Ritual - Part 1
"Are you sure this is the place?" Qrow asked his travel companion.
"Yep, it led here." Amber affirmed with confidence, "can't you felt it—the dark energy? It reeks"
Qrow took a sip of his flask before answering, "nah, probably just one of your woman intuitions."
"Oh, har har Qrow." the woman grumbled. "But seriously though, you can't really feel it? I mean you have a bit of magic in you right?"
"Nope, not a tingle." He strapped back his flask and proceed forward.
Before them stood what is looks like a cathedral, one that has seen better years. Its yard was speckled with brambles, moss dotting its dirty brick walls. Its metallic gate rusted beyond repair. Its once colorful glass replaced with haphazardly placed wooden planks.
"Seems like our big bad can't get any more cliché. An evil cult resides in an abandoned cathedral near the edge of the city." The huntsman said while inspecting the cathedral's door, he noticed there were signs of it being opened recently.
"So how we're going to approach—" Amber's question was cut short when suddenly Qrow kicked the door open before entering the building while shouting, "Excuse me!"
"…. Or we can do that." She released a sigh and followed him.
The inside was dark even with lights coming from their entrance. Amber could make up outlines of some things like benches and candle stands, but she unable to see further than that. Crunching noises filled the building as they proceed further in. at the end of the path, they could saw a figure kneeling in front of an altar.
"Alright, hands where I can see 'em." Qrow declared, brandishing his trusty weapon at the figure, "now, don't do anything stupid, we don't want an accident to happen don't we?"
"Please, surrender peacefully." Amber's hand hovering at her trusted weapon,
the figure didn't respond. Instead, he stood up—revealing his big muscly build. Qrow's eyes narrowed, he recognized this stature; it was the man he encountered at the warehouse. The giant man glanced at them over his shoulder.
"You have entered the house of gods, where is your manners?" the man asked the hunters coolly.
Qrow snorted, "look at this place, not even God has been here in forever." He then pointed his weapon threateningly, "besides, you're one to talk. Have you smell yourself recently? You reek!"
The man chuckled darkly, "oh… that wasn't me." he paused dramatically, "…it's them."
As if on cue, the cathedral's many candles flared into life, their demented purplish light revealing a sight the two hunters weren't prepared for.
On the cathedral's walls numerous people were nailed on thorny crucifixes. Their bodies were started to rotting, worms feasting on them were for all to see. Dried blood painted on their bodies and wall. Their final agony displayed clearly on their faces. Woman, man, old, and young, all of them were hung on the wall—gaping hole in their stomach.
Death wasn't a foreign thing to Amber—she had seen her fair share of victims of man's bloodlust… but this—this made her nauseous. She never seen such gore displayed with sickening grandeur.
"Quite a display, eh?" the man remarked. The two could hear his smile beneath the iron mask, "I caught those people while they're indulging themselves in their sins. As you can see, they—" whatever he wanted to say next were cut off when Qrow suddenly lunged and swung his blade at him. Harbinger's diagonal slash strike true.
Cutting the man in half.
"WHAT—!" the hunter duo was surprised by the turns of event. Amber couldn't avert her eyes, she watched in gory detail as the man's upper body slid down to the floor and its other half fell lifeless. Qrow locked his gaze at the man's corpse, 'he… he didn't have aura!' was his immediate thought.
"He committed all this murder…. Without having an Aura…" Amber muttered.
'No, he's not alone' Qrow remembered. he scanned his surrounding, eyeing every nook and cranny from his position, 'he was with that winged girl. He may be the brain, and that girl is obviously the muscle, I need to be careful. She may—'
"Qrow, Behind you!!"
Qrow spun around only to meet a kick to his face. "Gah!" the force behind the kick was strong, it threw him to a nearby pillar, cracking it.
"Qrow, are you okay?!" Amber ran to him and helped him up. Qrow looked up to see his assailant; it was that man.
His lower half to be precise.
"What the—!" Qrow never saw anything like this, even in his line of work.
the lower half of the man's body was standing up, its remaining left hand grabbing his upper half. It then reattached it back with a help from its surrounding. "…. Ah~" a satisfied sigh escaped the man's lips.
Qrow put up a stance, Amber followed suit, he then demanded, "Who—no, WHAT are you?!"
"Hesiod." The man, Hesiod, said simply. He then clasping his hands together and prayed in language the hunters never heard.
Suddenly, the lights in the building dimmed before slowly turning blood red. The corpses on the wall suddenly spasmed, surprising the hunters. And then, From the holes in their stomach, something clawed their way out.
