AN: Decided to come back to this fic since I did some have ideas for further chapters and honestly I wanted to get this story done sometime in the future.
As the blade began to approach Violet it was knocked out of his hand.
Caligo looked shocked at his sudden disarmament. Though what shocked him even more was that Earl had taken up arms against him. His sword had fallen too far away so he couldn't just pick it up without getting stabbed by Violet who seemed to have calmed down.
"So it comes to this Earl, are you going to take my life? You never seemed like the type you know" he taunted Earl.
If he was already on his deathbed he might as well go there as a brave man rather than a coward.
"You know Caligo you piss me off. You think you're so much better than all of us just because you got some training from Raven." He came up to Caligo and socked him in the face knocking him to the floor.
"You know the reason why none of the kids like you because you're an arrogant idiot. Not because they're the bad ones"
"And what does any of that have to do with what we were just speaking of now"
"Like us you're also strange you know. Since you're not a true Branwen Clan Member"
"Like I'd buy an obvious lie like that and what even is the definition of a true clan member"
"Guess I need to spell it out you are a random kid picked up by Raven. Raven isn't your mother"
"Another damn lie" Caligo struck with his sword at Earl whose axe deflected the blow.
"So you were after the sword I should have been more careful"
"You'll get enough time to be careful later, that is in your next life"
Caligo launched a flurry of strikes aiming at both Violet and Earl. The attacks kept missing since he was swinging wildly not even paying attention to where he was striking.
"You're too flustered, Caligo give up already. And leave the clan with the two of us."
"Like hell I will"
He kept on attacking but his sword wasn't even swinging properly anymore. In his mind one thing was echoing loudly. The thought that what they had said was true.
Why would they need to lie. If they wanted to lie why didn't they make up a more believable one.
Caligo thought to his furthermost memories from the time he began training to today. He had never once seen Raven smiling. But maybe she was just different from other mothers.
That should be it right. Why was he thinking so much about this lie anyway all he needed to do was go and ask Raven about it. Yeah she would confirm it and tell him everything their saying is lies.
"Let- Me-" Caligo began speaking as he got up from the ground slowly.
"Let you what?" Earl said still on guard.
"Let me hear it from Raven herself" he said as he began walking to where Raven had been fighting with Flare and Rain.
Earl and Violet seemed to trust his word since he also sheathed his sword and they did the same walking along with him.
"It's about time. I finish this" Raven said her sword changing elements constantly as she charged an attack.
Rain in that moment created a barrier which tanked the first hit but fell to the second.
But before Raven could move any further a voice rang out.
"Raven" Caligo called out.
"What is it Caligo? Don't you see I'm busy here?"
"There's one question whose answer I need to know right now"
"Fine ask away, I don't think any of these two will be escaping any time soon"
"Who is my mother?" He asked clearly.
The question couldn't be misheard and when Raven heard it she seemed thoughtful. She didn't answer immediately but waited for a few seconds.
"I cannot tell you who she is since I have taken an oath to keep her name a secret"
"Why are you joking around mother-"
"Caligo you know I'm always serious"
That was the last straw that held together Caligo's sanity. All he had done, he had done so for the sake of Raven the women he though was his mother but now he was shaking uncontrollably.
"Where is my mother?" he asked his mind restless, his voice shaky.
"She's dead I killed her"
At that moment he snapped. The only words he managed to hear was 'I killed her'.
Something changed in Caligo as he stepped forward his right hand began to feel extremely cold as ice shards began to appear on them and it consumed all the skin up till his elbow leaving behind only ice.
Caligo put his hand forward and from his hand several Ice shards appeared and shot themselves directly towards Raven.
"Is this the treatment I get after taking care of you Caligo?"
"Don't speak to me Woman. I don't owe any allegiance to you, though if what you say is true then you owe me your head"he turned around to Violet and Earl, "Take the rest of those huntsmen students and run away. I don't know how long I can keep this ice thing up"
"Caligo"
"Earl, take this as an admission of my guilt. When you manage to live out free don't forget me okay"
"Caligo...Fine I understand I'll be leaving"
"Also Violet I have to apologise to you too"
"Apology accepted I understand why Earl seemed to have an interest in you-"
"You seem to be taking your own sweet time talking" Raven said as she appeared through her portal with a slash.
"Raven I guess it's time we finally end all this" Caligo said, steeling himself.
"Oh Caligo how Naive, do you really think you could fare well against me when not even those huntsmen students weren't able to"
"I don't think I know I can. Those students they were planning to get out of the fight with you alive, I won't be making such a mistake"
"So you know it's pointless but you still desire to fight"
"I do and I will," He said as he touched the ground with his arm.
The part of the ground that made contact with his arm instantly froze and began spreading from the point of contact,expanding outwards freezing everything on it's way to Raven.
Raven ignored the incoming ice and used her semblance to appear behind Caligo, then delivering a quick strike which Caligo rolled away from.
She activated the dust chamber on her sword making it blaze erratically.
They both began running at each other and when they reached at a close enough distance began exchanging attack for attack. Suddenly her attacks increased in frequency each slash was delivered with a more precise angle not giving him much room to fight with.
