Ch 6
"I have found thee..."
As any sane person does when they hear voices in their head, Jaune whipped around at light-speed. Immediately recognizing the voice and the eyes that came with them. Seeing his sudden turn, Navy turned with him. "What is it...?" She whispered as she warily scanned the burnt-colored landscape.
"You... you didn't hear that? That... voice?"
His eyes were darting from side to side on high alert, trying to find the source of the strange sound. She however, suddenly stopped and turned to look at him inquiringly.
"Was it a woman?"
Woah... this was getting weird. How the hell did she know that...? "Uh... yeah," he said somewhat hesitantly.
"What did she say?" Navy continued, apparently unaware of the visible discomfort etched on the young Arc's face.
Suddenly he wasn't as willing to speak about his current issues. It didn't help that her gaze severely intensified on him. He swore he could see on her face, the monotone expressions quickly giving way to her inquisitive intent. Her dorsal-fin ears fluttered excitedly as she continued to peer intently at the Arc lad.
Fortunately, the General who had been silently watching the situation unfold, was more than happy to pick up the conversation from where they left off.
"Our Empress, she spoke to you."
It was a statement that greatly unnerved the lost lad.
"Huh??" He squawked incredulously.
"It is as I told you, boy. Her fragment remains here within the city and protects us." The General said to the confused boy, having experienced this phenomenon before and having wisdom to give.
"More than likely, she was vetting you out to assess wether or not you were an ally. Either that, or she's taken an interest in you. How odd..."
Jaune didn't understand how or why any of this was possible. Nor did he like how Navy was still wide-eyed and boring into him with said eyes. Yes, he remembered the story about the Empress and her semblance but how in the world could the remains of a supposedly dead woman talk, or protect for that matter...?
He silently hoped and prayed that it had nothing to do with zombies.
Navy chimed in with rising interest, "Lady Morganna doesn't speak very often, Sir Arc. In fact, its rare these days for her to even be heard within the inner city."
Finally having found his voice, Jaune asked the big question. "How can she even communicate or protect if she sacrificed herself? Isn't she... just dead?"
"Dead? What do you mean, she's shown us the way through-!"
"Ahem..."
The General was slightly annoyed by his Lieutenants willingness to speak on Laguna's inner workings outside of Laguna walls. It was bad enough that now he had to worry about the young Arc being in contact with what remains of the Empress, now Lt. Tsunami was getting ahead of herself in the conversation. The boy would come to learn of The Bonding in due time if Lady Morganna has truly taken an interest in him. Therefore, to him there wasn't much point in saying it himself until then.
Calling out orders to his men once more, he began leading them downhill. They'd been standing on the hilltops long enough, as Slade was quite eager to start the training regiment. After the disappointing show his supposedly best men showed him before the Arc's arrival, fundamentals had to be re-ingrained.
Immediately after understanding her mistake, Navy straightened herself out. "Forgive me, Sir Arc, I'm...passionate about our history." She quickly went back to her reserved, monotone self, leaving Jaune at a loss for words.
He stared for moment and decided to just sigh and not think about it at the moment. "It's fine, Navy. No harm done," he said with a small smile.
For the briefest of moments he felt as though he was speaking to one of his sisters. Navigating the landmines their conversations produced or consoling them after their many heated arguments.
With a polite nod from the both of them, the two continued to walk with the other soldiers, quickly catching up to Lord Granite. As they approached the forgotten kingdom, many soldiers from behind the more stable section of the city wall poured out, through and around a large, metallic gate. Many soldiers had made their way to the General, assisting in carrying and moving around equipment.
They made their way, following the beaten-down, dirt path straight into the outer district of Laguna. Passing through the gate, he clearly realized the lights he saw from the hills paled in comparison to the grooves of light flowing up and down the walls of every building and home. Even the ground was lined with the same grooves.
He could... feel every surface, his Aura pulsed and flared serenely, completely of its own volition.
His body was covered in that familiar warmth that aura produced, his rather large reserves filling his very being with a calming heat.
"It's Ambient Aura, Sir Arc." Slowly approaching his side but staying about a foot apart for the sake of personal space. He looked to see that her own aura was pulsing, though not as intensely as his own.
"Im sure the Lord Granite already told you, long ago we had several means of extracting Aura from the very air around us. Sadly, after The Umbral Dusk we lost nearly seventy-five percent of our Auratech machines, though we've managed to recover quite a few machines from those glorious days.
Awestruck, Jaune inwardly marveled at the ingenuity of the of Lagunian people.
"So the walls-"
"Are some of the technology we've managed to maintain and upkeep." Smoothly, cutting him off with small, proud smile.
"Each home has its own Aura and Auric signature that the residents can create a link to and utilize. If someone doesn't want you in their domicile, the homes aura will pick up on the home owners feelings and create a barrier of aura to protect itself." Her small smirk continued to grow in size as she went on her people's technological prowess.
Well that is pretty damn cool, houses with aura.
This was a rather recent development, truth be told. While they've always had their walls aligned with Aura, it was only after that dark night that the idea of the homes aura being reactive to its environment became heavily researched and implemented. It would seem that the Lagunians took the phrase, 'Never Again,' quite seriously.