Dropping on the floor, in varying position, were bipedal Grimm-like creatures. They're holding what looks like machetes on their hands. their bloodshot eyes were filled with rage and hunger. The only difference from typical Grimm were their absence of bony protrusions and masks.
The creatures then round up around the hunter duo, weapon brandished.
Surrounded, the hunter duo prepared for the worst. Qrow switched his blade to scythe form, loading Harbinger with fire ammo. Amber prepared her staff and loaded with multiple Dust crystals, hands holding the wooden frame tightly.
"Kobolds, take care of them." Hesiod calmly ordered, "I need to finish the ritual" he then returned to the altar. The creatures responded with snarls and growls.
"1000 Lien, this wasn't my fault." Qrow placed himself standing back-to-back with Amber
"Nah, definitely your semblance acting up." Amber pointed her staff at the Kobolds.
The Kobolds then charged, which the hunters replied in kind.
Meanwhile somewhere in Mistral….
Ruby fending off against her prey, swatting them away to the wall before casting, "Bufudyne!"
The ice spell hit true, encasing her foe in ice. She turned to Blake, who stood behind her, "Blake, I need you and Geiz to retrieve my Comp."
"Comp…You mean your gauntlet?" Ruby nods at her question.
"Geiz will show you the way." Ruby then noticed that her ice prison started to crack. She took a stance and prepared another spell. "Hurry!"
Blake also heard the crack earlier, she wanted to fight with Ruby. but she didn't bring her weapon with her. She relented and nodded at her request, "I'll be back. please, hang on till then!" she said before running out of the alley, Geiz in tow.
Just as Blake got out of the place, the ice prison broke.
--
Karasu dropped down from her icy prison, landing on her feet towards the dirty concrete floor. She turned to her adversary, "you… you're that girl." She remembered her—she was the girl who Hesiod nearly killed. Although, she was sporting an orange jumpsuit now instead of her blue coat back then.
Ruby finally got a better look at her enemy. unmistakably female physique, but she dressed like Karasu Tengu from Yoma race. Long flowing blonde hair with fox ears on top, blazing golden eyes looking at her with both contempt and curiosity. And now that Ruby in her top shape, she could feel certain aura on her; like a combination between light and dark. There's high possibility that her light spell would be nullified, or worse absorbed. She decided to stick with her ice spells.
"I'm here to finish what I started, demon." Ruby stated, pointing her weapon at Karasu, "you have terrorized this city long enough. Prepare to be slain."
Karasu wasn't angered nor annoyed by the declaration, she didn't react at all. Instead, she asked her in an innocent manner, "terrorize… What are you talking about?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes, "your killing spree. It ends, now."
Recognition glinted in Karasu's eyes, "ah, now I get it. you are mistaken, it was not killing spree. I was just cleaning this city of its filth."
"What…." Ruby balked at the casual tone Karasu spoke with.
"I mean, isn't it customary to clean your house when someone visiting? That is what I'm doing right now—I'm just cleaning my hometown from its trash, and I can say I did it quite well. Crime rate has taken nosedive since I started. You are a huntress of some kind, you surely understand, yes?" Karasu explained in such casual manner, it made Ruby's blood boil.
She was about to snap, but one word caught her attention, "your…. Hometown?" Ruby wasn't sure, does this demon treated this place as her birthplace since she was summoned here?
"Yes, I was born and raised in Mistral." She declared, pointing at herself, "spent my childhood in the slum of the city, you know, being Faunus and all. It wasn't so bad, to be honest. Until those bastards came at least…"
"Faunus—You are a Faunus?"
Karasu nodded, "yes, at least back then, now I'm not sure…" she trailed off as she flexed her wings. Mirthless chuckle escaped her mouth, "you are lucky, you know. You retained your human form, even though they did god knows what with you…"
Ruby folded her eyebrows, "what nonsense are you spouting?"
Karasu tilted her head, "your ability…. You are from project Zero, no? the same with her?"
"No, I hail from Kingdom of Mikado." Her? Someone with ability to summon demons is roaming remnant's surface?
"I see…" Karasu sighed, "well then, it was nice speaking with you…." Karasu raised her hand and blasted Ruby with gust of wind.
Ruby summoned ice wall, blocking the wind but not entirely. The spell was proven to be stronger than her Bufula, it might be a Zandyne. Ruby's wall was chipped in few places, and broke down when Karasu kicked it, Ruby was struck on her gut by the kick.
"I was kinda had my hope up, you know…." Karasu spoke, raising Ruby high with her foot, "I thought you were one of us, but turns out you are just a nobody." Karasu pulled her foot and flung a fist at Ruby, but Ruby blocked it with her pipe, denting it. Ruby the pulled her pipe and struck Karasu's face, she then followed it with Bufudyne, sending Karasu away.
