Blake ran as quickly as she could, kicking up sand behind her with every stride. Her eyes never moved from her target, the Draco that called itself Black Mercy. It barreled down on her before pouncing, intent on catching her in its massive maw. Using her Shadow, she managed to just avoid the attack and end up just to her left. She quickly ran the katana half of Gambol Shroud from the corner of its crocodile-like jaws and across its cheek.
From the corner of her eye, she could see that the wound was barely more than a scratch to it. It was like every other attack she had done to it. The Draco's hide was too thick to do any significant damage. She slid to a stop while pivoting her body, bringing Fukiri over her head in a downward swing against the side of its neck. But the heavier blade did manage to cut into the Grimm and causing some damage.
The Draco roared in pain before lashing out with its tail. The thick appendage slammed into her but she just managed to cross her blades in front of her to offer some sort of protection. She was sent flying back but while in the air, she shifted her weapon into its kusarigama and threw it. The blade hooked onto one of the many spines and she pulled herself onto its back. She quickly ran up the beast's back and towards the neck for the weak point at the junction between the skull and neck. When she was close enough, she leapt and pulled Fukiri behind her. She pulled the trigger and the Dust was released, forming a blade of condensed air around the edge of the blade.
Sadly, she was intercepted when the tail came back to smack her out of the air. She spun to deliver the attack against it but it wasn't strong enough to fully cut through it. Though now there was a cut that went close to halfway through it. The tail slammed her towards the ground and the sand was kicked up around her on impact. The sand offered some cushioning but pain still racked her body.
Blake forced herself into a kneeling position and saw the Draco was completely focused on the still unconscious form of Jaune. Her eyes widened and she quickly put a fresh clip into her pistol before firing at it. The bullets did next to nothing but it did turn to her in annoyance. 'Good.' She thought. 'I have to keep its focus on me. The more time I can buy Jaune, the better.'
She noticed it raise its tail again, almost like it was going to impale her but the stinger had yet to regrow. But she did see smoke rising from the cut she had just delivered to the appendage. It seemed to be slowly healing. 'So either it can't regrow the stinger or it takes longer than that flesh wound. Regardless, it just lost its primary weapon. I can wear it down in the meantime.' Her eyes moved down to Gambol Shroud, 'But only Fukiri can do any significant damage right now.' Her eyes quickly started to scan the sand, 'Where is the other half?'
Unlike the others, who had modified Jaune's swords after they were gifted to them, Blake had kept Fukiri the same. Gambol Shroud already had her covered for short, mid, and long range. But the wind sword was just as heavy as her primary weapon when it was sheathed in the cleaver. With that in mind, she thought it would be better to have two heavier swords to help in situations when power was more important than speed. Just like now.
Her eyes quickly caught the glint of sunlight on metal and found the other half of her weapon on the other side of Black Mercy, half buried in the sand. But her attention was pulled when she saw the beast charging a deep crimson energy blast in its jaws.
Acting on instinct, she threw her kusarigama at the side of the Grimm again. It sunk into its hide and she quickly pulled herself with it. Instead of trying to go over it, she skimmed the surface of the sand and slid underneath it. As she was directly under it, she released more Dust from her sword for another wind blade. She spun her body to deliver the attack and in that moment, her eye shifted green and an ethereal green flame erupted from it for all of a second. Subconsciously using her connection to Jaune to empower the wind attack even further.
The wind blade cut deeply into its unarmored belly as a result. If it was any common variety Grimm, it would've been disemboweled and done for. But Dracos were made from tougher stuff. It roared in pain and the energy blast was fired harmlessly into the air above them.
Completing her spin, Blake dove out from under the Grimm as soon as her feet touched the sand. She pulled on her ribbon and freed her weapon from the Creature of Darkness. It came back to her hand before she whipped it towards the cleaver. The scythe blade hooked the handle and with another pull, it was freed from the sand and was coming back to her.
She impaled Fukiri into the sand before she caught the cleaver in her now free hand. When Gambol Shroud was back in her right hand, Blake shifted it back to its katana form before sheathing it back into the sheathe. She pulled her other sword from the sand before dropping back into her stance, both blades ready to do some damage.
The Draco slowly started to rotate to face her. A large amount of smoke rising from its stomach as it was beginning to heal. "Annoying." It said in anger. "You were just a snack before. But now, I'll enjoy consuming you before I devour the Marked."
