CH 19
The plan was simple. Survive the night, develop a purging agent, deliver it to all four poisoned underground lakes and eliminate any eggs of the new Harrowed, that they'd nicknamed 'Headhunters.'
It went quite well too - Clay used his Semblance to melt and seal the metal door separating the mansion from caves where the Headhunters lived. They still kept watch, and never went anywhere alone. Jaune was making good progress with the purging agent, and everything was looking good.
Right up till around midnight, when Doc - an experienced Hunter in his mid-thirties, the same person who was patching up Jaune and Ori after their fight with the Warper - ran out of the mansion half-naked, screaming at the top of his lungs that he was 'chosen,' and that 'I am about to ascend'.
They managed to catch him and drag back to the mansion before the Ghouls, or Headhunters got to him, but the man was struggling the whole time. They had to bind and gag him. Soon after, Clay started to act strange - talking to himself, calling out to people that weren't there, not reacting when they tried to talk to him. Thankfully, he didn't try to do anything crazy, and returned to normal after Foxy slapped him in the face.
Now every Hunter was gathered in the meeting room. None of them looked good.
"So, how's Doc?" Asked the Old Man.
Clay sighed.
"Clam now. Foxy is keeping an eye on him."
"Good. So, considering the fact that we apparently are starting to hallucinate, I think none of you ladies will argue with the idea that we need to speed up our plans a bit?"
There were a few grunts of approval, before Cap - a silent man with red eyes, red hair, and dressed in simple t-shirt, jeans, and jacket - all in different shades of red - spoke up.
"Do we know what caused these hallucinations?"
"Yes. I ran some blood tests, and it turns out that the concentration of this, let's call it a mutagen, in our blood rose significantly. Mine is at six percent, Clay's was around eight. It wasn't even one percent last time I checked. The concentration in air went up too, to around ten percent."
"Fuck. Any idea how?"
Clay linked his scroll to the screen on one of the walls. Moments after, it displayed a photo of one of the underground lakes.
"Yeah. Look at that." He said, pointing to some strange device sitting in the middle of the lake.
"This is only one pipe with one of these things attached. At first I thought this was a part of the water distribution system - a filter or something like that, but I found plans for the whole installation in the control room, and there is no mention of such device."
He tapped a few buttons on his scroll, and the display changed to a live feed from the cameras.
"What is even more interesting is that it activated only about four hours ago. No idea how, because no one entered the caves, but the fact is it's working now. And producing steam."
The Old Man raised eyebrow at that.
"Steam? What for?"
"Probably to get the mutagen into the air. It's probably more efficient to do it that way than to use candles, or wait for people to drink it in water. Plus, it would make it easier to spread over large areas." All eyes turned to Jaune. They looked like they were considering his words, maybe looking for alternative explanations.
Judging by their expressions, none of them liked the conclusions they reached.
"So, does that mean we have to go down there and destroy that thing?" Cap asked.
"Not necessarily." All eyes again focused on blond Witcher. "We can actually use it to our advantage. If I deliver the antidote to the lake, that device would help spread it instead of the mutagen."
The Old Man nodded.
"Good call. Then I assume the antidote is ready?"
"Almost. Give me about an hour or so, just to make sure everything is in order."
"Good. Now onto our second problem. Headhunters. We know there are at least five of them out there, and more ready to hatch at any moment. We can't leave those fuckers alone, they are far too smart. But with us not knowing how many of them there are, more ready to spawn at any moment, and all the Ghouls around - we are short on options. So here is what we're gonna do. We split into two teams. Toto and Jaune will go to the lake with the vaporizer, or whatever it is called, and purge it. The rest of us will head for the cave where we saw the eggs. We have three jobs - drag any attention away from kid and Toto, kill any Headhunter we find, and destroy as many eggs as we can. As soon as those two are done with their job, we get back, seal the doors, and get the hell out of this city."
"What about eggs above ground?"
The Old Man sighed.
"I would love to take them out. But there is just too many hostiles around, and that's not even taking into account all the Grimm that sure as hell to show up sooner rather than later. We need to get out of here, and let HQ know what happened here. Sure, we are close to Vale, so there won't be too many Grimm, but we are all ragged as it is. This is not a job for seven people."
He looked over them, a serious expression on his face.
"Any more questions?"
