Zeroes of Two Worlds

Chapter 8

She kept running even if it led her deeper into this dark and forboding forest. She didn't know where she was or how she got here. The twin moons provided enough light to pierce through the shadows that blanketed the forest, allowing her to see what lay beyond. It's a small blessing but it's not something that would give her relief.

Howling roars echoed through the forest which filled her with dread. She soon heard thumps and creaks from deep in the forest behind her. She didn't dare to look back, and she pushed her legs to run faster. But it seemed all for naught as she could still hear the beasts getting closer.

She saw a clearing ahead and ran as fast as she can, hoping to find haven on the ther side. She soon ran out of the forest and saw a familiar mansion across the field. She quickly recognized it as the home she had lived in all her life before coming to the academy. The sight of it filled her with elation and hope, and she could finally find safe haven inside.

She sprinted across the field, not heeding the noises behind her, and soon reached the massive door. She raised her fist and repeatedly slammed her fist on the door.

"Open the door! Please! Open the door!" Louise shouted at the top of her voice, hoping someone would hear. She looked back and saw that the black creatures are lingering at the edge of the forest, their eyes glowing red through the shadows within the forest. She turned back and knocked on the door more frantically. "Is anyone inside! Please, let me in! Anyone there!"

A cacophony of roars and howls erupted from the forest, reminding Louise that she didn't have much time. Fear and terror filled her heart and panicked as she tried to pulling and pushing against the door.

"Please open up!"

She looked back and saw that shadows started extending from the forest. So she looked up to see what's going on, and saw that dark clouds are covering the moons. She then heard loud growls from the forest, and she also saw that the monsters stepping out from the forest.

She resumed pounding on the door as the terror grew within her and panic overtook her.

"Mother! Father!" She called out, hoping they would hear her. But the manor remained silent to her cries.

"Big Sis Eleanor! Please open the door!" No one answered except for the growls of the coming beasts.

"Big Sis Cattleya! Help me!" She cried out to the door in desperation as she continued pounding on the door. She then slumped against the door and fell to her knees as the she used up the last of her strength.

She panted as she tried to catch her breath. She suddenly heard low and reverberating growls behind her. She turned around and saw that the black beasts, these monsters, had already surrounded her. Their fangs are bared and they looked at her with great anticipation.

"Stay back! Get away!" She shouted at them as she pushed herself against the locked door. They ignored her plea and howled back at in unison.

She huddled down as she cried out with tears falling from her. No one seemed to care about her, even her dear sister, and now she's all alone against these beasts.

"Louise..."

The beasts loomed over her as they looked down on her with their red demonic eyes..

"Louise..."

One of the beasts pressed its large clawed paw upon her, trapping her beneath its weight. She cried as she struggled to push the beast off her.

"Louise!"

"Louise!"

She jolted awake with heavy breath as she felt someone holding her hands down. She looked up but she only saw a blurred being above her. Panicking, she struggled against the beast that is holding her down

"Calm down, Louise! It's over." The beast called out to her. "Deep breaths, Louise. Deep breaths." It calmly told her.

She followed its words and took deep breaths. Her vision slowly cleared and soon saw the face of Jaune, looking at her with worry.

"Are you alright? You were having a nightmare." He said to her.

Louise sighed and laid her head back on to her pillow as Jaune let her go. It seemed that she couldn't sleep without being haunted in her dreams since she learned about the Grimm. No one could blame her as the reality of Jaune's world is a terrifying place. Seeing those creatures from his scroll devices clearly left an effect on her.

"Is it about the Grimm?" Jaune inquired and Louise nodded, making him sigh. "You shouldn't dwell too much on it, Louise. Grimm doesn't even exist in this world."

"I can't help it. The Grimm beasts are like demons from old tales and priestly sermons." Jaune snorted at that, which Louise didn't appreciate it and frowned at him. "What's so funny, familiar?"

"Nothing much." Jaune quickly replied. "It's just that... I could say the same about your world. Fairies, Spirits, Elves, and even Orcs. Those only existed in our fairy tales." He told her.

