Ok... now, just press save aaaannnnnddd DONE! Now, wait five seconds to see if it'll delete itself... HELL YES! VICTORY AT LAST! TIME TO UPLOAD!
Tempest: Woah there, where do you think you're going! You have a chapter to work on!
But... I just finished! I'm uploading it now!
Tempest: Pffft, and how many times have we had this conversation before? You say 'oh, I'm done' and then it doesn't work out!
BUT IT FINALLY WORKED!
Tempest: Yeah right... let me see... HOLY CRAP YOU'RE RIGHT!
I KNOW! IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!
Tempest: Amen to that... which reminds me, weren't you going to do a special Christmas Omake chapter?
You mean the one that was deleted the second I tried to upload it?
Tempest: ... I'm not even surprised that's what happened... well anyway, GET UPLOADING WHILE I INFO DUMP ON THE VIEWERS!
Aye Aye SIR! [Uploading intensifies]
Tempest: Well, after the shitty author's even shittier computer FINALLY decided to cut him some slack and actually let him upload, we have a chapter people! After such a long wait as well, you can finally rest easy with an extra-long one for your wait as well! Unfortunately, the next one might take a while as well... but enough with the bad news, IT'S TIME TO PARTY! I have heaps of Christmas presents and the one I'm loving the most is from some anonymous guy who says that I can stay in his apartment for free! I mean, it's pretty shifty, but it seems legit enough and I've actually visited there a few times to confirm it isn't a drug den or something, and the person that greeted me was pretty nice as well, although I apparently can't meet the dude that gave me the lease... but, beggars can't be choosers! And the only downside is that I have to bunk with some other person for a while, until I kick them out of course so I can bring Yang in and finally have a place to ourselves... if you know what I mean... TIME TO PACK!
And... done... finally uploaded! Wait, where'd you go Tempest? Well, I'm thanking whoever got him to piss off, I'm off now to enjoy my Christmas shit! I even got some guy who gave me a lease to an apartment pretty close by so I don't have to live with my parents anymore! WHOOO!
[I hope that answers your question Powerhouse616]
Tempest: And remember to REVIEW PEOPLE!
... Stop stealing my lines
Naughtbeast
Chapter 19:
The beauty of death is something to be revelled at… that was a phrase that Phoenix Branwen had heard for most of his life, through the training for him to become Emperor, through the several years of war that he had waged against She who Corrupts, hammering its meaning in his mind with reckless resolve… yet, as he gazed out upon rank upon rank of his world's finest soldiers he saw nothing but despair against the endless tides of darkness that came to claim their very lives.
But despite their loses, despite the piles of body's that could forge an entire fortress on sheer bone alone, his soldiers were fighting as savages, giving their blood and soul with the knowledge that their fighting would not do much in the small scales of things, but together even the smallest dagger would contribute to the downfall of their oppressor. It brought a smile to his lips… the combined forces of Human and Faunus fighting united against a single foe, as it should always be… but alas, his efforts were doomed to be for naught, if the Shinigami's words rung true.
And so far, they had. He had met with the current end of his lineage, and as much as he wanted to be impressed, he knew it would go the same as always… this world was doomed to fail. The Shinigami had come to ask for his tutelage for the boy, something which he had no time, nor the patience for, not when his nation stood at the brink of extinction. They would take the war to Salem and burnt out her grasp on this world… but then again, he was never destined to succeed, as were the next thousands or so who would try. The current heir to his lineage was only one of the many who were 'fated' to defeat Salem… what a joke. The prophesy had said he was fated to defeat Her, yet he was doomed to death before he could even lay a finger on her.
Shaking his head to dispel his thoughts, he once again turned his attention to the battle at hand. If he was to make sure that the path of time was to continue straight, then he would still need to be the commander he was set to be… the spearhead of every attack, the brunt of every shield, the unmoving calm that would see Humanity's army survive to live another day.
"Emperor!" came a shout from his left, Phoenix turning to see one of his Lieutenants riding up to him on the back of an ebony horse covered in red, white and black tinted steel barding while the rider wore a light set of leather armour, a bow strung over her back, their helmet completely covering her left eye, most likely due to a battle injury.
"Lieutenant Zedong, I assume you have news?" he addressed, rearing his own mount to face hers, the massive dire hound still looming a head above the proud stallion.
"Aye my Liege, I have come to say that the long-range support you have requested has arrived" she remarked, snapping a salute that was hastily dismissed by a swat of his hand. He smiled as he narrowed his eyes to see several of his 'long-ranged' assets of his army moving up to the rear of his assembled troops, several large Ballista and Catapult emplacements with a large amount of archers to compliment them.
"Excellent, place them at the rear of General Winchester and General Arc's troops, set them up and focus fire on the Goliaths"
"Your will is mine, my Lord!" she responded, snapping a quick salute and turning her horse to ride off back to instruct her troops. Phoenix nodded and turned back to the battle, narrowing his eyes when he saw the two people he had just requested support for, both of them being on the front lines of their troops cutting down swathes of Grimm a few metres ahead of their own battle formations.
Damnable idiots… why do they always have to go ahead and make a competition out of this like always…
He sighed and spurred his mount forward, towards the next order of business, a status-update with his second-in-command over the army… someone who was yet to move from the relative safety of the rear-lines and who had taken refuge next to probably the biggest target they had… which was also another focus of his next endeavour. The massive wolf he was on began tearing towards their latest target with speed that was unrivalled within the masses of anything he could field and nothing that the Grimm could spur forward could even sprint at half the pace of her walk, so it was no surprise when his mounts speed caused blurs on the edges of his vision and that they had arrived at their destination in what would have been only a minute of running and over nearly three kilometres of distance.
