Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all doing well!
Chapter 145 is here and, as always, I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you all so much once more for taking the time to read. comment, follow or favor the story. You are the best!
See you all next week in chapter 146. Until then, be well and have fun!
"I will always be there for you, my little scarlet knight" the touch he felt passing by his cheeks was anything but human. Despite that, he could easily feel the immense love of his sister permeating her parting words.
"No matter how many people or worlds stand between us, I will always run to your side; wherever I may be." They both knew it was a hollow, meaningless promise. Somewhere in his heart, he still believed in it.
Alizar's amber eyes closed as he knelt in front of the altar. "You knew it, didn't you?" he asked, despite knowing there was nobody there to give him a proper answer. "You knew one way or another, you were lying."
He cradled his Nevermore talisman in his fingers, feeling the heirloom's power wrap around his skin and tingle his tips. "Please, Elia, if you hear me…" he joined his fingers in a prayer.
"Lend me your strength, as you promised…" he whispered. "Give me the power to overthrow this accursed world and bring ruin to those who ruined our lives first. Help me complete your vengeance, please…"
He gritted his teeth, biting his lower lip. "Please help me… I need you. Without you, I am nothing." He lowered his head even more and knelt deeper in front of the religious carvings. His hands trembled in sorrow.
It took him a good few minutes to calm down and regain his composure before he stood up and started walking deeper inside the temple. His heart was heavy, mood reflecting the dark stone with golden pebbles.
As he crossed the narrow passage to the secret sanctum, his gaze fell upon the large, six-handed statue towering over the entrance. The tall monstrosity it depicted stared down at him as if it were breathing alive.
Alastor was its name; Guardian Grimm of the Netherworld and keeper of temple gates. Its horrendous features sent shivers down his spine as he took in the twisted, malformed image sculpted into pure granite.
Maize had assured him it was real; real enough to protect the area now that its master was waking up from his slumber. That was one of many things that made him feel truly uncomfortable in this place as of late.
The idea of a being like this moving around in the shadows, lurking with its monstrous form scraping the walls of the abandoned temple he and Maize had found refuge in, curled his stomach and disrupted his sleep.
He passed below the statue, sending anxious glances at it to make sure it wouldn't move as he walked below its glistering belly. Reflexively, his feet moved faster than normal as soon as he left the grim idol behind.
He entered the entrance chapel, now reshaped and refurnished to be used as Maize Goldenrod's office and study. As he got closer, he saw the tall man talk to their two accomplishes; Robert Ink and Stella Taupe.
Maize was an enigma in the truest sense of the word. His muscular and honed build didn't betray his actual occupation and his yellow eyes had still an aura of innocence inside them, despite his indifferent demeanor.
His tanned skin was always covered in field scientists' leather outfits in various colorations of white and gold. His long black hair and beard protruded by his tight white shirt's collar. His weapon was a long staff.
Stella Taupe was small and slender with long taupe-colored curly hair. Thin gray feathers covered her arms. She could be called pretty, if not for the large pair of oval gray eyes she had, usually covered by shades.
Her weapon was a black mechanical crossbow she had strapped on her leather belt. She currently wore a set of green clothes, reinforced with runes by Maize. Her boots were brown and she had matching gloves.
Robert was the simplest and easiest to understand out of the three. He was tall, powerful, angry and annoyed half of the time and always eager for a fight. His huge iron mace was always at hand, ready to be used.
He had well-combed short dark hair and a goatee. His face was full of scars, with an X-shaped one adorning his cheek. A pair of white warthog tusks protruded from his mouth, making him even more imposing.
He raised his arm to greet them, passing by the series of ancient plates and mummified subjects Maize had on his grotesque display on top of a work desk. "Hello, guys" he greeted. "Morning, Professor" he added.
Robert groaned and Maize gave him a typical smile. Stella winked in the creepy half-serious, half-playful tone that made him feel uncomfortable and eager to avert his gaze "we were just talking about you" she said.
"How come?" "Your intuition and incredible foresight in Bistre's defeat and death has impressed our two friends here, Mr. Red" the stout and proud voice nobody would expect an academic to have answered him.
Alizar sighed "it was nothing of this sort. I simply said that, according to my experience, everyone who underestimated those people ended up dead or defeated. Take Bistre, Azure, Carmel and her punks, Fenris-"
"You BASTARD!" with speed immense for his size, Robert grabbed the hem of Alizar's blouse and slammed him down on the floor. He felt a massive pain on his back as the huge man pressed him on the stone.
