Chapter-6
Jason
Jason had first heard of the Nuckelavee when he was browsing through books in New Rome's LIbrary. He had found a book written by Roman demigods serving in the Legions of Emperor Claudius in the invasion of Britain, where a Son of Mars recounted his experience of encountering a Centaur-like monster in the Orkney Islands, whom the locals called the 'Nuckelavee'.
Of course, the Nuckelavee that son of Mars described was a lot different than the one before him. This one had the trademark features of the grimm, and it seemed more like a mindless beast than the malevolent monster described by the Son of Mars.
Jaune ran back towards the tree and began carrying a slumped middle-aged man away. The Nuckelavee looked at them before galloping towards them. Jason's eyes widened and he ran after it, climbed onto its back and before it could react, drove his gladius through its right eye. The Nuckelavee shrieked in pain
Damn it, that wasn't enough. Jason thought as he jumped off the Nuckelavee and ran back, the Nuckelavee running after him through the streets.
Well, at least its focus is away from Jaune. Although I need to ask who that man is. Jason thought before stopping to face the Nuckelavee.
The Nuckelavee let out a piercing shriek as its arms elongated at unnatural lengths and shot towards Jason.
Jason hopped to the side as the first arm crashed into the spot where he was before leaning to the side to dodge the second arm.
These arms are fast…and pretty strong. If I get hit by one of those, it's definitely not going to be pretty. Jason thought as he dodged the arms whipping towards him at immense speed. He needed to get to the horse 's legs. But with those arms, it would definitely be difficult.
A spark of electricity ran through Jason's hand before bullets and grenades exploded against the Nuckelavee's hide as Ruby and Nora joined. The Nuckelavee shrieked as it swept its arms towards them. Ruby sped away with her semblance but Nora was forced to raise her weapon and was knocked away, crashing into a building.
There's the window! Jason thought before making the air launch him forward as he ran towards the legs.
But before he could get close enough to cut its legs off, he heard an angry yell and noticed Ren all of a sudden jump in front of him to slash at the Nuckelavee's legs. Jason's eyes widened as an arm came back to swat him away and quickly jumped in front of him to block the arm with the flat side of his gladius.
"Ren!" Jason exclaimed but the other boy paid no heed and continued to fruitlessly slash. Jason's leg lashed out and kicked Ren in the side, knocking him away before the Nuckelavee's arm grabbed onto Jason's arm and pulled him up.
"Woah!" Jason exclaimed before the Nuckelave slammed him to the ground multiple times before Jason sent a spark of electricity that electrocuted the Nuckelavee and forced it to drop him.
Ow… Jason thought as he got up with a groan. He could have avoided that, but he was too focused on getting Ren away from the monster. Speaking of Ren, he was recklessly charging at the Nuckelavee, attempting to land a serious hit before being swatted away. Jason then noticed something odd.
From what I saw earlier, Ren was a really calm person. So why's he behaving like this?
Nora and Jaune came over to assist, but the Nuckelavee's arms darted around, preventing them from getting close while Ruby's bullets bounced harmlessly off the Nuckelavee's arm.
Jaune attempted to get into the Nuckelavee's blind spot, but an arm forced him to raise his shield and defend against its onslaught. Ren and Nora joined in and distracted the Nuckelavee while Jaune rushed in and slashed at its leg, but the sword bounced off and Jaune was swatted away.
Jason joined Nora and Ren in attempting to get past the Nuckelavee's arms, but with Jason trying to attack the Nuckelavee as well as protecting Nora and Ren, they were making very little progress.
Jason then had an idea. He put his hand on Nora's shoulder and sent in some electricity. Nora gasped as she felt the sudden influx of energy.
She looked at Jason before nodding and running at the Nuckelavee, this time pushing back its arm and actually hitting it, sending it back although not knocking it over. Nora went to attack, but she misjudged the Nuckelavee's state and was caught off-guard by the second arm grabbing her by the waist and slamming her into the wall.