They skidded for a few feet as his mount struggled to bleed off their speed quickly, Phoenix thanking the fact that they had enough room as they stopped a foot or so directly in front of one of his targets of interest.
"I assumed you were organising troops now? Why are you here?" questioned the person in front of them, their voice addressing him in a lilting feminine tone that sounded confused over anything else, although it didn't at all sound like a person should… well, it wasn't exactly a person, moreso a gigantic demonic creature that was at least two metres taller than Phoenix even on the back of his mount, with several long whip-like limbs only adding to the length of the creature. The upper half of her looked normal, sporting a large set of 'assets' that would make any woman jealous, with long flowing hair that shone with an almost unnatural sheen, its length resembling a flowing river of blood with its thick crimson colour and for the fact that it was fluttering in an unseen wind even though there wasn't even a breeze to be felt.
The lower half, now that was where it got interesting. Instead of normal human legs, two L-joined feet were seen instead, covered in strange dull grey scales that covered their length, until it reached where the feet would be, a large set of talons that were hovering about half a foot off the ground, strange considering that there seemed to be nothing that held her body up. Coming from her back were two of the largest whips protruded from her back where her shoulder blades would be, the weapons being at least triple her length, with serrated cutting edges along their entire lengths, several smaller versions of the whips coming from just below the main two, only being roughly ½ the length of the largest.
A large amount of nasty looking spines covered her forearm that were bone-white, save for the tips that were a pulsating black that seemed to ooze off the sharp tips. Her face was adorned with a mask typical of a Grimm, although one could easily tell it was modelled to be decidedly more feminine than the others, with a sly smirk being seen through a crack in the mask where her mouth would be, sharp and longing eyes staring at any who were stupid enough to meet her gaze, two largish horns coming off the top of her head, hinting again to her actual heritage.
"Lust, I must speak to him now, I have yet to ask what he is doing next" Phoenix replied, looking past her and to the massive beast that stood a few metres behind, its colossal form staring out onto the massive battlefield that was before it.
"Hmmmm… he can spare a minute, but no longer, he has already riddled his mind with too much thoughts on the future and none on the present… our warriors cannot stand ground without their Alpha" she replied, more off-handidly than anything else, her gaze drifting to the sky as one of her whips cracked out within a moment, catching onto the flying shaft of a Nevermore's feather that was sailing towards Phoenix, the projectile being launched back and skewering its owner a moment after.
"Then I shall be quick…"replied Phoenix, knowing he did indeed have limited time. In but a few small hours they would be knocking on the doors of her fortress and their suffering would end for a time, that is until her power was regained according to how the future would play out. He dismounted the wolf and caressed its hide, the great beast shuddering for a moment before disappearing in red smoke, the petite form of a woman taking precedence out of the fog.
"Ahhhh, it feels good to stretch my legs!" complained said woman as she stretched out, the audible sound of muscles popping indicating the strain of her transformation. She was tiny when compared to the great beast next to her, as well as being noticeably smaller than Phoenix himself, her petite body suggesting that she was young, while any who knew her knew that she was wise beyond her years and far more mature than those at her age, despite her usual tendency to be playful and fun almost a hundred percent of the time. Her slim figure was enraptured in a beautiful livery that was coloured mainly a light red, while the rest was a stunningly shiny silver than was embellished with outrageous patterns and emblems that were too complicated to even follow with the natural eye.
A long cloak hung from around her neck, a flowing and light piece of cloth that was woven especially from the first ever Dust-threads that were made from the crystals, the article of clothing having well enough Burn Dust to light up a small town, although the woman would never use it for that as he knew, the piece of clothing was far too vital to her method of attacking. She was the master of one of the most outlandish fighting styles he had ever seen, utilising a scythe first and foremost, that was easily enough to decapitate an Ursa in one good swing, although her cloak was where she would differ from any other combatant in this world. As she was spinning gracefully during her fights, her cloak would flutter in a trail and begin to blaze as she channelled a tiny amount of Aura through it, which served to draw her opponents attention as it fluttered around her, the cloth being long enough to completely cover her body and more so that they didn't actually know the exact location where she was, only a general idea…
But then again, that was all she needed when they would end up severely lacking most of their vital organs after they were wondering how she had somehow attacked from the completely opposite angle to where they thought she was. She had mockingly called it her 'Dance of Cloaks' and it was strange how fitting it was, considering she often treated her fights like she would her formal outings, smiling through the entire fiasco and regarding each opponent during their small 'dance' so that they knew it would be their last.
The most prominent fact about her persona though was that she was the current Queen of one of the many races of Remnant, the Lycan's, a race of human-like hybrids that could shift into a great wolf, far bigger than any regular Beowulf, at the drop of a hat, a gift given to their family an eternity ago for reasons unknown.
Once she was done resettling herself after the transformation, she smirked to herself and practically jumped onto Phoenix, planting a kiss on his cheek quickly before dashing off to Lust and beginning to chat nonchalantly as if nothing had happened. Phoenix just sighed at his wife's antics, finding whatever happiness he could, before his life would end.
