Beta: ShadowMeister234
An: Remember when I said I wouldn't go more than 10 days without updating? Me neither. But on a better note, this story has officially hit more than 1,000 followers, so thanks for all your support over these past two years. It really does mean a lot to me.
The soft thumps of three pairs of feet echoed along Cryphilictal's empty roads. Jaune and Emerald walked beside each other while Yang lagged behind with her head held down. Emerald let it go. The responsibility of deciding her little sister's fate must have been a lot to take on and she was probably still sorting her thoughts. The solution they were heading towards wasn't perfect, but Ruby would be in good hands even if she did lose her sight.
Emerald looked over to Jaune to gaze at his reaction and saw just how serious it was. The weight he was carrying wasn't as heavy as Yang's, but as the one who found and suggested this path, he bore some responsibility for whatever happened. If only there was something she could do to cheer him up.
Jaune caught her staring and flashed her a smile so bright and heartwarming that she turned away. Immediately, she cursed herself for doing so. This wasn't like her. She wasn't some girl that went weak at the knees just because some guy smiled at her. It didn't matter that the guy happened to be Jaune. She had been battling her feelings for him for a while, but there had never been a time where she hadn't been able to look him in the eyes.
She blamed Yang. If she hadn't pushed the subject, then she wouldn't have admitted them. Yang was the only one to hear it, but the simple fact they were spoken out loud somehow made them more real. Like the air itself was a witness that at any moment could pass those words along to Jaune or anyone else.
A hand caressed her shoulder. "You okay?" Jaune asked. "You're kind of spacing out."
It took more willpower than Emerald would have liked to turn her head to face him, and it took much more for her to beat down the heat creeping up her neck. "I'm fine," she excused in a tone that even she realized was much too hasty.
Obviously, it didn't do much to convince Jaune as his eyes scanned her over. He must have noticed the pink tint on her cheeks because he said, "are you getting sick?" She didn't think she could take it if he brought his hand up to her forehead to check her temperature. Thankfully, he didn't go that far, but it didn't stop the red in her cheeks from darkening. It was more the embarrassment from recognizing just how badly she was falling apart than the actual feelings she had for Jaune.
"We can take a break if you're not feeling well." He slowed down his pace.
"I don't need one." Emerald let Jaune fall behind and used the time he took to catch back up to collect herself. They were on a mission. Any personal feelings could wait until after it was over.
Jaune returned to her side and noticed a lack of any flushed skin. He opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to change his mind and went with something else. "If you're sure, but if you need anything, please make sure to tell me. I'll always be there for you."
Emerald was forced to avert his head again. Why did he have to say things like that? Was he trying to torment her?
The rest of the trip went by in silence which was just fine with her.
Just as Jaune promised, they arrived at the development district not long after they left the tower. Honestly, it was pretty underwhelming. A few large block-like structures that would have fit in as any office buildings up top if it wasn't for their grey stone walls and metal bar windows.
"Which one has the curse remover?" Yang spoke for the first time since leaving the tower's courtyard.
Jaune stiffened like he hadn't expected Yang to still be behind them, or like he forgot about her altogether. "I don't know." He scratched his jaw as he looked at the mostly identical buildings. "Let's just go with the biggest one. If nothing else that gives us the most space to work with."
"What does the curse remover look like?" Yang asked.
"You'll know it when you see."
Yang didn't look convinced. "You're sure?"
"I'm positive."
"But if this is the development district, aren't there going to be all sorts of crazy items around here. How are we going to know which one it the curse remover?"
"You'll know."
Yang was getting angry. "Why can't you just describe it."
Jaune's face fell. "It's not that simple." He suddenly looked so tired like he hadn't gotten any sleep for days.
Emerald knew she had to step in. "If Jaune can't say anything, we're just going to have to believe there's a reason."
Yang didn't look any happier, but now that it was two against one she decided to back down. "I really hope there is."
An apologetic look crossed Jaune's face, but he didn't offer any words in his defense. "Let's just head inside."
The interior of the building felt far too much like a dungeon for Emerald's taste. Grey stone, low light, tight corridors, and metal grates were in abundance. How anybody could have done any devolvement in this place was beyond her.
There were no signs or maps to help them narrow down their search, so they just went into every room they saw. A lot of them were empty, but there were a few that had strange apparatuses. For the first few, Yang had asked if they were the curse remover.
Jaune just shook his head and said, "If you have to ask then it's not it."
They left all those non-curse removers alone. All three of them agreed that they shouldn't poke around with things they didn't understand.
Eventually, they traveled up to the second floor and entered a hallway that must have had at least thirteen smooth stone doors on either side.
