Multiplayer

by NeoShadows

Life is a game. In an attempt to save a friend during the Breach, Jaune Arc died. Brought back to life with powers of a Gamer, he must now attempt to beat the game called life. He's not alone though. Every win or lose ends in a Reset, so how will he beat a game that never ends?

33. Fallen Petals

And from the ashes of time, the great darkness rises back from its long slumber to spread its wings! And update their fanfiction to the net.

Yo, NeoShadows here with a new, long awaited chapter to Multiplayer!

Alright, so apologies for all those who have been waiting for so long for the chapter. Especially seeing as its been done for a good two months now. I even promised to update a week later after updating AJOAT. And we all know how that went. I've been silent for over a month now with no update to either story. But! In my defense, I've had to wait for the chapter to be edited by my Beta who was sadly very ill. He's better and he's getting treatment, thank god, but due to his sickness he couldn't edit. Thankfully I just got the chapter and ran it through my own final checks.

Hey, at least in the time I haven't published, I've completed about two chapters for Multiplayer, almost two chapters for AJOAT, finished planning the endgame for AJOAT, and even completed a one-shot for an Xover I have planned for the future. At least I got some things done during the month.

Anyways, this is the Finale to the DLC Special. We'll be back to good old Remnant soon and will begin Act 2! Oh, how I've been waiting to get here. It's good to be fun~! Almost as fun as Act 3 is going to be. So, let's get these reviews out of the way!

Ssjzohan: Dear god, not the wae. Should have known someone would bring that meme up here. Sure, he knows da wae.

The Gamer24: Soy un bastardo diabólico, eso es verdad. ¿No te gustan los cliffhangers? Confía en mí, todavía no tienes nada. La Ley 2 se aproxima al próximo capítulo. Y cuanto menos se diga de la Ley 3, mejor será para tu corazón frágil.

Matvize: Yes, I do know I'm evil. It brings me a sick pleasure. At least you'll get a happy ending here.

Lsilver19: HA! Well, it is one of my favorite games. I may have had some inspiration from it for this story going further in.

TalonIbnLaAhad: Good to hear from you again, hermano! Sorry again for joining you in your hunt last time, I was working and my brother was probably either watching Hulu on my account or playing Bloodborne. We should really hunt together sometime, we'd make the most deadly of Huntsman! Anyway, again, glad you loved Eve and Belle. They were my favorite girls to come from the DLCs. I'm sure you love them even more after this chapter. As for Gaston, we'll see what happens to that vain bastard. Sadly this Special will come to an end here. Say goodbye to the girls. But, who knows? We may see them again if all goes well. Now, get yourself some dizzy juice, and vodka, and enjoy the chapter amigo. That orange fruit cake hasn't taken us just yet! If am to be taken back to my country, they'll have to drag me out of my home, drunk off my ass and swearing in spanish! VIVA LA REVOLUTION!

Semi Profesional Scotsman: Whoa, that's all lot of words. Thank you for the wordy review, I love those more than any other. And after reading, I understand what you're saying. Now, let me answer however I can.

Jaune is a new Player. Compared to his fellow Players, he's a greenhorn who doesn't' understand that he's holding himself back by playing The Game as if it wasn't a game. He still sees everything as it originally was. Ren, Adam, and Roman understood The Game in their first lives, got over the shock, and grew stronger through it. Course they died in their playthroughs and learned from their mistakes. Jaune is actually an oddity in that he hasn't died in his first run yet. Not to mention he was already weak, weaker than any other player who gained the powers of The Player. The Game itself had to learn to scale it just a right amount so he stood a chance. Its confusion due to The Game true nature, so I won't get into that yet. Now, for Jaune's character growth. Trust me, I know how Jaune comes off. I'm actually laughing when I think to whats to come in Act 2 and better yet, Act 3. Its been about, what four months since he awoke to The Gamer? Trust me, he's going to grow as a character. Plus, he now just proved that he's Huntsman material. He's at a level where he can now stand beside his friends and actually fight as they do. That's what Act 2 will be about, his growth. Oh, and less said about Blanc, the better you're not spoiled for whats to come.

I got to thank you for the review. I've actually begun to think more on how to write out Act 2, still filling a few holes here and there. I'm just glad I still have you as a fan. And I hope I can keep you this wild ride to come.

Slenderbine: You degenerate. . . .We think alike.

Hillcube: I do my best. Glad to have you on the edge of your seat. Don't fall off now.

NatsuxErza12345: Man, its been a while since I thought back to fairy tail. That pairing takes me back. As for the lateness of the chapter, yeah, Beta was horribly sick. Had to wait for him to get better. Sorry for the delay.

Alright that's enough for now. We got a finale to get to. Enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to RWBY. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got a Bagel to hunt down for its precious Gem. That god damn B52 Bomber Jet of a monster. Monster Hunter World is officially my favorite MH of all times just because of Bazelgeuse. I only wish they had sexier armor for the ladies. But then again the sexy hunter fighting beside you is most likely a 35 year old man. Makes me think twice about picking up girls on a monster hunt.

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Chapter 33: Fallen Petals.

A sharp gasp escaped Jaune's lips as he sat up straight with wide eyes and a jack hammering heart. Whatever pain he had been feeling before had vanished to nothing, including the wound over his chest. A bolt had pierced him clean through, leaving nothing but a searing pain in it's wake, he remembered that! His hands patted the dried red stains over the hole in his expensive suit and he marveled at the patched-up flesh.

"W-What happened?" Jaune whispered lowly.

Something... happened? Right? A faint image of plain white and flying sparks came to mind but that was it. Like he had just woken up from some dream only to forget the moment he tried to recall it. He did die, right? So, how was he alive?

"It seems I came back just in time, Mr. Arc. I knew it was a good idea to stick around a bit longer tonight. We would have lost you otherwise."

That voice.

"Ozpin?" Jaune frowned groggily as he turned his head to his side, finding a familiar set of enigmatic brown eyes kneeling by him.

Oswald shook his head with a small smile as fires continued to blaze behind him, "It's Oswald, Mr. Arc. I believe your disoriented after such a traumatic shock from near death. I was almost worried that my magic wouldn't have any effect on you in such a state. It's good to know that you're back with us again." he said with relief before standing back up with some difficulty. The shaggy dark-haired man with glasses gazed upon the hellfire consuming the once elegant ball room, wiping his forehead of sweat with a scowl.

"Though I wish it was under better circumstances."

With a grimace, Jaune slowly stood back up as he held his aching temple. The sounds of crackling fire, debris snapping, metal clashing and smaller explosions filled the air in place of the once melodious atmosphere. The fires raging around the once golden room ravaged everything in sight to the point he could make out heat lines in the air.

'Jaune Arc, Heart of The Gamer.

350HP/8,800HP.'

At least he wasn't Cursed any longer. But his health was still in the red. Standing up alone was taking just about everything he had too. While he was cured and alive, he still suffered from heavy exhaustion.

"What going on, Oswald? Where are the others?" Jaune grunted as he blinked away the fatigue.

Oswald sighed tiredly at the question and rolled his stiff shoulder.

"I'm afraid things are worse for wear. While many of the staff have taken refuge in the safe rooms below the castles floors, the armored guard have been pushed back to the gates. I fear that a few of the attackers have already invaded the main floor while the rest are dealing with… IT." the sorcerer said with some struggle as his brows knitted solemnly.

"It?"

"Your 'death' was very traumatic to both Belle and Eve, but more so Eve. Something inside her snapped and devoured what shred of humanity she had left in her body. The magic that I had placed on her to help her control her curse has been shattered willingly, reverting her to her beast form with no shackles. All she can see now is the white-hot rage of her hatred. Not even Belle's words can reach her as she is."

Nearly stumbling from taking a single step, Jaune was thankful to be caught by the metal fingers of a castle knight behind him. His body was still recovering from all the pain and energy drained from before. The moment he heard Eve was going crazy with despair he had shot up to find her.

The castle walls trembled as a monstrous roar the likes of which Jaune had never heard of filled the air, sending more debris falling around them. The sound of the familiar roar caused Jaune to grimace deeply as he forced his feet to take a few steps. He made it a few feet to the torn apart door to the ballroom before stopping as his knees throbbed and trembled, locking him in place. He snarled at his weakened state, fighting with his own body to move.

Oswald sighed at Jaune's state and he stepped over to the heavily breathing blond. Using any other magic on the boy wouldn't do him any well, some force seemed to reject any other spell he attempted earlier. It took all of his current power to bring Jaune back as he was now.

"Mr. Arc, I wouldn't advise going out into the war-zone that has consumed the castle entrance. You can barely walk, let alone fight." Oswald urged sternly as he held back Jaune with an arm on the boy's shoulder. Jaune shook the sorcerer's hand off with a deep grunt of effort, shaking his head with a tired blue gaze. "I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do to help Eve any longer. What we should be focusing on now is taking Bell away somewhere safe while we still have the chance!"

"Sir!" One of the knight's spoke up suddenly with hesitation, bringing both Jaune and Ozpin's attention to the lone knight accompanying them, "Moments before I brought you to the boy, I was given word that Bell had escaped our protective custody and left to who knows where. And we haven't much time left before we are completely overrun!"

Oswald frowned at the new piece of information, feeling ashamed at what the knight was about to suggest.

"Are you saying we run?"

The knight shook his head, the motion causing his helm to clang as it stamped its long elegant silver spear onto the flame warped floor.

"We Knights will continue to fight on until our bodies no longer remain! But it is our duty to protect our Master and the Master's loved ones as well. Master Eve may no longer be in her right mind any longer, but I know deep down she wishes for her friends to make it out safely. So that is what we must do!"

"I'm not leaving!" Jaune spat as he threw a sideways glare at the soul bound knight, "I didn't come back from the literal brink of death just to run away!"

The knight moved to argue with the exhausted blond, lifting its spear up to intimidate him. But just as he lifted his spear's hilt, a thunderous crash appeared behind it, stunning all three as an avalanche of rubble fell onto the middle of the large room. The knight went on immediate alert and spun around to face the new foes.

Jaune's eyes snapped open, his blue eyes trembling as several white lines crossed over the armored suit guarding Oswald and him from harm. The sound of glass shattering rung out in the roar of flames around them, deafening all sound as the knight's body fell to wrecked pieces. A snow-white soldier's blade gleamed at the hands of the attacker now standing before them along with two others.

The three knights wore white short sleeved trench coats that cut off at the knee with metallic blue buttons, a black long sleeve shirt underneath with one heavy blue and white stripped cuff at the left of their arms. They also wore baggy black trousers with light silver white greaves, and white furred hoods over their helm heads. Each held a brilliant snow themed silver sword on hand that were soon aimed onto Jaune and Oswald.

The head of the three snow knights stepped over the broken pieces of metal, never taking their eyes off of the two in front of him as he spoke coldly.

"By order of her Majesty, all who inhabit this domain will be executed with no quarter. I suggest you accept your fates with dignity."

"FIREBOLT!"

A streak of burning plasma met the head snow knight, forcing him and his comrades to scatter out from Jaune's aim. The fires over the ground were ignited further with the magical flames, sending flaming shrapnel flying. Jaune fell to a knee and gasped with a grimace. A simple Firebolt was enough to nearly knock him back. This wasn't good.

'I'm back from the brink of death, but I can't even muster the strength to fight?! Is this some kind of cruel joke? This is just the kind of thing Will would throw at me.' The snow knights quickly fell back to their earlier positions, swords sheathed as they faced their glowing palms at Jaune.

There had to be something he could do! Maybe he had an item in his Inventory he had forgotten about that would replenish all the energy he had lost?

"Boy... can you hear me?"

The rasp whisper caught Jaune's attention, turning him to the cracked slit visor of the defeated knight. A fading blue light peeked out from the knight's visor, blinking as the soul bound to the metal fought to remain.

"This is... the end for me. My soul can no longer reside in a broken vessel... my curse in a way... has been lifted. But my Master needs me... she needs you. Yet your body is too drained to fight, and my Soul is wavering."

A frost gathered in the snow knight's hands, warning of a deadly spell ready to fire away. Oswald stood behind Jaune in face of the danger, ready to use whatever magic remained to defend them. The magic energy in the snow knight's hands winked, unleashing spires of ice like mad gunfire. Time slowed as the attack rocketed towards them, threatening to reduce them to frozen pin cushions.

Jaune stared at the fallen knight, mesmerized as the light from their helm reached out to him like a hand of wisps. A familiar sensation overcame him before a flash of light blinded everything in the room.

"My soul may be leaving, but I feel an odd pull from your own soul. I do not know what it means, but I feel that if I accept the magnetic sensation, I can give you what you need to fight at your best. We are knights, you and I. Kindred spirits who wish nothing more than to protect those near and dear to us. So, from one knight to another, please protect my master."

A certain gauge on Jaune's HUD dinged, pulsing angrily as his body welled up with renewed strength. And in that flash of light, an oath was uttered and swords danced.

---

Red.

"It's taken out the second platoon! Rearm the main gauntlet cann-GAAAAAAAAHH!"

Pure, unfiltered, Red.

"It won't stop! Prepare to r-AAAAAHHHH!"

Everything was Red. Red as the fires of hell. Red as the blood of their maimed bodies. And the very sight of the Red further consumed it in its anger.

A single knight trembled as a large shadow fell over them, their eyes glued in horror at the blank eyes staring them down as a large set of triangle teeth cracked open with a mad grin. The sword in the knight's hand fell with a clatter on the stone bridge, their fear completely taking over their thoughts before their sight was blanketed with roaring flames. Ceasing the bellow of dark fire from its mouth, the monster swatted the charred metal body away with a monstrous blow.

Several knights moved out of the way of one of their own sent flying past them like a ballista. Their eyes returned to the monster who had pushed them all back to the middle of the bridge leading to its domain. What had once been a standard siege to the most veteran of the knights had completely fallen apart once the beast within the castle had barred its fangs. Even those who had entered the castle to continue the siege dared not to leave the safety of the stone walls in fear of the devil walking outside.

Standing menacingly with its dark clad knuckles touching the bridge stone, The Beast raised its head up to the moon and howled, releasing a visible shock wave that pushed them all back further. Only two held their ground against the whipping waves and pushed on past the knights to reach the beast of beasts.

Gaston shielded his face from the gales, flinching as his skin was stung by the howl's force.

"My, my, it seems the monster has grown weaker since last we fought." he grunted as he dug his feet in.

Goldi spat to the side, paying the man beside her little attention as her furious gaze was glued on The Beast.

"Everyone, fall back!" Goldi commanded loudly, turning all the heads of the knights to her back. She didn't glance back, keeping her seething eyes on the monster, "We've lost too many men! Return back to the Queen to regroup and send for reinforcements! We'll hold back The Beast and wait for your return!"

The knights nodded firmly, not one of them speaking against the blond outlaw's orders. Leaving the two behind, the knights made haste back for the entrance of The White Grove for more help. Left alone with The Beast, Goldi glanced at the handsome hunter with a quirked brow.

"You saying it was stronger than this?!"

The Beast stood before them, its claws dripping with the blood of its victims as its white blank rage filled eyes fell onto them. The very sight of Gaston caused it to take a deep breath and roar with such volume the stone pavement in front of it shattered, sending bits of gravel along with a pressurized blast of air at the two. Again, the two fought to stay their ground and their hair was blown back and skin was cut by the few bits of sharp gravel whizzing past them.

The bellowing roar calmed down, giving Goldi a change to attack. Her hand reached for the explosive shotgun on her waist and took aim with a pump of its grip. That's when she felt it, the feeling of her sweat turning cold and her skin growing goosebumps. The outlaw's limbs turned to jelly as her heart rate went crazy. Her breath ragged, her blue eyes trembling as she stared at The Beast's towering form.

