Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well. Here's this month's chapter. Enjoy.
Evan was bored out of his mind. His squad had been sent into the ruins of Beacon to find anyone that may have been trapped during the battle. So many other squads had already done sweeps so there was little chance that they would find someone.
He glanced to the rest of his squad mates as they scanned the burnt husk of the dorms. Then he noticed something in one of the less damaged rooms, a sword. This sword was still in its sheath but just looking at it, from its serpentine artwork at the hilt to the curve of its blade, it was enticing.
He looked back at the others before walking into the room. He took in his surroundings and looked at the picture resting on one of the night tables. This dorm belonged to the team... What had they been called, he couldn't remember.
"Hey, you guys remember that team that the Invincible Girl was in?" he asked to the others. "Yeah, why?" one of them responded. "Cause I just found their dorm room" he answered.
The others walked in and joined in his exploration of the room. While they did so Evan grabbed the sword.
He inspected the weapon in his hand was gave it a quick test. As he pulled it out her saw the blade was decorated with a random pattern of gold lining it at various points. He was about to swing it when a creaking floor board got everyone's attention.
The squad looked out to the doorway as a figure stood there. His face was obscured by the shadows of the frame yet his wear stood out like a sore thumb due to all the sickly black he had on. The figure smiled, exposing rows of sharpened teeth to the group, before he lifted his arm.
The next moment was chaos as his arm just sprouted out in razor sharp tendrils and cut into them. Evan watched as three of his squad were just dead on impact as their chests were caved in or their heads torn from their bodies from the force of the tendril. He was only alive because the blade in his hand had split the tendril aimed at him.
One of the others raised his gun and fired. He only had a moment before the figure was up close and swatted it away. Evan just stood frozen as he watched the figure grab his squad mate by the mouth and tear out his neck by the lower jaw.
He hadn't even noticed the cold feeling in his abdomen before the figure turned to him. Evan tried to grit his teeth but he could not find the courage to as the figure got closer. Its face was that of a demon; a mad smile filled with sharp teeth that stretched from ear to ear, eyes slit and blood red, and its skin as black as the grimm.
Evan raised the sword in an attempted strike, faint hope in stopping this creature. He could barely see as the figure dashed to his side and struck his head. He collided with the wall with a strong thud. His last moments as his neck snapped from the collision were of witnessing the beast taking the blade he had found.
Luci looked down at the man, the foolish man who held the Immortal's blade and treated it as though it was a club. He shook his head before looking down and picking up his prize, Sapentaoi. He took a moment to admire the blade before putting it back in its sheath and strapping it to his hip.
He was gitty at the thought of the Immortal's reaction to his precious sword being used by such a despicable adversary. Laughing to himself as he shifted his gaze to the photo in the room, that the group had been talking about earlier. The photo was undamaged by the chaos of the battle and unmared by the slaughter that just took place. He took in the physical details of each member before walking out of the room.
"Phase one is done" Luci muttered to himself as he treked deeper into the ruined halls of Beacon. "Time for Phase two" he said, letting the darkness of the ruins act as a barrier against who ever may see him.
Jaune let out a sigh as he adjusted his seating. The pain in his body acting more as a nuisances than the issue it was the previous day. Drachenzunge and his coat were laid out on the nearby night table, just calling out to him to get back out there.
Oscar and Ruby had visited earlier today, the latter having to help the former move around due to his injuries. The shock on their faces in the fact that he was actually resting being a small bonus. They explained to him the plan Ozpin had set up.
Any available able-bodied hunters were going to funnel the remaining grimm into the cliffs near Beacon and send them off it.
All in all a straightforward but usable plan, they would just need bait...
He wouldn't.
Would be?
Jaune glanced to the door and exhaled. He's not going to let the idea of Ozma using him as bait to stress him out.
Maybe Roman is having an easier time.