There were none, and soon they left the meeting room. Clay caught Jaune as he was leaving, asking if he needed any help with the antidote. The blond refused, and headed back to his laboratory, closed door, sat in the chair and sighed.
Of course, the weird monstrosity that he had been seeing ever since meeting started followed him. He didn't see it actually move, It had just sitting on the table in front of him ever since the Old Man started talking, staring at him with its big eyes and wiggling its four tentacles. When Jaune left the room, it was still sitting there, but now when he closed door and looked at his work table - it was there, still staring at him, and still wiggling.
It was annoying.
With a scowl, he got up and walked up to a chemical aperture sitting on the large table, patiently ignoring the… thing, watching him the whole time. It was just a hallucination anyway.
Right?
With a heavy sigh he picked one beaker, swirled it and watched the greenish liquid inside. He put a few drops of it into several sample tubes, watching how the content reacted to the antidote. A few minutes later, when nothing exploded, he nodded with a smile.
Ok, this should do.
But would it? He was basically going in blind. He still had no idea what exactly this mutagen was composed off. This whole antidote was just his wild guess. It could fix things, sure, but it could as easily make them worse.
Ok, finally check up time. Did I forget anything?
He started running through what he knew in his head, looking for anything he could, his eyes wandered around his improvised laboratory. He spared a single glance at his unwanted, and not-existing companion, and scoffed.
This thing was really getting on his nerves. And was it just him, or did it get bigger?
Jaune shook his head. There was no time to be concerned about mere hallucinations. He had very real, and very serious problem at hand, one that he had to give his full attention.
So, the antidote. It was as good as it gets, especially considering the limited equipment, supplies, and time he had to work with. Sure, there wasn't much of it, not nearly enough to purge all four lakes. But for one? Yeah, it should be enough.
Or that was what he was telling himself. Truth was, he wasn't - and couldn't - be sure. There were a million things that could go wrong, his mixture failing to do anything being least of his worries.
Jaune set the beaker with his creation on the table, and focused on it, as if by just staring at it he could figure out if it would work or not.
Is there anything else I could do? Any improvements? Maybe make a less concentrated version, so the other guys can drink it? It should help ease some of the symptoms…
Jaune hummed. The idea was tempting, very tempting, but did they had time? Contrary to what many people believed, making a less concentrated version of medicine was rarely as simple as adding more water to it. There were proportions that had to be kept, and…
He sighed and shook his head. He was just getting himself distracted. He really had to focus, it was no time to be thinking about useless things. Jaune focused on analyzing his antidote. Or tried to.
A black tentacle that slipped around his hand and went into the beaker did a pretty good job of distracting him.
Just ignore it. He told himself, totally not ignoring the now two tentacles wiggling in front of his eyes.
They're not real.
He thought, watching as a few more appeared in his field of vision. Some came from the sides, some from above him, and some from under the table.
Ignore them. He ordered himself, fully focused on one, much thicker than others, that started to wrap itself around his right hand. Or was it thicker? Jaune couldn't really tell. It looked that way, but the way it wrapped itself around his finger, each coil right next to another, made it look like it didn't have any depth, like it was just a black ribbon.
It continued to run around his hand, painting his skin pitch-black. When it reached the elbow, Jaune swung around and...
Close.
Too close.
And far too big. Jaune had no idea how something so big could come so close to him - until he remembered that it was just a hallucination. That totally wasn't real, and he totally didn't fell its tentacles wrapping around him, painting him black, and it for sure didn't have blue eyes just like his, and its face certainly didn't resembled his, and…
A small, deformed hand started raising slowly, Jaune observing it in morbid fascination. One finger pointed at him, the black limb getting closer and closer.
Jaune could move. He could turn around, he could walk away, or even though it. It wasn't real after all. He totally could do it.
The finger was close now, very close, filling most of his vision. The only thing except it he could see were blue eyes, so similar - he meant totally unlike his.
Jaune swallowed.
The finger touched his forehead.
His world went black.
The story the villagers had told him had been like all Harrowed origin stories.
Fucking horrifying.
The young girl, only twelve or so, had been kidnapped and taken to a cabin in the woods by some traveling trader, God help him if he ever found him. No one was entirely sure what had occured in that cabin, but...one could imagine.
He shuddered. Some people were worse than Grimm.
Once the traveler had his fill of whatever torture he had inflicted on the girl, he locked the door to the cabin and lit it on fire...with her still inside.
