RWBY: Beacon's Fading Light
Chapter 25
oxoxoxo
Maria watched as a small pack of Grimm began to move towards Beacon. She had been trying to avoid the monsters ever since the explosion in the forest, but if those creatures managed to get into the school, there would be blood. As quietly as possible, the centurion moved to intercept them. If she could kill the lot of them before they made it into Beacon, the problem could be solved before it even began.
oxoxoxo
Ozpin could do nothing but watch as the door to his office was kicked off its hinges by a familiar red coated colleague of his. "Curtis." He said simply. "This is a surprise." Marlow said nothing, merely aiming his pistol at Ozpin's head. "Let's calm down a moment Curtis."
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you in the head right now." Marlow whispered. His voice was flat but eyes were full of rage.
"What have I done to deserve such a fate?" Ozpin said calmly, not moving an inch.
"I could give you a very long list of what you've done, old friend." The veteran muttered. "How about I start with Ognoc?"
That got a reaction from the headmaster. He let out a pained sigh and looked down onto his desk. "That was the worst day of my entire life."
"It must have been so difficult to send the one man who threatened your rank to his death while you sat safe in the comfort of your command station!" Marlow spat.
Ozpin looked up to the professor. "You think I allowed Arthur to die for the sake of my rank?"
"And now you use the first chance you get to ensure another Arc never rises." The redcoat finished.
"You're wrong." Ozpin softly declared. "That was the most difficult choice I've ever made. When your team made that first call for evacuation, I wanted to call in as many airships as we could spare to clear the skies the get you out, but the other generals disagreed, saying that it was too great a risk and that we didn't have men to spare. Then I heard about your teammates dying." The headmaster paused a moment. "Their deaths have haunted me since then, just as they have you."
"You didn't watch them die!" Marlow spat again.
"I know." Ozpin muttered. "And I was unable to save them before that happened. As soon as I heard about Theresa's death, I knew I couldn't wait any longer before I sent out an evacuation."
"Your solution was a little too late." Marlow muttered. "Arthur was dead before your ships even got off the ground!"
"I know." The headmaster muttered, looking back at his desk. "Believe me Curtis, you'll never meet anyone else who would want Arthur back as much as I would."
"Then why did you let him die?" Marlow demanded. "How could you let him and the others die like that? Over one thousand men and women, dead."
"And their blood is on my hands." Ozpin finished.
oxoxoxo
A clearing in the Emerald Forest was where Maria Gaia chose to make her stand. It seemed somewhat fitting to her that the Emerald Forest would be where the leader of Team EMAD made what could just be her final stand, despite the fact that her team hadn't even faced its first Grimm in these trees. She picked this clearing in the hopes she could avoid this being her last stand. It wasn't very wide, but it was nearly the length of a football field, perfect for funnelling the monsters into her line of fire.
The centurion opened the boss of her shield and checked the barrels by giving them an experimental spin. She drew her sword and looked at her reflection in the blade. Her own red eyes stared back at her defiantly, daring her to retreat. She could hear the Grimm incoming, the padding of bestial feet upon the ground of the forest. Maria took a deep breath as the creatures approached. Now, more than ever, she wished she had her teammates by her side.
There was a pause, the padding of feet stopping for just a second. In that second, a new sound was heard: sniffing. She knew that sound well.
(Author's Note: Music begins here. Song: Headstrong – Trapt)
A second later, there was a mighty roar and the sound of dozens of howls as a stream of Beowolves and Ursae burst out from the trees. Maria's finger slammed on the trigger as her shield's minigun roared to life, a hail of bullets firing out and tearing through the Grimm like tissue paper. One by one the creatures fell to the ground, their bodies dissolving as they did and making room for more of the monsters to charge. One Beowolf attacked Maria from the left, but the centurion bashed it with her shield before running it through on her sword. That was all the others needed, however, as they used the time she spent on the lone wolf to close the distance with her, and by the time Maria turned back around, there was an Ursa in her face. The beast raised a massive paw and slammed it down on the centurion, but she raised her shield and caught the blow before plunging her blade into the beast's neck.
Throwing the demonic bear off her shield, Maria drove her blade into the gut of a Beowolf before slamming another in the face with Imperator. The beasts, however, were beginning to close in on her, more and more bearing down on her, and for every one she killed, two more seemed to be drawn to the battle.
