All right so I recently got Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse and I really enjoy it. This lead to me coming up with this story idea. I hope you all enjoy and I own nothing.
Chapter 1- A Godslayer Rises
Jaune's POV
Damn it, Damn it, Damn it. Oum I swear you have it out for me. I mean I brought most of the crap I've went through lately on myself but this one is on you.
So to start with I tried to make my parents proud of me for once by forging transcripts to Beacon and stealing Crocea Mors, really I must have been dropped on the head from birth. So then I actually expected things to turn out well, seriously how bloody stupid could I be. Of course it didn't last.
Cardin aka "The Jackass of Beacon" found out about my fake transcripts and to save his sense of pride after I helped protect him from an Ursa he told everyone. Things went downhill fast. Ren didn't want me anywhere near Nora and Pyrrha eventually gave into his and Team WBY's pleas to leave me. I don't blame her, why stay with a loser when you could be friends with the actual Hunter/Huntresses-in-Training. Ruby and Nora were supportive for a while but I guess Ruby came to her senses because she broke up with me.
We had been dating for two months and I thought things were good. I can't really blame her for braking up with me though. I mean I had proven I would and could lie so how could she trust me, it honestly hurt more that she broke up with me with a text. I decided to leave that night as I figured Nora would follow soon after so I packed my bags and left on the first Bullhead out of Beacon. I left Crocea Mors because my da… gene donor said that Beacon was my last chance before I was disowned. So know I just introduce myself as Jaune.
With nowhere to go I started wandering about. I did odd jobs to survive and picked up a katana and pistol from an old hunter that lacked funds and refused charity. Ruby once said I loved that classics, she's not entirely wrong but it was more of the numerous amounts of things that can go wrong with Trick Weapons. One wrong part and you're left with a worthless pile of scrap. Take Crescent Rose for instance, while one of the scariest things I have ever seen, especially in the hands of my ex, a single broken piece has the potential to render it worthless. Give me a plain old vanilla sword that just needs a whetstone and some oil every now and then.
So I got to be a decent shot and learned a few basic moves for the katana thanks to some training from the old man and now I can actually fight Grimm. So I took to the edges of the wilds. Even I'm not stupid enough to go into the Wilds but I can help deal with the weaker Grimm that flee the Wilds to escape their stronger kin. I moved from town to town staying for a week or so in each one and working for supplies along with dealing with any local Grimm before moving on. I've kept this pattern up for two months until I reached this latest town, Perfection.
It was a relatively safe place. Large walls with a few gun placements, underground bunkers, three or four Hunters posted. I figured I could relax but boy was I wrong.
It started with one or two Faunus travelers showing up. Nothing wrong there, then three more came. That set the Hunters on edge given the White Fang had caused a mess in Vale recently, RWBY was apparently dealt with it along with fighting Torchwick, who was in a stolen Mech, on a highway. They were followed for a bit but the five apparently never met up. So no one bat an eye when one more showed up two days later. Then they trickled out over the next four days. I was all set to leave when the explosions started.
The bunkers, guns, key points in the wall, all of them were blown to smithereens. At each location a few flyers were found with the White Fang's symbol. I asked a man why the White Fang would target this place and he told me that it was an Atlas colony. That meant little given the diverse groups of people in hear, I think the population was around three hundred or so and at least half were Faunus, but that meant little to the Fang. Atlas was in bed with the Schnee so that meant they were targets as well.
So then it was madhouse as people gathered the essential and an evac was called in. No-one held any hopes about Grimm not showing up. They came about an hour after the attack, with large numbers and variety. The Hunters managed to kill the first wave before casualties could reach even double digits, we lost a few men on lookout duty though. The Evac was supposed to occur at a spot in some nearby mountains that were safe and had trails too small for Grimm to attack in mass. Then we discovered that a child got left behind. I elected to go back rather than waste one hunter that could save lives. They did say that as soon as they could one would come looking for me. So now I'm rushing through a burning village that has Grimm combing through looking for a ten-year-old girl named Abby.