"Point." She conceded. "I'm still having a hard time to how could anyone could survive in your world. Let alone being able to form thriving kingdoms."

"I can't really answer that, Louise. Even we don't know how we survived this long. We're just grateful that we're able to have a space to call our own and thrive." Jaune responded back. "Just don't think about it, Louise."

"I'll try..." She tiredly replied as she rubbed her eyes. Jaune could see signs of eyebags forming under her eyes.

"Maybe you should seek help from Lady Bernadotte to help you with your sleep." Jaune suggested to her, looking a little concerned.

"I'll be fine." She replied dismissively. "I just need to sleep this off."

Jaune sighed at her response but had let her be, not wanting to argue with her about it. Besides, he needed to get some sleep as well.

"If you say so." He replied back. "Just think back on happy thoughts or memories. It's what I'll do." He suggested to her as he returned to his bed.

"Is that how you deal with nightmares back in your world?" Louise asked as she started up to the silky roof of her bed.

"Not really but it helps keep your thoughts from creating nightmares." Jaune replied as he yawned. "Think of anything that makes you happy, it would allow you to sleep better."

Louise nodded, despite not being seen by Jaune, and tried to think about her Big Sis Cattleya and her old friend, Henrietta. She soon thought of the garden by the lake, and the flowers she once played in. A small smile graced her face as she fell into her dream, but the shadows still lingered in her mind.

Jaune basked in the warm sunlight and breathed in the fresh morning air, reinvigorating him. He clasped his hands and stretched his arms up into the air, feeling the familiar tension, before he let go and moving his arms around his shoulders. He then stretched his legs and did a little jog in place.

He's currently in Vestri Court where he had dueled with Guiche days ago. He's not here to reminisce about the fight but to recreate the feeling he had when he had supposedly accessed his aura. He knew that emotions do have a role in opening one's aura, but he never heard about aura also closing after being raised.

There are no wandering students this early in the day since they're currently in classes, and this allowed him some peace and quiet while doing some solo aura training. He needed that peace and quiet in order to properly attune himself with the aura within him.

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths as he cleared his mind of thoughts. He gripped his sheath with one hand and grabbed the handle of his sword with another. With practiced move, he slowly drew out his sword out of its sheath, and held the blade before him in standing vigil.

He took more deep breaths as he further cleared his mind and then started reaching into himself. He soon got hold of the familiar feeling of his aura, dormant as it had ever been. He performed experimental tugs at it, but his aura remained unyielding.

"So that hasn't changed. But there must be something I'm missing here." He thought as he began to feel more of his aura, trying to find anything different.

He kept up with the aura exercise to little avail and began doing the same to the familiar runes on his chest. He could feel very faint energy from it and that energy seemed to be more responsive, but there's not much he could gleam from it.

Without much to do, his mind began to wander about and then settled on his memory of the duel. He began to explore more about his experience as he relived the fight in his memory. He felt some kind of reaction from the familiar runes during points of his experience, but he couldn't truly find out how.

He soon recognized the points where he felt some reaction from the familiar runes. He tried recalling what he was doing on those times. He started remembering about his fight with the Grimm, the memories of his grandfather, and his own speech he made to Guiche.

He remembered his determination to not give in... The will to fight on despite the pain... The desire to rise and win...

"My name is Jaune Arc. I am the Aspiring Huntsman." He muttered to himself but with the same will as he had done before.

The effect is immediate and short, but since he was still feeling his aura and the familiar runes. He felt the sudden reverberations in him, and he also felt the ripples on his aura. He also felt similar effects on his familiar runes.

He worked on keeping up the reverberations, unwilling to break the progress he had just made. He then started willing his aura and he's surprised to get a response from it. He didn't dwell on it too long and kept it up and started to draw more and more. But he soon hit a snag as the connection became taut and when he tried to tug on it, it slipped and snapped back.

He suddenly opened his eyes with a gasp and then dropped down on his knees before he fell on all four. He coughed repeatedly to the ground before taking deep breaths as though he haven't been breathing for a while. He then collapsed to the ground and groaned into the soil before he turned around.