"This is going to take forever," Jaune groaned.
"You know this would go much quicker if we each searched rooms on our own," Yang suggested.
"Have you learned nothing?" Emerald berated. "Leaving each other's sights is only asking to get separated completely. The tower was able to do it with the junk store, and we were in the same room."
"But we're not in the tower anymore?"
"That's not the point."
"Actually, I agree with Yang," Jaune cut in. "It's risky to split up, but it's also risky to linger around one place for too long."
"You say that, but other than when we went inside the upside-down tower, we haven't run into anything dangerous," Emerald said.
"Really?" He looked shocked. "Then maybe you got lucky and came here when all the monsters are on break."
"There was that mummy man though," Yang said.
"Mummy?" Jaune's eyes were wide.
"Not a real mummy," Emerald clarified. She had actually forgotten about that person after everything they had gone through in the tower. Obviously, Yang had not. She was even shaking a bit just from mentioning it.
"Right, not a real mummy," Yang continued. "It was some guy who was shriveled up like every bit of fluid inside of him had been sucked dry. He was calling out to someone named Maple before he died."
Emerald saw Jaune's fingers twitch, but that was his only reaction. "Creepy. Definitely, something to keep an eye out for, but I don't think it has anything to do with us right now."
"So, you still think it's a good idea to split up?" Emerald asked.
"I don't think it's a good idea, but I do think it will be alright. If anything happens just yell and run out into the hallway."
"Then it's settled." Yang headed towards the door to her immediate left and headed inside.
"She's being kind of a bitch again," Emerald whispered.
"She's got a lot to worry about. Give her a bit of time." He stared at the open door that Yang had just entered. Maybe to see if she was going to suddenly pop out again. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about a few things."
"What things?"
Jaune walked to the door on their right. "Somewhere a little more private if we could."
"I thought we were supposed to take our own rooms?" Emerald joked.
He rolled his eyes "We are and we will, but first, I'd like to get something off my chest." Emerald didn't see a reason to deny him. She headed inside the room, and Jaune closed the door behind them.
The room was pretty much empty with only a few stone tables that grew out of the floor. Emerald decided to take a seat on top of one, kicking her legs out. "What did you need to talk about."
"First, thank you for backing me up against Yang over the curse remover. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't."
"Yeah, what's up with that? Why don't you want to say anything?"
"I'm not trying to make things difficult. There's just a lot going on that I can't talk about right now." He hung his head low, ashamed he could only give such a vague answer.
"It's okay, I trust you," Emerald reassured him. She still didn't know what exactly he had done while she and Yang were sick, but there must have been a reason he wasn't talking about any of it. She doubted traveling through Cryphilictal alone had ended in sunshine and rainbows.
There was that scene the tower had showed her. Sure, she knew Jaune hadn't died, but how much of that scene had actually been true? What terrible things had he gone through to save her? Her heart ached. Whatever happened to him she was partially to blame.
She didn't notice that he had walked right up to her, and cupped her cheek with his hand, wiping away tears she didn't know she had shed. "Why are you crying? I don't like it when you cry."
She gently pushed his hand away to dried her own tears. She looked at his face. A handsome face full of stubbornness which held eyes that would never blame her for anything that happened to him. She could have gotten him killed and he would have come back as a ghost just to tell her not to blame herself. That was the kind of person Jaune Arc was, and it was the kind of person she had fallen in love with. "Sorry, I'm just glad to have you back."
He smiled. "It's good to be back."
"So, what did you want to talk about," Emerald said, addressing the reason he was with her in the first place.
"About that," he looked away seemingly embarrassed, "Emerald, what do you think of me?"
The question caught her off guard. What didn't she think about him? He was her best friend, her partner, her hero. The person who had finally given her meaning to her empty life. "Why do you ask?"
Jaune didn't turn back to face her. "I can't tell you much about what happened while I was on my own, but I can tell you that I made a decision. A decision that I wouldn't be such a coward anymore. I don't want what I'm feeling to never be said. I don't want to die with that regret." It seemed to take an enormous amount of effort, but Jaune forced his head in her direction. His cheeks were on fire and sweat trickled down his forehead. "Emerald I lo…" He couldn't say it. Those fateful words just wouldn't come out of his throat no matter how hard he tried.
Emerald watched his desperate struggle wondering just what he was going to do, and was shocked when he closed his eyes and leaned forward, lips puckered. He couldn't say anything so he was trying to prove himself with actions.
He moved slowly giving Emerald plenty of time to avoid it if she wanted to; she didn't want to. She leaned forward. It felt right to meet him halfway like partners should.
