Ch. 41
Anise casually jogged through the forest looking for Riku. She was confident that she would find her brother, as she worked best with him. While walking, she had found several sets of footprints, but none traced with his light gold aura. She had killed several Beowulves and avoided a Deathstalker along the way, yet she still hadn't seen a single person.
"Riku, where could you have gone?" she wondered.
As she continued to walk, she finally found a dirt footprint with his aura trace.
"Yes! Here I come Rik-."
As she was about to start sprinting, her brother crashed through some bushes nearby. The boy saw Anise and quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her with him. He kept most of his speed as he kept running.
"Riku! Wait! What're you running from?!"
"I unintentionally bit off more than I can chew!"
Riku looked back to see if his pursuer was still following him. As he dreaded, the Mother Wraith that attacked him was still giving chase. He took a risk and managed to slash out one of its right eyes, but this made the situation worse. The Grimm screeched into the air and another Wraith of similar size joined the hunt. Now both were dashing through the trees towards him.
"Are those Wraiths?!" Anise screamed. "How did you manage to encounter one of those?!"
Riku frowned. "While you inherited Dad's semblance and Mom's looks, I inherited his shit luck and her knack for getting into trouble!"
They raced through the trees, occasionally dodging a thrown object or a tail strike from the Wraiths. Then suddenly Riku came to a stop at the edge of a ravine. He quickly dashed left along the ravine's edge, which was a mistake. Both Wraiths dashed out of the brush. Anise ducked down as one of the Wraiths flew over her and into the ravine. Raiku wasn't so lucky though.
He successfully jumped to avoid the Mother, but the beast, desperate as it was to kill him, wrapped what was left of its tail around his right arm. Riku was pulled over the edge with the monster.
"Riku!"
Riku acted fast, creating a golden blade in his left hand and swiftly cutting off the rest of the tail. He then threw the sword straight into the Wraith's forehead. It let out a final cry of anguish before disintegrating, along with the sword. Riku fell helplessly, spinning wildly as he had no way of stopping his descent. He called out for Anise, but he didn't catch any glimpses of her coming for him.
"Dammit! What can I do? If I were anywhere near the walls of this ravine then I could slow my fall!" He thought, as each time he spun he saw the light of the sky get further away and the darkness below get closer.
Then, Riku felt a pair of hands grab him. He was taken out of the ravine and dropped back onto solid ground, his savior landing a few feet in front of him. A man with short dark red hair with orange highlights stood nearby wearing a marengo grey long-sleeved one-piece suit with armored knees, elbows, and shoulders and black shorts. He also wore a grey draconic mask over most of his face, had red bat-like wings coming out of his back and brown curved horns coming out of his head.
Riku finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for the save."
"Don't mention it. Seriously. Do not. It wasn't my decision."
"Why's that-." Riku was cut off when Anise tackled him in a hug. "Anise! Why didn't you come down to get me yourself?"
Anise backed off. "Sorry, I almost had a heart attack when I saw you get grabbed. I couldn't concentrate enough for an instant summon, and by the time I managed to do it this guy dove in first."
"Right." Riku nodded, then turned towards his savior. "What's your name friend?"
"Raze," the winged faunus answered simply. "Hey Erza, can you come talk to them? You know I'm not good with people. Especially humans."
Another figure jumped from the trees nearby and landed nearby Raze. Erza was a female snow leopard faunus. She was tall with long back length straight white hair, amber eyes, and light tan skin with leopard spots on her shoulders, back, and thighs. She wore a sleeveless short lilac dress with an open back and high neck collar, light grey tights and lilac-colored shoes.
"Hello there," Erza greeted the siblings. "My name is Erza. I sent this brute over to help rescue you."
"I'm not a brute. And I would not have helped unless she asked me to," Raze huffed.
"Good to know," Riku said. "Still, I appreciate your help."
"Your welcome," Erza replied. "Well, we'll be going now. Take care you two."
SKREEE!
The shrill scream attracted the group's attention. On the other side of the gorge, an octopus-like Grimm climbed up the wall, carrying one of the Wraiths. It paused, realizing that the huntsmen were aware of its presence, then immediately scurried into the woods at high speed.
"Oooooooo! I've never seen that Grimm before!" Anise's eyes beamed with excitement. "Riku, help me add that octopus to my collection!"
Riku shook his head. "Too dangerous. We don't even know what that Grimm does. Let's just keep looking for the ruins so we can complete the test."