He laid down on the ground for a while catching his breath. He soon calmed down and started to relax. He lifted the collar of his shirt and looked down on the runes on his chest. He saw the runes glowing with a faint but distinctive bluish white light before it faded. He let go of his shirt and rested his head on the grass.

He started smiling despite the pain as he basked in the sun. After years of failure, he finally made progress. He tried laughing at his fortune but grimaced as his body ached from the effects of aura backlash.

"Ow..."

Far behind him, a large red reptile cocked its head to one side, then to the other, before it turned back to center. It watched him intently with its eyes which had seen the strange flame that the not-master created earlier.

Louise listened to the lecture to the best of her abilities as she jotted down her notes for later review, but her mind kept wandering. She already partook in breakfast earlier but the lack of proper sleep still had an effect on her. But she kept up her composure for the most part, although she could hear her classmates gossiping about her.

Her quill slipped as she lost grip of it, and made an line across her note. She grumbled internally before she noticed the state of her writing. She cursed silently as she checked parts of her notes being utter gibberish that she could barely understand.

She sighed ruefully before she restarted by writing down a clearer note under the ruined section of her notes. She kept pace with the lesson, and managed to save herself from embarrassment when she got called up to answer a question. She didn't answer correctly, due to her tiredness, but she got close enough that she didn't not get chided by the professor.

Class ended later but not as soon as Louise had liked, wanting to get some rest before the afternoon classes. She stifled a yawn while packing her things before she joined the rest of her classmates leaving the classroom.

She soon separated from the crowd and heading towards the Vestri court to meet up with her familiar. She yawned behind her hand as she walked down the hallway towards the Wind Tower which was thankfully empty. That was dashed as soon as she heard footsteps rapidly closing upon her.

"Hello, Little Louise~" She heard the grating of the Germanian harlot as Kirche cheerfully greeted her.

"I'm not in the mood, Zerbst." Louise scowled at her.

"My. My... Little Louise. You don't look so good. Did you not get enough sleep with your familiar last night?" Kirche remarked teasingly.

Louise didn't respond but merely grunted loudly, and decided to ignore her and keep walking, wanting to get this over with.

Kirche raised an eyebrow at her lack of response, and looked over her Valliere rival. She had noticed that Zero had been quite lethargic since this morning, especially during class. That made her curious since the only thing different since yesterday is after she and her familiar got called to the Headmaster's Office.

"Are you alright, Little Louise? You don't seem to be quite yourself this morning." Kirche gently inquired as she followed beside her.

"That's none of your concern, Kirche." Louise responded irritably and tiredly, and began to walk briskly

Kirche sighed and placed her hands on her waist as she watched Louise walked away. She then turned to her side where Tabitha had been silently reading while walking.

"What do you think is her problem?' She asked her petite friend.

"Not enough sleep." Tabitha answered with a soft voice as she turned another page.

"I know that, Tabby." Kirche replied with soft shake of her head. "I meant why do you think she's tired. It couldn't be her familiar especially after he had just been released from the clinic." She told her. "That only leaves what they've talked about with the Headmaster yesterday. They even missed dinner, so it must have been important."

Tabitha didn't answer but continued to listen to her as she kept reading her book.

"Come on. Let's follow Louise and check up on her." Kirche said to her as she urged Tabitha to follow. Tabitha didn't resist and followed behind the excitable redhead.

Jaune concentrated as he slowly and gently pulled on his aura to his familiar runes. He learned that there's a connection between his aura and the runes, and that the runes seemed to create vibrations of some sort. His aura responded to his runes by creating the same vibrations, which could allow him to draw his aura.

He took deep breaths while he continued to draw from his aura, which is a small amount but substantial enough nonetheless. He is primarily focused on keeping the run active which is a little hard to do while drawing his aura.

He soon managed to connect his aura with the runes, and the connection seemed stable but weak. He took a deep breath before he began to slowly will his aura into his sword. He could feel the strange but familiar warmth flowing from his chest. His small stream of aura flowed through his arms and then out of his hands.

