Hey guys! Thanks for all the love from last chapter. I tired to fix up my main problem in this one. That being just spelling and grammar, but it's really hard to spot them, especially when you have such a massive wall of text to work with, but none the less I tried my best.
Keep those reviews coming though! It's good for my soul and muse.
X.
'This situation does not look to be in our favor.' Sauron commented, as the melee between the puppets of flesh and Grimm raged around Jaune. Beowolfs howled in anger as husks clambered over them, biting and gnawing at them with their own jaws and teeth as well as swinging at them with whatever they had in their lifeless hands. The Grimm in return, retaliated by tearing the husks in half with their mighty claws, as well as crushing them in between their massive jaws.
Water and blood soaked their fur, which was like static darkness. Their howling filled the new night sky, and their bony armor seemed to grow whiter by the second. Peircing red eyes shone with malignancy and an animalistic cunning.
'The situation has never been in our favor.', Jaune argued, as he warily observed the demonic, unfamiliar Grimm that stood before them. He didn't need to know its name, however, to know that the creature was dangerous and fully capable of ripping him to shreds. If evidence by the way his mother stood rigid and defiant, yet with a hint of fear in her eyes.
This creature was dangerous indeed.
"Jaune stay back. I'll deal with the Nuckelavee.", his mother spoke, her voice full of calm fury. Argentum Mors glinted like shards of shimmering starlight in her hands, ready to slash and rend the flesh of her enemies.
His mother was a force to be reckoned with for sure, but even so the beast had already seen battle, of evident by the numerous weapons that protruded from its skin and back, some of them looking quite old.
"You can't take that thing on your own!" Jaune argued as he braced himself with his shield and readied his sword. Even if he couldn't properly harm the beast, he was confident in his abilities of being able to get its attention. Or get it long enough for his mother to land some devastating blows against the beast.
'I can not believe that you would willing make us a target. That is one of the most ludicrous ideas I've ever heard.' Sauron commented angrily. His statement, however, was promptly ignored by Jaune.
'No! I will not allow you to ignore me this time. If we face this demon, we will die. How can you not see this!' Sauron snarled at him. Jaune inwardly cringed, but he still stood defiant with his ideals.
'Then what do you propose I do then! Let my mom face that thing down by herself!' Janus argued back.
'Yes. You obviously have had no experience or training against these types of beasts. You will get us killed.' Sauron affirmed. 'It would seem the matriarch of your family agrees.'
"No. Stay back. You'll only slow me down.", she said firmly. Rather promptly, Jaune's fortitude on the subject slowly died. Logic and doubt started to seep into his mind,
What could he actually do? He just had his aura unlocked not more than a hour ago, and he hadn't even killed a Grimm yet. What could he hope to do against a creature that even his mother feared?
'Finally seeing some logic now, are we?' Sauron snarked at him. He was once again ignored by Jaune.
"But if you do want to help...", she stopped for several seconds, a look of desperate reluctance etched on her face. "Keep the other Grimm and those corpses away from me. Think you can do that without getting yourself hurt?"
Jaune nodded grimly as he turned towards the still battling Beowulfs and walking corpses. Crocea Mors seemed to glint in the setting sun's light, eager to taste blood once again.
He turned back towards his mother, who only gave him a small smile in return. "You'll take care of yourself right?" He asked tentatively.
That got a small laugh out of her, and she only responded by saying, "Don't worry about me. I'm the one who should be worrying about you right now. But..." she stopped as she gave the Nuckelavee a look. "Things have changed."
And as quick as possible she swiftly turned and pulled him into a warm hug. Jaune, stunned for a few minutes, quickly returned the hug with vigor. He could feel some dampness trace over his face and he felt himself on the verge of tears as well.
'Why do you mortals have to be so emotional over such a situation! You may release your tears when we actually finish this-'
'Just shut up for one moment please?' Jaune thought with force, effectively stopping Sauron's thoughts. To the Maiar's knowledge Jaune had never raised his mental voice like that in the week that they had spent together.
So the mortal whelp had a backbone after all. And Sauron would never admit that he felt something with his soul tighten as the woman offered to fight the demon. She did make some delicious food after all.
His mother pulled back with tears adorning her face. "I'll be right back okay? Don't get into anything dangerous or stupid okay?" She affirmed, her hands on his shoulders. Had he always been taller than her?
'That's the spine that you should have grown a long time ago. Now let your matriarch do her work. We have our own to do.' Sauron commanded, and Jaune hesitantly released his mother's form. She took a step back, Argentum Mors, dull and almost blunt and her eyes sad with longing.
With a deep breath, Savannah Arc's emerald eye were sharpened to gems sharper than her own swords. Her curved swords, one of the legendary weapons forged by the Arcs, responded by almost being reformed in her hands. They shined like newly polished metal, and the curves of her blade called for blood.
She turned in a quick, practiced motion back towards the Nuckelavee, who, up until this point had remained still. It seemingly had chosen to observe its prey, study them, before it attacked.
Too bad that his mother struck first.
She blurred towards the abomination of horse and humanoid. Emphasis on the part of her being a blur. She moved so fast that Jaune had no chance of properly tracking her with his eyes. It was luck that Sauron was also able to see through his eyes, but even he had trouble seeing her properly.
'Your mother has some magic to her. I do not know what it is though. Perhaps some type of illusionary magic?' Sauron guessed as Jaune stared awestruck as the primary blade of Argentum Mors flashed across one of the Nuckelavee's front legs. In response the torso that rode atop the Grimm horse swung its massive arms around itself, in a vain attempt to hit her. She merely sidestepped the massive appendage and renewed her assault against the beast, landing a deep cut against one its hind legs.
'Why do you always say it's illusionary magic?' Jaune asked, unable to look away form his mother's fight.
'It's the easiest answer, and the most likely one for most practitioners. However, even if she isn't weaving an illusion on her eyes, she still has some magic that either masks how fast she can actually move or she has something that deceives our eyes.' Sauron reasoned as Jaune's mother once again blurred, this time vaulting over the entire body of the large Grimm.
'Its like...everything else is slower.' Jaune pondered. Was his mother truly that fast?
That got a reaction out Sauron, and Jaune could feel his utter disbelief resonate through their mind and soul.
'Impossible. But it's the most likely answer.' Sauron whispered in awe.
'What? You figured out her semblance?' Jaune asked.
'It's a theory. Truthfully that I did not have the resources nor time to truly study or properly wield for my own. The power to use time.' Sauron answered, and Jaune felt some of the metaphorical cogs in his head begin to turn. He had heard something along the lines of that before.
'Like time dilation?'
'Indeed. One of Allfather Eru's greatest powers. Time was his, along with the art of creation. My old master told me that Eru had used his control over time to create what you see today.'
'And you think my mom has power over time?'
'To a much smaller degree and only for a certain amount of time. But even still, Men have become quite strong in my absence from the physical realm. Your family alone, fights better than some elves.' Sauron commented as they watch Jaune's mother continue to duel with the beast.
'Enough looking. We have a job to do and we can talk about this later. We have our own enemies to kill.' Sauron noted and Jaune turned to face down his own challenge. Crocea Mors, his trusty blade, was gripped tightly in his right hand, while his left hand held a bulwark of defensive metal. His armored coat, although wet, still clung to him, giving him some form of comfort and security.
A Beowolf turned towards him, its large snout smelling him and identifying Jaune as prey. It's fangs bared themselves, most of them longer than his fingers, and it promptly tore the flesh puppet that's had occupied its attention in half. It released a loud snarl before it began to bound towards him, great, shadowy legs propelling the beast faster and faster.
Jaune's breath caught, as the Grimm edged ever closer to him. It's bone white mask seemed to glow with a pale, ominous light in the newly darkened night, and its red eyes sharpened like spears that peirced Jaune's courage.
'Fear is not allowed here whelp, for the greatest of the Maiar is with you. We will kill this beast.' Sauron spoke, his voice shaking Jaune of his fear and anxiety.
'Now focus. We do this together.' Jaune allowed himself to take a deep breath and closed his eyes. Courage welled in him, like fire, and its fiery presence aroused his soul which burned like a star.
'Together.' Jaune agreed.
His eyes opened, and the fiery sapphire that were is irises sharpened and forged to an edge that the fangs and claws that the Beowolf possessed could never hope of matching.
And together they lunged. Young man and old Maiar. Trapped with within the same body, bounded by the same soul, raced into battle.
The monstrous wolf Grimm, snarled in pain as Jaune's shield slammed painfully into its face, effectively halting the beast. Jaune, however, continued to push and the Beowolf found itself unbalanced and open for an attack. It quickly regained its footing, however, and went about on the assault, attempting to rake Jaune with its massive claws.
'Create an opening. Aim for a weak spot. Cut it down immediately.' Sauron commanded and Jaune obeyed.
A clawed limb swung to Jaune's left side, attempting to slash at him. His shield came to bear and with a mighty slam, parried the claw away. The wolf Grimm roared with anger and dove at him with its maw open and brimming with massive fangs.
Jaune's will steeled and Crocea Mors glinted malignantly.
Then, the Beowolf let out a sudden choked snarl as Crocea Mors was promptly lodged into its throat, the old blade managing to pierce all the way through its thick neck. It's massive head stilled and thick red blood slowly trailed down the ancient Arc weapon. The metal of his sword seemed to glisten even more as the blood ran down its blade.
'Interesting.' Sauron seemingly purred.
Jaune slowly retracted Crocea Mors from the Grimm's body and watched in awe as the Greta beast slumped over, a gurgle escaping its throat as it bled to death. It vainly attempted to swipe at it him with its a massive claw, and it actually tried to stand once again, only to fall over. It continued to fidget for several seconds before with a massive heave it stilled completely.
So the young knight found himself breathing heavily, alongside the rapidly deteriorating corpse of his first Grimm kill.
'Well done. You've taken your first step at stopping the darkness that eats away at your world. But I fear it will be a long journey.' Sauron commented, noting the dozens of more Beowolfs that ran around the market place.
The young knight felt like there was so much wrong with the situation. He had killed his first Grimm, a mile stone for all Hunters and Huntresses. It was the very first achievement in a long line of victories and triumphs. Usually these types of situation would have been celebrated with huge parties, to commemorate for such a feat. He remembered Diamond's party, full of high praises and undying glory within the eyes of her younger siblings.
'You're views on greatness is almost as foolish as you are. Almost.' Sauron snidely commented. 'You mortals have always had a flawed way of looking at glory and battle honor.'
'How did we get being glorious in battle wrong?' Jaune asked.
'You mortal whelps always think that participating in battle, in war makes you grand and superior. Feh. War does not make one great. It is nothing more than blood drunk brigands clashing with steel armaments, while the superior beings, like me move them around like puppets.' Sauron said, his voice gaining a distant edge.
'So what makes one 'great' then?' Jaune asked.
'Why the answer is quite simple. It's victory.' The old Maiar responded, his tone eveidently trying to say that the answer was quite simple.
'Victory?'