Terror gripped her, leaving her to fall to her knee's as the monster's very presence robbed her of her anger and replaced it with fear.

Gaston shook his head at the sight of the buxumous woman on her knees with tears gathering in her eyes. This was why woman shouldn't be allowed on the battlefield. Some just didn't know their place. What an ugly sight.

Musket in hand, Gaston took aim at The Beast as it fell on all fours and snorted with a flare of miasma. The Beast ran forward with its horns aimed to run them both through, only to be met with resistance as a mirror like wall was formed in front of Gaston. Its horns sent sparks flying as it fought to break apart the magic.

Gaston smirked at the seething beast, staring directly into its hollow white eyes smugly. He flicked the reflective wall he had created with a wink of his eye. The wall of magic turned red and bounced The Beast back with explosive force. The Beast skidded on its side as its own power knock the wind out of its lungs. Its rage grew as it struggled to stand back on its hind legs, only to slip on its front arm and fall back with a guttural grunt.

"Is that it? I have to say, I am disappointed with you." Gaston taunted softly as he reached for the ammo pouch on his waist. Loading several iron balls into the chamber of his musket, he took aim at the struggling monster and fired. The bullets danced in the air, twisting in confusing patterns before diving for The Beast. The Beast howled as the enchanted bullets pierced its body, digging through its dark flesh and ripping out to do it all over again.

"I wanted our final bout to be one to be told for ages to come, a true story of a dashing hero defeating a vile and demented beast! But this? This is just almost too sad to watch."

The words leaving Gaston's lips seemed to push The Beast to stand against the agony of the bullets piercing its body. It roared, releasing a shock wave that blew away the iron balls and force Gaston to shield his face from the cutting winds. The blood seeping and trickling onto the bridge stone meant little to it and it pounced. The Beast threw down a mighty fist onto the huntsman, it struck hard and crushed the stone pavement.

Gaston grinned with some strain as held up his arms against the blow, surprising the king of beasts.

"My muscles aren't just for show." he grunted smugly before leaving one of his arms to block. His right hand reached for his musket, spinning it around with a flourish, and jammed the butt of his weapon underneath its chin. The blow stunned The Beast, leaving it open as Gaston loaded a burning red ball and pumped his musket.

An explosive plume of flames erupted onto The Beast's chest, sending it flying and falling on its back. It groaned, its pure red vision flickering as some semblance of control came back to it. It moved to stand in its haze but failed and found several bolts of azure lightning rain down onto it. Flashes of pictures flew past its eyes as it screeched in agony.

A head of golden messy blond hair and blue eyes smiled at it before flames burned away the image.

Gaston let his left arm fall back to his side as he canceled his spell. Wafting black smoke rose up from the scorched crater he had created as The Beast laid silent. He patted himself on the back and walked over to the defeated monster, leaving behind Goldi as she gasped sharply and regained her composure.

Goldi scowled in distaste, feeling ashamed at what she had become. It had been so long since she had felt such utter terror. She had frozen up and fallen to her knees like a puppet with its strings severed. The Beast was truly unlike any other beast she had fought. Getting back up on her feet, she watched as Gaston stopped before the monster. She walked over to his side, meanwhile glancing at all the destruction their fight had resulted in. A sour taste made its way to her mouth at all the armored bodies cast around the bridge.

"Disgusting, isn't it?"

Goldi nodded at Gaston's words to the death around them. Then she remembered who had caused it and the one who had also taken someone precious to her. Goldi eyes narrowed sharply as her fist popped. And now, she could finally put an end to the monster responsible for it all. She turned her eyes away from the death and followed Gaston's line of sight.

Goldi's anger had faltered.

Laying in the burnt crater was not the king of beasts that had cut down her men but instead a woman now lay before her. A tall woman with red hair, dark skin, and tattered clothes. The woman was badly injured by their attacks, struggling to stay conscious as she fell back with a weak moan. The only thing that would mark down as The Beast would be the red horns on her forehead.

Gaston didn't appear as surprised as her as his hand reached for the beast like woman. He grinned proudly, his fingers tangling themselves in the woman's hair as she glared hatefully at him before he pulled her roughly by the hair.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Goldi shouted angrily as Gaston pulled the woman closer to himself.

"Hmm? What does it look like?" Gaston scoffed mirthfully before his fingers tightened around Eve's neck. He had to give the beast woman some respect, even as weakened and wounded as she was, she still had the strength to glare at him.

"I'm putting an end to The Beast."

"The Beast?" Goldi was thrown for a loop there. Her eyes found themselves pinned on the suffering woman, trying to made heads or tails of what she had heard.

"Yes, The Beast. Though I suppose you might not see that with its witchcraft at work here. Tricking others that it has some humanity by taking the appearance of a ravaging woman." Gaston licked his lips at Eve, grinning as her clawed hands scratched at his arm for release. "Even I find myself hesitating to behead such a fine and alluring wolf in sheep's clothing."

Magic? Goldi grew conflicted as the woman's face twisted as Gaston slowly crushed her windpipe. So, it had evaded capture by taking on the appearance of a woman? It made sense, even she was hesitating. But if this was true then there was no reason to stop now. Goldi hardened her resolve, digging into her anger and sorrow caused by The Beast.

After all, it was the reason the love of her life had died.

"Then I should alert the Queen that we've brought The Beast's to its knees. After all, she should be the one to deliver the finishing blow." Goldi said seething with a glare aimed at Eve. She moved closer to The Beast, fighting with herself from ending the beast here and now as she bared her teeth in a snarl.

"You are about to pay for all the death you've left behind in your wake, bitch. And it's all thanks to Juan and his sacrifice."

Eve glared hatefully at the two, struggling to speak as her breath was robbed.

"J-Juan? Who the f-fuck is that?"

Eve's eyes snapped open and choked on what breath she had left as Goldi's trembling fist dug deep into her stomach. She nearly blacked out from the pain before finding the outlaw woman's blue seething eyes in front of her.

"Juan's the man who you killed back in White Groove and probably ate up! The one who's death had led the Queen to take arms and finally stop you! Juan Arc is the love our lives and you'll pay for taking him away from us!" Goldi shouted tearfully as her hand gripped her shotgun tightly.

Goldi's anger was too much, she couldn't control herself anymore. Pumping her shotgun with two shells of explosive ammunition, she set its aim for the beast's wide eyes. She would have to apologize to Snow later for taking away her moment.

"J-Jaune."

Goldi's finger paused at the trigger. The red-haired woman fought Gaston's suddenly iron tight grip, turning her own tearing up yellow amber eyes to Goldi.

"Shoot her, NOW."

Hearing Gaston's sudden command, Goldi glanced back at the huntsman. That's when she saw it, the dark shadow falling over his stern face. His blue eyes met her own, almost hypnotic as she could have sworn a flash of energy came over his eyes.

"She killed your love, right? Why are you hesitating? Shoot her, kill her, end her." Gaston cooed smoothly, his words alluring as she found herself taken over by some unseen force. Goldi bit her lips, fighting off the odd allure as her aim fell back on the bestial woman.

But in Gaston's focus on Goldi, he had slipped up for a just a moment. And that was all Eve needed. Eve's dark curse fell over her arms, giving her back her beast's arms. Her claws dug into Gaston's wrist, spraying blood as he hissed. He let go of her out of instinct, leaving her to fall on her knees with a coughing gasp. Gaston cursed loudly, his eyes wide with fury as he gripped the puncture wounds.

The odd controlling force falling over Goldi's body vanished as she blinked away the sudden fatigue.

"The Beast is back on her feet! Don't just stand there like a ditzy fool! KILL HER!" Gaston shouted furiously.

As much as Goldi found herself suspicious of the man for the controlling force, he was right. She couldn't pause and let the monster free to attack again.

"HIS NAME WAS JAUNE!"

Again, Goldi stopped herself from pulling the trigger. She found herself listening to the beast woman as she gasped deeply, her yellow eyes staring dead ahead not at her, but towards Gaston.

"STOP HESITATING AND TAKE THE FUCKING SHOT!" Gaston roared madly, the veins on his head bulging visibly in his anger.

Goldi's face twisted in confusion. Something inside her was holding back the trigger, the creeping sense of wrongness at the situation stopping her from listening to Gaston. And then there was that look, the look in the monster woman's eyes.

Those yellow, tear filled eyes.

Eve couldn't stop the tears from falling. Her curse subsided, her rage wilted away as she nearly crumbled to her feet. Just remembering him was enough to drain her completely.

"His name was Jaune, Jaune Arc! And he was my best friend!" Eve cried loudly before her glare fell back to Gaston's livid features, "And he's the one who killed him! All of you damn humans are at fault for killing him! He was alive until you bastards started attacking my home!"

"He was alive?" Goldi whispered softly.

Red faced with rage, Gaston roughly shoved Goldi to the side and he fixed his aim on the cursed woman and fired a single shot. Eve grit her teeth as she moved her feet to dodge, only to hiss as her previous injuries cut her off. Blood gushed from her right shoulder, the bullet missing her chest as she fell back on her knees with a pained grunt. Gaston tsked, annoyed before taking one last aim.

"STOP!"

Gaston swore a vein was ready to burst violently. How many times was he going to be interrupted!? To save himself anymore headaches he spun and aimed for the voice. He stopped suddenly, his voice caught in his throat as a familiar head of brunette ran into view.

"Belle?"

Belle's breath was heavy, her lungs crying out for air as she ran ahead. Her once rich gold dress was torn, the skirt now rags clinging to her hips as a loose strap did its best to hold her dress up. Her loose brunette locks clung to her sweaty face matted with dirt and ash. Eyes set on Eve's back, she ran past her friend and put herself right in front of her without a second thought. Her hazel eyes glared at Gaston as her chest heaved and gasped tiredly.

Eve squinted tiredly at the figure in front of her as she clasped her bloody shoulder. 'Belle?'

"Belle?" Gaston gasped. Her dirty appearance took him back for a second, but found himself only smiling back at the exhausted woman charmingly. "My Love! Why it appears you've finally escaped that monster's dungeon! I must say though, you look rather ravishing even with dirt on your face." he purred as his eyes roamed over her body to the visible skin.

Belle scowled at the leering eyes of the hunter. She never did like the way he looked at her.

"What do you think you're doing, Gaston!? Haven't I told you that Eve doesn't mean any harm? She's not the monster you claim her to be!" she shouted in frustration, getting a look of disbelief from Gaston.

"No harm?" Gaston almost sputtered before waving his hands around to the bodies around them, "Do you not see the carnage surrounding you? The monster has killed many today. It is far from innocent!" he laughed.

"That's because of you!" Bell cried in anger, tears running down her face as her features twisted in sorrow, "You kept pushing her despite her wanting to be left alone! She was fine before you attacked us and killed our friend!"

On the sides, Goldi wore a growing frown before her eyes narrowed dangerously at Gaston. Everything she was hearing from the two women was worrying and painted Gaston as the one who had killed her love. And he was alive? What was she hearing?

"What's going on here?" A hard stare aimed itself at Gaston from Goldi, causing the handsome hunter to sweat. The grip on his musket grew tight as he swallowed.

"S-She's delusional! The cursed beast, it's using its magic to manipulate her mind! I mean, why would I lie about such things?!" he laughed nervously before giving Belle a strained smooth smile. "My sweet Belle, why don't you come here? Get away from that foul beast and explain yourself properly to the fine lady." he cooed as his eyes gained an odd glint, his words running sweet as honey, "Please?"

Belle flinched, grimacing as an odd force came over her. She fought from moving over to the man, digging her feet in as she shook her head furiously.

"You... you aren't human!" Belle cried out angrily, breaking through his spell as tears ran down her face, "How can you lie so openly and try to kill another innocent person?! Eve is my friend, the only friend I have left in this world! Unlike you, who keeps calling me strange for loving literature, for wanting to be more than some damsel, for not falling for you like the rest, or for not wanting to be your silent obedient wife! You call Eve a beast, but the only beast I see here is you!"

Gaston's eyes snapped open in disbelief. Belle's very words hit a nerve deep within him as he fell silent. He stared at the beautiful woman, the only woman who wasn't infatuated with him and held no love for him. He frowned softly before speaking in a low whisper.

"You... you truly do think of me as a beast, don't you? Are you saying, that you would rather be with a monster that breathes fire and malice, than with me?" Gaston's voice was vulnerable, as if the entire world was about to fall apart in front of his very eyes.

"Yes, I do." Belle said harshly, her eyes revealing all the truth and honesty of her words.

SNAP!

Goldi moved quickly to raise the barrel of her shotgun at the back of Gaston's head. Anger came over her, putting the pieces together quickly. It was all a ruse, a trick to hide his guilt. She knew that Gaston's smooth act was suspicious. If what she was hearing was true, then there was hell to be paid. She was close to being livid and firing lead into the bastard.

Eve panted tiredly as she fought against the pain over her body, her eyes fixated on Belle's dirty back. She was at a loss of words right now. The woman who she had kept as a prisoner, yelled at, and threatened was still willing to protect her? She was free now, she could leave. But she was still willing to stay by her side. Eve was close to tears again.

BANG!

Blood gushed from Belle's chest, taking her by complete surprise as the bullet dug out her back and spun around in the air. She was speechless, left in shock as she fell back. Blood flew out into the air. She fell to the ground in front of Eve with a heavy thud, a pool of blood quickly forming under her in seconds. The world around her became blurry as she weakly tried to sit up and find where the shot came from. Her eyes trembled.

Gun barrel still smoking, Gaston shook his head with a dramatic sigh. Behind him he could hear another body hit the ground. He glanced back briefly, finding Goldi laying back with a shot knee from his dancing bullet.

"How dreadful. The Beast has not only taken one of the Queen's friends, but my own sweet Belle! Does its terror know no bounds?" Gaston grumbled sourly as he made his way forward. Belle was frozen by the stalking hunter, unable to move a muscle in her current. She looked to Eve for help, only to find her friend unresponsive from shock. Belle couldn't even call out to her as the only thing that came out of her was a sharp gasp as Gaston drove his foot on her stomach. She nearly blacked out and she stared up at the smirking dark-haired hunter with blood trailing her lip.

"W-Why?"

Gaston looked at Belle strangely, shaking his head with a sneer.

"A woman who does not see me with love and adoration cannot possibly exist! I had thought I could seduce you with a little bit of magic thrown into my speech, but you're simply immune to my Charm. I had thought it would be fun to finally capture your heart and even give you the honor of being my bride, but alas you're simply not worth the effort any longer." Cocking his musket, Gaston aimed its sights on the bleeding woman. He grinned nastily with a lick of his lips. "I suppose I'll have to settle for another. The Queen seems to be lonely and sullen, perhaps my Charm would work on her? She is a beauty."

"N-No. P-Please."

Gaston paused, his attention suddenly falling on Eve. The woman's eyes trembled, filled with tears and despair as she watched him. It didn't look like she had the strength to do anything else. All she could do was beg. The sight brought a grin to Gaston's face as he lowered his musket. He lifted his foot off of Belle and walked to stand in front of Eve.

"What was that, Beast? You don't wish for me to kill her? But you are the one who killed her. As you did that Juan fellow." he sneered with a lift of Eve's chin. He pursed his lips smugly, loving the look in the woman's eyes. Helpless, afraid, sullen. It was delicious.

Negativity. Born from dark emotions of fear, cruelty, arrogance, helplessness, sadness, and sadism. Such darkness breeds monsters. Both figuratively. And literally. Unknown to either Eve or Gaston, a budding black essence budded on their chest. A single red light could be seen from each bud like an eye.

"Beg. Beg for her life." Gaston grinned widely before his eyes roamed over the woman's body. He leaned in closer, his mouth close to her ear as he breathed, "Or better yet, take her place. Play beast and become my pet. Make me a hero to all those clueless fools and satisfy my needs, wench. I'll let her go, as long as you become my plaything too! So, how about it!?" he laughed cruelly.