It was then that the battle shifted, but not in her favour. A shrill screech was heard overhead as a giant Nevermore flew over the battle, a hail of spear-like feathers raining down onto the battlefield, skewering several beasts and forcing Maria to take cover beneath her shield as she felt at least two feathers shatter on impact.
By the time she rose from her cover, there was an Ursa Major right in her face. She raised her shield to block the inevitable attack, but the beast roared and slammed its massive claw into the centurion, sending her flying across the clearing.
(Author's Note: Music stops here.)
Maria painfully rose to her feet, only to stumble down to one knee. She looked down the clearing. More and more Grimm were amassing behind the Ursa Major that had attacked her, the beasts roaring at her, taunting her as they knew she couldn't win. And they were right. She had pushed away everyone in her race to be the best of the best. Now now she would pay for that
Three Ursae moved in to finish her off, the closest one raising its claw to cut her to pieces. Just before it attacked, however, a pink grenade slammed into the beast, two more smashing into its pack mates, the three beasts exploding in a blast of pink light and smoke as a cheery and familiar voice cried out "Alright! Nine points!"
Maria turned around, only to be met with the hand of someone she never thought she'd see helping her.
"Need a hand?" Jaune asked.
Maria opened her mouth and tried to form words to make some sort of answer, but as she clasped the hand of the knight, the only thing that came to mind was a single word: "Why?"
Jaune smirked as he pulled the centurion to her feet, Alison approaching form behind him and offering her leader a smile. "He's not that bad once you get to know him." The artist said.
"I couldn't just let you die out here." Said Jaune. "No matter what you might have done to me, I couldn't just let you get yourself killed."
"You got a problem with that, fearless leader?" Thatch asked as he readied his swords.
Maria turned for a moment to her team and the members of Team JNPR. "After what I've done, I don't deserve your help, but for now I'd like to point out that we're about to be torn apart by Grimm. So, can we save my apology for when we're done?"
"Live first apologize later." Jaune summarized. "I can live with that."
"As can I." Pyrrha responded.
"Good idea." Ren concurred.
(New Music: Bloody Mary Mix – Trocadero)
The hunters in training raised their weapons as one, Maria, Pyrrha and Jaune forming a makeshift phalanx with Maria and the spinning barrels of Imperator at the center, Jaune and his large shield to her left and Pyrrha with her shield and rifle to her right. Thatch and Ren both aimed their smgs at the beasts. Nora and Alison readied their pole arms for some more firepower.
The Grimm at that moment decided they were done waiting for these humans to attack. With the howl of an Alpha Beowolf, the hordes charged. And with that, the battle began as the hunters opened fire on the approaching monsters, the sheer volume of fire easily felling the weaker Grimm, while hindering the progress of the Goliath Widow and the other, stronger Grimm.
That was when a Deathstalker burst through the trees next to the hunters, hissing as it swung a claw, just missing Nora and Alison. Jaune broke off from the phalanx and turned to the rest of his team. "JNPR, you know what to do, take this thing down!"
Maria turned to the Goliath Widdow that was clambering over its deceased companions to reach its prey. "Thatch, Alison, let's swat that spider!"
The other hunters nodded and immediately sprung into action. Ren struck first, charging the beast head on. The scorpion Grimm reared back and attacked with its stinger, but the martial artist leapt out of the way and grabbed the offending appendage, firing as many rounds into it as he could before the beast shook him loose. It didn't matter, than, since Ren had done his job. Pyrrha was next, flinging her shield at the stinger, the spinning shield's edge sliced right through the limb, causing the stinger to fall right into the beast. Finally, it was Nora's turn, the hyperactive hammer wielder leaping onto Pyrrha's recently returned shield and flying into the air with a pink explosion and a bubbly laugh. Seconds later she came spinning back down to earth, her hammer head smashing directly into the stinger, driving it right through the scorpion's body.
Meanwhile, Maria Thatch and Alison charged the Widow, Alison using the claw end of Pianji to throw Thatch into the air, the renegade landing swords first on the back of the spider. The artist soon followed, using a burst of fire dust to propel herself to her teammate's side. Thatch began to use his swords to steer the spider towards the other Grimm as they tried to come up with a plan to kill it. It would be more difficult without a ceiling to drop on it.