Karasu opened her wings and prevented herself from hitting a wall. Ruby flung her ice spells on her. Karasu kicked the wall behind her and propelled her up, evading the spells. She flew high unto the rooftop and perched on the edge of the building, looking down at Ruby.
"Luster Candy" Ruby casted on herself, her body bathed in green, red, and purple light. The samurai jumped to a fire escape with great agility and proceed to made her way up.
Upon her ascend, Karasu casted a spell, "Garula" throwing strong gust of wind towards Ruby. the Samurai rolled away before throwing her own spell, "Bufudyne!"
Karasu didn't budge from her position, she summoned wall of winds instead, repelling Ruby's ice spikes. Karasu then summoned bolts of lighting towards her. The lighting spell hits true, but due to Ruby's Luster Candy, she was able to reduce the damage.
Ruby groaned. she felt her muscle spasming due to electricity. Karasu prepared another spell, but she beat her to the punch, "Debilitate, Mabufudyne!" she weakened Karasu's attributes, then followed it up with hail of spikes.
Karasu took flight to dodge Ruby's attack, but her weakened strength only able to take her so far before few spikes struck her body. "Gah!!" she cried before more spikes drove her down to the ground bellow.
Karasu landed on a car that was parking by the sidewalk, destroying it roof upon impact. Ruby jumped off and landed safely, she noticed people that were staring at her. She casted a Mabufula and trapped the car inside a thick ice dome.
"Everyone, please evacuate." She shouted with an air of authority, "a de- I mean, a Grimm has infiltrated this city, please seek shelter until this has been dealt with!" there were unsure whispers amongst the crowd, but a sudden crack on the ice dome dispelled their unsureness. The crowd dispersed as they ran away from the location, just in time for the dome to broke.
Ice shards flung everywhere, breaking glass and vehicles that were parked nearby. Karasu rose up from her ice prison. Ruby's eyes narrowed at the view. Karasu's appearance changed, drastically.
She's no longer appeared human, Sleek pitch-black skin with glowing neon green and yellow veins in various parts of her body. her wings no longer sporting feather, it was like they were replaced with a pair of triangular limbs that made from leather similar to her skin. She growled, head facing at Ruby. despite the lack of eyes, Ruby could feel her hateful gaze boring to her soul.
Ruby narrowed her eyes and casted once more, "Luster Candy" raising her already inhuman strength.
Karasu bent her knees before lunge at Ruby with greater speed than earlier, hands ready to claw her opponent's flesh with its pristine claws. Ruby assumed a defensive stance, preparing a counter.
Qrow jumped high to the air, using a Kobold's head as stepping stone. He then spun in the air and swung his scythe, killing the kobold by cleaving its head. Qrow then landed on a chandelier above, "damn, the hell is this numbers!" he cursed.
Meanwhile on ground level, Amber spewed waves of flames via her staff. A Kobold tried to flank her, but she quickly dispatched it with few thrust of her staff's sharp bottom. She jumped away from another Kobold's slash from her front before sending a bolt of lighting with her staff, reducing the monster into dust.
They have fought these kobolds for a while, but there had been no noticeable decline on these creatures' numbers, for each one they cut down, two would replace it. Amber clicked her tongue before sending more lightning bolts towards Kobolds that approaching her, but she missed one who made a leap for her.
But before it caught her, it was killed by Qrow who sliced it in half.
He made his way to Amber, "any good idea?" he said before switching Harbinger into shotgun and blasted a pair of Kobolds, "cause, anything would be appreciated so long we rid of these mutts!"
Amber tried to rack her brain, but found nothing. She shook her head, "we need to somehow stop these things from spawning, their numbers would wear us out eventually. I would suggest retreating, but…" she trailed off.
Qrow quickly glance at Hesiod who stood before the altar, small red orbs from above flowing to whatever in front of him. "Yeah, quitting is out of question… but we need to find a way to cull their numbers. These cockroaches started to get into my nerves."
An idea struck Amber, "cockroach…." She muttered, turning at the corpses on the wall. 'that's right, we forgot about the corpses! If they appeared from the corpses, then we must get rid of them. I think my flame is hot enough to cremate them!' She nodded resolutely, 'worth a try.'
"Hey Qrow, listen…" Amber then relayed her plan. Qrow seemed intrigued by the plan, he nodded.
