Upon re-reading this fresh last night after posting it I caught a fair number of typos. I believe I have corrected them all.
If you find others feel free to point them out. Thank You.
In the darkness of deepening shadows and falling night three twisted inhuman human shapes stepped out into the debris littered streets of vale. Sunken red gleaming eyes, scanned their new surroundings.
"Ablo was right. This place is much more suited to our tastes." Hissed the largest of the three, "I can smell the despair, and it is luscious."
"The reek of death is intoxicating." Comments the smallest feminine one.
"I don't trust the bastard." Replied the final also feminine like one. "This is too convenient."
"Yes it is questionable, yet I appreciate the distance we now have between us and that accursed exorcist." The largest tilted his head as if to scent the air, "there is carrion here, and fresh meat as well. Shall we have a dinner and a show?"
The twisted contortions of the needle like teeth filled mouths of the others were akin to smiles of glee as the three creatures moved off with unnatural grace and silence.
Neo was up and in the shower mentally preparing for the day. She knew it was about time for the return visit of her and Jaune's pact holders, and that meant training and instruction. She could feel Jaune's unease as he slumbered, which just made her own concerns about what was to happen even more poignant. If they came today both she and Jaune would age 5 years. The price of the pacts, the cost of the knowledge that would be infused into them. In one day, less in fact both she and Jaune would lose fairly significant portions of their life, and for what? She still wasn't sure what the plan was, what the end game would entail. Yet here she was preparing.
In an isolated corner of Vale a tiny Dragonfly winged woman closed in on the plain wooden door of the expansive homestead. She was not happy with her assignment, having no interest in explaining her existence to mortal humans; yet she would do as her master bid.
Pressing the doorbell she fluttered about trying to hold position before the door. She expected an adult to open it, and was slightly miffed that the preteen female child that opened the door regarded her with obvious disinterest.
"Mom! Dad! There's a Pixie at the door!" yelled the girl over her shoulder as she stood there holding the door open with one hand.
She was impressed that one so young could or would so easily differentiate between Pixie's and Fairies, yet she was still a bit dour that the young girl was not fawning over her. Shortly thereafter an adult woman bearing a strong familiar resemblance to the girl appeared.
"Is it time?" she asked also without any undue interest in the magical creature before her.
"Yes. Master Albo bids you to attend at your leisure. The session should commence shortly."
"Thank you. Please relay that my husband and I will join your master shortly."
"As you wish."
The door was closed leaving the Pixie to return to the knothole portal that had allowed her access to this world. She would relay the message as was her duty.
Jaune in his half roused state could feel Neo's apprehension. It would be today or tomorrow that the final session of his and Neo's training would take place. Neo's first and last interaction with their Pact Holder's had left a distinct and slightly horrible impression on her. He understood her apprehension at the upcoming session.
Rolling his feet to the floor and sitting up he willed the sleep from his eyes while mentally preparing to comfort Neo's unease, that as until his sense of her faded. Now alert he glanced at the closed bathroom door. She was still around as he could sense her vitality and emotional state, but she was no longer in the next room.
Slowly opening the door he confirmed his suspicion. Steam clouded the air and damp towels lay on the floor. Her clothes also lay in a heap upon the floor. She had been taken. Jaune quickly started going through options in his mind. He knew she was okay if only embarrassed and upset. He could confirm as well that she was not in the office space they had claimed as a makeshift hideout.
"They must have grabbed her. Took her to the ethereal plane. Training time I suppose." He was talking aloud to himself, "But why take only her?"
Forgetting about showering or food, or anything of a mundane nature Jaune grabbed his hooded long coat and his knife. A ritual he believed should work formed in his mind as he prepared to head out into the main warehouse area; for the room needed to open a proper dimensional gate. He knew as soon as he stepped over the threshold that he was no longer in Vale, he was certain he was not even on Remnant.
"Jaune so good of you to make it." Ablo spoke from far across the flag stone floor. Jaune's hand tightened around the hilt of his knife.
