Hm, odd. Of all the times to begin writing this, I pick the time when I am waiting for my family to get dressed for my graduation ceremony. Eh, seems about right.
Sorry for the long wait… again. I've just being working like crazy for finals, and then I have graduation. The plus side is that, come summer, I will have more free time to write! Yay!
One thing that I noticed in most of the reviews was pointing out how Percy should have been way more resistant to Cinder's fire. I had his fire resistance in mind when writing, but I can get carried away when writing a fight, so I tend to forget some things like that, or I won't properly explain/convey what I'm thinking correctly. Just a little sorry for that point.
On another note, one of the reasons why this took so long was because I've honestly been putting it off. I've been conflicted with deciding how I want the story to go from here, as this is a crucial point in the story, and I can't go back if I pick wrong. Just from reading all the reviews, I am struggling to pick with what the audience wants to see, and what I've wanted to do since the start. I finally decided on a sort of compromise; I will go with my original plot line, but save something I wanted to do for a different story.
Hopefully you all enjoy what I've decided on.
"Percy" means speech
'Jackson' means thought
*RWBY* means telepathy/illusions
Black blood flew through the air, trailing from the tip of Crescent Rose as it repeatedly cut through the hide of the Grimm Wyvern. Racing back over to Weiss, Ruby staggered slightly, having to take several deep breaths to steady herself. "Y'know, its kinda like the stories that I would read as a kid." Ruby said to her partner, who was trying to stay concentrated on keeping her familiar summoned.
"And how's that?" Weiss replied, deciding to simply go along with her partner's randomness.
"Well," Ruby started. "It's like the classic fairy tales; a knight fighting to slay the fearsome dragon." Ruby explained, watching as Weiss' familiar slashed at the membrane of the dragon's wing. The attack seemed to work, severing the skin, and sending a black mist spewing from the wound, wafting through the air. "Yes!" Ruby cheered, pumping her fist.
Roaring in pain, the dragon swept its tail around, smacking the large, white knight into the side of a pillar. Before Weiss could command it to do anything, the dragon placed its foot on top of the knight, dwarfing the familiar in size. It's tail whipped around, spearing the knight through the chest, pinning it in place. Unable to resist, the knight could barely struggle as the dragon clamped its jaws around the head and shoulders of the familiar. With the sound of shattering glass, the knight burst into thousands of small blue slivers of light, drifting away on an unfelt breeze.
Weiss slumped, relaxing due to no longer having to concentrate on keeping the knight summoned. The dragon roared in triumph, the ground shaking. "So, any ideas on how to take this thing out?" Weiss asked, keeping herself propped up by her sword.
"Well…" Ruby began, before her attention was drawn to the wing which had previously been torn up. The black mist slowly stopped seeping from the membrane, as the two sides seemed to reform together, a black muck covering the wound. As the muck quickly dried out, it cracked and began falling off, leaving behind a perfectly intact wing membrane. "You have got to be kidding." Ruby deadpanned, watching as several other gashes and cuts began to mend, albeit at a much slower rate.
The dragon looked over at them, its eyes glowing in malice. Weiss and Ruby prepared themselves for it to charge, before the ground shook suddenly. There were several shouts of alarm, and oddly enough, laughing. The dragon looked over in the direction of the sounds, and locked its attention onto the demigod currently hovering in the air, trying to drown the three men before him.
Screeching in anger, the dragon charged right by them, not even sparing them a second's thought. Percy, who had been glaring down at the struggling men snapped his head up to meet the new threat. Bringing his hand up into a fist, the water surged to meet the charging dragon, slamming into its torso with a mighty crash.
The water swirled around the great beast, which continued to thrash about, trying to reach Percy. Sweeping around the creature, the water began to swirl solely around the dragon. The dragon struggled to keep its head out of the water. It's wings were made for pushing it through the sky, not through raging waters. As Percy forced the water down the throat of the beast, trying to quickly drown it, he had to quickly send a geyser at Tyrian, who had recovered and sprung at him whilst he was distracted.
The spout of water knocked Tyrian away, the faunus easily landing on the slick ground. Keeping his eyes on his attackers, Percy felt the water around the injured wing of the dragon, forcing the liquid to solidify and bend to his will. The screeches of the great beast drew everyone's attention, as it thrashed about, hopelessly trying to free itself.
Grimacing in effort, Percy felt, and heard, as the joint of the wing that he had previously damaged began to creak. With one final push of effort, he felt the joint and bones of the Wyvern give way, snapping with a massive crack. The beast continued to roar in pain as Percy rushed water into the wound, then froze it, causing it to expand. Surely enough, the wing was quickly severed from the rest of its body. The wing fell to the ground with a massive thud, dissolving into black ash and smoke quickly.