"Guys, come over here! I found it," Yang yelled from the other side of the hall.
Jaune and Emerald froze their lips inches apart from one another. Jaune's eyes snapped open and for a moment Emerald could see raw rage within them, but that quickly disappeared and was replaced by the normal disappointment of a moment ruined. Their lips never touch as they both pulled away from each other.
"We should go see her," Jaune said.
"Yeah, we should," Emerald replied. She was disappointed about what didn't happen, but if Yang really did find the curse remover then it wouldn't have been right to continue. Besides, it wasn't like the chance was lost forever. Jaune had made his feelings for her clear, and there would be other times to act on them. She would make sure of it.
They crossed the hall and entered Yang's room. It was just as empty as theirs had been, but she was standing by one of the metal bar windows looking out. She waved them over, so they could see for themselves.
Outside was a courtyard (formed from grey stone, of course) and in the center, were two bronze rings that rotated around each other. In the middle of those rings was something that looked like suspended water and although it was hard to see, Emerald could make out some sort of smoke being drawn into it.
It was already a very odd contraption, but even more than that, Emerald could feel something about it. It was hard to describe, it kind of felt like Déjà vu except it wasn't that she felt like she had seen it in the past but from a different perspective. Like there were two of her looking at this thing simultaneously. It was a strange feeling, but she couldn't say it was unpleasant.
Yang was completely ecstatic. "That's the curse remover, right? Wait, never mind, you said if I needed to ask then it wasn't it. I don't need to ask. I know this is it."
Jaune looked out the window a little longer. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's crazy how quickly we found it."
"We were just due for some good luck."
"Don't jinx us," Emerald reprimanded. "The jury's still out on if jinxes actually exist but I don't want to take the risk especially in this place."
Yang rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's get down there." She looked at the wall seeming to seriously consider knocking it down to get outside faster but logic won out, and they took the stairs down.
"She certainly went from zero to ten on the happiness meter," Jaune told Emerald. He seemed a bit annoyed.
"She's just happy to finally have anything that might help her sister. Once she remembers what this actually means for Ruby, she'll start brooding again. Probably be that way the entire way back, but I'll just be happy to be rid of this place."
"You have no idea what I wouldn't give to leave this place behind."
Emerald bit her lip and avoided meeting his eyes. They couldn't have been down here for more than a day. Just what had he gone through while she was asleep that would make him want to leave so badly?
"Do you think everything is going to go okay?" she asked.
He turned to her with a bright expression and started to offer reassurance, but before he finished the first sentence, he seemed to decide it wasn't worth lying to her. His expression turned somber, and he gave a sorry sounding laugh before ushering the word, "no."
Yang didn't hear any of this and before they knew it—and arguably before they were ready—they stood in front of the curse remover. Now that they were closer Emerald could make out the symbols of Cryphilictal's language craved all over the two rings. The water in the center also wasn't as static as she had first assumed. It pulsed and bubbled, but never grew, as it absorbed the smoke that seemed to suddenly sprout from the air around it.
"What's it doing with that smoke?" Emerald asked.
"Cryphilictal is full of curses," Jaune answered. "It's doing its job."
"Is it okay to touch it?" Yang said.
Jaune shrugged. "Might want to try wearing gloves."
The curse remover wasn't large but it was big enough that it wasn't going to fit inside any of their backpacks. One of them was going to have to carry it. Yang stepped up to the plate looking at her hands. The fingerless gloves she always wore weren't perfect but they were better than nothing.
"How do I even grab it? Should I go for both the rings or just one? What happens if I rip it apart?"
Jaune shrugged again not having an answer to give her.
"You're really helpful you know," she spat before steeling herself for the task at hand. She took a deep breath and reached her arms forwards.
"To think that the little mice would be so brave to go touching what isn't theirs."
Without hesitation, Yang jumped backward with her gauntlets deployed. Emerald had also drawn her weapons when she heard the unfamiliar voice, but Jaune just stayed rooted to his spot as he looked up. "Shit."
Sitting on top of the building across from them was a woman that was at least three times as big as any normal human. Her bare legs hung past the top story windows leading up to a body cover in what was more of a white cloth than a proper dress, but her beautiful physique was not what drew the eyes of the trio. It was the two wings that sprouted from her back each being just as long as she was tall. They weren't made from features but seemed to consist of hundreds of diamond-shaped plates that glistened like the armor of old knights. However, the one on her right side was bent at an odd angle like it had been broken.
"Now, what caused you children to go stomping around this city?" It sounded like she was whispering but every word reached their ears crisp and clear.
"Who are you?" Yang yelled back up.
