I actually forgot to post this since I fell asleep right after I finished it. Haven't had a good nights rest since all this overtime started, could barely keep my eyes open to finish this.
Atop Ansel's outer wall a few of the Guard's sat around a table playing cards "can't believe I got stuck on watch, everyone knows nothing happens around here" the first guard said. "Quit your whining, you lost fair and square" the second guard leaned back in his chair and covered his eye's "it's gonna be a long night".
A loud noise came from beyond the wall that had the two guards hopping to there feet. As soon as the two guards looked over the wall they broke into a cold sweat, the first guard chuckled nervously "this is a bad dream". The second guard ignored the first and took off running towards the Bell that hung in the center of the lookout tower. Without a moment's hesitation, the guard grabbed the handle and rang it like his life depended on it.
The commander of the militia in Ansel stepped out of her office to see what the racket was all about. Quickly climbing up the stairs to reach the top of the wall she noticed the guards running around with weapons drawn and ready. The seriousness of the situation had her on high alert "what's the situation" she asked one of the Guard's that tried to run past her.
The boy looked terrified but still answered as best as he could "Grimm ma'am, more than I ever thought possible". She moved away from the young man and marched over to the wall to see exactly how many there were. The commanders eye's widened and her mouth went dry as she took a step away from the wall, she rounded on the young man who stood behind her "get Nicolas Arc here now" she yelled.
She didn't like relying on the huntsmen for protection but just this once she needed a miracle.
The young soldier skipped steps as he jumped down the stairs quickly until he hit the ground. Now on ground level he broke into a sprint down the rode until he reached the Arc household. Completely out of breath and sweating profusely, he banged on the door until someone answered.
When the door opened to reveal Nicolas Arc, the young soldier fell to his knees and begged him to save them from the Grimm. Nicolas wore a pained expression "I guess it's time" he whispered to himself before turning away from the soldier to collect his gear. Now fully armored up he marched past the young soldier and headed towards the wall.
Salem saw soldiers lining the walls, prepared to fight with everything they had, that couldn't be allowed. Salems black armor shined when she conjured flames in one hand and wind in the other "those walls have got to go". She forced the two elements together and from there unity came a ball of flame that looked like a small sun.
On the wall the commander noticed the small display of power Salem had shown and decided very quickly to call a retreat. Some of the Guard's who didn't notice Salems little display thought the commander had lost her mind and refused to budge. Their refusal to budge made them the first casualties of the battle as Salem fired the ball of fire at the wall.
The wall was close enough to see as Nicolas walked down the road or at least it was until a large explosion blew the wall to smithereens. Fire washed over houses and grass coating the land in a sea of flames the burned everything in it's path. Nicolas got to his feet as he heard the cries of the civilians who's lives were now in jeopardy from the fire.
He wanted to help them but he had to make stopping the Grimm his top priority or else they'd destroy everything anyway. Before he left he noticed the young soldier who was next to him was stabbed in the chest by a piece of wood, shrapnel from the wall. Nicolas knelt next to the young soldier and noticed he was still breathing but barely.
Internal bleeding most likely he thought as he examined the wound quickly "I'm sorry" he said as the boy stopped breathing. Guilt stabbed him in the chest cause he knew that this was all his fault, standing up he drew his sword and shifted his sheath into it's shield form. Making his way through the wreckage he came upon some of the Guard survivors that were locked in combat with the Grimm.
Nicolas didn't wait for an invitation to join the fight, activating his semblance allowed him to make quick work of the Grimm. No matter the number, all fell before his blade as he threw arks of light that sliced through numerous amounts of Grimm. Seeing Nicolas push back the line of Grimm by slaughtering dozens in a single stroke revitalized the Guard's into following his lead.
Salem watched the Grimm getting pushed back by one man and smiled "there you are" she used her power to fly through the air. landing behind a few ursa gave her a few seconds to prepare before Nicolas cut them down. His eye's widened as he saw Salem, some of the soldiers behind him moved forward to support him unaware of the creature in front of them.