The screeching of the dragon was so intense that Percy's ears began to bleed. Unable to hear, Percy didn't react until the bullets from Tyrian's gun hit him in the torso, leaving scorch marks, and the flesh having gone numb from the electric shots. Seeing the smiling Tyrian, as well as his two compatriots, Percy slowly lowered himself to the ground. Percy couldn't see where Cinder had gone, her body having probably been swept away in his initial attack.
Readying his sword, Percy scanned the trio. "So, enjoy your little bath?" Percy asked, watching as Adam scowled deeper, and Hazel just grunted. The three of them slowly spread out, with Adam and Tyrian flanking him on either side, and Hazel standing in front of him. "I don't suppose we could settle this over a drink, or something?" Percy asked humorously.
"I don't think so." Tyrian cackled, twitching in excitement. Percy merely sighed, nodding his head in acceptance. Clicking his wrist blades out, Tyrian rushed in, slashing wildly at Percy. Percy was able to either block or parry most swipes, managing to grab hold of Tyrian's wrist. Before he could do anything to capitalize on this, he was forced to jump back to avoid a slash from Adam's red blade.
Adam's fighting was much more calculating than Tyrian's. Whilst Tyrian seemed to attack at whatever opening he could, twisting and bending to create openings of his own, Adam was solid in his stance, and had very little wasted movement.
Percy kept his defensive stance, unsure what to do. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Weiss and Ruby were continuing to attempt to slay the Grimm dragon, which was trying to limp away, whilst destroying as much as possible. His moment of distraction nearly cost him as Adam suddenly appeared before him, with Tyrian not far behind.
Blocking and parrying was Percy's only option, being forced to give ground as he was forced back by the two fighters. Locking his blade between Tyrian's, he shoved his sword to the side, knocking away Adam's blade using Tyrian. Jumping back, Percy took his time to analyze the two.
Feeling the water around himself, Percy carefully spread it over the ground. Watching as the two of them made their way towards him, he waited. All at once, Adam sprung forth, and Tyrian leapt to the air. Rolling to the side, Percy felt as the water froze into a perfectly smooth plain of ice. Adam struggled to stop his charge, whilst Tyrian slammed face first into the ground as he slipped upon landing.
Running forward, Percy kicked Tyrian, who was struggling to get to his feet on the flawless surface, in the side of the head, sending the man skittering across the ice, his head violently hitting the ground. Turning back to Adam, Percy watched as the White Fang lieutenant constantly adjusted his stance, never solidly planting down. Surging forth, Percy clashed with the older man, sparks flying with each strike.
Sweeping his legs out from under him, Percy tried to drive Riptide into Adam's chest, only for the terrorist to roll to the side. Shakily getting to his feet, Adam smirked at Percy, his sword glowing red lightly. Sheathing his sword, Percy watched cautiously as all the red on Adam began to glow violently. Quickly swiping his sword vertically in Percy's direction, Percy watched as a red slice of energy rapidly sped towards him, tearing up the ground and ice it traveled over.
Diving to the side, Percy barely avoided the energy wave, the attack continuing for several dozen more feet before dissipating. Slowly getting to his feet, Percy scanned the ground. The ice had either been destroyed or evaporated due to Adam, and Tyrian was getting back to his feet. Readying himself for another attack, Percy watched as Tyrian looked over at him, before a wide grin broke out on his face.
"What's got him so happ-" Percy began to say. 'Where's the big guy?' His mind cut him off. Whirling around, Percy slashed out with Riptide. The sword made contact, causing Hazel's Aura to flare, but the massive man simply pressed forward, as if he hadn't been attacked at all. Grabbing Percy by the neck, Hazel lifted Percy into the air, driving his large fists into Percy's stomach and chest, knocking the air out of him and breaking another two ribs.
Pain exploded throughout Percy as he was slammed into the ground, causing cracks and a small crater to form beneath him. Percy couldn't stop the blood that he coughed up. "It didn't need to be this difficult, Percy." Hazel said, though Percy could barely make out what he said, his ears ringing and vision spinning. Grabbing Percy by his torn shirt, Hazel lifted the battered teen up to eye level.
Percy's head bobbed, never looking Hazel in the eye. Percy grumbled something, his voice barely audible at all. "What?" Hazel asked gruffly, shaking Percy slightly.
"I said…" Percy began, "this is going to hurt.". Rearing his leg back, Percy kicked with all the might that his sore legs could muster right into Hazel's crotch. The big man immediately hunched over, dropped Percy, who then slashed several times at the downed man's torso before firing a torrent of water at him, sending him flying away. Turning back to his two other opponents, Percy watched as the two faunus eyed him warily. "So, who else wants to talk?" Percy asked tiredly, though trying not to let his exhaustion show.