The woman tilted her head letting her long black hair cascaded down the side of her face. "I have no name, but a long time ago I was created to guard the maiden Salem. Then the warrior Ozma bested me, and now I guard the secrets of this city."
Emerald didn't understand about half of what she said, but it was clear she wasn't going to allow them to just continue their business.
"All we want is this curse remover," Yang tried to reason. "It's for my sister. Once we have it, we'll leave and you'll never have to see us again."
The women chuckled. "Oh, poor child. It seems you've been misled. It matters little though. Your intentions are not of any concern. Be they the purest of heat or the sickest of brain, all intruders are to be removed."
She flapped her wings. That was it, but that was enough for the world to explode.
Emerald's eyes cracked open from her brief bout of unconsciousness. She coughed up dust. Something wet was running down her aching forehead. Her weapons were still grasped in her hands, but her left foot hurt. When she tried to move it, she found it pinned beneath some rubble and the pain only worsened. It was a miracle that was the only part of her buried. The entire courtyard and many of the nearby buildings had been leveled by the shockwave of that monster's wings, but the debris wasn't standing still. In a performance that Emerald couldn't quite believe was real, the stone was moving on its own slowly remaking what it had been, and at the center of it all was the monster woman hovering in the sky looking for something—looking for them.
There wasn't any more time to analyze the situation. Emerald pushed the rubble, that had yet to move on its own, off her foot and confirmed what she had already feared. Her ankle was badly twisted. Running on it would be impossible and walking on it would be a bad idea but staying where she was would have been an even worse one.
She forced herself to her feet pushing her aura into her ankle to try and limit the pain and to keep the injury from worsening. Droplets of blood fell from the gash in her forehead as she stood. It didn't seem like a serious injury but she pushed aura to it as well just in case.
"My, my where did those children run off to." The monster's wings fluttered once, but she was clearly capable of staying airborne without moving them.
Emerald didn't have any more time to waste. She risked putting some weight on her injured foot. The pain shot through her like stepping on a bed of needles, but it was bearable. She hobbled to the closest intact building she could find which was still quite the distance away. She debated whether it would be a good idea to use her semblance to hide herself. The risk of using her semblance on that monster and her being able to somehow sense it and use it to track her was far from zero, and the possibility of it just not working at all was also high.
Eventually, the decision was taken out of her hands. The monster began to turn in her direction, so it was either use or semblance and hope for the best or not use it and definitely get caught. She stopped and focused her semblance on the monster. If she noticed it, she didn't react.
The monster's sight lingered in her direction. The next few seconds were agonizing, so much so that Emerald thought she might scream from stress alone. Sweat trickled down her arms and her breaths exited in harsh rasps. If this thing saw her, she was dead, there was no doubt about that. She had already blown her away with the equivalent of a flick of the wrist. What could it do if it got even a little bit serious? Whoever had beaten this thing before must have been an even greater monster to even consider it.
All Emerald could do was hide and hope she didn't see her—much like a rat.
Thankfully the monster's gaze passed her by and found its attention elsewhere. Emerald bolted to the building and practically threw herself inside. Once she was in, she leaned herself on the wall and took a bit of time to compose herself. Her foot was killing her and her lungs felt like they had been pumped up a size too big for her chest, but she had found cover and safety for now.
An explosion from outside caused the building to shake and tiny pieces of stone to fall from the ceiling only to float back up like reverse raindrops. She hoped that the explosion didn't signal that the monster had located either of her friends, but at the same time if that monster was just firing off attacks at random then this building would last much longer and she'd be buried underneath it all. Perhaps this wasn't a safe place after all.
"Emerald, is that you?" Jaune ran over to where she was sitting and kneeled down in front of her. "You're hurt," he said, looking at her forehead.
Emerald wanted to laugh. Jaune always worried about others before thinking about himself. She was glad he had found her and happy to see that besides being covered in dust, he looked pretty much as he always did. She guessed that's what happened when you had that much aura.
"How bad is it?" she asked regarding the gash on her forehead.
"It's not awful, but it's not great. We need to get out of here as fast as possible."
"Sorry, but speed is something I'm going to struggle at." She drew his attention down to her twisted ankle.
He hissed as he saw the blacken bruise rising up from the side of her foot and peeking through the top of her open shoe. "And your aura isn't going to fix that?"
"Not anytime soon. Honestly, I think that first shockwave knocked out half of it before I was knocked out.
Jaune gave a defeated sigh and slid down the wall next to her. He looked exhausted.
"What's going on out there?" She asked him.
"No idea. I just ran to the first standing structure I could find as I'm sure you did."
"What about Yang?"
