The Cosmic Cycle
Chapter 6
Modern Myth
Several Months Later
The sounds of clockwork that echoed around the office often soothed his mind. Whether it came from a large mound of paperwork he dealt with to keep beacon academy running, receiving word of one of his hunters being killed in action, or dealing with the increasing dubiousness of the vale council, the sounds of cog work turning from past his glass ceiling singing their never changing harmony worked the stress from his nerves over time.
That and the multiple cups of his frankly excellent coffee brand he has in a day.
What could he say? Work like his could be rather stressful on a person.
He was grateful he had a hidden bathroom in his office, or all the trips to the bathroom would've shattered the image of his 'Mysterious and Intimidating Headmaster' persona almost instantly. It was one of the only advantages he had on the council, since they truly didn't know him outside of updates on the academy, its students, and any and all huntsmen who called the kingdom of vale home.
No amount of coffee or sounds of turning gears would aid him today however.
Ozpin sighed as he leaned back in his seat, staring into a steaming hot cup of coffee held in his hands despite his feelings. Despite the years of peace the world was experiencing there was still plenty of dark elements both old and new that roamed remnant.
"Is everything alright Ozpin?" He snapped out of his musings at the sound of the feminine voice coming from his right, turning and finding himself staring at piercing green eyes hidden behind ovoid glasses.
"I'm quite alright Glynda." He replied after a few seconds of silence, taking a small sip of his beverage. "Events have given me cause to be concerned lately."
"You're referring to the maidens, correct?" She asked.
"For the most part yes." He admitted. "The criminal element has never gotten this close to our charges, assisted or otherwise. And now, just over a month and a half ago we've had to relocate one of our charges from the appearance of a well-known group of thugs. On top of that I've had to pull Qrow from his current mission, of whom we've gotten more information on just earlier today, in order to check on and warn the other of possible attacks."
"Oh dear…" Glynda muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What happened this time?"
"From what I understand, our most recent intel suggests an incident occurred within the town of Aroma." He began, taking a quick sip of coffee in between. "Apparently trees and various plants were growing at an abnormal rate throughout a period of a couple of weeks throughout the town, sometimes even appearing growing out of thin air in seconds on alleys and heavily populated streets. We haven't been told what exactly caused it, but from what I managed to gleam our person of interest came through and fixed the problem before going on their merry way again. And, unfortunately for us, the information seems to have been held back again for a quite some time."
"Again?" She sighed exasperatedly. "Either they're being strong-armed into silence or the man is truly that influential."
"Indeed." He nodded in agreement. "Speaking of, did you manage to put together a timeline of where they've been?"
She shrugged. "I did what I could with what we had on hand. Considering we've been repeatedly getting information late its more than likely were missing some particulars."
"I asked assuming as much." Ozpin nodded again. "Show me what we have."
With a nod, she walked over to his desk, placing her scroll in a slot off to Ozpin's right. After several seconds multiple files appeared via hologram, floating in front of the headmaster. A couple of moments of sifting through the files later, he was able to locate one in particular labelled '5th'.
Selecting it revealed two windows. One showed a map of the kingdom of Vale, with the capital bearing a castle, while the towns beyond had the shape of a house, each of them varying in size and the amount of buildings depending on its population. Most of them were highlighted green, with a few glowing an angry red, along with a single digit ranging from zero to two floating over them. Roads between occupied land were given a yellow color, with certain roads lit up red from attacks by Grimm, Bandits, or the White Fang. The second window listed multiple files, almost all of which were the names of towns labelled with a number. His eyes roved to the top.
(Start)
0
North Waters
Selecting it expanded the size of the town in question, highlighting it dark blue, and a host of information about the area came scrolling down in another window along with a multitude of pictures; many of which showing most of the damage done to the town. What greatly surprised him was the timestamps. Each of the areas had a before and after picture, showing the partially destroyed roads and buildings were all repaired in the same day. But what stood out more than that were two things in particular.
The first was a series of pictures taken over the course of a week. The shots depicted the progress of a wall being built, ending in a fifty foot high wall of rock. Not cobblestone or bricks, but a single mass of ten foot thick solid rock that seemingly spanned an area three times the size of the town itself, along with four large operable gates in all the cardinal directions.
'How someone can manage to make walls and gates as fine as that in a week is beyond the realm of rational thought.' He thought with curiosity and a small amount of apprehension.
The next bit of information threw his mind through a loop from how inconceivable it was when he first read it. A series of photos showing a then stumped arm of one of the hunters located in the area, one Arun Phan. The first of the pictures showed a red bracelet with a hexagonal red gem encrusted in its middle. The hunter in charge of the towns security stressed the name of the artifact was called the 'Charm of Myths', and that it was able to regenerate the limb; albeit to a severely malnourished state from the point of the stump down.