Now the village had a class 2 Harrowed, because of course it did. These people didn't deserve this, which is why he accepted their meager offer to deal with it. To bring them, and her, peace.
Now all he had to do is not die in the process.
He began arranging his supplies for the Elixir, not for the first time thinking on how similar the process was to cooking, a skill his sisters ensured he was all too familiar with. Both called for the highest quality ingredients, both required strict adherence to the recipe, and the results of both were greater than the sum of their parts. He'd shared this observation with his master once. He'd snorted, and then eloquently provided his own observation. 'But you don't die in agony if you fuck up a cake. Unless you fuck it up REALLY bad.' He was deep like that, his master.
The death by fire, and the charred homes of the villagers, indicated that he was probably dealing with a fire-based Harrow, and he'd chosen his supplies accordingly.
Witch Hazel, Aloe, Mallow Root, and Oak Bark, all natural cures for burns the would help shape the nature of the potion, help dull it into a usable, and most importantly, non-lethal form. All of this was to offset the main ingredient, Ice Dust. He carefully measured out the exact about and mixed it in with the paste he'd made of the other ingredients before pouring it into his flask.
He hesitated a moment before bringing the bottle to his lips. Fun fact about ingesting high-tier Dust Elixirs… it hurt like a bitch.
In for a penny…
He drained the flask in a single go, then immediately began convulsing. The pain and shaking slowly subsiding let him know that he'd managed to get the mixture right. Master would be proud.
As he regained his senses, he began walking through the dense forest in the direction that the villagers told him the cabin had once sat.
Sure enough, it hadn't taken him long to find her. Standing in the middle of a burned clearing was a Harrowed, with jet black skin and formed in a mockery of what the little girl had once looked like, complete with a snow white dress. There were the fangs and razor sharp claws to consider too, he supposed.
"Hi Sam."
The matted mop of black hair turned his way and red eyes found his. Her mouth curled up into a grin, revealing row after row of serrated teeth.
She screamed, and fire shot out from her in every direction, washing over him like a wave. Not dying again was another confirmation the potion was working. His skin heated and blistered, but held under the onslaught.
He was in motion now. Movement born of countless hours of training carried him forward as he weaved between the flames. His black blade was in his hand as he closed the distance, it was the only thing that would matter here.
The first cut elicited a shriek as it bit into her arm. She stuck out in protest, but he was no longer there, he danced around her, his blade flicking out again and again, painting the ground black with blood. She spun and flailed wildly, trying to find something to hit, something to share her pain with. As she overreached in one particularly violent attempt, he found what he was looking for. An opening.
His blade bit deep, sinking into her side, silencing the next wail in her throat as blood began to spill from her lips.
He caught her as she fell. Her face was changing now, gone was the rage and hate, the blackness receded from her, leaving the visage of a scared little girl.
"It's ok Sam, you're ok. You don't have to hurt anymore." He comforted as he stroked her hair.
"Just let go."
She opened her mouth one last time, whether to speak or scream he'd never know. Her eyes started to grow dark, and eventually stilled, all traces of life, even this fake one, gone.
He closed them for her as her body began to fade. In moments she was gone.
His shoulders slumped under an invisible weight
"Sorry I was late." He whispered, a lone tear falling down his cheek.
Jaune woke with a gasp. He looked around, his hand searching for his sword, and his heart threatening to burst out of his chest. After a moment, he calmed down. He was not in the forest, but in monster-infested city.
Good. Very good.
He sighed and got up, one hand massaging his forehead, trying to remember what happened.
I was making a final check on the antidote, then that thing showed up, and I passed out…
He looked around, but there were no traces of his companion. Jaune sighed, closing his eyes, and recalling dream the he had. The dark forest, the small clearing, the burned down house.
And small girl turned into a monster.
He remembered it well. How could he not?
It was first Harrowed he killed on his own, without Leon's help or supervision.
He shook his head to dispel the memories. It wasn't the time, nor the place for this.
Instead he grabbed the beaker with the antidote, and poured it into his canteen. If all went well, he would have no need to hold water in it.