"I didn't see her. Maybe she's held up somewhere by herself, or maybe that last explosion was her being caught." Jaune pulled his legs up into his chest and rested his forehead on his knees. "I don't think we're making it out of here," he finally admitted.
"Yeah," Emerald sadly agreed. She didn't just want to give up without even trying a single counterattack, but what could they do against such overwhelming power. Her semblance had worked to keep her hidden on the way here, but she couldn't use it to keep both she and Jaune invisible along with masking any traces of their movement. That would just be too much for her to keep track of. Even if it had just been her, she wouldn't have been able to keep it up long enough for her to escape to a safe distance, if there even was such a thing as a "safe distance" from that monster. None of that was even counting that any flare of pain from her twisted ankle would likely break her concentration long before her semblance naturally ran her aura out.
"I'm sorry," Jaune said.
"Sorry for what?" Emerald asked even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
"Sorry for bringing you here. Sorry that things turned out like this. Sorry that you ever got involved with a worthless guy like me."
"I'm sorry you feel that way because I'll never regret meeting you. These last few months have been the happiest of my life." She slid her hand into his and their fingers intertwined. "You know, you could run away by yourself. If I stay behind as a distraction you might be able to make it."
"I won't abandon you."
She knew he wouldn't, but it was still nice to hear him say it. "Thanks."
Another explosion rocked the building. It felt closer than that last, but it was also possible that the monster had just increased its attack power. They weathered it in comfortable silence making peace with what was about to come.
"You know," Jaune said, "we never did get to have our kiss, and I think it would be really disappointing if neither of us got to experience it."
Emerald smiled. "Then come and get it."
Jaune turned to face her. He licked his lips and leaned into her. She closed her eyes and he did the same. There was no Yang to interrupt them this time. Their lips met and Emerald was surprised by just how good it felt. She hadn't expected to be bad by any means, but she hadn't expected it to be like this. It was incredible. How could Jaune be this good?
She melted into the pleasure and Jaune had to grab her arm to keep her from sinking into him. He brushed his tongue against her lower lip asking for permission to enter. Permission she gladly gave him as she gently lowered her jaw.
Jaune wasted no time and soon their tongues were in a fierce battle. Emerald had always assumed she'd be the dominant one in this situation, but Jaune defeated her easily, slapping her tongue around and eventually pinning it to the bottom of her mouth. She expected him to let it go so they could go another round, but he didn't.
She opened her eyes to see what was wrong and was met with an unexpected sight. Jaune had his eyes open and was just staring at her. It was creepy. She tried to pull away, but his grip on her arm was like iron.
That's when it happened. The wonderful kiss they had been sharing turned into something else. She could feel something within her being sucked out with Jaune's mouth acting as the vacuum. She redoubled her efforts to escape but Jaune's grip remained firm. She was trapped in this kiss and it was getting difficult to breathe.
It was hard to tell since their lips were locked, but she could have sworn she saw him smirking at her failed efforts. The hand that wasn't holding her in place came up to grasp her left breast. He gave it a hard squeeze while pushing her into the wall. Whatever was being sucked out of her was only coming out faster and she could feel herself getting weaker because of it.
In a final act of retaliation, she slammed her jaw shut biting into the piece of flesh invading her mouth. She hoped it would be enough for him to back off, but the blond in front of her didn't even seem to care.
She kept the pressure up until her teeth bit all the way through the slimy appendage. It fell into her mouth, still wiggling, and then in the most disgusting experience she had ever had, it seemed to jump to the back of her mouth and down her throat forcing her to swallow it. She could taste every bit of flesh and saliva as it slid down her throat and into her stomach. She wanted to barf but couldn't because, despite her attacker missing part of his tongue, her lips remained locked onto his like they were magnets.
Sometime during their kiss, while she had been distracted by pure bliss, he had pushed her weapons out of reach, so all she could do to try escape was slap his arms and kick his shins. It was all ineffective and only caused his smirk to widen.
Emerald's strength was fading fast and it was getting to the point where she was getting dizzy from lightheadedness. She could barely raise a hand against him anymore. The left side of her lips, the point where he was sucking from, felt as dry as a desert. She was sure the skin was starting to crack. Pretty soon she would be as dry as a mummy. Just like that guy she and Yang had run into.
Well, at least she knew what had happened to that poor man even if that knowledge was pretty much worthless at this point. Just a random piece of trivia that she got to discover right before the end.
Her vision was going dark, but right before her vision, and her consciousness completely cut out, another explosion sounded off and she had just enough awareness to see the floors above collapsing on top of them.