Passing by the glowing homes, he could make out a opening of sorts just a ways ahead. Seemed like a town or city center of sorts by the look of it, oddly enough it was mostly empty. Minus the soldiers, there were hardly any civilians out and about. There were what looked like storefronts and shops, some of which were indeed open and well lit but the number of actual customers was lacking.
Those who were walking the streets were quite the quiet bunch, most conversations were hushed enough to where he could only hear soft whispers and mumbles. The young arc couldn't help but notice the moderate amount of Faunus present as well. He inwardly smiled, seeing that at first glance they were being treated just like the humans here. Neither of the two races seemingly had any sort of issues commingling it seemed.
One glaring issue did arise however, that being that most of the citizens had nearly the same color scheme racially, as what was already seen in Nidhogg's landscape.
Many different hues of purples and dark blue heads of hair were easily spotted. Eye colors being much of the same, though skin tones ranging from fair to tan were the regular. The Faunus weren't spared of this as they too carried the same apparently genetic hair and eye traits, Laguna was quickly turning out to be quite the homogenous Kingdom.
"This way, Sir Arc. I need to show you to your living quarters." Navy's monotone ways quickly snatched him away from his musings to focus on their current direction. The other troops were gone, the General included. He must've left Navy with some other orders.
So far he'd seen everything except vehicles, which made him ask.
"So do you guys walk everywhere here? You guys don't have any methods of transportation here besides this?" He spoke aloud, to which she huffed openly.
"While we did have airships some time ago, now most of us don't have the need or desire to leave the Kingdom. Since the other Kingdoms don't bother us anyway, we don't have an aerial fleet and didn't bother to rebuild it after The Dusk. That and there's no need have ships for city travel when we've got these."
Turning at a left corner, they stopped in front of what like a miniature star gate. A circular, elevated plate was on the ground before them. The plate was covered in glowing patterns and surrounded on four sides by four, pure white crystal pillars. Each only three feet from the marble-like floor.
"Dust?" He asked.
"Close, but not quite. Its Auracite." She answered, slightly smirking before returning to her blank slate mode. "We call these: Stream Pads."
"Aura-wha?" Now he was just stumped, Aura crystals... that was possible? She quickly explained.
"Using trace amounts of used dust, quartz crystals and a generous amount of Aura to bind them, we created a type of new mineral that could hold, store and release Aura." As she explained, she took him by the forearm walked unto the plate. "These plates each carry their own frequency, and each area of the city has corresponding plate with its own frequency. Using our Aura we can interface with not only this plate but the others as well, creating an invisible roadway of sorts. Let me demonstrate." She cleared her throat before she began to speak again.
"Lumina District Barracks." With that, the plate shined brightly and illuminated the immediate area before everything went dark.
In an instant, that darkness gave way to light once more, endless streams of light in fact. Each streaming, expanding and reaching out around them before one engulfed them whole. The light began to dim as the surrounding area took a new shape and the purple and blue hue of the Kingdom returned.
Jaune and Navy made quickly found themselves standing in front of a six-stories tall, cylindrical yet rectangular building. The young Arc was awestruck, his eyes wandering every surface the structure provided to his vision. The building itself looked like a damn-near futuristic looking dormitory with all of its shining walls, shifting and sliding doors and oval shaped windows. Each window was perfectly spaced apart and spreading to the other side of the building, indicating that each room had at least one.
He wondered how close to the gate they were, considering how close the city center was.
"Did we just teleport!?" Almost shouting, Jaune turned to his current guard and escort, jaw hanging cartoonishly from the rest of his mouth just in time for his stomach to rumble quite uncomfortably.
"Of course not, we simply traveled along the roadway of ambient Aura that plates frequencies created." Speaking as if it was the most normal occurrence. "Oh! I just forgot it can be quite jarring for the first time." His motion sickness was having a field day as his stomach lurched and jumped in place. He quickly sucked in a large amount of air and covered his mouth, determined to not puke out his intestines.
Within the barracks, they briskly walked through the lilac-colored hallway. Passing door after door until coming up on another Stream Pad.
Noticing his apprehension, she spoke calmly to him. "Don't worry, you get used to it relatively quickly."
"Ok, Sir Arc here's your room. Inside you'll find a few uniform options to choose from. Feel free to wear them how ever you choose. While we do wear our kingdoms colors, the way we style ourselves is entirely up to us, past a certain rank. Or in your case, being honorary. When you're ready, just touch the panel near the doorway to leave the room. Then go down the hall to the Stream Pad and say 'Grand Palisades,' It'll take you straight to our units headquarters. Good day, Sir Arc."
With that, Navy curtly nodded and left. Jaune wondered if she had a room here as well.
Huh. The perks of being special, he was allowed to dress himself.
Alone again... he relished his privacy. So much to think about, but he wouldn't have much time for that. As he looked down the hall to what appeared to be his own sleeping area, he saw the various articles of clothing on the bed. Every shirt, pair of pants, jacket and coat was neatly folded and laid out for him, five options per pile. Boots and gloves were included in the selection, from high and low top boots to leather and fingerless gloves. Each piece had its own slightly subtle glow due to the infused Aura, somehow ingrained deep into the fabric of them all.