'Indeed. Victory is what makes one great. Triumph is how you change who you truly are. May the sacrifice be blood, flesh, or souls, victory against your enemies is how you become strong. How you truly become superior.'
'...' Jaune thought of silence as his response.
'And we have not won yet. Prepare yourself.'
Jaune allowed himself to take another deep breath, allowed his nerves to calm down, before he opened his eyes and saw inded that the battle between the Dead and the Grimm were getting closer to him. He could see as dark, shadowy flesh warred against festering, rotten meat.
Crocea Mors grew hot in Jaune's armored hand and the rookie knight could feel his soul pulse within him. It strengthened him. It made him feel like fire. He could hear the screeches of the Nuckelavee behind him, obviously enraged and in pain from the bliss his mother was dealing to it.
Suddenly, one husk found its head gone, seperated from its neck courtesy of Crocea Mors. Filthy water spewed out of its neck as its body slumped over, and its corpse was used as a stepping stone as Jaune bashed another one away with his shield.
Another Beowolf charged at him, blind with bloodlust and its natural cunning overshadowed by its rage. It would prove to be it's down fall.
'Side step it. Then attack its vulnerable side.'
With a quick step to the charging Grimm's right side, Jaune found himself out of harms way. He raised Crocea Mors above his head and with a mighty heave, brought it down upon the exposed and vulnerable side of the overextended Beowolf.
The sword found itself driving through the shadowy flesh of the beast like a hot knife through butter. The Beowolf howled in agony, and in its last living moments it allowed its claws to try and rend Jaune with their sharpened tips.
Time slowed down as death seamingly approached them. Those claws could punch through the thickest of armors and hulls if they wanted to, and Jaune had no doubt that they could tear through him with relative ease. Fear filled him, like cold ice until he felt Sauron's presence flourish within his head.
'Our feä defends us! It has become our bulwark. Our bastion.' Sauron spoke in whispered awe.
Jaune's aura flared to shield him from the Grimm's claws. Like fire, it surged from him and the Beowolf's limb was engulfed in its power. The claws found themselves scorched and withering from such a flame. Whatever was left from the blaze, harmlessly knocked against him and a thin film of white energy.
The Beowolf let out one last snort of annoyance before it slumped over, dead. It's claw, at this point, was nothing more than a withered limb, becoming dust to the wind along with the rest of its body.
Husks and Beowolfs turned towards him, drawn by his flaming aura like moths to a flame. His soul made physical, ghosted over him, like wispy air and thin trails of white escaped into the night sky.
His eyes were hard fire. Blue as the sky, and as sharp as his ancient sword. They blazed with a dormant, primeval power, and there was certain darkness in them, contrasting the light that naturally came with Jaune.
'Allow these vermin to know that they are unwanted here. I do believe they destroyed that fine establishment with that delectable starwberry elixir. It shall be avenged.'
Jaune only grunted in response as he raised his shield and sword once again.
X.
Savannah Arc allowed herself to twirl in the air as she somersaulted over the Nuckelavee's body. Thankfully, the wound inflicted on the beast by its previous opponents had effectively slowed it down, and the weapons imbedded into its body made it difficult for the beast to fully move. It sure as hell made it a whole lot easier dealing with the dangerous Grimm.
Time slowed down once again as one the massive hands of the Nuckelavee edged closer to her, almost touching her abdomen with their pointed tips. Deftly, she maneuvered out of harms way and allowed herself to reposition on the roof of an abandoned building. Had the beast been in its prime, it would have surely been able to shorten this fight effectively. But with its already wounded state, and her skills with time, the fight was on a more even battle ground.
Her control of time slipped from her and it quickly began to stabilize itself to the present. The Nuckelavee's arm sailed through the air, hitting nothing, before it fell limp to its side. It's released a hellish screech of annoyance as it once against missed its prey, and its orange tinted eyes zeroed in on her form standing above it.
It had officially recognized her as prey. Officially recognized her as its enemy.
Good. That kept it away from Jaune.
Yet, for how long could she occupy the monster? Eventually the bending of time would tire her out and she would have the bring down the Nuckelavee with just Argentum Mors alone and rusty muscles. It had been more than a decade since her last real mission, and even though she had tried her best to keep fit, there was no doubt she and her body were out of practice.
Still, she had taken her pound of flesh from the beast. It's legs were covered in deep gashes, restricting its movements harshly. Black and red ichor ran down its legs, polling on the ground beneath it in deep puddle and it couldn't willingly chase her down without stumbling. However, those wounds wouldn't last for long. It's regnerative shadow would heal it eventually, and it would be chasing her down its its previous speed.
She needed to finish it now, but the Nuckelavee had proven itself incredibly defensive, thick bone armor protecting its vital areas and its powerful arms preventing her from going into a full out assault. Bleeding it out would take time and endurance, both which she didn't have, so that left landing a fatal blow on a vulnerable area.
Only she wasn't built to cut through the thick armor of Grimm. That was more of Matthias's role. Argentum Mors, while strong, didn't have the leverage against such thick protection. It excelled at rending flesh though, but this fight required more than that.
Savannah let out a sigh. If Jaune had been here to fight alongside her, the fight would have been twice as stressful. Such a rookie, who only had their aura unlocked that day and had no formal training whatsoever, would only be a hinderance for such a fight. She had the upmost faith that Jaune would grow up to be one of the most successful Hunters out there, albeit the journey would be rough, especially since he had not previous training. But now, he had no hope of actually bringing down a S-class Grimm.
As long as he kept the attention off himself and kept the Beowolves from distracting her, they could get out of this situation without any major injuries. She also held no doubt that Matthias and the rest of her family would have the Bullhead they were riding to head back to their location to pick them back up.
Then, the collective howls of Beowolves pierced the sky. To many, the howl would mean little to nothing except that danger was near. For someone who knew the Grimm, who had studied them, there were different types of Beowolf howls. This one in particular meant that they were scared. There was a major threat to the pack.
The Nuckelavee, bound by instincts and animalistic cunning, raised its tallest head and released its own shriek into the sky. Even when there were different types of Grimm, they were all bound by the same evil that ruled them. The demonic fusion of humanoid and horse would aid its wolf brethren. It would aid them to kill Jaune.
Her breathe hitched, and she spun her head to where Jaune was supposed to be. Thankfully he hadn't run off.
Unfortunately, however, it's not like he could. Both Grimm and those disgusting corpses alike were besieging his area. And among the chaos between the two warring sides, shining like a light tower among the darkest of seas, was Jaune. His aura flowed him around him like fire, and as bright as a star.
Crocea Mors glowed in his hand, seemingly empowered by Jaune's fiery soul, and it proved its legendary status as it lashed out against Beowolves and husks. His shield was a ward against fear and physical malice, protecting Jaune from teeth and claws alike.
And yet there was something wrong. Despite Jaune's bravado, despite his impressive job at handling the C-class Grimm, there was a very prominent problem with Jaune.
His aura wasn't supposed to do that. Aura was a shield. A physical manifestation of ones soul. It was the soul's natural impulse to protects the host's body.
Jaune's shield was unformed and unstable. The soul armor itself was weak, unproperly formed. Latent energy seeped through the weak barrier and flowed around him. It seemed, however, that it was effective in burning the flesh of Grimm, and Jaune wasn't that much of a rookie to allow the slow moving husks to hit him. However, sooner or later he would burn out his aura reserves and not even his armor and shield would save him from the Beowolf claws.
Gratefully though, he had some of the biggest aura reserves she had ever seen. She hadn't said anything when she had, apparently, improperly unlocked it, since she didn't want to have the ego inducing thoughts of having some massive aura reserves to go to his head, but he did in fact of some of the largest. In fact, she would have to guess that his aura resevers were nearly four times the size of that of Matthias.
But large aura meant nothing if it wasn't properly used.
The Nuckelavee let out a horrific screech, and Savannah braced herself for its speedy assault. She would have the use the local terrain to her advantage. The beast dared not disturb the buildings, noting full well of debris or rubble slowed it down she would capitalize on its vulnerable moment.
Only that she wasn't the beast's target. It was Jaune.
The Grimm had zeroed in on Jaune, who at this point was mopping up a few husks, seeing that many of the Beowolves had become distracted with the sheer amount of more walking corpses that were filling the square. Never would have Savannah thought she see the day that the Grimm had finally fought a battle where something overwhelmed them in pure numbers.
Its great gallops filled the market with the crashes of its hooves, and the ground shook as it barreled towards Jaune. He looked up in shock and surprise and raised his shield in a natural instinct of defending himself.
He was rewarded by being slammed into a brick wall of an abandoned building, possibly the shop of a merchant, as bricks and trinkets fell from the hole he had just created. The demonic horse Grimm nickered and patiently stalked towards where it had thrown Jaune to. To her relief, Jaune stumbled out of the wreckage, stunned and obviously hurting. He was vulnerable. Her baby was in mortal danger.
It took her approximately five seconds to realize that she was racing towards the Jaune, time once again bending to her will. It would not last forever, but she only need a few more seconds. Just a few more.
Suddenly, her legs gave out from beneath her, most likely from her using her Semblance too often and too extensively. No matter, she could recover from the overusage after she got her baby out of here. Again she called upon her control of time and it bent to her will, allowing her to gain a few precious seconds of time for her to catch up with the Nuckelavee.
She could ignore the tightening feeling in her chest. Just for a few more seconds.
Her Semblance had lasted even shorter than before, but at this point she was at equal footing with the horse Grimm. Thankfully, her earlier attacks on the creature had slowed it down, and she easily over took it wth her speed from years of hunting and fighting faster Hunters and Grimm than her.
Her control of time was lost, she could no longer use it powers, her aura was too exhausted. Argentum Mors was all she needed for the rest of this fight though. Determination flooded her as she made it to him, his eyes wide with shock and hope.
Now all she had to do was stall the Nuckelavee,long enough for the both of them to make it to a roof top, and allow Matthias to pick them up.
Savanah Arc allowed her legs to push off the ground and let her fly through the air and bring down her blades, creating two, large gashes on one of its approaching arms. The large Grimm reared back in pain, and its shriek of agony was music to her ears.
She landed gracefully in front of her son, and she quickly examined him, making sure that he was alright. His aura was still alight, though the blaze from before had died down, effectively spent from protecting and healing him from the Nuckelavee's strike.
No words could be said as she looked at her son with the upmost pride. For such a nightmare of a first Grimm encounter, he had preformed exceptionally well. He had kept a cool head, hadn't overextended, and actually killed more Grimm than his eldest sister when she had gone out on her first hunting trip. Now, they had to retreat and find somewhere to hide until a Bullhead could fly by and pick them up, or for the Grimm scattered, allowing them to escape freely.
.
.
All the warning that she got was the widening of Jaune's eyes and his arm reaching out, almost like to grab her. By the time she realized the danger, she knew it was too late.
She flew through the air, numb in all areas except for a certain spot on her right side that burnt like fire. She could feel some liquid run down her side, and it took several, worrying seconds for her to properly piece together what had just happened.
She had been stupid.