Tyrian smiled, taking off his overcoat and letting his scorpion tail flit about, as if it had a mind of its own. "Ooooo, I do love it when they have a bit of bite to them!" Tyrian giggled madly. "Well, we tried it your way, Hazel. Now we do it my way!" Tyrian continued to cackle, looking at the downed Hazel. "Care to join me, brother?" Tyrian asked Adam, who merely scoffed.
"You may be a faunus, but that doesn't make us brothers." Adam said, readying his sword again.
Percy dug his stance deeper, waiting for their attack when another furious roar filled the air. Looking in its direction, Percy saw that the one-winged dragon was desperately throwing itself against Beacon Tower, trying to knock it down. The Tower, though strong, was beginning to crack at the base. Ruby was doing everything she could to slay the beast, and Weiss had summoned her knight again, but neither was faring particularly well.
Glancing back at his opponents, Percy cursed before rushing back to the Tower. Looking over his shoulder he saw them quickly catching up to him. Summoning as much water as he could, Percy formed a massive wall of water between him and his pursuers, freezing it solid. The wall was too high to jump over, and too wide to go around. 'Hopefully that will keep them off my back for awhile.' Percy thought, continuing his sprint to the dragon.
Weiss and Ruby stood a fair ways away, breathing deeply. Weiss' knight had managed to push the Wyvern back away from the Tower, and was struggling to keep it away. With one great torrent of black and purple flame, the knight was, once again, destroyed. As the beast limped over to the Tower, Percy turned to the two exhausted girls. "I know how to kill that thing." Percy said.
"Huh? How?" Weiss asked tiredly, struggling to stay standing. "We've tried everything, and that dragon just keeps shrugging it off. The only thing that's really harmed it was when you tore its wing off." Weiss explained.
"Which was so awesome!" Ruby cheered weakly, also extremely tired.
"Just trust me?" Percy asked.
The partners looked at each other, unsure, but both shrugged. "Sure, whats to lose?" Weiss groaned. "What do you need?".
"Weiss, I need as much water as you can give me. I used most of it to keep those creeps at bay with the ice wall." Percy responded, gesturing to said wall.
The girls looked over at it, as if only just now noticing its sudden appearance. "Huh."
"Ruby, I'll need you to give me a boost." Percy commanded. Ruby grinned, seeming to get his plan. Weiss began to release torrents of water from the Dust that she had on her, completely depleting the crystals.
Placing his foot onto the blade of Crescent Rose, Percy yelled "Now!". With several gunshots to enhance the throw, Ruby flung Percy as high and far as possible. Once he had reached the peak of his arc, Percy used what little water he had to form a large icicle, the point as sharp as could be. With the dragon trying to bash down the Tower with its body, its neck was exposed. Diving down, Percy used whatever strength he could to drive the icicle spear into the back of the Wyvern's neck, right where the base of the skull met its neck.
The dragon screeched in pain, thrashing around. Percy jumped off the icicle, landing several feet away. "Ready!" Weiss called. Taking control of all the water Weiss had conjured, Percy raised it into the sky, freezing it into a giant block of ice.
"Weiss! Can you keep its head in place?" Percy called, desperately.
"On it!" Weiss replied. Driving Myrtenaster into the ground, a large, black glyph appeared below her. As she did this, several more black glyphs appeared around the neck and head of the Wyvern, keeping its head from thrashing about. With a great yell, Percy rocketed the ice block back down to earth, aimed straight for the icicle half-buried in the back of the Wyvern's neck.
Upon impact, the icicle was driven all the way through the neck of the large beast. The tip of the icicle was pointing out of the front of the dragon's throat, and bits of its shattered spine had been forced out of its neck, with various small exit wounds around its neck. The large Grimm wavered, slowly tipping to its side. Falling to the ground, the earth shook upon impact, causing Ruby and Weiss to both fall over, with Percy barely left standing, using Riptide to prop himself up.
Hearing the last gust of air leave its great maw, the three watched as the corpse began to dissolve in the usual black, sludgy smoke. As the flesh flaked away, it left behind the pure white skeleton of the creature, before that too began to dissolve. The bones turned into a white dust, falling to the ground, and blowing away in an unfelt wind.
"Wow." Ruby said, slightly in awe that they had killed it. "You know, if this were a superhero movie, this would be the time when dramatically triumphant music would start playing." Ruby said, earning a grin from Percy, who was kneeling down to rest.
Weiss rolled her eyes. You are both such dolt-" Weiss was abruptly cut off as a hand clamped over her mouth, silencing the scream she tried to release.
Spinning around to help, Ruby was met with two gun barrels pointed in her face, before something began to wrap around her neck. Choking out a cry of distress, she swung madly with her scythe, only for her weapon to be knocked from her hands.