He took another deep breath and slowly charged his sword as he gently pushed his aura into the metal. A drop of sweat fell from his forehead since this part felt harder than before. After a few careful tries, he managed to somewhat infuse some of his aura into his sword.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his sword. He could see that his sword is glowing faintly but he could see the edges shining. There also seemed to be an erratic pulse which he recognized to be his own efforts of maintaining the aura flow.

He felt happy that is now able to use his aura even at this state, but he knew he still had a long way to go. Nonetheless, he made progress. He made a few experimental swings as he tested his control over his aura.

"There you are, familiar! I've been looking around for you." He heard Louise calling out to him.

"I haven't even left the courtyard, Louise." He said in return as he slowly turned around, minding his weak aura link to prevent it from snapping.

Louise came up to him and he could see that she's quite tired. She seemed to be catching her breath more than normal, and her faint eyebags from last night are starting to return.

"You alright there, Louise? You looked like you need some more sleep." Jaune gently remarked.

Louise dismissed his concern with a small wave of her hand. She looked at the sword in his hand, and saw that it has a faint glow from it. This sight removed from tiredness from her face and blinked at it.

"So managed to activate your aura?" Louise asked as she pointed at his sword.

"No I haven't." Jaune answered with the shake of his head. "But I discovered that the familiar runes is able to make my aura more..." He thought about the right word for it. "I can't quite get the right word. The runes makes my aura more open to being handled..."

"Malleable." Louise stated, and Jaune looked at her with confusion, not quite getting what she meant. She sighed and explained. "The word you're looking for is malleable."

"Not quite the word I'm looking for, but it works for now." Jaune gave a short nod to her. "Anyways. I learned that my runes makes my aura more malleable and I could start willing my aura out of its state. But I need to link my aura to the runes to make use of it. So I didn't awaken my aura, but gained some access to it." He finished with a small wave of his sword.

"That's good to hear. Would you be able to do more than just making your sword glow?" She asked inquisitively.

"I can't do much for now since I need to learn more how to use these runes." Jaune replied and tapped a finger on his chest. "I still need to be careful with my aura and my control is not quite stable."

"I see. I guess it's too much to ask when you've just learned how to tap your power." Louise sighed dejectedly, a little disappointed at her familiar's current capability but at least he could start training.

"Hello, my little prince~!" Kirche cheerfully shouted with a wave of her arm as she and her blue-haired friend made their appearance.

Jaune blinked at the strange greeting, and looked around and behind him. He didn't find anyone else, so he turned back to Kirche's direction and asked with a confused tone. "Are you talking to me?"

"Who else do you think I'm referring to?" The tall redhead coyly replied as she looked at him with a playful smile.

"Grrrr... What are you even doing here, Zerbst?" Louise angrily questioned her, irritated by her presence.

"Checking up on you two." Kirche answered calmly before looking down at Louise. "Especially you, Louise. You don't seem to be yourself since this morning." She told her.

"I'm fine. It's nothing to be concerned about." Louise said insistently.

Kirche sighed but let her be before she turned to Jaune and noticed his sword having a familiar faint glow. "Ohhh... You managed to learn using your magic. Congratulations."

"It's not magic, it's -" Jaune tried to correct her but Louise elbowed him hard at his chest. "Ow..."

This intrusive distraction caused Jaune to have a lapse in his concentration over his aura. He felt the connection being suddenly cut, and his aura snapping back into its former state. The effect of the backlash is immediate as Jaune stiffened and then collapsed to the ground. He was thankful that at least he fell on his back this time.

The others were surprised and panicked at his sudden fall, but they were quick to react. Most especially Tabitha who swiftly came around and knelt by his head. She then carefully cradled his head between her hands before checking him for injuries.

"What did you do, Zero?" Kirche asked Louise with an accusatory tone, falling back on her Louise's nickname.

"I didn't do anything." Louise quickly replied, deflecting Kirche's accusation, as she knelt beside her familiar. "I didn't even hit him that hard."

"Clearly you did something." Kirche shot back at her.

Jaune coughed, catching their attention, and interjected wheezily. "It's not her fault. This is just something that happened if I lost concentration." He took deep breaths before he looked up to the blue haired petite. "Thank you."