"Please big brother. Pleeeeeaaaaase." Anise stared her brother down with cute puppy dog eyes.
Despite his efforts to resist, Riku gave in. "Alright, fine! But you better be careful."
"Hooray!"
Erza chuckled in disbelief. "That gorge is large and neither of you can fly. How do you plan to get across?"
Anise smiled brightly at the leopard faunus. "Just. Wait. And. See. Mkay?"
Both siblings backed up to the tree line and crouched into running positions. Then, after focusing their aura into their legs, sprinted full speed at gorge. They both jumped at edge, clearing the fifty-six-meter gap. Anise landed first, curling into a roll to keep some of her momentum, then rocketed off after the Grimm. Raiku did the same a few seconds after.
"How the hell?" Raze asked flabbergasted.
"To think two amateurs could perform something like that," said Erza. "Interesting. Come Raze, we're following them. I wish to see more."
XXXXXXX
In another part of the Emerald Forest, an injured huntress sat on the ground of a large flat field, surrounded by small craters, scorch marks, and the dead bodies of other huntsmen in training. She wore a torn sky blue and ash black wide collared shirt with pleated ends, long black gloves, a midnight blue mini skirt, stockings, and black thigh high boots with pink stipes on the thighs. Her pale skin and long dark blue hair were covered in splotches of blood. With one hand she ripped off the shattered remnants of some silver-plated battle harness she had on, and in the other hand she held a silver ball the size of a cannon ball close to her chest. She shook in fear as she realized her last ditch to survive was ineffective.
"No! I thought detonating the external parts from my combat harness would do serious damage, but only the fat one was injured! And he doesn't even seem fazed! Come on Sakura, you can think of something! You just have to move!"
Not far in front of the huntress in training stood a being that had the appearance of a demonic harlequin jester with long horns, clawed horns, a white face and torso with darkened limbs, and tentacles coming out of his back coiled together like a pair of short wings. Next to him was a large obese humanoid with blue green skin, tribal markings, and a massive burn mark on his large belly. He wore baggy pants over his short stubby legs and ornate faded gold gauntlets on his arms. His mouth was stuck in a wide grin and a three-pronged ornate stinger stabbed through his skull and out his lower jaw.
"Little mortal, did you really think you could defeat me? The great Ferdiad?" The Harlequin said as he floated up to Sakura. "Cuchulainn, finish her like the rest."
The fat blue green blob giggled in delight as his body vibrated. He bent over and his back split open to reveal a long red stinger. Cuchulainn readied his stinger to stab into the girl, but suddenly a large tree flew through air and smashed into him. Cuchulainn was sent flying with the debris while Ferdiad had the foresight to avoid the attack.
Abaddon entered the scene, landing right in front of Sakura. He held his ultra greatsword in hand as it glowed with twilight energy.
"Hey. Are you alright?" He asked her.
"Yeah…barely," she replied. She didn't know whether to feel a bit of hope that someone came to her aid, or despair that another student would die aiding her, and that she would perish in the end anyway. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but feel some relief.
"That's good enough."
"The name's Sakura by the way. I'd shake your hand but it's kind of hard to stand right now."
Abaddon pointed his sword at her and fired an orb of light. Sakura felt her injuries heal and she was able to stand, but she was still afraid and covered in blood
"Thanks…. Is there any way I can-?"
"No offense Sakura, but you're not gonna be much help. Your wounds may be healed, but I can still see you shaking." Abaddon pointed southwest from where he faced. "The ruins are that way. You should be able to regroup with any surviving students there and the headmaster will pick you up." Abaddon noticed Cuchulainn had gotten back up and was now walking towards them.
"But you can't-."
"What I can and can't do is none of your concern. Now go, before it's too late."
Sakura, seeing no way to convince her savior, had no choice but to do as he said and ran off.
"YOU!"
Abaddon looked up as Ferdiad floated down before him.
"I was informed that my target had a special aura unlike the mortals who live her, but I didn't expect it to be you! I've wanted to have my revenge for so long after my escape from near death! AT YOUR HANDS! YOU DIRTY MUTT!" Ferdiad screamed.
"What're you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life!" Abaddon replied.
"Never seen me before? You really don't remember…do you?"
"No." Abaddon looked around at the carnage around him. "But I will make you pay for the lives of these students."
Ferdiad seemed to smile. "Oh really? Despite how weak you are now; I will enjoy this for a little while. Cuchulainn! Why don't you entertain our guest?"