"Say anything more about Fenris, human, and I will murder you!" Ink's face lowered towards him, his breath filling Alizar's nostrils. His tusks grazed the young man's cheek, slowly moving as Robert heavily panted.
Stella stared at the exchange, smiling under her shades at her partner's antics. Maize stood next to them, as always not betraying whether he had any intention to assist either of them. So much for camaraderie…
"Am I understood?" The fierce gaze fell on Alizar. He knew that Robert Ink was double his size in all aspects and could possibly snap him in half if he wanted to. Getting pinned down by such a brute was terrifying-
Or not. "You know…" the red-haired man slightly tilted his head, face as emotionless as his accomplices' "the last faunus who pinned me down like this was a lot scarier and much more respectful than you, pal."
His eyes opened wide and for a couple tense minutes, Alizar readied his fingers to conjure a spike barrage to push the man away. "Enough" the professor's voice cut off the tension, visibly annoyed and exhausted.
"This is my study; if you feel like beating something, use the Grimm that occupy the surrounding area by numbers." And, of course, he is only interested in us not making a mess out of the place. He sighed deeply.
Robert released him up and groaned, but his face had taken a much less hostile demeanor. Stella chuckled and raised her arms in a quite exaggerated manner "you lost to them too, yet here you are."
"I was lucky; that's all it is" Alizar averted his gaze again. "But, please let's move on. What brought my estimations up, to begin with?" he had zero patience to spend any more time in this place than necessary.
"Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose were seen in the market by yours truly" the owl faunus winked at him again. The red-haired man was unable to hide his surprise "are they on our trail already?" he asked the faunus.
"Not yet, but they did visit an information broker" Maize replied for the girl. "They are definitely on the right track, which means it's just a matter of time for them to find us; and time is not a luxury we have."
"You said the process of awakening is a simple one" Alizar jabbed at the professor. "I did, yes. Simple and time-consuming one, if you remember what I said" the reply came "and I am not wasting our only shot in this."
"Is it truly too soon?" Robert asked them. "They defeated Nyctos and a Spawn of Avyssos. I am not going to let them enter Mad King's domain before he has fully reformed his mind; it's way too risky" Maize replied.
"So what do we do?" "Leave them to me" Alizar stepped in "deal with their comrades; if Rose and Xiao Long are here, the rest are bound to be around as well. They never act alone" he explained to the faunus.
"I am ok with this" the warthog man grumbled "I am getting a chance to pay Belladonna and Schnee for killing Gray this way" he grinned and raised his weapon before stepping out. Stella shook her shoulders and ran after him, shouting 'leave them to us' as they fled the building.
Maize said nothing. He simply started putting a few logs and data cards on top of his nearest bench, waiting until the sound of the faunus' steps faded away before he talked "that was a risky move you did there."
"I was being honest; in comparison to Cherry, this guy is just a mass of angry muscle. He can barely scare me, even if he truly intended to kill me" the boy sat down on the nearest chair, below a hanging diagram.
"May I remind you; it was your idea to let them join us to begin with. As of that, you have no right to complain" the muscular man noted. "They are strong and devoted to their fallen leader. We needed the muscle."
"That is true" Maize's lips slightly curved "they have managed to go in and out of this place without alerting Alastor; for that, I shall give them credit indeed." He sharpened a pencil "what about you, though?"
"I will bide my time for now" he announced. "If fighting Rose back in the pit showed me one thing, that would be my lack of actual combat skill. She overwhelmed me despite being tied up and unarmed."
"Quite a mature approach." "Do tell that; all my veins are boiling in the inside, screaming at me to grab my gun and run to blow up both their heads. Which is a recipe for disaster, of course" he corrected himself.
"I am glad to hear that" he took out a rubber and a heavy-looking book. "Now, if you will allow me, there are a ton of preparations I have to do in order to accelerate the Mad King's awakening" the professor said.
Alizar stood up, despite his disdain in going out at this hour with that thing moving, its rusty swords crawling on the old walls as it patrolled the temple grounds. But Maize hated being disrupted while he worked.
He started moving out, when his eyes fell on a single photo hanging on the makeshift bed Prof. Goldenrod slept on for the past few months. It depicted a young, grinning girl with blue hair and piercing yellow eyes.