"Come get me then." She practically hissed at it, not backing down an inch.
As if on que, it swung its now healed tail once more. But not at her. The side collided with the mass of boulders Jaune used to try to crush it before. The force behind the hit rocketed the boulders and making them into massive projectiles, aimed directly at her.
She couldn't run from them and her aura was getting low, so her Shadow would be detrimental in the long run. So there was only one option: She leapt as high into the air as she could before angling her blade down and releasing a blast of air to propel her even higher. She just dodged all the stone projectiles as they continued further. They kicked up more sand before slamming into another rock outcropping that was behind her, causing the entire thing to collapse.
Her eyes settled back on the Grimm below her and saw it was already charging another energy blast. And by the looks of it, it was going to fire at any moment. She pulled both her arms back, sending some of her dwindling aura into Gambol Shroud for an aura blade and releasing more Dust from Fukiri for another air blade.
Black Mercy fired and Blake shouted as she swung her arms forward. Her right one came forward first, releasing the aura blade. The two attacks hit, stalling the massive blast but it still kept moving towards her. That was when she swung her left arm and the air blade collided as well. The two blade-like projectiles cause the blast to detonate in the air and obscure her from the Draco's view.
Its burning red eyes scanned the sky, trying to find her. It spotted her falling through the smoke of the blast, blade back and ready to bite into it. Black Mercy began to charge another blast to intercept her. She narrowed her eyes and the green ethereal flame sprouted form her eye again for a second. She was launched forward with a gust of wind from her back, increasing her speed in turn.
Faster than it was anticipating, Blake's blades bit into the side of its face. Fukiri was stabbed into the cheek just below the eye while Gambol Shroud carved a deep cut from right below the same eye, down the cheek of the mask. The Draco roared as it shook its head in pain, trying to dislodge her. Blake gripped the sword still in the Grimm's cheek before twisting it, doing more damage, before she kicked off the creature and tearing the blade from it.
She landed in a crouch with her swords still ready as the beast was slowly pulling itself from the pain. As it was doing that, her eyes snapped back over to her boyfriend. She noticed that a faint outline of his aura envelop his body before disappearing. She could only hope that was a good sign. Her eyes locked back onto the Grimm before she charged at it once more.
Jaune felt refreshed after his brief nap with Blake and Sable. He went into the kitchen to help Weiss and Ruby with dinner. The two may've improved their cooking over the years but it never hurt to help them out to be safe. Summer and Ana also enjoyed when the five of them could cook together. That was until Sable raced into the kitchen and grabbed them by the hands. She started to drag them towards the back door while begging her big sisters to come play with her.
The two turned to their mothers and they just gave them nods with big smiles. They smiled back and the three girls ran outside. All of the adults laughed at their actions, even Blake who had just walked into the kitchen to catch the end of that interaction. "I'll watch them." She offered, leaving the three to resume their cooking. It wasn't anything too complicated but they just had a lot of mouths to feed. They settled on some roasted chicken and vegetable with rice and a tasty cream sauce.
When it was all done, Pyrrha and Yang came into help them set the table and clean some of the dishes that had been used while cooking. With the training sessions with their daughters done, they left Laevina and Jin to entertain their younger sisters. And all the laughter they could hear coming from outside was more than enough to warm their hearts. It was moments like this that made all that fighting when they were younger worthwhile.
Soon everything was set and Jaune called his daughters in to eat. After getting them to wash their hands, they all settled down at the dining room table and they began their family dinner. The usual conversations and some banter was shared among the eleven family members, making this an average meal in the extended Arc household. "This is so good!" Summer said through a full mouth.
"You got that right, Sis!" Jin agreed with an equally full mouth.
"Ew…" Ana said as she cringed away from her sisters. "That's disgusting."
"Jin, don't talk with your mouths full." Yang reprimanded.
"That goes for you too, Summer." Ruby added.
"Sorry, Mom." The two parroted at the same time after finishing the food that was still in their mouths.
Weiss brought her glass to her lips, "You two being role models? The end of the world must be coming." She said with a smirk as she took a sip of her iced tea.
"Hey!" the two shouted and got a laugh from everyone at the table, including their daughters. That got a couple betrayed looks from the Xiao Long/Rose sisters.
Laevina wiped her mouth with a napkin before she held her plate out, "Can I get seconds, Mom?"