"ABBY! YOU THERE ABBY?!" A Beowolf leaps at me but I put a bullet through its skull and move on. I cover the town street by street but the Grimm only grow in numbers. Soon I find myself in combat with two Ursa. I manage to kill the smaller one by sliding under it and cutting its gut and after that pin the right front leg of the other which gives me enough time to draw my pistol and empty the clip in its head. That manages to kill it and I get my blade out of its foot as it dissolves.
"Mister Jaune!" I turn to see a Bluenette with a tear stained face running towards me in a tattered and soot covered dress, she barely comes up to my thigh. I remember her, I played with her at the park this town had. I sheathe my sword and reach down to pick her up.
"Hey Abby, I came to take you to your parents. Let's get moving." She nods and I pick her up and run off. We make it to the gate before something goes wrong. A loud growl and the sound of something hitting its chest draws me to a rooftop to see a large Beringel. Port barely covered them and that was with filtering out the ego trip his lectures contain but I'm certain of one thing.
I'm so screwed.
I can take a couple Beowolfs, an Ursa or two, maybe even a Death Stalker if I could get a few explosives. But a Beringel?! I might as well start having a coffin made for me. No can't focus on that. I've got to get Abby to safety, my own life be damned. I switch my hold so that my left hand is under her to hold her while I draw my pistol, I reloaded it with a fresh mag and it's got eight shots in it. I'm so glad I opted to work extra for a few rounds of fire dust bullets.
"Listen Abby I know your scared right now but I need to you to close your eyes and picture yourself in your happy place now, okay?" The Beringal is jumping across rooftops now and has almost caught up to us. She nods and I pray it works. Anything to keep more Grimm from coming after us. I run backwards for a few steps and fire two shots at the ape Grimm chasing us, one hits a leg in front of it tripping it and the other hits it's right arm. Given how that species uses their arms to move I think that should slow it down. I turn back around and keep on running, up ahead is a small group of trees and through that is a path up the mountain.
When Abby screams I know we're dead.
The next thing I know is the ape had grabbed my backpack and starts slamming me into the ground, I manage to shield Abby from it and it then grips my leg and spins around before throwing us straight into the trees. I curl into a ball around Abby and force my aura to mostly ignore me and make it shield Abby. I'm no Ren but over the past few months I've learned to at least direct my aura. It be fair to compare it like this; I'm a wrecking ball to Ren's scalpel.
"GAHH!"
One tree
"NGGG!"
Two trees
"GAHH!"
Three trees
In total I end up going through six trees before rolling on the ground and slamming into a rock. I shake the stars from my eyes and ignore the massive amounts of pain flowing through me. I look and see we've reached the trial. I can only see out of my right eye right now. Judging by the sticky feeling on my skin and the pain above my left eye said eye is just covered in blood. My left arm is practically a sack of flesh filled with bone shards, my right leg is broken, I think a few ribs also broke, and my back is killing me but it's not broken. I can hear a large amount of Grimm coming this way, smashing their way through the trees I didn't break.
"Abby, I need you to go up that path and tell everyone to hurry up and leave." I'll buy them as much time as I can.
"But Mister Jaune what about you?" She's so adorable worrying about me like that. I pat her on the head and shove her towards the trail.
"Haven't you heard, Hunters never die." A lie but necessary. True you rarely hear about Hunters dying unless it's some heroic last stand but I need her to think I might survive this. She nods and runs up the trail. Now then how can I actually fight. I then notice a flat stone that could work for my needs. I drag myself to the stone and lay on it. I then pull out my last three preloaded magazines I have in my backpack and set them down on the stone in front of me side by side. I'm lucky I managed to stuff my pistol in my hoodie pocket before I got thrown through the trees. It be a significantly shorter last stand without it. Actually now that I think about it I've probably broken so many gun safety rules Ruby drilled into my head that if the Grimm didn't kill me she would.