Several pictures were taken every five minutes from when the trinket was placed on his wrist, giving a rather thorough catalogue of his growing limb. It was a rather disturbing sight to a degree, what with the bones and muscles growing in first before the skin covered over them. But nonetheless the photos proved to be the truth, especially since he had sent Qrow down who confirmed the statement and pictures himself, much to the surprise of everyone in the order.
Himself included, and that was saying a great deal.
"I still find that hard to believe." Glynda remarked. Her eyes were distant in thought, much like himself. "How someone could manage to bring back one's limbs is astounding. But I can't help but wonder if they use such items for a darker purpose."
"Don't let your mind run away with you." Ozpin chided with no small amount of kindness. "Fact often shows the truth about someone rather than letting our imaginations run wild on every possibility."
"Weren't you the one who told me to think more openly?" She smiled lightly in response, getting a small smile from him in return.
"Yes. Such is our line of work." He chuckled quietly. "Imagination has saved more than one hunter on the field. Using it to such an extreme however can lead to our own detriment. It can make us paranoid. Cloud our reason and make us blind to the truth in front of us."
"I suppose your right…"
"I know I am." Ozpin said, highlighting all of the roads. "Take these for instance. Why would they bother to aid in the caravans or trains when they passed by? Why bother healing their wounds instead of leaving them be afterwards? Why stand out unnecessarily? And-" He selected all of the towns that were glowing red. "-We know they ask the hunters in these towns to keep any information about them delayed, but why? If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't want any information about me spreading unless-"
"-Unless they wanted it to spread long after they were gone." Glynda said, realization dawning.
"Much the same thought that I have on the matter. They wait until they're long gone before giving us any Intel on them. No hunter worth their salt would willingly hide information, even temporarily, unless they implicitly trusted the individual."
"And after meeting them for the first time no less." She replied with furrowed brows. "They would have to have quite an effect to manage something like that with the more experienced hunters."
"Indeed." Ozpin concluded, his face returning to its well-known neutral expression. "Some of these reports were made by such individuals, and I find it unlikely they wouldn't leave an encoded message to warn us about them earlier on if they hadn't had such a degree of faith in them."
"A small amount of relief at least…" Her shoulders slumped just slightly. "But that doesn't answer why they wanted this in the first place."
"Of that I'm not too certain. Not until we know them personally."
"Didn't you just tell me not to let my mind run away with me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Indeed. However, my position requires that I take into consideration every possibility while maintaining a neutral stance, though I take no joy in it. It is why I had Qrow following these events."
Ozpin stood, turning around to look out the window that gave one of the best views of beacon's grounds.
"For now, all we can do is wait and see how things turn out."
Meanwhile…
"Thanks for the grub!" He waved over his back to the owner of the stall, holding a sturdy paper bag in one arm filled to the brim with various kinds of baked goods. Getting a small smile and wave from him in return, he ran at a small jog towards the edge of town while discreetly putting the goods into his inventory.
Didn't need another incident like that town a couple months back. What was it called? Aroma?
'Seriously, I know they have no clue about magic and had nary an idea about the dryad girl in their hometown, but why in the hell did they think I was possessed by a demon?!' He griped.
Refocusing on his surroundings he found himself walking among the few buildings along the edge just before the gate. Eventually Jonas stood in front of a small yet eccentric two-floor baby blue building with a large white snowflake emblazoned above the door.
Walking inside revealed a rather spacious room. Affixed to the left walls were long tubes filled with dust powders. Aisles were filled with vials, canisters, ammo and thin cardboard boxes of various sizes. Each were labelled with a small circle of differing colors and, as he learned when he last came here, were meant to help make different forms of Dust ammunition.
"One couldn't simply use the same bullet casing for every kind of dust. Each one is too different in certain regards to be properly utilized if they did."
He ended up standing through an hour long conversation because of a simple question. Maybe it was her job to keep people who used their products informed so they couldn't sue, but damned if he wasn't exhausted by the time he came there since he quite literally just arrived in town at that point.
Despite his physical state however it was useful information for him. He had no clues about this era, so anything he could gleam was incredibly useful.
If only libraries weren't so sparse this far out.
He found one of the employees behind the glass counter in the center of the store leaning idly on it, appearing almost half asleep. He remained unnoticed as he stood only a couple of feet in front of the worker. The man was in such a daze that even clearing his throat didn't stir him from his musings. Snorting in amusement, Jonas rolled his eyes and tapped the back of his hand, getting a jolt of surprise from them.
"Wha-?! O-oh!" He squeaked in shock. His voice seemed to rise a few octaves in the middle Jonas noted for a moment until the employee managed to regain his composure, and bowing to him. "My apologies for my waning attention sir!"