Tabitha merely nodded without a word. She let go of his head when Jaune pushed himself off the ground and stood up.

"So what happened to you?" Louise asked before Kirche could chime in.

"It's some kind of aura backlash. It happens when I lose grip of my aura and my aura snapping back to its dormant state." Jaune informed her.

"Is that normal for aura?" Louise asked again. "That didn't look like the kind of backlash that I know about magic."

"I don't think so. Even the breaking of aura doesn't cause this kind of effect." Jaune told her. "I think it's because of my aura still technically dormant, and is only accessed through my runes." He reasoned.

"What's this aura you're talking about? Is this a new kind of magic?" Kirche interjected, confused by what the two had been talking about.

"It's -" Jaune tried to speak when Louise nudged him again, more controlled this time. He looked to her with an annoyed frown and said. "I think it's alright to tell her about it, Louise."

"It may be alright for you, familiar. But I don't agree with it." Louise said in opposition. "Besides, I don't trust her."

"Oh. Come now, Little Louise." Kirche sweetly chimed in. "When have I betrayed ever your trust?"

Louise stared at her and looked at her hard, judging her. Kirche had the decency to looked a little embarrassed by her question and tried to assuage her. "I never once betrayed any of your secrets to anyone, Little Louise. So you can trust me about this secret."

"I don't remember telling you anything, Zerbst." Louise hotly responded. She tried to recall if she did shared anything with the redhead before. But she didn't recall anything.

"Are you sure?" Kirche hummed to Louise with a haughty look, making Louise to frown suspiciously.

"What are you implying?" Louise questioned her.

"Oh~ Nothing~ It's a secret after all." Kirche singsonged with a jesting smirk.

"I demand you tell me, Kirche!" Louise shouted angrily, desiring to know what the redhead knew.

"You wound me, Little Louise. You want me to betray your trust after having sworn to keep it a secret." Kirche responded dramatically. She leaned on Jaune, surprising him, and wrapped her arms around him. "Aren't I right, little prince?" She asked him, smiling as she did so.

Jaune gulped as he felt his face burning up, not used to this kind of attention especially from Kirche once again. Not to mention the soft mounds he could feel pressing on his back. He could also see that Louise is fuming at the redhead's actions, and tried to diffuse the situation.

"I can't really answer that, Miss Zerbst." Jaune answered nervously.

"Come now. Give me your honest answer, little prince? Hmmm..." Kirche cooed at him and sensually swipe a finger under his chin.

Jaune squirmed in her embrace, and this entire interaction had been giving him strange feelings. He is saved from his ordeal when Louise blew a casket and chastised the tall redhead.

""Let go of my familiar, harlot!" Louise shouted, her face red in anger and embarrassment, and pulled Jaune away from him. Jaune also helped by slipping under Kirche's arms.

Jaune took deep breaths to calm himself down while Louise continued to berate Kirche behind him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop touching my familiar?" Louise angrily looked up to the tall redhead.

"Don't be so jealous, Little Louise. It's just harmless play." Kirche teasingly replied with an amused smirk. This only enraged Louise and the two got into a shouting match.

Jaune, having recovered, sighed and shook his head at the two before turning to the quiet blue-haired girl that was with Kirche. She remembered seeing her with Kirche for the first time a few days ago, but she was quiet and kept to herself.

"Is this normal for the two of them?" He asked her. He didn't get a response from her except for a soft hum and a small shrug. He nodded nonetheless and spoke to her again. "I didn't remember hearing your name when we first met." He presented his hand to her and introduced himself. "My name's Jaune. What's yours?"

"Tabitha." The girl answered with a soft voice, but didn't look up from her book. She didn't even noticed the hand..

Jaune awkwardly pulled back his hand and left the girl alone. Clearly she wasn't interested in talking with him, or maybe talking in general. He leaned down to pick up his sword from the ground when he saw a large red reptile near him.

"Wha!" He jumped back in surprise, not expecting a big lizard near him. He then recognized it to be Kirche's familiar but he couldn't quite remember its name. "Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked the reptilian familiar.