Roman let out a sneeze. He was quick to wipe his nose with a handkerchief from his coat. He looked out to the others as they were scouring the ruins, Neo was poking the rubble with her parosal while Emerald just strode along quietly. He let out a sigh before putting the handkerchief back into the coat pocket.
"Have either of you found anything?" he asked. Neo turned to him and shook her head. "Nothing yet" Emerald responded. "Then keep looking" Roman said.
"How do we know it's even here?" Emerald asked as she approached the next pile of rubble. "Because Jaune said that he had hidden a weapons stache somewhere in Vale's central district" Roman answered. "Why would he need to hide a weapon's stache if he's an immortal warrior" Emerald shot back.
"Because he is the only immortal who fights directly alongside us mortals" Roman said. Emerald was silent for a moment as she let what he said sink in. "What do you mean only immortal, there's other immortals?" she asked. Roman turned back to her and just nodded.
Before Emerald could push further the sound of a concrete scraping caught both their attention. They turned to see Neo using her parosal as a wedge to lift a loose piece of flooring off a destroyed shop. The two joined her and got to removing the floor.
Once they removed the floor they were greeted by a metal safe door with a combination lock. The three glances at one another before Roman pulled out a slip of paper. He crouched down and unlocked the safe with the code.
The door unlocked and the three were quick to pull it open. Inside the safe was a small ladder. Neo was the first to go as she could fit through without any difficulty. Emerald followed after, having to squeeze in a bit. Roman looked back for a second before breathing in and stuffing himself into the safe, making sure to close it behind him.
As he climbed down he could only wonder how Jaune had created such a place. It got dark and cramped as he climbed deeper. The only thing he could hear was the sound of Neo and Emerald climbing down and his own breathing. He slowed his breath when he heard Neo stop.
Emerald stopped not long after. As he continued down he could see a dim light. When he reached he saw both Neo and Emerald looking between the various weapons within. Roman walked past them and flicked a switch on the other side of the room.
A bright illumination bathed the room as its occupants were given a a premier of its contents. The wall to the right was lined with various small arms of many calibres and blades of different sizes. To the other wall was a smaller arsenal of rifles and shotguns with blunt weapons. The room even had a couple duffle bags for carrying them, but the greatest thing in their was the RPG with several rockets on the back wall.
Neo was quite to oggle the weapon weapon while Roman took a moment to soak in the various weapons around. Emerald cleared her throat to get their attention. "So, how are we getting them out of here?" Emerald asked the two as she gestured to the walls.
He just hoped they would find the elevator, better than having to haul the weapons through the cramped safe entrance. His Vale armory was one of the lesser ones but it still had enough fire power to arm a small army. His thoughts were interupted by the sound of his door opening.
From the door stepped in someone he hoped he would never have to see, one of the Vale councilmen, Charles Vanderson. The man was dressed in a fine suit with a suitcase at his side and an aura of smug was projected off him. Jaune surpressed a scowl as the councilman pulled a chair and sat down near him bed.
"Now, I don't believe we have properly met, my name is-" "Charles Vanderson, councilman of Vale" Jaune interrupted him as he spoke. "Well then, I guess I don't have to introduce myseld" he groan with disdain at the Jaune's actions. "Let's just drop the formalities, what do you want?" Jaune said.
"Well you see, we gathered footage from your actions at the battle of Beacon and the subsequent Grimm lures" he began. "We hope that you would be willing to take a couple tests" he offered. "What kind of tests?" Jaune shot back. "Oh simple tests, won't be to long" Charles said, his voice smug in perceived victory.
"How about I stay in this bed, and you continue wasting people's time and blaming others for your problems" Jaune answered. It was now Charles turn to suppress a scowl before he opened the suitcase. "Let me rephrase things, you're taking these tests, then you'll fight for Vale" Charles said, holding a pistol.