The monster, who had been created in the form of a beautiful angel, observed the pile of rubble that had once been a building. Of course, it was slowly repairing itself, but that would take a while with all the damage she'd done.
A section of the rubble shifted and an arm pushed through. It clawed at the loose stones until a head of blond hair was revealed. The blond hair soon rose higher and higher until the entire body it was connected to was above the wreckage.
The newly emerged being glared with the most intense hatred it could muster. Foam fell from its mouth and its fingers were clearly itching to wrap around her neck. None of it bothered her. What could a simple incubus hope to do?
"You bitch!" it raged, "I was quietly enjoying my meal and you ruined it. It's all your fault she broke free!"
"I don't see why I should care about the problems of a parasite." The angel paid only half attention to the lesser being as she looked for any place the golden-haired child might be hiding.
The thing that looked like a human almost attacked, but survival instincts won out and it refrained. "Fine, but don't think I'll ever forget this."
The angel didn't dignify it with a response. She just floated off in a different direction leaving the fake alone to fume, and fume it did, but it had other things to attend to. Mainly tracking down it's lost meal. She wouldn't be nearly as delicate now that she wouldn't give it any more of her love or lust, but feeding off her fear would still be better than nothing.
The creature grabbed the chest of its current form and pulled forwards until the flesh ripped open on one side forming a sort of pocket. The fake dug around until it pulled out a plain white mask which it held to its face.
It only took a few seconds for it to shoot off after its target.
It wasn't Jaune. Which meant that the real Jaune was still out there somewhere. It made Emerald's heart race just thinking about all possible danger he might be in, but as much as she wanted to worry about him, she had to worry about herself first.
She skipped on one foot trying to put as much distance between her and that thing as possible. She had made it out of ground zero, and hopefully, that winged monster's patrol zone, where there were buildings that still looked like buildings, but her pace was pitiful. She could have covered five times the distance if both her feet worked properly.
But even worse, there was something wrong with her aura. She could still feel it inside of her, but pushing it to the outside of her body only caused it to crackle like shattered glass before breaking apart without offering any protection. It was as equally uncooperative in regard to her semblance. All her protections were gone and she knew the thing that had stolen Jaune's face was to blame.
She felt violated. At the time, kissing it had been the single most wonderful moment of her life, but now that was a rotten taste on her tongue and lips that she couldn't get rid of. There was also some kind of imprint by her mouth where that thing had been sucking on her. She didn't have time to inspect it as even now she didn't think she had put anywhere close to enough distance between her and the fake.
It was a fear that was confirmed when she heard its voice—Jaune's voice. "Emerald I'm sorry about what happened. Do you think you could forgive me?"
Emerald stopped and turned around knowing that running anymore was pointless. Chronic pain hummed around her left foot as she took her fighting stance. In front of her, fake Jaune was jumping off the sides of buildings like they were springboards.
Emerald raised her weapons and fired a few rounds its way which it evaded with ease. "If violence is your answer to our break up, then I can play ball."
Fake Jaune grew a wicked smile that looked far too big for its face as it hopped from the third floor of a building to the second floor of another, sticking to it for a brief moment, then jumped off that to land on the fourth floor of yet another. It didn't make any effort to strike her as he zigzagged across the street, but every time it changed its position, Emerald had to adjust her stance just in case it tried. Her ankle protested every move.
The faker was obviously targeting that on purpose. It was trying to exhaust her without having to put itself in any danger, and unfortunately, it was working. Her movements were already growing sluggish and her face contorted as she tried and failed to hide the agony that had engulfed her left foot.
It was a terrible position to be in, but there was some hope. Despite how obviously disadvantaged she was the faker was still playing it cautious. If their roles had been reversed, Emerald wouldn't have wasted time drawing out an injury. She would have gone in for the kill on such a weakened opponent. The fact the faker wasn't suggested it wasn't confident it could beat her even in this state.
It being so weak didn't make that much sense. It had already proven that it had the strength to competently immobilize her and had weathered its tongue being bitten though without issues, but this was a creature of Cryphilictal and the unknown world. Conventional fighting knowledge need not apply. For instance, since it was capable of speaking clearly, it would seem its tongue had already grown back. Did that mean it also had regeneration powers or was it something else entirely?
"You seem to be in pretty deep thought. Care to share?" Fake Jaune taunted.
Emerald gritted her teeth. She hated how it was using his voice. It made her blood boil. "How about you come a little closer and I'll whisper it into your ear."
"I'm going to have to pass on that, but I'll tell you what, if you promise to drop your weapons and give me a smooch I'll be down in a jiffy."
"You're losing touch in your disguise. Not even Jaune would use the word 'jiffy.'"