She had taken her eyes off the Grimm, and it had taken the moment and used it to its advantage. Savannah Arc had committed a mistake that someone two decades younger than her would have done. Taken their eyes off a Grimm. It was Rule Number One for Hunters.
Hard bricks cushioned her flight and she slid to the ground, quite unaware of what was going on. The numb feeling was spreading, and she could feel her soul pulse frantically, desperately trying to heal her body while in the process burning itself out. Her light armor had been shredded through like tissue paper, and without a doubt would have torn her in half if she didn't have Aura.
She attempted to stand, but the numb feeling in her legs stopped from any strength from returning to them. Her fight against the S-Class and her flight to Jaune had sapped her of all her strength. Now she was the one in the danger. She was vulnerable.
Her eyes darted over to where Jaune was, finding that he was still there, ramrod straight and statue-like. He was looking at her, the expression of fear and shock plastered on it. The terrible Grimm had knocked her almost as far away as she had run to get Jaune, with a single strike. What a monster.
Said monster, was making its way towards her, its long legs patiently carrying it towards her. It had beaten her. They both knew it. And it was going to run it in her face before it killed her.
Hopefully, however, that Jaune would be smart enough and emotionally mature enough to leave her and escape to safety. In the distance, she could see a Bullhead make its way towards them. They wouldn't make it in time to save her, but they could at least get Jaune out of this hell hole.
The Nuckelavee stalked towards her, extinction made material and living, and proceeded to examine her. It's orange eyes held unfathomable amounts of malice, but there was a hint of dissapointment in its eyes. It had expected a better fight from her. Had she been in her prime, she would have lovingly given it to it. Now, the life of a house wife had rusted her skills. Just the way she had wanted.
Yet this housewife had taken her pound of flesh from the Grimm. It's left arm had been noticeably shortened, and blood openly fell from the massive wound. May the next Hunter who fought the beast capitalize on the injury she had done on it.
Its massive clawed hand raised into the air, promising death. Out of her quickly darkening vision, she could see Jaune move. Most likely his last ditched plans of heroics. He would never make it in time.
Her eyes focused as the Nuckelavee's claw descended, and strangely her semblance wasn't what made time slow down. It just seemed he really last moments were meant to be pain stakingly slow. How cruel.
And as it neared, closer and closer, as death revealed its hood to her, and beckoned her forward, light chased it away.
A star had fallen upon her.
X.
'I told you to DODGE!' Sauron snarled as a trinket fell from one of the many broken shelves that had collapsed on Jaune. The knight could only groan in pain. The demon-like Grimm had caught Jaune off guard and the only thing that his mind could register was for him to block with his shield.
He was rewarded by the pained snarls of anger from Sauron and getting himself thrown through a building.
Shakily, he rose up form the ground, his body aching and he was quite sure that he was covered in a series of cuts and scratches. His armored coat had been dulled, and some of the metal playing had actually fallen off. In some areas, the tough material had even been torn and it was surprising to see he wasn't more injured than he currently was. Luckily his shield had survived the attack without so much as a scratch and Crocea Mors lay only a few feet away, halfway buried in some rubble. The gleam of its metal still remained, and Jaune promptly picked it up, only to suddenly use it as a crutch as a wave of pain and fatigue washed over him.
'Our feä is a fascinating thing. Not only does it protect us, it also heals our wounds. Look at your right arm.' Sauron suggested and Jaune took the time to marvel as a large cut on his forearm was stitched back into place by white, ethereal string. Aura was, indeed, very
And, while it was absolutely fascinating to observe, Jaune knew that they had bigger problems. Jaune allowed himself to look through the hole go had created, and through the wreckage, he could see the Grimm that his mother named Nuckelavee, stalk towards them.
'It is has ugly as it is powerful. Even with the elf-like combat prowess that your mother pisses and her ability to dilate time, the beast still stands strong.' Sauron observed as the large Grimm moved towards him. 'She has taken her metaphorical and literal pound of flesh.'
Indeed, blood was oozing out of multiple, large gashes running along its legs, and more ran around its body. Certainly not enough to kill, but enough to slow down the beast and slow it down significantly.
However, it was fast enough to completely corner Jaune, and force him to have no viable escape routes. The horse head of the Grimm stared intently at him, orange eyes full of evil and anger. Its upper half's huge arms hung at its side, ready to tear him to shreds, should he make the wrong move.
Things were not looking good.
'Our best course of action would be for us to retreat. I doubt your body has the required speed and strength to fight this monster. And I doubt my own advice during battle would be able to match its cunning. Now hurry! Go further back into the structure!' Sauron urged, and Jaune fully intended to follow his mental companion's order. However, he couldn't. Not with his body so tired and with his aura exhausted from healing his wounds.
Then, a familiar blur entered his vision. Silver split the air, and her speed was almost unbelievable as she rushed towards them. His mother was still going strong, and by the looks of it, still capable of fighting. Her hard emerald eyes sharpened and she jumped into the air, and flew like an arrow. Then, with a twist of her arms, brought down her blades upon the unexpecting Nuckelavee's arm.
The screech of agony that escaped from the Nuckelavee pierced the sky and it stumbled back, it's shortened limb flailing madly as it reared back in pain. Dark red blood splattered onto the pavement, and the separated claw, began to quickly disintegrate into the night, leaving nothing behind but a mess of blood and black splotches.
His mother landed gracefully infront of him, Argentum Mors coated in the Nuckelavee's blood. She looked up at him and plain relief could be seen on her face, along with a worrying amount of exhaustion. Had she used too much of her strength to save them?
'Controlling time is no little feat. It must put large amounts of strain on the user. Not to mention, fighting the beast before must have tired her out.' Sauron reasoned as Jaune stumbled his way towards her. If anyone knew how to get them out of this situation it would be her. Hope welled in his heart, and he couldn't stop from his own relief from changing his expression.
The amount of time they had to leave had been quickly shortened by the angry retaliation of the Nuckelavee. Not even Sauron could catch how fast the Grimm had move, most likely from how exhausted they had been from their last fight.
One moment his mother was infront of him, the next she was gone. It was more Sauron's vision than Jaune's own that managed to trace her movements as she was castes away from them by the wounded Nuckelavee. She crashed into the wall of another building on the opposite side of the marketplace. Judging from the way she made no attempt at getting back up, it either meant that she had been knocked unconscious or she was incapable of moving due to injuries.
Both were terrible situations with terrible consequences.
The Nuckelavee gave Jaune a look, before it turned towards where it had knocked away his mother. It began to stalk towards her, leaving a trail of dark blood, and its great legs began to cross the distance quite easily. It clearly intended to finish off the bigger threat, even when she was incapable of movement.
'This is our chance! We can flee and get to safety!' Sauron urged. While it did cause a painful tightening in his feä, Jaune's. Other's sacrifice would be essential if they were going to flee from the beast and get themselves out of the town safely.
Jaune's legs buckled as they carried him forward, his aura fluctuating and tightening as the improperly unlocked soul worked to fix, strengthen, and heal his body. His legs felt like they were weighed down by lead, and Jaune could barely lift Crocea Mors, instead opting to just allow the tip of the blade to scrape the ground.
Yet, despite how tired and hurt he was, he didn't care. Only one thing was on his mind. He needed to get to her. He needed to save her.
'What are you doing you fool?!' Sauron snarled. 'We can't save her! We don't have the speed nor the strength!'
'We got to do something!' Jaune reasoned back as he practically dragged himself towards his mother. The Nuckelavee had luckily decided to take its time as it walked towards his mother. But it's lack of speed meant nothing if Jaune couldn't catch up to it.
'And what do you plan to do! The beast is too strong for us!'
'We don't need to kill the Nuckelavee. We just need to save her.' Jaune responded, his voice gorged with conviction and determination. His legs continued to push him forwards, his aura pumping strength into them and at the same time healingthe various bruises and cuts that ran across his body. There was too much on both there minds to notice the trail of blood that was quickly thinning behind them.
'You're not strong enough to save her! You do not possess the power, nor the fleetness of foot.'
'I know that.' Jaune said, his voice serious and steeled by acceptance.
'What?' Sauron asked, plain bewilderment evident in his voice.
'I know that I'm not strong enough to save her.'
'Then what was your plan then fool?! If you know your own limitations, and how they fall short, what could you have foolishly hoped to happen?!' Sauron snarled.
'I'm not strong enough to save her alone. But together we are.'
'This again? I agreed to be more civil towards you mortal, but I did not agree to give you my feä.' Sauron snarled once again.
'You don't have to give it to me. You just gave to share it. It's not like you have a body to use it with.' Jaune said, his voice patient and collected. His legs buckled once again and he had to prop himself up with Crocea Mors to stop himself from falling down completely. The trail of blood that fell unnoticed by them thickened slightly.
'And what would that help you with? Make you stronger? It wouldn't it would just be excess power. Only I can use to its fullest capabilities.'
'So you're going to just let her die?!' The knight asked angrily.
The Maiar remained silent for what felt like an eternity. 'While it does pain me to do this, her sacrifice would distract the demon long enough for us to retreat to safety.'
'No. I'm not doing that.'
'Your blasted morals will get us killed!'
'Yeah, they will. Unless you help me get to her.'
'Will logic ever be understood by you! I can't just give you my feä, fool! It is mine and mine alone.' Sauron angrily shouted.
'Then don't give it to me. Instead let me use some of it.' Jaune answered, his mental voice pleading yet firm.
'What?'
'You don't have to give me your soul. You can let me borrow it instead. It's still yours.' The young mortal reasoned with the primeval god. In reality, his eyes had glazed over and his perception had become lost. Yet in his mind, he found himself staring at the menacing, imposing, terrifying, unyielding form of Sauron.
Obsidan plates covered his imposing figure, and his helm peered down at him, devoid of anything resembling emotion. Behind him was a cascading river of shadow, with tints of orange and red swirling around, that clung to him like fire. A mace larger than his physical body was hanging from his side, seemingly dripping fire and blood.
Jaune himself, allowed his own soul fire to wreathe around him. Flaming coils of pure white cloaked him and his own sapphire eyes glanced back up at his mental companion.
"And what would you give? What could be worth as much as using my feä?" The old Maiar questioned, his hands gesturing to his half of their soul, a powerful and rich gold. It was deep in power, a gift and testament to his creation from the old God of the old world.
"I mean I guess it would be equal if you could use my as well.", Jaune responded easily, and the soft blue of his own soul ignited with power, heeding its masters call. Though, it seemed tired, yet its flame blazed, stalwart and unyielding despite his spent it was. It's uses hadn't been mastered yet, and the constant use had it strained, but it would remain strong and a blaze. Just like its master.
"To be clear, I do not approve of this foolishness. You would get us killed if it weren't for me. You know this right?" Sauron said as he handed his mortal companion a sphere of golden fire. Sauron's natural darkness and shadows seemed to calm and grow weaker in the presence of his soul.