Percy shot to his feet at the first sound of distress from Weiss, unable to help as Adam grabbed her, covering her mouth, and placing his glowing blade at her throat. As he was about to summon water to drown the offending faunus, Tyrian called out to him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tyrian said, laughing. Poised right beside Ruby's neck was the scorpion stinger of Tyrian. Tyrian's eyes, which had previously been a toxic yellow, had shifted into a deep purple.
Growling, Percy shifted into an attack stance, not sure what to do. "Ah ah ahhh." Tyrian taunted. "None of that, now. Now, toss your sword over.".
Percy did as he was told, tossing Riptide lightly in their direction. "Let her go." Percy demanded.
Laughing darkly, Tyrian's stinger inched ever closer to Ruby's soft neck, who was desperately trying to shift away in Tyrians hold. "Or what?"
The taunt seemed to still Percy. What could he do? Both his friends were at the mercy of homicidal maniacs, and who would have no problem with killing them. Percy had thrown away his sword in the foolish hope that they would release Ruby and Weiss. He could try summoning water to free them, but their enhanced faunus hearing might hear it coming, and if that happened, they were as good as dead.
Percy's mind ran through his very limited options, discarding the most risky of them, and only leaving him with one. "I'll come with you." Percy stated, shocking not only Tyrian and Adam, but also himself. "I give up. I will go with you, wherever you want me to go, just let them go." Percy bargained.
"That's not happening." Adam declared. "We've been after little miss snow princess here for years, and I'll be damned if I let this opportunity go now." Adam said, pressing his late against Weiss' neck even harder, drawing a small drop of blood.
Weiss was looking at Percy, frantically pleading with him not to do something so stupid, but also wanting to be away from this madman. Ruby's eyelids drooped, her head bobbing, the oxygen-deprived girl struggling to remain conscious.
"Well, Her Grace also seemed interested in the young Rose as well. Hmm, perhaps we should just take you both!" Tyrian said happily, seemingly coming to a conclusion. With a joyous laugh, he reared back his stinger before shooting it at Ruby's neck.
The satisfying feeling of stinging a person didn't come, however. Instead, it felt as though Tyrian's tail had become a rock.
Frowning, Tyrian looked at his tail, which was still by Ruby's neck. The tip of his stinger had stopped just before it had touched Ruby's neck, not moving in the slightest. His frown deepening, Tyrian tried again, only this time his tail stopped moving altogether. It was almost to his horror when he watched as his tail began releasing Ruby from its hold, setting the girl gently on the ground. Pain flooded through his body, as his tail twitched and spammed. It felt as though his blood was boiling.
Looking over to his faunus brother, Tyrian saw that the same thing was happening to Adam. Adam had by now dropped his sword, and convulsing in pain. The Schnee had been released, and she had rushed over to stand beside Percy, whose eyes seemed to glow with the darkest blue imaginable. "Weiss, grab Ruby." Percy commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument, not that he would receive any. Weiss hastily dragged Ruby over to them, propping up the poor girl, who was struggling to breath, coughing roughly.
Clenching his fist, Percy watched as the faunus before him writhed in pain, their blood either superheating then freezing, or flowing in reverse or not at all. Their Auras could do nothing as their bodies destroyed themselves from the inside. Feeling the quickly approaching mass, Percy lashed his powers out, latching onto Hazel as well, whose eyes immediately widened in shock and fear.
Taking a deep breath, Percy slowly approached Hazel, who was still frozen mid-punch, and still keeping the other two in horrendous pain. "I bet you are all wondering what is going on, hm?" Percy asked patronizingly. "Well, since I doubt you have much brains in all that brawn, I'll explain. Most of the body is made up of water, so, that naturally falls under my abilities." Percy explained, with Hazel's eyes growing ever more fearful as his blood seemed to be tearing itself apart.
Walking back over to Adam, Percy picked up his sword. The terrorist was struggling to breath, what little air he could get in not being nearly enough to keep him fully conscious. "Weiss, take Ruby back to the docks. I'll meet up with you there." Percy commanded.
"No." Came Weiss' reply. Looking back towards Weiss, Percy's face scrunched in frustration. "If I go now, you are no doubt going to kill them." Weiss stated.
"And? If I let them live, they are only going to come back stronger, and I can't let that happen." Percy said, growing angry at Weiss' sudden compassion for these degenerates.
"And, if I leave you to kill them, then you are no different then they are!" Weiss shouted, Ruby slowly waking again.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Percy said, his sudden calm anger unnerving Weiss greatly. "These aren't some common thugs, who will change their ways after being thrown in prison! These are true villains. If I don't deal with them now, they are only going to come after us again, and they are going to keep doing so until we are dead, or they are dead." Percy said, jabbing his sword in the directions of the writhing prone figures on the ground.
"Please… don't do it, Percy." Ruby's strained voice struggled to get out. "Please don't."
