So tired of being an essential worker but more than that, I hate moving. So much to do with so little time that I feel like a zombie.
One hour, that's all it took for a happy and safe family to be put in the crosshairs of an immortal humanoid Grimm. A part of him didn't really want to know what his father did to have Salem come through and destroy everything and yet he had a feeling he already knew. Jaune ran a hand through his hair "an Arc never goes back on there word or so the saying goes".
Salem nodded "if your father had heeded that motto, he wouldn't have set us up to be enemies". She returned to jaunes side so they could resume watching the events of the past transpire. Salem held her hand up and began pushing the memory forward until they reached the moment the deal was broken.
Nicolas held his finger out to the baby that laid next to him on the floor, a young yang xiao long cried out happily as she tried to grab hold of his finger. Raven came back into the living room "now who's doting on who"? Nicolas smirked at the comment "keep that up and she'll be calling you dad instead of Tai" Raven smiled "actually keep going" she joked.
"Still trying to get Tai and me to fight" Raven shrugged "maybe, maybe not, just want to know if I picked the right blonde to settle down with". Nicolas burst into laughter "don't let Jennifer here you say something like that, you know how my wife gets when women try to get close to me". Raven nodded "we both know if I really wanted you, even she wouldn't be able to stop me" Nicolas chuckled "I believe you lost that chance during freshman year".
"Ha" Raven said "well maybe if you really wanted a chance back then you should have acted more like a man". Nicolas shrugged "I like to think I'm more of a romantic than anything". Raven was about to say something when her body froze, turning towards the window her eyes narrowed. Nicolas knew what was happening from the way Raven sat still like she was seeing something in the distance "Summer" she said slowly.
Summer's name had him sitting up "Ray what's happening, is she ok" she didn't say anything for a few minutes. Finally Raven shook her head before she spoke "it doesn't matter, we're not supposed to interfere anyways". That wasn't the answer he was looking for "open a portal" Raven glared at him "you know we can't involve ourselves in their war".
"How do we know that this is part of their war, it could just be that she's dealing with some random thugs with training".
Raven crossed her arms "what kind of thugs would have the training needed to give one of team STRQ's members any trouble"? He had to admit she did have a point, regular thugs wouldn't stand a chance against a huntsmen in training let alone a full-fledged huntress. That line of thought led him to think that the only other reason she would be in trouble is if it was a rogue huntsmen.
Nicolas shook his head "we won't know for certain unless we find out ourselves" after a moment of staring him down, Raven folded. She grabbed her katana and stood in the center of the room "I'll open the portal but your the one who's doing the rest". He nodded in return as he fastened crocea mors to his side "I'm raiding your fridge while your gone" she said just as she slice open a rift in the living room.
"Just don't touch the strawberries in the back of the fridge, last thing I need is to be killed by my wife for touching her favorite treat" he said as he walked through the portal. Once on the opposite side of the rift, Nicolas walked onto a scene that had his blood boiling. Summer wasn't just in trouble but a few seconds from death as a tall brown skinned man with a Mohawk aimed his tomahawks at her throat. Unconscious and being held up by the large beowolf, summers shoulder bled as the Grimm's teeth sunk just a little deeper.
Crocea mors was thrown like a throwing knife and impaled itself in the beowolfs neck. Summers assailant jumped back trying to put distance between himself and the newcomer. Nicolas pulled his sword free from the Grimm's neck before beheading it causing summer to drop out of it's mouth. Leaning down he placed two of his fingers against her neck checking to see if she had a pulse, he let out a breath of relief when he still felt activity in her veins.
Looking around he noticed Summers short spear a few feet away, stuck in the sand next to more Grimm that seemed to be gathering around them. Summers assailant stood tall and gathered the numerous Grimm to his side "Mr. Arc you are interfering in my mistresses affairs, I ask that you remember and honor your word". Mistress, he didn't like that one bit because now he knew for certain that if he continued to help Summer, he would be breaking his promise.
Nicolas looked down at the unconscious form of summer rose, he knew if he walked away now she wouldn't ever come back alive. His word, his promise was something he was raised to honor and fulfill at any cost but could he really turn a blind eye to what was happening here? Nicolas smirked "I will do as you have asked and honor my promise" the assailant was pleased.