The Goliath Widow smashed through the legions of Grimm as Alsion picked off the survivors with pinpoint dust blasts, either shocking or burning the beasts that the spider didn't crush, Maria watched as her companions fought to stay aboard the beast as it grew ever closer to throwing them off. They were still no closer to killing it. She thought back on all her lessons on Grimm with Professors Port and Fantine, there was a lesson on Widows with Fantine, she just needed to remember their weakness. The spider was venomous, fast, strong armoured all over except... "Alison, Thatch, cut off its legs!"
The artist and renegade turned as one at this order, both of them nodding as Thatch pulled his swords out of the Widow's head and the two of them leapt off, Alison firing a dust blast and severing one leg. The beast roared in pain and spat a glob of acid at the hunters. The duo rolled out of the way and Maria opened fire on the arachnid, catching its attention. Alison and Thatch then went back to work, both of them severing another leg with a dust blast and a swing of a blade respectively. The Widow roared in pain and tried to bite the renegade, but he leapt out of the way as it struck. It was about to follow, but then two pink explosions knocked the already off balance Grimm over onto its back, revealing its unarmoured underbelly. Maria turned to see a crazily grinning Nora holding a smoking grenade launcher. She then turned back to her teammates and the Widow as it attempted to rise. "Alison, kill it now! Go for the joint between the head and abdomen!"
Alison nodded and leapt upon the Grimm, Zhua raised. A push of a button and the claw lit up in flames as the artist brought it down upon the beast, splitting it in two with one fatal strike.
All was quiet as Alison rose from the slowly dissolving corpse of the Widow. The artist gave the rest of the hunters a smile as the monster disintegrated behind her. The others quickly returned the smile as she approached the group.
The smile proved too soon, however, as a loud shriek was heard overhead. The Nevermore was still alive, and by roars and howls that were sounding, it seemed other Grimm had been attracted to their scent.
Massing together at the center of the long clearing, the teams watched as a King Taijitu emerged from the trees at one end, surrounded by several Ursae, both its heads hissing in anticipation. From the other side of the clearing emerged an entire pack of Beowolves led by an alpha. Meanwhile, the members of Team EMAD heard a familiar sound above in the night sky, the beating of several wings alerting them to the presence of several bat-like Draculings that had gathered around the site of the battle. Weapons were raised as the young hunters looked upon their certain demise. "I'm sorry I dragged you all into this." Maria said as she checked the ammo in her shield. "This is all my fault."
"We knew the risks," Pyrrha replied. "And like we said, letting you die out here just wasn't an option."
"So you're not mad that we're all going to die out here?" The centurion asked as she watched their monstrous foes carefully.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later." Thatch said as he watched the bats in the air. "I just can't believe... I can't believe..." The swordsman stammered as he looked off into the sky. The eyes of the other hunters followed his gaze, needless to say many were surprised with what they saw: a damaged bullhead was flying right towards the battlefield.
Meanwhile, above the battle in the dropship, Weiss pointed at the battle as Yang drove the ship. "There they are! Land right next to them!" The heiress ordered.
"Right, land..." said Yang.
Weiss turned to the brawler, more than a little worried. "You do know how to land this thing, right?"
"Well, sure." The blonde replied. "That just means stop flying, right?"
Weiss went even more white than usual as all the colour drained from her face. She bolted back to the other passengers. "Last stop, everybody off!" She shouted as she pushed the button to open the door. The other hunters followed her out, but Yang was left at the cockpit.
Blake, Francois, Ruby, Sun and Weiss landed next to the amassed group of hunters as Yang flew the bullhead overhead, Yang leapt out at the last moment as the ship slammed into the Beowolf pack, erasing the Grimm in an explosion of fiery brilliance that flung Yang to the feet of her fellow hunters. She groaned slightly as Thatch hauled her to her feet. "Next time, maybe you should leave the flying to me." The renegade quipped.
"You weren't exactly available at the time." Yang replied as she rose from the ground, her eyes burning red and her hair glowing white hot. "Besides, we got here in one piece, didn't we?"
"I think you left my stomach back at the docks." Blake muttered.
"Less talk!" Said Ruby as she drew Crescent rose, pointing it at the monstrous snake before them. "More monster killing!"
(New Music: This Will Be The Day – Jeff and Casey Williams)
"On that, we can agree." Said Francois, his semblance activating and giving everyone a well needed morale boost. Their spirits raised, the hunters faced their foe with newfound confidence, as one raising their weapons. They all fired as one, the sheer volume of fire felling several of the monsters. The Grimm roared as one and charged the hunters, many were killed by gunfire, but as others grew closer the students changed to close range.