Shrugging away his sorrow, he walked over to the massive form of the beast before him and shouted up at it, the great beast slowly turning to face him, kneeling down just so they could actually see each other's eyes. Even while the beast was kneeled, it was at least as tall as the great fortress walls of Atlas, the beast's horns just showcasing that, each larger than the entire head of a Goliath and easily sharp enough to break down whatever pathetic barricades the Human army could field against it, although luckily for him, they didn't need to when it was fighting for them.
The beast seemed to exude an almost tangible air of death around it, Phoenix's mind drifting to liken it to that of how he would feel at a graveyard, the inexorable feeling of spectres or revenants brushing past him in the ethereal plane coming first and foremost as he felt a shudder run up his spine.
"Have you completed your task?" it asked, the gravely and demonic voice reverberating within Phoenix's mind despite the great beast's mouth not actually moving, a side effect of the fact that it would often forget it was using telepathy instead of normal words.
"Aye, he has seen what he has to and I passed on my knowledge of his Beast soul, but I am yet to see the point of it… he was doomed to fail as have everyone else… the fight is impossible"
"Hmmmm… was it not you that just a few nights ago told me that an assault on She who Corrupts was not possible, was it not you that stated that the existence of Time Shifting was not possible? And yet, all your petty illusions of true and false have been shattered as of yet, so why can you not believe me this time I wonder?"
"Because, you have yet to give me anything other than half-truths and riddles that can mean anything!"
"True, but that is irrelevant, the premise of our cooperation is that you were to follow me without question, which you have done, but you are not rid of your servitude yet"
"Are you forgetting your half of the deal daemon, you promised me peace for my nations, but you have yet to deliver"
The demonic thing seemed to growl intensely at his comment but it soon faded as the things head swivelled up towards where his warriors were fighting, the six great daemons now reaching further and further away from the front-lines of Remnant's army, the beast's carving a path straight towards Her so as to push her back towards her last bastion of refuge and to cut off her command with her front-line troops, making their push towards the end a lot less numerable in terms of casualties.
"The time of the attack is now upon us, gather your Generals and push for a full-frontal assault on my signal"
"All we've been doing for the past two days is a full-frontal assault! I don't even know if it's possible to give anything more…"
"I do not care if it should not be possible, it must be done… so get it done. I also require you to bring this to Greed, it his time to aid my efforts in the times to come, I have no need of him here now…"
Phoenix growled but nodded in understanding, waiting as the great beast reached down with its colossal palm, the mere talons on the end of each being large enough to skewer him without much thought, a dark energy in the form of a dark purple smog coalescing in the centre of its palm until it cleared to reveal a statuette of sorts. He placed it into Phoenix's waiting hands and once again stood up to his full height, surveying the battlefield once again.
"How will I be able to reach Greed when he is assaulting Her, I doubt I will be able to make it before he is already cut off by Grimm"
"That is not Greed, that is Avarice, the one you are seeking is with your Generals, Winchester and Arc"
"Wait… is it not true that Greed and Avarice are the same thing?"
"Yes… but I required a name for him and he reminded me of Avarice so I saw it fitting… although, enough with our squabble reach him and give him that, I have no more use of you as of yet so leave…"
Phoenix truly didn't understand the beast's words but still understood that he would get results no matter how long it would take, as was proven by the fact that the very being in front of him was one of the legendary Grimm Alpha's, arguably the most powerful of the four that were tasked with maintaining balance within their world, although that couldn't have been farther from the truth, not after the great Cataclysm which once again split the Grimm, Faunus and Humanity into three separate races, no longer trying to work towards the combined existence that the two brothers strove to create as their last command… oh how disappointed they would be to see the world like this.
"EMPEROR!" came a shout that struck him from his thoughts, his head swivelling to see a horse and carriage blundering towards him with a strange device on the back, a large Dust crystal jiggling around in barely held together holding struts as it rattled around, the driver of said cart looking of no worry to the subject despite most likely being the one to attach the rather questionable device.
"Ahhh, just the person I was looking for!" remarked Phoenix as the cart came towards him at full tilt, the driver reaching out with an arm that the Branwen gratefully accepted, being hoisted up into the carriage as it went past, not having to slow down to collect its cargo. Phoenix smiled to himself and pointed out towards the back of the Arc Army's lines, the driver nodding as he steered the horse towards the destination.
"Ozpin, I didn't expect to see you this close to the lines!" remarked Phoenix as he took in the man next to him, his heart filling slightly with pride. The man was the greatest Magician in the entirety of the five kingdoms, being known for many feats of incredible power and being the default poster-child for Branwen's military prowess and victories… although that didn't even begin to explain how valuable he was. The man was known as a conduit, a being created for the soul purpose of being able to receive power directly from the brothers and only very recently used the majority of his great power to, from the will of the gods, granted power to four Maidens of Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring, their powers created for the soul purpose of keeping the Grimm Alpha's in check… and he was laughing right now at how right the two brothers were for creating such contingencies.
The man wore what would be described as the most humble of outfits for someone of his status, choosing to don simple tanned hide pants, a brown tan shirt with a vest made of velvet animal hide, the only sign of his high status being a rather ornate cane that sat nestled next to him on the seat of the carriage, a strange amount of what the man would call 'clockwork' inside its hilt, whatever that was. Phoenix had never bothered to question its use but it did strangely allow the main build of said object to retract inside the handle, although for what reason it was of use, he still had no clue.