Cuchulainn jiggled in excitement once more as he charged at Abaddon. Despite his size, he was incredibly fast. His stinger slashed diagonally at the faunus, who managed to duck to the ground in time. Abaddon flipped over Cuchulainn, slashing open the fat blob's right shoulder. Cuchulainn's stinger swung back around. Abaddon put his left shield up in time to block but was thrown a good distance away, a sizable dent now adorning his shield. He then flipped backwards as the blob rushed him with a massive fist. His arm was then embedded in the ground where Abaddon used to be. The faunus dashed forward and punched Cuchulainn's face, then he grabbed the stinger and began tossing the blob around before throwing him up into the air. Cuchulainn spun in the air to face Abaddon and as he flew spat a large ball of dark green sludge at the faunus. Abaddon blocked it with his mega shield, but the sludge turned out to be a corrosive poison and it quickly began destroying his shield. In a hurry, Abaddon tore off his gauntlets before it could touch his skin. His gauntlets darkened and shriveled until they became ruined remains on the ground.
"Fucking hell dude! Those were custom made!"
Cuchulainn giggled as he hit the ground. He began firing more sludge balls at Abaddon. Abaddon did his best to stay clear of even a drop of the sludge, but his opponent was firing at random intervals, making it rather difficult. Then, a bit of the sludge caught on his shoes. Abaddon also tore them off as they began to decay, albeit much slower than his gauntlets due to the miniscule amount of sludge. Cuchulainn landed far from Abaddon's position, but quickly closed the distance, and quicker than the faunus could react delivered a gut-wrenching punch to Abaddon's stomach. The boy was thrown off his feet and through a tree before tumbling on the ground and stopping on the face of a large rock.
Abaddon coughed up blood as he lay against the boulder. "D-dammit…. that freaking hurt! Haven't felt…pain like this…. since Grandpa…. hit me at half…strength…"
He stayed down for little bit as he caught his breath, then stood up. He could feel that a few of his ribs were either fractured or broken, so he used his healing on himself. The pain in his stomach was still there, but he could tell that his internal injuries had been healed for the most part.
"This guy's amazingly strong. Could probably give even Carolina a hard time. And the damage I did to him doesn't faze him much, if not at all." Abaddon walked back down the path he was thrown. He spotted his sword, embedded in the trunk of a tree, and pulled it out. He then reentered the clearing where Cuchulainn was waiting with Ferdiad still floating above with a clear view of the event. Cuchulainn seemed happy that Abaddon survived as he immediately started dancing upon seeing the boy.
"I should do as Grandpa taught me and tap into my rage. Go into the same transformation that I had went through…the night of the fire…the night Adam tried to take everything from me."
Abaddon stuck his sword into the ground in front of him, put his hands together as if in meditation, and closed his eyes. Cuchulainn stopped dancing and stared at the faunus in mild curiosity. Ferdiad observed what was transpiring in mild disgust.
"I can feel his aura fluctuating," Ferdiad thought. "It feels much closer to the malicious and menacing aura he had when my senses first perceived him eons before."
As his enemies watched, Abaddon's body experienced an interesting change: the nails on his hands and feet grew into claws, his tail grew longer and the hair on it more wild, his hair grew down to his hips, his canines grew, four horns now sprouted from his head with two curving upwards and two downwards, black scale-like armor covered his hands and forearms, and his eyes turned black like they did before but his sclera became double layered with the outer layer being red, the inner being a reddish black, and the slightly pointed pupil turning white. The faunus' aura moved wildly, now being a dark red with large flecks of red orange and black.
Cuchulainn charged forward with glee as he struck with a powerful punch. Abaddon dashed out of the way. Cuchulainn charged again, but this time Abaddon met the blob's fist with his own. The clash was powerful enough to let off a shockwave that pushed both of them back. Cuchulainn attacked him once more. Abaddon punched his left arm away, but Cuchulainn followed up with a right punch into Abaddon's side and sent him flying. The faunus flipped in the air and bounced off a tree trunk. He flew towards the blob, striking him in the face with his right foot. Cuchulainn skidded on his back until Abaddon came down from above and landed right in the middle of Cuchulainn's stomach. The massive blob actually spit up blue blood from the attack. Abaddon then straightened his right hand and stabbed straight through Cuchulainn's flesh. He grabbed the blob's stinger and ripped it straight out of his body. He then ripped of the sharp end and prepared to stab Cuchulainn in between the eyes but the green monster wasn't keen on that and quickly knocked Abaddon off him with a wide spray of acid from its mouth. Abaddon managed to move and outrun most of the spray. Cuchulainn got on his feet, but immediately bent over and threw up more of his blood and the acid. After Cuchulainn stopped, he straightened up and Abaddon smiled. Cuchulainn's smile was now replaced by an obvious angry frown. The fact that he was basically gutted, and his stinger ripped out did not sit well with him. He began to shake violently until he let out a high-pitched angry screech.