Ruby struck first, leaping forward to slice a Beowolf in half with Crescent Rose. Weiss followed after her, running a Boarbatusk through the eye with a stab from Myrtenaster. Blake dodged a claw swipe by an Ursa with her semblance before using Gambol Shroud to behead it. Yang surged ahead to punch the King Taijitu in the face with Ember Celicia, a flaming burst knocking the beast to the ground. The Snake's other head tried to take a bite out of her, but a swipe to the face from Sun's staff discouraged it.
Jaune and Pyrrha fought back to back, cutting or shooting down any Grimm that got too close to them. Ren and Nora charged side by side, Nora using Magnhild to knock the monsters about while Ren opened fire with Storm Flower, gunning down Grimm left and right.
Thatch and Francois Took on the Draculings, with the nobleman taking shots with Mademoiselle at the flying bats while the renegade took down any that got too close. Meanwhile, Maria and Alison went after the Nevermore, Alison drawing it in with her dust blasts, while Maria used Imperator's superior firepower to deal out damage to it.
Team RWBY leapt upon the King Taijitu after Yang attacked it, with Blake and Ruby using their incredible speed to run along its body and keep it distracted while Weiss and Yang used a combonaion of Yang's fire blasts and Weiss' electrical dust to damage it. Sun worked to keep the rest of the Grimm off them, having switched his staff to its gun-chuck form, he was firing wildly into the ranks of the monsters, using the weapons to bludgeon any that got too close. After a particularly vicious flick of its body, the snake managed to fling the red and black girls away with Blake slamming right into her partner and sending both to the ground. Ruby, however, was caught in a glyph made by Weiss, and with just a simple eye contact, the two girls formed a plan. Weiss used the glyph to hold Ruby firmly to its surface as she aimed her partner at the snake. Then, with a twitch of her fingers and a push from her mind, she propelled Ruby off the glyph with the speed of a bullet, the reaper adding to her own momentum with shots from Crescent Rose, the younger girl slamming blade first into the white head of the snake, cutting it clean off in one hit.
The other head roared in pain, only to be hit directly in the throat by the thrown blade of Gambol Shroud. The head hissed in pain as Blake gave a mighty heave and pulled it into the ground. The hissing immediately ceased as Yang, taking advice from Ren, leapt upon its head and, with a mighty heave, tore its fangs off. The brawler then swung around to the side of the snake's head and jammed one fang in its eye, punctuating it with a fiery punch that sent the tooth flying right through the monster's head and into an Ursa, killing both in one hit.
Despite the progress the teams were making on the ground, the sky was another matter. Draculings werestill swarming around the clearing, every so often, one breaking off the group to attack the students, and the Nevermore still circled around above. With the students spread out along the clearing, the winged beast saw its chance to strike. Shrieking loudly, the beast flew out over the trees before shrieking and circling back, flying right at the teams, getting slowly lower to the ground.
Maria, however, heard the cry and turned to see the incoming bird monster. She knew enough about them through her studies that she knew its attack pattern. "Everyone, get to cover!" She cried. The other students heard her and bolted for the tree ling, knowing that would provide at least some cover. All but one of them made it.
Alison broke into a run for the trees as the Nevermore closed in, but along the way she was attacked, one of the Draculings making a dive for her. She heard the beast in time to strike, swinging her dust charged zhua claw into the bat's head to kill it, but the momentum the creature had knocked her to the ground. She tried to rise, only to see the massive birdlike Grimm bearing down on her. Her name as cried out by several people, including her partner and Thatch, but she barely heard her, only the massive raven as it unleashed a rain of spear-like feathers, the artist knowing they would be the last things she ever saw.
(Author's Note: Stop music here.)
She closed her eyes and braced for the inevitable. But there was no pain. No giant feather impaling her as she lay on the ground. No white light at the end of a tunnel. Instead, there was sound. The feathers of the Nevermore shattering as they impacted something above her. The sound of one feather impacting flesh. Then, there was a cry of pain.
The artist opened her eyes. Standing over her, shield raised and screaming in pain, was Maria. The shards of the Nevermore's feathers were scattered around the two of them, having broken on impact with the centurion's shield.
One, however, did not.