In Eve's eyes, the ma-The Monster above her wore a twisted grin and warped eyes along with a vile tongue hungrily licking at her. The monster had robbed her of her life, her friends, her peace. It was the reason everything had fallen apart. And it angered her. Frustrated her. Pure rage consumed her.

Gaston shut his eyes smugly, awaiting to hear the weak plea to become his. A pet that could rampage about to play his beast to forever make him a hero, and become a sexy woman when he wanted her to? What a score!

"So, how abou-!"

CRUNCH!

Gaston's eyes went wide in alarm and pain as his windpipe was crushed. He couldn't even make a sound as he found himself lifted up by his throat by the Beast's dark seething claws ripping through his flesh and muscle. Eve sneered at the squirming human worm in her grasp, her entire being overflowing with lashing wisps of black energy as her left arm transformed under her curse.

"Disgusting. You humans, you're all the same. Feeding your own lust for bloodshed, sex, and vanity. This world is just ridden with you worms. Clearly there is only one solution." Eve grinned darkly, her teeth sharpening to daggers as she licked her lips. It was Gaston's turn to look at her in fear as his body quivered.

The dark budding flowers on their chests squirmed, raging wildly as a tendril from one another connected them together. The darkness flowing from Eve enveloped Gaston, taking them both over as a dome of malice began to form over them. A shout could be heard, someone calling her name.

"I'll kill you, every last one of you. I'll rid this entire world of your blight!"

From her spot on the ground, Belle watched as she struggled to breathe, her friend being overtaken by her anger and hate. Goldi tried to rise up and interfere but fell back on one leg, her right leg useless with her knee crippled by the enchanted shot. They both looked on as the dome of vile energy devoured both Eve and Gaston whole, eclipsing them like a black, pulsating sun. An odd red tribal eye sigil formed on the top of the dome, spreading red and purple veins over the surface before it cracked. Something broke through the barrier with a black muscle massed arm, plated with bone like growths. It clenched its fists before swiping away the darkness that fell like shattered glass.

The Beast was freed and reborn. The Beast had grown in height to stand at an even seven feet just by standing on its four legs, its muscles bulging and dark hide forming bone like growths as armor. Its narrowed face had gained a face mask of bone like a visor with red tribal prints and slits for eyes. Its red horns had curled upward like a devil's horns which almost resembled reigns to a carriage. The white of its eyes were now dyed red and yellow as a black miasma blew out of its jack o'lantern like jaw.

"UuhGHUha~!"

Goldi felt her skin crawl and her eyes caught something twitch on The Beast's back. A lanky lump of flesh squirmed, groaning in agony as it slowly rose up. Something snapped audibly with a sickening bone like snap. That's when it looked at her.

The upper half of a man was fused to The Beast's spine like a growth. Its skin was pitch black like tar, bone spines stabbed out of its back, its arms were thick with muscle, and its yellow and red eyes followed her. The half man wore a tattered cloak with an emblem of an odd eye stitched on the beaten fabric and a hunter's hat that matched its grim appearance. The bone mask was half hidden by its cloak, leaving only its haunting stare.

Pure terror was all that Goldi could feel from what she saw. That thing was not a beast, it was an abomination of nature.

The monster's heads twitched, snapping as they fully turned their sights on both Goldi and Bell. The half human growth grabbed onto its beast's horns, gripping them like handles before a piercing screech escaped its throat. The sound chilled Goldi's bones, her body shivered as she broke out into a cold sweat. The monster charged, its beast head opening its jaw wide for an eager taste of the two women in its sights.

Goldi was terrified, terrified of the nightmare coming straight for her. But her eyes fell on its line of charge, finding the wounded brunette woman laying back with no way to escape. The woman who had suffered because of them. Goldi bit back a scream as she forced her shattered knee to steady herself for a just bit before she broke out into a sprint for Bell. Her running was broken as her knee collapsed, leaving her to fall in front of Bell as the monster came closer.

"STAY AWAY!" Goldi wasn't sure what she was doing anymore, she didn't understand a damn thing that was going on anymore. But she did know of one thing. She wasn't just about to let some innocent woman die in front of her. Her shotgun was aimed straight for the monster's face as it jumped high into the air, ready to plunge its greedy teeth into their feet.

She'd be damned if she died shaking in her boots.

"REFLECT!"

Goldi's eyes went wide as a familiar shout turned her forward to find an odd glass like orb of pixels shoot straight for her. She shut her eyes on instinct as it hit, shattering on her body as the monster sunk its teeth. Instead of immense pain, the strange feeling of nothing washed over her. More seconds ticked away and still nothing, her morbid curiosity getting the best of her, she opened her eyes. To her surprise the monster was held back by a crystal-like dome of magic surrounding her and Bell from harm. Sparks flew from in between the monster's teeth and the dome until it was bounced back forcefully.

The monstrosity flared its nostrils in annoyance before unleashing a roar that shook the entirety of the stone bridge. It unhinged its jaw, creating a basketball sized flame in its mouth that it was ready to fire before a cold fog fell in between its leg.

"GLACIATE!"

With a white flash, the fog around the monster had clung to its skin, freezing it in a glacial spire of misting ice. The monster was frozen in its prison, unable to move a muscle.

The magical barrier around Goldi shattered, falling harmlessly onto her and Bell as she watched two blurred figures run past the frozen monster with haste. Her voice caught in her throat as head of blond hair and blue eyes came into view.

"J-Juan?" Goldi said weakly.

An annoyed frown came over Jaune's face before shaking it off as he knelt in front of both Goldi and Bell.

"It's actually Jaune, Jaune Arc. I can only guess who told you that was my name." he growled lightly before reaching into his Inventory. A large Aura Potion fell into his hand that immediately moved to hand to the blonde outlaw. Oswald's hand suddenly held onto his wrist, stopping him from handing the vital potion as he glared at the young sorcerer.

"Sorry to say, but your medicine won't be of use to them." Oswald explained sternly before moving his emerald cane up high. He shut his eyes, concentrating as a light coat of magic came over his body.

"Bright Light."

A shining beam of holy light fell from the sky above, its rays shining down onto the wounded women. A twinkle of energy washed over their wounds, healing their broken flesh in moments. The light dimmed, breaking apart as the spell ran its course and gave way. Oswald smiled tiredly, his feet wobbling slightly as he leaned on his cane for support.

"There, they should be out of the woods now." Out of breath, he gave them a small grin.

"Bringing me out of death's door really did drain you, huh?" Jaune frowned.

Oswald chuckled softly, "Like you wouldn't believe."

The shot knee, twisted flesh, shattered bone, and shredded muscles had been healed as if Goldi had never been shot. She poked her knee in fascination before taking a step. She was a bit unbalanced but regained her footing. Now able to walk and out of harm's way, she marched straight up to Jaune.

Jaune gulped as the busty outlaw stood in front of him, face staring down and shoulders shaking with teeth openly gritting. She didn't look as happy as he thought she would at his appearance.

"Where were you?"

Goldi's voice lacked energy. She sounded hurt, betrayed. Jaune couldn't stop the frown that made its way to his face even when he found Goldi's eyes locked onto his. Those brilliant eyes swimming with repressed tears.

"You left us, without so much as a single word or even a note! We've scoured the entire land in search for you! And when we finally do get word of your appearance, it's when some idiot's spouting on about your heroic death! Do you have any idea how heartbroken we all were!?" she shouted angrily as a few tears slipped.

We? Jaune blinked, wondering who Goldi could be referring to before his lungs were robbed of his breath as a fist buried itself in his stomach. He coughed roughly, grimacing as he could feel a few points drop from his Health before he found himself pulled into a warm embrace. His eyes were wide as silk gold hair tickled his nose and smelled a pleasant perfume on Goldi.

Goldi sniffed, gripping the back of Jaune's head tightly as she pushed Jaune closer to her body in her embrace.

"You stupid idiot! You're lucky I don't have it in me to make that damn lie true." Goldi cried softly.

While Jaune still wasn't all too sure of what was going on, he did know that Goldi had been worried about him. He hugged her back, patting her back gently as he smiled in apology.

"Sorry for worrying you, Goldi. I didn't mean to run off from you like that. Trust me, I didn't have much choice." The Game was at fault for that.

Sniffing back her tears, Goldi released Jaune from her hug as she cleaned off her tears.

"Well, you have a lot of explaining to do once this is all over with. Better have something good up your sleeves." she smirked weakly, "Snow's going to be even more pissed off than she already is when she finds out your alive."

"Snow?" Jaune squeaked in fear, his mind flashing back to the sadistic raven with a cracking whip. If only he had stayed dead. For a brief moment, he contemplated running away just so he could escape the sadistic woman's wrath.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Goldi's strong arms wrapped around Jaune's neck, taking him into a headlock as his head spun frantically around for an escape. She grinned widely as she ground her knuckle into his scalp, earning a yelp from the noodle blond.

"Don't be a chicken, hubby! Take your sexy welts like a man!"

"But I'm not into S&M!"

Struggling to escape Goldi's surprisingly strong grip, Jaune finally wormed his way out with a gasp as he rubbed his neck. Annoyed at the manhandling, he was ready to open his mouth to protest until something wrapped itself around his back. His eyes softened, hearing soft sniffles and a growing wetness on his back.

"Jaune, your alive."

Jaune gave a small smile to the brunette woman hugging his back, patting her head as he turned around and returned the gesture. His brows furrowed at the sight of blood on her torn gold dress.

"Bell, I'm sorry for scaring you and Eve like that. I never wanted any of this to happen. I'm just happy that your safe now." he said warmly as he stroked her long hair back. He felt Bell hug him tighter, almost afraid to let him go now that he was here.

But the nice, heartwarming atmosphere wasn't to last.

A groaning crack echoed in the night, the sound of a low rumbling increasing in volume with every second. Jaune and Oswald scowled as they felt the stone bridge under them begin to tremble, watching as cracks began to form and spread out to the entirety of the structure. They turned their eyes to the glacier and stepped back instinctively. The frozen prison was sweating, emitting steam as chips of ice began to break off the trembling prison. The eyes of the monster pierced through the fog created by the melting ice, targeting the humans who had frozen it before a thundering roar erupted from its cold shell.

"Mr. Arc, it appears we don't have much time for pleasantries. The Beast will be free to run rampant soon, so we must finish what we've started before it's too late!" Oswald said urgently as he shielded his face from the bellowing wind created by the monster's roar.

Jaune gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn't argue. That thing was Eve? It was unlike anything he had ever seen. The monster was grotesque, something straight out of a nightmare or better yet. Something out of his own world. A Grimm.

Bell grew confused as Jaune's fingers tightened around her. His body muscles seemed to coil, readying themselves for a fight.

"Jaune?"

Knowing what he had to do, Jaune carefully pulled back from Bell before walking to stand beside Oswald to face the threat.

"Belle, Goldi, I want you both to run back to town and warn everyone to stay away from the castle. Don't send for any help either. I promise," Jaune glanced back to the worried eyed girls with a warm smile even as the glacier housing the monster shattered completely with a thundering crack, "Everything's going to be fine. I'll have Eve back to normal by the stroke of midnight. I swear."

Goldi scowled in annoyance. She just got him back and now he was leaving again? She wanted to fight too, but knew she wouldn't be able to do much against that thing. Not to mention the queen needed to know of what went down.

Belle hesitated, wanting nothing more than to help after seeing what her best friend had become. But she was just a normal civilian, she didn't have any powers or combat experience. She would just get in the way. All she could do was leave it to Jaune. She smiled bitterly as she felt the busty blond woman take grip of her arm and led her out of the way, her eyes watching Jaune's back as they left.

"Just come back to us, both of you."

Jaune picked up on the soft whisper in the wind and nodded sternly as he watched the monster shake off the cold chill. As if he was going to keep dying. He had already proven to himself he was a legitimate Huntsman, he wasn't about to let it all go to waste.

Turning to Jaune, Oswald spoke, "Are you ready, Mr. Arc? This won't be an easy battle, especially if you plan on freeing Eve's heart as you said."

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've had to mend someone's heart." Jaune said confidently as he gripped Crocea Mors.

Ridding the last of the ice and gaining back its focus, the monstrosity glared at both Jaune and Oswald with a seething growl. It stood up on its hind legs, towering both men as the human growth on its back slumped, showing off its clawed fingers dripping with sizzling embers. It shrieked as it brought down its claws to the bridge, destroying the last of its stability as large chunks of the bridge fell to the ravine below along with the dead bodies of the knights. A large hole was created by the impact around the beast and the two men, leaving them to fall along with the monster into the waters below.

Jaune's mind went into panic as the stone gave way and he shut his eyes as he fell to his death. He tried to think of a way to soften the impact into the waters littered with deadly stone rising up like spires before growing confusion as his body became light. Opening his eyes, he found himself floating in midair and slowly drifting down like a feather with a glitter of golden energy around him. He turned to his left and found Oswald calmly floating down alongside him with his emerald cane extended, the man clearly casting a spell of some kind.

"Don't worry, Mr. Arc. While I may not be able to perform my more impressive spells at the moment, I can still perform some mediocre magic to assist." Oswald reassured him with a smirk as they came close to the bottom of the ravine. The young sorcerer frowned as he noticed the deep waters below had diminished along with the sight of wafting hot steam rising up. The monster must have evaporated a large portion of the waters once it touched down. What a horrifying display of power and heat.

Jaune smiled in thanks before turning his sights to the challenge below. Their feet soon touched the shallow ravine waters lingering with steam as they began to search for the monster. The ravine was almost drained of its water, leaving only the bottom of the ravine filled with water three inches deep. The bottom was large and wide, the walls wet with moisture and moss.

Instincts ringing, Jaune turned back in time to raise up his shield to block an attack. What felt like a slug hit his shield with a ding, warning him of gunfire. He readied himself for another shot, only to be taken by surprise as he was sent flying to the side of the wall alongside Oswald by a charging flame rushing through them. They both grunted from the attack before turning to the fireball standing in the middle of the diminished ravine floor.

The ball of malicious fire dispersed, revealing the monster beast/human crouched as its human growth held a familiar musket in its buff arms. Visible flames danced around its dark skin, flaring as it narrowed both sets of its eyes and growled lowly.

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING! BOSS, INCOMING! Grimm Malice, The Loveless Monstrosity. GET READY!

'Grimm Malice, The Loveless Monstrosity.

31,120HP/38,000HP.'

An unseen wall of digital code rose up around those below the ravine, forming an impenetrable wall with no escape. The only way of escape was to fight and win.

"This won't be easy." Jaune said tiredly as he unsheathed Crocea Mors from Ignis Mors. He couldn't even switch out his Abilities or Skills, they were locked since he had come to Fey. It looked like he was just going to have to work with what he had for now.

Oswald chuckled as he stood next to Jaune, shoulder to shoulder as he flipped his beloved cane to wield it like a saber. "No, but nothing worth ever truly achieving is ever so easily handed. One must fight tooth and nail to achieve what they desire. And I desire a happy ending for young Eve. Don't you?" he asked whimsically.

Jaune grinned widely as he answered.

"A happy ending for everyone. That's why I'm still up and kicking!"

FIGHT!

"KEEN EYE, ACTIVATE!" Jaune shouted quickly, activating one of his skills as both he and Oswald ran forward with their weapons ready to strike.

'Grimm Malice, The Loveless Monstrosity.

31,120HP/38,000HP.

Weak: Ice/Light.

Resistant: Fire/Dark.

Absorb: Fire.

Grimm Vanity.

20,500HP/22,000HP.

Weak: Light.

Resistant: Fire/Dark.'