"Yeah I know. But that's why I have you right? That's why they put us together. We can't do it on our own. But together...'Jaune trailed off as he accepted the sphere. Strangely, despite how different it was from his, it felt no different from his own soul. But he thought nothing about it at the moment. He allowed himself to concentrate before he slowly began to push it into his chest, taking note of the long tether of energy that clung to the sphere, even as his body accepted it.
X.
In another plain of reality, far beyond the grasp of Sauron and Jaune, an ancient being snorted in amusement. It had been a long time since it had been born, and it had long forgotten its names to the ocean of eons that had passed since its age of reign. Other Gods and Rulers had followed it its wake, and it found itself enjoying its reign of retirement. Its soul had already been spent on the creation of the world and the universe, and it had been rewarded with a peaceful passing into oblivion.
That didn't mean it could have its fun though.
It seemed that Jaune Arc had been the best choice for the situation indeed. His growth into the current age's salvation had begun splendidly. He was growing as a person and a warrior and hiscunning was also showing, as he managed to trick the greatest of the Maiar in a useless trade.
Of course he would barter off the usage of his soul. What was his was Sauron's already and vice versa. They shared the same vessel after all. The same soul.
Sauron himself was finally seeing the world for what it had intended for it to be. It was a beautiful place, full of danger for sure and it's fair share of dark spots, but it was a place worth to live life. And perhaps it had been the entity's fault for Sauron's situation. It should have stopped its older child. It's older creation. Should have, but didn't. And for this folly it had condemned so many, many of which who were too young to experience the world it had created.
His prodigal creation had already been castes down to the Void, and it could feel a longing in its ethereal heart at the prospect of one of its creations out of its reach. But it must be done. Morgoth, or Melkor as some people called him, had to be punished.
The Maiar had already paid his punishment, eons upon eons of waiting in the void, and it was time for him to experience life differently. His corruption by his own love for order and by Morgoth, had taken much more from him than he thought. Sauron could not even remember the name it gave to him.
The road to save their world wouldn't be easy for the both of them, but it had the upmost faith in their abilities. Already the Maiar was showing growth in allowing Jaune to trick him. In allowing for the partner ship between the two to grow.
Yes, it would be very interesting indeed, and hopefully it could stay a little whole longer to see how they turned out.
X.
Jaune's eyes refocused and they narrowed dangerously as he observed the still moving Nuckelavee. It was almost upon his mother, who had made no attempt from moving from her position. He needed to move now.
His soul, bolstered by Sauron's own, blazed with its previous blaze and drive. His body lightened up, and the dull ache that emanated from his wounds disappeared for the time being. Strength returned to his legs and he pushed himself forwards, braking into a hasty run.
And despite that he still wasn't going to make it.
'Your mortal shell impedes us.' Sauron said angrily.
Jaune could only quicken his pace, his body already burning with exertion. His aura began to leak from his skin, coating him in white fire. It blaze and began to eat away at his flesh in a painless process, which in turn created a stronger blaze.
'What is this? Jaune, what are you doing?' Sauron's genuinely worried question fell upon deaf ears.
The knight's body was slowly being replaced by a great white blaze, flesh and clothing disappearing into the fire. Then with a great flare of burning, wispy white, Jaune's body was substituted by a stream of white flame.
It coiled around in the air like a snake, trails of ethereal energy trailing its fiery, white core. Then with a burst of speed, it streaked through the air like an arrow, the flames and other aura energy funneling behind him, similar to that a meteor sailing through the atmosphere of their world.
'What is going on!?' Jaune asked, filled with fear, awe, and questions.
'I told you our feä had become one with your flesh. I'd assume thats where the durability of those with theirs unlocked came from. However, I suppose ours had integrated with yours far more than I expected. No matter. This is your chance! Go!' Sauron urged.
'Right.' Jaune agreed, and he bolted towards his mother, no legs or any other limbs propelling him forward. Like a comet, he sailed through the air, a crashing sphere of white fire and smoke.
Within several, fast paced seconds he had reached, completely avoiding the Nuckelavee in the process. His ethereal form warped around her, encompassing her in tendrils of warm fire, before he whisked them away, narrowly avoiding the crashing claw of the Grimm. The elongated limb effectively tore through the brick wall that she had crashed into. The crashing and crunching of breaking bricks filled the air, along with the terrible grating noise of sinking concrete. A screech of irritation escaped the wounded Grimm as, once again, its prey escaped from its grasp.
Jaune allowed his fiery form to ascend to the roof of another building, the strength of his blaze sputtering. With a final push, he reached the top of three story building, which he recognized as one the department stores that his sisters adored to go to.
He landed on its roof with an explosion of white mist and fire, his physical form appearing within the quickly disappearing haze. It was untouched and unburnt, as if being eaten by his own soul fire had not just changed his form completely.
Gently, he laid down his wounded mother, careful to not touch nor aggravate the wound on her right side. It was a lethal mark upon her, but her aura was gently stitching and healing the area where the Grimm had hit her. It would take time for her aura to completely stop the bleeding, but at least she was alive. He gently leaned her against the roof top enterance, and he ripped a portion off the end of his coat and quickly made a make shift bandage around the wound. It would help stop the bleeding and hopefully keep infection from setting in.
The young knight stood up, his first objective completed with victory. His mother was safer and she a shield alive. Pride swelled in him, along with a sense of accomplishment. Then, rather promptly, proceeded to vomit off the side of the roof.
'I'd assumed that the side affects for changing forms would be severe, but this is just a new level of torment.' Sauron commented, his tone a mixture of pain, disgust, and discomfort. Jaune only continued to throw up for the next few minutes.
'Ugh. That was horrible.' Jaune complained as he wiped some bile from his mouth with his sleeve. Thankfully, either the ill effects of his transformation had worn off or he had run out of stomach content to vomit. Knowing him and Sauron's appetite however, it was most likely the former.
'If you think it is bad for you, I preside in here. I can still smell it.' The Maiar complained. 'But despite the rather terrible side effects, I do believe we have found a great advantage for us. I've haven't met many who can change forms like that, let alone a mortal whelp like you.'
'What exactly happened?' Jaune questioned as he slumped against one of roof's palisades. It seemed that it used to be one of the militia's outposts, if evident by the forgotten the weapons and assorted dust crystals that scattered the rooftops.
'As I said before, our feä has become one with your flesh. It lays latent, dormant, waiting for it to be called on. Then, it replaces your flesh and you become a blaze of feä fire. Similar to the moon with its two sides. They are both there, but one side is only visible.' Sauron explained. 'It will take time to master and properly use, and quite difficult as well. I have no plausible way to master this new ability, despite continuous use of it.'
'And how do I do that?'
'You do not know? It is your own power! Your own ability!' Sauron cried with exasperation.
'Its not like I wanted to to turn into a meteor! I don't know how or why I did it to begin with.' Jaune retorted back, allowing some fo the fatigue in his body to ease out of him.
'I already explained that portion to you fool. Were you not listening?' Sauron said angrily.
'Yeah I heard you the first time. Just, why does it do that? I thought it was only meant to be a shield.'
'Do not test me on a subject I know nothing about. The limitations of your mortal feä are unknown to me, though I would wager that the feä of a Maiar such as I, must be eons of differences, especially in the terms of superiority.'
'Well that's going to help no one. I still don't know how to use it.' The knight confessed.
'It would be most logical then, to recall what you were doing at the time you managed to use this ability. Perhaps we could recreate the circumstances, thus giving you the ability to use that new form again.'
'That would be cool if I could. That spirit form was really helpful.'
'You ignorant fool. That shroud of fire was nothing like the spirits of my age. For one, you did not actually leave your physical body. You merely just changed its flesh and sinew into soul fire. Second, you were still corporeal since you were still able to hold and carry your matriarch. Thirdly, and in the opinion of a Maiar who has delved into such arts, the most important fact is that you are not deceased.'
'Not yet.', Jaune joked.
Sauron could only snort.
They stayed like that for several minutes, allowing themselves a short rest. Like a tidal wave, the exhaustion of the day caught up to him and basically all he could do for a time was breathe heavily. There was a comfortable silence, barring the howls of Grimm and the distinguishable shrieks of the Nukalavee has it continued to hunt for them. Thankfully, the beast had not seen Jaune's meteor form ascend to the top of the building.
However, they both knew that they couldn't stay up there for much longer. Not with his mother in her current condition. Jaune hastily checked the wound, and found that the torn flesh was not healing at the rate that would have it healed and stopped. Her aura had been strained too greatly, and it wouldn't be able to properly to heal it.
She needed medical help immediately.
Jaune turned his attention to the skies above Canvas, and gratefully he saw the headlights of several Bullheads and Warheads streak through it. They were either looking for stranded, and left behind survivors or they were clearing the skies of aerial Grimm to make a safe zone for the reclamation forces that Vale would most certainly send, as Canvas was one of the larger and more important settlements.
He just needed to get their attention. Then they would be set.
'An interesting proposition. To summon those armored birds of yours would require some rather blatant signs of our location. Perhaps a fire?' Sauron suggested.
The young hunter nodded to himself, before he began to scour the roof top for anything useful in gaining the attention of the Bullheads. He deftly picked up several vials of red dust, that seemed to sparkle with a slumbering power. Fire dust, the embodiment of nature's fire. Summer's wrath made physical. It would make a fine signal for the airships.
But he needed more than just fire. He needed to make it look unnatural, like someone had deliberately made the signal and it was not in fact just another normal fire birthed by the chaos.
'A signal fire? Primitive but effective. However, amongst the other flames ours will look just as intentional as theirs. We need to make ours more...noticeable.' Sauron suggested.
'I know exactly what to do.' Jaune eagerly replied as he gathered more and more dust of varying colors. Wether it was in vials, cartridges, or in their pure crystal forms, he began to stock pile them into a pile. He was careful to only include lightining and ice dusts. They would be imperative for the signal.
'You will have to educate me on those crystals of yours. They are fascinating.' Sauron said as Jaune finally stepped back from the small pile of dust. It was primarily blue and white, and within close proximity of each other, the different elements allowed several latent sparks to fly.
'I never told you about dust?' Jaune inquired. How could dust not have popped up during one of their many mental conversations. It was a staple of a civilized life, an everyday occurrence and commodity. Everything had some form of dust involved with its creation, wether by cooking with dust, or using dust into the forging of weapons.
'I do not believe so. We were either preoccupied with the delicious food your matriarch provided us, having that well dressed man train you, and us recovering from said training.' Sauron answered.
'Well, the text book definition of dust is that its Nature's wrath made physical. Each crystal holds a certain element which gives its its color. Like this red crystal here. It holds the power of fire." Jaune said as he held up the sealed vial of red dust.
'Your people have managed to harness the power of the seasons?' Sauron asked. Had Man managed to ascertain the power the Maiar and elves hadn't over the land?'
'Well not exactly. The stories say that we found the crystals in the past, and we used it to fight the Grimm. Now we mine for it or even manufacture our own.' He confessed. He really didn't know that much of the distant past, the only knowledge of the past coming from the stories that he used to read. Surprisingly, he hadn't found the historical textbooks that littered the Arc Manor's library.