Vernal now awake was watching the fight between the two from afar.
"Raven you're still going easy on him I should've known" she said.
Back at the fight Caligo was barely keeping up even with the amount of shards he was throwing at Raven; they weren't doing much to keep her at bay.
He dropped to his knees his sword jammed in the ground preventing him from hitting the ground.
"So have you given up?"
He didn't reply to her question. He didn't want to. He knew it would come down to this after all there was no way he could match the woman who taught him all he knew.
"I have. It was all pointless, I always knew that I could never match you"
"Why fight a pointless fight you should've given up from the beginning?"
"It was the anger. So you really did kill her?"
"Yes I did."
"Can I know why?"
"No"
"HaHa HaHa" Unable to know what to say next Caligo just began laughing, "Aren't you going to kill me yet? I'm ready to leave this plane"
"That I cannot do" she picked him up and turned to Vernal, "Whip up a storm and toss him as far away as you can"
Vernal nodded and raised her hands as Caligo began to swerve up into the sky.
"Why?-" was all he could say before he was violently thrust in the direction that the others had escaped in.
As he swerved through the air Vernal turned to Raven and asked the same question.
"Why?"
Raven turned away and began walking back to the other clan members, "Because I made a promise"
…
Caligo continued cruising to the air until he eventually began to descend. He stretched out his still frozen hand which began to extend making a flat base at the end. The flat base made contact with the ground taking the brunt of the force and shattering leaving Caligo to just experience a light fall.
He then went unconscious.
…
After a while he awoke to find himself being carried by Earl.
"Earl why am I-"
"Just relax Caligo we're far away from the branwen clan now"
The memories of the fight with Raven raced in his head.
"I don't know what to do anymore, hearing her say all that I just.." he spoke until his mouth just hung open.
Flare and Rain were in the front while Strom and Ellie were taking the vanguard. Violet and Earl were in the center as Earl supported Caligo's body weight.
"Yeah it's a tough thing to come to terms with. I kinda suspected that she might have been responsible for it" Earl said.
He seemed somber and tired. Violet seemed the same but to a lesser degree. After all they were finally free but didn't want to celebrate just yet seeing as Caligo was still grieving.
It was a tough situation indeed.
The members of Team Fers also didn't speak much, choosing to only speak if necessary.
As it finally began to approach dusk Flare used his semblance to light up a fire after the others had gathered up some twigs and leaves.
Strom used his own semblance to create walls around them out of dirt essentially blocking them in.
Caligo tapped on the wall and gave it a light punch with his still frozen arm which the wall tanked pretty nicely. He then walked on over to where the rest of the members were sitting.
Ellie, Rain and Violet had all gone out to look for some food so the four of them present there just took to lazing around.
"Caligo was it?" Flare said breaking the silence.
The silence was beginning to get overbearing so Caligo was glad that somebody broke it.
"Yes that's my name, did you need me for something?"
"Well not for any chore at least. The thing I wanted to ask you was regarding your still frozen hand"
Caligo raised his right hand, "This thing I'm not even sure what it is. Just when my hand froze I felt an incredible amount of power something almost unlimited and when I outstretched my hand I was able to control Ice"
"That's pretty strange," Strom said as he walked up to Caligo and tapped on the arm, "Yeah this feels like solid ice. Could this be his semblance?"
Flare folded his hands for a moment as he thought.
Earl who had been quiet all this while spoke, "You created the fire here by using your semblance right Flare?"
"Yeah to put it in simple terms semblance's come in different forms and they seem to be tied to your aura. In the huntsmen academy they call it the materialization of the soul or something"
"I get it. So the ability to use ice is my semblance"
"Not quite, the thing about semblances is that they don't cause permanent transformations, well as far as I've seen anyway. And they normally wear off when you're out of aura"
"The moment we found Caligo he barely seemed to have any aura. So it makes sense that this isn't any ordinary semblance" Strom said.
"So should I be hiding this or something?Since it seems unnatural" Caligo asked.
"Honestly that would be a good idea. Strom can craft you a gauntlet that matches your hand by using his semblance. You can do that right Strom?"
"Yeah it shouldn't be a problem. Your hand seems to have frozen uniformly for the most part except for the top which might make the gauntlet look a bit funny. But in terms of utility it should work"
"So how long will the gauntlet take to make?" Caligo asked Strom.
"It doesn't take a lot of time though I'll probably have to do it tomorrow, due to being low on aura"
"Sure"
After a few more minutes of silence. They heard Rain's voice from the other side.
Strom walked on over to the wall and placed his hand against it. The wall began to wither at the point of contact giving way to a human sized hole through which the three of them made their way inside.
He then touched a spot next to the gap and the wall began to regenerate until the hole was no more.
Caligo looked on over to the food they managed to hunt as flare used his flames to cook the meat.
Rain came over to him with a piece of cooked boar meat, "Here Caligo have some"
Caligo began to stretch his right arm but stopped when he remembered that it was frozen.
"Guess i need to learn how to use my non-dominant hand now"He said as he grabbed the cooked meat with his left hand.
They had a decent sized meal as they prepared to head to sleep.