Chapter 2: Every Hero Needs a Beginning

After cautiously moving down the back alleys and through back yards they reached the edge of the town square. The family entered a shop from the back door and quietly moved through it to the shattered front window to see what the ground between them and their intended destination looked like. The point of taking their route was to avoid as much attention from the hungry beasts as possible. Upon inspecting the ruined town square, it became evident that they weren't going to be able to achieve their goal here. The courtyard was littered with various species of Grimm. Beowolves, Ursi, Creeps, and a few Boarbatusks. However, most of them had their attention on the large fortified structure in the center of the square known as their town hall. It was boarded up and looked to still be structurally sound but there was no visible sign of survivors there. The children's dad, however, had an optimistic sense about him.

"Alright kids, here is what we need to do." He spoke in a whisper as to not attract any unneeded attention from a group of nearby creeps. They seemed to be almost done picking a pile of nearby bodies clean. "Don't look at that." He noticed what his children were looking at and tried to distract them. It wasn't like they weren't going to see anything like this in this situation but he still wanted to keep as much of his children's innocence as he could. Quietly snapping his fingers in front of their faces he was able to pry their eyes away from the gruesome scene and back to his green eyes. "I'm sorry you have to see all this. Truly I am, but we need to focus. We need to get there." He pointed to the town hall that now had a Boarbatusk curling its body to spin into the front door. Almost acting like a battering ram.

The boy nodded, but it was the girl that spoke up. "So what's the plan? It's not like we can just walk through that horde. We are going to need a distraction or something."

The dad chuckled and looked at her with adoration. "I'm so proud of you. You know that? You really are the brightest kid your age. Just like your momma."

The girl rolled her eyes and gave her dad a one sided smirk. "Focus dad. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well since you are the one who pointed it out how about you come up with a plan?"

She frowned at her dad with that comment. "Really? Now is the time you think would be good for one of your little tests?" Her voice was laced with annoyance.

"Hey guys" the boy brought both of their attention to that group of creeps that were moving closer to their position now that they were done with the corpses.

"Alright alright I'll let you off this time." The dad spoke to the daughter almost annoyed but gave her a quick wink to tease her. Before she could make a comeback, he began his instructions. "So we will need some wood and paper. We need to set a fire in a building on the far edge of the square and then move through the buildings around the horde so we can get to the town hall safely. Quickly and quietly get some of those supplies. Go!"

With that the two kids split up and quickly found the necessary materials. Once they were equipped with enough fuel for the fire they moved unnoticed to the far end of the square and made their preparations. Once it was set up they prepared a fuse of paper to the main pile. With a flick of a lighter, the father set the paper fuse on fire and started moving the family through the buildings.

"Up ahead is an alley. It's going to make us have to leave cover and run across open ground for a second. I'll go first to make sure it's clear and then you two follow one at a time. Understood?" Both of the kids nodded as they reached the door to the alley. Their father checked both directions to check if it was clear. Seeing as he saw it was he ran across to the other side and checked the door. He found it locked and kicked the door in. Then it was the daughter's turn to run to safety. As she got just over halfway and then it happened.

A low guttural sound came from the roof above where the father was housed. The boy looked up to see that pack of creeps had somehow perched themselves on the rooftops. As his sister ran to her father a few of them jumped into the alley effectively cutting the young boy off from the rest of his family.

"RUN !" His father commanded as he tried to fend off the monsters trying to get in the door after him and the girl. The boy, now having the attention of the rest of the creeps that stood on the rooftops, made a sprint for the end of the alley in the direction of the town hall. Once he made it to the square, he noticed the majority of the horde was near the end where the building was on fire, but a few still stood between him and the hall. With this the boy froze for a split second as an Ursa charged him. A few gunshots rang out causing the ursa to fall lifelessly at the boy's feet.

"Keep moving!" He turned to see his father with his assault rifle at the ready to cover the boy in his escape. He also noticed the creeps were still pursuing him so he turned and made a dash for the supposed safety of the town hall. As he surveyed his plausible routes he noticed there were exactly five creeps following him, with three Beowolves, two Deathstalkers, and an Ursa in front of him. Luckily none were majors or alphas but they still towered over the small boy. The nearest Grimm, a Deathstalker, quickly was cut down from a volley of bullets released by the boy's father.