'Humph. Well do tell me the plan you are brewing. Trying to decipher it from within here is very similar to translate the ramblings of a drunkard to the writings of an elven lord.' Sauron snarked. Jaune could only give a sigh as he began to explain his plan.
'Well when you mix certain elements together, you get some really colorful results. Hopefully its colorful enough to catch the eyes of the pilots.' Jaune reasoned and he took several steps back from his little pile of dust.
'I had thought the eyes of your war birds would be a bit more perceptive. It seems that you need to find a new species to enthrall.' The veteran Maiar advised.
'They aren't birds. They're machines. They don't feel or think.' Jaune answered him.
'I see that you don't see them as living things then. You're race must have conquered those beasts long ago for them to be socially accepted as unfeeling, unthinking things.'
'What? No that's not what it is at all! Whatever, we'll talk about this later.' Jaune said his voice full of exasperation. He turned around to make sure that the volatile reaction that he planned on birthing would not effect his wounded mother. Thankfully, she was a safe distance away
Then, with a flick of his arm, he sent the vial of fire dust into the pile of lighting, earth, and ice crystals. The glass of the vial shattered against the hard minerals, and specks of transparent red littered among the pale crystals, contrasting against it greatly.
Expectedly, the explosion and the great flare of sickly green energy brightened their immediate area, with a large amount of light.
Unexpectedly, Jaune found himself hurtling backwards, propelled by the sudden, immense pressure caused by the explosion of dust energy.
'Were those the expected results of your signal?' Sauron groaned as Jaune allowed himself to lay on the ground. While the explosion wasn't that powerful and the mixture only meant to ignite and not implode, it still was quite the surprise for Jaune how strong the reaction truly was.
'No. But hopefully the pilots saw it.' He answered the Maiar. He slowly got up, a bit rattled by the unexpected explosion. Truly he had been lucky he had gotten such a luminous result instead of an expected, vanilla explosion.
The green orb of light, crackled as the improperly mixed dust crystals repelled and attracted each other's different powers. It was unstable, and Jaune knew better then to get any closer to such a volatile energy. However, the bright green light would only last for a few minutes at best, and if it failed then Jaune would have to come up with a different plan, which would most likely have a much lower success rate.
Thankfully, his hopes were answered by the increasingly louder rumblings of three airships. Their large headlights were directed towards their position, and behind the two main Bullhead was a well armed Warhead, brimming with weapons.
'It seems that your war birds have seen us. I must applaud the first actual successful plan you've had during our partnership.' Sauron congratulated as their salvation came closer and closer.
'That's not true, I've had some good plans in the past.' Jaune defended himself as he proceeded to gingerly pick up his mother and carefully maneuver her so that the Bullheads could land and he could deliver her to them without any complications.
The great aviating machines, of heavy plated armor and with powerful engineering within their bowels which kept them afloat, slowly began to descend towards the roof top. One of the Bullheads landed on the roof top, its powerful twin engines nearly knocking Jaune away with their power. It's side door opened, revealing several armed milita men who began to beckon Jaune towards them.
"Come on kid! Let's get you out of here!" One of them shouted as Jaune hurriedly, but gently began to make his way to the landed airship, careful not to disturb her wound or her unconcious state.
"Oh shit. Make some room boys! We got wounded here!" A helmeted man said loudly, as Jaune gingerly placed his mother in the milita man's arms. She was slowly groaning, and her eyes were beginning to flutter open from time to time, signaling she was returning to consciousness.
"Don't worry kid, we'll get you both to the safe zone. You're in safe hands.", he said, his voice full of confidence as two of his brothers-in-arms placed her in a stretcher. Another was already peeling off Jaune's makeshift bandage from her side, which was slick with blood, and began to properly bandage the wound with clean linens and with a variety of liquid medicines.
'Do you feel that?' Sauron warned as a needle of doubt was speared through Jaune. Abruptly Jaune allowed his head to turn to the right, and worse of all he wasn't the only one to feel the sudden and imminent danger.
The milita man who was talking to him, had also turned his head, and to the victim's credit, the pilot of the other Bullhead attempted to avoid the ominous danger. Before it was suddenly swatted out of the air by a familiar claw.
It was sent through the air, downed by the sudden attack, its plates heavily dented and one of its engines crushed and destroyed. It disappeared from their view, as it swirled away, before a loud explosion sounded out followed no by a plume of smoke and fire.
'Damned beast! It seems there must be a curse upon us, preventing us from safety retreating from this doomed place.' Sauron snarled as a very familiar and heart clenching shriek sounded out. Wether it was drawn by Jaune's beacon for help or the arrival of the three airships it had made its way towards them and had effectively knocked a Bullhead out of the sky it's a single hit.
The Warhead shuttered, as its powerful engines propelled it to face the Nuckelavee below it. The hum of its awakening weapons filled the air as it slowly took aim at the Grimm. However, being slow in their ability to fire upon the equine Grimm would be there downfall and death.
The armed airship also found itself torn from the sky, the Nuckelavee's right hand claw impacting heavily its cockpit. It's metallic corpse crashed into the ground, its dust ammunition and the dust it used for fuel exploding and coating it in a blaze of fire.
The Nuckelavee snarled as its eyes focused on the last remaining Bullhead. Even with one hand, the beast was still fully capable of tearing airships out of the sky and killing them, and with the Bullhead landed it was vulnerable to an attack.
'No. Not again. No! I can see what you are planning! It won't work! It will get us killed! Stop this foolishness!' Sauron snarled as Jaune felt his will steeled. He knew what he had to do.
'You obviously don't fool! You don't have the strength or power!'
He promptly ignored the sharer of his soul, and he turned his attention to the now shaking milita man, who had just previously promised them safety. The rest of the passengers on the Bullhead were stuck in a conundrum that they would all would most likely lose. If they fled on the Bullhead, they would die. If they fled on foot, they would die. If they waited on the airship, they would die.
"Get going. Make the pilot take you to the safe zone.", Jaune ordered to the fearful member of the milita. Even behind their helmet, he could make out the man's fear of the Grimm.
"Wa-wai-wait wh-what?' His voice trembling in fear.
'What a cowardly warrior! Was he not the one who promised us safety moments ago!' Sauron snarled in anger. 'You're no better! You're plans to fight the Demon are ridiculous stupid at best and suicidal at worst.'
'Do you have any better ideas then?'
'Fleeing would be the only one you are capable of pulling off currently. You don't have the strength, skill, or intelligence to pull off the rest.' The old Maiar answered honestly.
'Well then, I guess my plan wins out then.'
'To be clear, I have never found a more annoying mortal then you.' Jaune could only mentally shrug as he turned towards the side of the building where the Nuckelavee was facing.
"You're facing that thing alone?!" The milia man said, bewilderment evident in his voice. "You'll get yourself killed!"
Jaune found it imperative to ignore the man and Sauron's following response on how right he was. His resolve was already being tested and fear was wracking his inner fortitude. But he needed to do this. This was there only option.
"I'll hold it off for as long as I can. You'll have to get yourselves out of here, while I do." Jaune said as he prepared himself for the fight.
"Bu-bu-but!" The man started, his voice stuttering with fear and anxiety.
Jaune allowed his hands to fall on the man's shoulders, and he allowed his blue eyes to bore through the man's visor. "Take care of her please. Tell her and my family that I'm sorry. An Arcs got to be hero right?" He said bitterly. Had this been the role of a hero he had wanted just a week ago? The hero who sacrificed everything for the ones he cared for.
He didn't have time to lament however, as the huge claw of the Nuckelavee gripped the edge of the building. With a tug, it brought down a claw full of bricks and newly created rubble. It seemed in the position that the last remaining Bullhead it had cover from the Grimm's reach because of the building, so the Grimm's cunning and instinct had directed it to bring down the building in order for it to get closer to them.
"Go!" Jaune shouted as he pushed the militia man into the Bullhead. Despite his previous fatigue and pain from before Jaune found himself strong enough to unbalance the man, and for the knight to run to the edge of the building where the Nuckelavee was currently attempting to bring down.
'You ready?' Jaune asked his mental companion.
'You are implying I agreed to follow through with this incredibly suicidal plan of yours.' Sauron responded as they peered down at the horse-imp fusion of a Grimm. It only stared back at him, watching him. Studying him.
Jaune allowed himself to take a moment to breathe. To collect his nerves and clean his thoughts. Then with a burst of courage he jumped off the side of the building towards the Grimm below him.
To no one's surprise, he really didn't have a plan that detailed an effective way at dealing with the beast below him. It was capable of beating his mother who was a seasoned huntress, and even with one arm was still strong enough to rip airships out of the sky. Its horned, top head let loose a shriek as Jaune fell closer to it.
Soul fire filled him again. It was sudden, but not jarring, and once again his body shifted into a stream of white aura and white fire. Almost as if he had expected it but not expected it at the same time.
'That allegory that you had just conjured makes no sense. But no matter. I have figured out how to use this new ability of yours. But first do dodge this creature.' Sauron ordered.
The young warrior only spirited away from the creature's one hand grasp. Jaune could see through his fiery, comet like form, that the Nuckelavee's eyes widened in recognition and it let loose a how of irritation as Jaune escaped its reach once again.
With a bounce from the air, Jaune redirected himself to behind the Nuckelavee and landed with a small explosion of wispy aura and dying white fire. Both of its head swiveled around to face him, four molten orange eyes trained on him. Behind the Grimm and unbeknownst to it, the Bullhead was taking off, and happiness boomed in Jaune's chest. His mother was safe, and she was going to be transported to a safe zone where her wound would be treated.
It seemed that the first part of his plan had worked out wonderfully. Now came the second part, which included dealing with the one armed Grimm.
'And here is where the real trouble comes hmmm? How do you propose you will kill this beast alone?' Sauron asked, his voice full of sarcasm and snark.
'Well, I have you don't I? So I won't be alone.' Jaune joked back. It was truly all the humor he could find in such a serious and potentially deadly situation.
'And what can I possibly do for you here? I lost my original body long ago and now I am trapped within yours, doing nothing but berate you for being a foolish mortal. What could I possibly do for you during this situation?!' He asked. The Maiar's voice and question were genuine, but there was still an edge to it that Jaune would without a doubt ask about if he survived this encounter with the Grimm.
'Do what you always do. Help me.'
'What? Do you not understand what I just said to you? I am merely a voice within your head! I possess no powers that can help you right now! All you have is an old sword, dented and broken armor, the voice of an ethereal being from a bygone age, and you own wits against a demonic shadow of a beast, who has proved far stronger than us.'
Jaune felt his own resolve choke down, as Sauron revealed what little they had. But they couldn't stop now. Not when they had made it so far.
'But, look how far we've gotten!' Jaune defended.
'Undoubtedly due to your insane amounts of pure luck. But eventually those have found themselves dried out. This creature is not a simple drunkard you can simply knock out with a single punch.'
'Then, are you ready to die?'
That question caught the Maiar off guard.
'Pardon?'
'I asked if you were ready to die. If you're not going to help me now, then this thing will kill us.', Jaune answered honestly.