Pyrrha smiled, "Of course, honey. There's plenty." She took her plate and filled it with another helping of their dinner. Laevina thanked her mother before starting to eat again with gusto. She had worked up quite an appetite from all the training she did before.
In contrast to her eldest sister, Sable was just moving the carrots around on her plate. Blake saw this and just sighed to herself, knowing this argument was going to happen again. "Sable, you need to eat all your vegetables."
"But I don't like carrots." She whined.
"Maybe. But you need to eat them to help you grow big and strong, like your sisters." Her mother countered easily enough. That just earned her another whine and a pout. Blake looked over to Jaune with a look that just asked, 'A little help, please.'
He smiled, "Sable, listen to your mother. She just wants what's best for you."
"But Daddy…" she started.
"No buts." He said sternly but not harshly. "You know the rules. If you don't finish dinner, you don't get dessert."
Sable just stared at her father, hoping her cuteness would make him reconsider. Too bad he had gained an immunity from his other four daughters trying to do the same to him over the years. She sighed in defeat, "Okay…" She said dejectedly before starting to slowly eat her carrots, not liking it one bit if the look on her face was anything to go by.
"Thank you, Jaune." Blake told him and she continued to eat.
He smiled, "Any time, Kitten." He cut off another piece of his chicken as he spoke, "So, did anything else happen while I was away? Or was it more of the usual?"
Jin looked like she was about to speak but she was interrupted when they all heard a knock on their door. They all turned to it, "I wonder who that could be?" Pyrrha wondered.
Jaune wiped his mouth with his napkin before standing up, "I'll see who it is." He walked around the table before going down the hall to the front door. As he was getting closer, he heard the knocking again. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He said loud enough for the person to hear him. He got to the door and opened it before who he saw just made him freeze.
Standing there was a very familiar woman but older than he remembered, probably in her early fifties at the latest. Age had taken nothing from her, looking just as fit and beautiful as ever. She wore black boots and pants with a grey, long sleeve shirt. She had a small bag over her shoulder as well. Her long silver hair was tied back in its usual ponytail but now a few streaks of stark white were starting to blend into it. Her golden eyes were just as warm with only slight age lines below them. That same warm smile still on her face. And the very familiar silver fox ears and tail still proudly showing.
"G-Gin?" Jaune managed to utter just over a whisper.
Her smile stretched just a bit wider, "Hi, Jaune. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"But… how?" he asked, still stunned.
She shrugged, "Is it really that strange for me to want to see one of my favorite students and my surrogate granddaughters?"
"No, no. I'm glad to see you." He quickly managed to get out. "It's just… Gin, I saw you-"
He was cut off when five voices all shouted, "Grandma Gin!" And all five of his daughters raced down the hallway to hug her. Gin smiled impossibly wide as she started to hug and kiss the heads of all of them.
Jaune meanwhile was just staring at this display but his mind was that of a maelstrom. Seeing this display filled him with warmth and happiness, like it had every time she had come for one of her surprise visits. But at the same time, a small part of his brain was screaming at him that this was all impossible. And memories that were both familiar and alien started to bubble from some deep recess of his mind. Memories of Gin getting hurt badly. Of her bleeding out in his arms. Of her dying in front of him.
His hand went to his forehead as an intense pain erupted in his head, almost feeling like his skull was going to rip in half. His vision blurred before coming back to focus, now seeing his wives hugging Gin and welcoming her.
With them all distracted, Jaune silently made his way back into the house proper. He then went back into the kitchen and into the backyard. He took several deep breaths of the cooler air to try to calm himself but it didn't do much of anything. His head still felt like he was going through the most intense migraine he had ever experienced and now a sudden wave of nausea was washing over him.
Both his hands came up to cover his face as she groaned, "What is going on? These memories aren't real. Gin was there when I went to Beacon. I introduced her to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang and Pyrrha. She was there when we graduated. She attended our wedding. She was even their for every one of our daughters' births. She has always been there for us. For me."
"So why?" he asked as he pulled his hands away from his face. As soon as he did, tears fell from his eyes and onto the grass below him. Streaks were just rolling down his cheeks nonstop. "Why do they feel so real? Why do they hurt so much?"
"Jaune." Gin spoke up from the back door. He froze before he quickly tried to wipe the tears from his face. As he was doing that, he heard her start to walk over to him. "Jaune, what's wrong?" she asked.