It wasn't surprising being this far out from the capital. Not very many would buy dust in either form when it was more beneficial to simply go and make solar, wind, or hydro generators to save cash. Sure, it took longer to build an amount equal to a single dust crystal since the latter brings immediate results to the table, but the lien a whole town saved was palpable.
Also, it probably didn't help that he was currently without his long coat, showing off his armor. Part of the reason he started wearing one was to hide it; both to give an element of surprise when they found out there was more underneath, and more commonly to stop making the locals so nervous around him, since to them he looked like some sort of bandit or thug at first glance.
God, was he glad he put away his wings before coming here. They might've thought he was part of the White Fang or something!
"Not a problem." Jonas waved off chuckling. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled out a small paper and handed it to them. "I'm just here to pick up an order I placed a couple nights ago."
"I see…" He mumbled, looking at the ticket numbers for a moment before he turned and walked towards a door in the back, probably leading to where they repair or upgrade weapons and armor. "I'll be back in a few moments."
"Gotcha." The brown-haired warrior nodded as the door closed behind them.
Back when he stood in that hour long lecture, he had decided to see if he couldn't get his gear, namely his coat and terra blade fitted with dust, as well as obtaining a few for experimental purposes. He had been meaning to for a long while but hadn't come across any stores that were equipped to do so until now, and he hadn't tested his luck mining for his own cache after the first incident. Found a bloody mole-grimm burrowed in the stone. Incredibly weird looking too, and that was saying something.
'What was it called again? Stonebreaker? Not too far-fetched with claws three times the size of my fist.'
At any rate he had to make do with materials owned by the SDC for the time being. Luckily for him he had the lien needed to buy it from helping several towns. Gave him a pretty large amount as compensation for his actions.
Would've told them to keep it but he had a sneaking suspicion that he'd need to hold onto what he could. Lord only knew how bad of an idea it would be if he sold one of his hallowed bars. Probably make a mint off it, but the repercussions would more than likely be international from the find.
He didn't need more fingers pointed his way, thank you very much.
His mind wandered over the last few months. He'd gotten around rather well during that time. Enough that people were starting to recognize him on sight and that, along the way, he somehow earned the title of 'Indomitable Warrior'.
It was laughable really. He was the farthest thing from 'Indomitable'. He had more scars than he knew what to do with. Though to be fair, he had earned most of those before he was fully trained. Still got a couple every now and again, usually to an enemy he'd never seen before.
It was actually amazing that he wasn't all scar tissue at this point; more so that his face remained unscathed.
'Been just about eleven years now, huh?' Jonas reflected, even noticing how quietly he said that in his head. He had long since lost track how long he'd been stuck on this world for exactly. Eleven was his best estimation of time. That would make him pretty close to twenty, though he might be off by a few months.
The sound of a doorknob turning brought his attention outwards, he raised an eyebrow at the man who was currently carrying his blade with his jacket draped over it, and a large and rather wide metal suitcase through the portal with a noticeable hunch.
"You know, I wouldn't've minded if you took them out here one at a time if it made everything easier to carry for you." Jonas called out with a small hint of mirth in his tone.
"No no, I got it!" He replied with a noticeable strain in his voice, breathing rather loudly through his nose. The worker let out an audible sigh when he dropped the items behind the counter, a noticeable sheen of sweat covering their brows. "It's pretty heavy though, and I've lugged quite a few items to the front!"
"Yeah, the weapon will do that." Jonas chuckled good naturedly. "So, all of it's ready?"
"Indeed, sir." The man nodded, holding his coat aloft after a moment's consideration. "To start you off, here's your jacket."
A first look showed that it had changed considerably. Moderately thick blue and dark blue lines ran along the edges of his coats gold embroider and up the front, some of which was glowing faintly in his shadow. The sides under the armpits were adorned with three wavy blue lines each, with each of them holding two different tones. A single thick blue line ran up his spine from the base of its tailcoat, abruptly splitting in the upper middle to form an outline of a diamond the rest of the way up, which was filled by a pale blue four-point star.
[Silk Overcoat]
{Attachments: Light Hallow Plating, Gold Embroider, Inscription (English), Wolf Fur, Dust: Steam, Water, Ice}
{Dyed: Midnight Blue}
Durability: 400/400
2 Defense
His smile widened slightly. Even made it look stylish. Hard to imagine, what with them grinding up small bombs and putting them into clothing and armor.
Showed what he knew.
"You do nice work." Jonas complimented, finding his movements unimpeded as he moved his upper body around. He mentally grinned when the employee's eyes lit up and started smiling before shaking himself out of it and focusing on the other products he bought. With a small grunt he shakily lifted the sword.