"Nora!" Ren exclaimed as he charged at the Nuckelavee, shooting at the Nuckelavee. Ruby tried to join in, but Jason noticed her jolting as she came near him and moving in a stiff manner, losing all manner of fluidity as her legs trembled.
Jason moved away from Ruby as Ren was caught by the other arm and slammed into the wall alongside Nora before the Nuckelavee tossed them away. Jason kept attempting to attack, but his attention was getting continuously diverting to helping out Ruby, who was moving clumsily for some reason, and Jaune, who now he noticed didn't have much mobility.
"Circle it!" Jaune spoke as Jason understood his plan, circling the Nuckelavee as its arms failed to grab them. As the Nuckelavee missed, the five teens landed cuts on it, all waiting for a window to open for landing a fatal blow.
But before that could happen, the Nuckelavee shrieked again and began spinning in a complete circle, surprising the teens as they were swatted away.
Jason tumbled and recovered quickly before looking at the other four, who were groaning in pain.
This isn't working. Jason thought. Ruby and Jaune were getting tired, Nora and Ren were battered, and Jason had wounds on his exposed limbs from taking hits to protect them.
Earlier he hadn't been too keen on using his powers, since these four could alert huntsmen to him and put him in the situation of a manhunt, but now he needed to finish it off while the others were still recovering.
Jason's eyes lit up as his arms began sparking with lightning and Jason prepared to vaporize the Nuckelavee with a lightning bolt.
But before he could blast the Nuckelavee, Ren appeared out of nowhere for another desperate slash.
"...!" Jason abruptly brought his arms away as his lightning bolt hit the ground beside Ren and the nuckelavee, sending a shockwave that blew Ren back.
"REN!" Nora yelled as she ran towards Ren. Jason, meanwhile, went after them.
Alright. What is going on? He thought angrily as he noticed Nora pleading to Ren as he got up with the same angered look in his eyes. While fighting, Jason had noticed a flaw in the creature's make and a plan had formed. But for that he needed to sort this mess out.
But before he could rush back, Jason grabbed his collar and drove him against the wall.
"Hey!" Nora exclaimed before Jason leveled her with a wolf's stare and Nora's eyes widened, the girl taking a step back out of momentary fight as Jason's cold eyes focused back on the thrashing Ren.
"Let me go!" Ren yelled. "Let me…!"
"SHUT IT!" Jason yelled in a stern voice as Ren stopped, breathing heavily as he looked at Jason's angry eyes.
"Do you even realize just how close you were to getting your flesh melted off your bones?" Jason spoked with an undertone of anger. "What were you thinking?! I was charging up right in front of your eyes and you thought it was a good idea to get in my path?!"
"..."
"What is going on, Ren? Why are you behaving like this? What happened to the calm and collected person I met just a few minutes back?!"
"..."
"Why are you making this so difficult?!"
"Y-You don't know what that thing has done! After all these years, I've gotten a chance! And I'm not going to waste it! Let me go!" Ren yelled back continuing to thrash.
Jason went silent as his eyes softened.
Oh. That's why. He thought looking at Ren. Ren's problem was the same as that of some of the new recruits in the Fifth Cohort. Back when Jason was a centurion, he'd known many legionnaires who'd disobey orders and recklessly charge off to kill monsters because of some traumatic experiences. Some would leave the camp on their own and desert, heading off to a quest of revenge and never coming back, with the remains of their armor and bones being the only indication of their deaths to later groups of demigods that went on quests.
Jason looked back at Nora who looked down with a frown. "Did something happen?"
"..."
"Look, I know we haven't known each other for more than an hour, and that you and Ruby don't trust me, but right now we need to work efficiently if we are to survive that thing." Jason spoke looking at Ruby and Jaune holding off the Nuckelavee.
"..."
Jason sighed. "Alright, fine. If its that personal. But I can tell he's not thinking straight. So set him back so that we can do this." He spoke.
Nora took a deep breath and nodded as Jason slowly let Ren go.