"I guessed you would require some help after I saw Miss Rosenrot running off with her companion to add more notches under her belt"
"And right you are, I figured she was getting restless without some action so she went to accompany Lust to sate her urge, and I suddenly found myself lacking a mount"
"This leads to my being here… I received another premonition"
"How so? It must be important for you to come here from our artillery emplacements and risk your skin"
"I would normally reprimand you on the fact that I can handle myself… but with little time, I'll let it slip this time. I saw once again into the times to come and viewed upon your ancestor and it is as you thought, I believe he does in fact has an entity that is assisting his actions, most likely the Shinigami… as far as I could see he is as you were in your early youth, having far too much sense to put much trust in anyone other than who he has personally inspected, although that does lead me to the next plight, he is terribly unprepared. He does seem adept in combat, although he lacks in armament as nothing bar his greatest of weapons in his arsenal would hope to scratch the eldritch barriers that would no doubt have already been put in place by She who Corrupts"
"Hmmm… that is troubling, although we must push past it, I wish to warn him, do you think that it would be possible without warning the entity within him?"
"Doubtfully so, your family has been given a gift far beyond what even I can interfere with… I'm afraid the only course of action is to hope he hasn't been corrupted and still has free will"
"One can only hope… and as such, we must go, I need to meet with Arc and Winchester, I have messages for them"
"Aye, I'll have you there in a few moments…"
And with that, the old man pulled the reigns on his horses and their courses shifted towards the endless ranks of soldiers that formed the main battle group. Phoenix stood from his position and drew his odachi, letting it get set ablaze in a coating of bright orange eldritch flames that were similar to how his namesake would be seen, the soldiers seeing the flaming beacon and making a path, letting him ride all the way to the front lines without being challenged, not having to dismount until he was but a few feet from where the Grimm were fighting his soldiers.
"Ozpin, I shall see you later, and if not then I wish that you would finish what I could not…" Phoenix half-muttered, the older man nodding in affirmation as he gave a curt nod, whipping the reigns of his horse and galloping back to the back lines, leaving Phoenix to his latest order of business.
"Now… I wonder what those idiots have gotten themselves into…"
As if his thoughts were answered instantly, he heard the maniacally loud laughing of two very familiar faces, his feet carrying him towards their voice as he off-handily swatted away any Grimm that dared to challenge him, most of them being smart enough to ignore the practical death energy that emanated from him and go for the weaker prey, in the form of the endless ranks of soldiers behind him. He only had to walk for a few metres before he found two lonesome souls standing their ground against the literal tide of darkness, neither seeming to be bothered by the fact that there were around a thousand beowolves for each of them, with backup from literally every other kind at their backs to add to the challenge… but all that either of them did was swing their weapons in glee as they sounded off their kill-count.
"I think I'm a few ahead now Arc, you might want to step up your game if you're going to catch up!" came the raucous and loud shouting of one General Gaius Winchester, a positive mountain of a man who stood a little shy of 8 foot thanks to the copious amounts of armour he wore, his battle garb being a solid plate armour that had every inch covered in savagely barbed spikes, the entire thing being painted a silvery-grey with golden trimmings. The man's weapon of choice was an absolutely colossal double-headed war axe that was skilfully crafted so that the head looked like an bird in flight, with the wings of the artwork effortlessly transitioning into the cutting edges of the axe, the great implement easily being taller than the man himself, even when the armour was considered.
"Nice try Winchester, but you're going to have to work on your lying when we get back home, I'm still not convinced that you've even managed to kill even a single beowolf with that little compensation stick there…"
The other voice was of the secondary combatant, a light and feminine tone that sounded incredibly young, mainly accredited to the fact that the owner was a measly 19 years old, a child when compared to the massive man next to her whose age was far beyond half a century in years. Although her age and voice spoke nothing of her fierce combat prowess and quick wit, her sword skills only being able to be matched by how quickly her spoken words could slay her opponents when she chose to. Her armour was far more simple than who she fought with, being simple plate armour that was a dull silver, covered in hundreds upon hundreds of scratch marks and warped metal, her sword being just as simple, only consisting of a longsword made of simple metal, its cutting potential seemingly pathetic if it were compared to even a better forged sword, but in her hands, it was as deadly a weapon as what even the greatest of warriors would carry into battle.
"HA! This little thing ain't compensating for anything! I just needed something that would be an accurate measuring stick!" shot back the man as he sent back a smirk while decapitating several beowolves at once with a single swing of his axe, forcing the small woman to duck beneath the swing, lest she be added to the kill count, her rhythm of battle refusing to be broken as he sword disappeared into the necks of several more beowolves in the blink of an eye as they all fell to the ground.
Phoenix sighed heavily at their childish antics, but couldn't help but smirk a tiny bit at their acting up. They were two of his best Generals and if nothing else, they knew damned well how to rouse their troops to a good battle in a few short seconds, Winchester with his raucous and ravenous shouting and Joan with her encouragement and hope-inspiring words.
"Would both of you quit your incessant whining, I have orders…" Phoenix interrupted, his voice rousing them both as they broke out of their stupor and quickly addressed him, both somehow being able to pull off a bow in the middle of combat without even missing a beat as they fended off the encroaching horde.
"Emperor!" they both chimed as they bowed, neither acting as though they hadn't been heard during their little friendly banter, neither wanting to continue talking, lest they be reprimanded for such unsightly behaviour in the field of battle.