"Where's Neo?" he knew she was fairly close. He could feel her yet she was nowhere he could readily see.
"She is with Dia. This is a training day and she has make up courses." Replied Ablo.
"Dia? Why is she so nervous if this it to be training?"
"Because my dear boy, this training is going to slightly more intense, scary and possibly painful that any other time before."
Neo was mortified. One second she was in the shower, than the next she was here, far from the comfort of Jaune, in addition to being naked as the day she was born. She could tell as she scanned the room while trying vainly to cover up; that it was massive. The two foot by two foot flag stones of the floor confirming it. It occurred to her that this must be where she and Jaune would get the training the Pact Holders had told her about a few days back. Still why she was here in the buff was a serious concern to her.
It was then she appeared. Heavenly beauty moving almost gliding towards her from the far side of the room. Neo remembered the twisted faces she had made as the other had bound her and Jaune together.
"Greetings Neo. Welcome to your continuing education." Venom tainted her words as she spoke, "I am Dia, and though we met before I neglected to properly introduce myself, so let me make amends for that."
Neo only nodded. She was more than uncomfortable, being unclothed and unarmed in this strange environment.
"So the plan is for today to take our payment and finish up with some additions we believe will assist you on your new life path."
"Why am I naked?"
"Really? Oh yes you are. Sorry about that." Dia had a malicious look in her eye as she spoke the false apology. "Pay it no mind; in fact this is a good thing. It will make it easier to transfer what you have purchased, along with some additions."
"What additions?"
"A special combat style just for you. A very special one."
The way she spoke and the glint in her eyes did not quell Neo's nerves.
"Let us begin." Dia closed and with several practiced motions, accompanied by soundless words formed a rune comprised of multiple arches around Neo. The symbols and lines flared brightly for a moment before fading to almost a glowing ember like burn. "First the remainder of the Knowledge Pact." Dia announced closing her eyes as if to concentrate.
Neo's body was overwhelmed. Heat, cold, pain, pleasure. The feelings rolled over her like massive waves. In her mind things suddenly became clear and understood. Every form of the warding rune. Uses for salt in barriers, divination, summoning, combat, and healing. Other bodily fluids usable for reagents, and the most effective use for each. Book ended with spell casting with the use of and in the absence of sound and hand motions.
Neo shook under the avalanche of information, and onslaught of physical sensations. She fell to her knees under the unceasing flow. Dia opened her eyes and smiled a little wicked smile. She knew the little whore was nearing her limit, and the silent yells of the girl accompanied with the visible spasms wracking her body were delicious. Dia knew that she had promised no body modifications, and she would honor that; however she never said anything about providing more salacious types of casting knowledge.
Neo had closed her eyes at the first hit of information, but as this final bit of knowledge ripper though her mind her eyes snapped open. She knelt there with tear filled eyes as images of positions, and techniques in vivid detail filled her thoughts. Intimate skills for divination, compulsion and healing. Slowly the stream of sensations and information trickled away leaving Neo on her hands and knees, a sheen of sweat coating her body. She was entirely intent on calming her hammering heart and stopping the shivers running through her limbs.
"With that your pact is complete. I hope you like the additions. Those skills should serve you well if you choose to continue with your bond partner."
Neo looked up, her body heavy and cumbersome. She gazed right into Dia's gleaming eyes.
"There is more, that I can offer." She moved closer, "I mentioned a fighting style, it's known as Serpent's Tail. It is a special style known only to my kind. I know I did say it would be an addition, but this one cannot be a freebie. I offer it to you. For a price." Neo tried to speak, but it was too much effort for her even with the Ghost Speak she had become accustomed to. "Rest my poor girl. You just spent five years of your life. You will need to take a moment or two to recover before you can truly function."
Neo just nodded. What had just happened was a thousand times more intense than the fraction she had been granted a few days ago.