"...Ren." Nora spoke as Ren'slooked at her. "Nora, what…"
Nora's hand struck his cheek as Ren stared at her in shock. "Nora…?"
"Stop putting yourself in danger like this!" Nora snapped.
"Uncle Li was my dad too! You weren't the only one who lost someone important to him that day!" She yelled before swallowing as Ren stared at her.
"Ren, please stop this. Don't you dare leave me after all that we've gone through." Nora spoke hugging Ren as he stared at her in surprise and Jason could see the anger leave and replaced by guilt and shame.
"Nora…"
"Calm down. Don't try to take it on by yourself. You've got people helping you." She spoke as Ren stared blankly at the ground before nodding.
"I-I see. I'm sorry." Ren spoke apologizing before looking at Jason with a pensive expression.
"I didn't understand what's going on. And I don't want to. It isn't my business to know. But if all's sorted, then let's go finish this with the Nuckelavee." Jason spoke as Ren nodded with a determined look.
They came back to Ruby and Jaune, who were doing their best to ward off the grimm. Now that Ren's better, Jaso
"We need to distract it. I have a plan." Jason spoke.
"Leave it to me." Ren spoke before pressing his hand to the ground, as the bodies of the teens turned black and white in color.
Jason raised an eyebrow as the Nuckelavee stopped and looked around in confusion.
"Guys! Over here!" Ren exclaimed as Ruby and Jaune came over. "Ren, what happened?" Jaune asked as Ruby stayed far from Jason.
"Jason has a plan." Ren spoke as Jason nodded. "Did you notice that the Nuckelavee's two bodies don't move at the same time? When the horse is moving, the humanoid is still, but when the humanoid is moving, the horse is still?"
Jaune's eyes widened. "Oh right. I do remember that."
"Jason's right. The Nuckelavee can only move with one of its bodies at a time." Ren pitched in as Jason nodded.
"So then we get it to move its horse form. Its vulnerable at that time, so I'll bind it. We need to pin its arms before its humanoid body gets moving. Then, once its stuck, Ren delivers the finishing blow. Got it?"
They nodded.
"Ruby, snipe the horse part's eyes out." Jason instructed as Ruby gulped. Jaune said the same thing and Ruby nodded before flying to a roof and pointing her weapon's gun at the confusion Nuckelavee and shooting the horse's eyes out.
The Nuckelavee shrieked and looked around wildly
"Ren, drop whatever you're doing!" Jason spoke as Ren did so. "Follow me!" He spoke running off towards a clearing as the others followed him.
Once they entered the clearing, Jason stopped and turned around as the Nuckelavee came over. Before it could stop, Jason made a lasso of wind and threw it around the horse's neck, tugging it as he pulled the Nuckelavee off-balance and made it fall down.
Before its humanoid form could move, Ruby dropped down from the sky and pinned its right arm. However, Nora came in a bit too late and the left arm shot towards Ruby. Jason blasted the arm away with a lightning bolt as Nora slammed down her Hammer to pin the other arm while Jaune cut off its legs.
Jason tightened his wind lasso and tugged harder, decapitating the horse's head and leaving only the humanoid. Ren approached the humanoid which thrashed and screamed at him. Ren was surprisingly calm as he sliced off the Nuckelavee's arms before throwing away his weapons.
"Ren?" Nora spoke confused as Ren closed his eyes and reached for an arrow sticking out of the Nuckelavee's back. He pulled it out and caressed it before violently driving it up the Nuckelavee's chin. Nuckelavee spasmed before the glow in its eyes died out and it began dissolving into black dust.
Ren went down to his knees as the Nuckelavee's corpse faded away, leaving behind the humanoid's mask and the arrows that were stuck on its back.
A tear went down Ren's cheek as Jason walked up to the mask and picked it up.
There. Shion's safe. He thought before crushing the mask with his hands. Ren got up and picked up the arrows as the others looked at him with downcast looks.
"These were my father's arrows…" Ren spoke in a quiet voice as Jason nodded. Ren didn't need to say anything further.