"Do not… STOP! Keep running and I'll make sure you make it safely!" The shout came from the boy's father stationed in the doorway of the building behind him. He heavily emphasized the word "stop" by slamming a new clip of ammunition into his rifle.

The boy continued to run while avoiding the reach of the dark beasts. He moved to the left, a Beowulf made a swipe at him only to be cut down by his father's cover fire again. To the right this time, the other Deathstalker made a jab at him with its poisonous stinger. The boy had only recently begun his training with his mother but his instincts were sharpened enough to duck his head to the left into a forward roll to successfully dodge the impaling blow. Getting his bearings after the roll he looked back to his father now flanked by his sister. All the creeps behind him had been cut down by the duo. Now only to worry about the last three Grimm between him and the fortified town hall that he could only pray would be a safe haven. At this thought he noticed movement from the aforementioned building. The building sprang to life with the flash of gunfire emanating from the building as the remaining three Grimm standing between the building and the boy were quickly decimated. The boy sighed thinking the worst was behind him and he was now safe.

But we all know those thoughts are only a delusion in instances such as this one. A low rumbling caught the boy's attention and for a moment he eyed the rest of the horde that had now turned its attention back to the party trying to make their way to the town hall. They were moving their way across the square to the boy but he knew if he hurried he would be in no immediate danger. He turned to run but a louder rumble arrived. This time it made its presence undeniable as the boy had to regain his balance due to the ground shaking. He knew there was only one type of Grimm that could have this effect… Goliaths. The boy turned in time to see red eyes accompanied by a set of white tusks appear over the line of buildings behind him. The same set of buildings in which his father and sister were currently held up. His eyes grew wide in shock and met his father's for a split second. Then his father and sister were gone.

The massive Grimm came stampeding through the buildings like they were a slight inconvenience to their built up momentum. Splinters and chunks of other materials were sent flying outwards in the direction of the boy. In the split second that it took the Grimm to pile through the buildings the boy took notice of how one of the four Goliaths had trampled directly over where his father and sister were standing before he lost sight of them. He also noticed as the beasts closed on him that the building they had been held up in was now completely obliterated and lay as flat as a piece of paper on a desk.

It was in this moment of realization that the boy realized he still had the pistol in his right hand and raised it. He would take these monsters down to avenge his family. His rage built as he aimed at the closest Goliath that also just so happened to be the one that had trampled his father and sister. He pulled the trigger but felt no kick of the weapon. For a moment he was stunned because although he had heard the click of the gun, he felt no force that he assumed the pistol would exert from discharging a bullet. He looked up to see a surprising sight. It had worked. The massive beast was now fifty meters from him and closing but was now complexly immersed in flames. He realized this must be a special gun his father had given him. Until realization hit him and he heard the footsteps behind him.

He turned to see a woman with fire seeping out of her eyes marching with a seething fury at the line of Goliaths, raising her hands to each one individually with her palm forward. As she raised her hand to each Goliath it was engulfed in fire just like the first one had been. As each one fell victim to the fire smothering its body they quickly stopped in their tracks and tried to shake off the flames violently. Thrashing about as if their sudden movements of desperation would create enough wind to snuff out the flames. Their attempts were useless though as one by one they fell to the ground and began their evaporation. The boy looked back to his savior as it could only be one person in the world with those abilities.

"M-mom!" The boy gasped. The full force of what had just transpired over the past few minutes hit him full force as he wrapped his arms around her mid section and buried his weeping face into her abdomen. She would have fallen to her knees to sit there and weep with him but they had more pressing needs to attend to. Like the angry horde of Grimm that was now almost upon them.

"We have to move! Now!" She said now shaking him slightly from her so he could understand the severity of having an emotional breakdown now in the middle of a war zone. The boy quickly dislodged himself from her and gathered himself to stand behind his mother. She quickly summoned two fire balls from her hands and threw them at the approaching enemies.

