Act V - Life's Pieces

Chapter 45 - Eleventh Hour

[System Alert]

Time Remaining...

00 Days | 10 Hours | 29 Minutes

This place was a wasteland, but I hadn't the time for sightseeing. The world looked as though we had stepped into a volcanic realm, the skies turned black with ash and lightning storms, cracks and fissures of molten rock had us jumping across large ledges, though Amber could just fly across, helping us navigate the uneven landscape and its dark, jagged cliffs, similar to that of the Land of Darkness. Hopefully, there weren't Pools of Annihilation here.

"It's just dead," Amber murmured, setting down next to me. "I can't hear any life at all, not even the Grimm are nearby, not even volcanoes are this quiet." She looked to be on edge by that fact

"We should continue to press for the tower," Summer was pulling ahead, checking the path forward with a few rocks to check for pitfalls. "Be thankful we are alone, as eerie as it may be."

Albatross just wiped his brow. "You know something, spend so many times in hot climates you'd think I'd build resistance to heat? But no, I'm dying over here."

I just held out my palm to expel a cooling mist made of ice dust, seeing his features brighten up with a sigh. "I got you, buddy."

Suddenly, a large gust of hot wind blew a few embers our way, causing the tides of lava below to bubble and hiss. The embers danced around us, then another, more powerful gust was followed by a concussive sound wave that tore into a river of lava between us, causing the unstable mass to react horribly, a wall of flames and molten material spurting from the cracks, separating us. Amber with me while our mentors stood by on the other end, and our eyes all drew themselves to the black creature who rosed from a knelt position before them, wings fanning out to brush aside the flames that burned into its skin, revealing the flesh underneath that slowly hissed with black smog.

Morana stood tall, snarling without a word as its mask's eyes appeared cracked and narrowed, fingers twitching as the wings fluttered dangerously low. "Why the hell is here!? Oh who am I kidding, of course, he's here... like a stalker you can't shake - Come on, jump across!" Myself and Amber waved for them to follow our lead, Morana stepped forward and both combatants withdrew their weapons

"Go!" Summer swung her hand back at us. "Leave this to the professionals!" She gave a quick smirk and a wink, pulling back two arrows of her own

"Summer!" I quickly grabbed Amber, pushing her back while we locked eyes for a moment. Hesitant to leave, she thankfully ran ahead of me. "Good luck!"

"You guys got this?" I trusted them but this was Morana, and he looked especially infuriated, but he was here then the other Horsemen might be nearby. As to answer my worry, Albatross pointed his sword through the fire between us

"You got a world to save, don't you!? Run!" He yelled, turning away from me

Anxiously, I pulled away from the wall of flames, just as Morana roared into the sky, fountains of molten metal spewing around the trio as the flames licked and burnt more of his flesh. It was my fight but this was far more important, Charron might be behind this, anything to stop us from proceeding, I have to trust they can handle themselves.

"Good luck, guys..." I whispered, dashing over the molten landscape with Amber flying beside me, shaking her head to face forward. "Let's pull the curtain down on Charron, Amber!"

"Alright!"

[No POV]

"Mars... traitor... where is traitor...!?" Morana clawed at his own beak, practically trembling with fury toward Mars, both hunters looked to one another quickly, holding their ground. That is when Morana gazed into Albatross's eyes, gargling a chuckle. "You! Killing is what you do! Killing is ALL you do!"

That forced him to scowl. "Says the Grimm with a desperate need to hunt, I find that ironic." He nudged Summer. "I'll buy you time, you know what to do, right?" His smile only drew her confusion on longer at Morana's constant approach

"W-What?" Blinking, she noted his left hand pointed at the ground, fingers prodding downward, then her eyes widened. "Oooooh, that plan, on it!" She burst into roses and swept past Morana's grasp, his wings flaring with a roar

"Dead thing! Face me! Show me what you are...!"

"What, I'm not enough?" Albatross challenged with a casual smile, sword drawn low to the ground. "Let's dance."

Morana complied by sweeping high into the air, then firing a concussive wave of sonic that simply broke through the lava, he swept down with a resounding crash against the black blade, Albatross having provided his left foot to miraculously hold back the weight of the Grimm. Turning he threw Morana across the ground and immediately amputated one of his smaller wings.

