When he landed Jorge looked around and saw that small patches of grass had begun to grow on the battlefield. It was a poetic scene that another person might say showed the resilience of life.
Even after a dozen of the cities, greatest defenders fell in battle. And the very ground they died on was now showing new life. Jorge looked the field over and began to search for where Glynda had died.
He knew that he needed to find Prisoner 1/0 but right now he also needed a minute to pay his respects. He followed the post-action report's land markers and found a broken sword that looked long enough to be used as a dagger planted into the ground.
Jorge recognized this dagger. But he wasn't certain where he had seen it before. He also didn't have long to think about because he could feel someone watching him. He turned around and saw Ren and Nora staring at him.
"What are you two up to all the way out here," he asked.
"We were looking for you," Nora answered with her usually the chipper demeanor. Jorge fought the urge to smile when he remembered how fast Nora recovered from losing Pyrrha. Her and Ren managed to get each other back on their feet and ready to go in a week.
That didn't mean that they were being given any missions yet. Jorge was still too worried about either of them getting hurt for that.
"Here I am," Jorge said, holding his arms out wide to make his point. "What can I help you with?"
"We just wanted to find you," Nora said. "Ruby told us you were going to the old battlefield so we wanted to see what you were doing "it was clear that Nora was worried about him. It was to be expected. None of them but Ren understood what he was and they thought he would still be shaken from Pyrrha's death. And in a way he was, but he was used to this manner of shakenness. He had survived it when he lost Suzail and he would survive when this.
"You two shouldn't be here, it's not safe," Jorge said trying to get them to leave the area so he could complete his search.
His words set Ren on edge and got Nora's full attention. " what are you talking about?"
"He's talking about me," a raspy voice said causing Nora and Ren to snap their heads to see the man who just seemed to appear to their left.
Ren's hand twitched towards his gun only to stop when the man said. " Don't try it. If I wanted to kill you I already would have, my quarrel is not with you but him," the man who had a hood and helmet on that hid his face said as he pointed to Jorge.
"You will take me to the light, now," the man said in a commanding voice.
Jorge looked like he was trying to remember who this man was. It was the clear this prisoner 1/0 but Jorge had a feeling he knew more about him.
" I will not ask you twice," the man said his voice taking on a more threatening hiss.
The sound of a blackened sword being drawn seemed to bring all the pieces together." you have no idea who I am do you?" Jorge asked.
Instead of answering the man raised his hand to a fighting stance. Jorge waved his hand and a portal appeared behind Ren and Nora. " I will talk to the two of you later, right now I need space." understanding his meaning they both went through the portal that lead them to their dorm room
…
Jorge shifted his gaze back to the wraith. His body shifted to an older form. His beard was longer and now went from black to grey. His clothing morphed to show a suit of armor that also had a grey tint. His sword, however, was a bright red.
He knew that he may look like Gandalf to some but Isildur would know better.
"The GreyBane," the wraith hissed lurching back like it had been struck." you left middle earth lifetimes ago,"
" I left, I did not die. Now you will take me to your point of entry into this land," Jorge said as he walked over to the now paralyzed wraith.
Without a word, the spectral form of Isildur coalesced on its knee. A clear sign of submission that the ranger had no answer for. He wanted to raise his blade but he felt something driving him not to.
" the ring," Jorge said holding his hand out. Talion was hesitant at first. His corruption desiring the power of the ring more than it feared Jorge. Yet the more time passed the more the corruption faded until he was able to strip the ring from his hand.
The wound on his throat remained sealed which shocked Talion. It made no sense to him but he also knew better than to question it. Holding the ring out to Jorge he felt it calling out to him. If he didn't know any better then he would say that the ring sounded panicked.
Jorge took the ring and close his fist around it. All at once the Ring's influence ceased. It was as though the soul within that had been poisoning Talion for so many years and had been poisoning Isildur for hundreds more was destroyed.
Opening his hand Jorge presented Talion with a new ring. This one was smaller than the first one. A fact that peaked Talion's interest since the wraith of Isildur slowly faded away. Just before it was gone from sight Talion heard it say in a voice that sounded more like a man than a wraith.
"Blessed GreyBane, you have cleansed me from the power of that cursed ring. I am now free to the gift of man."
The words were spoken with such relief that at first Talion was unsure of whether or not they were Isildur's. But with the wraith gone and Isildur presumably dead it no longer mattered.