I dig into my pocket and pull out a photograph. Ruby and I got this done once when we went to a carnival for a date followed by a trip to a weapons shop for extra parts and a bakery for some cookies. In it I'm kissing the top her hair while I've got my arm wrapped around her and she's as red as her cloak. I truly have problems letting go, maybe I truly did love Ruby rather than it being a stupid crush like the one I held for Weiss. I hope she finds someone that makes her happy, someone better than me. I set the photos back in my pocket and ready myself.
The first Beowolf breaks through the tree line and dies instantly from a fire dust bullet to the head. Soon they begin to pour out of the woods and I keep shooting at them using my remaining aura to keep my right arm steady. When a magazine runs out and I eject it and slam the gun down onto a new one and fire into the encroaching hoard. Soon I'm down to one clip right as the first Grimm makes it to my postion. A Beowolf that soon finds a bullet piercing thorugh it's throat followed by two creeps eating up the rest of my bullets. The rest move forward only to back off as a growl fills the air as the Beringel from earlier rushes forward. Looks like it's claimed me as it's kill. I can't even react before it's grabbed me by the head and smashed me into the ground over and over again. It then throws me back into the trees and I slam into one more before sliding down to the ground.
I look up at the sky and see Bullheads flying away, I didn't even notice they left. It's funny, I went to Beacon for all the wrong reasons and end up dying for the right one. This is what being a hunter is all about, making sure those that can't fight live while we stand as shields against the darkness. I look up at the moon as the darkness appears on the edges of my vision. The Grimm seem to be leaving me alone for now but perhaps they simply want to wait for me to die, avoid any last minute tricks I might have. I want to look at the photo again but lack the energy to do so. Then the darkness grasps me once again and I feel nothing.
I suddenly find myself in what looks to be a brown hurricane with bridges going every which way. Where am I? I didn't expect Heaven but I hoped I had done enough to avoid Hell. Is this limbo?
"Hello Kid." I turn around to see a … man? He's floating above the bridge we're standing on and wearing gray armor with a tattered cape bellowing out behind him. Orange hair pokes out of a brown helmet which is open at the bottom to reveal his head is just a skull. A gold belt decorated with swirls is wrapped around his waist.
"You're probably wondering where we are? I'm Dagda and this is the pathway to judgement." Okay following so far. Dagda keeps staring at me with piercing green eyes. "I have a deal for you. See someone keeps messing with you humans, a woman named Salem. I don't know how but she's ascended into godhood. She keeps bringing souls back and turning them into Grimm, it's a never ending cycle. Look there she is now." I turn to see a blue humanoid figure become surrounded by dark smoke and then whisked away.
"And what do you want from me?" Dagda crosses his arms and stares down at me. "I watch over you humans but Salam has hidden herself well enough that I can't find her. Plus, if I were to fight her the best I could do is seal her. Only a human can truly kill gods and demons and so I want you to become my Godslayer, I'll bring you back to life and give you power along with allies in exchange for your service." It sounds like a good deal but I'm weary of it.
"And what happens if I go against your will? I become your puppet, a body with strings that lead to your hand. Or will you just kill me on the spot." Dagda chuckles at that, as though it's a joke.
"Perhaps the old me might have but no. Only if you side with Salem will I take action." I feel I can trust him but something still puzzles me.
"Why me? There are too many people to count that would be better options." Dagda continues to stare and then laughs.
"Oh I like you, someone offers to bring you back to life and you don't grab it up instantly. Nanashi would have liked you for sure. As to your question I like your spirit kid. You had nothing yet you still kept fighting, plus I'd prefer someone that's willing to bend or break some rules. And to sweeten the deal you can protect the girl you're sweet on." I grab his cape and drag him to eye level, stupid but I'm already dead anyway.
"Is that a threat?" Dagda doesn't make any move to remove himself from my grasp. If anything he seems pleased by my reaction.