'And who's fault is that? Who's fault is that we're are in this situation to begin with?' Sauron accused.
'That doesn't matter now. I'm just saying if you don't help then we will definitely die.'
'And how fool, am I supposed to help you?'
Jaune let out out a sigh of exasperation. 'Just be there for me would you? Even If you don't think you can help me, you still give me the strength to do this. I know that you wouldn't do it if you had the choice, but you being with me gives me the strength to do this. This is your body too. My soul is your soul and I need your help to fully use it. So help me out here, and together we can beat this thing.'
'Is this another one of those working together speeches that you always use?' Sauron groaned. 'At some point those are going to stop working on me and then what's going to happen?'
'So you'll help me?' Jaune asked hopefully, before he let out a grunt of fear as he dodged the sudden, attacking arm of their Grimm foe. The claw slammed into the ground where he once stood and the brick flooring easily crumbled under its strength. The claw retracted back to its master, and the Nuckelavee began to charge towards them, its create legs and hooves carrying it forward with terrifying speed.
'Yes. As I always do. Now let us deal with this ugly beast. I have begun to tire of having to look at this ugly abomination.'
'We'll avenge all who have fallen to it. Together.' Jaune said, his voice strengthened by will and courage. Crocea Mors, one of the legendary weapons of the old Arc warriors sang a song of battle and metal as it was unsheathed from its prison. Its old age had no affect on its ability to cut flesh and the sharp metal practically flowed in the moonlight
'Together.' Sauron agreed with his mortal partner. Jaune's head was soon filled with the hell fire that Sauron had dominion over, but instead of the usual pain that accompanied it, a comforting warmth filled him.
'Together.' They spoke in unison. Their voice boomed and Jaune wasn't quite sure if he spoken mentally or actually spoken out, but the effects of their combined voice gave him strength of will and courage.
There was a sudden, snap if you would, that sounded out. Unknowingly, their decision to actually help each other by joining together with their goals, had fully unlocked the capabilities of their joined souls.
Jauen felt his aura flare to life and its began to blaze off his skin like fire. It trailed off into the sky, and it illuminated the night's darkness and uplifted the market slightly from the Nuckelavee's natural darkness.
His eyes, once perfectly normal and with sapphire irises, now blazed. Not like the descriptions used when describing emotions that were expressed through the eyes, or when describing the colors of their irises.
No, his eyes were actually on fire. The flesh of his visual receptors had been replaced by blue fire, which trailed out of his eye sockets and blazed like a newly lit torch. There was no irises within the flames, not like Sauron's old form as a fiery eye with a slitted pupil. No, it was a pure flame, blue as the deep ocean and they held the power of soul fire.
Confidently, Jaune stepped forward to confront the beast. His aura had died down somewhat, but there faint was a small, white glow that emnanted from him, with the occasional flare or wisp of the fire. His eyes still blazed though, the unnatural fire a mixture of Sauron's fiery eye from before and the color of Jaune's irises.
Crocea Mors shone like a shard of the moon in his hands, and he gripped the old blade with both hands as he faced down the one armed Nuckelavee. The Grimm had only observed Jaune for this time, either perturbed by the display of power or just generally curious.
Either way it let out a shriek of defiance before it began to charge towards him again.
Jaune let an easy smirk make it to his face as he felt both his and Sauron's confidence flow through him. Then he charged to meet his, sword gripped tightly within his hands.
'Let us notify to all that we are a force to be reckoned with. Let us teach these foes of ours that a God of an old age has returned. Let us show why they should fear us. Let us destroy this creature with your blade of old. Together.' Sauron spoke, his voice like lightning and thunder as he became intoxicated off the unleashed power of their combined souls. His pride as the greatest of the Maiar and the greatest of a bygone age was on the line, and he wouldn't allow the efforts of a mindless beast tarnish that.
'For Mom. For those it as killed.' Jaune shortly spoke as he prepared to avenge to all those who had been wounded or killed by the beast. He felt that there was more stories to be told or that have told of this particular Grimm, especially with the old weapons that stuck out of its back, unfamialir to him since the milita strictly only used rifles. But he would fight this beast for all those who had fallen to it. For those he didn't know, for those he knew, and for those he would know.
He shifted his form into one of the standard practiced sword formations that Sauron had drilled into his head. Crocea Mor's flat side of the blade close to his chest, and the sharp tip of the blade pointed towards the rapidly approaching Grimm.
X.
The Nuckelavee was a simple creature with a simple calling and mission.
Follow the Queen's orders.
To it, it had no other purpose. The Queen had created it, and as payment for its creation it would serve her every whim. Its other broodmates had been sent out all over their dominion, either to act as the vanguard for the horde, or be the bastion in key holdings of their empires.
Its first mission was to raze a settlement where the enemy had managed to stick several large weapons into its back. It had made sure to tear them apart with prejudice. The Queen then had it stand guard there for many years, allowing for the spreading of their horde and empire.
Then it had it directed to this settlement. A new enemy of the empire had to be dealt with, and its weaker cousins were not strong enough to deal with its, so the Queen had beckoned it to aid its fellow soldiers of their empire.
It had found a worthy prey item in the woman who wielded silver, who even managed to take off one of its imposing claws, but she soon had fallen pray to its last remaining arm. The Nuckelavee then found itself being annoyed by another entity. White, and like fire, it retrieved the woman from its grasp and had spirited her away, before it could land the finishing blow.
Then, great birds had descended, and it had taken iniative to tear them from the sky. Their strange, powerful wings now lay in ruin and in great heaps of flaming flesh.
The entity had returned however, and the Nuckelavee had taken it upon itself to engage the new threat, confident in the savage abilities its Queen had given it.
Now, however, it found itself for the first time fearing for its life. This prey was dangerous, and demanded the upmost of its respect and abilities to face.
Its enemy was wreathed in white fire and its eyes had transformed into blue stars that held great power within their cores. And as it stated at its enemy's eyes, which held fire almost as a hit as its Queen's blood red flames, and as the human's sword threatened to be brought down on it, it knew one fact.
That its Queen was not the only primeval god.
X.
The Nuckelavee's arm speared through the air like an arrow, and with the strength and devastating impact of a war hammer. The Grimm was holding nothing back in its attempts to kill him. That was fine. They would hold nothing back either.
Jaune's body turned into white flames once again, and he narrowly dodged the offending limb of the Grimm. He coiled in the air, a snake of white fire and smoke, before he coiled around the now embedded arm of the Nuckelavee, captilzing on the beast's opening.
'Show this creature our wrath.' Sauron ordered as Jaune descended upon the horse head of the Grimm, with his blade ready to pierce the flesh of Grimm.
The knight's old blade soon found itself swung upon the the the black flesh and bony white mask of the Grimm's lower head, and a squelch of separating flesh followed by a horrible grating noise echoed through out the market place. Crocea Mors cleaved through the thick white armor, the old metal unyielding as it ran through the horse head's structure of bone.
The beast reared back on its hooved, hind legs, both heads screeching in pain as its one arm went to cover the ruined bone and flesh upon its horse head. Already, thick, black blood seeped through its massive fingers, and chips of cracked bone began to fall off its face.
However, Jaune was not done yet. His strength still held some fuel, and already Sauron was giving him commands on how to deal with the wounded beast.
'Finish it. This abomination of flesh and shadow as proven that even when it is heavily wounded, it is still fully capable of killing.' Sauron advised and Jaune tightened his grip on his sword and he felt his eyes blaze with more power has he prepared to attack the wounded Nuckelavee.
His form quickly shifted back to its ethereal and fiery form as he advanced towards the distracted Grimm. He ascended above his nemesis, once again appearing in his physical body with a small explosion. This time however, he felt a great discomfort course through him, the sensation similar to when he had strained his body too much while he was training with Roman and Neo.
'That transformation of your flesh into your soul fire is draining our strength and your feä's power. This will be the last time you can use that move without massive consequences on your body. Frankly, I rather not suffer so I urge you not to do that again.' Sauron warned.
'Dont worry.' Jaune reassured Sauron. 'This chance is all I need.'
And with a mighty swing downwards he brought Crocea Mors down upon the upper head of the Nuckelavee. The mask shattered as the old sword swung through it, and thick blood seeped through the fissure Jaune had created.
Jaune landed harshly on the ground, his strength all but spent. His breathing was heavily labored and his eyes no longer burned with the power of their combined souls. Now he was extremely tired, but he held a sense off accomplishment.
He was in a rude awakening, however, when he was forcefully kicked away by the still alive Nuckelavee.
'Urgh!'
'Ohff!'
They both grunted in pain, as Jaune rolled away, his stomach burning with pain and the breath effectively knocked out of his lungs. Crocea Mors was torn away from his hand, and the clattering of metal signaled its departure from him. His rolling stopped, suddenly and rather painfully as he slammed into the side of a destroyed building, leaving him a groaning and disoriented mess.
He shakily lifted himself from the ground, ignoring the absolutely horrible feeling that emanated from his stomach. It felt wet, dry, heavy and light at the same time as the pain that came from his stomach threatened to overwhelm him. Jaune gripped the agonized area with his left hand and supported his still keeled over body with his right hand, and turned his head to examine the still alive Nuckelavee.
Jaune allowed thoughts of disheartening remarks cross his mind, especially of the sorts oh 'How he should have killed it like a true Arc should.' He pushed those away though. For his first encounter with the Grimm, he had done well. He had killed his first Grimm and whatever category those husks fell under, with only with a handful of days of training on how to properly hold a sword and fight, as well with his and Sauron's wits.
The deep slashes he had inflicted on the Grimm's dual heads were intensely cut and the Nuckelavee would not heal from the wounds without some massive hindrances. The horse head's mask that belonged to its lower body, had a large gash through the white bone, and the black flesh that made up the upper portion of its head. One of its orange eyes had been permanently dimmed, and the long trail created by Crocea Mors lead to its jaws, where it had actually managed to knock out several of its teeth. Rivers of red and black seeped from the large wound inflicted upon it, staining its boney head.
Its upper head had fared far worse. One of its intimidating horns had actually been cleanly cut through, leaving only a stump. Its mask had a great gorge carved through it diagonally, blood already welling from the wound and dripping in great quantities from its face. Spider web fractures were born from the primary slash and spread throughout the entirety of its heads, and even those small cracks were leaking blood.
The young knight had done a number on the beast, and he felt pride fill him as he watched it shake both of its head to clean it off the promisingly leaking blood. Its three remaining eyes then narrowed dangerously as they spied Jaune's vulnerable form.
'In all my time planning on how I would reconquer the world, I never thought that an abomination would be the one that would send me back to the void.' Sauron complained. 'But, for a mortal whelp like yourself, you did an acceptable job.'
'Yeah. I guess I did.' Jaune attempted to joke. He was only met with the sudden need to cough up something vile. Perhaps it was his internal injuries acting up.
'Do not gain such arrogance. Its unfitting of some of your stature.' Sauron snarked at him.
'Thats funny coming from you.' Jaune shot back. He heard Sauron gave a snort at his jab, but the Maiar remained silent. Jaune had one what was most likely their last mental jabbing contest.