Percy seemed to soften as he looked at Ruby's tearful silver eyes. "Ruby…" Percy tried, only to trail off as he continued to look at Ruby. As he continued to stare, the pain slowly began to subside in Percy's victims, though they were all kept immobile.
"You don't need to kill them. We can hand them over to Ironwood, and then he can deal with them; you don't need to do this." Ruby pleaded.
Percy lowered his sword, letting his arms fall to his side. Breaking eye contact, Percy stared at the ground. His gaze then swept over the pained forms of Tyrian, Adam, and Hazel. Then he looked at the destroyed landscape of Beacon, and at the burning sky near the city below. "No.".
Ruby seemed taken aback by his simple reply. "Wh-what?" Ruby asked fearfully.
"No. I can't risk losing everyone I care about again. I'm sorry, but I have to." Percy replied, walking back over to Adam, Percy raised his sword over the faunus' chest, hesitating for a moment. Pain exploded in his stomach as a bullet tore through his abdomen. Stumbling back, Percy narrowly managed to block several more incoming projectiles.
Squinting through the pain, Percy watched as Emerald slowly made her way forwards, her sickle gun-blades ready to cut him down "Percy!" Ruby and Weiss shouted, trying to summon the strength to fight.
Emerald stood alongside Mercury, who was helping to keep Cinder standing. Switching so that Emerald was supporting Cinder, Mercury fired several air rounds at Percy. Despite blocking them with his sword, the rounds still exploded in a bursts of air, sending him sprawling on his back. As the trio made their way over to Percy, Emerald made sure to keep an eye on Weiss and Ruby, who were still trying to stand. Limping over to Percy, Cinder sneered. "And to think that you caused so much trouble for us. Well, no matter. There is always a way to fix that!"
Cinder's eyes burned brightly, before a massive torrent of flame spewed from her hands, completely engulfing Percy, and the smell of burnt hair quickly clouding the area. "Percy!" Ruby cried dropping to her knees, tears trailing down her cheeks.
Halting her geyser of fire, Cinder had a very smug smile on her face, glad to have rid herself of such a big nuisance. However, her smugness quickly turned to horror as she saw that Percy was not only still there and intact, but also almost completely unharmed, save for some burnt hair and clothes. Standing up slowly, Percy watched the panic in Cinder's eyes as she desperately tried to fry him again, sending wave after wave of fire at his chest. "Enough!" Percy shouted, grabbing Cinder by the wrist.
To say they were shocked would be an understatement. Emerald and Mercury had fully expected to see little but a skeleton after Percy faced the full brunt of their boss' power. Instead, they cringed in horror as the wrist that Percy was holding Cinder by was crushed, her skin instantly turning blood-red. "No!" Emerald yelled, raising her guns to shoot Percy.
Without even flicking his wrist, Percy sent tendrils of water to shoot up, wrench the weapons from Emerald's grasp, and wrap around not only Emerald's neck, but everyone present, except for Ruby and Weiss.
"See what I mean?" Percy asked rhetorically. Stifling the cough, Percy spit the blood out of his mouth. His attention was drawn back over to Hazel. In his inattentiveness, Hazel had grabbed several pieces of yellow and white Dust from his pocket, and had stabbed them into his arms, small, thin, multi-coloured tendrils snaking out along his arms. With a massive grunt, he thrust his fists forwards, sending a powerful blast of air and electricity at Percy, who was hit square in the chest, sending the demigod flying several feet back before hitting the ground.
Slowly climbing to his feet, he watched as Tyrian, Mercury, and all the others slowly got to their feet, having been released from his restraints. Percy couldn't help but cough, spitting out the blood that accompanied it. Stumbling as he stood up, he watched as Adam was the first to stand. Gripping his sword, Adam sent several slashes Percy's way, each one sending a small red energy wave.
Rolling to the side, Percy avoided the first volley, and was forced to use his sword to block the second volley. Adam rushed forwards, taking quick, precise slashes at Percy, and keeping Percy on the defence using Blush's rifle mode. Percy, to his credit, though exhausted and battered, still managed to keep up with Adam's fast attacks.
With every strike that connected between their swords, Wilt glowed even brighter. Locking weapons, both swordsman stared at one another. "Getting tired, old man?" Percy quipped. Adam sneered in response, quickly pulling back several feet. Digging in, all the red on Adam began to glow violently. Drawing his sword, Adam sent a massive blast of red energy at Percy, who was too close to dodge. Putting Riptide in front of him, he braced for impact. When the attack slammed into him, he could feel himself being pushed back, his feet struggling to find a grip on the wet ground. Angling his blade slightly, Percy shoved off, pushing himself away from the blast, and diverting the wave away from him, Riptide feeling like an iron. Swaying on his feet, Percy sent a harsh glare to Ruby and Weiss, hoping they would get the hint to leave. "You know, for a bull, you seem to really like the colour red." Percy remarked. "Olé!".