Jaune didn't bother suppressing his laughter as he saw the councilman brandish the gun. "You really think I'd be scared of that, I fought both a fucking dragon and the women who brought the Grimm to Vale" Jaune said in between laughter. "I spend the last three days slaughtering entire hordes of grimm nostop" Jaune was now pulling himself closer to the councilman. "And here you are, thinking that you could just point a .45 Apc at me and I'd bow to your every whim" Jaune was inches away from the man's face now.
"So let me say this as calmly as possible" Jaune put his hand on the gun as he spoke. "I am going to relax, let the hunters take care of the last bit of Grimm, then I'm out of here" as he finished he crushed the gun between his hands. "Do I make myself clear?" Jaune asked, staring into the Charles eyes. Charles just looked down at the broken gun in his hands before huffing and storing it back in his suitcase.
Charles stood up and walked out of the room, swearing that he'd be back as he huffed in anger.
Jaune shook his head before looking at the chair, Charles didn't bother putting it back. He leaned out and pushed it as far as he could from the bed. After that he laid back down, continuing to ponder on what else is happening out in Vale.
The pits were alive, the groaning of essence permeated as it was shaped. A mad woman lay hunched down. The echoing screams of all the negativity sealed within the pools a music to her ears as she worked on her creation.
Soon a mass of darkness clawed it's way out, its form a macabre imitation of a human. Its red eyes took in all around it before settling on the woman. In response she smiled as the creature began wretching and convulsing.
Its eyes grew wide as its mind, just empty moments before, was bombarded by the sheer negativity of the pool being sapped into it's being. Its skin hardened from a sickly black too a powdery bone white. The eyes changed from a solid mass of swirling red to a deep red slit pupil surrounded by a black iris.
The skin grew even harder as the bones solidified to resemble that of a flexible armor. Out of it's back burst a pair of wings most like a Nevermore's yet quickly changed to resemble an amalgamation of crystals. It stopped when the armor encompassed the head with only the glowing red eyes being visible behind a growth resembling a knight's helm.
The figure stopped convulsing before looking at its surroundings. It then turned to the woman who created it and tilted its head in confusion. "You are something special to me, I made you for a good reason" the woman said while stroking the helm of the creature. The beast seemed to almost coo at such actions before its mind was assaulted by visions. "This is what I want you to do, I trust you can do so" she whispered to it.
The beast nodded to her and stood up. It let the wings on it's back unfurl, their full wingspan easily several times the length of the creatures body. It flew into the air with a mission; kill the traitor, maim the students, then bring the warrior back to its master.
Salem watched as her creation flew out from the Grimmlands, its objective clear. She let her numb arms fall to her sides and lay herself down on the cold ground. The sheer ordeal of creating the beast had sapped her strength.
As she looked out to the pool, once a lake, of grimm essence she sighed. The amount of resources she had to divert into the beast would mean that her vast swarms of grimm would be left far lower than before. The pool may turn back into a lake with time as negative emotions were absorbed and used to expand the pools, but this much used for a single Grimm put even her Leviathan and Tarrasque to shame.
Yet, this creation was easily her most powerful. The quantity of abilities she had given the beast would give even the immortal the fight of his life. As she felt the allure of sleep, an annoying yet enjoyable issue of hers that stuck even after becoming the Queen. She let her thoughts drift as the darkness of sleep over took her.
And that's a wrap, things are going to be getting intense moving forward.
To be honest I feel like I have to make the Grimm more interesting by creating more edge-looking creatures. I have to make it big to make everyone forget that the Grimm have lost some of what made them interesting in the first place. So on that note I made this thing and that Spider Creature from a few chapters ago.
Now I have this to say; if you can name the series which this new Grimm's design is based on then I will let you name the Grimm itself. Your hint for this is that there are actually two different adaptations of this series and I've mixed the two versions together for this creature.
Now, I will say this, I WILL RELEASE A CHAPTER FOR GRIEVOUS ARC. I will, I known I have been blue-balling you guys for almost a year on this but I will release a chapter soon.
With all this out of the way, hope you all have a good month. Bye.