"While you recover I'll give you the sales pitch. You already understand that everything has a cost, and this is such a thing as well." Dia held out her hand allowing a length of chain with a short haft attached at one end, and a long knife blade at the other, to appear. "Serpent's Tail is a dagger and chain style of combat that also translates to the use of whip type weapons. The focus of the style, and the core of the technique is to allow a single combatant to face multiple opponents with options to hold at bay, disarm or outright kill them. It is about motion, finesse and speed, in open and confined areas."
Neo was still too far spent to do much but nod as Dia looked at her, to discern if she should continue the pitch or not.
"If you choose to accept this offer you will gain the understanding and skills to keep the chain and blade moving, but also adjust its length, change direction, and build momentum for strikes by using your body and its parts as pivot points. Your current style of combat is an asset that Serpent's Tail will build upon. In fact you are possibly the nearest to a perfect candidate to learn this skill."
"Five Years?" Neo struggled to utter those words.
"Correct. But please also consider that this addition will also make you and Jaune near in age, once he finished his pact payment with Albo. It would be a benefit if you two wish to continue to be partners, as the politics of your world kind of look harshly at pairings of young women with older men."
Neo had no response. Her thoughts were still too fractured to fully comprehend the insinuation made by Dia.
"Take the pact girl." The new voice drew both Neo and Dia's attention. A Blonde haired blue eyed woman stepped out of the darkened reaches of the room. Neo instantly could see the familial resemblance between the woman and Jaune. "Dia are you nearly finished?"
"Jasmine Arc, I would say it is a pleasure, but you understand."
"I do, and I reciprocate the sentiment. As to my question?"
"Almost. She just needs to decide and then we can take care of your portion of her training, as per your husband's request."
"Well," Jasmine focused her attention on Neo, "Neo do you accept Dia's offer?"
"I"
"Interesting. This is Ghost Speak?"
"It is. Though you can only hear her due to Ablo extending the Pact benefit to you and Jonathon."
"I see, but this feels like something more."
"Yes, I feel it to. However we have work to do, and that little detail can be a topic for another conversation."
"I agree. Neo I suggest you take this second pact. Pay the cost."
"Why? I can fight already."
"Maybe you can, but you right now are for all I can see, nothing but a street whore that has gotten her claws hooked into my baby boy. If there is anything more to you than a selfish need for self-preservation than you will do whatever you can to prove that there is more to you; and that if you are going to be paired with an Arc male; my ONLY son; you better be able to protect not only yourself but him as well."
Neo was taken back by the venomous words of Jaune's mother. Her eyes bore into her and Neo could swear they surmised ever little dirty secret she ever held.
"An Arc woman is not a noble figure or image of absolute virtue; we are the pillar of our families, the source of our husband's determination, and his guard in the fields of battle be they arcane or mundane. I came here Neo to teach you those skills only passed to the women of the Arc line. Mother to daughter, mother-in-law to daughter-in-law." Jasmine knelt down before Neo and locked eyes with her. Neo could see the hints of softness. "My son, Jaune has chosen to have you at his side. Even in his grief he did what most wouldn't have and allowed you to bond. Yes magic has been used and yes your auras have mingled, but I can see there is more. Take the pact Neo, learn what I offer and become a woman of the Arc line."
"Of the Arc line?" Neo was shocked, confused and near tears as a swirl of emotions raged with in her.
"My husband and I have already spoken on it. It has been decided and accepted by us and the rest of our house; however the bond between you and Jaune manifests, you are and forever more from this time are an Arc."
Neo couldn't speak every emotion she could consider was buffeting about in her mind and heart. It had been forever since anyone aside from Roman had treated her like more than an asset. Treated her with acceptance and compassion, treated her like family. Jaune had in his way, but now to hear his mother call her an Arc, and confirm her as family had Neo's heart bursting with joy Taking a few moments to gain a measure of self control Neo turned towards Dia.
"I accept the pact."
"The let us begin."