The memory of him and summer in the cafeteria played in his mind as he lifted his sword and shield into place. "I promised I'd come running to help her if I had to, time for me to be a man of my word".
A smile came to jaunes face as he watched his father prepare to fight off a hoard of Grimm and a single huntsmen just to keep summer safe. How he was going to handle so many enemies was beyond him but apparently not beyond his father's scope of abilities.
Nicolas held his sword in the air as golden aura formed around it, the Grimm charged with reckless abandon in a attempt to out number there opponent. The attempt proved fruitless as Nicolas lowered his sword to his right side and with one swing the blade extended to an unimaginable size and cut through every Grimm in front of him. The Golden light around crocea mors shimmered before disappearing leaving the Smokey remains of the Grimm.
Jaunes eye's were wide while he remained in shock "that's so not fair" he managed to say. Salem chuckled from beside him "of all the semblances I've seen, your father's was undoubtedly the strongest". Jaune pushed a hand through his hair "I wonder what kind of semblance was it" Salem brought a hand to her chin as she thought about it. "I believe your father's semblance allowed him to gather the light energy from his surroundings and converted it into any shape or form he wished".
Jaune mimicked his mother's motion by bringing his hand to his chin to think "wouldn't that have made him weak during the night time? Salem shook her head "he converts not just sunlight but all types of light energy even moonlight or starlight, as long as it generates light he'll be able to use it". Just thinking about it made his head hurt "that type of semblance sounds so broke compared to everyone I know".
After a moment jaune returned his attention to the memory in front of him.
Nicolas stood atop the assailant with his sword aimed at his chest "if I kill you here, Salem will never give me the chance to explain myself, go and return to your mistress". The assailant broke into laughter "for my failure, she'll kill me anyways but if I die by your blade I sentence all you love to my fate". Before Nicolas could react, the assailant dropped his aura and took hold of crocea mors blade before pushing himself into the edge.
Nicolas was mortified at the act this man had portrayed but the assailant just smiled "give my regards to Salem, you'll be meeting her soon" he said before falling to the ground lifeless. He returned crocea mors to it's sheath before turning to Summer's unconscious form "better get you back before you actually die". He moved to her side before picking her up in a bridal carry "every woman's dream or so I heard" he said before heading back to Ravens portal.
Once on the other side of the rift he quickly took Summer to his bedroom so he could take care of her wounded shoulder. After cleaning and bandaging the wounded area, Nicolas sat at her bedside and waited for her to wake up "if I didn't know any better I would think there's something going on here" Raven said from the doorway". When Nicolas didn't respond to her joke Raven got serious "something happened over there didn't it"?
Nicolas was lost in thought until he came to a decision, standing from his chair he walked to his bedroom window. He stared into the distance trying to find the strength necessary to put word to thought.
"Raven, I want you to/"
The avian Grimm that spied on there conversation was attacked by a house cat. The memory shifted as the Grimm perished under the mighty paws of sergeant snuggles.
When the memory reformed they were in Salems castle, her past self was hard at work equipping armor for the task at hand. Sure Salem knew that her assassin killed himself but Nicolas was warned not only by her but also her assassin..."what was his name again" she shook her head "doesn't matter". She still had an example to set and Nicolas and his family were the perfect people for the job but she was going to need help.
Once she finished getting ready she headed outside of the castle to the pool of annihilation that the young brother of the gods created. Using her power to create Grimm would tire her out if she created to many so she created two large nevermores and a Griffin. "I'll just collect the Grimm in route" she said as she climb on top of the Griffin's back, with a silent command the Grimm took off into the sky.
Time passed and the memory stopped at the time before Ansel's fall, jaune felt his mouth go dry, did he really want to see this? He shook his head, no, this was necessary for him to decide what he was going to do moving forward.
The Salem of the pass stood upon a hill that overlooked Ansel, her eye's glowed a bright red as she held her hand in the air for the army of Grimm behind her to see. The moonlight shined on her like a stage light, giving her and any who looked upon her a sense of overwhelming power. Salem lowered her hand while giving the command that would seal Ansel's fate "KILL THEM ALL".
A new week starting with a new chapter. I know I said one more chapter but I wanted to give Nicolas a little bit longer to shine as a character. We just don't know enough about jaunes family to get a good read on them but I hope my version was pretty good.