He managed to get the best smile he could on his face before turning to her. The mask nearly cracked when he saw her looking at him with so much concern. "Nothing, I'm fine. I think I'm just more tired than I thought from all the traveling."
She didn't say a word. She just kept looking at him as she stepped closer to him. She reached up and gently laid her hand on his cheek. She just seemed to be analyzing everything about him, "Do you really think you can lie to me, Jaune? After everything we've been through together?"
His eyes widened slightly before he looked down, his eyes welling up with tears. "I don't know what's going on. But something is just telling me that something isn't right here."
She just gave him a sad smile, "Guess that means I made it in time."
He looked back to her, "What does that mean?"
She shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure myself. Only thing I do know is that I'm not supposed to be a part of this." She said as she motioned to everything around them. "Or at least, not in this way."
"I don't understand." He said helplessly.
"I don't either." She admitted with a shake of her head. "All I know is that I knew I was supposed to find you. That you needed my help. That's why I'm here."
"That makes no sense!" he said in frustration. "What are you supposed to help me with? What am I supposed to even do?" She just stared at him with a sad look in her eyes, "Gin, please, I need your help."
She shook her head again and a small but prideful smile came to her lips. "You don't need my help, Jaune. You haven't for a long time. You've grown into a fine Huntsman and a finer man. And I am so proud to call you my student and son. I know you'll figure out what you have to do."
"How are you so sure?" he asked.
"Because I know you." She told him with certainty. "And you always do what you feel is the right thing." She then gently patted his cheek before leaning up and kissing the other. As she pulled away she took a step or two back. "I'll be inside with the girls. Take some time to figure things out, Jaune. You'll know what to do." She gave him one last smile before she disappeared back into the house, closing the door quietly behind herself.
Jaune just stood there, staring at the door as tears streamed down his face once again. He couldn't tell you how long he stood there. Could've been seconds or minutes, possibly even hours. He eventually tore his gaze from it and looked around his backyard. To the woods that surrounded the house and the distant mountains on the horizon. The cool breeze blew through, rustling his clothes and knocking a few leaves from their branches. He stood there, just absorbing everything around him and it gave him a sense of peace. Everything was right in his world.
But at the same time, for reasons he still could not comprehend, it felt just as wrong.
He looked down to his hands and clenched them a few times. Then he tried to call upon his aura and it did so. But slower and weaker than he was used to. That was when he realized it wasn't just the world around him that felt off but himself as well. He could feel his aura clearly now but he could also feel it weakening. Not anything too significant but every second it felt like it was decreasing just slightly every second.
He clenched his fists a bit harder and tried to pull upon his aura more. He felt heavy resistance when he tried. He closed his eyes and concentrated harder, pulling on his aura more. Eventually, he could start to feel his aura slowly increasing. More and more building by the second. It becoming stronger and stronger. But that was when he was noticing the ground around him tremble slightly.
He opened his eyes and stopped concentrating on his aura. Soon the ground around him stopped as well. The connection wasn't lost on him but that didn't mean he fully understood what was going on. And the realization of what would happen if he kept doing it. And what he would lose.
He looked over his shoulder to his home at that moment. He just stared for the longest time. Listening to the laughs and voices of his wives and daughters, along with his teacher. And all the memories that came with them. "I hope you're right, Gin." He said just over a whisper.
He turned away from the house and gently wiped the traces of tears from his face. He took several steps into the center of the backyard. He then looked up to the night sky before taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists before pulling upon his aura once again. It was still a difficult task but being prepared for that made this time just marginally easier. More of his aura was being pulled to the surface and it was strengthening just as much. And as that happened, the ground began to tremble again. The trembling shifted more into a rumbling. That grew more and more until it was border lining an earthquake. Despite that, he kept going. Kept pulling.
Until the door was flung open and five people came running out all shouting, "Dad!"
His eyes snapped open and his concentration was lost for a second. He slowly turned to his daughters all running to him. Every one of them terrified.
"What's going on?" Jin asked, shaking visibly.
"Are we going to be okay?" Ana added.
"Dad, why are you crying?" Laevina asked.
They all stopped and looked up to him as tears were gathering in his eyes again. He gave them the best smile he could muster as he knelt down to be eye level with them all. He needed to say a few things or he would regret it. "Laevina. Jin. Ana. Summer. Sable. When each of you were born, they were the happiest days of my live. When I saw your tiny faces for the first time. When I got to hold you for the first time and each time, you all squeezed my hand with your own so tightly… Like you never wanted to let go."