"Can I ask something?" Maize's face rose from his notes in confusion. "What kind person was Safira Blue?" he blurted, despite knowing how sensitive the topic was. Goldenrod's expression didn't change, though.
"The lively and cheery kind" he replied, his tone indicating he wanted to discuss of this no more. "Thanks for telling me" Alizar bowed and left the room, his eyes darting between the lean man's figure and Alastor's statue towering over his head.
For a moment, he thought he saw the Grimm's hands moving in sync with his footsteps. He hoped he was wrong, as his feet bolted his body towards the exit.
-o—
Petro Ribuli's atelier in 38 Rain St was quite different than what Yang had been expecting. Bathing in the summer sun, its open windows allowed a great view of marble hill's bustling market district of Vacuo.
The walls were clean and painted white, to divert the attention towards the artist's creation. Numerous paintings of landscapes and sand dunes were up on display; the only piece of visible furniture in the apartment.
The man himself was tall and thin, with slightly protruding jawbone and a square nose. He had cropped blonde hair and wide blue eyes. His skin was paler than the usual slightly tanned color found in Vacuo natives.
He wore a white uniform, torn and splattered with both old and fresh paint all over it. In his hand was a pencil and a wet piece of cloth.
His expression was serious, but the huge circles around his eyeballs let the blonde realize at once that the man's lifestyle didn't include rest as a basic function. "Morning" he said "I don't accept customers, ladies."
"We are not here to buy anything" Yang told the man, as Ruby slowly walked away, towards the nearest painting in display. It depicted a tree, slowly seeping into a mist-covered pond as a fox thirstily drank from it.
"We want to ask you a few questions about that vandalism incident you were involved into" being direct, the blonde asked. The man scowled. "Are you detectives? Because you don't look like officers" he asked her.
Momentarily savoring the fact that this guy didn't recognize them, she waved her hand in refusal "we are huntresses. Headmaster Theodore hired us to investigate the incident, since he thinks there's more to it."
The man's face contorted, lips quivering and eyes ticking. "Are you ok?" she reached out, but he stepped back. "No, I am fine- I am fine" he took a defensive stance, raising his arms. "I was just surprised; that's all."
"By all means" Yang stared at Ruby, still moving in the background and appreciating the pictures "take your time. We are here to help you and nothing more" she pleaded. The man gulped and took a deep breath.
"I already told everyone who asked; I can't remember a thing!" slowly, akin to hissing, his voice came out. Startling both girls, he moved next to a wall and turned his back at them, staring at the hill outside.
"I don't know what happened that night; I was up late as usual, working to my latest piece" he pointed out to a half- painted motif of a dune on the nearby wall. "I remember I struggled a bit with the colors..."
Yang took a couple steps closer to him. "Then, I saw the light. I saw that massive scarlet hue, like a traveler upon a burning chariot, piercing the heavens with its alacritous ferocity. It was- beautiful. That's what I felt."
Yang felt shivers down her back. His words, simple yet spoken in such a deep passion, stirred her heart. She fought the urge to grip her fist. "In a fit of excitement, I jumped up, took my equipment and- that was it…"
"That- was it?" Yang asked in disbelief. "My mind is in a haze after that. I know I was doing something. There was this sense of motion… a wild euphoria like I had never felt before… scary yet thrilling all the same."
He turned around to face Yang "I remember an urge to draw. A twisted, almost brutal feeling. My body was brimming in energy- I had to let it all out somehow!" Yang's face paled at the insinuation. He is the same-
Her thoughts travelled to a few days ago, when her body was filled with a maniacal urge to mate- to mate in the most brutal way she had ever conceived and then, since she knew she wouldn't be satisfied, kill them-
"What did you do?" she asked, easing her thoughts. "I don't know" the man replied. "I have no recollection after that" he let his equipment on a stand "police claim I drew abhorrent images on a wall and then ran all over marble street, foaming and gargling like a deranged lunatic."
He wiped off his dry lips "I- told them I had no idea and that I couldn't have possibly done something like that." Ruby stopped and let her eyes dart on the man "until they showed me the images… that door… that…"
"Door?" Yang, chilled down to her very core, asked him. "What door? Police didn't any anything on their report." The man pursed his lips. "I-I've said too much, I think. Now, if you excuse me I have to finish this."
Surprised by the sudden change in attitude, Yang raised an eyebrow. "I have nothing more to-" "I'm no art expert, but I do understand working over a single article" the blonde cut him off as she stood over the half-finished painting of the sand dune. "This hasn't been touched in ages."