Sticking out of Maria's leg, just below her left knee, was one of the feathers, the offending projectile having shot right through her leg and into the ground, pinning her in place as she screamed in agony and fell to the ground. To Alison at that moment, the entire world went silent. She knew that noise was made, she had screamed out her leader's name multiple times, but all her senses seemed to die on her but her sight as she gazed over the form of her leader, her partner, her friend. She had risked her life to save her. And paid for it. At that moment, everything came crashing down on the artist's head, her senses returning and hitting her like a ton of bricks. She, Thatch and Francois were crowded around Maria as the centurion screamed in pain and continued to bleed. Her screams were getting softer however, and while she was still writhing in pain, blood loss and shock were beginning to take their toll as she began lose consciousness. Alison felt hot, stinging tears begin to roll down her face.
(New Music: All As One – Miracle of Sound)
That was when she heard the cry of the Nevermore again. She looked to the air, her face a mixture of rage and sadness as she watched the beast that nearly killed her. "RWBY, JNPR," she muttered, just loud enough to be heard. "We can't help her until we clear the sky. You guys kill the bats. The big one is ours." Alison turned to her injured partner. "Maria. I know you want to help, but please, just stay covered. You still have your shield, that should help you."
The other members of Team EMAD nodded, as did the other teams. Maria looked to Alison, her pain obvious, but concern breaking through. Alison looked down to her and said simply "We'll be fine."
RWBY, JNPR and Sun began to open fire on the remaining Draculings as Alison, Thatch and Francois stared down the incoming Nevermore. The beast let out a shriek as it dove for the three hunters, but they were not about to make this easy on it. As one, the three of them opened fire on the beast. The monster, however, seemed the shrug off the majority of the attacks, Alison just managing to land a well placed firebolt in its eye, causing the monster to cry out in pain and abort its dive momentarily.
"This isn't working..." Francois muttered.
"Tell me about it." Thatch concurred.
Alison merely nodded in agreement. They needed some way to bring this thing down to the ground. Once it was grounded, they could more easily dismantle it. But the question was, how could they ground a giant monster raven? The artist looked around the battlefield in time to see Sun leap onto a draculing and smash it with his staff. That could help. She then saw Weiss use a glyph to catch a Draculing and throw it to Ruby who cut it in half. Wait, that was it!
"Weiss, We need you!" Alison cried out. The heiress heard and ran to her aid, the artist quickly explaining her plan to her.
The Nevermore wasn't going to give them time to make another plan, as it had begun to circle back around. It zeroed in on the being that had caused it such pain. The one in red and green with the staff of fire, it would be a fine appetizer for the pinned warrior. It let out a war shriek and dove toward the being.
"You're sure this will work?" Weiss asked. Alison nodded, Francois pouring enough of his semblance into Weiss to give her the confidence to act.
"Right, are we doing this or not?" Thatch asked as he loaded fresh clips into Anne and Elizabeth. Weiss nodded as her eyes momentarily flashed with gold. With a wave of her hand, a glyph appeared in the air two feet off the ground, the heiress pointing at the Nevermore and the pattern following her gaze. The renegade leapt onto the glyph, the images sinking slightly as he stood upon them. Weiss looked to Alison, who nodded in reply. With her confirmation, Weiss shot her hand forward, the glyph launching the now screaming Thatch right at the bird.
Thatch flew right at the raven, the beast opening its beak to eat him as he did. Thatch was about to deny it dinner, however, as he grabbed onto the upper beak and flipped himself onto the monster's head. The Nevermore began to fly up in an attempt to dislodge him, but as he fell down the beast's back, Thatch drove both his blades into its body, causing the colossal bird to shriek in pain and dive as it tried to get rid of him. Thatch, however, refused to be removed; instead, he pulled Anne out of the beast and sheathed her, using his now free hand to grasp the monster's feathers. Yanking Elizabeth out of the raven's back, Thatch leapt off its back and onto the top of its left wing where he drove his sword right through the limb.
He wouldn't stay there for long, however, as a massive flap of the monster's wing. Thatch's blade began to slip downwards, every movement of the wing cutting deeper into it, eventually cutting right through the wing, cutting it almost in half. Unfortunately, this would also send Thatch plummeting to the ground.
Alison and Francois watched this from the earth, the artist calling out "NOW!"