The Nuckelavee's upper head snapped towards him, flinging blood and bone as its eyes zeroed in on him. The beast then began to lumber towards him, slowly and patiently, its great footfalls echoing menacingly. It's wounds were still exerting great volumes of blood, and it left a large trail of bloody puddles behind it as it moved to corner Jaune.
Too bad, someone else had plans for Jaune.
'What is that noise?' Sauron asked as a high pitched whistle of sorts, filled the night. Then a fiery projectile soared over Jaune's position and with an explosion, connected with the Nuckelavee's already injured head.
It's previous screeches of pain from before we're nothing compared to the cacophony of noise that escaped both heads of the Nuckelavee. It's thrashed around, it's legs creating large divets as it stomped them into the ground beneath it, and its one arm flailed around it widely. Fire had completely encased its head, and while the explosion may have not blasted it apart like Jaune had hoped, it still made an impact as ragged bits of shadowy flesh were being flung from its head.
And to Jaune's and Sauron's great surprise and relief, the Nuckelavee promptly turned away from them and began to gallop away, its head still alight and its great screeches of agony filling the sky. It's form disappeared behind several buildings a few moments later and soon enough it's own agonized calls soon faded away.
That left an injured and preplexed Jaune behind, to only stare in shook as the powerful Grimm finally retreated. He was either too injured or tired to jump up with joy, but that didn't stop the warm feeling of victory fill his body at seeing the horse Grimm flee.
'You are indeed one of the luckiest mortals I have met.' Sauron commented. All Jaune could do was slowly nod as he finally slumped over, exhausted. The pain in his stomach was slowly dying down, most likely due to his aura slowly repairing the internal injuries that were inflicted on him. It was harder to breathe though.
The clattering of metal on brick, made Jaune's head snap to his left where Crocea Mors skittered to his side, the blade scratched but still unbroken. The soft pattern of footfalls that accompanied it made Jaune go on alert, as he struggled to stand and defend himself. Of course he faltered, and his legs gave out from underneath him, threatening to cast him to the ground.
Only that a strong arm, clothed in a slightly reddened white suit stopped him from meeting the pavement.
"I do recall, my protégé, that this morning I told you not to do anything stupid." Roman said as he smirked down at Jaune. In return, all Jaune could do was stare up blankly at his mentor.
"Come now. Gawking is uncouth for a gentleman. Now eat this." His older, more well dressed friend said as he gently leaned aagainst a wall and as well a handing him a familiar white crystal.
Tentaively he chewed through it, the process more labrous and harder than he last remembered. It was like eating incredibly old candy, and their was a tart flavor in his mouth from the gen he consumed. Then, in a great gulp, he swallowed the shattered crystal, ignoring how it roughed up his throat and almost brought tears to his eyes.
It took a few slow minutes for the mysterious gem to work its magic, but the pain in his stomach area was disappearing at a much faster rate, and a drowsiness he wasn't aware of, had begun to flow out of him. All the while, Roman smirked down at him, Melodic Cudgel twirling in his hand.
"You are an expensive investment Jaune Arc. Those healing dusts don't come cheap you know?" Roman said as Jaune slowly stood up. "But I do know a way you can repay me without forking over lien." He finished as he helped Jaune fully stand up.
'I do not like the sound of that.' Sauron confessed as Jaune dusted himself off.
'What do you mean?' Jaune asked as he sheathed Crocea Mors.
'By the state of his normally well kept clothing, I'd wager that he has engaged in battle against a power foe. One that he's lost.' Sauron deduced. 'A powerful foe at that, for a superior warrior such as Roman himself to ask you for the minuscule amount of help that you would provide for him.'
'Yeah, I'm not feeling to great right now.' Jaune admitted. While the healing gem that Roman gave to him had helped immensely, there was still a noticeable unease in the area where the Nuckelavee had kicked him.
'To be expected of course. You were lucky to walk away from that suicidal plan with only a broken rib and severe bruising. Not to mention that you've effectively burned out what remained of our 'Aura', as you called it. We will not be able to shield ourselves properly again. Our advantages are slowly disappearing.' Sauron warned.
A loud crash and a sound similar to that of a rushing river caused the two gentlemen to snap their heads towards the market place, which had turned into the night's battle ground. A great coiling river of water spilled onto the ruined pavilion and a familiar figure skidded upon the ground, her thin blade digging into the floor to stop her.
"Damn. Seems Neo's illusions couldn't hold that bastard off for long. Come now Jaune. We have work to do.", Roman said as he dashed towards the soaked Neo, his cane brandished like a sword. Jaune soon found himself trying to keep up with his mentor, his earlier fatigue, and ruined, armored cloak slowing him down. Crocea Mors rattled as his side, almost begging to be released once again despite its old age.
'Prepare yourself. The entity that we have sensed before is about to reveal itself.' Sauron growled.
"Geez. I had thought that you had it handled.", Roman tried to joke as he allowed his gloved hand to move a strand of Neo's multicolored hair from her face. The girl continued to breathe heavily, water dripping from her soaked body, and all she did was present a rather provocative gesture with her middle finger. Roman only threw his head back and laughed as Jaune finally caught up to them, panting heavily and allowing himself to support his body on his knees.
"I'm sorry I had to leave you there for a little bit.", Roman apologized to Neo. "But I had to rescue our student right here, from the clutches of the Nuckelavee.", he continued as he wrapped an arm around the still the winded Jaune and brought him close.
"Speaking of which, we will have to discuss your fight against it later.", the suited man said as he gave Jaune a serious look. Neo just rolled her expressive eyes, before she tore her rapier like blade from the ground and fell into the classic sword stance that many rapier users used. Her eyes glanced over Jaune, and after a moment examining him, allowed them to narrow as she stared off into the direction that the wave of water had carried her from.
'Arm yourself. The puppet master approaches.' Sauron snarled with disgust as the water level around their feet slowly began to rise. Coming from the ruins of a destroyed building, a figure clothed in a black, ragged cloak practically flew towards them. Its cloak hid any features that confirmed its humanity, hiding its feet, head, and hand within the confines of its robes. Various trinkets were strewn across its body, and odd relics and baubles hung from a large, dirty necklace that hung loosely around its neck.
Crocea Mors was once again unsheathed, and the brilliant relic from a bygone age was accompanied by its sister shield, as Jaune prepared to fight once again. The being was obviously armed, as Sauron's share of their vision instantly spotted a large sickle held tightly by its robes. Its blade had not seen a good cleaning in what seemed like years as the blade had almost been crusted over by old and dried blood.
"I assume you've killed several of those disgusting, walking corpses? Well, they're all controlled by the shell of the man in front of us. We call him one of the Necromancer's Apprentices. One of ten.", Roman confirmed. "But unlike those poor unfortunate bodies he's taken over, this bastard doesn't go down easily."
"Well how do we kill him?" Jaune inquired as they stood off against one of the Necromancer's apprentices.
"Good question. Decapitation, being impaled, and being shot have proved to be ineffective and we haven't been able to try anything. He's good with that sickle of his.", Roman answered, and the wound on his left arm started to make sense to Jaune. Neo nodded seriously beside him, her eyes never leaving the menacing figure of the Apprentice.
Strangely enough, they weren't the ones that made the first move.
"Yes. Indeed. You all will make fine puppets for the master of the River. Especially you young Arc. What an interesting soul that you have.", the Apprentice seemingly spoke, his voice baritone and as of multiple people were speaking at once. Jaune subconsciously flinched as the hooded figure turned towards him and he practically felt the Apprentice's eyes upon him.
'I do not like this mortal. He may know things that most should not. And he plays with the dead as if they are a test subjects to be experimented on.' Sauron commented.
'You and me both.' Jaune agreed as he prepared himself for the fight.
X.
Roman would never admit it, but he was proud. Pride and Roman shook hands very often, but behind closed doors. Overconfidence lead to very painful things in the underworld, and Roman had to learn how to school his features in order to rise to the top as a master thief. But having a weak spine let people step all over you, and Roman also picked up on how to stand out as a competent criminal that knew how to bite back.
But here, in the throes of battle against a powerful foe, the thief could allow his emotions run wild. Here his pride could reveal itself as he proved that he deserved to belong here. He had dragged himself to the top from the bottom of the barrel, with only his wits and his skills with Melodic Cudgel. Roman would be damned if he allowed himself to be killed by such an inferior being as this Apprentice.
But his pride didn't stop at his own skills. He spied Neo flank the robed entity, her blade piercing his side. To no avail however, as all that poured from the rip in its robe was more of that polluted water that also flowed through the dead that this particular Apprentice had command over. She nimbly dodged out of the way of his sickle's arc.
Neo had been by his side as long as he could remember. His oath to his fallen comrades was being fulfilled and she was growing up to be a prime and proper lady of society.
.
.
To be fair, the last part was subjective, but none the less he was still proud of her and all she had accomplished. His gaze zeroed in on his latest protege, not allowing worry to enter him as Jaune skidded away from the Apprentice, the sickle's strike he had blocked powerful enough to send him flying back several yards. After getting his bearings from such a blow, Jaune rushed back into the fray, his sword raised high.
The young Arc had been such a worthy investment indeed, and Roman actually liked the kid for who he was and not just for his rapidly evolving skills. Just a couple of days ago, the young man hadn't been able to properly fight, just knowing how to block and swing his sword. The kid had the stamina to do that for a long time to be fair, but Roman had taken it upon himself to properly train the boy. After all, there was a very big difference between a moving opponent and a practice dummy.
Now? The knight had slain the walking dead, Beowolves, and had even grievously injured an S-class Grimm. He wasn't exactly the most skillful individual, but the boy had gotten the job done with flying colors. Not to mention that the Arc was obviously hiding something. Roman had noticed from their initial confrontation with the Apprentice on the roof tops, how the inconspicuous teenager had transformed into a comet of white fire. Or how the fact that the Arc's eyes had transformed into stars of blue fire as he faced down the Nuckelavee.
Roman's talent at seeing potential was finally seeing fruition. Now all he had to do was kill this raiser of the dead for him to collect on his investments.
Melodic Cudgel met the sharp edge of their foe's sickle in a shower of sparks, and Roman found himself in an intense duel between the two of them. Their weapons were practically blurred as they parried and attacked each other. It was taking every ounce of Roman's skill to keep pace with the skilled sickle user, but he held confident in his ability to match his foe's strikes.
He also ignored the fact the great, empty hood of his enemy peered down at him as they fought. Whatever Candlelight had sent them to fight had proven itself as either beyond humanity or inferior to it. This was certainly the last time that Roman would take one of these jobs.
With a mighty parry that threw off the sickle's course, Roman found himself with an opening that he couldn't ignore. Quick as a flash, the end of his cane found itself touching the cloaked chest of Apprentice and with a press of a trigger, blasted him with a wave of fire.
