"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Taiyang said, clearly bewildered by what he heard. After the battle against the Ursa Major and the Beowloves, Simon, Yang and Ruby were surprised to see their parents, who had witnessed Simon's skill with a whip. At the moment, Taiyang had been asking what had happened.

"So… you guys were out training Ruby in hand to hand and you were attacked by a Grimm?" Taiyang asked.

"Yep." Ruby answered.

"And Yang fought it by herself and took it out, one of the toughest creatures of Grimm you could come across?" he continued.

"You got that right." Yang said proudly.

"And then you were surrounded by Beowolves, which Simon beat the crap out of with ease?"

"That pretty much covers it, yes." Simon said.

Ruby went up behind Simon and jumped onto his back, waving her hands in the air. "You forgot one thing! Simon has an AWESOME aura, and he could concentrate it to specific areas, making it better for defence." Ruby added. A second later, Simon collapsed to the ground from the added, and unexpected, weight.

"Ruby…" Simon said, slightly in pain from the force of the collapse.

The young huntress in training chuckled nervously. "Sorry Simon."

The three teens looked at Taiyang and Alice in silence. Taiyang was thinking about the information he heard, while Alice's expression was blank, as if suddenly shutting down after hearing their story. Both Ruby and Yang were both worried. While she was a peaceful person by nature, she was extremely protective of her son. The idea of him taking on a hoard of Grimm by himself would've no doubt scared her to death.

After another second of silence, Taiyang bumped his fists together and grinned. "Awesome!" he said.

"What?" Simon said.

"Who? Ruby asked.

"Why?" Yang said.

"The kid was able to train himself to do THAT on his own. It was totally badass! Did you have someone train you or something?" Taiyang asked.

Simon shook his head. "No. Those skills were all me. I didn't expect my aura to flare out though." He admitted.

Ruby tilted her head at Simon. "What do you mean?"

"A couple of days ago, I took out a number of Beowloves near a deserted area in the forest, and by GOD was it dead. Anyway, as I was fighting they started to pile up. I was more… I guess angry than scared. My aura just blew out of me a second after that. I didn't think it would look like that, though."

"Well, it was awesome. You really should think about becoming a Hu-" Yang started, only for have her mouth covered by Ruby.

"Yang, watch what you're saying." Ruby whispered into Yang's ear.

Alice shook her head. "No. It's fine. I was just… a little surprised, is all." She said.

Simon raised an eyebrow. "You're not mad?"

"No. I had a feeling you were planning on something big. You would always be going into the woods for some kind of exercise. Plus, your reflexes seemed to have gotten sharper. Although, I wasn't sure about the art supplies you were bringing into your room, though."

Ruby gasped for a moment. "Did you also find out about our comic book?"

"RUBY!" Simon said, seeing how Ruby exposed the secret comic book project they were working on.

"Relax guys, everyone already knew you were making a comic." Yang said.

"DANG IT!" Ruby and Simon said simultaneously.

Taiyang and Alice shook their head and smiled at the two. Taiyang decided to speak. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Simon unhooked the whip from his belt. "Well, first I'm going to go back to the area in the forest I was talking about."

"Huh? Why?" Yang asked. Her eyes when to Simon's whip. "Are you looking for a new piece for the weapon?"

"Yeah. I got an idea for how to use dust in the weapon. And the piece I need is somewhere in that area… somewhere."

"LET'S GO FIND IT!" Ruby said, jumping into the air as if emulating a victory pose.

"Count me in!" Yang said.

"You guys are coming?" Simon asked.

"After that show you gave us, we can't let you show us up." Yang said, cracking her knuckles. "I'm gonna show you whose's boss."

Simon bowed towards her. "Challenge… accepted." He said. He then looked towards Ruby. "Be sure to bring you're scythe this time."

Taiyang's eyes widened. "You didn't bring your scythe? The only way you can defend yourself?"

"RUN!" Ruby said, speeding upstairs and collecting her scythe before getting out of the house, with Yang and Simon speeding after her.

The signal instructor sighed. "Those crazy kids. They're a handful, huh?" he asked Alice.

Alice shook her head. "They're more brightening in my opinion." Alice's face soon turned into a sorrowful expression. "Have I… been holding my son back from what he truly wants?" she thought.

…..