Keen Eye was a special Skill unlocked thanks to his Friendship with Professor Port. Only useful when fighting Grimm, it revealed weakness and any resistance to elements or weapons. Since it seemed a Grimm had been born in this world, what better time to bust it out? Jaune frowned though as he caught a second enemy in the description. His eyes turned up to the human growth aiming its musket's sights at the both of them. It looked like they would have to take out the growth as well.

"It's weak to Ice and Light, so if you got any spells like that, hit it when you can!" Jaune shouted to Oswald, receiving a nod in return, "And avoid using any Fire Spells! It'll just absorb them!"

The Grimm Vanity shot several rounds from its musket after the two humans, enchanting them with magic to dance across the air to hone in on. Knowing how deadly the magic bullets could be, Jaune cast his Reflect spell as the bullets dove in on them both. The bullets drilled against the magical dome, fighting to pierce it before they were bounced back. The Grimm Malice shrieked at the incoming bullets with such volume and force they were knocked out of the air before they could do any damage. Catching something out of the corner of its eye, it swung its head to find Oswald jumping up with his cane swung back. The young sorcerer swung down with all this might, cracking the Grimm's face with enough force to send its face falling to the ground. Oswald then swung his free hand to the side to cast an ice spell, only to forget about the monster's growth. The Grimm Vanity flipped its musket and copied Oswald's attack, taking a crack at the man's face with a bat swing.

The blow disoriented Oswald as he was sent flying back and Jaune charged forward. The Grimm Vanity narrowed its eyes and tossed aside its weapon. It then flung its arms to the side as two dark portals formed at its finger tips before reaching in. Pulling back, it began to pepper Jaune with rapid shots of two handguns it had summoned. Ignis Mors blocked the deadly fire as Jaune charged ahead of the boss before vanishing in a blur.

"Hyper Blade!"

With a burst of high speed, Jaune zipped around the Grimm Malice and Grimm Vanity with several wild swings of his blade. The Grimm Malice spun its head around, its eyes trying to pin down the knight as it watched Jaune appear in several after images to slice at its skin. Growing fed up it fired off an air rippling roar as Jaune appeared right in front of it with a forward stab at its masked face. Jaune grimaced at the shock wave and was sent him flying. He had no reprieve as The Grimm Vanity took the chance to unload its bullets into him. Falling on his back with a grunt, Jaune quickly stood up in time to see the boss rush after him while clad in flames.

Activating Gale Speed, he avoided the flaming charge and skidded on the shallow waters back to its previous spot. The Grimm Malice spun around and opened its jaw wide. Several volleys of fireballs were fired after Jaune, following after him as he ran to avoid them.

With its attention drawn to Jaune, Oswald went on the attack. Steadying himself on his feet, he began to concentrate, gathering whatever magic he could in his state. Eleven dazzling orbs of light began to form around him before he locked onto the Grimm Malice.

"Eleven Rays of Light, Fire!"

The orbs of light shot after the boss, cutting through the air as they pelted the dark beast ruthlessly. The Grimm Malice flinched from the attack and interrupted its fire and left it reeling. The Grimm Vanity screeched as its mount fell on its stomach before reaching for a new weapon. A quad barreled missile launcher was hefted over its shoulders and fired several locking missiles onto the spectacled sorcerer. Oswald didn't pay the missiles too much thought as he dashed forward and swung his cane at the first missile. The explosive shell was sliced in half by the blunt weapon and flew past him to detonate against the rock walls. He swung his cane again and again at every missile, cutting them down as he charged another attack. The Grimm Vanity screeched as Oswald stopped in front of it before rearing back its fist to knock him away.

But before it could throw its fist it felt a sharp stab on its back before a heavy weight fell upon where the pain had erupted. Crocea Mors dug itself deep into its shoulder and Jaune threw down his sparking hand onto its head, "SPARK!"

Sparks danced across the boss's skin, scorching its nerves as it was lit up by yellow lightning. It was stunned by the spell, leaving it helpless as Oswald attacked.

A luminescent blue glow surrounded his cane as he ran his hand over it, forming a long blade of light that withdrew like an actual blade. He narrowed his eyes at the beast as Jaune jumped off and fell beside him with Crocea Mors raised up high.

"Drawn Light!"

"Lunar Divider!"

A drawing slash of brilliant light and a falling slash of cursed energy cut through both the Grimm Malice and Vanity, scoring deep wounds as its Attack fell. The Grimm Vanity cried out in anger and gripped the horns of the Grimm Malice before pulling it back. Its monster half whined before following its human half's orders. It jumped back and began to dash around them while cladding itself in flames. The flames on its body grew hotter as its blurred to the point a wide ring of fire grew around Jaune and Oswald. A funnel of flames grew from the ring, trapping them inside as the heat rose and the ground underneath was blanketed with flames.

Oswald kept his eyes trained on the faint blur within the flames as he stood by Jaune. His eyes suddenly caught the blur vanish before his senses warned him of his right. He turned, finding the Grimm Malice bursting out of the wall of tunneling fire with its claws raised high.

"Mr. Arc!" he warned Jaune, getting the blond knight to turn around and find the monster at his back.

Jaune didn't waste another moment as he shielded them both with Reflect. The magic dome rose to block the falling claw slash, sending sparks flying while the Grimm Malice fought to break through. The beast suddenly grinned cruelly, confusing Jaune before his eyes turned to its back. The Grimm Vanity rose up from behind, its musket locked onto him before firing. The single shot pierced through the spell, shattered its defense, and drilled through Jaune's shoulder. He shouted as he fell onto his knees, clutching the gaping wound before panicking, his eyes shooting up at the following attack. The Grimm Malice slammed its claws down freely with no resistance.

A spray of blood splattered to the side of the scalding earth as Oswald grimaced, his breath coming out strained and his back bleeding from the assault. He stood over Jaune, his back to the Grimm Malice. The dark beast reared its fist back and swung with all its might, sending Oswald flying out of the flames to leave only Jaune and it within the inferno. It growled lowly before its cheeks bulged. A flaring jet of flames spewed from its open mouth, intent on turning Jaune into a crisp. Still reeling from the bullet to the shoulder, Jaune could only swing his shield as the flames fell over him, blocking most of the deadly fire.

"Air Slash!" Several blades of compressed air cut through the flames, smacking into the Grimm Malice's masked face with enough force to break through the attack and daze the beast. It flinched and stumbled before something flew straight through the dying flames. A pointed shield rammed into its face before an explosion engulfed it.

"Point of Impact!"

The Grimm Vanity let out a dry chuckle as the flames of the eruption were drained into its beast half, healing a small amount of its HP and the Grimm Malice roared. Jaune cursed at the slip of judgement before parrying several wild swings of the boss's claws. He deflected a wide swing from the left, countered a falling slash that tore the burning ground, rolled out of the way of another breath of fire, and bashed his shield against a heavy straight punch once he came to a stop.

The drop in Attack wasn't having much of an effect on the boss seeing as Jaune could watch as he lost a thousand HP just by blocking. This wasn't a normal boss. The damn thing was on another level.

The Grimm Malice threw down another fist, sending Jaune skidding back to the edge of the vortex of flames he was trapped in. He bit back a shout as the flames burned his back, wishing more than ever he was dressed in his combat attire instead of the simple villager's clothes he had been handed. Feeling his shoulder ache from the bullet, he quickly downed a potion and watched as the Grimm Malice rushed at him. He rolled away before it could sink its teeth into him, leaving it to dive back into its flame. He went on guard, watching out for the dark beast. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a blur racing inside the flames. Several bullets flew out of the vortex, twisting in their flight to hunt down their prey. Jaune could feel his sweat fly off of his face as he stood his ground and parried the shots once they came close enough to strike.

Something broke through the fire as Jaune swatted the last bullet away. Turning around, he panicked at the sight of the Grimm Malice coming in hot with claws scraping against the burning ground. An attack like that would be fatal. Would a Reflect even be enough to guard against it?

"Single Frame!"

The Grimm Malice swung upward, sparks trailing its hot claws as it grinned cruelly. But the world stopped, the twisting flames paused, and the boss was frozen with its claws inches from opening up Jaune's chest. Jaune was confused with what just happened before he found his body being pulled out of the flame trap and onto his back beside Oswald.

The young dark-haired sorcerer must have been concentrating intensely seeing as he kept his eyes shut while his cane was stabbed downward, a clock like circle having formed below him. A single eye cracked open and glanced at Jaune as Oswald spoke.

"Mr. Arc, I do not have much magic left in me. Its last attack has done quite a number on my body. I fear I won't be of much use any longer." Oswald chuckled hoarsely as one hand gingerly held his right side. He grunted from the pain before he continued, "I'll only be able to throw out one more spell before I have to retreat some distance to recover my power. In the meantime, you'll have to keep it distracted for as long as possible. Do you think you can do that?"

Jaune cracked his neck while drinking a Large Aura Potion before nodding with a sigh, "Yeah, I can hold it off for a bit. Just don't leave me hanging for too long." Jaune grinned ruefully.

Oswald smirked at the young knight before lifting his cane. The world came to life and the bellowing roar of a beast shook the ravine walls. The flaming vortex dispersed as the Grimm Malice noticed its prey missing before its eyes locked onto the two humans. It stamped its feet as the Grimm Vanity took hold of its horns and sprinted after them in a flaming charge.

"Glaciate!" Swinging his cane forward, a chilling wind carrying a mist crashed over the dark beast. The drop-in temperature flash froze the Grimm into a block of hard ice. Jaune didn't hesitate while Oswald retreated. He had a certain Link to deal with a monster weak to Light. If there was ever a time bust it out, it was now.

"By the Light born by our Bond, I call on upon the sword shining the proof of our Link, shedding away the darkness clasping our Souls! Unlimited Light Works!"

Jaune's wardrobe morphed into his ULW gear from his bond with Velvet. Creating a sword of light that replaced his normal weapons, he stopped in front of the glacier housing the Boss before slashing an X into the ice. Finishing the brilliant sigil, he then stabbed into the marker while shouting, "Piercing Light!"

A bolt of light speared into the glacier, tearing the glacier to pieces and stabbing right through the Grimm Malice. It howled in agony and its human growth held its head. Narrowing its eyes, the Grimm Vanity grabbed its musket and aimed to shoot down the annoying human clad in light. Its red eyes widened, finding blue eyes staring straight into its own as Jaune appeared in front of it in burst of speed. It watched the boy rear his fist back, clenching his digits tightly with a hard scowl.

"Brilliant Impact!"

Light magic coursed through his fist and he smashed it into the masked face of the human Grimm. It screeched sharply as its mask cracked from the blow and slumped in a daze. Feeling the beast half notice his presence, Jaune jumped high from the mount and spun to face his glowing palm at the beast. He fired a machine gunfire of light knives at the Grimm Malice as it reared its head back at him, knocking it down onto its stomach from the stabbing shots. Falling back on his feet, he began to dance on his light feet as the Grimm Malice recovered quickly and began slashing wildly at him. A magical copy of Crocea Mors formed in his hand as he dodged the vicious claws and threw in his own slashes.

'Grimm Malice, The Loveless Monstrosity.

18,210HP/38,000HP.

Grimm Vanity.

9,809HP/21,000HP.'

'Just keep hammering it with spells until Oswald's recovered!' Jaune told himself as he ducked under a sweeping blow before firing a light attributed Firebolt at its chest. The Grimm Malice staggered back from the brilliant flames before throwing its fists high above its head. It swung the two blazing fists down at Jaune only to be blocked by a copy of Ignis Mors. His free hand grew cold as he faced his palm at the beast and shouted, "CHILL!"

Again, and again, he spammed the only Ice spell in his arsenal at the boss, chipping away at its health with blasts of cold frost. The Grimm Malice grunted as bits of ice formed on its upper body and it tried to apply more force against the blocking light shield. It roared madly, cracking the shield copy before shattering it to bits. Jaune grimaced and thought quickly, swinging a Power Strike against the hammer blow. The two colliding blows created an eruption of force, cracking the wet ground below them as the copy of Beaufort shined. Its tips parted, reacting to the Critical Hit to fire an explosion of light.

The Grimm Malice's jaw opened wide as it screeched from the damaging elemental explosion, its sight blurring out as everything became white. It lost the strength in its legs, collapsing on its stomach with a whine. Jaune took a deep breath as he jumped back, flinching as his arms ached. He swallowed a lump as his eyes glanced at his ULW gauge.

Only a few minutes left, two at best. It was hard to believe that he had already nearly spent seven minutes fighting in this form. With his time running out, he had to make the next few moves matter.

An agonized groan caught Jaune's attention, bringing his eyes to the slumped figure of the Grimm Vanity. It cracked its limbs audibly, disgusting Jaune at the sound before it raised its arms up high. A bigger and wider portal formed above it, chilling Jaune to the bones as something odd peaked out. His jaw dropped to the floor.

"IS THAT A FUCKING MISSILE!?"

Not just some rocket launcher missile, what was peeking out looked like a military grade ballistic missile, the kinds used for war. The Grimm Vanity screeched in a high pitch, like a clergyman singing gospel as it slowly summoned the deadly missile.

There was no way in hell he was letting the thing fire something like that! It would collapse the entire ravine and everything above it. Activating Gale Speed, Jaune blurred right in front of the Grimm Vanity with his light sword drawn for a stabbing thrust. A tangle of dark tendrils suddenly rose up from the body of the Grimm Malice, looping around Jaune's legs, waist, and arms. They tightened before he could dig his sword into the Grimm Vanity, stopping him as his face twisted in discomfort.

The Grimm Vanity grinned widely, its neck snapping to the left as it stared Jaune dead in the eye. There was no escaping its attack this time.

"I believe that should be enough time. Thank you for waiting, Mr. Arc."

Grimm weren't known for displaying human emotions. Which made it all the more confusing to Jaune as he noticed the Grimm Vanity's eyes widen in surprise. Its body shook as it found a single lance of ice spearing through its chest, causing Jaune to suppress a squeak of fright as its cold tip tapped his chest. The cold weapon emitted a pulse of cold energy, freezing its upper body as the portal it created waned. The missile became distorted, twisting before it was sucked back to wherever it came from.

As the human growth of darkness squirmed in pain, Jaune moved his head to look behind the Boss and found Oswald smiling. It looked like he had thrown the spell just in time. With the Grimm Vanity distracted the tendrils trapping Jaune wilted, leaving him to move again.

'Grimm Vanity.

1,120HP/22,000HP.'

One more hit, that's all he needed!

Jaune raised his sword of light up as the Grimm Vanity screeched in his face, blowing back his blond locks.

"Brilliant Divider!"

Critical Hit!

Oswald leaned into his cane with a smile as from his point of view, a thin line of bluish light cut down the center of the dark human growth. A blade of light blew out from the Grimm Vanity's back as its HP hit zero.

At least, that's what should have happened.

Jaune lost the breath in his lungs as he found the monster's fist ramming into his stomach. Spit and blood shot out of his mouth as he was sent flying off like a rocket to the ravine's walls, cracking it upon impact as he slid down. He wheezed and held his nearly punctured stomach, struggling for a decent breath as he glared at the Grimm Vanity while his ULW form ran out.

The Grimm Vanity was split down the middle, still standing upright despite the fatal wound. It flexed its fingers with a split grin, the very sight haunting Jaune as it groaned.

"J-Just what does it t-take to kill the damn t-thing?!" Jaune coughed hoarsely before cleaning off the blood from his lips.

Oswald scowled as he was forced to dodge the monster's homing bullets. His cane danced around him, deflecting the shots as he ran forward before jumping high in the air. He twirled his weapon in one hand and landed behind it before swinging it against its fiery punch. He countered another punch and threw it to the side, leaving the beast wide open. With blurring speeds, he stabbed his cane into the grotesque monster with a shout, leaving behind clock like stamps before moving his cane to block. The force of the punch sent him flying to the same spot Jaune was before he flipped to land on his feet. Catching the Grimm Vanity aim its musket after him, Oswald simply snapped his finger, causing a chain reaction of explosions to erupt from the stamps on its skin.