Weiss nodded and readied a glyph. Sun leapt onto it and was launched after the falling renegade. The monkey caught up to him in mid air, catching him with a quip of "Just dropping in?" Thatch rolled his eyes as he and the faunus fell towards earth, and right into Weiss' glyph.
The Nevermore was not so lucky as it fell. The massive bird knew it would hit the ground hard, all it had control over was where. And it knew just where it wanted to land.
Alison watched from the ground as the bird changed its course, her pinpoint vision directing her right to where it would fall. Her heart sank. "It's headed for Maria!"
It was true, the massive bird hit the ground right next to the downed centurion. It raised its damaged beak in pain in an attempt to devour the centurion. Maria raised her shield, knowing it was futile. The beast would eat her, shield and all, and in her pained state she was still fumbling for the trigger.
The beast opened its massive beak and lunged, but it never managed to hit the centurion. No, the beast was stopped in its tracks by what looked like a ball of white light. As the light dimmed slightly, the wounded warrior saw what it really was. Glowing with the power of his aura and sword and shield raised was Jaune Arc. The knight had his shield against the beak of the monster and was gradually pushing it back. With one final shove of his shield, Jaune knocked the Nevermore back. Before the monster could recover, he leapt upon its head and with a war cry drove the full blade of Crocea Mors into its eye, twisting the blade with a snarl before withdrawing it and shoving the blade into the beast's neck, applying as much force as he could to pull the sword through the beast, decapitating it.
Maria could only watch in shock as Jaune jumped off the slowly disintegrating beast. As blood loss and shock began to set in, and the world grew dimmer to her, one thought crossed her mind. It seems I was wrong after all.
With that thought, Maria was content to let the darkness take her, only vaguely aware of her fellow hunters calling her name.
oxoxoxo
Neither Ozpin nor Marlow had moved.
The headmaster still stared down the barrel of Marlow's pistol as the veteran glared at him. "I must admit something to you Curtis." Ozpin said softly.
"If I don't like what I hear, then you're dead." Marlow said, voice flat.
"When your unit first called for evacuation from Ognoc, my request to evacuate you was denied." Ozpin said. "When that happened, I was tempted to go against my orders, and send the rescue ship anyway. I didn't because the others were right: it was too risky with so many Grimm still about."
"You've already said this!" Marlow hissed, cocking his pistol.
"Calm down, Curtis." Ozpin said, hands raised in surrender.
"Go on before I kill you!" The veteran spat.
Ozpin let out another pained sigh. "When I heard about the deaths of your teammates, I couldn't wait any longer. The others wanted to hold our ships back another day, but I refused. I disobeyed the orders of the other generals and sent a ship after you."
Marlow hesitated for a second. "You-you're lying!"
"No, I'm not, Curtis." Ozpin said, staring at his desk again. When the headmaster looked up again, his expression could only be described as pained. "I want you to know that I'm sorry Curtis. I'm sorry I didn't send the rescue ships sooner. I'm sorry your team, your friends, were killed. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I knew about Jaune's forged entrance documents."
The last sentence made Marlow falter, almost making him drop his pistol. "Y-you're lying..." He stammered, shakily aiming the gun at Ozpin again.
The headmaster looked back down to his desk, unable to watch what he knew was coming. "I'm not lying Curtis. No one else knows about this but me. That's why I ensured he received the one and only Pyrrha Nikos as a partner. That's why I assigned him a test to see if he was worthy of being here. I knew he could pass it and prove to the rest of the staff that he belonged at Beacon." Ozpin paused once again, letting out another sigh. "I know you don't believe me, however, and I'm sorry about that. And about this."
Marlow was about to demand an answer when a length of rope wrapped itself around the barrel of Marlow's pistol and yanked it out of his hands. Before Marlow could say anything, another length wrapped itself around his arm and pulled him off his feet and to someone he knew could only be a figment of his imagination. "No..." He stammered, unable to face what stood before him "No, I killed you..."
Erik Fantine, his mask returned, wore a blank expression as he tied up his former colleague. "I have the power of illusion, old friend. This isn't the first time I've used that power to escape my demise. I created an illusion of Arthur for you to kill, making it become me again when you stabbed it." There was a pause as both professors realized what was now going to happen. Marlow would need to be taken away, stripped of his position at Beacon. All the years of serving the kingdom would be forgotten, replaced in the minds of the citizens with this one act of madness. "For what it's worth, old friend, I wish it didn't have to be this way."