After making their great escape, the teens made their way over to the area that Simon was talking about earlier. After half an hour of walking, they made it over to the location in question. The moment they arrived, they saw that Simon wasn't joking when he said that it was 'dead'.

The trees were all dead, remnants of dried up leaves surrounding them. The ground was made of grey, dried soil, the sky in the area was also grey, compared to the bright, sunny blue sky back in the village, and to top it all off, there was thick layer of fog and a small gust of wind that whistled through the air, adding an eerie, if not troubling atmosphere.

Ruby seemed a little nervous, but also interested (it helped that she was a fan of horror movies), Simon didn't take notice of the area as he was focused on the piece for his weapon, but Yang had no trouble showing her discomfort in being here.

"I don't GET IT SIMON! What kind of piece would get you to come to this freaky place!?" Yang exclaimed.

Simon turned around, fully facing Yang. "I told you, it's a piece that can help me use dust with the whip." Simon said.

"How? Can you fire blasts from the bottom of it when you get it?" Ruby asked.

Before Simon could answer the young reaper's question, he suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his head stand up straight. He took off his whip and unravelled it, cracking it at the same time. Yang and Ruby were both on edge after seeing his movements.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked.

Simon narrowed his eyes towards a particular direction. He motioned to the girls for them to follow them. Slowly, they traversed through the fog. As they moved, Yang and Ruby thought that they were heading towards a den of Grimm. Ruby instantly yelped and jumped into Yang's arm after hearing the sound of bats flying overhead.

After a few more minutes of walking, Simon raised a fist into the air, signalling them to stop. Readying his fighting stance, Simon lashed out his weapon, soon turning his hand around in circular motion. As he did, the whip also span in a twirling motion, the force becoming stronger by the second, up to the point where the force of the whip blew away the fog. After he was finished, it was revealed that the fig was hiding an old plantation house. It was clearly abandoned for some time, there were faded and cracked, the windows were either cracked or replaced with wooden boards. There was a small garden in from of the building, filled with brown grass and dead plants.

Simon's brow raised when he saw the building, amazed that he hadn't come across it before. Yang was beginning to look a little bit more nervous, however, Ruby looked at the plantation house with awe.

"Wow… that looks so cool." She said.

Yang was a lot less pleased. "Cool? More like freakin' nuts. What kind of person would build a house like this in the middle of nowhere!?"

"Someone who was wanting to stay away from society… apparently." Simon answered. "The question is, why?"

Ruby grinned. "How about we go in and find out?" Ruby suggested, using her semblance to dash towards the house.

"W-wait! Ruby!" Yang cried. She soon rushed after her. Simon wasn't far behind her, but mainly because he was interested in seeing what is inside.

"That gizmo I'm looking for will have to wait… I guess." Simon thought, slightly disappointed that he would have to put his objective on hold.

As the three teens made their way into the house, none were aware that they were being observed by a silent figure in the shadows. When the figure was sure that they were far enough away, it stepped out of the shadows. It was revealed to be an elderly man, sporting very short white hair, an equally white goatee, eyes that had white iris' and the whites were instead black, wearing a black business suit with a white shirt, black tie, fine shoes and a pair of black gloves. He was currently smoking a cigarette, which he put into a cigarette holder after a few puffs.

"Well… this is interesting." He said. He pulled out a mobile phone and dialed a number into it. Placing the phone to his ear, he soon heard a voice on the other end. "We might stay here a while longer. Someone has managed to uncover the mansion." He listened to what the person on the other end said for a moment.

"If they uncover it, then there is nothing we can do in the matter. Actually…" he lowered the phone for a moment. He saw the teens enter the house after figuring out how to open it, to which the girl in the red cape began jumping for joy over. As he observed the teens, his eyes were able to pick up their auras. The caped girl's was red, the blond haired girl's was yellow, and the boy… his was a mixture of red and black, swirling together into a dark, menacing cloud. At this, the elder smirked.

"Forget what I said. We may have ourselves a candidate."

"Wooooow." Ruby said as they entered the house. While the outside seemed to make it look like a house of horrors, the inside was actually in perfect shape, especially the entrance hall, decorated with metal in the shape of many mythological creatures (mainly a humanoid bat of some kind). Granted there was quite a lot of dust coating the walls and the furniture, but other than that, it was impressive.