Steam billowed into his face and he had to leap back in order to clear his vision. The harsh clang of metal reached his ears as he wiped his eyes, meaning that either Neo or Jaune had intervened to gain the attention of the Apprentice while he was distracted. Judging by the speed of those clangs, it was most likely Neo as Jaune hadn't reach that level of skill with his sword to move that fast.
When his vision finally cleared, he saw Neo twist and turn masterfully, attempting to shred the Apprentice apart with her vicious strikes. They were all blocked however, as soon the short girl was forced on the defensive and was being pushed back by the Apprentice. Jaune, however, surged behind the necromancer, as if to pierce his back, only to be slammed away by an immense pillar of water that had sprouted from beneath him. He was flung away, sailing over Roman's head before he landed with a crash.
"Owww.", Jaune groaned slowly as he began to pick himself out of the puddle he had landed in.
Then with an unnatural twist, the Apprentice allowed his body to turn, and with a wave of his sleeved arms, great cascades of water levitated from the ground and pushed them all away with their strength. Neo was quickly slammed into his side, and they both tumbled backwards, crashing into the already downed Jaune.
They tumbled and bumped into each other repeatedly, before at last, the river that had carried them away died down. It left them sputtering, gasping, and heavily breathing as they tried to right themselves. Roman himself, could only look down in discuss at his ruined suit and clothes. Candlelight would be hearing about this to be sure.
"You ignorant slaves to mortality. Do you not know what I offer you? I can provide you an escape from the fragile clutches of life. The life water that flows through you can be your salvation. Let death be the ticket to your eternal life.", the Apprentice spoke as he stepped towards him. His cloak seemingly floated above the water that he had thrown at them and his sickle was ready to slash at them once again.
Roman himself gritted in frustration. Things were not looking good for them. They were running out of stamina, Jaune was already faltering, and they didn't know how to permamently put him down. Not even Roman's powerful cane's projectile had made the guy flinch, only making great quantities of steam come out of his body.
Their situation was looking quite hopeless indeed. Retreat would have to be their only option for now.
"I know how to kill him.", Jaune whispered into his ear. The kid might as well been an angel at this point as he delivered salvation on to them. Roman glanced to his right to see how focused Jaune seemed, his eyes locked permanently on the Apprentice's form.
"Do any of you have a lightning crystal?" He asked hurriedly, watching as the apprentice necromancer began to surge towards him. Roman barely had the time to take one out of his pockets and toss it to the young knight, before Melodic Cudgel met the curved end of the Apprentice's scythe. The master theif was quite sure that his legs actually sunk through the brick from the force. He braced his defensive stance by using both hands to block with his cane and he felt his legs straining effort to keep himself upright.. A terrible cracking sound emnanted from his beloved Melodic Cudgel, and his eyes widened in fear as the sickle actually managed to begin to cut through his cane.
Neo and Jaune dodged out the way of the Apprentice's attack, but his partner in crime returned to the fight in order to help him. Jaune however, took several moments to fidget over his sword and the lightning crystal he had been given.
The Apprentice suddenly switched targets from him and Neo soon found herself flung into the air by the powerful blow that had been directed to her. She had managed to block the strike with her blade, but there was a lot of force in that strike and she fell to the ground, clutching her sword hand with her free hand. Roman's parental side blazed like fire as he observed the girl he had raised since she was a child threatened, the prospect of his oath to his fallen comrades being broken haunting him. His legs however, gave out from underneath him and he tumbled over ungracefully, something that Roman was not often associated with. He could only watch helplessly as the Apprentice loomed over her.
"Let's the rivers of life ease you into your immortality. Let your tainted blood take the blood of the earth herself.", The hooded being whispered, his dozens of voices merging into a booming murmur. His bony fingers came into view, unbidden from the confines of his heavy robes, and thin tendrils of water reacted to his call. Like the string that puppet masters used, the water bent to his will and they seemed to converge towards Neo. Soon, her hands and legs were bound by thick coils of water and despite her ability to teleport and struggle, the water kept her in place.
"By the power that the Necromancer himself has imbued with me, I shall free you from the chains of mortality. Let you know true life in death.", he spoke loudly, his voice like a chorus of the deathly ill. His sickle was raised high into the air, its curved tip glinting menacingly in the moon lit sky.
Then he brought it down in a wide arc.
Blood fell into the water in a shower, tainting it further with the fresh life essence of a human.
.
.
.
.
X.
Jaune eyes widened as blood fell freely from the wound. His eyes remained transfixed as the sickle curved through the air and its sharpened tip pierced flesh. He watched it as it flowed in great streams, staining clothing and unblemished skin.
Neo could only stare at him in disbelief, in horror. Her mouth was opened in a silent scream, her voice forever lost.
How could have things gone so wrong? They had a plan. Sauron had identified the Apprentice's weakness. His heart, it was what bounded him to the power of the river.
.
.
.
Then the prospect of him being the one that was hit by the sickle caught up to him.
'Ugrrhl!' Sauron snarled in pain, as the sickle cut across Jaune's chest. Jaune himself was currently incapable of making a noise, wether the fact he was going into shock or the sickle had cut through something important. The Apprentice had sensed his surprise attack, and had twisted his body to attack Jaune, as if his flesh was as flexible as thin rubber.
The light cackling emitting from Crocea Mors helped ground Jaune back into reality. He had a plan to kill this 'puppet master' as Sauron elequoently put. Lightning, Sauron had said, would be his down fall.
'Finish this. Before we no longer possess the strength to finish through it. ' Sauron wearily said, the first time the old Maiar had ever shown such a lack of strength. Jaune himself wasn't feeling any better. The presence of his soul, which he had been accustomed to as a fiery warmth, was now slowly dying down. He needed to finish this. Now.
'I have found that when man is down, when they are hurt and beaten, that's what they are at their strongest. That's when their feä reveals itself. Let that same strength flow through you, as it has for the generations of man before you.'
Jaune noted that the Apprentice's strike had left him open. The necromancer had expected for Jaune to crumble over from his wounds, which he most likely would, and had let his attack to be far more dramatic than a warrior should allow.
Jaune had found his chance.
X.
He did not expect for the ignorant boy to retaliate.
He didn't expect for a sword that had the power of lightning shattered on its blade to pierce his chest. His heart, found itself wrapping around the peircing sword. His one link to the fragile chains of mortality. His anchor to the physical realm, which if he did not have, his spirit would forever be lost in the ether.
The principle of water which he had followed through for decades, was failing him. Water was supposed to have replaced most of his flesh, which would help him control and re-stitch the life water in other beings. But now, his successful experiments and results were being torn apart right in front of him. Lightning crackled through his body, destroying the bonds he held with the river of life and leaving him weakened and vulnerable.
More out of desperation then anger or wrath, the trusted sickle that the Seventh had given him swung through the old sword that protruded from his chest. The blade snapped like a metal twig, age seemingly catching up to the weapon.
The Arc fell backwards, his wound bleeding heavily, and his broken sword in hand. His life force was weakening, his chains to mortality loosening. Yet, he dared not try and call upon the river of lie that dwelled in the boy. Something else resided in him that required further studying.
Too bad that studying anomalies would be the last coherent thought that he would think.
His heart finally gave out.
X.
Neo watched in awe as she lay on the ground, as the black hood of the Apprentice began to drag into itself. The snapped shard of Jaune's sword as well began to be dragged into the center of the necromancer's body. The trinkets, baubles, and even the the sickle he had used were all being sucked into the singularity that was born in his chest.
Jaune himself was on the ground, his wound bleeding heavily. His eyes were closed, and fear struck her heart as she hastily made her way to him.
He had saved her. Either intentionally or inadvertently, he had managed to take the Apprentice's eyes off of her and her unfortunate situation. And now he was dying because of his attempts.
Not before taking his pound of flesh though.
"Fools! Do you think that this is the end! What has seen the abyss can no longer be influenced by it! I, Salorn, wielder of the river of life can not be killed so easily! I will return servants of the Queen! Let her know that the dead will soon eat her shadows away! The day of the Necromancers will come!" The Apprentice chorused as his body began to be destroyed.
"Oghhurhduh!" The Apprentice gurgled out as his body began to be sucked into the portal from the inside out. Great volumes of water were funneling into the circular rip in space, and soon enough the entirety of his being was vanishing into the void. Great echoes and soft thundering escaped from the hole in his chest, and slowly the portal began to shrink. Then, brilliantly in a flash of white, nothing of the Apprentice remained. Only the shard of Jaune's sword was left. It lay on the ground, covered in red blood and seemingly glowing with moon light.
Then all around them, the corpses began to collapse onto the ground, no longer controlled or fueled by their puppeteer. The Grimm howled and roared in victory and they fell upon the easily meat with relish. They would be distracted for a good while.
Neo would have sighed in relief had it not been for a more pressing matter at hand. Jaune's eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow and slow. It seemed to become even more and more labrous with each breath he took.
The sickle's slash had cut clean through the metal plate that should have protected Jaune's chest. It now lay into pieces and the cloth of his coat was being drenched in dark red blood.
Panicking, she tried to seal the wound with her hands, doing nothing but make the blood course out faster and dirtying her hands. She didn't know what to do! She was good at inflicting fatal injuries, but taking care of them? No. She had never dealt with something like this.
"Oh shit! Jaune!", Roman said with genuine worry. The master theif had actually rolled up his sleeves and had taken off his gloves in order to properly tend to Jaune, something he never did because he had complained how it ruined his suit. He gently laid his hands on the wound, and a pale green glow encompassed them.
Roman was attempting to give his aura to Jaune in order to heal him. Something Neo had never witnessed him do. Slowly, the stream of blood that came out, lessened and actually stopped. It seemed that Roman's infusion of aura had momentarily stopped the bleeding, but for how long they didn't know. Jaune needed an actual healer, not some aura infusion or healing dust. They could only do so much.
"Neo. We have to get him somewhere safe. I did all I can do, but he needs real medical attention. Get us to Bombadil's.", Her mentor and guardian said breathlessly. He attempted to stand, but his own wounds and the amount of aura he had used made him stumble back to the ground.
She nodded enthusiasticall, and she placed one of her hands on each of them. Her longing for safety came to her and she used its power to remember Bombadil's cottage in the forest. Her memories of the good times there helped her create a tether with the place.
It was safe there.
They were nice to them. They had welcomed them there with smiles and warm food.
It was home.
Then with a mighty crack, a sound similar to that of breaking glass, they disappeared, leaving very little of their presence there.
Several moments passed, before two Bullheads appeared above, their headlights surveying the deserted marketplace. When they found nothing a lone scream of pain and agony filled the sky. It was a wail like no other, and only those who emitted it would realize what it meant.
A mother was in mourning.
X.
Well that's it for this chapter. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. And thank you guys so much for all the love and support. Truthfully I didn't think this story would make it, but it's uickly becoming far more liked and loved then I actually could ever imagine.
Thank you guys for everything and I'll see you next chapter.
Or if I write a new story. Funny thing about Jaune is that you can do so much with him. And new ideas and stories are born with a snap of your fingers. Plus it hasn't reached the level of the Naruto or Harry fanfics yet so there's plenty of space to think and come up with new original ideas.