Her sister whistled in surprise, but the man narrowed his eyes and took a disgusted stance "as you said, you know nothing of my art" he spat in disdain. Yang sighed "I can't understand if you are a good painter, pal."
Ruby raised an eyebrow "but I know those things around me are full of passion. They are all so loved by their creator that I, a total amateur, can feel the excess amount of love poured in just by looking at them."
She then pointed at the image of the half-drawn dune "this one is bland and stale. You are not painting it- you are forcing yourself to do so. And I guess that door you mentioned before has something to do with it."
He pursed his lips again. It was obvious from his reactions that Yang had found home with her comments. "Can I trust you?" he asked her. "We promise to not hurt or press you any further than that" Ruby replied.
The man swiftly moved and closed his curtains one by one "follow me and try to not be shocked" he gulped, moving towards the back of his atelier. "It's better to take a look at it instead of having me explain."
Yang started to move when Ruby strode next to her. "I had no idea you knew that much of art" she whispered in her sister's ear. "I don't" the tall huntress replied, making her little sister even more confused.
"I sensed something weird pouring out of the back of the apartment" a quick tap of her metal arm on her bandaged palm explained the reason why. "I just bluffed for the reasoning, so I wouldn't frighten the guy."
Holding back a thin smile, both girls followed the artist into the back room- and stopped at their tracks as soon as he turned on the lights, revealing his latest work of art to them- if one could call it as such.
It was a large picture depicting a mansion with narrow windows almost like they had been drawn from a child. The brick walls were painted in a ghastly hue of black and gray, while yellow lights flickered in the panels.
The roof was triangular and covered in tiles, mostly found in the North Mistral houses. Elegant black railing, shaped to resemble black roses, formed a fence that surrounded a little Victorian-styled front garden.
"I have been dreaming of this since that damned day…" he whispered. "Every time I close my eyes, I can only see that house and garden with that half-open vile door calling me closer every time, inviting me in…"
As he said that, the girls cast their gaze towards the wooden front door. It had an antique look with a bright golden handle. A tiny bell hung just above its frame, slowly waving in the gentle night breeze.
The picture oozed with miasma. Yang swore she saw waves of red mist pouring out of every opening, oozing out from the door, windows and chimney, towards the accursed moon hovering in a grimly painted sky.
Laughter echoed in their ears. Childish, merry laughter filled the room as Yang's eyes pulsed in agony. Images of little children running in the garden, playing with each other filled the painting.
The flickering lights started to wave and blink, as if they were literally moving inside the dark corridors hidden behind the small windows. A gasp of pain reached the blonde, followed by a small figure falling on its back in an attempt to outrun one of its playmates. She held her breath.
"No matter what I do… they are all there" the man's deep voice added to the harrowing image, as if a cryptic narrator recording a vile horror show "I can hear their laughter… their cries wake me up at night…"
Ruby averted her gaze from the painting, towards the man. "Only by painting this thing, can I settle down. The only way they can leave me alone is-" "by paying attention to them…" Yang's lips whispered out.
He nodded and picked up his brush. "I have settled down here" he took a palette, already filled in colors, and started filling out a few gaps in the antique building. "My bed and tools have been moved in here too."
As he brushed, the voices started to fade. Yang saw the images cease to move and then slowly fade away into the pain. Her palm itched and her breath was erratic. "Did you see that?" she asked her terrified sister.
"No; but I both heard and felt it" Ruby replied in a serious, grave voice. "Do you understand now?" Petro told them as he put his brush down "I can't even deal with anything else than this thing!" he stifled a gasp.
Ruby stared at Yang's eyes as the blonde reached out and gave the man a friendly pat on the back "we will do something about it; I promise we will" she told him, hoping she could somehow back that promise up.
He stared at her with tired eyes. "I really appreciate it; but what can you do? That thing is-" "start by telling us how to reach the place they found you in without attracting much attention" Yang smiled at him.
He nodded and weakly squeezed her metal fingers "why are you doing this for me? You barely know me!" he asked in a mix of confusion and gratefulness. Ruby matched Yang's comforting smile as her sis replied.
"Birds of a feather" she stared at her bandaged arm, certain more than any time that the accursed mark was throbbing in excitement beneath the white wrapping "flock together" she forced a transient wide grin.