And still, as the smoke parted, the damn thing was still standing.

Oswald nearly fell on a knee as he gasped and held his side. He wasn't in good condition like Jaune. With how low on magic he was, he couldn't even perform a healing spell. He wasn't sure he'd be able to keep this up much longer.

'Grimm Vanity.

1HP/22,000HP.'

'Thank god I'm stocked full of potions. But how long can I keep this up?' Jaune frowned as he threw out another bottle of potions to the side. Potions were great to heal the body, but not his energy. Healing was draining and it wouldn't be long until his body gave out on him. He needed to put a stop to this now.

The damn thing was left with a single hit point! It should have already been dead! So, why was it still standing?

A low whine escaped the Grimm Malice's throat as it slowly stood up on wobbling legs. Jaune found himself watching the beast half as its human half roughly pulled it up by its horns. The action pissed him off.

He saw it. He saw what had happened as Eve lost complete control after Gaston had pushed her. He and Oswald had only made it out of the castle in time to see the end before they fused together to create a Grimm of all things. And Jaune had a good idea as to who represented what on the monster.

It was why he wanted to get rid of the Grimm Vanity first. He didn't care what happened to the thing, it wasn't human anymore. And a part of him wasn't so sure he wanted to save the vain hunter. But Eve was different. She could be saved, he knew she could. All he needed to do was find a chance to Dive into her heart. A Dive could only work when his target was weak and unable to fight.

"How much you got left in you?" Jaune asked Oswald tiredly as they both stood up, shoulder to shoulder for support.

"I have enough for one big spell. And that's it." Oswald answered with a rough groan, raising his cane along with Jaune's sword. "I'm not sure I'll be able to be of any use after that. I've already gone beyond my limit after nearly being drained of my magic. If I were to use magic after that, I'd be using up my own life force."

Jaune frowned, not happy with risking Oswald's life. So, only one spell? Well, if it was a big one than maybe that was all they needed. The Grimm Vanity wasn't going down no matter how hard they hit it, which left the Grimm Malice. It was low on health, they just needed to hit it hard.

"Can you cast something that can bind it?" Jaune asked.

Oswald's brows furrowed as he went into thought before nodding.

"I have something in mind. But again, I need you to hold it off for at least a minute. That's all I'll need."

Jaune groaned but nodded stiffly. Just a minute, he could do this.

"Then get to casting!" he shouted as he dashed at the boss.

The Grimm Malice barked as the Grimm Vanity commanded it to attack. It fired a blast of fire at Jaune, missing as he rolled out of the way. It then stabbed its claws at Jaune, meeting only Ignis Mor's shield. Jaune swiped the claws away, ducked another stab, and swung his sword upwards to carve its chest. The Grimm Malice howled before it raised its fist up, lit them with fire, and slammed them down with a thunderous impact. A ring of fire blew out, hitting Jaune and burning his skin as he was left stunned.

The Grimm Vanity cackled as its left dangling side lifted its musket and took a few shots at Jaune. Blood erupted out of Jaune's back as the bullets struck, nearly dragging him to his knees from the pain. But he pressed on and openly grit his teeth and swallowed a shout. Just a bit more, he kept telling himself.

A mouthful of fire barreled down on Jaune, the Grimm Malice giving him no quarter. He couldn't dodge, but he did have something to save him.

"Activate Skill, Kindle!"

The devouring flames swallowed Jaune whole, cooking him alive. At least that's what would have happened if he hadn't activated Ann's Skill. He parted the flames with a swing of his shield, feeling relief as his body absorbed the flames to heal some of his health. It wasn't much, but he'd take what he'd get right now.

A falling swing of claws brought Jaune back to the fight. He moved out of the way, watching as the Grimm Malice dug into the earth. Multiple cross hairs appeared in Jaune's sight as he reared his sword back before firing a rapid series of stabs at its face.

"Target!" One of the stabs hit home, dealing a Critical Hit and sent it back with a screech. It was open!

Another gush of blood exited out of Jaune's back, courtesy of the Grimm Vanity's smoking barrel. Even with half of its body hanging, it still had good aim. Now Jaune was left open while he held the left side of his chest. A set of hungry teeth sank into Jaune's shoulder as the Grimm Malice attacked, keeping him still as its claws held onto him. Jaune couldn't fight it, he screamed.

But despite the pain, a minute had passed.

"Blinding Starlight!"

From the heavens above, a single twinkle of light winked down onto the Grimm Malice before a ray of pure white fell down upon it. Its very world was swallowed by an inferno of light. The Grimm Vanity screeched, its body wriggling, suffering under the brilliance as the Grimm Vanity simply whined. It bit down deeper into Jaune's flesh, crying out from the burning light.

'Grimm Malice, The Loveless Monstrosity.

1,203HP/38,000HP.'

Jaune smiled softly, patting the masked face of the beast. That should be enough, more than enough.

"It's alright, Eve. I got you. And I won't let anyone hurt you anymore. That's an Arc promise." Jaune smiled through a grimace. The old blade of Crocea Mors gained key like teeth and began to glow with a golden light. The center of the Grimm Malice's chest shined and something was unlocked.

With all of his energy spent, Oswald fell back onto his backside with a groan. He couldn't find it in him to stand, he was drained. All he could do was watch as a bright light erupted from Jaune and the monster, growing in strength before everything was enveloped by the light.

'My part in this story is finished. For now. It's all up to you, Jaune.'

---

? Core.

Blinking rapidly, the first thing to hit Jaune's senses was the cold. Flakes of snow fell down onto his body as he found himself laying on a bed of snow on a dark cloudy night. From the looks of it he was in the middle of a blizzard. His body shuddered, his breath coming out in visible puffs.

Eve's Core didn't appear like the other two Cores he had entered. While he could visibly see the darkness devouring Ren's and Helios's hearts, he couldn't find any of the familiar signs here. That was until he peeked back to the tree line behind him. What awaited him was a wall of pitch black shadows and wisps ebbing out like beckoning hands.

"Well, it doesn't look like I'll find anything there." he chuckled weakly before turning forward. He didn't need to look for where the heart of the heart was for long as he spotted a familiar set of massive doors leading into a majestic castle. The candle lights could be seen from every window, telling him that the owners were inside. Jaune could feel his teeth chatter as he held his arms and shivered as he walked up to the wooden doors.

Giving the door a few knocks, he waited for the owner to answer as he tried to warm his own hands. It wasn't long until the twin doors creaked and parted a bit to let out some light. Jaune grew confused, finding no one at the door.

"C-Can I help you?"

The soft voice brought Jaune's attention lower, finding a single blue eye nervously looking up at him. A few locks of red fern fell around the little girl's face, bringing a small smile to Jaune's face.

A cold winter's night, a horrible blizzard, and a little girl who thought she had lost everything. Wasn't this a familiar story?

A strong breeze of chilling snow hit Jaune, reminding him that he was freezing. With a friendly wave, he greeted the little girl.

"Hey there! I'm sorry for knocking, but would it be too much trouble if I could come in? I don't know where I am and its deathly cold out here."

The little redhead girl visibly shuddered, gripping the door tightly as she looked down.

"N-No! You can't come in! No one's allowed in!" the little girl shouted angrily.

Jaune frowned at the outburst as his skin began to turn ice cold.

"But it's so cold outside. Please, I'll catch my death outside! I promise, I mean you no harm."

The little girl shook her head furiously glaring up at the blond boy.

"NO! No one's allowed inside! My mom and dad said to never let strangers inside! I can only let them in if they say it's okay! And they're... they're not home." the girl's voice quivered at the end as her small body shivered.

Jaune sighed sadly, knowing where the girl's parents were. He couldn't blame her for responding like that. His parents had told him the same exact thing.

The little girl swallowed back a sniffle as she returned her glare at the stranger, refusing to budge.

"So, go away! This is my home and no one is allowed to come inside if I say so!"

"Alright."

The little girl made a noise of surprise as Jaune took a step back. The second he stepped back, the terrible blizzard wind fell over him like waves. Snow coated his favorite hoodie and the chills could be felt in his bones. In just moments his skin visibly paled as he gave the red-haired girl a chattering grin.

The little redhead frowned at the stranger standing in the middle of the blizzard.

"What are you doing?

"Waiting." Jaune stuttered simply as another cold gale blew by and covered him with a veil of snow.

"Waiting for what?"

"For you to let me in, duh."

The little redhead's frown grew furious as the blond stranger chuckled amusingly.

"Well then you can wait forever! Because I'm not letting anyone in! Why don't you get that!" she shouted loudly, only growing more furious.

Jaune couldn't help the small smile that made its way onto his face. "You don't have to repeat yourself. I know you won't let anyone in, trust me, I do. But that doesn't mean I'll just give up. Besides, I'm kinda turning blue over here." he laughed weakly as he revealed the white skin of his hand turning a pale blue.

The little redhead visibly flinched at the sight, witnessing his entire body quiver out in the freezing night. For a moment, she hesitated as she leaned on the door. But she shook her head angrily and returned to glaring.

"Then you can stay out there and freeze to death! Because no matter how long you wait, I won't let you in! This is my castle and I can do whatever I want! If I say no one is allowed inside, then I mean it! I don't need anyone else here but me!" the little girl's shout had fallen into an angry cry at the end as she gripped the edge of the door tightly. She was done talking to the stranger, shutting the massive doors with a loud bang that shook the castle.

Jaune smiled sadly as he was left in the dark and cold night by himself. The darkness lingering back in the tree lines twitched, slinking by the wind to flow around his freezing body. Clawing hand like wisps surrounded him as his body stopped shivering completely. His breathing became shallow, his heart rate began to drop, and his body grew heavy with exhaustion. Legs shaking, he fell onto his knees as snow began to pile over his body. And despite his condition, he never lost his somber smile, his vision landing on the curtain windows of the lonely castle.

Even now he felt his eyesight begin to blur, but he could see it. The slight movement of the curtain and shadow illuminated by the candlelight.

"D-Don't worry, I-I w-won't leave y-you by y-yourself." he stuttered even though he struggled to even speak at this point. To anyone looking on the scene, it looked like he was speaking to himself, delirious from the telltale signs of hypothermia. But he knew that there was one stubborn ear hearing his words somehow.

"My s-skin c-can t-turn to i-ice! M-My h-heart can s-shatter! M-My b-body c-can turn to s-snow! AND I STILL WON'T LEAVE YOU!"

The clawing hands of darkness gripped at Jaune's frosted over hoodie, digging into his flesh and the night grew darker and darker with the howling winds. His blood froze as the cold reached inside and crawled over every organ before death's chilling, menacing, clicking fingers stopped over his heart. The cold chill flexed its fingers, eager to clench the fading rhythm.

With heavy, dark circled eyes, Jaune's fought on against the blizzard and darkness swallowing him whole.

"I'll wait, f-for e-eternity until y-you're strong enough to l-let someone into your h-heart. B-Because I c-can't stand t-to s-see you s-suffer. I-I j-just can't b-bear i-it!"

A bead of ice fell onto the snow, standing out from the blanket of snow. The bead of ice seemed to sizzle and melt away the cold. By now Jaune's face muscles had frozen, leaving him with a sad smile on his face and ice trailing down his eyes and cheeks. The darkness had finally closed in on him, latching onto his body and devouring every inch of his being until only half of his face could be seen past the clinging darkness. His single blue eye began to fade with only a glimmer of light staring back.

"Because I can't live with myself if I turn away a friend who can't see she's surrounded by love. That heart isn't empty, it's bursting with warmth. So much, it's afraid to let someone back in only to lose them." Jaune's voice grew soft, hardly audible as the blizzard's winds howled and screamed to drown him out. The world outside the castle's door became pitch black, leaving nothing in sight but a faint blue glimmer that blinked. "And that's alright, that's what makes you human. And no one has a right to say otherwise and mark you down as a beast with no heart. So, I'll wait right here, not moving a single inch, until you're strong enough risk that pain again and let someone in."

These past few days with Eve, Belle, and the rest of the staff inside the enchanted castle were fun. It was a nice get away from his burden in a world controlled by whimsical forces. In a world that should not exist, he had found friends, adding onto the long list he was surprised to have found. A loser like him could never be so lucky.

The frozen muscles on Jaune's face twitched, defying physics as they stretched audibly in the darkness and smiled brightly.

The cold flexed its fingers, done waiting and viciously snapped to snuff out the last beat of life.

"You're my friend, Eve, and I love you with all my heart. And I would risk dying several thousand times over until you understand that."

Death's grip fell over Jaune's heart and eagerly moved to crush the beat-less organ in one motion.

Then warmth reached its fingers.

A single thin beam of light pierced the pitch-black world, the massive wooden door creaking open. The light cut through the darkness swallowing over Jaune's body, eating away its malice and warming up his cold skin. The thin golden beam grew wider until the door was slammed wide open. The warm gentle light from inside spread out to extinguish the world's dark clutches as the blizzard ceased. All around the reaches of the small world, light burst and showered everything in sight.

Hurried crunches of feet running in the snow were all that could be heard as Jaune began to regain consciousnesses to the world around him. The frozen ice trails turned to tears and his skin began to regain its color before he found small blue shoes standing in front of him. With his strength back, he looked up and found a small little pale skinned girl with curly red fern hair falling down her neck and over her right eye, staring at him while biting her quivering bottom lip. She looked like she had just gotten out of bed as her blue night dress blew in the dying wind.

"W-What did you say?" she sniffed, fighting back against the tears on her face, the small girl gripping at her heart.

A humored and fond sigh fell out of Jaune's lips and his hand fell over the little girl's head. The single gesture broke the damn. Little Eve cried, bawling out loud as her falling tears melted the ice on the ground.

"Do you really need to hear it to believe it? You really are blind, Eve." Jaune grinned widely as he patted the sobbing girl gently, "I love you, just as I love all my friends. We may not have known each other for very long, but I can honestly say that you have a special place in my heart. One that no curse could ever take away. And I'm not the only one."

Another hand fell over Eve's head, then another, and then another. It wasn't long until she felt the warmth of over a dozen people on her. With tears still falling down her face, she looked back and found a sight that only made her sob more.

Her mother, her father, the human forms of Lumiere, Ms. Potts, Chip, Cogsworth, all of her staff, and even Belle stood right behind her. Each one wore a loving smile on their faces as they gathered around her.

"They've been there this entire time, loving you even as a beast. It's not that you've never held any love in your heart, it's that you've been too afraid to accept any more in your heart. That old hag that cursed you was as blind as you are. Because I see plenty of love waiting to be accepted in there."

Eve shut her eyes, hoping to stop the tears to no avail. She rubbed her eyes, trying everything to stop while hiccups rocked her body. But it was all too much. All the warmth, it was just too much to bottle up.

Strong hands fell over her shoulders and took her into their welcoming embrace. She didn't need to open her eyes to know who it was holding her close and letting her cry her eyes out into their chest. She was done holding it in, she was done looking away, she was done pushing them all away, and she was done shouting them down.

The doors to Eve's heart had been wrenched open by her own hands, leaving them wide open for others to step in.

Jaune grew happy as he noticed a bright smile on the sobbing girl's face before everything in sight was blinded by a flash of light. If there was any speck of darkness left over, it had faded away with the little girl's last words.

"Please, come inside."

---

Groaning lightly, Oswald forced himself to stand up, his hand rubbing his face of sleep. He had dozed off for a few minutes after the flash of light. Why not? It seemed the fighting was finally over with, he deserved some rest. After some shut eye and time to recover a decent amount of his magic in case things went wrong, Oswald decided it was now or never. It was time to see if Jaune had pulled off a miracle.