Even Yang was impressed with the set up. "Nice digs! I wouldn't mind living here now."

Simon frowned at their current surroundings. It didn't make sense that the outside of a house, that he was sure didn't exist the last time he was here, was wrecked on the outside and lavish… aside from the dust and weak lighting on the inside.

"Why would someone make a house in the middle of the forest? With the amount of Grimm that could appear here, it's too risky." Simon said.

Yang gave him a light tap on the shoulder. "Guess someone wanted to live on the dangerous side."

Ruby paced ahead of the other two, becoming more curious about the house by the second. As she came towards a staircase that led to the second floor of the building, her eyes caught onto something lying on the ground next to the rail. She went to it, picked it up and began inspecting it.

"Find anything Ruby?" Yang asked.

"I, uh… think I found a picture or something. It's covered in dust and…" before she could finish, she felt a tingling sensation across her right forearm. She looked at the area in question and saw a spider crawling across it. It was quite a small spider, but it was enough to cause Ruby to scream to the high heavens.

"SPIIIIIDEEER!" she squealed.

Yang and Simon both jumped from the surprise and pitch of Ruby's reaction. They then saw her using her semblance to dash around the room, hoping to knock the spider off, while continuously screaming "GET IT OFF ME!" in rapid succession. Simon grinned while Yang bellowed a loud laugh at her sister, even as going as far as rolling on the ground while clutching her ribs.

"Oh, sis, stop. You're going… to kill me." Yang said after finishing her bout of laughter, still trying to catch her breath.

As Ruby continued to fly around the room, her feet accidently collided with something. As she did, she tripped and tumbled to the ground, scraping her knee across the floor. She then collided with out of the walls.

"Ruby!" Yang cried, scrambling back onto her feet and made her way towards her, with Simon close behind and just as concerned.

"Ugh…" Ruby said. She pushed herself up onto one knee. Yang was soon beside her, placing an arm on her shoulder. Ruby looked over to her. Seeing the look of worry on her face, Ruby gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I've taken worse hit s from the Gri-Ow!"

As Ruby readied her other knee to rest on, she noticed it stung when she placed to on the floor. She quickly rolled onto her side to inspect why. Surprise and shock was written on her face, as well as Yang and Simon after seeing that her knee was bleeding.

"Wha… what?" Ruby asked herself.

"What the heck? I thought your aura was recharged." Simon said.

Yang was now looking in multiple directions, returning to her previously suspicious mind set back in the forest. "Okay, I change my mind, we're getting out of here." She said. She wrapped one of Ruby's arms around the back of her neck and lifted her up, quickly making her way towards the exit. However, before they could, the blood on the floor from Ruby's knee melted away into the floor, as if it absorbed it. As it did, the house began to shake, putting all inside on high alert.

"IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!" Ruby screamed.

"Well this is just lovely, isn't it?" Simon asked sarcastically.

Becoming angrier by the second, Yang decided that she had enough. She rushed over to Simon and asked him to look after Ruby for a bit.

"Uh? Wh-what are you going to do?" Simon asked.

As if to answer the question, Yang's eyes began to glow red again. Only this time, her hair was glowing and the tips seemed to be on fire. Both Simon and Ruby seemed afraid, knowing full well what was about to happen.

"Uh-oh." They both said weakly.

"Okay house." Yang said. She clenched her hands into fists, gathering as much aura as she could into her fists, then raising them up as high as she could, finishing by slamming them back onto the ground.

"Taste… my… FURY!" she roared. Upon impact, there was a strong shockwave that sent Ruby and Simon flying towards another wall. Seeing the oncoming surface, Simon quickly turned and landed on the wall with his feet, making sure that Ruby didn't hit the wall either. However, as he did, he felt a strong pain go up his legs. When the wave faded, Simon landed on the ground with ease. He was still able to walk, but his lower legs still stung a bit.

The house soon ceased to shake. As it did, Yang brushed back her hair and turned back to her companions. "I showed this house whose boss." She said confidently.

"Yep. You're the woman of the house!" Ruby said. As soon as she said it, Simon pulled out the score card he used earlier for ruby, still giving her a zero for the pun. Ruby whined in defeat, but quickly perked up again when she felt something unusual in the air.

"Hey… do you guys feel that?" Ruby asked.

"Feel what?" Yang asked.

