
Salem said.
In spite of himself, Jason felt a flash of confusion cross his mind.
"What do you mean."
Salem laughed again, the wicked smile spreading accords her face once more.
"When I trapped you on that island, I could have made it absolute hell for you. Every day could have been a living nightmare. But instead, I gave you the thing you truly wanted, a life to spend with the girl you loved."
Salem was less than 20 feet from Jason now and closing the distance with every step.
"But you just had to play the hero, didn't you?"
There was real contempt in her voice this time.
"You just had to come back. Because you thought you had a chance to stop me."
Summoning all the strength he could muster, Jason lunged forward, bringing his sword down in a brutal ark.
As the blade made contact with the woman's skin, Jason felt himself blasted off his feet and slammed against the wall with so much force that his armor crumpled, and shards of rock flew from the wall.
Phoenix Fire skittered a few feet away, coming to rest next to a pillar.
Jason gasped for breath, attempting to rise to his feet but finding it impossible, as I'm some invisible force was holding him down.
"Foolish hero."
Salem said, with no hint of amusement in her voice this time.
"You really think that a mortal weapon could kill me?"
She walked over to where Jason lay, slumped against the wall, and crouched in front of him.
"No matter. By the time I'm done with you, death will seem like a merciful fate."
And with that, she pressed her palm to Jason's forehead.
The pain was instantaneous.
Jason let out a scream that seemed to shake the very walls of the tower as he felt his power, the very soul of the Guardian, being ripped from his body.
Salem started to chant as glyphs and symbols formed in the air around her, although Jason couldn't focus enough to make out the words.
Through barely open eyes, Jason saw the glow around Salem intensify as she absorbed the power into herself, the red glow in her eyes becoming brighter with each passing second.
Then, as quickly as it had come, the pain stopped.
Salem stood up and stepped away, the wicked grin once again on her face.
Jason felt weak as he lay there, his body shaking.
"Finally,"
She said, in a voice filled with power,
"The power of the Guardian is mine!"
With every word she spoke, Jason could deal the power of the guardian increasing within her, united with Salem's already immense power.
"For hundreds of years, so many generations, I have dreamed of this moment. The world will crumble away before me as I take what is rightfully mine! I will be unstoppable!"
Suddenly, her speech faltered as a rasping chuckle filled the room. Salem turned her attention to the figure of Jason, who was still sprawled on the floor.
"Why are you laughing?"
Salem could not hide the note of uncertainty in her voice as she spoke.
Slowly and shakily, Jason managed to lift himself into a sitting position, raising his head to look Salem in the eyes.
"You really think I would be stupid enough to just give you my power?"
Salem felt her confidence waver slightly.
"What are you talking about."
Even through the pain, Jason managed a smile.
"If you think I'd come all this way, risk my life so many times, and not even put up a fight, then you really must be blind."
"What are you- arhhh!"
With a gasp of pain, Salem collapsed to the floor.
Gripping his sword tightly, Jason managed to push himself into a standing position as Salem felt a massive bolt of pain shoot through her body.
"What's happening to me."
Taking a few steps closer to her, Jason gutted his teeth against the pain in his chest, yet when he spoke, the tone in his voice was one of triumph.
"The power of the Guardian is meant for those pure of heart."
Jason said, taking another step closer to the woman, still leaning on the sword slightly.
"But your soul lost its way a long time ago. You are broken, corrupt... tainted."
Salem let out another scream as jolts of pain spread through her body, each one more powerful than the last.
"You can't hold the soul of the Guardian within your own, so it's setting itself free the only way it knows how. Killing the host."
Salem gasped as blood began to drip from cuts along her body, pooling slowly on the floor in front of her.
"I can't stop the process now."
Jason said, now standing directly in front of her.
"But I'm no monster. I can at least make it less painful."
Gripping the hilt of Phoenix Fire in both hands, Jason lifted the sword as high as he could.
"Salem,"
He said, in a voice that seemed to speak across the ages,
"You are the Guardian now. Tonight, the Guardian falls."
And with that, the blade fell.

When the door to the tower opened and Jason stumbled out onto the battlefield, Night had already fallen. In an instant, there they were.
Blake, Talia, Yang, Ruby and the rest of the group rushed towards him across the blood-soaked ground, shouts of triumph filling the air.
Yet despite all this, Jason had eyes for only one girl.
Letting Phoenix Fire fall to the ground, Jason flung his arms around Blake in a joyous embrace as she reached him.
The two held each other close, tears of joy spilling down Blake's sweaty, dust-covered face.
"You're okay!"
Blake murmured, resting her head on Jason's shoulder.
"After you didn't come back for a few hours, we thought–"
Blake decided to let the thought go unfinished as the others arrived behind her.
Apart from a few small cuts and some damage to her clothing, Blake seemed completely unharmed.
Jason kissed her gently, savoring the moment that even the faint taste of blood from a small cut on Blake's lip couldn't ruin.
When she pulled back, Blake looked Jason up and down.
"Your armor– Jason, what happened? Where's Salem?"
"Dead."
Jason said, his voice exhausted as he addressed the group at large.
"She won't be coming back."
As if to corroborate his statement, the tower behind them shuddered and collapsed, leaving behind nothing but a massive pile of dark stone.
Jason looked past Blake to the rest of the group.
Apart from some minor injuries, and some damage to Yang's robotic arm, they were all unharmed.
As Blake pulled away, Jason looked around at the battlefield.
As far as the eye could see, there were fallen grim. In between hordes of fallen ursa, beowolves, nevermore, and deathstalkers, lay the occasional Royal Army soldier, their blue and gold armor standing out against the dark black of the Grimm.
Seeing the look in Jason's eyes, Talia put a hand on his arm.
"We'll have time for grieving later."
She said.
Slowly, the group made its way back across the battlefield towards the safe house.
"What do we do now?"
Ruby wondered aloud.
"I mean, we've spent our whole lives training and fighting in this war. Now it's over, what do we do?"
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Jason smiled.
"We're all still young. These are the best days of our lives. I say we enjoy them."