Jaune was distracted and on edge. Evan as Albo prepared the final transfer ward, Jaune was consumed with the mental state of Neo in addition to her physical well being. He could sense the fluctuations in her emotions, and the wild changes did not bode well or make it easy for him to focus on his own training.
Pain ripped through his nerves, feeling like freezing fire as Ablo enacted the final rune of the ritual. Jaune shook and collapsed to his knees. His eyes rolling back into his head as years of arcane theory, rituals, recipes, and formation flowed into his form from the surrounding ether. Each moment was an age, and with each age in passing he understood and grasped more.
"Not much longer Jaune and out terms will have been met. Soon you will be a force of your own. A power fit to stop the machinations of narrow minded fools."
Jaune of course heard none of Albo's speech. The influx of information stealing all of his focus. Jonathon Arc did though. It pained him to his his baby boy aged so, and by unnatural means, it tore at him as well to see the pain the process was causing. Regrets of harsh words spoken in the past, added to the guilty thoughts of not having done enough to prepare his son. Jonathon Arc knew full well that as an arcane user, as a practitioner of Blood Ritual; the world at large wouldn't see his son as the hero Jaune had dreamed of being. No Jonathon Arc knew beyond a doubt that when and if the ones spoken of by his daughter could be stopped ; that Jaune and by association Neo would not be welcomed in the modern world.
"Sometimes to fight monsters, you need to use bigger monsters." the senior Arc spoke to himself as the illumination from the ritual started to dim.
"What I can transfer to him is complete." Albo turned his head so his eyes could focus on the elder Arc male, "Do you have any preference on how we should proceed?"
"Yes." Jonathon Arc stepped forward drawing a wooden mallet and a square shaped iron spike from under his robes. "Limit all movement and then secure his right arm palm up."
"Father?" Jaune was uncoordinated and confused but he could have sworn her heard his dad's voice. More than swear as he felt unnatural energies stretching out his right arm just as his father's voice had prescribed.
"Why?"
"To prepare you" replied Jasmine, "for a future with my son."
Neo was confused, and it wasn't due to the complicated nature of her new fighting style. Forms, techniques, and stances rolled around in her mind, slowly being processed and the impulses filtering down into her muscles and joints. No it was the archaic potpourri set of skills and knowledge inherited from Jasmine Arc that had Neo's mind flustered.
Potions, poultices, powders, herbalism, child birth positions and symptoms of complications. Mundane and arcane methods to ease pain. As she knelt there looking up at the two women in charge of her education she was at a loss. Too much of what she now understands was beyond anything she ever considered for her life before meeting Jaune. Yet now it all just seemed to flow together, as if it was always meant to be. What seemed like ages ago the thought of children, of child birth was distressing and distasteful, yet now, after only a few days, almost a week the thought was a natural progression, almost a wish she wanted to be a reality.
A searing pain ripped through her right hand and arm. Grabbing it in reflex her thoughts instantly became focused.
"Jaune!" Jasmine and Dia were taken aback by Neo's sudden outburst; and amazed further as an obviously overtaxed woman forced herself to her feet.
Neo's thoughts centered completely on Jaune. She could feel his pain, fear and anger. He was close. She frantically searched her new found knowledge for something or anything that would get her to him. Dia and Jasmine had recovered from the initial shock and moved to calm the agitated woman when she suddenly muttered a rapid phrase and brought the binding tattoo on her left ring finger to her lips. A glass shattering sound echoed in the room as Neo vanished from sight.
"How?" Jasmine was at a loss to explain.
"Intrinsic magic. She tapped into the Pairing Bond joining her and Jaune." Dia uttered the explanation with an awed tone. "There is no way she should know of or even be able to do that!"
"What did she do?"
"She used the link of the bond as a conduit to transport herself to Jaune!"
Jaune screamed in agony and rage as the spike punched through the meat of his hand. His cries growing louder as metal shattered bones on the second and third strike of the mallet. All the while Albo held him immobile as Jaune's father standing inside the empowering rune circle recited the ritual words while raising the mallet for one final strike.