"Both of you would be far better fighting a little closer to your ranks, but other than that, I have come to inform you that we are to be making a push for Her in a few short hours, so ready your troops for a full charge" instructed Phoenix, receiving an answer of affirmative from both, their previous liveliness replaced by a hard look of determination as their new orders were processed.
"Good… now, have either of you seen one of the daemon's critters called Greed, or something of the like?"
"There was a hellish thing making its way through my Vanguard a short while ago, but that's the closest I have to a position…"remarked Winchester, his axe cleaving through the air quicker now that he was making a tiny bit more effort to impress his superior, a single swing being enough to bisect an Ursa, despite the large amount of muscle and bone that comprised its almost metre-thick hide.
"Much appreciated…"Phoenix answered, brandishing his odachi to cut a path to where he thought the beast would be, pausing to give another quick few words over his shoulder "Oh, and do remember to tell me who wins this little competition of yours, I'll see fit to reward you for your efforts"
"Will do your Highness!" remarked Arc as she smirked to her fellow General, their fighting resuming almost instantly as their banter once again escalated to try and outwit each other while once again trying to beat the other in their weapon-play. Phoenix on the other hand, cursed the fact that Greed wasn't with them, making his job a whole lot harder and pissed him off even more than being dismissed by the largest of the beasts. His mind wandered to his typical thinking and in a moment he had morphed into his avian form, his wings flapping and causing him to soar into the air and giving him a much better view of the field of battle, and a much better chance of finding his missing daemon.
It didn't take long for him to see a glimpse of a sickly green scaled tail flickering between the ranks of some of Winchester's soldiers, the humans moving aside almost off instinct as something moved between them with practiced ease. With another few short flaps of his wings, Phoenix was right above the target and was relieved to find his quarry, his body morphing back into that of a human as he dropped to the ground right in front of the beast.
He was greeted with one of the most sickening sounds he could have ever imagined, the horrible sound of the beast laughing, a reverberating gurgling that sounded more like a flesh getting ripped apart at the end of a blade than an actual sound made by a creature. The joyous sounds were emanating for a rather obvious reason, the creature was slithering through the ranks of the Winchester's men stealing their weapons with a sickening glee, a smile overcoming all other features on the thing's face, said appendage looking surprisingly human despite it being attached to something that was anything but. Whereas Lust at least had something that resembled a human figure, Greed did not even bother with the courtesy and truly looked like a sickening combination of too many species to name.
It was mainly a reptilian snake-like creature, its main body up to the head looking much like a serpent would, with some parts being covered in scales, while others were coated with a strangely flesh-like something that was glowing an almost golden-green colour. Near where the body met the head, several long appendages broke off, almost looking like tree branches breaking off, a multitude of long, sickening fingers breaking off at odd angles, each being different and with a strange hook-like talon at the end of each. Its head, as was mentioned before, looked almost human, although where its eyes would be, instead it was completely covered over in flesh and in the forehead was most prominently featured a gem, glowing the same gold-green as its flesh, two horns coming from the top of its head that curled down to keep it in place, its mouth having sickeningly gnarled and broken teeth that were easily visible thanks to the sickening wide smirk it donned.
"GREED!" roared Phoenix, half to catch the beast's attention before he was dismissed as just another soldier, and half in rage at the fact that several of his armies best warriors would find themselves without a weapon against the enemy. Said beast turned its strange head and its neck seemed to crack upside down as it flipped it upside down to inspect he who had addressed him, the beast slithering closed so that its face was a mere inch away from Phoenix's, the beast's forked tongue flickering out for half a second before it growled in what seemed to be an annoyed tone.
"I knewest he wouldest send thee… gives it to me, whats youst have been taskested with…" it lisped out through its horribly deformed mouth, its tongue flicking spit everywhere with each syllable, Phoenix having to wipe the disgusting drool off of his mask, leaving his disgust unspoken so that their meeting would end far sooner than what he could bare.
He reached out his hand and held out the statuette, the beast in front of him recoiling slightly, licking its lips in anticipation, before flicking out one of its many arms, grasping it, and ripping it hastily from his grip, the beast snickering as a dark purple miasma surrounded him, much like what had happened to summon the statuette, engulfing the thing's figure until nothing was left, the mist dissipating almost as suddenly as it appeared. Just as Phoenix was about to leave, not at all knowing what had just happened, a whispering nagged at the back of his mind, the thing apparently speaking to him despite not being there.
"I wonderest how much funs I shall haved in the timest to come withs yer wee wittle kid that my master hast decided to shinest on"
Phoenix could only sigh as he realised just what the beast meant… the Shinigami was sending his generals to the future to assist in their efforts, rather than waste it on an unwinnable battle here… smart, but still, he couldn't help but feel the smallest bit annoyed at being left to have to figure it out for himself, knowing that if the stupid beast had't of said anything, he truly would have been none the wiser.
Throwing aside his doubts, he looked around him, sighing to himself for the umpteenth time that day as his troops moved around him to get at the enemy, his presence barely noted above the adrenaline-fueled combat that the soldiers were so engrossed him, the Emperor not even expecting any of them to have noticed the beast's dismissal or his arrival, knowing that General Winchester's troops were trained from their first days to be the blood-thirstiest and hardiest troops within his army. Despite his… unique training methods, he couldn't deny their effectiveness… no matter if six or seven of his hopeful recruits were eaten alive by a Wyvern before they were even allowed to pick up a sword.