Adam simply stared at him, most likely glaring daggers at Percy behind his mask. Raising his sword out to his side, Adam simply said, "Hazel.". Taking the cue, Hazel channeled as much power as he could muster, sending several bursts out at Adam's sword. Wilt seemed to absorb the energy, glowing so bright that it hardly appeared red anymore. Taking his stance once more, Adam sheathed his sword, all the red on him also glowing near-white.
Percy's eyes widened, and he quickly summoned as much water as he could in front of him. Forming a thick ice wall, Percy prepped himself. He could see the energy wave approaching, it seeming like it was red, white and black all at once. As it collided with the ice wall, Percy could hear the sound of the ice immediately being completely vaporized, the ice on his side of the wall melting and bubbling. As it smashed through, the wave wasn't like previous ones. It had been hampered by the ice wall, but most of the energy was still there. The wave itself was not in a shape of a slice, but rather, like an explosion, too spread out to avoid, tearing up the ground as it approached.
Percy could only place his faith in Riptide. Bracing himself, he slashed downwards as the wave reached him. He could barely hear a thing, the only noise being the explosion of the energy continuing to assault him. For several seconds, Percy could barely make out the image of his sword cutting through the energy wave, glowing brightly due to the heat, the bright light of the attack nearly blinding him.
*crack*
All at once, unbearable pain was all that Percy felt. It wasn't quite as bad as the River Styx, but it was damn close. It felt like his body was going to dissolve, just like in the River. He was thrown back, and felt his body hit something solid, slumping to the ground. Smoke billowed off his body. His hands were violently shaking, and his nerves felt like they had been fried. Riptide laid several feet away. The sword had been broken halfway up the blade, the rest nowhere to be seen.
He could barely see his sword, not noticing the arguing Adam and Hazel. He couldn't call any water to him, and barely felt any around. He was completely spent. Red and white blobs filled his vision, their voices muffled and broken. They were both desperately trying to either drag him away, or pick him up; he couldn't tell.
"Percy! Percy, get up!" Ruby shouted, trying to shake the injured demigod awake. "We gotta get outta here!". The only response she received was a moan of pain from Percy. "Weiss, we have to get going!".
Weiss seemed to be in shock, seeing how hurt Percy had been. His flesh looked to have burns all over, his ears were bleeding, and his entire body was smoking. "I… I don't…" Weiss mumbled, her brain struggling to process this information.
"Weiss, please, help me!" Ruby cried, seeing their attackers had stopped arguing and were beginning to approach them. Grabbing one of Percy's arms, she tried to fruitlessly drag him away, with Weiss finally snapping out of her shock, doing her best to drag him as well. Seeing them approaching faster than they were dragging Percy away, Ruby stood up, gripping Crescent Rose with shaking hands. "Get him back to the docks! I'll hold them off as long as I can!"
Ruby shot off, slashing at Tyrian and Hazel. Tyrian had a small smile on his face, as though he were dealing with a cute puppy, dodging and twisting away from Ruby's strikes. Hazel barely reacted at all, grabbing Ruby's scythe, and throwing both away from him. Ruby landed hard on the ground, rolling away before standing up, growling quietly. "This fight is over. Give up, and we will let you and your partner leave peacefully." Hazel said, gaining a shocked and angry stare from Adam, but was quickly put in his place by a similar glance from Hazel.
"No! I won't abandon a friend in need!" Ruby shouted, charging the large man. Her scythe was stopped an inch from Hazel due to Tyrian grabbing the handle of Crescent Rose, halting her momentum entirely.
Hazel's arm shot out, gripping Ruby by the neck, and hoisting her into the air. "Tyrian, Mercury; go get Percy. We're done here. Adam? Destroy the Tower." Hazel commanded, with them following his orders, albeit begrudgingly in Adam's case.
Ruby tried to free herself from Hazel's grasp, kicking at him, but Hazel kept her at arms distance. Tears leaked out of Ruby's eyes. She managed to look over to where Weiss and Percy were. Weiss hadn't made it too far, and was frantically trying to fend off Mercury and Tyrian by swiping her rapier at them, though neither seemed too threatened. As Weiss was kicked in the side of the head by Mercury, she watched as Weiss' Aura shimmered once before breaking, leaving the girl completely defenceless on the ground.
Seeing the two of her friends being dragged back, something snapped inside Ruby.
Hazel's shock lasted only for a moment. Ruby's eyes began to glow silver, before a massive wave of silver light engulfed everyone in the area. When the light faded, Ruby was standing over Hazel, who was on the ground, clutching his face in pain. Turning around in shock, Tyrian's face fell before a wide grin came across his lips. "I thought we had killed all of you! Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!" Tyrian said, with Mercury looking at him in shock and confusion.