"Well, let's test that little theory of yours." He said with a smirk, before jumping towards a horde of Kobolds, cutting them all with a heavy swing, "hey, numbskulls!" he shouted, gaining other Kobolds' attention, "yeah that's right, come 'ere you overgrown mutts! I wanna teach you all a trick, it's called drop dead"
the Kobolds snarled and growled, they immediately charged towards Qrow, brandishing their weapons. Qrow smirked, 'bait taken...'
Qrow leapt forward and swung his blade, beheading pair of Kobolds and shifting Harbinger to scythe form. He then performed a series of summersaults, dodging machetes swings and thrusts. Landing on a pillar, Qrow immediately spring forward while spinning his scythe and mowed down several Kobolds. He skidded to a stop and changed Harbinger to blade again.
The surviving Kobolds roared and leapt towards Qrow, said huntsman downed to a stance. Charging forward, Qrow turned himself into a crow and weaved through the crowd before returning back to human. He brandished his sword before leaping back into the crowd and executing series of strikes and slashes.
Usually, leaping into a murder of Grimm is considered suicide, even if they were veteran hunters. But, Qrow wasn't ordinary huntsman. Being Ozpin's right-hand man has its up and down for Qrow. One of them were his almost inhumane strength and ability to turn into a crow.
Qrow whipped his sword to the side, cleaning its blade from Grimm remains. The small horde wasn't a problem to him, especially since these Kobolds didn't show an ounce of intelligence. 'Their movement, attacks and strategy—its horrendous. even worse than Beowolves cubs.' Qrow glanced back to the building's walls. 'Their only strategy is to overwhelm. their spawn rate definitely helps with that!'
True to his thought, numerous Kobolds crawled their way out of the gaping holes on the corpses' stomach.
Qrow took another stance, but he was interrupted by Amber's shout, "spell ready!"
Amber jumped down from the chandelier where she was hiding, a ball of flame in the size of basketball floating before her, her hands on its sides. "Maralagidyne!" as she shouted and spreads her arms, the ball of flame expands and exploded. waves of white-hot flames rushed towards every direction—burning anything they touches. Kobolds reduced to dust, Corpses burned to ashes, metallic furniture melts. The spell only left ruins on its wake.
Sensing radical spike in temperature, Amber instantly doused the flames with a flick of her hand. due to its magical nature, Qrow was left unharmed, but he still could be harmed by the temperature.
"Usually, I like my meat well done, but beggars can't be choosers" Qrow remarked looking at the ruined cathedral.
Amber quirked an eyebrow, "What, you eat dogs?"
Qrow shrugged, "not the foulest thing I've ate."
Amber's face scrunched in disgust, she opened her mouth to retort, but Qrow cuts her, "LOOK OUT!"
Qrow pushed her to the floor and he leapt back, dodging a pillar that was thrown like a spear. With a resounding boom, the pillar was embedded to the wall.
Amber shot up and whipped out her staff, Qrow unstrapped his sword, they turned to the direction where the pillar was thrown. The altar.
Hesiod stood before the altar, smoke risen from his charred skin, his metal gauntlets and helmet glow scorching red. "I should've known that you two were not normal hunters." He said, his voice hoarse and distorted now. "I should've killed you myself, but I was blinded by pride and arrogance. Truly, there is no greater shame that I've felt since I was resurrected."
The whole building suddenly shook. Rust colored tentacles shot out from under the altar before coiling themselves together, forming a mockery of a flower bud. The atmosphere also changed. hairs on Amber's neck stood when she sensed the wrongness of the air.
Hesiod put a hand on his neck before he cracked its joints, despite the gauntlet's burning color he didn't seems to be feeling anything. Surely, when he lowered his hand, there was a burning scar in the shape of a hand on his neck.
He stomped forward, "I need more time. I will not let you disturb the proceeding—the ritual." He declared lowly. As if on cue, ashes and dust remains of the Kobolds and corpses turned into glowing red orbs, they then float towards the 'flower' behind Hesiod.
He then pointed towards Qrow, "I will kill you then presented the girl to my Mistress. she will be pleased to have a warrior such as you as sacrifice." He stopped before the two, arms spread in welcoming manner, "come forward, for I shall return your souls to Nyx's embrace!"
To Be Continued.
(A/N: I'm back. it's been what, 5 months since last update? Sorry for the wait. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter.
Originally, I wanted to write further, but I think I'll separate it to few parts instead (to refamiliarize myself in writing and stuff) So until then it will be separated in parts.
Thank you all for reading, and please leave a review. God knows I need y'all suggestions and criticism.
That's it for today's A/N. see you guys next… week? Month? Who knows? Anyway, have a nice day.)