The blade appeared from the ether, dragging a chain as it flew at Jonathon Arc's face. In a shower of sparks it glanced off the rune circle's barrier. A nude form appeared a moment later and with rapid hand, arm and body movements retracted, re-targeted and loosed the chained blade for a second strike also culminating in a shower of sparks as the barrier held.
Jonathon Arc was shocked at the sudden assault, and even more so by the naked tricolor haired woman launching them. Albo was impressed at the display of skill, but also not amused that Jaune's training was interrupted. Shifting his focus from holding down Jaune he lashed out at the interloper with a wall of force.
"Neo!" Jaune had felt her and could see her now. At that moment she was sent tumbling away; a trigger was set off inside him.
By pure brute will he ripped his hand up the length of the spike while also shattering the invisible force trying to hold him immobile. Rolling to the side he regained a kneeling position. A spell instantly came to his mind. Slapping his ruined hand against the floor he uttered some silent words. Both Jonathon and Ablo were knocked back as a wave of crimson rushed forward. Gaining his feet Jaune rushed to Neo pulling off his hooded long coat and draping it over her naked form before whipping around to face the sources of their pain.
He said no words as runic circles of energy formed around his hands. As the twin defensive spells formed he was already in his mind planning his next succession of spells. His intention to secure his and Neo's safety and defense before going on the attack.
"Well done Jaune. Well done." Albo dusted himself off as he regained his feet, "So you feel up to a spar after all of this." Ablo adjusted his stance as he spoke, all the while a twisted smile cracked his thin lips, "Then let me oblige you."
Albo was annoyed. Neither Jaune nor Neo should have been able to be this active after the training. The life transfer alone should have wiped them out. Well he thought to himself if they want to be active then he'd test just how much they had left. The blasts of light were not even a fraction of the power he could muster; but as a test they were a start.
Jaune deflected the shots with ease. Dropping the one shield he brought his own abilities forward in a counter assault. Neo was wiped. The teleport, attack and solid hit she had taken draining her of everything but her resolve to be at Jaune's side. She watched as Jaune conjured and unleashed a variable stream of ice spikes towards Albo.
Jonathon Arc stepped in with his own shield rune as the onslaught of projectiles nearly overwhelmed Albo's hasty defenses. As they weathered the storm of ice with gritted teeth; Jaune dropped his second shield and unleashed another attack.
The marble sized ball of flame appeared before Jaune's raised right hand. Dancing on the tips of his first and index finger. With a snap of his wrist it flashed forward exploding in a torrent of flames against the combined barrier of Jonathon and Albo.
Not wasting any motion or time; Jaune used his right hand and caused a flagstone before him to shatter. Drawing the dust and debris up into the air before him, he mimicked the wrist motion of his last attack and spiked the stone fragments at the pinned down men.
"Jaune clam yourself!" shouted his father as the constant assaults battered the barrier he and Ablo were barely keeping up.
"Don't you ever touch her again!" roared Jaune as he brought forward a wave of ice shards and flames to rush upon the men before him, "You will pay for the attempt to lay hands upon my wife!"
Wife? Neo and for that matter Jaune couldn't fathom why he made that connection. Why he spoke those words, but here and now they felt right. They felt true, truer than anything else either could remember. Neo looked up at Jaune. His breath was labored and his right hand was a bleeding barely workable mess. Yet there he stood ready and eager to defend her, his wife. She knew it without doubt he was her husband. They would and are partners in this madness and this life.
Neo stood and reached up to take his left hand. At her touch Jaune stopped and just turned to look upon her. His fingers gently curling about hers. His blue eyes staring unwavering into her pink and brown. She returned the stare. Everything else around them was forgotten, all that mattered was there before each of them.
Dia and Jasmine entered the room but moments later. The pact holders and the parents said nothing as they watched the couple standing there before them.