Testament to their hardy combat-skills, he noted how some of the Vanguard's warriors who had their weapons stolen had proceeded to take such an action in stride and began bashing the Grimm with the reinforced fronts of their shields, slamming the edges into the beast's mouths and snapping their spines with the sheer force, moving onto their next target without even bothering to acknowledge they had even finished off their victim.
He smirked slightly and lifted off into the air, transforming into his avian form in the blink of an eye, flying off to the posts of his other Generals to relay his message, once again shifting his thoughts to the war in the future and the truly disgusting odds that his successor was faced with.
"I hope that whatever you are facing right now, you'll at least have the power to finish what I have started… for the fate of the world is in your hands"
[Current time – The Bannered Mare Inn – Room 273 – Currently rented to one Qrow Branwen]
A tense atmosphere filled the room, the silent notes of several trained warriors breathing being the only indication that any life was still present during such a time. Demon's brow was furrowed as he was focusing with all his might, his entire being knowing that if he made the tiniest of hesitations, the tiniest of misjudgements, then all would be lost. His hands were held with tight knuckles, sweat dripping from his brow in concentration, his eyes darting around the field of battle as his mind worked in overdrive to assess the situation to give him an assure victory, something he had assumed would come easily, but as luck would have it, he was proven wrong.
"Come on Demon! You can't lose now!" came an encouraging shout from the sidelines, his adrenaline-fueled mind only half-registering it as that of his eldest sister, other shouts being silenced as his hand was held up to stop the noise, intent on ensuring he would not be distracted.
His opponent made a move, a calm and calculated strategic attack that destroyed one of his pinnacle funnel points, several of his battle strategies crumbling with a single stroke, his eyes narrowing in hate of the one he was fighting. His hands unclasped and he slowly lifted them to begin his own plan of assault. His opponent would not fall to someone who made rash decisions in spur-of-the-moment thoughts… no, his careful planning must come into fruition for his victory to come about… one more baited line and his success was all but assured.
With a hastened movement, a simple faint to seem as though his attack was indeed made under the influence of adrenaline, rather than his usually tactful planning, he brought his troops towards the enemy, within striking range of many of his adversary's own battle lines. His opponents grin gave away their intent and he himself fought to control his own joy as they foolishly bit on the line, taking the bait and moving away from where his true strike would lie. After they moved too far away to revert what would have been a game-changing decision, he let his smugness show, a smirk overcoming him as his arm gravitated towards his next strike.
As quick as a flash, his warriors moved upon the enemy's leader and cut off all options of their escape, his destruction assured until Demon's troops orders, his victory achieved after hours of hard-fought battle.
"Checkmate" he announced smugly, his opponent's façade falling as they tried to comprehend the hard thoughts that they had lost, despite the undeniable fact that they themselves were only one move away from victory themselves.
"NO! THIS CAN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" came the anguished cry of his defeated enemy, a shrill tone produced from the vocal cords of one Weiss Schnee, their previous bravado at their aptitude ripped to shreds by their latest opponent. A cry of victory roared from those watching, several high-fiving and passing around wads of lien, mostly to Yang who was the instigator of such gambling, who herself was scowling slightly as most of the bets were in favour of Demon, so she wouldn't be getting as much as she'd liked.
"Better luck next time Snow Angel, never underestimate the King at his own game…" Demon chastised, reaching his hand across the table to congratulate a good game, Weiss begrudgedly accepting while mumbling about her own shortcomings, trying to tighten her grip into his wrist to convey her annoyance, only causing him to smirk as the late-heiress' strength wasn't really something to be marvelled at.
Weiss just growled and turned around to see the large post-match trading that was taking place, narrowing her eyes at Yang who only smirked in response while fanning herself with all the cash she'd earnt from her small betting circle. She noted that just about everyone was getting money handed to them for their winnings in Demon's victory.
"Did everyone seriously have that little faith in me!" she accused, annoyed to a new level at the fact that just about everyone had placed bets against her.
"Don't worry Weiss! I was rooting for you!" Ruby countered in her own defence, rushing to her teammates side to comfort her in her loss, Weiss narrowing her eyes before thanking her dolt of a partner under her breath, something that did not go unnoticed by Ruby herself who squealed and jumped up and down for finally not being insulted by Weiss.
"Yeah, only Rubes and Uncle Qrow decided to go with you…" Yang informed her as she was pocketing her money, the rest of the onlookers going back to their daily goings as the match had finished.
"No I didn't!" shouted said Uncle from his position laying on the couch with a bottle of alcohol in his hands as he narrowed his eyes at his niece. Yang sighed and threw him his own betting card, showing him that he did, in fact, place money on Weiss' victory. When he caught it, he narrowed his eyes to try and see through his hangover, swearing when he saw that he had bet on the wrong person.
"Goddamn it… well, there goes a well-earned pay check" he muttered, taking another swig of his drink before resting his head back on the couch and snoring not even a second later. Yang, Demon, Ruby and Weiss all laughed despite the situation and the atmosphere settled back into the normal feeling of familial gatherings, Demon sitting back in the nearby recliner as he recounted just what had led up to this.