"Get to the hall! We have to get you to safety so I can fend them off!" She was handling the Grimm with her ranged attacks but they were pressing their offensive against her and their swipes were starting to get dangerously close to her. The boy turned to flee but he realized their escape was cut off as the horde was now attempting to surround them.

"Mom! I can't!" His response to her command earned an irritated glance his way that quickly turned into one of realization. They would soon be completely surrounded by the sheer number of Grimm and protecting her baby boy would be all but impossible if this continued. She needed to do something. As she continued to fend off approaching Grimm by now turning her hands into full fledged flame throwers and moving her arms side to side to give them a circular perimeter. It allowed her to have some room to think. A flash of realization came across her face as she turned to her son.

"Quick! Come here and hold onto me!" He obeyed and as soon as he had a hold of her side she stopped her flame thrower hands and pulled her arms down to her sides at a bent angle as if she was channeling something. Then she opened her eyes and he noticed they were spitting flames again from the corners to almost make the appearance of wings upon her face. She then gave a yell that could only be described as a war cry and released all her energy.

It came as what would appear as a shock wave in all directions with the focus being the woman and her son. With that all Grimm in their immediate vicinity were incinerated on the spot. Those that were not close enough for that were thrown back from the force of the attack. She looked up to see the damage and realized they only had a few moments to put her plan into motion. She quickly turned to her son and knelt down to get eye level with him.

"I am going to unlock your aura."

"W-uh-What?"

"Son there is no time. With your aura unlocked you will be better able to defend yourself if anything worse is to happen. I know it's too early for this but we have no other choice." She spoke with determination but it was obvious to the boy this seemed like a last ditch effort in case things went all the hell.

"Why can't we just run to the hall?" The boy asked but then his mother's expression was one of sorrow as she nodded her head in the direction of the hall. What the boy turned to see made his heart drop.

The hall had been over run. Grimm were literally climbing all over the supposed fort and many holes in the sides of the building made it obvious the beasts had made it inside. A few screams pierced the roars that seemed to have taken over the noise of the now defeated town hall. In fact it appeared the only reason that the mother and her son had lasted this long without being jumped again was because the majority of the horde was now focused on the easy prey. With that realization the boy turned back to his mother.

"I'm going to have to make this quick" she said in a solemn tone. She then put both of her hands on the sides of his head. Thumbs pointed upwards in front of the ears along his jaw line with her fingers wrapped around the back of his head. She pulled him in so that their foreheads were touching and she flared her aura so that fire was covering her as she spoke the ritualistic phrase.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."

With this the boy's eyes shot open wide as he could feel the power. The spark seemed to start directly in the center of his body and as it spread he could not help but feel like he should be in a great amount of pain. However all he could feel was a great amount of discomfort. The feeling could only be described as a paralyzing one that caused his body to lock up due to the foreign feeling of what was not exactly pain but was also not normalcy. As the feeling spread from his core and pulsed towards the outer areas of his body it made his nerves feel like they were going to burst. The intense feeling continued until the only untouched area of the boy's body was his eyes. The moment they were enveloped his eyes sparked to life, literally. The same orange flame that leaked from his mother's eyes as she used her powers erupted into his own. It was at that moment that the feeling of abnormal uneasiness in his body vanished and he felt like himself again. No, not exactly like himself, but a better version of himself. He felt like he was stronger. He felt like he was more perceptive to his reflexes now. He felt like he could take on anything now. With a blink the flames in his eyes flickered off. He then looked to his mother to see her smiling at him.

"I-I have never seen anything like this before. Your aura and semblance appear to be exactly like mine!" Shocked she looked the boy over to see him glowing a bright orange. The glow slowly dulled and the boy appeared to be fine except for the now scar on his right arm from the earlier Beowulf attack. Apparently that one was never going to heal. Looking at her son with a newfound adoration that she never thought possible she sighed. "I'm so proud of you" she gasped out as tears began to well up in her eyes. He smiled back at her but then realization hit them both as they were horrifically brought back to the reality of their situation.