Both turned again, Morana's snarled as a strange, mystic blue light traced Albatross' irises, gaze furrowed. Spinning his dark blade around into both hands, he lunged first, slashing constantly against Morana's claw swipes, metal and bone scored the earth, leading to Morana jumping over and swing, bringing a foot down multiple times before flying around, thrusting down with his right-wing, the serrated feathers tore through with a single stroke of Albatross' blade, himself sliding under another thrust of the wings, followed by a sonic scream, sliding forward he clamped the beak shut, slamming the pommel of his against Morana's chest slashing a deep 'X' through his flesh.

Then he swung horizontally across Morana's head, from left to right, immediately followed by an uppercut. His eyes blared and he quickly performed a handstand to avoid the sonic blast, spinning to kick Morana across the face, spinning upright, subsequently evade several sharp projectiles. Albatross was forced to defend against numerous feathers thrown his way, deflecting them with effortlessly swipes, but noticed Morana's growing hatred for the swordsman.

With a powerful shriek, he flew up, then swung his arms forward while screaming, the sonic-propelled feathers tore apart the ground with ease, and sliced across the cyborg's body, grazing his arms and legs, while revealing the metal under his right arm and left thigh. Morana gaped while Albatross grinned, pushing off the ground with surprising speed in his left leg, slamming his right fist into Morana's chest and driving him down and into the ash-coated ground with a resounding impact.

Albatross froze mid-air, spinning like a sawblade as he felt the resistance upon colliding with Morana, his arms bracing the sword's blow. He slammed it down again with a powerful burst of white light, then again this time with more force, then a final lunge with both hands, tearing straight through feathers and Morana's right hand. The Grimm flew back, flicking more feathers to block his advance but with several key strokes all the feathers missed, and another large impression tore across Morana's chest.

With a pained scream that disorientated Albatross slightly, he winced as a hand grasp his wrist, while the blackish mist collided with his face, throwing him back while Morana tossed the sword aside, as his regenerated hand appeared in seconds. "Great, hyper regeneration. Alright," He cracked his knuckles to comply. "Bring it, Pigeon."

Morana struck with his left as Albatross diverted it, then with the right, before he was forced to bend backward to evade the slash of the wings as he stomped back on his left, smashing his right fist across Morana's mask, fracturing it, just as two arrows lodged themselves in the Grimm's shoulder, exploding on contact. Upon a ridge, Summer slipped away while Albatross kicked his sword back into his right hand.

Turning, he grimaced at the sight of Morana's face, half-torn open to reveal bone and flesh, the inner jaw exposed as the tongue stuck out, and yet the Horseman didn't waver, in fact, his anger had started to radiate off his body, quills tinting red with visible fury.

Aiming for Morana's wing, thrusting fast to lodge his sword between the base of the limb. Morana dragged him into a backflip, tossing rocks. As the Grimm flapped hard, Albatross did his best to stay balanced, prying his sword free with a spin and slicing through Morana's wing as he thrashed through the air.

Morana reeled back, splitting the sky with another scream to divert the swordsman's course into its waiting feathers, three consecutive barrages of feathers forced Albatross to reevaluate his movements, rolling aside as the spined wings dug through the earth. "I can anticipate its moves but I can't dodge forever..."

Alba's eyes snapped toward his left, seeing the opportunity. Rolling under the serrated wings, his hair was swept up by the wind. Dashing for a boulder, Alba ran up the face, standing atop it in time to turn and block the talons that scratch at the blade's face, a few prods cutting his forearms, while his aura kept most grievous wounds at bay.

His feet were trembling to hold back the furious resolve of the monster, despite the aid of his semblance empowering him, he had learned the hard way that some worlds limited his power, but that didn't win every fight he's fought over the years, the experience he gained had. Keeping his eyes wide to the single eye of Morana, Alba shifted his feet back, twisting at the waist to drive the beast off his arms, the right-wing immediately snapped in accordance, whipping back to slice through Alba's right shoulder.

His aura shimmered a faint rose. Morana found it amusing now that the swordsman's aura had taken a considerable hit, it made it fair for the eye it lost to a cheap trick of the Dead Thing. With an ear-splitting scream that shook the volcanic lands, it rammed its head into the boulder, splitting it more and more with each whip of its claws and wings. Alba wobbled, finding his opening to land between the spines on its back, sinking his left blade through a seam between two bones.

