Here is part 5 of my ff7 inspired idea.
No one is safe
Mantle Outskirts — Operation Dawnlight
Two Months Before the Fall of General Vale
The call came at midnight. Atlas Command was stretched thin; a Grimm pack had breached Mantle's outer district. No Huntsmen were available for immediate deployment. Taiyang Xiao Long didn't think twice.
He'd been teaching at Signal, restless, missing the field. A last-minute mission from Atlas, a chance to make a difference. He said yes. The convoy arrived at dawn: two armored transports, four Atlas soldiers. Too small a team for a Grimm surge, but they said the rest were waiting at the site.
When they reached the refinery ruins north of Mantle, the snow was untouched. No Grimm tracks. No movement. "Something's off," Tai murmured, hand on his weapon.
Then the comms cut.
From the ridgeline above, white-armored figures descended, rifles crackling with stun charges. No insignia. No unit codes. Atlas soldiers didn't move like that.
Tai fought hard, aura flaring gold through the storm. He dropped three before they brought him down. A dart hissed against his neck.
The world tilted — light folding in on itself.
The last thing he heard before blacking out was a voice, smooth and clinical: "He'll do nicely."
Facility S17 — Sublevel Theta
White light burned his eyes.
Tai woke in restraints, cold metal biting into his skin. Machinery hummed around him; the air smelled of ozone and antiseptic. Dr. Merlot stood beyond reinforced glass, flanked by lab techs in sterile coats.
"Welcome back, Mr. Xiao Long," Merlot said pleasantly. "You've proven… stronger than most." Tai struggled against the restraints. "What did you do to me?"
Merlot smiled faintly. "You volunteered for service. We simply gave you purpose." He gestured toward a console pulsing with pale golden energy. "Atlas recovered traces of the Pool of Light — the raw essence of creation itself, beneath the northern mantle. We've learned to refine it, to bottle the divine."
He stepped closer to the glass, voice lowering. "Most subjects couldn't withstand direct injection. Their Auras fractured. Their bodies tried to contain the power… and failed." He tapped a button. A side wall shimmered to life — a holographic projection of containment pods.
Inside them moved things — shapes once human, now distorted. Pale flesh threaded with veins of radiant white, eyes glowing like lanterns. Their movements twitched, unnatural, almost insect-like.
Merlot's tone was calm, clinical. "They were weak. They let the Light consume them — became beasts made of brilliance and pain. Marvelous, in their own way." He turned his gaze back to Tai. "But you… your Aura resists it. Adapts. You're not burning — you're becoming."
Tai's breathing quickened, gold light flickering from his veins. "You turned them into monsters."
Merlot smiled. "No, Mr. Xiao Long. They turned themselves into proof."
He pressed another command. Needles lowered from above, glinting like glass. "Now… let's see how much further your soul can stretch before it breaks." Tai's scream echoed through the chamber — a raw, golden howl swallowed by the machines.
Observation Log 41-B — Project REVENANT
Subject 07 (Xiao Long, T.) exhibits stable Aura retention under direct Pool-synthesis exposure. No critical degradation observed.
Previous test subjects displayed Light-induced monstrosity — uncontrolled aura crystallization and neural collapse. Terminated for containment safety. Subject's emotional triggers remain anchored to family identifiers. "Summer" elicits rapid energy fluctuation.
Merlot's private annotation: He is more than a vessel. The Light recognizes him, bends for him. The others begged for death. He fights. It's… inspiring.
Patch — One Month Later
Snow drifted quietly through the trees.
Summer Rose sat on the porch of the Xiao Long home, cloak wrapped tight around her shoulders. Yang ran in circles chasing Ruby's giggles through the snow, while the forge light flickered behind them. Qrow Branwen leaned against the railing, flask in hand. "So Atlas finally sent their story?"
Summer nodded. "They said it was a Grimm ambush. No body recovered." Qrow frowned. "That's it? Just… gone?" Summer's gaze stayed on the horizon. "It's Atlas. That's all they ever say."
Qrow shifted uncomfortably. "You don't buy it, do you?" Her voice was soft but steady. "I don't have the luxury not to. I've got two girls to raise. I can't keep hoping every time the door opens."
Atlas — Facility S17
Deep beneath the city, the Pool's synthesized light shimmered through the glass floor of the containment lab. Tai hung suspended, golden veins glowing faintly beneath his skin. Monitors flickered with erratic patterns. His heartbeat was steady, too steady.
Merlot stood before the tank, a faint smile ghosting across his face.
"You've surpassed the others," he said quietly. "Even the monsters envy you now." He placed his hand on the glass. "You will change the world, Mr. Xiao Long, whether you wish it or not."
The glass pulsed beneath his touch. Tai's eyes opened for an instant — bright gold, filled with fury, the monitors screamed. Merlot only smiled wider. "Ah. There it is. The Light remembers who it belonged to."
Patch — That Night
The fire was low, the wind sharp.
Summer tucked Ruby into bed, smoothing the blanket across her small chest. Yang's laughter had faded into steady breathing in the next room. The candle flickered — then went out.
A crimson shimmer split the air, scattering feathers across the floor. Raven Branwen stepped through, her cloak trailing frost. Her eyes darted around the room before fixing on Summer. "Where is he?"
Summer blinked, startled. "Raven? What are you..." "Tai," Raven said, her voice edged with panic. "Atlas says he's dead, but something's off. I've heard whispers, disappearances, sealed convoys, missions no one comes back from. What did they tell you? Even some of the tribe have gone missing?"
Summer swallowed hard. "They said it was Grimm. He died protecting a transport." Raven's expression hardened. "Atlas lies. Always has. And when they lie this big… something's wrong."
Summer's voice cracked. "If you know something." Raven shook her head. "I don't. Not yet." She looked toward the distant glow of Atlas, a storm flashing behind her eyes. "But I can smell blood on the snow , and Atlas is knee-deep in it."
The air shimmered again as she opened a portal."If he's alive," she whispered, "I'll find him." Then she was gone — leaving Summer alone in the dark, clutching her cloak as the wind howled through the trees.