The reptile ignored him and seemed interested in staring at his sword. This behavior confused Jaune and tried to see what got its attention. He noticed that his sword still has some faint shimmer, which could be his aura. This made Jaune wonder how that could happen since it didn't even have a Dust in it. He speculated that it might be a quirk of his runes.

He decided to reach for it when the reptile pushed his hand away with its snout. Annoyed, he tried again and the reptile still pushed him off, even swayed its flaming tail at him.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" He asked the reptilian familiar which ignored him again for his sword. His outburst caught the attentions of Kirche and Louise who looked in his direction, and saw Jaune staring at the reptile..

"Why are you talking with my Flame?" Kirche asked him.

Jaune turned to her and said. "Your familiar has been keeping my sword for its own, and I don't even know why. I've been trying to get it back but it's kept pushing me away."

Kirche cocked an eyebrow with confusion on her face, not quite understanding how that happened. She looked at her familiar and did saw a sword underneath it. She could also see it's starting blow flames at it.

"Come now, Flame. Give the man back his sword." Kirche tried to talk with her beloved familiar, but it ignored her as well. "Odd. Flame usually followed my orders."

"Guess your familiar isn't quite as obedient as you made it out to be." Louise remarked, sounding a little vindictive at that.

"Oh hush now, Zero." Kirche replied, using the young Valliere's old nickname, before turning to Jaune. "Come and help me here. I'll handle my familiar while you get your sword back."

"Alright." Jaune nodded and moved closer while Kirche tried to coax her familiar off his sword. Flame started squirming and resisting her.

"Come on, Flame. Why are you suddenly this difficult?" Kirche remarked at Flame, starting to get irritated by its strange behavior.

Flame didn't answer and continued resisting her efforts to be taken off the sword. It latched on to the sword with its limbs and claws and started raising its body heat, indicated by the growing fire on its tale.

"Whoa!" Jaune took several steps back, so did Kirche who wasn't expecting that. "What is it doing?!" He questioned Kirche.

"I don't know!" Kirche replied at first as she tried to understand her familiar's behavior. She tried recalling what she had read about fire salamanders, and there's only one thing she could think of. "I think it's trying to hatch you sword."

Jaune blink as his mind halted at what she had just said. Louise looked perplexed as well, not quite understanding how she came to that conclusion.

"What?" Jaune and Louise said at the same time.

Kirche could understand their reaction, and didn't blame them.

"I think Flame is treating your sword as an egg and is trying to incubate it." Kirche told them.

"Why would it do that? It's only a sword." Jaune replied.

"Hmmm... Was there anything else that your sword had that may have triggered such a reaction from Flame?" Kirche asked him.

"Well..." Jaune thought what could be different and then remembered what he saw earlier. "My sword still had some of my aura left in it. Would that do?"

"You'll have to tell me what an aura is for me to know." Kirche pressed him.

Jaune sighed and gave an apologetic nod to Louise, who then grumbled but nodded back at him. He turned back to Kirche and started telling. "It's the energy that I was trying to learn to use with my runes. You can think of it as a kind of spirit energy."

Kirche looked puzzled at his statement, and it sounded too similar to elven magic.

"And no." Jaune quickly said after seeing her reaction. "It's the energy generated by my own soul, but my soul is not affected by it."

"That's..." Kirche looked unsure what to say. She shelved her other questions for later and looked back at Flame. "I think your aura must have looked like a living fire to Flame even if it's in a sword. If your aura is losing cohesion, Flame must have thought it's dying and is trying to keep it alive." She told them, basing it on fire salamander behavior in the wild, but it's all speculation on her part.

She was proven true when Flame finally calmed down as the fire on its tail shrunk back to normal size. Flame groaned in what sounded like mourning as it looked back down at the sword. It sniffed at the sword and huffed at it.

"I guess my aura had worn off." Jaune commented, and is relieved that he could finally get his sword back.

Flame must have taken offense by his sword since it suddenly took a hard bite at his sword, breaking it a chunk of it.

"Oh come on!"

A/N: Getting back into the swing of things, hoping to get back to my normal weekly schedule.

Leave a review and share your thoughts. I appreciate reading them all.

See you next chapter.