"Feels horrible, doesn't it? To have something that's yours taken away from you. Now that's how those kids feel, their lives, their futures as huntsmen and huntresses, taken from them."
Cuchulainn disappeared, and then reappeared behind Abaddon, aiming a punch for the back of his head. Abaddon ducked, grabbed Cuchulainn's arm, and struck him in the stomach again. The wound the boy had left was barely bleeding, but it had become a vulnerable spot and Cuchulainn was now kneeling because of the damage he had received. Abaddon then used both hands to grab Cuchulainn's left arm and with some heft he ripped it clean off the blob's body. Cuchulainn screamed once more, even louder than before. To make matters worse for him, Abaddon went up to Cuchulainn and slashed one of his eyes open. Abaddon ignored the blob's screams as he examined the blue blood on his hands.
"What the hell are these guys?" Abaddon thought. "They aren't Grimm, that's for sure. And Grimm don't bleed. These two sure as hell aren't from Remnant. Maybe they're creatures from another world."
Abaddon looked up from his hands to see Cuchulainn whining and trying desperately to crawl away from him. Cuchulainn reached his stubby fist up towards Ferdiad, in an attempt to ask for assistance, but Ferdiad just stayed where he was and watched. Cuchulainn whined loudly as if he was crying, then went silent as Abaddon charged a sphere of dark energy. It grew to the size of a basketball before bursting forward, completely obliterating Cuchulainn's head and a portion of his upper torso. The blob's body began to shrivel up as a good amount of acid and blood began to pour out and stain the grass around it.
Abaddon looked up to find Ferdiad, but the harlequin was gone. "Where did he go?"
Suddenly, Abaddon was slashed in the back. He fell to his knees as his blood ran down his skin.
"Fucking sneak attacks!" Abaddon grunted, looking behind at Ferdiad.
Abaddon stood up, shaking slightly from his wound. He leapt at Ferdiad, claws outstretched, but all the jester did was snap his fingers and something large crashed into Abaddon from above, burying him in the dirt. The large object turned out to be a large wyvern with predominantly green skin, save for its belly, which is tan, and its wings, feet, and the tip of its tail, all of which are brown. Its body was thin, with large feet, each sporting yellow talons. It had short and bulky wings. Its tail ended in a large, misshapen club with three yellow spikes on it, and it had a V-shaped head. On either side of its head were beady yellow eyes. The wyvern held each of Abaddon's arms in its feet as it floated up into the air, moving towards its master.
Ferdiad snapped again and another wyvern flew into the area. This one had pink skin, save for its shoulders and legs, which were black. Its body and feet were of the same size as the other wyvern, except each foot had two black claws: a large front one and a small rear one. It had a long tail that ended in a large, bent hook. Its wingtips also ended in small hooks. Its head sported two short horns above each of its eyes that pointed forward. It also had beady yellow eyes like its sibling. This wyvern flew straight up to Ferdiad and deposited a dagger covered in wraps in his outstretched hand.
"Thank you, my little pets," Ferdiad said as he petted the pink wyvern first, then the green one. Both screeched in delight, showing off their split lower jaws.
Ferdiad unwrapped the dagger. The weapon was unlike any other as it seemed too dark, even darker than obsidian and didn't have a reflective surface. He twirled it in his hands, then aimed it towards Abaddon's chest. All the while, Abaddon could barely open his eyes, and he could barely hear Ferdiad's voice, but he did feel uncomfortable as his captor quickly thrust the dagger into his heart. Abaddon didn't feel any pain, but he could barely breathe as something from the dagger seemed to be seeping into and around his body. A black substance surrounded Abaddon, making the wyvern release its grip. The substance encased him in an orb that was predominantly black, except for some thick red orange spirals that would flow through the surface. The blade of Ferdiad's weapon changed into a four-fingered claw and grabbed onto the dark sphere.
"Hahaha, success!" Ferdiad slowly caressed the orb. "I don't know what the master wants with you, but rest assured you will no longer be an obstacle to us. We shall proceed as planned."