Nicolas held his sword at the ready "this doesn't have to be this way" Salem smirked "yes it does". She held her hand forward and shot a ball of fire that crashed into Nicolas's shield, blasting him off his feet and sent him flying a few yards back. The soldiers jumped out of the way so they wouldn't be hit by Nicolas's flying body only to leave themselves open for when the Grimm resumed there attack.
Salem walked past the dying soldiers until she stood just a few feet from her target. Nicolas got to his feet and activated his semblance, gold light shot towards Salem as he thrusted the blade towards her. Salem lifted her hand and create a wall of dark magic that blocked crocea mors, a tentacle sprouted from her arm and quickly wrapped around Nicolas's forearm.
She pushed crocea mors away before using her tentacle to pull her target close, her hand caught his throat and she slammed him into the ground. Nicolas aura flickered but held strong, he lifted his shield and tried slamming it into her ribcage but Salems free hand stopped it. "I swore that your loved ones would pay for your mistake-" four tentacles sprouted from her back and wrapped around his arms and legs "-and I'll make you watch for good measure".
Nicolas was lifted into the air before being slammed into the ground, his aura crackled as Salem continued five more times before throwing him into a nearby building. Pushing himself to his feet he reached for his sword when Salem stepped into the building. He ducked under her first two tentacle strikes before slicing off the third tentacle that reached out.
Salem recoiled in pain which gave Nicolas the opportunity to press his advantage. Using his semblance he threw out a few arks of light that cut through Salems armor and skin, spraying their surroundings with her blood. Salem screamed in pain but never once backed away as her curse healed her body so she could be cut once more.
Salem gritted her teeth and lunged forward just as Nicolas thrusted his blade impaling her. Nicolas tried to push her away with his shield but one of Salems tentacles blocked him, one of her hands grabbed the hilt of crocea mors and pushed it further inside her gut. He couldn't get away unless he abandoned his sword but at that point he wouldn't stand a chance anyways.
Salem smiled viciously while her grip on his sword was ironclad and one of the four tentacles kept his shield away. Nicolas tried to pull away but the sword wouldn't budge, his effort to remove the sword left him open to Salems other tentacles. He swayed side to side as each tentacle crashed into him violently until eventually his grip faltered and he was knock away.
Once Salem had disarmed her prey she pulled the sword free from her stomach "how do you plan to fight me without your greatest weapon"? Nicolas pushed himself onto his feet using the wall behind him as support "I'm sure I'll think of something". Salem flipped the sword in her hand into the upright position before channeling electricity through it "better think quick".
Nicolas lifted his shield just as a bolt of lightning shot out of the sword, the force of the lighting blasted him through the wall and out into the streets. This was so unfair in so many ways that he couldn't even count them all, he rolled over and used his shield as a cane to stand. Salem glided over to him once more before lifting his sword and used the tip of the blade as a focusing point to gather her magic.
Fire gathered at the tip of the sword and with a swing of the sword the flames were unleashed. Nicolas tried to dodge but couldn't avoid the attack completely, his left leg was burned even though he still had aura. "Looks like the funs nearly over" Nicolas chuckled weakly "just kill me already, no need to drag this on any longer".
He barely had any aura left and could no longer stand on his feet due to the burn she inflicted on his entire left leg. Salem kicked Nicolas in the gut cause him to roll on his back before she stopped on his chest with her heel. A sinister smile grew across her features "Kill you now? Now why would I do that when there's still so much for us to do together".
Salem lifted the sword before thrusting it into Nicolas's side causing him to scream from the pain. She leaned forward to speak "I should tell you that the hoard you saw was only half of what I gathered". Nicolas's eye's widened in shock while Salem continued "the other half is waiting to attack any who try and escape through the other gates".
Salem removed her heel from his chest just as a few beowolfs gathered around her "time to go see the family don't you think". The beowolfs bit into his arms and legs and dragged him off in the direction of the Arc household. Using her magic she flew high above Ansel to watch the carnage unfold, people screamed in anguish and despair as friends, family and lovers were torn apart to be eaten.