A split second after Yang asked her question, a large, stone cylinder shot up from the centre of the floor, narrowly missing the teens. All three jumped at the sudden appearance. After the object stopped, it slowly rotate clockwise. All three were confused by what was unfolding before them.

"What's going on?" Yang asked.

Ruby, surprisingly, was staring at the object with awe… and a little drool emerging from her mouth. "Whhhooaa. This would be totally awesome for a comic book."

Yang and Simon both stared at Ruby with perplexed faces. Deciding to ignore her for the time being, they went back to looking at the cylinder. After a moment, the object slowly came to a stop. Yang slammed her fist toghether, reactivating her gauntlets.

"Let's bust it open!" she yelled.

"What? Why?" Simon asked.

"Because I bet whatever's been causing all this weird stuff here his hiding in that pillar thing." She rushed towards the object, both her arms pulled back as she prepared to strike. "Come out you COWARD!" she bellowed. Her fists collided with the object, unable to resist the impact as the cylinder was shattered into millions of stone shards. Simon knelt down and covered his head with his arms while Ruby hid behind her cloak. After the shards stopped flying towards them, they reappeared from their respective defences and saw Yang standing in front of the pillar. It was revealed that it was hollow on the inside, housing something that no one in the group were expecting

Inside the pillar was a skeleton lying on a stone table, with a cross shaped object imbedded where its heart would've been.

They were all startled by the scene in front of them, not expecting to find a sight like this in the mansion.

"Uh… what… is that?" Ruby asked, now holding Yang's arm for comfort.

"Do you think it was a murder?" Yang asked Simon.

Simon didn't hear her. He was already too engrossed in the sight of the skeleton, or more specifically, the item sticking out of its chest. Simon slowly walked over to the skeleton. Ruby wanted to stop him, but Yang pulled her back, knowing nothing would change the boy's mind after he made a decision. When Simon was over the skeleton, his hand slowly wrapped around the cross. He looked at the skull for a brief moment, noticing that its canines looked longer than the average person.

"Sorry about this." He said. He then pulled the cross out of the skeleton's ribcage, the cross now held as high as he could reach.

"SIMON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Ruby screamed.

Simon turned back to them and held out the cross to them. "This cross is the piece I was looking for. There are many aspects to its design that I need to help with the upgrade to my weapon." He explained. He then lowered his hand and looked around the area and lightly chuckled. "Although, I didn't think we'd find it here."

"First our auras aren't working, then the house starts shaking, and now we're tampering with a murder scene." Ruby listed out. She frantically turned her head from Yang to Simon and back for a moment before bellowing "DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE ISSUE HERE!?"

"I'm with Ruby on this one. We need to get out of here." Yang said.

Simon sighed in defeat. He wanted to inspect the weapon properly to help with his research, but he understood that their own personal safety came first. With that Simon turned back around and placed the cross back onto the skeleton.

"Rest in peace." Simon said calmly and respectively. He then walked away from the skeleton and made his way to the door, with the girls not too far behind. As they were close to the door, Ruby was peaking to Yang. "Who do you think lived here?"

"Prbobably… the 'Infamous Angel of death'!" Yang said, deciding to take the opportunity to mess with Ruby. And it was working.

"'Infamous Angel of death?" the red cloaked girl asked.

"Yep. Apparently he sought to cleanse the world of evil by killing those who sought to do evil deeds. But he eventually saw the whole of Remnant as being evil, so he went around killing hundreds of innocents. His weapon of choice… a cross." Yang giggled on the inside as she saw Ruby starting to shake with fear. "Then, one day, he was caught. He escaped to an unknown house, which I'm guessing is this house, and tried to hide. Didn't work though. The people chasing him gave him a taste of his own medicine, as you can see."

Ruby turned back to the scene, now both filled with fear and intrigue. "Whoa." She managed to say.

"That's not all." Yang continued. "Before they killed him, the guy placed a curse, saying that if anyone was enter this house-"

"YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE HERE!" came a dark, tormented voice from the air.

The group stopped upon hearing the voice, with Ruby clinging on to Yang like her life depended on it. Simon turned back to the group with a confused look on his face. "Did you guys say something?"

Ruby was about to speak, but her voice immediately failed her. Her eyes widened to the size of plates a second later, further confusing Simon. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked.