Tyrian rushed off, completely forgetting about Percy, leaving Mercury standing overtop of Weiss and Percy. Tyrian slashed at Ruby, only for the reaper to swipe at his arm, cutting a gash in his sleeve and Aura. Ruby struck much faster than before, much faster than he expected, forcing Tyrian to go on the defensive, but was still manageable.
Percy shook his head, trying to clear the fogginess from his vision. He could barely make out Weiss beside him, but as his sight cleared, he could see Ruby, eyes glowing silver, fighting off Tyrian, with Emerald trying to protect Cinder and herself. Standing near them, and looking rather uncertain, was Mercury, facing away from Percy. Reaching into his pocket, Percy pulled out Riptide, and, flicking off the cap, revealed the sword to still be broken in half.
Lunging at the shocked Mercury, Percy repeatedly brought the hilt down on the mercenary's head. Standing over the unconscious grey-coloured teen, Percy looked back at Ruby's fight. Ruby was in a much rougher shape than before. Her combat skirt was torn in several places, one of her sleeves had been completely ripped off, and several bruises littered her pale skin. Hazel had once again gotten to his feet, and a severe burn went across his face, blistering and bloody. One of Hazel's eyes had turned red, a blood vessel having broken.
Swaying on his feet, Percy struggled to keep his balance. Trying his best, he shuffled over to the battle, calling whatever water he could to himself. He could only muster several litres. A quick drink and douse of water energized him, but it wasn't enough to mend the broken ribs, and strained joints. As he neared their fight, Percy felt the blood in Tyrian and Hazel.
Tyrian managed to wrap his tail around the handle of Crescent Rose, holding it in place. Ruby flinched, seeing Hazel about to bring his massive fist down against her head. Shutting her eyes she awaited the pain, but felt none. Peeking her eye open, she saw that both of her assailants had frozen, and their eyes had gone wide. Looking over to where Percy was, she saw he was standing, Mercury on the ground, and Percy had his hands out, as if he was holding them in place.
Yanking her scythe from Tyrian's grip, Ruby rushed over to Percy, who brought his arms back before shoving them forwards, sending Tyrian and Hazel flying. Dropping to his knees once more, Percy struggled to breath, coughing up blood onto the ground. As he shook his head, he stared at the ground. "We need to go." Percy managed to get out, glancing up at Ruby. Ruby seemed to stare down at Percy, her still glowing eyes slowly fading. As the glow finally left Ruby's eyes, her pupils dilated, and rolled into the back of her head. Percy barely managed to grab her before she hit the ground. "Dammit!" Percy cursed, trying to drag Ruby away.
Looking up, he saw that Weiss had awoke, and was shuffling over to them. Struggling to stand, Percy lifted Ruby up as well, slowly walking over, trying simply to keep his balance. It was then that he felt something grab onto his ankle. Looking down, he saw a small portal on the ground, almost exactly like the ones that had appeared in Camp Half-Blood. Coming out of the portal was a long, thick black cord. At the end of the cord was a clawed hand, wrapped around his ankle.
Without warning, several more clawed hands shot from the portal, grasping his arms and legs. "WEISS! CATCH!" Percy shouted, managing to toss Ruby's body away from himself and the portal before a hand could latch onto Ruby. Weiss was hit by Ruby's body, knocking both down to the ground. No matter how much Percy struggled, he couldn't free himself from the goo-like appendages, which only held him tighter. "What the Hades are these things?" Percy said to himself, struggling to move.
"Oh, I think you may have slightly bigger problems than that at the moment." A smooth, cold voice said behind him. He could hear whoever it was behind him make their way around him.
When they entered his field of vision, Percy couldn't help but be shocked. Standing before him was a tall woman. She could be considered very beautiful, if it wasn't for the black and red eyes, as well as the black veins running across her face and arms. Her skin was a ghostly white, and she carried herself with a presence that made it known that she was superior to you in every way.
"So, you are the great Perseus that I have been hearing so much about? I can certainly say that you do not disappoint." The woman said, as she stalked closer. Grabbing his chin, she turned his head every which way, examining him. Seeming satisfied with whatever she was searching for, she stepped back.
"Look lady, I don't know who you are, but I just want to take my friends and go home. We've had quite the night partying." Percy remarked, staring her down.
The woman seemed to chuckle lightly at this. "Of course you know me! Dear Ozpin wouldn't let you into his little inner circle without telling you about me.".
Percy's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting her to be the one Ozpin spoke of. "Salem, Queen of the Grimm, huh? I should feel honoured that you came to see me." Percy remarked, looking for a way out. "If you really wanted to just talk with me, you could have just called."