"But I am Jaune. I picked up that word specifically for you. I thought it might make you laugh."
"I'm more a fan of slapstick. Maybe if you do a demonstration for me."
"See, this is the back-and-forth I've been missing. Why don't we tease each other like this anymore? Is it because you fell in love with me?"
A bullet pinged off the stone just by his face. She hadn't been able to hold back. This thing had no right to talk like that. "How do you even know about us," she demanded.
The faker bounced off a few more walls forcing her to lean on her injured foot as much as possible before replying. "I got the basics from following your lover around. Don't know if you know this but he has a thing for talking to ice sculptures. The rest was a gift from that greedy flame. You didn't think you were the only ones to get a little leak of knowledge from the tower, did you? But in all honesty, I don't know that much, not like it mattered. Just showing the tiniest amount of care and spouting some generic lines with his voice and mouth was enough for you to start acting like putty in my hands. Seriously why do you kids fall in love so easily nowadays? It used to be so much harder."
"What about the curse remover. Is it really going to cause Ruby to go blind?" Emerald didn't know if it was a good idea to keep fake Jaune talking. Time wasn't really on her side, but she didn't have any better plan at the moment, and this fake seemed to like to talk.
"Oh that, none of it was true. I made it up on the spot when your friend was nice enough to inform me of our goal. Just a little white lie to keep the blonde distracted while we got our alone time. I have no idea what that thing in the courtyard even is."
"Yang and I met a guy earlier who looked like he had been sucked dry. Was that you?"
"Oh yeah, you did mention that you ran into my earlier meal. He was delicious. It's not every day that someone makes the journey to Cryphilictal just to look for their lost lover. It's also not every day that we have so many guests at once. Are the tales of how dangerous this place is fading again, or is your generation just that reckless?"
Emerald was about to respond, but without warning, the fake lunged at her. She swung her blade at its head, but it ducked below and kicked her injured ankle. With no aura to protect her, the pain was excruciating, and it was enough to bring her down. The faker wasted no time pressing the advance and tackled her forcing her on her back with it planting itself on her chest.
She brought her weapons around and scored a nice "X" cut on its stomach, but just like its tongue, it seemed unbothered by the damage. If fact, it wasn't even bleeding. The "skin" hung open like a tent flap and within the body, she saw something squirm. She didn't get a great look because whatever it was quickly covered itself back up with the flaps of skin that seemed to stitch themselves back together when they touched. All she had really gotten was that it was some fleshy pale thing that if she was forced to make a comparison to anything, she'd have to go with maggot.
She tried slashing at the fake again, but this time, it grabbed both her wrists stopping her in her tracks. "I'd appreciate it if you dropped the attitude." He squeezed her wrists and she felt her bone's creak. Her weapons slipped from her hands and she was lucky they didn't impale her on the way down.
"There's better." The fake leaned forward until it was right in front of her face. "Are we calm now? Ready to talk things out like adults?"
Emerald struggled in vain. "What do you want from me?"
"I only want what every living thing wants: to feed." It licked her face from her chin to the top of her forehead.
"Screw you!" She spit in its eye, and it didn't even bother wiping it away. It just gave her a disappointed look.
"I didn't want to do this, but you're a tough one to crack. Your fear isn't nearly savory enough. You bite off my tongue so I think it's only fair I bite off something of yours." It brought her right hand close to its mouth. And forcibly extended her thumb.
Her sweat froze as she realized what it was about to do. "Stop," she whimpered.
"Ah yes, this is what I'm looking for, but it's still not enough, especially since that bitch cost me your wonderful love." He opened his mouth wide. Emerald devolved into a full-blown panic as she tried looking for a way out of this.
She didn't find one.
The fake's bite sunk in right below the last knuckle of her thumb. She couldn't stop her hysterical wail as teeth tore through her skin and muscles until finally reaching the bone where they crunched down on it with a sickening crack. She thought her ankle had been agony? What a joke. This was real suffering.
It felt like an eternity before the wail faded into a whimper, but that wasn't because the pain had lessened any. Her throat just couldn't produce the sound anymore. Tears ran down her cheek as her head laid on its side. She could bring herself to look at her hand. She didn't think she would survive if she did.
"Oh yes," the faker exclaimed. "This hits the spot. Maybe it's good to change the variety every once in a while, but I don't think we're there quite yet. The taste could still be improved." She felt her index finger being forcibly straightened and nearly had a heart attack and died right there.
"No. Please, I'm begging you." She looked up to him and saw the bloody mess that had become the side of her hand where her thumb had once been. She barely held down the vomit.