To answer, Ruby slowly lifted her hand and pointed towards the door. Simon turned around and saw what had the girl so terrified. The edges of the exit, windows as well as cracks in the wall, were slowly leaking a familiarly red substance onto the ground. Upon seeing this, the group slowly stepped back.

"Well… this is not what I expected." Simon said.

"IT'S THE CURSE OF THE INFAMOUS ANGEL OF DEATH!" Ruby cried.

"Angel of de… what the heck are you talking about?" Simon asked.

"Don't bother." Yang said. While Simon was more confused than scared at the scene before them, compared to Ruby who was shaking like no tomorrow, Yang was becoming angrier by the second, not liking that what was supposed to be impossible unfold before their eyes.

"Alright, stupid cross killer, or whatever's doing this! If you think you can mess with us like this, then you've got another thing coming!"

Ruby looked to Yang with a look of concern. "Yang… don't antagonise it."

"How about you show yourself and face us instead of hiding like a coward!" the brawler exclaimed.

"Too late." Simon said deadpanned.

As if to answer her question, the pool of blood that was building up on the ground from the door, windows and cracks began to bubble, as if being boiled. In response, Simon pulled out his whip and uncurled it. Yang readied her gauntlets and Ruby, still afraid, unfolded the Crescent Rose into its scythe form.

"Get ready." Yang said. Her eyes were now glowing red.

Suddenly, Simon's eyes widened upon realising something. He turned his head towards the girls. "Quick question. If our auras aren't working correctly… won't it be easier for this thing to beat us?"

"… Uh oh." Yang said, realising how she, once again, took action before actually thinking about how to proceed.

In that instant, something burst from the large puddle of blood. It started with a large arm, followed by an identical arm. They pressed against the ground, pulling out a huge creature. When it was fully emerged, and the blood covering it faded away, it was revealed to be a giant with pale, yellowish skin, clothed only with a pair of old shorts, worn boots and a spiked helmet covering a face that revealed glowing red eyes. The puddle bubbled again, followed by miniature versions of the creature before them shooting out of the puddle and landing right next to their apparent leader.

The teens were all shocked, to say the least, at what they were seeing. Ruby then turned to her companions and gave them a weak smile. "Maybe they're friendly." She suggested.

This was quickly proven wrong when the leader roared and quickly charged at them with his head. The trio quickly dodged the attack, which led to the leader crashing into a wall and accidently lodging his head into it.

"Dumbass." Yang muttered.

Simon cracked hi whip and prepared himself. "We've still got the minions to deal with." He said. He sped towards the smaller creatures, lashing his weapon at them. He focused on direct attacks on the closest one, working to anger the rest of them. The strategy proved useful, as the fellow creatures were angry that their friend was being attacked. When they were close enough, Simon switched to his more wide-spread attack style, striking many of them at once. One managed to duck under one of them, allowing it enough time to dash up and aim for Simon's back.

However, a red blur intercepted the attack and sliced the creature in two. Ruby stopped some distance away from Simon and the larger creatures. However, she immediately felt exhausted after using her semblance.

"Whoa… I guess my aura isn't strong enough to support my semblance." She said.

She looked on at Simon. She could tell that he didn't need to rely on his aura to protect him, masterfully dodging any attack that came his way. While the attacks of the small creatures were clumsy, they focused on the element of surprise, which somehow proved ineffective against the whip user.

"No way can he be self-taught." Ruby said to herself.

"RUBY!" Yang yelled.

Ruby turned towards Yang, then to the leader of the small creatures after seeing him in her peripheral vision. The monster was almost free, a multitude of cracks appearing around where his head was lodged. Yang was trying to pummel the creature while it was stuck, hopefully making it too weak to fight back. However, all it seemed to be doing was making the creature angry.

Yang was about to fire more ammunition at the creature when it finally managed to break free, turning towards Yang with eyes that were glowing more brightly than before. It was clear that it was out for blood.

Using what little strength she had left, Ruby used the sniper attachment to fire a shot behind her (coincidently striking one of Simon's opponents in the head) and used the recoil blast to shoot towards Yang and the monster. She readied herself and swung hard with the scythe. As she did, she landed a strike on the opponent, taking off its arm in one swift movement. The creature bellowed from the pain and turned towards Ruby. At this point, all of Ruby's energy was gone, forcing her to collapse onto the ground. The creature was about to strike with its remaining arm when Yang punched it in the back of its left knee, causing it to fall.