"No, not from me at least. Let's just say Salem is scared of her potential, she aims to finish the job and end the Rose line." End the Rose line, does that mean that she killed Ruby's mother.
"I can see you figured it out kid. So do we have a deal, I should warn you that should you accept you'll never find peace in the afterlife unless you finish this quest. I'll revive you over and over until it's done." He holds out a hand and I grasp it. I truly am a hopeless fool in love but ignoring the threat to Ruby there's also the fact Salem is the one trying to kill us all. With this I can help.
I can feel power flood through me and then I find myself back in my body. My body actually seems fine now. An Ursa is leaning down to bite me but I draw my blade and swing, to my surprise I cleave the head clean off. The rest of the Grimm charge only to stop when a large blue creature appears. It has horse hooves for both hands and feet along with two wings at the shoulders. Two horse heads with horns glare at the Grimm.
"Thou who would hurt my master shall perish. BUFU!" The horse-thing sends a wave of icy energy at the Grimm and the front line freezes and shatters.
"That would be Centaur kid, I promised you allies and here's the first. You now have the power to make contracts with demons. They live in the dark parts of your lands, mostly keeping to themselves. The first one is on me kid but you have to get the rest from here on out." So Dagda can speak to me in my head. I shake off my surprise and charge the Grimm alongside Centaur. Between my newfound speed and strength and the ice attack of Centaur we make quick work of them. It ends with that stupid ape shattering into ice crystals. I thank Centaur and he nods before vanishing.
"Kid pull out your scroll." I reach into my bag and find it amazingly undamaged. "I fixed this thing up and added a few things to it. It'll be where your demons rest and you can do a couple other things on here. We'll go over them later though. Let's get out of here kid." Nodding I make to put up the scroll only for to catch my reflection in it. My eyes are now the same green as Dagda's and the cut above my eye glows green now. I put my scroll in my backpack and notice something on my arm through the torn sleeve. More green markings decorate my skin, these have a pattern to them though.
"Hey kid I felt I should give you a little hope for your love life. It was that blond brawler that sent you that message." I nearly trip over myself at that.
"HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" I'm not doubting him; I can tell he's being honest through this …link… I suppose between us. Plus, Yang really didn't like the fact I was dating Ruby even before my fake transcripts were revealed.
"I've been watching you for a while along with a handful of others. That included watching those closest to you and I saw it happen." Alright I can accept that. I pick up my pistol from where it was lying and holster it before punching a boulder in anger. The boulder actually cracks.
"Okay I'm pissed at Yang, but she did the right thing. I'm a liar that wasn't worthy of Ruby. And now… I'm a living corpse right?" I feel the mental version of a shrug coming from Dagda.
"Not really, I brought you back to life. You have a heartbeat, a pulse, you still need oxygen and nutrients. I put you half and half despite what others would say." That doesn't really help.
"Still I can't drag Ruby into all this, and she probably thinks I ran out on her. Any chance I had ended then and there." I gather up the empty magazines and stuff them in my bag before I start walking to the nearest town I know about.
So now I'm a Godslayer now. I still think Dagda was insane for choosing me but I can't afford to fail. I'll grow as strong as I need to. I'll do whatever I must to finish Salem off. I may no longer be an Arc but I will keep my word. To protect a precious Rose and this world I'll sacrifice whatever I must.
Dagda's POV
This boy is an interesting one. I think he has the potential to surpass even Nanashi and he defeated gods much stronger then Salem. It's funny how he thinks he'll be leaving the girl out of this. Their fates are tied together. Especially if mother makes her the next Fairy Queen, I do believe that will happen. I wonder what the union of a Godslayer and Fairy Queen will bring about.
I can't wait to see what this kid will accomplish.
So thoughts? Opinions? Also just to clarify this is the second Dagda that Danu created. Just in case anyone was confused. Hope you all enjoyed.