The violent swaying of Morana tore at his arms, as he desperately held an arm around the Grimm's neck that started to dig into his forearm. With a sharp twist, Alba caught an orange-tipped arrow from Summer, her hands lodge another arrow into the earth. Alba didn't hesitate to douce the monster's head in the black powder, leaping off its back to once again oppose the very crazy harpy. It snapped at the air, then, a single, gold ember grazed his cheek, causing orange flames to implode around the Horseman.

*Blam!*

Morana wheezed, falling to its side due to the backblast blowing up in its face. The powder was grains of combustion dust. With the monster rasping. Alba drove his blade across the underside of Morana's wing, kicking back off its stomach to leap over the sweep of the wing, avoiding the other's slam in the process. Coming down the left, he aimed for the remaining eye, if he could blind it that would give him the opening he needed. A glint of silver faded in the light, and Alba gawked back in horror at the sight of his sword, lodged between the beak, mist sprayed from the wounds created, but two pinpricked, crimson eyes bore into his own.

The Horseman twirled angrily, snarling as its leg swung low, pushing Alba away for him to slam a sonic blast into his side, forcing a cough from Alba as another sonic scream buried him closer to the molten lake behind him. Morana cackled, looming over Alba as his aura shattered, but that alone wasn't enough to stop him from rising to his knees to face the powerful harpy.

"You know something? My name, it's..." He pulled his head up, smiling devilishly at the perplexed Horseman. "# $£& !?*%^#"

Morana froze, the mid buildup for a scream to send the lone swordsman drowning in a sea of searing volcanic fluid, but those two, distorted words, cursed to those that traverse the very Corridors of Time, this very human was a walker of time's streams itself, and of all the people, of all beings... it was Him.

"Guess what?" Morana flinched at his inquiry, and the grin, it terrified him, a Grimm. "I just bought my friend all the time she needed, toodles."

*Crunch-Booosh!*

To Albatross's remark, the ground under them split and broke apart, the many arrows placed across the large plateau of basalt was struck with combustion dust too, the shockwaves triggering a volcanic reaction under the hardened rock, destabilizing it completely. With a scream, Morana pounced after Albatross, only to meet the heel that ruptured from whitish-red roses, the kick sprawling the Grimm across the ground as Albatross was pulled from the sinking rock, leaving behind the notorious Horseman of Death to burn.

The two fell across a ledge, rolling atop the other as Summer sat up, peering down at the dumb grin on cyborg's face as she too smiled softly, thankful for her friend's survival. "You're too reckless, you know that?"

His brow raised with a chuff. "Says the former leader of Team STRQ."

"Touche."

[Inside the Spire...]

[Mars' POV]

*Boom-Boom-crumble-thud-thud*

The Spire was an infrastructure built to contain the etheral half of Charron, no other being could enter unless it visibly revealed itself in times of temporal destabilization. For years I have studied the Vex, and the Gods that created them for their needs, only to see chaos and destruction in their wake, and as such, the Vex were locked away. Just like me, locked away for their own desires, though mine isn't to be pushed aside by Gods, no, that was all my doing.

I wanted to speak out, to say why I do what I must do for the sake of this world. I may be a Grimm, but to feel so close to being a human... to having a soul? It was gripping, scary, horrid. My monitors were starting to dip into black with each camera shot by the incredible marksmanship of Amber, the reincarnated Summer Rose's protegee. Kai Amadeus, a human from Remnant, brought here by me, manipulated for a cause greater than that fool Salem could ever see, and now, he comes for me.

He boils with hatred for my trickery, for this Vex... I do not blame him, I have done countless atrocities, but my rivalry with him has been... fun, a sense of joy when we fought, I felt... like I wasn't a Grimm anymore, that my mind wasn't warped into a needless sense for destruction.

Just like the day we found Her...

Our world was a simple one. We live. We fight. We live again. We evolve, and try not to think of death, how poetic in our nature as Grimm. We stood upon the hollow, dead remains of a forest, the grass a dark green, the trees black and rotten, with white leaves, fresh as the sky.