Talion held his hand to his throat. With the ring seeming powerless then nothing was keeping him alive. Yet blood flowed not from his neck. Instead, he felt his wound heal slowly. And in a more permanent fashion than ever before. He felt his blood start to flow for the first time in decades.
Warth rushed through his body and he looked to Jorge. He asked him. " what did you do? Did you destroy the ring's power?"
Jorge nodded. "No, instead of destroying it I changed it. Rather than use its power to keep you and Isildur alive and enslaved to it, I used its power in a far more honorable venture."
From behind him Talion heard a shocked gasp and when he turned around the air was pulled from his lungs Dinhreal and Loreth stood before him. Alive as the day they died.
Talion's feet carried him at a speed he had not known in years. They ran as well and meet him halfway. They embraced in silence for several minutes before Dinhreal spoke up saying. " Father, you look older."
A loud laugh rose from Talion was he held his son tightly in his arms. Turning back to Jorge he asked. " GreyBane, what can I give you as repayment?"
Jorge shook his head and answered. " I did this not for payment, but for the reward, you have been due. You spent decades fighting to hold back the forces of Mordor. Middle Earth owes you more than it can ever understand."
Talion looked around Remnant. As he did he seemed to remember what happened on this very ground almost twenty years ago. A look of pain and disgust covered Talion's face.
Loreth noticed this and asked him. " Talion my love what's wrong?"
It was clear that Talion didn't want to tell his wife about what he had done. Any of it. His war for Mordor and his actions on Remnant.
" I am afraid that I need to speak to him for a moment ma'am," Jorge said motioning for Talion to follow him.
They were just out of earshot when Jorge turned to him. " there are people here who would want you dead if they knew who you were but if you can help me I can help you find a newer and safer home here."
Jorge felt a little bad about how he was doing this. After all, Talion would do anything for his family, Hell, he tore about half of Mordor out of anger when they were taken from him.
" What is it?" Talion asked he had the eyes of a man who knew that nothing was truly impossible with the time and dedication.
"I need to know how you got here and why you came here. Additionally, I need to ask that you come work as a tracking instructor at my academy." Jorge said.
Talion thought about the offer before answering. " okay, I entered through a cave two hundred paces that way," as he spoke he pointed at a small rock formation.
"Good," Jorge said shifting back to his younger form. Talion was less shocked by this now that he had seen the reverse a few minutes ago but it was still unsettling. "You are going to get into the flying machine I am about to call her and when you land you will find a man named Port. I would recommend ignoring and outright avoiding a tall skinny man with green hair."
With that done, Jorge walked over to the cave scroll in hand as he dialed Port's number.
"Professor, I need you to tend to the newest hire. His name is Talion, he looks similar to Prisoner 1/0 but I assure you it is simply an unfortunate coincidence."
Port took a moment to respond saying. " I understand but I must ask you. What did you do with the queen of the Grimm?"
Jorge was hesitant to answer. He knew that Port could tell that there was more to the story than Jorge just killed her. Least of all since killing an immortal caused major repercussions.
" I sent her to the realm of Coldharbour," Jorge said. He knew that Port wouldn't like that answer but he didn't care Salem had killed Pyrrha, she deserved a fate far worse than death could offer her.
"Jorge!" the professor gasped. It was clear that he was upset by the news. How could you do that, you know what Molag Bal does to people. And when he learns that she is immortal. The horror."
"She killed Pyrrha, she deserved worse," Jorge said, he was hoping that the edge he felt in his voice wasn't coming across as threatening. Peter was his friend and he wanted to keep it that way.
There was no further response from the other end just a tired sigh and a line clicking off. Jorge looked back to the cave. He wasn't sure how the portal had formed here but he knew that he had to do something about it. If he closed it that should solve the problem but that may just force a second one to open.
He would need to go through to Middle Earth and try and solve whatever problem had to force Talion into Remnant. It was the only way to ensure that the reason for this passage being opened was dealt with.
Jorge knew that he needed to send in a team since he needed to stay at Beacon but then he needed to figure out who to send.
Port was out of the question. He was still too important to the operation of the School. That ruled out Neverun, Oobleck, and team JSOQ.
JSOQ was a team of top tier mercenaries that were on call for Beacon as a student rescue QRF.
That left only two people. Raven Branwen, ( not that she was too likely to answer without some encouragement.)
And James J. Ironwood. After Glynda died he lost his sense of self. He blamed himself and he was trying to drink himself into an early grave. Thankfully Winter had been preventing that but James was still a mess. He hadn't left his quarter's in the last two weeks. He was hopefully sober by now but he was still looking for a way to end it all. Jorge had seen it before and he was going to see it again.