Salem closed her eyes so she could see through the eyes of the beowolfs that had Nicolas pinned down in front of his family. Fear was plastered across there faces, her voice was transferred through the Grimm's mouth "watch as those you love are taken from you while you lie powerless to save them". The beowolfs charged forward and began to slice and tear the Arc family apart while Nicolas struggled, screamed and cried in vain.
A few minutes passed and the sounds of screaming were silenced by death, leaving only Nicolas alive and bleeding on the floor. The beowolf Salem controlled looked down on the broken man "do not fret for your suffering is at an end". Nicolas said nothing, he just laid there with lifeless eye's until the beowolf was released from Salems control and finished him off.
Salem opened her eyes and floated down to the ground, now there was nothing left to do but go home. She paused for a moment "I think I'll take that weapon as a souvenir" she turned in the direction of the Arc household and made her way through the town. Time had passed and all that was left of the townsfolk were red stains that smelt like iron and dirt.
The sun began to rise into the sky when she finally reached her destination, the door was broken in so she easily stepped through to see the beowolfs munching on the remains of the Arc family. She took one look at the remains and noticed something was amidst "there newborn son is missing". She look around but saw no signs of a small baby until a light caught her eye, she followed the ray of light into a room where a few Grimm were being held at bay by the babies aura.
Salem placed a finger to her lips "the amount of aura this child has is impressive but at this rate it'll only last a few more minutes".
Jaune watched as Salem contemplated over the baby, he knew the outcome but watching Grimm close in on his younger self made him uneasy. When the aura faded Salem came to his rescue and jaune let out the breath he had been holding. Salem picked up to tiny baby and cradled him in her arms, the baby smiled up at her which brought a smile to her face.
Jaune turned slightly to the present Salem and saw how intently she watched her past self with the small baby. "It seems are time is short, let us returned home" she paused for a second and touched jaunes cheek "My son" the past Salem said before she left the house with the small child. In truth, his emotions were going a bit haywire but on some level he knew Salem needed just as much support as he did.
The world darkened once more and returned to the office of lionheart, he took a step away and tried to collect his thoughts. He should hate her for what she's done but was that really fair? There was a lot of blame to go around for what transpired in the past. His father for going back on his promise while knowing the consequence, Salem for killing his family and Summer for forcing that predicament on his father in the first place.
Jaunes hand passed through his hair as he turned to Salem, she didn't say anything or even look at him until he stood in front of her. Could he hate her after everything that they've been through as mother and child, he chuckled lightly as he remembered the times of his past.
Days when he was sick and she stayed by his side until he was better or when he had nightmares and she let him sleep with her, then there were the days she read his favorite books to him.
No, it just wasn't possible to hate the only real person he considered as his mother, he smiled before he hugged her. Salem was surprised, she expected many things to happen but this wasn't one of them, she returned the gesture and held him tightly so he wouldn't see how she nearly teared up. Jaune spoke quietly so only she could hear him "I forgive you mother, for everything" he pulled away from her so they stood across from each other once more.
Jaune reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll "here-" he held out the scroll so she could see the number for his contact info "-so we can stay in touch". Salem quickly memorized it "what will you do now" she asked jaune while he put his scroll away "I'm visiting mistral with some friends so I need to get back to them". Salem nodded "if you need me, you'll know how to reach me" jaune said as he tapped his pocket where the scroll was.
Salem smiled gently "same to you, you know I worry when your not around" jaune rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Don't worry I know how to take care of myself, after all I do take after my mother" jaunes said as he headed for the door. He pulled the door open slightly before turning back to Salem one last time. "Be careful, I don't want to see you end up like how you were in the past" Salem nodded before he disappeared out the door.
Took me a bit but here it is the final part of a time before. Welp we've come full circle and now I feel a little sad now that it's over.