I stood before my fellow Grimm, my only companionship with any others. Morana, his feathered form hunched over a tree's branch, his jaw shut tight, claws digging into the bark. And Una, her slim, delicate scales gleaming in what little light seeped through the trees, her crimson eyes staring down at the entity before us, but not with the hunger of a feral beast, but of concern, remorse even.

"Dead Thing should have died," Morana growled to us both, with Una's head snapping back at him, hissing her forked tongue at the Harpy, flashing him her fangs. This made him grumble under his breath, hunching over on the branch to look at me. "What of you?"

I was a unique Grimm, my body was once a human armor of a time long since forgotten, but given the form of a Grimm, that was me, my purple armour was always the same, so its why my intelligence grew when Salem gave us a forced evolution some time from now, now that I think of it, only a month had passed before she gifted us all.

I looked to them both, their crimson gazes on my own under my metal skin. Then, I moved ahead, walking closer to the muffled cries of the human, a sharp cry from her meant she was terrified of me gaining a foothold towards her, this fear was unlike anything I'd tasted, so much so that it would be considered toxic to press forward, but I did, towards her frail body.

A human girl, this far from any civilization, but she was different from the rest, hence why she wasn't being torn apart by us. Her body was pale, her eyes shut tightly in fear of gazing back at us, her raven hair short too. Her clothing was torn in places, revealing her shivering form, even with the sun, it was still autumn, yet the leaves of this forest never changed with seasons, a true Silver Grove. But it was her body that caught my attention.

Her left side was blackened, her clothing warped in tone by the black symbiote of the Pools of Annihilation that us Grimm crawl out from, it was our birthplace, and this young girl had been tainted by it, even her left eyelid was blackened, with her fingernails turned to white claws, and her left foot too. Each whimper caused the virus to snake through her bones, causing more discomfort. Each moment she spent in agony did not make our hunger grow, but rather our curiosity, especially mine.

Reaching out, I watched her eyes of silver widen at the sensation of my approaching arm, easily scaring her to the point she curled up tightly, tugging her right arm with her stronger left, making the girl's body twitch at the newly tainted limb. I didn't stop, grasping her shoulder with a metal arm, clasping my fingers across the skin, so cold too.

"You can hear us, can't you?" I replied to the nothingness around us, making a quick glance to Una to move to the girl's right, my hand softly against her Grimm-tainted arm. But she nodded slowly under the shaking. "Look at me, girl, what am I?"

"Help me... someone..." She was petrified at us, croaking each word. "h-h-help me..."

"Leave it to die!" That made her flinch, tears streaming down her face, whilst I and Una looked back at Morana with glares. "Will perish soon, mercy kill."

"Maybe not if you're willing to be patient," I retorted calmly, turning my head to the girl. He was right, why did we waste time on her? She was human, right? Her soul was there, but her body was changing, ever-so-slowly before it would eventually corrupt and kill her, without question a most morbid way to die

"Morana, she's scared to the point of death! She's been tainted, her body is ice cold, do you really believe yelling about maiming her is doing good!?" Una hissed at him, but the girl could hear us well, judging by how she looked through her arms, her silver eye peeking up at us both. "I can't explain why, but killing her feels... wrong, sickening even!"

"I concur." I mouthed with a hum, looking down from beneath my helmet, moving to sit down on my knees with a clank. "Tell me, what are we to you?"

"...m-monsters..." Her whimper was barely within ear-shot, but we could hear her fine. "I-I... want to go home..."

"I doubt it, not like this, but..." Why I chose this, why I decided that day to feel what humans feel every day still baffled me to no end. I reached over, grasping the girl's shoulder with my hands, before I pulled her into my body, clasping my arms around her cold body, despite my armour, it felt warm, just like the flesh and blood of anything living. "You are not alone, little girl, not here in a world of the forsaken."

For hours, she cried into my arms and chest, and for a mere fraction of time, I felt...human.

I felt it, eyes peering into me, as I felt my consciousness sway as the last of the monitors cut out, enveloping me in darkness. "I'm sorry it has come to this."

To Be Continued...

The confrontation is near, and with a Horseman down only three remain. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: Ender

As the depths of the Spire continue to confuse the duo, they are forced apart as Sky sets off to put an end to Charron's return, but first, he must face the one who started it all.