Though he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of his face going red from the strain. Grabbing the blade from the middle, he easily lifted the blade in his hands. The worker gawked as the warrior deftly pulled the blade from its sheathe. It looked more or less the same, save for its middle. Where there once were holes there were now ornate bronze clamps holding in place three ovular dust crystals; two of which were green while the one in the center was blue. If it weren't for the small black button underneath each of them, which he assumed to be the release mechanism, most people would've assumed it was a decoration.
[Legendary Terra Blade]
Durability: 11756/13000
{Attachments: Dust: Air, Water}
109 Damage {215 Damage}
9% Critical strike chance
Very strong knockback
Very fast swing speed
+Fires a magical projectile that penetrates three enemies
+15% Damage
+10% Swing speed
+15% Knockback
+10% Size
Jonas had to fight to keep the evil smile off his face. It was a significant power boost for using these gems, though it could be that it means using them at full power. More likely, the more or less aura you pour into it the more it augments the damage.
"Along with those are some extras you can fit in the slots." The employee cut into his musings, placing the massive suitcase onto the table before opening and flipping it in his direction. Red, green, yellow and blue crystals were laid out in foam padding to stop their movement. Lifting the first layer revealed another that looked exactly the same underneath. "You have an extra three sets here, excluding what you already have in your blade. The cushioning should stop them from shaking too much, but do be careful with them."
At Jonas' nod of affirmation he looked down onto his computer and looked up his order before he continued. "Now, with your coats encrusting, along with your swords added fasteners and dust crystals, including packaging, that comes to a total of one-thousand seven-hundred and three Lien. Are you paying through cash or credit?"
Placing the weapon on the countertop he reached into his pants pocket. Carefully covering what he could he materialized their currency before pulling it out and holding it out to the employee.
"Wow." The man whistled. "Haven't seen a silver Lien card in a while."
"I've been getting around." He chuckled, taking back the card and walking out of the store. After mindfully walking through an alleyway to put his weapons away he abruptly stopped when he ran a hand through his hair, which had grown beyond his shoulders.
'Should get a haircut while I'm at it…'
Having walked for several hours at this point, Jonas decided to set up camp at the base of a cliff he found that had a decent indent at its bottom, giving him better protection from the cold winds that were finally warming up. Don't get him wrong, he liked snow about as much as a kid would, especially so since he could use it in a rather efficient snowball gun he had back home, but it would get tiring to anyone after seeing nothing but white for a third of the year. Though the snow had appeared to have melted a little while back, the cold winds still remained, so finding a useful place to hold down in was a pretty good deal, though it couldn't compare to a room at an inn. Surprisingly the plant life grew in with gusto despite winter's recent departure; so much so that he wondered if the local wildlife was on steroids from the world's ambient magic.
Running his hand through his now inch-long hair, he looked at the coming sunset, the orange skies telling him of the imminent night. Considering the time of year he probably had an hour and a half at most before it got dark; plenty of time to test a few things out at least.
Finding a nice empty spot a decent ways away from camp He pulled out the suitcase and gently lowered it onto the ground. Opening it, he took a moment to think of which one he should test. Settling on the one he had an affinity toward, he pulled out the blue crystal, removing his glove to hold it in his bare hand as a way to adjust to the natural power that emanated from it.
Though he couldn't feel its energies from a distance, direct contact always gave him different sensations depending on its colors. Red made him feel like the hand holding it was overheating, while blue felt like something wet was running down his limb. He wasn't sure if this was his semblance, or if his own natural mana pools were resonating with them in some way, though he wouldn't put it past this stuff.
Looking towards the opaque crystal, he turned his sights towards the case, idly wondering what effects they would have on the blade. Red would obviously coat it in flames, but he questioned the practicality of the yellow dust on his blade. Maybe he could weild it while it was still in the sheathe and use it like a stun baton?
It didn't immediately register to him, but after about seven or so minutes of holding it he noticed that the crystal in his hands was glowing slightly brighter than its brethren, not to mention that the sides had turned rough while running a thumb along it. The warrior held the crystal level with his face to get a better look along its siding, but was surprised to find that some small, barely noticeable lumps had grown.
"Couldn't be...could it?" He mumbled in interest. Reaching into the suitcase and pulling out a green gem this time, feeling the smooth siding for a moment before holding it towards one of his eyes. It wasn't noticeable for the first few minutes, but as time rolled on he saw a rough exterior expanding along the gem from where he was holding it outward.
Dust crystals were not a renewable source of energy from what he heard. First rate crystals would dim and turn a dark gray once emptied of their power, while the more see-through and weaker version that was created in-house would simply fall to pieces. Having a good idea of what was occurring Jonas lit up his mana, pouring more of it into his hand, and as if to prove his theory the crystal's growth rate increased. It was almost as if he were watching a snowflake form in front of him in slow motion.