As he began recounting the events of the night before, he cringed slightly as he remembered how his talk with Neo had gone. To say she had taken it well wasn't exactly the best way to put it, although it wasn't exactly the wrong way either. She had taken the entire thing in silence… although now that he thought about it, that wasn't much of a feat for her anyway… but, she had stayed past his explanation, passively eating the remainder of her meal before stating that she wouldn't be coming back to the hotel room with him just yet and still needed to decide what she was doing and also so she could have time to think over what she had learnt of him.
It had taken a fair amount of explaining for him to give her the whole picture, from his orphan days after his Mother's disappearances, all the way up until how he arrived in Remnant. He left nothing out so that she could gain the clearest picture as to his true nature as quickly as possible… although he might have neglected to tell her about the voice in his head and the fact that he was the Alpha of a pack of Grimm… but he guessed she'd have handled that even worse than everything else, and breaking that to her then with everything else probably wouldn't have been the best idea. After he had reluctantly let her leave (read: she teleported out of there before he could even say anything), he made his way back to his awaiting friends and immediately collapsed of exhaustion from the night. He was awoken the next day to find that Neo still hadn't returned, but a note was left to say that she would still be going with him, but as she had said earlier she needed some time.
He wasn't the least bit satisfied after what had happened the last time she was by herself in the city, but he respected her decision and so decided to kill some time until he began making his next moves in his plan against Salem. He had originally tried to find some place to train, but with no one else in the house other than Weiss and Blake, with everyone else out doing something that involved Shade Academy, which he apparently wasn't allowed to be in, he settled for something that wasn't exactly as taxing as actual combat training. He'd asked Blake for a friendly game of chess, the faunus accepting out of boredom (all her Ninja's of Love books were back in Menagerie) and so they began a friendly bout.
After several underhanded moves that were anything but friendly and proved that neither party intended to go down without a fight, and soon both were fighting like it was a true tournament, no move going unpunished by a staggering counter-attack or a massive advance with their pieces. After Demon took home the victory after being 1 piece up from Blake after whittling down their armies, Weiss had challenged him to another round; a simple asking that he knew was not to be taken lightly.
After almost thirty moves from the start, with neither shifting towards an overtly offensive or defensive stance, the battle had finally begun when the first was taken. From there on, each move had taken a significant amount of time to actually occur as neither wanted to waste a single second of what they had, thanking the fact that they had elected to not have a move-clock so that they could have the proper time to calculate strategies.
Halfway through the game, some of the others that were out in Mistral had come back including Jaune, Nora, Ren, Yang, Ruby, Tempest, Josh, Jaeger and Rosaline. Qrow and the midget kid had elected to stay out looking for something apparently, as far as Demon could tell with the half-attempt at overhearing the small talk. It didn't take long for the others to become invested in the tournament almost as much as the two participating and half as long after that for Yang to set up a betting ring.
Which led to where they were now, lounging around in the main area of their little room waiting for Qrow, the kid, Kira and Markus to return. Demon stood from his place at the table and offered a final congrats to Weiss for a good battle before heading off to the kitchen and searching through the fridge for something that he could snack on for a while, settling on sifting through Ruby's 'secret' cookie stash, appropriately labelled with the 'not cookies' label in what was obviously a cookie jar. He took out three and bit down on one, turning to close the fridge and nearly choking on it when he was startled to see Rosaline standing a mere foot away from him with her hands behind her back and a nervous expression adorning her features.
He tried to recover from the choking by coughing it up, only ending up making a weird hacking noise that made him hit his own chest a few times just to make the pieces stuck in his throat fall down the way they were meant to go eventually, his actual intentions going unnoticed by the girl in front of him as she assumed he was just startled by her presence.
"Are you okay?" she asked, hesitantly stepping forward and reaching out to see if she could help, Demon holding up a finger to motion for her to stop as he spent another few seconds to recover.
"Sorry for that…" he started, coughing once more to make sure he was done, before offering her a cookie out of respect, one that she graciously accepted, but didn't start eating immediately.
"It's alright" she said, her face suddenly blushing furiously as she bowed it down and began nervously nibbling at the top of her cookie while Demon suddenly felt very awkward just standing there doing nothing, knowing he had to do something to make it at least a little less stuffy for the two of them.
"So… is there anything you wanted to talk about" he asked, stopping his own munching so that he could devote his attention to her for the remainder of their talk. Rosaline was slightly startled at being addressed and almost choked on her own cookie for a second before recovering, not looking at him but still talking.
"Well, I was… ummm, wondering if we were still… you know… a thing?" she mumbled out, shuffling her feet nervously as she spoke, Demon's brow furrowing as she finished, trying to understand why she was suddenly like this.
"Why wouldn't we be?" he asked, still confused as to what brought about this sudden awkwardness, Demon stepping forward and grabbing her hand to show that he was still here and she didn't have to worry about what she was saying.
"It's just that… after last night, I thought you'd do the same thing as after Josh's Birthday… I'm sorry for… ummm, kissing you" she said nervously, almost as if she dreaded to hear his response, although she didn't make a move to break out of his touch as she continued to nervously nibble on her cookie. Demon nodded in understanding and smiled at her timidness, bringing her into a hug when he responded.
"You don't have to be sorry for something like that… I should be the one saying sorry for making you nervous and awkward when it comes to these things. And you don't need to worry about that ever happening again, I'm not going to leave you just because I'm too stupid or slow to comprehend what you want… I'm not exactly an expert on relationships, but from now on, I'm going to do my best" he said stalwartly, breaking out of the hug and looking into her eyes to show just how serious he was.