"I've watched every step. Every struggle. I've-" He cut himself off as his voice trembled. "But, girls…" He looked up for a second, trying to gain the courage again. He looked to them all again. "But I don't think you're real." He said as tears finally started to fall. "I don't think any of this is real."
"Don't say that, Daddy!" Sable said as she wrapped him in a hug.
Summer joined a second after. "You're scaring us."
Each and everyone of his daughters started to hug him at the same time. With each one, his resolve started to crumble but he somehow kept going forward.
He wrapped his arms around as many of them as possible, "I'm not trying to scare you girls. You are all what I ever wanted in my daughters. This is everything I ever wanted in my life." He pulled back enough to look at all their faces and it killed him to see them all crying. "But I have responsibilities." He voice broke completely with what he said next, "And I have to go now."
He pulled them all back into a hug as he started to pull on his aura again. No longer going for half measures, he used every ounce of strength he had. Becau ehe couldn't take it any more. If he didn't do it now, he would never be able to do it. The ground started to rumble after only a few seconds. Large cracks and crevices started to open up around them. A massive one tore open under his house, pulling half of it into the depths below. His eyes widened in shock and the girls tried to look. He just pulled them closer as tears began to fall faster.
He eventually pulled away. Just enough to look them in the eyes and kiss each one on the forehead. For the last time. He then pulled them close again and while crying managed to just speak up. "I promise you all, I'll never forget. Never."
With that, the cracks and crevices started to release blinding light. Enveloping everything around them. But Jaune stayed the course. He kept going. Holding onto his daughters as they cried. Holding them for dear life. For the last time. And hating himself for all of it.
Blake was struggling to breathe. Black Mercy had its massive claw on top of her, pinning her into the sand. She had Fukiri stabbed into the hand and was trying to use it to shove it off her. But sadly, she didn't have the leverage to do so. She didn't even have Gambol Shroud because she lost her grip on it when the Draco slammed her into the ground with its massive tail. On top of that, her aura was all but gone at this point. She was running low on options and time.
The Draco turned its body enough to look down on her. As it did so, its weight shifted so more was being pushed down on her. She didn't know if that was on purpose or not, but regardless, she screamed out in pain. It chuckled down at her, "Finally got you. You worked up my appetite with all that running around you were doing. I'll enjoy devouring you and the Marked all the more now."
It opened its massive jaw and started to lower its head towards her. She saw the saliva drip from its mouth and she could see straight down its throat. She could feel the terror rise up and she started to thrash as much as she could to try to free herself. But it was all for nothing, she couldn't escape and her panic just seemed to make the Draco hungrier.
Blake was convinced it was the end until the Draco froze. It pulled back and looked over to the side. Blake was confused until she felt this cold, nearly oppressing feeling overcome her. It sent all her senses on edge and she quickly looked over to the source. And it shocked her.
Jaune was slowly rising up from the sand. His entire body was radiating this black-purple aura, almost like a roaring fire. As he got closer and closer to standing up right, the aura started to break off of him and shift into Void orbs. Once he was standing again, five Void orbs were erratically revolving around him, like electrons around an atom.
But what killed her was the look on his face. He had the angriest scowl she had ever seen on anyone, his purple-black eyes glaring at the Draco with a cold fury. And more so, tears were streaming down his cheeks with no end in sight. She had never seen him quite like this before and a part of her was scared for what he would do. But more importantly, what had happened to get him to be like this?
A/N- Nearly seven months without an update... Yeah, I really fell off with updating my stories. But I hope to change that this year. If any of you reading this are curious on what happened and what my plan is for 2022, there is an update on my profile. Hoping it'll help me get back on track and I'll get back to updating like I used to.
Anyways, Void Swordsman is back and I finally managed to get this chapter out. Gonna be honest, writing that scene with the kids had me crying as I was writing it. Emotional scenes like that between parents and their kids kills me every time. Hopefully it came out well. And to explain Gin's presence, it was a combination of Blake's aura trying to connect with his and that piece of himself that knew something was wrong. The two together created the one thing that would get through to him. Because the illusion couldn't undo one of the biggest impacts on his life, her death.
Thank you all for being patient with me and I hope you it was worth the wait. Please leave a review if you can. Reading them helps keep my passion going and it makes me more excited to get around to updating them more often. Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next update.