"…That is wicked." He grinned. Throwing both of the dust shards into his inventory he materialized a black leather-bound book with decently sized ruby in the shape of a half-sphere mounted in the center of the cover, which was surrounded by a circle of silver. He opened it and wrote in some personal notes on the matter, taking the time to throw in some drawings for reference. "Wonder if I can make casings for them to shape it?"
Returning the book to his arsenal he grabbed another blue gem and held it aloft. His theories could wait for the moment. For now, he had to adjust to using dust as weaponry. He would've used his jacket instead, but it seemed like a better choice to experiment with them in the morning when he had more time. Really didn't want to rush himself and end up in a block of ice. Better to be patient and work slowly when it came to something new.
After about a half hour of flinging water and wind around the area, he learned that his theory of aura acting like something akin to a throttle was correct. The more you poured into it the more it let out in response. It was probably a good plan not to use any yellow or red dust in the forest though. An open field seemed better for that sort of training; easier to control the fires.
After a quick write-down, he moved on to testing out his blade; which was pretty interesting. Combining the wind and water while flinging his weapon around at high-speed made for a pretty decent cleaver. Launching the water like a crescent projectile at a tree clean-cut the one he was aiming at, as well as the one behind it right off from the stump before the water finally spread out enough to splash on the surrounding foliage and trees, yet leaving small holes and indents despite.
After noticing how low the sun had become what with the stars that were slowly appearing in the sky Jonas cut down a couple more trees with his blade, throttling it to different degrees to see how it would affect the cut. The explosion of wood chips from using a thirtieth of his full power painted a good picture of the bare minimum he actually needed for the simpler Grimm. Larger ones were anyone's guess until he used it against them.
It was good training all in all, though he wished he had enough time to try out the dust in his clothing. His eyes wandered into the sky, staring at the slowly rising moon.
He still wasn't used to that, Staring at a broken moon that was more than likely caused by him. Fist time he saw it at night he screamed. Whenever he was out in the wilderness he often wondered if the Grimm's appearance was caused by him killing that abomination.
He knew he had no choice in the matter. If he didn't then the world as they know it wouldn't be here right now. But there was always that 'What if' lingering in his head…
He shook his head out of those thoughts. There was no use dawdling on what could've been. He needed to focus on the now.
On how to fix what was broken, and bring back what was gone.
It was apparently clear to him that another event had triggered while he was gone, and stuck around probably a short time after he left. He just needed to deal with as many threats as possible to bring out the big boss, or bosses depending on if they're similar to the lunar invasion.
It was blandly simple; so much so that it'd make a few people look at him like he was an idiot, but that was how it worked up until now. Why break the streak?
Having done what testing he could for the day he returned to his campsite, though not before pocketing the lumber.
Even though he had to camp out, that wasn't to say he couldn't make himself more comfortable.
All things considered, he had a decent night's sleep, what with building a small little house along with a bed. Would have continued well a ways through the morning too if he hadn't woken up to an ominous storm coming towards him.
It wasn't that storms scared him. Quite the contrary, they made for a rather relaxing night as well as some entertainment in the form of goldfish walking on their back fins across the land, some flying fish seeking his death for some reason or another, though they hadn't appeared since he returned.
They made for many a good dinner at least.
But there was a tension in the air since the clouds started rolling in. He couldn't make sense of it, and no matter how much he tried to ignore the damned feeling, it still hung around in the background like a badly cooked meal one had eaten recently that lingered on ones tongue. And then, as an act of providence, a lightning bolt came down close by.
Heading outside Jonas looked to the skies to find where the lightning might've gone off. He found it after several seconds of searching, an easy to miss trail of smoke trail that nearly blended with the dark clouds rolling in overhead.
He could just leave it. The rain would put out the flames before they could spread too much… But it was just as likely that the rain wouldn't be coming for another few hours.
But but but.
He growled quietly before bolting towards the smoke. If he was lucky it hadn't spread too far. At most it should only be trees numbering under a dozen when he gets there. Shouldn't be much of a problem.
And of course, as if the goddesses of luck and fate vomited on him, a shrill scream of a woman tore through the air.
Jonas sighed before bolting in the direction it came from. "Didn't realize it was Tuesday already."
It turned out to be close by the edge of the forest, if the group of five on the dirt road in front of him was any indication. Jonas lowered himself behind a bush, eyes jumping between each individual.
One of them, who he guessed was the one who yelled out, lay in a crumpled heap unconscious. What was most worrying were the dark lines slowly developing on her brown skin. Her visage bared a constant grimace behind her messy shoulder length hair despite a lack of awareness. She looked to be going through a great deal of pain from whatever the other three did.
The man standing in front of her was wielding a massive great-sword bearing gears above its handle. He wore a lightly formal gray and black dress shirt along with slacks and shoes, and a dilapidated red cape that looked to have seen better days. His hair looked like a mess, partially covering dull red eyes.