Rosaline smiled weakly and tried to say something only for it to be cut short when Demon placed a small kiss on her lips, her cheeks turning infinitely more red with embarrassment as she stood there in near shock.
"And if that doesn't prove it to you, then I don't know what will" he said, waiting for her to recover and sighing in relief as she smiled again in reply, placing her own kiss on his forehead before turning away quickly and almost running back to the main lounge. He smiled weakly to himself for at least being able to work up the courage to do what he had to, his thoughts being broken when Rosaline popped her head around the corner again.
"By the way, it's nice that you don't need to wear your helmet anymore…" she said shyly, darting off the second she had finished, only causing Demon to smile in content even more at the wonderful girl he had the pleasure of calling a girlfriend. As he sat in the kitchen finishing off the cookies, thinking over millions of things that were running through his brain at the moment, he was interrupted by a call from the front door, right after he heard it practically bust open.
"DEMON! GET HERE RIGHT NOW!" came the demanding and certainly very loud voice of Kira as she had no-doubt kicked down the door to get in. He sighed and quickly swallowed the last cookie, walking out to see Kira standing at the door with Markus, Qrow and the kid standing behind her, another kid standing next to her as well. He was roughly as tall as Kira, although he did look to only be 18, with a build to match that of what he'd expect from a Huntsman in training, which was only confirmed by the massive greatsword that was slung on his back. He wore a long, grey duster coat, brown leather boots and pants, a stylish set of black gauntlets with golden ornaments adorning his forearms, with a black tri-corn hat to finish off the look, a reddish-brown bandanna wrapping around the kids neck, but not disrupting his features.
"What do you need?" he asked, not being amused at being yelled at for something as trivial as this person.
"I require your assistance…" the new arrival spoke up, stepping forward and offering his hand out to Demon, the Pilot hesitantly looking at it for a few seconds before shaking it heartily, feeling a large amount of strength behind the kid's grip, no doubt honed through the use of the greatsword he had. Just as the kid was about to pull away, he leant in to Demon's ear and whispered something that instantly made the trained Pilot recoil and draw his pistol on the newcomer, centring the sights right on his forehead.
"I need the power of the Alpha in my hunt" had been his words… words which both had Demon intrigued and worried as to how this kid had found out something that only Tempest and himself had known.
"Explain now or you'll lack a head in ten seconds!" Demon quickly ordered, the new arrival not at all flinching with his actions, the others gathered around being entirely confused as to what was happening.
"I'm looking for someone and you're the only person who can help me right now… although I don't have anything to offer, it is imperative that I find who I'm looking for…" he explained cryptically. Demon was entirely unsatisfied and so continued to keep the pistol trained on him, the newcomer understanding the gesture and continuing, "I can't say anything else, so if you would allow it, I'll leave now if you have no intention of offering your assistance"
"With that trickle of info and what you said, I've got more inclination to kill you right now…" replied Demon, staying his trigger finger despite being sure the ten seconds was up.
"Well then… I won't say anything to anyone else, so there's no need to waste a bullet… I'll be on my way now" he said, not giving anything else before turning swiftly and walking out the door, the kid and Qrow stepping aside to let him pass. Demon still wasn't sure what to do, so he waited for him to be gone before lowering his weapon, narrowing his eyes at the door where he last saw him, still wondering how he could have possible known one of his most kept secrets.
"I probably should have said something sooner, but there is something you should know about him Captain…" spoke up Markus, not even bothering to look up as he was engrossed in the datapad that was in his hands, the figure of what looked to be a human body being superimposed on the screen.
"And that would be?" Demon questioned, showing his annoyance that the Pilot hadn't said anything sooner.
"He's part Grimm…"
[During the before stated incident]
Greed could only look on in amusement at the motley gang of 'soldiers' that were in the room in front of him. He had arrived only a short time ago, but a short time was all he needed to be bored with these people. What's more, there wasn't even any gold or valuables here to steal while he was waiting! He had sensed his Alpha on his arrival, currently embodied within the vessel of what looked to be the descendent of that messenger that his Alpha had utilised the help of.
Needless to say though, he couldn't find a suitable host himself to hide his form and he wasn't happy with staying as the tiny snake he was currently disguised as for the rest of his time here. None of them looked malleable enough. The boy in green was too… mellow and calm, the blonde one was just… well, dumb if he was being honest. The one that kept looking at his hair was WAY too much like Pride for his liking, and the one with the large looking boomsticks was just… well, he could smell a fourth-wall breaker from a mile away and he wasn't putting up with that shit anymore that he had to back with Gluttony.
The girls were out of the question as he already sensed one of those damned Seraphim with one of them, although he couldn't quite pinpoint which one without revealing it to them, which would to serious things to the shortening of his lifespan. His decisions were shortening until he finally set his sights on one that would serve his purpose. One of them did seem to have a large amount of gold ornamentation on his battle-gear and a rather expensive-looking gauntlet that he was working on.
"Well, best of the worst they do say"
He slithered towards his quarry and shifted into the ethereal plane, quickly beginning his soul-latch and sunk his very being into his quarry in the space of a few seconds, the familiar feeling of his non-being surrounding Greed's form as he finished the transference with his host. He smiled at himself as he looked around the confines of this mortal's mind, pulling at old and new memories to try and find what he had to work with.
"Oh, what fun it'll be… I'm sure my Lord won't mind if I have a little fun before I make myself known"