With a quick cast of a small healing spell to mend some of his wounds, Oswald walked over to the spot he had last seen Jaune and the beast. An idle glance around the area and he was slightly stunned to find a muscled body with disheveled raven hair laying on the ground. He recognized the extra body as Gaston and snapped his fingers. A magical rope slithered to the arrogant hunter, tying him up to prevent him from escaping. The man would suffer for all the bloodshed, he would make sure of that.

A gentle smile did make its way to his face. He looked down, finding a head of messy blond hair, torn clothing with dried splotches of blood, and blue eyes staring up at the sky. In the boy's arms laid a chocolate skinned woman with fiery red hair who appeared asleep. He did frown lightly as he noticed something odd.

Eve, while retaining her human appearance, still retained her signature red horns and sharp claws.

"Was... I too late?"

Oswald made a noise of surprise. He turned back to Jaune, finding the boy staring solemnly at the stars as he gently stroked Eve's hair.

Oswald contemplated what to say as he hummed and stroked his chin. He took a peek at the watch on his wrist before speaking.

"It is seven minutes past midnight. But," Oswald added once he noticed Jaune's face twist in guilt, "It does appear her curse is no longer out of control. If anything, I'd say she has gotten control of her curse. So, don't think you've failed her. You saved her, and even opened her heart."

Jaune chuckled weakly, attempting to sit up but failed as he fell back with a hiss. It looked like he wasn't going to be getting up for a while. That was fine, he honestly didn't feel like getting up right now.

"Yeah, that was a stubborn heart. All she really needed was someone to patiently wait for her to open up. That's all. After all, what makes a beast is not the appearance but the inability to love others and accept them into your heart. Eve already had accepted people into heart, she was just too afraid to admit it."

"She really is the stubborn one, isn't she?" Oswald chuckled before turning his own eyes to the skies above. "After the night I've had, I could really use a good cup of tea."

"Tea?" Jaune mumbled as he stared at the enigmatic man. "I would have taken you for a coffee guy." he said as he thought back to a certain headmaster.

A bitter smile fell on Oswald's lips as he spoke wistfully.

"I despise coffee."

The sound of marching footsteps and the glow of fire lights above the ravine drew both Jaune and Oswald up. Shouting could be heard, almost as if they were searching for someone.

"Well, it appears that your two friends have finally brought Ms. White up with the latest news. No doubt all plans for invasion have ceased now that she knows she's been manipulated. The night of terror and roaring flames is finally over." Oswald spoke with relief.

"Yeah, it's finally over." Jaune sighed deeply. It was over, and with Eve returned to her former self he wanted to call it a happy one. His eyes washed over the ravine and any such notions evaporated instantly. Corpses trapped in broken armor scattered the battlefield. Some had melted, burned beyond the point of recognition. Others crushed by overwhelming strength while more had simply fallen to their demise, thrown aside by a raging beast.

So much death, and for what? The hubris of a hunter to far gone from reality in his quest for glory? These men had families, loved ones, friends. People who will never see them again and likely not even know how they died, merely that they did so in some random corner of the world.

It was disgusting. There were no words he could find to express it, his growing anger at Gaston clouding everything else. How could one man be so vain as to be willing to sacrifice others just to become famous? How could one man lie through his teeth and send dozens to their death? How could anyone be so self-!

"An Ending is an ending, Mr. Arc. Not everyone can be saved, and not everyone can be stopped. All you can do is strive for whatever end lays in front of you." Oswald spoke softly, his voice sullen as he noticed the dead around them.

Jaune laughed emptily, gripping Eve tightly as he shook his head. His anger escaping him, leaving him somewhat hollow, his eyes never leaving those that did not survive.

"I don't think I can accept that. Maybe I really am naive. Because all I want is a happy ending for everyone, even those stuck in the background. Is that so wrong?"

"Yes, it is." Oswald answered simply, "But no one's perfect. That is what makes you human. The imperfections and impossible wishes are what separate us from monsters. To ignore your naivety and hopes is to lose your humanity."

Jaune nodded absently and his eyes grew heavy. He was too tired to think much right now. Eve was safe and help was on the way. It wasn't a surprise when the second he shut his eyes, sleep came to him.

Oswald smiled at the scene of a knight and a beast sleeping peacefully in the remains of a scarred battlefield. His eyes found themselves back to the deceased, his mind deep in thought before a tired old sigh escaped his lips. He'd be putting an immense strain on his already ragged body, but stories like these weren't to be marred with grief and guilt.

A static blur fell over everything in sight as the tap of Oswald's staff echoed across the land. A luminescent emerald hue washed over the bridges rubble and the bodies of the deceased knights before an unknown force lifted them all up. The broken pieces were slowly lifted like puzzle pieces to repair the bridge along with the dead, the bodies of the knights began to move, as if rising from some deep sleep, and the evaporated water below began to slowly fill the empty ravine.

Watching the stubborn blond sleep with a snore along with Eve, Oswald looked over his work as the bridge completed above with not a single bit missing. He laughed, watching the once dead men begin to shout in surprise and were met with happy shouts from their comrades before returning his attention to Jaune.

"You certainly out did yourself with this one, old man." Oswald smiled fondly before lifting both Jaune and Eve up with his magic.

Just this once, he would play the Great and Powerful. If only so a naive boy could have his happy ending for once.

---

Soft sheets welcomed Jaune as his face twisted in discomfort. Call him strange but it was just too soft. By now he was used to the old cot in the infirmary after all his time in Eve's castle.

EVE!

His eyes snapped open, his body bolting upright in the foreign bed with a breathless gasp. For several seconds he sat there, gasping for air with sweat running down his face. He sucked in one more deep breath before releasing a long sigh as his face was hit by a cool breeze. His eyes found a window on the other side of the room, cracked open. How long was he asleep? Better yet, when did he fall asleep?

The last he remembered was staring up at the sky with Eve held in his arms after returning from her Core. His eyes were growing heavy when he was talking with Oswald. Guess it was no surprise he had fallen asleep without noticing.

Jaune's mind returned to Eve, remembering the last she had seen of him. She still thought he was dead! Now wasn't the time to be napping, he had a woman's heart to ease again.

Throwing off the dark violet sheets, Jaune jumped out of the large queen-sized bed with haste. He looked around for his clothes, picking them up as he noticed his commoner's garb sitting perfectly folded on a chair by his bed. Putting them on, he finally looked around the bed he was resting in.

The room appeared to be a master bedroom, garbed with lavish décor and fine arts. It was what he would expect to see when walking into a rich person's bedroom. But there was just one thing wrong about the whole scene. Everything was pretty much ruined. Or broken, that sounded much better. The curtains were torn by claw marks, the furniture was either cracked or smashed, and Jaune could even make out woman's clothing lying around in strips. The only thing that wasn't in shambles was a drawer.

And a wilted red rose sitting in a glass case.

This was Eve's room. Jaune was in Eve's room. He was sleeping in Eve's bed. A place she had once warned him to stay out of with a strangling.

A chill crawled down Jaune's spine as he turned for the claw ridden wooden door. He was pretty sure she wouldn't be happy to find him sleeping in her room. He would die all over again because of the nonexistent fuse on that time bomb. Pulling down his shirt's hem, Jaune ran for the door and swung it wide open to escape his death sentence.

Jaune stared blankly ahead, his blue orbs met surprised hazelnut brown. Belle stood outside the room, probably hoping to check on his condition as a good friend would. That was fine. What wasn't fine was her state of dress.

Belle wasn't wearing her usual baby blue dress he had come to know. No, she wasn't wearing anything but some lacy white bra and panties with stockings. He could see just about every inch of the girl's creamy, soft, supple skin. Her thighs, her cleavage! And that damn pout!

Belle huffed at the statue still Jaune, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted.

"Darn! I was hoping you'd still be asleep. I was ready to crawl in there and have your strong, muscular, lean arms hold me against your bare chest. And then, you'd dream of holding me naked in your arms and lose the last restraint holding you back and-" Belle gasped into both of her hands, her face bright red as she shook her behind from the erotic fantasy in mind. She bit one her fingers with a moan, her lust hazed eyes peering into Jaune's eyes as one of her hands strayed for the waist of her panties.

"You finish the sentence." She whispered hotly, her teeth biting her fingertip teasingly.

Jaune could not. He would not. Instead, he simply stared at the sexy bookworm in lace with a gaping mouth. He couldn't even look away, his eyes drawn to the shaking breasts in his view. He swore to god, he was this close to just saying fuck it.

Literally.

"My, my! Madame, I do not think it would be wise to tease monsieur like that, especially when he's just woken up from a fight." A familiar yet slightly different toned voice chuckled amusingly, causing Jaune to turn his eyes away.

Jaune's eyes went wide in surprise, finding a tall lanky man with dirty blond hair tied back in a short ponytail and dark blue riding jacket and white slacks standing across the hall. His face was familiar, like he had seen it somewhere on a certain candlestick.

"Lumiere?!"

Lumiere chuckled as he bowed to the stunned blond knight. He grinned brightly, happy to see that their guest was healed and walking about.

"The one and only! My, I do say that it does feel wonderful to be able to move about so freely with a human body again." The once candlestick chuckled mirthfully as he walked over to the two. "I almost thought I would have forgotten how to simply walk, but it's like riding a bike. You never forget such things." he said wistfully.

"So, the curse was broken?" Jaune couldn't help but ask as he looked over Lumiere's human form. He thought he had only freed Eve's curse, not the others. Or was there something he wasn't understanding?

Lumiere shrugged, "I suppose? I can't say for sure that the requirements were filled seeing as Cogsworth's clock read three minutes past twelve when our bodies began to return to their old forms. A lot of strange things had happened those few hours ago. I heard that even some of the knights who had perished had somehow came to life. Though I wouldn't question it." Lumiere said brightly with a pat of his human chest, "Miracles are not to be understood, but accepted after all."

Questions filled Jaune's head and he scratched his head. Did Lumiere say something about the dead coming to life? Wait, few hours ago? How long was he asleep? It looked like he had slept for a day.

Seeing the questioning look in Jaune's eyes, Lumiere decided it was time to continue with what he had come to do. He couldn't keep those girls waiting any longer.

"I would love to explain everything to you, Monsieur Arc, but I insist that we hold off on those questions for the moment. I was told to bring you over to the Main hall by my mademoiselle." Lumiere's said with a smile as he began to lead both Jaune and Belle to the meeting spot.

"Eve?" So, she was awake? That was good. Jaune sighed in relief as he followed behind the fancy gentleman, eager to see his friend after all she had gone through. Hopefully she wasn't hurt, he and Oswald didn't hold back in their fight against her Grimm form.

Jaune didn't have to wait long on seeing how Eve was doing as he recognized the large mahogany doors to the main hall. If the nights events did happen only hours ago, it made sense to see the door cracked and splintered by the ballista that had been fired into the castle. He could still make out scorch marks here and there as he found the now human staff working on cleaning the place up. He smiled as the staff noticed him and waved at him with smiles on their faces.

'I guess everyone really is free of the curse. Maybe the time was off or something?' No big deal, he supposed. As long as everyone was happy and unharmed, he didn't really care how the curse had been lifted.

Jaune found himself gulping as Lumiere slowly pushed the damaged doors open. A sense of anxiety filled his being. Why? He was just going to see a friend he had saved. Yet he couldn't shake off the odd-

"Hello, my love."

Snow White greeted Jaune, Lumiere, and Belle coldly as she sat in the middle of the extravagant hall on a lone velvet seat. All around her, the castle staff and even her own knights scrambled to fix the place up to proper shape with nervous faces. She nodded gratefully at Goldi, the blond outlaw now wearing a maid's outfit of all things, as she served her a glass of wine. Snow took a small sip, a small smile making its way to her face as she rested her feet on her lovely new footrest.

Eve stared at Jaune with pleading eyes as Snow wriggled her toes on her back, mortified at her current position as a footstool.

Clearly, this was not what any of them had expected.

Jaune wore a blank expression as he stared at the odd sight. He had just come back from death and fought a Boss. He was not dealing with this.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Before Jaune could turn around and hightail it the fuck out of there, the soft giggle of Snow reached his ears along with the horrifying familiar sound of a cracking whip. The beaten black whip she kept on her cut through the air and caught hold of his waist, reeling him in as he fell on his stomach. He clawed the heat warped floors desperately as he was dragged to his doom, his pleas falling on deaf ears as Belle simply watched with a cheery smile.

"WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING!? SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Jaune cried.

"Oh, Jaune, why would I interrupt such a happy reunion? Besides, I'm an S too!" Belle giggled.

Why the hell did he think Belle would help him?

Dragged close to the queen of the ruling kingdom of the land, Jaune was left on the floor by Eve the footstool. Their tearful and joyous reunion after a dark night was put on hold as they stared at another with fear.

"I tried to stop her, but that fucking whip hurt like shit!" Eve cried. Even her newly controlled beast form wasn't able to protect her from that ice bitch's whip. How was something so simple so deadly?

A cold breeze fell over Jaune, confusing him until he found himself rising up by ice growing underneath him. With his lower body encased in a block of ice, Jaune found himself staring into the deep blue eyes of the sadistic queen of Fey, Snow White.

"Uhhhhhh... Hi?" Jaune grinned nervously, sweating as the beautiful raven-haired queen quirked a brow.

"Hi?" Snow drawled with boredom dripping from her voice. She swished the contents of her glass around, her eyes narrowing on the blond before her.

"You disappear for several months after making love with me, forcing me to conduct a manhunt across the lands for you, leave me with nothing but your description, and finally appear after I had thought you for dead because of some vain piece of human garbage, and all you have to say for yourself is 'Hi'?"

"... You look very pretty when you're angry?"

"Thank you for noticing." Shutting her eyes pleasantly, Snow smiled as she snapped her whip. She opened her eyes, her gaze filled with a mixture of love, warmth, and pain for one blond knight. The sadistic grin growing on her lips made Jaune whimper.

"Now, why don't we act out our first meeting?"

"Oh, dear god, No."

Jaune could only watch in vain as Snow lifted her deadly whip up above with a blush and giggle. No amount of squirming in his ice prison could save him now.

At least he got some confirmation on his status of virginity.

"JAAAAAAUUUUUNNNNEEE!"

Snow paused her act of affection and her eyes went wide as dinner plates in surprise. The familiar shout was accompanied by a blur of red breaking Jaune out of her ice. Surprised by what just happened, she found herself falling back with a squeal no queen should make.

"I'M FREE, BITCHES!" Eve shouted in victory, standing proud over her tormentor with a wide grin. She chuckled evilly, her right arm forming into The Beast's with a fireball in hand. Sweet, sweet, payback.

Dazed and confused as the room spun around him, Jaune found himself lying on his back again with a weight settled on top of him. His nose tickled, catching a whiff of cookies and... roses? With his senses coming back to him, Jaune looked down to the weight and found eyes of gleeful gray.

Red Riding Hood, the first person he had met in the world of Fey, greeted Jaune with a happy grin.

"Jaune! Oh, I'm so happy that you're alive and well! You know, you had me worried to death once you disappeared, mister!" Red grumbled as she jabbed her finger into Jaune's chest. "I spent months trying to find you, but you never gave me your name. Guess we did get lost in the passion of the moment, huh?" she giggled in embarrassment.

Jaune gulped anxiously, recalling the day he had arrived to Fey and met the young red caped girl.

"Y-Yeah, guess we did." Now that he thought of it, he never did give his name to any of them. Too much had been going on at the time for introductions.

"DIE, YOU ICY BITCH!"

"How unruly! It seems I will have one of my men fetch me a leash to heel you in, beast."

Both Jaune and Red winced as Eve and Snow ran around the main hall, throwing their respective magics at one another and causing more damage to the area. The poor staff and knights could only watch the mayhem since they wanted no part in getting in between their masters.