"Don't… you… DARE TOUCH MY SISTER!" Yang roared. She charged towards the creature, aiming for its head. However, it quickly got back up and trapped her with its free hand in an iron grip. As it held onto her, its grip tightened around her, cracking a few bones inside. Yang resisted the urge to scream, instead hammering her fists into the creature's hand, hoping to have it release its grip.

Simon caught what was going on after making a quick spin with his weapon. He coiled the whip in one movement and dashed towards Yang, uncoiling the whip when he was close enough and lashed out onto the creature's remaining arm. However, the monster wasn't hurt in the slightest. Angered, Simon repeatedly struck the creature, ensuring that he didn't hurt Yang, hoping to find a weak spot. However, all it did was anger the monster more. It then charged at Simon, this time catching him and slamming him into a wall. The creature stepped back to see Simon embedded in the wall, still intact and alive, but in great pain.

"You… love your walls, don't you?" he said with a smile.

Ruby, who was still barely conscious, saw what was going on. Her sister was being crushed by a giant hand and Simon was injured. Ruby could tell that this was the end. Her mind suddenly went back to her memories of her family, more specifically her mother. A woman who had always been there for her, and was soon taken away from her. Her fists unconsciously curled up into a fist, unable to bear the thought of losing anyone else she cared about. Being unable to move, all she could do was pray.

"Please… please… someone help us." She thought.

The creature took a few steps back, planning on smashing into Simon again and finish him off. Yang, despite the surging pain now wracking through her body, continued to hit the creature with all she had.

In that moment, Ruby cried "YAAANG! SIMOOON!"

In that instant, the creature halted all movement. Its grip on Yang loosened, allowing her to jump out and land on her feet. Pressing hard on the side of her left ribcage with her right hand, she dashed towards Simon and helped pull him out.

The creature turned to where the skeleton was lying in its makeshift crypt. Suddenly starting to shiver, the monster ran back to the blood on the ground, only to find it suddenly dried up.

"You sought to imprison me?" Came a voice out of thin air. The monster, in response, dashed towards the door, slamming on it with hopes of trying to escape. However, the door was, currently, unbreakable or unlockable. The monster turned back towards the direction of the skeleton, pressing its back against the wall.

"How foolish of you. All you've done is seal your own fate."

With that, the skeleton slowly started to dissolve, turning into a pile of ash. When the skeleton was gone, the ash pile began to change into a dark, crimson colour and rise into the air. Seeming like a dust cloud at first, the remaining particles faded, turning the cloud into one of mist.

"You seek assistance, Ruby Rose. It would be my pleasure to oblige."

"… How…?" Ruby said.

The mist darted towards the creature, cloaking it with its form. The monster tried to wave the mist cloud away, but to no avail. Soon, the creature was latching its own throat, grunting in pain as if it had swallowed a strong poison. Within seconds, the creature's hand dropped, and it collapsed onto its front. The remaining minions that Simon hadn't cut down looked and shivered, realising that they were now outmatched.

"Do not, however, think I am doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I will take my payment now."

"Wait, what do you-" before Ruby could finish, The mist darted over to Simon, covering his head and entering his body through his mouth. Yang backed away from Simon after seeing the mist enter his body. After it finished going in, Yang picked up Simon and began violently shaking him.

"Hey! Get out of my friend! Who do you think he is to be going inside him like that!?" she yelled.

Simon's arms lifted up between Yang's and he swatted at them, causing her to let go. Simon landed on the ground in a crouched position, then he slowly got back up onto his feet. His eyes were now closed, but he slowly opened them, revealing them to be now scarlet instead of blue. Simon admire his hands and his clothes for a moment before he spoke.

"I think, Miss Xiao Long, that he is a suitable candidate." Simon said, a voice now an amalgamation of both his and the voice from before, now speaking with a Scottish accent.

The possessed Simon turned towards the remaining monsters, which all began to run away from him, and smiled. "Time to see how my skills are after such a long rest."

Simon's right hand suddenly became encased in a red, glowing gauntlet that resemble a large, skeletal hand. He moved it like he was attacking with his whip, only for a whip to emerge from the gauntlet, immediately slicing the creatures into pieces. However, instead of their remains lying on the ground, they instantly faded away of if they were never there. The being possessing Simon laughed for a moment before shaking his head.