Jonas only gave him a passing glance however. He was far more worried about the girl now that he got a more thorough look at her.
{Fall Maiden}
[Amber Tawny]
Aura:
{ERROR}
Health:
31/50
Mana:
{ERROR}
Current Ailments:
[Shattered Soul]: The 'Heart' broken through Unnatural means. Various stats are greatly weakened.
[Grip of Death]: Unable to wake. Cannot regenerate health. Gradually lose health.
[Weak]: Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!
'Okay!' He thought with exasperation. 'First question: How in the bloody hell did this happen?! Cause I sure as hell haven't seen anything like this before!'
His eyes quickly fell to the other three, discreetly checking their status. It was when they fell upon the woman in red that he got the confirmation to his theory.
{Black Bishop}
[Cinder Fall]
Aura:
34/126
174/243
Health:
107/150
Mana:
3/25
0/0
Current Buffs:
[Soul Stealer]: Wield the strength and powers of another. Various stats are increased.
Well that's just lovely, now he had to keep an eye out for more crazies like her. And he thought he might finally be free of them too.
Not to mention, why did she have two separate mana bars?
'Tuesdays suck!' Jonas whined. 'Why do they gotta exist!? They're nothing but a blight on the waking world!'
He stared at her, noticing with a raised eyebrow that the woman had amber eyes that bordered on gold, one of which was hidden behind black hair that accentuated the beauty of her face. She wore a red dress held aloft by straps with separated sleeves, both of which bore yellow accents, and black shorts under her split skirt. Oddly enough, she was wearing black high heels for some reason. Maybe to gut her opponent with her kicks?
In either case, it was best to assume she was the enemy, what with robbing the other girl of part of her soul. Amber, despite being a magic user–albeit a mid-to-high level Apprentice, but a magic user nonetheless–she still managed to take her down somehow. She probably used something demonic in nature, meaning he could hopefully reverse it. If not, at the very least he could avenge the poor girl.
Still, she did have comrades with her, and with semblances being a thing in this age, it wouldn't be far-fetched if they hypnotized her into submission or something before the black haired guy got back to stop it. Luckily for him he had two things going for him. First was that he had the element of surprise, since it seemed they hadn't realized he was here yet. Secondly, both sides seemed to be focused solely on the other. He didn't know how long that'd last however.
He'd need to act quickly to fix this mess.
Jonas hid behind a tree about a dozen feet back, and materialized his helmet over his head. While it wouldn't cover his hair, the visor and mask would give him a good deal of anonymity. His eyes focused on the other two of her group, starting with the green-haired girl in a crop-top, Emerald Sustrai if his status check was any indication. Better to get rid of the teammates first before focusing on the would-be mini-boss, and she seemed to be the faster of the two. The other guy looked to be weighed down slightly by his mechanical legs if the blood on his thighs were a good enough tell, as long as it wasn't Ambers.
With his heart resolved Jonas stepped out from behind the tree, looking at their current positions and lining himself up for a clear shot at Emerald while taking a runners stance. Both mana and aura coalesced around his legs and arms, shifting between shades of blue. His eyes glowed behind his visor. He rocketed forward in a single push.
They didn't even have time to react.
They were experienced enough to listen to their surroundings, and to their credit the lot of them did register his movement as he expected they would, but by the time they were trying to react to his presence his knee had already connected with Leaf Girl's face with a sickening *Crack!*. She flew through the air, tearing right through the wooden fence and smashing into the hill behind her.
"Emerald!" The Gray-haired man shouted.
She had landed in a heap, though he didn't have enough time to give a more thorough look before a metal leg came at him from his left.
The leg flew by as he contorted his body, the prosthetic just passing by his head by a narrow margin. The sound of a gun firing went off from behind, pushing the gray-haired man back. A weaponized metal limb? He didn't find anything resembling a weapon on him otherwise.
The weapon enthusiast inside him couldn't help but geek out over it, only to be immediately quashed as his other leg came at him in a roundhouse kick. This time he was ready, and grabbed the foot in one of his hands before it could connect, though he still felt the force of the attack travel down his arm, giving him a good amount of discomfort.
They were good.
Really good.
Unfortunately for the man he stood too long gawking at him, apparently shocked that he stopped his attack. He retaliated with a vengeance, sweeping his other leg out from under him before flipping around and delivering a swift punch to the crotch hard enough to slam him onto the ground.
The man went cross-eyed, letting out a quiet, high-pitched whine and curling up into a ball while his hands covered his family jewels.
A quick glance over to the red-eyed man and Amber showed that the woman hadn't attack them while he was busy with the two, though the former was wincing at the Gray-haired man who had started to gag violently.