The horde had recovered and was preparing to commence a new attack at the duo. The mother got into a defensive stance but was noticeably winded from the previous battles and the unlocking of her son's aura. The Grimm however, seemed more cautious of their attack this time. Instead of surrounding them they seemed to form up in a big black wall of bone armor and gnashing teeth. Last time they were surrounded but this time they were facing what appeared to be a formed army.

"This isn't good." The boy's mother hissed through clenched teeth. "Grimm are mindless. They don't just change tactics like a well led battalion would." With that the first wave of Grimm charged them.

The cannon fodder wave of Grimm was quickly dispatched by the boy's mother. But her battling the first group allowed the second group to get closer before she was able to engage them. The waves of Grimm kept increasing in number, ferocity, and size. Each one pushing the line of attack farther and farther against the mother-son duo until they were in hand to hand range. The mother had pulled out her symmetrical double sided pole arm. The blades on each side faced a single direction that if the weapon was stood on one end would appear the blades were facing opposite each other. In reality if you flipped the weapon it would look exactly the same which showed the true ability of her weapon, spinning attacks. That was what she was fighting with at the moment as she put some of her aura into the weapon. This caused the blades to glow a heated red to allow for more efficient slicing strikes.

As she kept dismembering Grimm left and right one Boarbatusk made a leap over her and headed straight for the boy. It curled up into a head-over-heals ball and began its spinning attack towards the supposed defenseless boy. The only thing the poor kid could think to do was to raise his hands in defense. Surprisingly it worked and he stopped the spinning attack of the deranged animal and dazed it. It did not stay stunned for long as it then swung its tusks at the boy. Once again all he could think to do was to defend himself the same way he had with the previous attack and raised his arms. This time as his hands deflected the sharp tusks using his aura, he latched onto them holding the beast in place.

His mother, know noticing her baby boy was in a fight for his life, knocked her enemies back to give her some space. She twisted her weapon at the center with caused the pole arm to detach at the center, creating two small battle axes. She turned and threw one axe at the Boarbatusk trying to free itself from her son's grasp. The axe found its mark and tore through the hindquarters of the beast. It must have severed the spinal column in some way because the beast went limp in the boy's hands but was still gasping for air. As the boy looked to his mother he saw her fighting desperately with only one of the battle axes now. Her eyes, once spewing an orange flame, now were their normal yellow color. That, along with her obvious exhaustion, was the sign that her aura was almost completely tapped out.

Then his mother sliced a King Taijitu's white head off only to be blindsided by the other black head. It attacked from her right side knocking against her arm and throwing her lone remaining weapon to the ground. Disarmed she punched the remaining head of the two headed snake in its left eye. Her fist going into the very inner sanctum of the creature's skull killing it instantly. This killing blow however left her immobilized for a split second. She had neglected to see the alpha Deathstalker raising its stinger to strike the last remaining threat in the town. The boy stared wide eyed as the oversized scorpion brought its stinger down to his mother.

Tensed up for some reason, she turned her head to look to her son. For some reason it was an extreme battle against her own body to do the simplest of movements. When she made eye contact it was apparent all she could see in his eyes was fear and disbelief. His eyes weren't fixed on hers though for some reason, they were glued on her torso. She looked down to her horror to see the end of a Deathstalker stinger sticking through her body and stuck into the ground. She turned back to look at her son and she gave a loving smile as her goodbye. As she smiled the stinger was wrenched back through her body leaving a gaping hole in the center of her body. She fell lifelessly to the stone covered ground. Her son looked upon helpless to save her.

"NOOOOO!" he shrieked.

It was at this moment that he felt something he had never felt before.

Rage.

Pure unadulterated rage.

He wanted them all dead. Every Grimm, every mindless beast, every evil being in the world, he wanted them all to be wiped out.

It was with this that his body started glowing. The luminescent glow quickly elevated to a full-fledged orange fire engulfing his body. With this his eyes were spewing flames as well with their signature look of leaking out of the corners to make the appearance of giving wings to his face. Although this time they gave off a deadly look. Much more sinister than they had appeared the past time they sparked to life. They were almost evil when compared to the similar feature on his mother's face even when she was angry or in battle.