Still stuck in the embarrassingly revealing maid uniform, Goldi had finally had enough. Eyes searing orange, the outlaw threw her hands out and caught the back of both Eve and Snow's clothing, stopping them mid swing of their fists and whip. She glowered at the two-powerful woman, her eyes narrowed dangerously as a small whimper escaped their lips.

"Ya done? Because Goldi Locks ain't afraid to beat down some childish punks when they're supposed to be having a heartwarming reunion!"

Eve and Snow nodded shyly, almost too afraid to speak up under the eyes of Goldi. Happy that they understood, Goldi dropped the two women, earning yelps of surprise as they hit the floor, before turning her now blue eyes to Jaune and Red. She smiled warmly as she walked over, feeling at ease now that Jaune was up.

"It's good to see you again, bub. I should have known better than to believe some random asshole that you were dead. My man would never die so easily!" Goldi grinned widely as she pulled both teens up on their feet.

Dead? Putting together the bits he had gathered from the girls, Jaune wasn't happy with what he came up with.

"Let me get this straight." Jaune groaned as he pinched the bridge of his brows in annoyance, "Gaston, I believe, spread a rumor that I had died to The Beast. And he said my name was Juan?" There it was again, the eye twitch. That dirty son of a bitch.

The fairy tale girls all nodded together as Belle came over to stand with the rest.

"Well, for the record, my names not Juan. It's Jaune, Jaune Arc." Jaune grumbled sourly.

Snow rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, "I already know that by now. Oswald had informed us all of the situation once we've taken Gaston into custody. I'll be sure that buffoon suffers for the rest of his days for making a fool of me." Snow whispered the last part to herself with a growl.

Oswald? "Wait, where is he? I have to thank him for everything!" It was because of him that he had been able to Dive into Eve's heart in the first place. Jaune wasn't sure he would have stood a chance against the two bosses by himself. Most of the heavy damage had been dealt by the aloof sorcerer.

Hesitation grew in Snow's eyes. It didn't look like she wanted to say anymore concerning Oswald as her eyes glanced away, ridden with guilt. That worried Jaune.

Seeing that, Red stepped in with a small smile.

"Don't worry, Ossy's fine! He did get hurt in the fight like you did, but he's recovered more than enough of his magic to heal himself. He's just... busy at the moment." she said weakly.

Jaune frowned, "Busy? Is there something he needs help with? I owe the guy for all that he's done, so I could hel-"

"It's nothing you can help with, Maggot." Eve snapped, her eyes narrowed bitterly as she clenched her fists. She couldn't stare at him any longer, turning her eyes down to the ruined floor as she spoke softly, "It's to help you. To help you go back home to wherever you came from."

Silence grew as Jaune's eyes widened in surprise. Go home? Oswald could take him back to his world? Why hadn't he done that earlier? If he had gone back to Remnant, then he could have simply had Ren or Professor Antheia heal the Curse. Why now?

Home. A longing smile grew on Jaune's lips at the idea. How long had it been? A week? Almost an entire week since he had woken up to the sight of his team gathered around him, waiting for their leader to wake up and start the day with them. After so long apart from them all, he found himself stricken with homesickness.

But that meant leaving this world.

Jaune could see it, the solemn glint in Red, Snow, Goldi, Belle, and Eve's eyes. They had searched for months to find him, the knight in white armor who had helped them in their own way. And after finding out that special someone was still alive and back in front of them, he was leaving again.

Without even meaning to, he had created another set of bonds. And he was abandoning those bonds for others.

"You don't belong in this world, do you?"

Jaune was broken out of his thoughts by Belle, the woman staring at him with knowing eyes.

"... Why the hell are you wearing only lingerie?" Goldi couldn't help but ask in the middle of the tense moment.

Her question went ignored, sadly, as Jaune struggled to say something back. Revealing that there were other worlds was not a good idea. Who knew what could happen if they knew that they were all simply part of some odd world contained in a dusty old book? But Belle seemed to have caught on to his origins. She may have been strange and kinky, but she was wiser than she looked.

Belle took Jaune's silence as an answer, "I came to realize that after talking with the other girls about their encounters with you. And put together with you lack of the basic knowledge of our world and Oswald's clarification, it wasn't too hard to guess. A random sweet looking guy popping out of nowhere is too out of the ordinary even in a world of magic, you know?" Belle giggled with a wink.

"No, seriously. I can see her tits and everything."

"So, it only makes sense that you would have to return to your world. We can't keep you here to ourselves, not when you still have people who actually know you back home." Belle added sadly.

Not one of them knew much about Jaune Arc. Even Belle and Eve who had known him the longest of all five of them didn't get too much out of him. Not when he was always bedridden and nervous about speaking about his home. Which made sense now, he didn't want others to know he was not of this world. And as much as they had all come to love Jaune in their own unique way, he wasn't theirs's.

"That does not matter."

Breaking the silence, Snow stepped forward and stood in front of Jaune, her features set in a stubborn scowl. Like the rest of them, she knew of his foreign origins thanks to Oswald. That didn't mean she accepted them.

"I have worked too long and hard to find my beloved to let him go again. And I don't care what that brat says, I'm not letting him go back. Not when I haven't even had a single minute alone with him!" Snow declared angrily, her voice quivering at the end as her hand fell on the rapier on her waist.

"Snow." Jaune looked down in guilt. He remembered what Goldi had said when he had saved her from Eve's corrupted form. Did they all feel the same way? Abandoned and used? He hadn't felt this low since he had ignored Pyrrha's helping hand when he was being bullied by Cardin.

"Too bad, Ice bitch. It's not your decision to make." Despite the more serious threat of harm by the ice queen, Eve stepped up to Snow with a hard glare. She wasn't happy either with Jaune leaving, she had half a mind to keep him prisoner like she did Belle, but she had come to learn a lot thanks to both her friends.

"We can't force him to stay here with us, not when he still has people that need him. The idiot's got his own responsibilities to think of first."

"Responsibilities? If we're talking of such things, then we should talk about the responsibility he's come into for bedding a queen of a nation." Snow replied flatly.

'I still can't believe that we did it.' Jaune thought incredulously. There didn't appear to be any lies in her words, and what reason would she have to lie about having sex with him of all people?

"You did kinda force yourself on him." Goldi added before scratching her own neck with a nervous laugh, "Though I can't say much else myself. I did drag him into a threesome, what man would say no to that."

Eve had to hold herself back from attacking the blond knight in a fit of rage. That smooth son of a bitch! And here she thought he was innocent and all that crap! She had been this close from crossing a very delicate line with him, if it wasn't for Snow getting in the way at the last minute. From the looks of it, Belle had the same idea.

"Getting back on track." Eve said through ground teeth and a raging fist, "Jaune has his own problems to deal with, I'm sure, back where he comes from. And we can't keep him prisoner here against his will. Love can't be born from imprisonment." she said softly with her amber turned to Jaune.

Snow's face twisted in conflict, fighting with her own desires as she took in the beast woman's words. She could feel all their eyes on her, pleading with her to calm down and not draw her blade. Her shoulders trembled as she tightly gripped her hilt.

They didn't understand. The loneliness she had suffered at the hands of her family. To be tossed aside simply because of her beauty threatening a vain woman. And to fall into a deep sleep, seeing nothing but darkness around her. She had been alone, without even a single person caring that she would ever wake up.

But not him, not Snow's knight in white armor. He had broken her out of her cursed sleep with a loving kiss. And the kiss, it felt as if she had already known his lips. His voice. His eyes. In those tender moments together, she had felt as if she had always known him. To have Jaune leave again after she had finally found her, it broke her heart. She would be alone all over again.

A warm pair of strong arms found themselves circling around her waist. A small gasp escaped Snow's lips as Jaune brought her close to a hug, calming her sword hand as the raven-haired queen gulped anxiously.

Jaune couldn't take it anymore. He could hear it, the sadness and the loneliness in Snow's voice. He never really put much thought into how his sudden departures would affect the girls in this world. It was just some mini world that granted him bonuses after all. It was all just part of a game. Why put that much thought into NPC's?

But that was exactly how Ren, Adam, and Roman saw the people in their world. And that was exactly what Jaune had been fighting to avoid.

Wrapping Snow in his arms, Jaune held her close as he spoke.

"I... never meant to make you feel so alone and abandoned, Snow. That was the last thing I wanted. Trust me, I didn't have any control over how long I could stay with any of you." Jaune said to not only Snow, but Red and Goldi. The two girls felt the same, he was sure. It was painted all over their faces. He laughed weakly as he thought back to the last moments he shared with either girl, "I can't even remember what I did before I found myself going back to my world. But it seems that I've shared very intimate moments with you before I left. I really am the worst and deserve whatever I have coming to me." he said bitterly with acceptance.

He wasn't surprised to feel Snow pull away from his arms, finding the snow themed queen's rapier whipping out to stare him directly in the face. That was fine, he deserved whatever punishment he had in store for using them and leaving them behind without so much as a goodbye.

Snow's eyes displayed anger and sorrow as tears gathered in her eyes. He didn't even remember their special time together. She really did feel used. But, her grip weakened as she stared into those solemn blue eyes. She just couldn't find it in her to strike him down.

And it was her own fault.

"Why? Why did I have to fall for some good-hearted idiot?" Snow's voice quivered as she spoke softly and dropped her blade to her side.

Stepping beside her friend, Goldi patted the raven-haired queen in comfort as she smiled weakly.

"You're not the only one, Snow. We can't exactly place any blame on the guy when we're the ones to make the first move. We all pretty much jumped the gun when he saved us without giving him any say on the matter. I guess we all just got caught up at the thought of first love."

It was ridiculous when Goldi thought about it, falling in love with a man she knew nothing about. Guess she was still a kid at heart to fall for some fairy tale scenario like that.

Jaune frowned sadly at the hurt in their eyes. This wasn't how he wanted to leave them again. For once, he wanted to leave on a positive note in this world.

"That's fine, you don't need to explain yourself too much Jaune! I understand."

All heads spun to Red, the younger of all five not at all upset with Jaune's departure again. She was still beaming with a sunny smile on her face.

Goldi was extremely confused at what Red had just said, "What are you saying, Little Red? You of all people should be upset about this! Hell, you're the first one of us to have met him and have him abandon you!" she said in frustration, earning an annoyed glare from said riding hood.

"He didn't abandon me, it was beyond his control. He's not the kind of person who would do such thing!"

Eve quirked a brow as she addressed Red with an irritated stare, "And how would you know that? If I'm hearing things right, you all haven't spent more than half an hour with him. How would you know the kind of man he is?" she scoffed at the naive girl.

"Because, I can feel it in my soul." Red answered simply and honestly, her hands clenching the area over her heart as she smiled, "I can't explain it all too well, but I can feel the kind of person he is. Almost like I've always known him. The sense of familiarity tells me enough to know he's not some scumbag. He's Jaune, my friend."

With a skip in her step, Red walked past the other girls and stopped in front of Jaune. She grinned brightly, taking Jaune back as he swore another cute redhead's face overlapped her.

"You know, it's not nice to keep a girl waiting. Right?"

One by one, Red, Snow, Goldi, and Belle's features were overlapped by four similar women in his life. Each one of them waiting for him to return. All with smiles on their faces. It choked Jaune up as he shut his eyes tightly and held back a tear. He knew what he had to do, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

"I leave for ten minutes and you all can't stop yourselves from turning what should be a heartwarming scene into drama? I swear, you all don't know a thing about happy endings."

The doors to the main hall had creaked open as Oswald stepped in with a cup of tea in hand, his aloof smile plastered on his face. He let out an amused chuckle at what he found. An out of this world knight and five girls who refused to let him leave. Guess he had some fault for that.

"Oswald? What are you doing here?" Jaune asked as the young sorcerer gave him a flat stare.

"How hard were you hit in the head, Mr. Arc? I'm pretty sure you know why I am here. After all, I'm the only one capable of sending you back to your home." Oswald said with a calm sip of his hot tea. With his trusty cane in hand, the dark bed haired man gave it a fancy twirl before raising it up high. The round emerald head of the cane grew bright, giving off a growing light.

"Now then, how about we get this over with? I'm sure you're tired of this little world and wish to return back to your own. After all, there's nothing left for you here."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

Oswald grew curious as he found Jaune's blue eyes glaring into his own passive hazel. The outburst was certainly uncalled for.

Reigning in his sudden temper, Jaune frowned in the light of the magic gathering in Oswald's cane.

"This world has so much to offer, as if I would grow bored with it! And there's plenty here for me to stay for too!" Jaune shouted strongly before turning to the eyes of the five girls behind him. His frown softened as he smiled gently at the new friends he had found inside this oddity of a world.

Because they were his friends, he couldn't think of them as anything less. Not with how emotional they felt at him leaving them.

"I don't want to leave you guys, not when there's still so much I want to learn about you. I want more than anything to make more memories with you and have fun together. But there's still so much I have to do back home."

There was a game to be played. Fates to be altered. And friends that still needed him along every step of their adventure.

Jaune couldn't stay in Fey. But that didn't mean he was leaving forever.

"I'm not abandoning any of you, I would never do something so wrong to a friend! So, don't worry, I'll be back again to see you girls again. You're my friends too. Which means I have to protect you all with everything I've got! And I don't abandon my friends so easily!" he proclaimed loudly as he thumped his chest. He then smiled nervously as he spoke, "Just, how about next time we don't jump straight into any drama or romance? I'm just one guy after all! I'd just like to hang out with you all first and have fun. Think you can do that?"

The five girls, each from different walks of life and their own unique stories, were not happy with their beloved knight bidding them farewell. They had each found him back in their lives after losing him, they weren't so ready to have him leave again with no idea when he would return. But they knew that there was no stopping Jaune from continuing whatever self-imposed mission he was on. They just knew, that no matter what kind of happiness they would promise him here, in this world untouched by the laws and rules of his own world, that he would not budge in staying. After all, that wasn't the kind of man they had each fallen for. The kind who would make friends with complete strangers with a bright smile on his face.

And they all understood that in this moment, watching the knight become shrouded by the ethereal emerald light of Oswald's spell. A hero like himself would shrug off happiness for bringing happiness to others. And he still had an entire world to work his magic.

Snow breathed in a deep, longing sigh before straightening up her face. No tears, she would not have the man who had awoken her from eternal sleep leave with the memory of her teary face.

"I suppose there is nothing left to say on the matter. No amount of whipping or threatening will stop you from your return to your home world. I must accept that." Snow huffed before narrowing her blue eyes at Jaune, those orbs promising what was to eventually come the next they met, "But that does not mean I will forget of you. You still have to take responsibility for bedding the queen of an entire nation! When next we meet, you will accept your responsibilities as the future king of Fey! I will not go on another man hunt for my king!"

"B-But can't we just be friends!?" Jaune sputtered with a nervous blush.

"Nope~!" Goldi said flatly with a pop of her mouth before grinning mischievously, "Waaaaaay too late for that! A friend doesn't make love the way we did. Whether you like it or not, you are my hubby. Even a notorious gang leader such as myself needs someone to love and pamper her! Plus, theirs Scarlet, ya gotta take responsibility for her too."

"BUT YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DRAGGED HER INTO IT!" Jaune shouted incredulously with an annoyed expression on his sweating face. How was he at fault for that?

"No fair! How come they all got to screw around with you, but we didn't?" Belle pouted angrily as she crossed her chest, knowingly pushing up her creamy mounds. Jaune's face went red in both embarrassment and frustration as she winked and grinned, "I guess I'll just have to wait until next time. In the meantime, I'll just have to take out my sexual frustrations on literature... and Eve."

"Wait, WHAT!? LEAVE ME THE HELL OUT OF THIS, YA HORNY BITCH!"