The sound of light footsteps alerted him to her presence. Making a magic and aura powered leap backwards looked to be the best move as Cinder had buried one of her scimitars where he was standing previously, throwing dirt into the air. Landing about fifteen feet away, he nearly pressed his advantage, only to stop when he noticed a bright orange ring appear, superheating the dirt in the air into diamond-shaped glass. Thinking fast, he put his left arm behind his back and discreetly generated an arcane runic circle as the projectiles careened towards him, before he himself launched forward.
A wall of small purple hexagons flashed into existence in front of him, and the glass shattered as it absorbed the blows, though not without a few of his own projections breaking under the speed of the attacks. Moments after the last shard hit the shield it abruptly faded from existence, disappearing just as he broke into the bishop's personal space.
He grinned when her eyes widened, and watched as her surprise quickly morphed into pain when his fist met with her stomach. The force knocked her halfway between him and the red-eyed man, her hands making trails in the dirt with her hands and knees to slow herself.
This time the red-ey–you know what, let's just call him Gear-Head for the time being–took the initiative, launching forward and digging his weapon next to her neck before placing a shoe on her back and forcing her onto the ground.
"Alright lady-" He started, pressing his foot hard enough to make her grunt in pain. "-you're going to reverse whatever you did right now, or I'm gonna take my chances on killing you to do it."
The woman turned her head, giving him a heated glare. Orange and yellow energy poured from her eyes like a flame, catching the blue-clad warrior's attention.
The man's eyes hardened, and he grit his teeth before pulling his sword from the ground and held it over her, intent on impaling her.
"There's no need for that." Jonas finally cut in. Gear-Head looked at him as he reached into his coat, hiding the flash of light as he materialized and pulled out a small square bottle filled to the brim with a deep blue liquid, which was sealed by a brass stopper shaped like a cross. "Hold her still."
The fancily dressed man gave him a long measured look for several moments, as if he were trying to guess what he was planning. It was when Jonas started to worry if he was going to attack him that he visibly relaxed to a degree, giving him a small nod.
Sighing in relief, he walked towards them, crouching down next to the raven haired beauty and reaching his hand out. Magic coated his fingers before he held it over her, waving it from one end of her body to another.
Magic, no matter the form, always reacted to each other in certain ways. When the standard came across an unholy entity, it had a tendency to push back the former like a magnet. The only thing that could pierce through the darkened veil and destroy it was its polar opposite.
It was something he was working to his advantage, since he found a force pushing back his hand from what he guessed what a symbol between her shoulder-blades. It was shaped like two black high heels who's soles were pressed against one another, making the shape of a heart.
"Right there…" He muttered, the glow from his hand fading. Pulling the stopper from the flask, he flipped it, pouring its contents right on the sigil.
Black and white lightning arced from her back, clashing against one another in a brutal struggle. Gear-Head almost jumped back in shock from the sight. Cinder's screams echoed into the surroundings as the opposing forces did battle, her hands clawing into the dirt. A dark swirl of energy coalesced underneath them, before abruptly shattering when only the white lightning remained. The sigil slowly faded from her back, and many tiny flecks of orange and yellow light began to float from her up into the air.
Thinking fast, Jonas pulled the small motes of light towards him, joining them together in a small sphere and containing it in a small bubble of his own magic to make sure her soul wasn't lost to the winds.
"Got it." He announced to the man, grinning lightly when he sagged a bit in relief.
Only for his body to abruptly wind up tight as a spring.
"Move!" He shouted. Inhaling sharply, Jonas jumped clear over him as he leaped back a few feet, landing behind the man.
Metal legs was back on his feet, his face holding a snarl that had little effect due to how green his face looked.
'Huh…figured I had him outta commission for longer.' He mused; impressed he was standing after the damage he did.
The bishop slowly got to her feet, staring daggers at them both. Her eyes wandered to the ball of light in his hand, and they narrowed as she growled at him. It looked like she would've lunged at him had Gear-Head not stepped between them and took a fighting stance with his brows drawn in determination.
She looked between him and the girl on the ground for a moment, before letting loose a snarl. Quickly reaching into the bag on her hip, she pulled out a small brown pellet that she threw on the ground, engulfing the area briefly in light. His visor aided in mitigating some of the damage to his eyes, but by the time they had readjusted the three had vanished from the area. His eyes widened as he quickly turned around, but to his solace the brunette had been left untouched by the trio in their departure.
"Damnit!" Gear-Head swore, looking about ready to go charging after them.
"Wouldn't recommend it." He cut in before he could do anything stupid. They turned sharply, staring at his eyes right through the visor. "I can understand why you'd want to go after them, but after what they did, they could very well be a ploy to draw one of us out in order to more easily be able to deal with the other group, and re-obtain their target; whether or not it's this or her." Jonas finished, holding the sphere aloft.