"Ah, but I wanted to see you in person. Someone of your caliber should be given at least that much respect." Salem replied, her eyes flashing red as more claws shot out of the portal, almost completely engulfing the demigod. Salem's attention was drawn away from Percy when she noticed Weiss struggling to scurry off with the unconscious Ruby. "So, there is the Silver-Eyed Warrior I sensed. Don't be rude, Percy. Introduce me to your friends here." Salem said, summoning several more clawed arms. The claws rocketed towards the two girls. Weiss shrieked, unsure whether she would survive much longer.
The clearing was filled with a bright, white light, forcing all but Salem to cover their eyes. The claws dissolved immediately, never reaching their target. When the light had died down, in its place was a bloodied and battered Ozpin. "Don't touch them." Ozpin growled out, holding his cane like a sword. The blood leaking out of Ozpin was gold, shining like a newly minted coin.
Salem, seeing him, simply sighed. "Oh, Ozpin. I would think our little family reunion downstairs would have left you all worn out." Salem said, placing a hand on her hip. Ozpin didn't reply, and simply readjusted his grip on his weapon.
Percy looked up, shocked that Ozpin was still alive. "How?" Was all that Percy got out before he realized that he had been freed when Ozpin appeared. Scrambling to his feet, Percy made to bolt away from Salem, only for the pale woman to seemingly appear directly in front of him. Grabbing him by the throat, Percy felt her vice-like hands start choking him.
"Let him go, Salem." Ozpin commanded.
Holding the struggling Percy in one hand, she brought her other hand to her face. She turned her head to the side, pretending to think it over. "Hmm, I don't think I will be doing that. You barely have the strength to keep me from taking all four of you." Salem said, her eyes pulsing darkly. Ozpin simply stared back, glaring at the woman. Failing to pry Salem's hands from his throat, Percy did the only thing he could think of. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Riptide. Salem wasn't impressed. "Really, Perseus? You think you can hurt me with a broken sword?"
In response, Percy uncapped the pen, revealing what remained of the enchanted sword. Bringing the broken blade down on her arm, Percy watched as the metal sliced through flesh, blistering wherever it touched. Salem screamed in pain, throwing Percy into the ground where several clawed appendages held him down. Salem gripped her arm in pain, watching in morbid curiosity as her skin stitched itself back together with small black tendrils. As she turned back to Percy, she looked down at the broken sword laying beside the struggling teen.
Bending down to pick it up, she was forced to avert her eyes when the sword suddenly lit up. When the light had died down, the sword was gone. Scowling angrily, she turned back to Ozpin, who was holding the blade. "That doesn't belong to you." Ozpin said, glaring at the eldritch woman before him.
"Oh well. I still have its owner." Salem remarked flippantly.
Ozpin looked down at Percy. He could try another burst of energy to free the boy, but that would put the safety of Weiss, Ruby, and himself at risk. As he looked at Percy, he saw someone who wasn't hoping for rescue, but a man who knew what must be done. Percy, though unable to say anything due to the claw over his mouth, stared at Ozpin, telling him to leave and save the others. Percy had accepted his fate, and would make sure no one else was harmed because of him. Nodding his head lightly, Ozpin had a solemn look. "I'm sorry."
With that, Ozpin disappeared in another flash of light, taking with him the two girls he was protecting. With Ozpin gone, all the light seemed to be sucked out of the area, slowly becoming darker and darker. "Well, he always did like his flashy entrances and exits." Salem stated, more so to herself than to Percy. "Well, we should also take our leave. Wouldn't want to overstay our welcome now, would we?" Salem asked rhetorically.
Percy could feel himself sinking into the ground, and glancing around, he watched as he was pulled down into a swirling black and purple portal, his struggling doing nothing to help. The last thing he saw, before he was completely engulfed in darkness, was the light atop Beacon Tower, much dimmer than usual.
Cue the death threats, and possible, the worried glances.
Well, that was a doozy to write. It is easily the longest chapter I've written, and what a way to close this arc! What did everyone think? I know I'm not going to have satisfied everyone (hopefully I satisfied someone), but this is the story I wanted to tell. If you didn't like it, I'm sorry, but I won't be changing my plot. I've already changed it so much from when I originally started this story. I won't change it much more.
A big thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and for putting up with my
god-awful wait times between chapters. You do deserve better, and I will try my best to provide.
So, did you enjoy the story? If you did, consider favouriting the story, and following it so that you know exactly when I update, however sporadic that may be. Do you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Leave a review, or send me a PM so that I know exactly how I screwed up my story, however I just ask that all comments be kept PG, anything more just makes you look like a jerk and/or idiot. I will (eventually) respond to all PMs, and will address consistent themes in reviews in the next chapter.
With that said, this is Canadian Admiral signing off.