"How low have I sunk… to be sealed by such weaklings." He said. He turned around to face Yang, who looked ready for another fight. The being raised Simon's hand. "Please, cease. I only aimed to destroy the creatures. I have no intention of harming you or your friends."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Yang said, not letting her guard down. The possessed Simon clapped her hands.

"You are right to be cautious. However, as to show you that I mean well, I leave you three gifts." He said. He clicked his fingers and, in an instant, Ruby, Yang and Simon's aura's flared to life, instantly healing the injuries all received in the fight.

"Your auras are now unaffected by these creature's ability to weaken your auras. It must have been quite a nuisance. My second gift…" Simon clicked his fingers and the cross that was previously embedded in the skeleton flew towards Simon, who caught it instantly. "This cross has capabilities that will protect you if anything like this happens again. I would suggest having it inspected in case it is not up to standard."

Yang looked at the cross for a moment, unsure of what to do. In the end, she cautiously took it from his grasp. "Thanks… I guess. What about the third gift?"

The possessed Simon gave Yang a blade like smile. "That will be for you all to discover." He said. In an instant, the mist came out of Simon and he collapsed onto the ground. Said mist bashed into the front door and obliterated it, allowing for it and the teens to escape.

Yang looked at the mist go for a moment before turning to Ruby, who was clearly as dumbfounded as her from what they had just seen. A second later, Simon grunted in pain and got onto his hands and knees. He looked up to the sisters and gave then a small smile.

"You wouldn't believe it… but this still wouldn't count as the scariest day of my life."

"What!? Then what would!?" Ruby asked.

"Mrs. Pott's salad lasagna." Simon simply answered.

The girls seemed to have gotten the meaning, as they both shivered and began to turn green. Simon couldn't help but laugh at them. Ruby managed to recover and began to look inquisitive. "I wonder… what were those monsters? And why did that mist help us?"

"I'd like to know what he wanted with Simon." Yang said, raising an eyebrow at said teen.

Simon got back onto his feet and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know… but one thing's for sure." He said. he looked at the cross now in his hand. "We got what we came for, so we can go. Unless…"

Before Simon could say anymore, the girls shook their heads rapidly, clearly not wanting to stay any longer. With that, they all walked out, noticing that the area was a lot brighter than when they went in. Ruby smiled at the nice weather.

"Looks like the clouds and fog is gone." Ruby said.

"Guess whatever was going inside the house was making the outside look creepy." Yang said. She then pulled out her scroll and texted her dad that they would be returning home soon.

Simon looked up into the sky. He wouldn't tell the girls, as it was only a suspicion, but felt that whatever it was that tried to kill them in the house won't just end there. They discovered something… unnatural. Something more dangerous than the Grimm, if one can believe it.

However, despite the dark thoughts, he couldn't help but smile. "If they come back, I'll make sure to take them out." He tightened his grip on the cross as another thought crossed his mind. "And I'll be sure to give that 'mist' a beat down". Simon thought.

...

While the teens walked away, they were unaware that the elderly man from before was observing them as they were walking home. This time, he had a strong scowl on his face.

"They released him." He said in a dark, agitated tone. The cigarette in his hand was crushed as he remembered the red mist flew out of the prison set up for him. Unless he could be stopped soon, he would find a way to destroy everything he worked for. He flicked the remnants of the cigarette onto the ground. He then calmed himself down, knowing that he would get nowhere from just being angry. Instead, he chuckled at how thing would become much more exciting for the future.

"So… 'The Dragon' returns."

...

Unknown to all, Simon had been playing his aura as they were all walking home. He concentrated it onto his right hand, quickly enveloping his hand in it. When it had finished, it was in the shape of the gauntlet he wore earlier.

"Nailed it." He said to himself.

[There we go, another chapter done. In case anyone asks, I'm still going to be going ahead with this story. I tried to be a little darker in this chapter, since the first one seemed a little too light for the Castlevania element, I hope I didn't disappoint. So, if anyone is interested, feel free to say what you think about the chapter, all the ups and downs, I could use the feedback to help improve it if no one's happy with it. Well, see you all later, have a nice day.]