"Seriously, put some clothes on." Jaune said blankly, his blush gone as he stared at the sexy almost nude brunette bookworm with a spazzing brow, "Read the room, damn it."

Belle giggled at the annoyed face on her knight before her eyes went gentle. She moved swiftly, catching Jaune by complete surprise before the gasp on his lips were deafened. A pair of subtle lips locked his own shut. It was a simple, innocent kiss that warmed both party's souls. Slowly pulling back from the kiss, Belle grinned happily at the stunned blonde with a pink dust on her cheeks.

"I truly am thankful to have gotten to meet you these last few days. You've changed my life and became someone I can honestly say is my closest friend too. And to see you breathing after losing you, I've cemented the love I have for not just one person, but two. You made me believe that there truly is beauty in a soul." Belle said softly with teary hazel eyes of joy.

Fighting off the deep blush on her own face, Eve looked towards Jaune with conflicting emotions. There was no fire in her usual wrathful gaze, only a bitter acceptance. She took a step forward, causing Jaune to gulp anxiously after Belle's surprise attack on his lips. She rolled her eyes at the man, though her own emotions were wild with fear and excitement.

"Maggo-... J-Jaune, I... I..." Eve struggled to speak as she stood in front of Jaune, the man who had somehow opened up her heart and cleared her vision to the sight of all the love gathered around her. The one who had put up with her abuse, her shouting, her cruelty, and hate. All with a smile on his face. Not of pity, no, she was sure of that now. It was understanding, sympathy. She swallowed a lump in her throat, her eyes trembling and her face hot as her lips quivered. She shut her eyes, hating herself as she bowed her head.

"I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?" Jaune said in confusion at the sudden apology, "For what? You didn't do anything wro-"

A vial of clear liquid swished in front of his face, courtesy of Eve's outstretched arm, shaking with her emotions.

"Oswald completed the Purity Potion a day after you gave him the recipe. He handed it to me, trusting me to hand it over to you so you could leave my castle sooner than expected. But I didn't give it you, I've kept it to myself all this time!" Eve cried in guilt, her eyes trailing with tears as she stared at the ground. She didn't care that anyone saw her in her weakest, sniffing as all the pent-up emotions inside came flooding out.

"I didn't want to admit it then, but I didn't want you to leave. I didn't want Belle to leave. I didn't want anyone to leave me all alone again! I would rather keep you prisoner in my castle, wounded and bedridden by my side for all eternity! Anything so that you would never leave me with only half a heart!"

If she had just given Jaune the damn potion, he wouldn't have died as he did. She didn't know how he had come back to life with them, but she knew he had passed from this world protecting her from harm. Had his cursed been cured, maybe he would have had the strength to not just save her, but himself. Right? Or wouldn't it have mattered? Would he have still died protecting a beast?

Eve's thoughts were interrupted suddenly as she felt a fist softly hit the top of her head. Her blurry amber eyes filled with hot tears parted open, finding the damned, stupid, idiot, simple minded, soft smile facing her.

"Is that it? That's why you're sorry?" Jaune couldn't help but chuckle at the usually violent redhead. "Well, I guess I can accept it."

"Eh?" Eve blinked, not believing that Jaune would accept her apology. With his character and all, she expected him to fight her and say she had nothing to feel sorry about.

Seeing the confusion, Jaune ruffled the beast woman's hair, careful to mind the horns as he smiled warmly.

"To feel sorry, is to feel regret, sympathy, and empathy. Only someone with a loving heart would ever apologize! So, you see, you do have a heart full of love! And you should never turn a blind eye to it, okay?"

For a good minute, Eve just continued to stare at the blond boy in stunned silence. The jumble of emotions grew still, calming down as a single emotion stood out from the rest proudly. The emotion she had denied for far too long.

'Be honest with yourself, Eve. There are no wardens or prisoners here, just friends enjoying a lovely night together. Don't let something as silly as some fool's curse stop you from being you.'

For once, Eve would listen. And be honest with herself.

Again, Jaune's eyes went wide in surprise as Eve jumped him and her lips fell softly over his own. He stared up at the tall woman a good few inches taller than him, not sure what to do with his current situation. One thing was for sure, he could never admit to anyone that he never had a kiss. Especially one as loving as Eve's.

Breaking off from her first kiss, Eve took Jaune by further surprise as she grabbed him roughly by his collar and glared down at him. All with a soft blush on her ticked off face.

"I don't care how long it takes, but you will come back to us! Even if I have to roar to the heavens to part a way to your world! Because I refuse to have half of my heart leave Belle and I ever again!" Eve shouted hoarsely, her face fresh with warm tears again. She didn't care though, she was done hiding her feelings.

"You're my friend too, and I love you. So, please come back again."

Internally, Jaune was running around in circles, clasping his rosy cheeks with babbling lips and wide eyes as he had not one, but two kisses from two different women in a single moment. But right now, he simply pushed all that aside for another time as nodded simply to Eve's words with a promising smirk on his face.

"Yeah, I promise. And an Arc never goes back on his word."

The ethereal energy twisting around Jaune's body grew stronger in rotation, signaling the near completion of the spell. All that was left was one last goodbye.

With all the other girls stepping back to give them some room, Jaune and Red were the only ones left as they stood across from one another. Jaune found himself confused again as he stared at Red, the first girl he had come to know when he had arrived in this strange yet magical world.

Dense, Jaune may be, but when someone kisses you as they had all done, he was sure to get the picture. Hard not to. But each of them had a reason for their affections of him being so deep. Snow, because he had freed her from a cursed eternal sleep with true love's first kiss. Goldi, because he had saved her at her weakest, from a rival gang who aimed to kill her, like some knight in white armor. And Belle and Eve because he had showed them both love in each other. And then there was Red.

What did he do to deserve such accepting friendship and adoration from the young red head? Before he left, he had to know.

"Don't keep them waiting too long, okay?"

Before Jaune could open his mouth and ask Red the question in mind, the red riding hood girl beat him. She smiled simply at him, her gray eyes full of mirth as her hands fell behind her small back.

"Them?" Jaune asked, puzzled as Red nodded her head energetically.

"Your friends, duh! You've been gone for so long, they're probably worried as we were. Hopefully they didn't go overboard like Snow and go on a manhunt for you. That would be embarrassing." Red snickered.

"Yeah, that would be." Jaune said slowly, blinking as he stared at the odd girl in front of him. Seeing his stare, Red tilted her head innocently to the side, staring back at him oddly.

For a single moment, Red's was overlapped again besides Ruby as they both spoke as one.

"What's wrong, Jaune? Are you feeling alright?"

A small smile grew on Jaune's face as he shook his head. There was no need to ask her why it seemed. Not when her soul was as simple as another girl in red.

"Nothing. I guess I'm just going to miss you girls is all." Jaune said with a bittersweet tone in his voice, addressing all the girls around him before his eyes fell on Red, "I just wish I had more time to spend with you all. Especially you, Red. We've hardly had any time to talk with another since you jumped me back in your grandmother's cabin."

Red wasn't upset with the current situation, her smile still intact as Jaune's body began to fade like an aging photo. She knew, just like the others, that their knight would return to them someday in some way. Until then, she would just continue to wait alongside her friends. She wasn't alone after all.

Red's arms wrapped themselves around Jaune's waist as she rested her head against his chest. She felt at peace, comfortable from the warm energy he gave off. She couldn't help but close her eyes, almost as if she could snooze off there and then in his arms.

"Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to hang out with each other when we meet again. This time, we'll start things off right as we should have. Our story isn't over yet, so I'll wait for you to continue where we left off." Red said warmly, her own blush spreading as she felt his protective hand tussle her dark red locks.

Jaune chuckled at the girl, glad that she of all people understood where he wanted to start off. Sadly, there wasn't much time to talk, he could feel whatever magic Oswald was performing pull him to his home. This story was coming to an end. For now.

"I'll see you again then, Red. I can't wait to see where our story takes us next."

The sound of a bell like chime echoed across the walls of the main hall as Ruby felt the warm body disappear, almost like his body had become air bubbles that softly popped. The absence of her friend's body caused a somber smile to fall on her face for a second before her usual happy lift came back. Now wasn't the time to be feeling sad, not when she had friends feeling the same. Someone needed to bring joy back into their lives.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see him again, Ms. Riding Hood." Stepping down to the girls gathered around the hall, Oswald gave them his patent aloof smile.

Goldi cocked her brow at the strange man, being one of the few who had no idea to who he was. Only that he was some powerful magician or something.

"And how would you know?"

Oswald smirked to himself as he took a calming sip of his steaming cup of tea.

"Just a feeling, I suppose. After all, a hero is never satisfied until he's achieved a happy ending for everyone." he answered cryptically.

And this world's stories were yet to be opened. There were quite a few more tales to be told in this vast world.

---

"He's still sleeping! Ren, I think he's caught your sickness."

"How is this my fault? You can't be infected with laziness. Otherwise you wouldn't be so you."

"He did have a rough day yesterday. Most likely his wounds and stamina have taken a toll on him. Perhaps we should let him rest? Jaune's certainly deserved it."

"Nope! We may have the next few weeks off, but that doesn't excuse sleeping!"

"Yes, yes it does."

"Eh, too late! I've already prepped myself for a cannonball!"

"NORA NO!"

Groggily opening his eyes, Jaune slowly rose himself up with a yawn before the shout of a hyperactive hammer girl sent fear down his spine. Looking up, he could only shriek as Nora flipped gracefully in the air before performing a dive bomb overhead.

"Cannonball!"

Nora was not hefty, she was actually more muscle than anything else despite her petite and cute form. So, when the so called self-proclaimed queen of the castle dropped down onto Jaune's stomach, it was to be expected that his breath was robbed of him as he sat up in a silent shout. The bed wobbled, threatening to break under her famous cannonball but held true as he fell back with a hoarse moan. The world spun around him, his lungs failing to recapture the air they had lost.

Was it too late to go back to the world of fairy tales?

Regaining his senses after the rude wake up call, Jaune gingerly sat up, Nora removing herself with a snicker. He glared weakly at his very energetic teammate and rubbed his aching stomach. He was pretty sure it was bruised now.

"I only ask why?" Jaune grumbled.

"Because it's eight in the morning, Jaune-Jaune!" Nora answered with a scoff, ignoring the shaking heads of both Ren and Pyrrha behind her, "I know we have the next few weeks off and junk, but you can't spend them sleeping in bed for all of your vacation. Not even Ren would."

"That I would." Ren added in objection, fully dressed in his usual wear as he yawned, "But when you live with Nora, you can't stay asleep for more than eight hours a day. Not even on holiday." he grumbled sourly.

While Pyrrha wasn't happy with the way Nora had woken her partner up, she was glad that Jaune was up. No matter how many times she tried to wake him he wouldn't respond. Which she couldn't blame him. He did go through a lot in his exam, not to mention his fight with Helios must have drained him completely. If it was up to her, she would have left him to his sleep. But they did have plans today.

"I'm sorry for the wakeup call, Jaune." Pyrrha apologized with a weak chuckle, "But you know Nora, when she's up to something, there's not much that can be done to stop her."

She wasn't wrong there. Sighing, Jaune scratched the back of his head as he began to fully wake up. Did Nora say eight in the morning? That meant he was asleep for a good ten hours. How many of that was spent in Fey?

"It's alright, other than some internal bleeding, I'm fine." Jaune yawned while he stretched his back. Funny how despite the fact he had been fighting earlier and spent several days inside a world separated from his own, he found himself refreshed.

Nora rolled her eyes at her leader, waving off his grimacing face, "You've survived worst and you know it. Now come on! I've already messaged team RWBY that we'd meet them for breakfast, so doll yourself up, drama queen!" she grinned before following Pyrrha and Ren out, leaving himself to his privacy.

Fighting off another yawn, he got off his bed, Jaune automatically turned for the bathroom to freshen up and change before frowning. An odd little clink entered his ears as something fell off of him. Out of curiosity he turned his eyes down and found the oddest thing.

A dark red marble rolled to his feet, hitting his big toe softly with a glass like clink. Picking it up, he found it was only two inches tall and smoother than any other ball he had ever touched. Inside the marble was filled with dark red twisting energy like wisps. It gave off an odd emotion as he squinted.

As dark and vile as it appeared, it didn't feel dark, evil, cruel, malicious, or corrupt. It felt, it felt-

"Spiteful." Jaune frowned as he rolled the marble around his fingers.

That was the only word to describe it. Using his Scan, he frowned deepened at what he found.

Nothing. No description, no name, no nothing. The Game, Will, or Husk didn't have anything to say about it. Almost as if it didn't belong in the world.

"Jaune, hurry up! If we miss out on breakfast because of you, I won't be to blame for a certain set of bones on you breaking!"

Gulping in fear at the threat, Jaune decided to worry about the odd little marble some other time. Despite it not having any in game description, he was happy that he could still pocket it in his Inventory. With a reminder to ask Ren about it later, Jaune rushed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

The bookshelf by Jaune's bed trembled lightly as the door to the bathroom was shut. From its shelf, a rather bulky old dusty book fell to the floor with a thump. The book twitched, flipping open to the first page as a glow was released from its pages.

Table of Contents:

1. Innocence.

2. Duty.

3. Bravery.

4. Love and Spite.

The letters on the page flashed. An ink like dot of gold suddenly began to furiously scribble on the old page by some unknown force before burning itself out, leaving behind four new contents.

5. Glory.

6. Peace.

7. Joy.

8.?

The old book shut itself with a snap. All that could be heard was the sound of a shower as it laid on the floor.

Waiting for the next chapter of a long adventure to come.

---

This tale is finished. A Happy Ending, what all seek in this world.

But that is just the world of fairy tales. Can such a thing be possible in your reality?

It's a new day outside. Let's welcome a new Act in this world with a promise. A promise to continue on as you always do. To never lose sight of what makes you a 'Hero'.

But when you're fated for an infinite life, can such a promise be kept? Or has it already been broken by some cruel chance? How long can you continue on as 'cliche'?

Beware of your own naivety.

Act 2, here we come! Just how will things chance as we head into V2? New characters, enemies, an organization following negativity, and a fated clash of white and black to come! I'm excited, I hope you all are too. Especially the time before the dance. Oh boy, is that going full of drama and conflict. I've already got it mostly planned out, so what the hell? This isn't cemented, but this is what's to come as Arcs for Act2.

Arc-1: A Special Place Tucked Far Away~!

Arc-2: Arrivals.

Act-3 Part 1: Unrequited Affections.

Arc-3 Part 2: A Grimm Order.

Arc-4: A Breach in Soul/Finale.

I hope not to make this Act as long as Act 1, I hope. But we'll see how it goes as I type. I'm already working on the first Arc, that's going to be a fun one for those who watch a certain cartoon.

Now that the special is done, I'd like to know how it went. Was it good? Or should I have just skipped straight to Act 2? I know originally it wasn't suppose to be more than two chapters, but I got carried away with the story I was writing. I know have something like this planned again at the end of Act 2. Trust me, that old book will become very important down the road. At least we'll be back into the good old DLC's at the end of every few chapters. While you're at it, got any ideas for DLC? A Developer must always get some feedback on DLC.

Now, it's time for me to go. I got to finish writing the next chapter of AJOAT while my Beta edits the next chapter to be published. Time to find some rock for this fight scene! I just ask you all to be patient, I don't want the guy to rush if he's still feeling ill or pressured to finish quickly. A good story comes to those who wait.

Oh! And for those who're interested, I've joined Discord under the same name, NeoShadows. I'm under the Arkos Server since DragonManMax invited me to chat. Cool dudes, I've had some good laughs since I joined the chats. Now if only I can remember when I created an account for Discord. It was literally there and logged in for me when I got in. Weird.

Remember to Read and Review! It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.