"It's too late for begging. Things would have been much nicer for the both of us if you had given yourself up to that kiss, but that moment can never be reclaimed. We're only left with this." Fake Jaune drew her index finger into its mouth.
"NONONONO!" She thrashed around harder than she ever had before. Her hips bucked and her legs kicked out.
None of it stopped the thing sitting on top of her. Teeth plugged in, just below the second knuckle this time. There was a tear and a crunching and unbearable pain. Another appendage lost. The scream she unleashed this time made her throat feel like someone was taking a cheese grater to it.
The thrashing of her body continued, and by some divine miracle, her hand, now slick with blood, managed to slip out of the faker's grip.
"Where do you think you're going?" it asked.
Truth was, Emerald wasn't really thinking at all. She just knew that she had to get out of this situation. Her bloody mess of a hand brushed along the weapon she dropped, but her three remaining fingers weren't capable of picking it up. Instead, she moved towards the trigger and pulled not caring where the barrel was aiming. Even if she had shot herself, dying that way would have been preferable to suffering through this any longer.
She didn't actually see where the bullets fired, but they must have been close enough to spook the fake because the grip on her other wrist loosen enough for her to break free. Whatever happened after was a blur of speed and adrenaline. All she knew was that when it was over she had her other weapon in her hand and a blade buried inside the fake's stomach.
There was a primal howl that didn't come from the fake's mouth but from somewhere deeper, and then it was over. Fake Jaune collapsed on its side and did not stir. Emerald didn't take any risks; however, she brought her weapon down over and over again. Tears and spit flying off her face with every thrust and each time she was rewarded with a liquidly squelch from whatever flesh creature was inside.
After the fifteenth stab or so, she had to give in and conclude that the fake wasn't getting up ever again. The corpse didn't even look much like a proper body anymore. It was sagging and limp like a deflated balloon. The hair was falling out in large clumps and the skin was quickly turning to a nasty shade of grey.
Also, there was something next to it. Emerald didn't know if the fake had been carrying it or it slipped out of somewhere else, but she grabbed it only because she recognized it as the exact same plain white mask. Maybe it didn't have any purpose, but she wanted at least some reward for making it through alive.
With that done, she used the last of her strength to walk to the side of the street and crumple next to a building with her injured hand cradled in her lap. She didn't think her injuries would kill her but the pain radiating from the points where fingers ceased to be attached to her hand was awful enough to make her wish they would. She tried sending some aura to her hand, but even with the faker dead, her aura crackled and dissipated.
Was her aura gone forever too?
That thought was the final straw. She broke down and wept.
She didn't know how long she cried. It felt like hours and even if it wasn't, it was certainly longer than she had ever cried before. Even during the worst times of her childhood, things had never been this bad.
She probably would have kept on crying until her body died of dehydration, but she was forced out of it by the sound of approaching footsteps. She followed the sound with red-rimmed eyes wondering what new horror was coming to greet her. Whatever it was it sounded like it was running. Had it been drawn by the blood or her despair? She guessed it didn't really matter. A rabbit could probably kill her at this point, but even knowing that she raised her gun because she'd be damned if she went down without a fight.
But Cryphilictal truly was cruel because what appeared before was not an unworldly monstrosity, but another Jaune Arc. This one was different: it was wearing only the tatters of a shirt, had a massive scar on its left side along with strange lines running up its left arm, but those small details didn't make a difference because it had his face.
"Emerald, are you okay?" it asked. The worst part was how genuine it sounded. How it seemed to really care.
She couldn't take it anymore. She'd rather die than let this city continue to torture her.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?" it took a step towards her.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
She pulled the trigger.
Excerpt from A Succubus'/Incubus' Guide for Bedding Humans and Faunus
There are two main ways for you to go after your prey: becoming someone they already know and love, or creating a form that matches their every sexual preference. There are pros and cons to both routes and whichever one you decided is largely up to preference.
If you're looking for more lust than love than going for a form of pure allure should be your pick. It is relatively easy to pick out a human's or faunus' preference from simple observation, and even should you fail the first time you can always make adjustments and try again. The main problem with this route is not all humans or faunus are into one-night stands, and the constant form switching requires more energy and thus more meals.
On the other end, going for a human for faunus your target knows requires a lot of research to make sure they don't catch on, but this is basically the only way to get genuine love out a human or faunus without playing the long game.
Finally, no matter which path you take, it's important to not give yourself away. All meals should be eaten in restrain. Ideally, your target should have no idea that anything out of the ordinary is even happening to them and leave the encounter healthy and satisfied. Of course, should you find yourself going without a meal for an extended period of time a hardier meal might be in order.
Just be sure to dispose of the corpse properly.