A warrior that doesn't want to live but can't kill themselves. It was the opposite of what they had been trained for and went against the very fiber of their being.
Looking around to make sure nobody was watching him Jorge raised his left hand and with his left thumb and middle finger. "SNAP"
He was now in James' quarter's the general looked like he was wasting away and he probably was. Winter had gotten him to stop drinking but getting him to eat was going to be challenging.
"James," Jorge said drawing the attention of the broken man. " I have a mission for you, it's going to be long dangerous and will most likely kill you but it may help to buy Remnant time."
Ironwood's posture visibly improved as he stood up and asked: " were, when, what, and why?"
Without missing a beat Jorge answered. "Mordor, ASAP, hunt wraiths, so they don't come here and hunt us."
Ironwood nodded in agreement and held out his right hand. "I'll do it," he said.
Jorge smirked in a way that gave James a slightly uneasy feeling but before the general could say anything Jorge reached out and grabbed the man's right hand before raising his left and with his thumb and forefinger "SNAP"
The sudden transition from the darkroom to team JNPR's bright dorm was jarring for the general, to say the least. He was about to ask what had happened when he decided that it was best that he never know and do his best to forget that it ever happened.
"I have a mission for you two, it will get you out and earning some experience and it will also get you some fresh air. What do you say?" Jorge asked Ren and Nora.
He knew what they were going to say but he still needed to ask them just to make sure. And as he figured after a shared look Ren said. "Count us in, what are the details?"
"He will fill you in, get the docks, take nothing but your clothes with you. You will need to get weapons there." Jorge said. He didn't want Ren and Nora bring StromFlower and Maginhild to Middle Earth. The thoughts of the dwarves getting their hands on Maginhild were unsettling, to say the least.
Without a word, they both walked over and took their place behind General Ironwood who now looked more like a retired cop than a malnourished general. His posture was good and his face was stern but he still had an overgrown beard as well as hair that was definitely not within regulations.
Jorge left them to go make a few calls. He needed to see about getting ahold of Raven so that Neverun didn't have to do Glynda's job alone. It was a long shot but it was all he had right now.
"So," Nora said looking at Ironwood. " who are you?" she asked wanting to know who she was going to be following on this op.
"Not a babysitter, you two should stay here," he said bluntly as he left the room.
At first, he was pleased to hear nothing behind him only to frown deeply when Nora burst out of the room after him with Ren slung over her shoulders. James sighed deeply, this was going to be a long and frustrating mission that was probably going to fail.
When they made their way back to the docks they found that there was one waiting for them. The pilot looked mildly confused but that seemed to be the flavor of the day to Ironwood. "Take us to the drop point," he said to the pilot.
Without a word, the pilot turned back to his console and took off. Once more James had hoped that the two students he had been saddled with would have fallen behind and he could simply forget them.
They were unfortunately still right after him and by now had buckled themselves into the seats across from him. Knowing that he was stuck with them for now he sat down and hoped for a silent slight.
This too turned out to be a fruitless hope since the ginger was pestering him about where they were going and what they were doing.
It was the first time in several years that he was glad for the hearing damage he had received over his lifetime. All he had to do was turn down his subdermal hearing aids and she was a quiet as a mouse. True it was a mouse that was somehow jumping up and down in front of him in spite of being buckled in but it was still quiet.
They had reached the drop point soon enough and once they were on the ground James got a message on his HUD that told him his objective was in the cave system to his east.
As he looked around he recognized where he was. It took all of his willpower not to have a breakdown.
This was the ground that SHE had died on. He had seen it coming and was powerless to stop it. Just another way that he had been nothing more than a fucking failure. He had lost too many students that day as well as Glynda.
He could still see her eyes as his damned men dragged him back from the front. She was scared and in pain. The last thing he saw in her eyes was the realization that they had both made mistakes.
That final look was one love and that made it sting all the more. If she had looked at him like she hated him then he could have moved on. But she didn't, instead in her eyes, he saw all of the memories that they were never going to get to make die at the same time she did.
Shaking his head to rid himself of thoughts from the past James entered the cave and saw that it lead to a light source. the cave let out in a lush forest of deciduous trees. At the entrance of the cave, James found a dead body.
When he heard the muffled gasp from the redhead behind him he remembered that his hearing aid was turned down. Resetting it to a normal level he turned to them. "It's not too late to turn back." he said'
Much to his chagrin this only seemed to steel their conviction. Resulting in James grunting incoherently and heading into the forest.