They must have somehow contacted the people who work or stay here to prepare this in advance before their arrival.
He browsed through most of the shirts before settling on a deep blue, vertically-ribbed, tight sleeveless shirt. He liked how it matched his eyes when he looked at it in the mirror. Thanks to his sisters, Jaune had quite the fashion sense. It was only because he had no money, that he had to wear his old, now shredded, Beacon get-up. Pumpkin Pete hoodie aside, he loved that damn thing.
Onto the pants, he found black pair that fit him. Not too baggy or too tight, and straightened, they slid on snuggly. The pants themselves came with short, light gray, front and back sash with open sides. After the pants, he spotted a pair of sleek, almost knee high, white boots with indigo tips at end of the bed. Once he tucked his pants legs into them and put them on, the inside and sole of the boot began to contort to the shape of his feet. 'Wow... I hope they let me keep these,' he really liked how they felt.
He'd never thought about gloves this heavily until now. The fingerless gloves looked really cool but his fell upon a set of blue, wrist-buckled gloves with black fingertips. They too contorted to fit his hands on the inside.
Finally, out of all the choices he had for coats and jackets, he picked out a half-coat, half-shawl overwear. The part that had a sleeve also had a cloak covering over the upper half of the sleeve on the right arm. The other half instead of hanging it over his shoulders, he decided to drape it over the left side of his head and over the upper part of his left shoulder like a hood. Looking at himself fully dressed in new warrior worthy gear he smiled in mirror.
A nod to hoodies of old. Gone but never forgotten.
All set and ready to go, he left his new apartment, Crocea Mors slung on his hip and eager to see what this training regiment was all about.
Finding the Stream Pad was easy.
Finding the Palisades was easier still. Navy was there awaiting you in front of a rather tall, corporate-esq. building. She explained the that their unit was... different from the other soldiers in the sense that they directly served the General. The Tenebrae, she said their name was.
An interesting name to say the least.
What truly baffled him, was when the General told them their training would start within the sunken, ruined, section of the inner city otherwise known as The Gauntlet.
When the young asked why, the lord apparent told him that it was a high honor to use the ruins as a training ground. They saw it as another means to pay homage to The Umbral Dusk and by extension, Morganna. It also provided many obstacles and opportunities to plan strategically.
Obstacles in the form of terrain and other soldiers. In the general's words; once you get in there, it's Tenebrae versus the world.
It would be our unit against one or two other units of similar skill. Whoever was in the Gauntlet at that time with them would be their opponents in what appeared to be a large scale, mock team death-match scenario. All equipped with live ammunition to boot. Considering the abundant use of Aura here, live rounds weren't seen as much of an issue overall.
Looking around, he noticed many faces of excitement. The troops have looking forward to this, apparently it's almost like a rite of passage for the newer recruits. Several of them either sharpening blades, loading rounds.
While he pondered on the kind of weapons he'd be seeing, he noticed Navy quickly approaching.
"Uh hey Navy-"
"No time, the doors to the Gauntlet are opening. Come!"
'Welp, I guess I'll just have to wing it as usual.' The young Arc sighed, still his eagerness to train ended up winning out in the end. Following her around another corner and up a somewhat wide set of stairs, they came upon another large gateway with an even larger metal door. There at the front of the gate, Lord Granite awaited them.
By his side were very same three soldiers he had berated in the forest days prior. The most put together of the three now sporting one teal blue eye. The other was covered with an eye patch, no doubt from the impact of the Generals pocketwatch colliding into his eye socket. The scruffier, blue haired soldier still looked like quite the underachiever, rubbing his fuchsia colored corneas with his forearm.
Lastly, the once trembling soldier now had look of pure terror on his face as he stared at the metallic doors. He reminded Jaune of himself from before all of this.
He slightly cringed at the thought.
"Glad the two of you could make it, on time at that," huffed Lord Granite, having given Jaune and Navy a small smirk. Suddenly glaring at the three men next to him. "I wish my other soldiers had such drive and ambition!"
All three of them gulped nervously.
"Introduce yourselves at once!" He shouted, clearly in no mood for them today.
One by one, the three of them lined up in front Jaune.
The blue haired soldier chimed in first and possibly the loudest. His beaming grin, showcasing all of his pride.
"Private Coral Marine!"
The proper, eye-patched soldier spoke up next. His voice a near low baritone and his emotionless face set the tone for his character type.
"I am private Onyx Steele, pleased to make your acquaintance."
Finally, The constantly terrified soldier tried to straighten out but nearly tripped over himself before standing still and trying to speak.
"I-I'm Eris. Eris Discordia, Im also a p-private."
Jaune and Navy deadpanned, Lord Granite facepalmed himself.
Words from the Author:
Yo, sorry Im late life got a bit wild this weekend.
I also wanted to make sure that I properly described the beginnings of Laguna and its ways.
Btw, Im debating on changing Jaunes Semblance but Im a sucker for keep things close to canon so its more of a believable what-if. So yea, just look out for that, I might and I might not.
Cubia out~