Nora walked upto him and looked at the arrows with a bitter smile. "Uncle Li always loved talking about the quality of his arrows." She spoke before suddenly grinning with brightness.
"We actually did it!" She exclaimed. "We took down the Nuckelavee! Isn't that amazing?!" She spoke as Jaune smiled. "Yeah, it is. But…" Jaune looked at Jason as Nora frowned. "Oh, right." She spoke cautiously as Jason raised his arms.
"What happened before we fought the grimm was self-defense. You four are battered, and I don't want to fight. I don't think any of us need a fight right now." Jason spoke before noticing Ruby's eyes bulging again.
Jason quickly clenched his fist and held Ruby to her spot with some winds.
Ren looked at Nora and shook his head. "Nora, you know about Oniyuri." He spoke as Nora sighed and relaxed.
"Alright, fine…I believe you." She spoke. "So now everything's cool! By the way, you actually look younger than us! Why don't you come with us?!" She spoke with a smile as Jason blinked at her sudden change.
Jaune chuckled. "Nora, slow down." He spoke before looking at Jason. "But she's right. Now that we've cleared out this misunderstanding, are you going to Mistral? Because you can come with us?"
Jason shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm good. I'm leaving for Mistral in a few days, so I can't come now. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to put me together with Ruby." He spoke. "So I guess this is goodbye. Sorry for punching you."
"It's ok." Ren spoke. "We can meet and properly talk when you come to Mistral."
Jason smiled in relief. "That I'll try." He spoke releasing his hold over Ruby and rushing back to his horse.
"Hey Jason!" Jaune called as Jason looked back. "I've never seen someone who doesn't have aura yet somehow has two semblances! Just who are you?!" He spoke as Jason sighed.
"I'm Jason. That's all." He replied before walking off.
"Well, that was something." Jaune spoke as Ruby blinked and looked around. "I-Is he gone?" She spoke as Jaune nodded. "Yeah, he is. But we need to talk about what happened to you? Just what is so scary about him?"
Ruby bit her lip. "I…" She spoke looking uncomfortable.
"We'll talk later." Ren spoke. "We still have to get Qrow to Mistral."
Ruby's eyes widened. "Uncle Qrow!" She yelled as Jaune led RNJR to Qrow's unconscious body.
"Oh no…" Ruby spoke looking at his wound. "It's gotten worse." She spoke as Ren knelt down and checked the wound.
He doesn't have much time left. Ren thought as he looked at Ruby, whose eyes widened.
"No…"
"Ruby, we won't be able to…"
"No, no, no!" Ruby spoke stamping her foot. "We can't give up now! We still have some time!"
"But it is not enough to get him treated."
"I don't care! I'm not going to lose Uncle Qrow!" Ruby spoke desperately as she went to carry Uncle Qrow.
The teens then heard the sounds of winds chopping as they noticed airships arrive in the sky.
Jaune's eyes widened as he pointed in excitement. "We've got help!" He exclaimed running off as Ruby's eyes lit up in help. Ren rushed over and helped Ruby carry over Qrow behind Jaune, putting his father's arrows away.
As they ran, Ren thought back to Jason.
I feel like we'll see him again.
Jason was heading back to Shion. It would take him some days to reach there, but otherwise he was pretty much done. He'll go back to Shion, call Tempest before moving on towards Mistral.
Jason took note of all that had happened at Kuroyuri. He'd met some huntsmen who were willing to help, so he was happy not all were like those greedy scum back in Shion. Even though he was younger than them, Jason felt like he was the older person talking to them. They were that green and inexperienced, although they had good hearts. But Ruby's reaction to home was worrying.
It's as if she had been possessed by an Eidolon. Jason thought. There was no such natural explanation to that.
As the sun began setting, Jason admired the beauty.
Huh, the sky looks really…wait a moment. Jason thought narrowing his eyes as he noticed some descending from the sky.
"Is that…an aircraft?" Jason spoke in confusion before his eyes widened as it crashed in the distance.
Jason beckoned his horse to ride off the road and towards the spot where the aircraft fell, a plume of smoke rising from the location.