He looked at him for a moment, his eyes roving between him and where he assumed the three had run off to before sighing in frustration, giving him a small nod.
Nodding back, he turned and walked towards the girl, only to be stopped by the man's blade digging into his gorget. Turning his head, he was surprised to see he had moved from standing at least half a dozen feet to right next to him in about a second.
"Look bud, you might've helped us and everything, but considering what I just saw and dealt with I don't really want you anywhere near her right now. You want any closer than this; you gotta answer a few of my questions first."
"...Fair point." Jonas conceded. "What do you want to know?"
"Who the hell are you?" He asked.
"The folks around here tend to call me the 'Indomitable Warrior', apparently."
The man's eyebrows seemed to perk slightly at his answer, though looked to be playing it off.
"Alright, next, what the heck is that?"
"The fragment of her soul they attempted to steal." He replied bluntly, staring at her body, and finding in his growing panic that her health was draining rapidly, having already dropped ten points.
His eyes wandered to the shard. He seemed to look mystified by it. Maybe he'd never seen one before? Granted, neither did he, but he's seen far weirder shit than this. A soul was pretty much par for the course.
And no, he wasn't proud of it.
"…And what do you want with it exactly?"
"What I want is to put this back in her body before it decides to kick the bucket." Jonas snarked in irritation. "The longer we keep talking the more likely she's gonna give out, at which point me containing her soul like this would become moot. There are already signs of it happening, so if you don't mind, can I finish what I came here to do?"
His sword twitched slightly, better known as a warrior's flinch. Jonas sighed when Gear-Head gave him yet another drawn out and narrowed stare. Guy seemed to love those. Maybe he enjoyed drawing out the suspense?
After what seemed like an eternity, Gear-Head finally let his weapon fall to his side. To his interest, the blade pulled inward segment by segment until it was about as tall as his chest and head. Not even the tip of the blade stood out, instead leaving long hexagonal hole.
Reminding himself to ask him how he made it later, he walked towards the comatose girl, gently turning her over with his free hand. Jonas winced at the dark brown scarring that covered her cheeks, eye and between her brows. Gear-Head loomed over him as he worked. Understandable considering the circumstances.
He worked swiftly but carefully, holding the errant force of Amber's individuality over her. Slowly, he dissipated the bubble starting from the bubble, allowing the flecks to float, finding its way towards her chest. All of a sudden the small lights came pouring through the hole, swirling in the air around them like a spiral. It almost looked as if it were dancing
The beauty of the sight wasn't lost on him.
Both watched as the lights congregated some ten feet above her body, becoming still for a brief moment before abruptly launching itself like a bullet into her chest. Her body arced from the point of impact, orange and yellow light surrounding her for a couple brief seconds before it dimmed and her body fell limp.
They watched with bated breath for any sort of change, though nary a twitch of her fingers or change from her erratic breathing came. Her status screen remained unchanged, and after a couple minutes of waiting he inwardly feared he might've been too slow.
Then the screen briefly turned to static, and the brunette gasped as her body tensed when it settled.
Both men let out long sighs of relief. Jonas hung his head as the tension that worked its way into his body without noticing worked its way out of his system. His eyes finally focused on the screen.
{Fall Maiden}
[Amber Tawny]
Aura:
108/252
Health:
21/100
Mana:
3/50
0/0
[Shattered Soul]has worn off!
[Grip of Death] has worn off!
Current Ailments:
[Weak]: Defense, melee damage, melee attack speed, and movement speed have decreased! Rest to remove this ailment!
Just to be safe he removed a glove and placed it on the back of her head and on her neck to check her pulse.
'Thank god for small mercies at least…' He quipped while putting his glove back on, finding no physical changes besides her prominent scarring. Standing, he looked towards the sky as thunder rolled by overhead. Wouldn't be much longer until it rained.
His eyes quirked in Gear-Head's direction. "We should probably get out of here while we can. I have a place close by we can hold up in until then."
"I can handle myself just fine kid." He proclaimed with no small amount of pride.
"In the rain? While fighting three people or more depending on if they have reinforcements? Whose main goal just so happens to be her literal soul?" He responded dryly. The man's eyes twitched slightly in irritation, and a grimace broke on his face. Quietly swearing under his breath about his back luck as the first drops of water began to fall, his eyes drifted to his visor.
"Fine, lead the way." He gave the go ahead. "But I'm carrying the girl."
"By all means." He gestured towards her.
Gear-Head briskly walked past him, leaning down and picking the woman up in a bridal carry. While he was doing that, Jonas was already walking back towards the forest, and it wasn't long before he heard the man a few steps behind him.
"Names Jonas. What's yours?"
"Qrow Branwen."