He raised his hand to the giant Deathstalker, palm forward as he had seen his mother do to the goliath's. Immediately the giant arachnid screeched in pain as flames consumed its entire form. As the Grimm's screams slowly withered away the remaining forces of the horde now stood still in shock. He didn't take the time to notice this odd behavior for he then ran to pick up the corpse of his beloved mother. He knelt beside her and gathered her up in his arms. Surprisingly neither she nor her clothing caught fire. The boy hugged her tightly and began to wail. At this point the Grimm had overcome their stupor and began charging the boy again.

Tear filled eyes looked up to see the enclosing beasts and his rage built even further. He gave a thunderous battle cry and with it released all his emotions into his aura. The power of his aura created a sonic boom that originated at the boy's position and then resonated outwards. The boy felt the power come over him and release and then he blacked out.

He opened his eyes to find himself still cradling his dead mother. The sounds of Grimm could not be heard but he did notice something rather odd. Instead of being in the town square, they were now in what appeared to be a scorched crater. The boy was still groggy and barely holding onto his consciousness. He looked down to the person in his arms and he began weeping.

"I'm sorry mom" He spluttered with tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't help. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you." For minutes he sat there apologizing to an unresponsive crowd ranging from his father and sister to random villagers he had rarely even met. After his repentance to the souls of those long gone, he sat there and cried until a sound broke his concentration. A snarl, followed by a howl of a Beowulf pierced the dead silence of the crater. He looked up to see a few Beowolves glaring down at him. Realizing his aura was depleted and he was basically defenseless all he could do was glare back. Once again his vision blurred as he attempted to focus. The Grimm charged him intent on finishing their job. As they approached he could only accept his fate and he spared one last glance down to his mother. After taking in her appearance for what he felt was the final time he looked back up to stare down the black death that was quickly approaching him. As they neared his location the closest one raised its right claw to slash him. His vision blurred again only to hear multiple yelping noises and a white blur suddenly appear in front of him. His vision refocused to see a woman in a white cloak with her back to him. All the previously charging Beowolves had been suddenly cut in half. The way she was positioned and the way the light reflected off of her form, there was only one word that came to mind.

"A-angel" He stuttered.

With that she turned around to look at him. Silver eyes met a sight she had not yet seen, eyes that flickered with a flame. That flame in his eyes was dwindling at the moment though as the boy began to lose consciousness again. Although she was curious about the young boy who was holding his recently passed away mother she had no time. He needed consoling and her seemingly motherly instincts took over.

"Easy, eeeasy." Her voice was full of compassion towards the poor boy. He began to slump over but she caught him. She quickly knelt behind him and held him upright using her own body as a support for him to rest into. With a sigh the boy closed his eyes and rested against his guardian angel.

"Is that…?" An unknown male voice startled the boy and he re-opened his eyes to see a rather frazzled looking blonde haired man staring at him. The boy had to re-adjust his vision again and looked at the man with a quizzical glare. Only to realize what he was staring at. The boy was still clutching onto his mom.

"Looks like it hon" said the female voice he recognized as his savior. The boy turned to see his angel supporting him. Then a rough looking man in grey clothing holding a large looking sword over his shoulder sauntered over to the blonde man.

"Ah shit. Well that's not good" Said the grey clad man.

"Not good?" The boy could barely get the words out but he still had to restrain himself from yelling at the men staring. "You mean how she died to save me?" He felt the angel holding him up tense up and watched the two men shuffle uncomfortably. He waited for somebody to say something but just then they were cut off by a dark red portal opening up and a woman wearing a red and black warrior outfit stepped through. She appeared behind the two men who seemed oblivious to her presence.

The boy didn't see the outfit or the fact that she was even human at first though. All he saw was her mask. It had a very disturbing similarity to the bone mask of a nevermore. In his exhausted state the boy only saw an enemy emerging and he summoned what little left of his aura he had. His right hand left its hold on his mother and curled it as if he were to be holding a ball. At that moment a weak fireball formed in his hand as his eyes sparked to life once again.

"Be…hind…you." The boy weakly gasped and threw the fireball between the two men's heads directly at his target. Then he blacked out again.