Shit! I hope the pilot's alright. He thought in concern as he soon reached the spot of the crash. There was debris of white metal scattered everywhere as the aircraft burned. Jason first rushed to the front where he found a man lying face-down.
Jason turned him over and noticed his body was bleeding from sharpnel piercing it in multiple spots. Jason pressed his finger against the man's neck and detected no pulse. Jason pressed his hands against the man's chest and sent a jolt of electricity to jumpstart his heart. The man did not move.
Jason tried it a few more times before giving up.
He's definitely dead. Jason thought before hearing a girl cough.
But someone else is alive! Jason thought as he rushed over to where he heard the sounds of coughing.
He was greeted with the sight of a girl about the age of Jaune, Nora and Ren with a pale face and snow-white hair and icy-blue eyes. There was a scar on her left eye and she wore a dirty blude dress.
"Miss? Are you alright?" Jason spoke as the girl looked at him and her eyes widened.
"Hold on, miss! I'm here to help! You can trust me!" Jason spoke raising his hands as the girl blinked.
"The...pilot…?" She spoke coughing.
"He's dead. I'm sorry." Jason spoke before kneeling next to the girl and helping her up, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and wrapping his arm around her waist.
"It's going to be alright. I'm Jason. What's your name?" He asked as the girl stared at him in shock before with suspicion.
"...Weiss." She spoke with a frown as Jason smiled.
"Alright, Weiss. Let's get you out of here."
A/N: And what I was fearing happened again. Getting dragged off by IRL stuff. So sorry for another long delay. Its still going to be difficult for regular updates, but I'll try to make sure I upload at my usual time.
Now into the chapter, I was watching RNJR vs Nuckelavee for reference for this fight and I noticed that Ruby was actually doing really well against the Nuckelavee, lasting a lot longer against its onslaught by herself without getting hit once. That's actually pretty impressive and hence even more sad that she is shown as being very weak in later volumes when she can take on a really powerful grimm and last longer than professional huntsmen.
I alsoe tried a 'Stern Jason' because if Percy, the easygoing guy, can scare you shitless with his wolf stare, what can the more serious Jason Grace do with his?
Finally, Jason meets Weiss. I originally planned for Jason to come along with RNJR, but with the whole Raven thing, I decided against it and wrote this. Just a couple of chapters left before I finish volume-1.
Hope you guys enjoyed and constructive criticism is appreciated!
Response to Reviews:
CrankyMcGranky: I actually did a little math on how strong Zeus is in PJO just from Chiron's statement in TLT. And apparently, Zeus' master bolt is many times more powerful than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, releasing about a million gigatons of TNT, and this is a weakened Zeus of the 21st century. This means PJO Zeus at his prime would easily be a planet buster. So, you can expect just what would happen in a fight between him and the Brother gods.
Xedornox: Yep, you're right about Ruby. And as much as I like balanced power levels, I also don't want to nerf a character into oblivion. Because if Jason actually struggled against inexperienced huntsmen and huntresses, he would honestly get curbstomped by just about any adult RWBY character.
Shadowhunter2077: It will be shown what Zeus did to the Brothers later on.
As for Jason not getting aura, I got this from another PJO/RWBY fic called 'Fairytales and Gods'. Great story, but it gives Percy aura, although the author has created circumstances for Percy to be nerfed.
CRUDEN: Thank you.
Shadowhunter2077: Alrighty. This isn't really addressed to me, so I'll skip this one.
Cchang3: Let me clarify that. In this timeline, Shion hasn't been destroyed YET. So, RNJR reach Oniyuri's ruins while Jason is in Shion. Jason is in Kuroyuri because he heard about the Nuckelavee and wants to hunt it. Chapter-5 set is a few days after Chapter-4. I know the pacing's a little fast, but I'm not trying to go for a really slow pace like my other story 'Remnant: The Soulless Plains'. This is just a fun little sideshow which will be sideline a bit when I come back to Soulless Plains.