And if things went wrong? Well, then he wouldn't need the water, or anything else, ever again. Happy with his work, he turned towards door. Better to not drag this out any longer. He doubted he was out for long, someone would have come to check on him, but it was best to not let Leon wait - the asshole was…
Jaune paused. Something felt wrong. It's as if…
Ah, right. Leon wasn't there. This wasn't Mistral, this wasn't the small town of Sakurafubuki, that he and Leon visited on a whim, mostly because they were low on supplies, and there were some kind of festival going on there. Jaune couldn't recall what exactly, but he was sure that…
The blond hunter shook his head, dispeling these thoughts. He was getting distracted again. This wouldn't do. With sigh, and another shake of his head, he opened the door, stepping into the corridor.
The first thing that he noticed was the smell of blood.
Second - the bodies lying around.
Third was the boney blade flying towards his face. He barely managed to duck under it, but he could do nothing to protect himself from the second one. It send him sprawling on the ground. Before he could recover, both mantis-like limbs came down, one piercing his right shoulder, the second going straight through his stomach.
Jaune somehow managed to not cry out in pain, instead he tried desperately to reach something, anything to use as weapon.
The Headhunter that was pinning him to the floor raised his head, and let out a strange howl they heard the first night they spent in the city. It was cut short when a black sword removed its head.
Jaune gasped in relief, even though he was still pinned to the ground. He looked up at the Old Man, and even managed a small smile.
It died an ugly death when his savior collapsed right next to him. The old Witcher was in terrible shape. Multiple wounds covered his whole body. He was missing his right eye, and left arm at the shoulder. There was nasty cut wound on his stomach, and his left thigh was pierced.
Jaune opened his mouth to speak, but the Old Man beat him to it.
"Finally decided to show yourself kiddo?"
Jaune tried to answer, but discovered he couldn't say a world.
"We were attacked like half an hour ago. Though they got you first when you didn't show up."
Jaune could only stare at him.
The Old Man chuckled.
"Well I guess it doesn't matter now. Everyone else is dead. And by the looks of it we both will be joining them soon."
Jaune scowled. How could this be happening? How could he pass out, just when his team was attacked. If only he was awake to help them. The blond hunter managed to free himself, and crawled to the older man. He tried to stem the bleeding from his wounds, but it was looking bad. Very bad.
The older man let out a chuckle, that turned into coughing.
"Don't bother. I'm done for. We both are."
Jaune tried to tell him to not give up, that he would get them both out of there.. the Old Man just shook his head, and pointed to the side, to a small balcony overlooking the entrance hall. Jaune crawled to the edge and peeked over it.
Too many.
There were too many of them. They filled the whole hall, and through the busted doors he could see many, many more milling outside. Jaune's brain struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.
"They all hatched. Not long ago, but we were overwhelmed before we could even think what to do. Guess that antidote of yours came a bit too late."
Jaune could barely hear the older man. He barely noticed the footsteps coming from behind him, the Old Man's weak struggles, and the sound of something sharp piercing something soft and meaty.
He ignored the creature that walked up to him. All he could do was stared at what was before him.
Too Late. Too weak.
Wasn't that the story of his life? He always was late for an important meeting. He was always too weak to get the job done when it mattered. Why had even tried to become a Hunter? He knew full well he wasn't cut out for this. But he tried anyway, and people paid the price for his mistakes.
Well, it looks like his incompetence finally caught up to him. There was no way he could get out of this situation. There were no one to save him, no one to suffer the consequences of his failures for him.
Well, there were, and they did. But it was not enough this time.
Well, I guess this is it. He thought, turning on his back. At the very least he would look at his killer.
Yeah, this was it. He could struggle, try to drag it out. He might even be able to kill the Headhunter in front of him - but what about the hundreds he saw below? It was best to cease struggling, to just let it go.
With a tired sigh, Jaune closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips.
Yeah, sure.
His eyes snapped open, and with a roar, he pushed himself up, turning and tackling the creature that…
"Woah, easy there." Called out a surprised Clay.
Jaune blinked a few times, and looked around. He was still in his laboratory. A confused and worried Clay was kneeling next him, canteen filled with water in one hand, the other on his chest. Foxy was kneeling on his other side, a wet piece of clothing in her hand.
The Old Man was leaning on door frame, his usual scowl adorning his face.
"Finally awake, princess? I swear, if you're gonna take nap every time…"
"Oh, shut it. We don't have time for your bickering Old Man." Jaune growled, getting up. He half expected the older man to refute him for that, but to his surprise, the old Witcher just smiled, cleary amused.
"We got a lot work to do, and we gotta do it fast. This thing gets more potent by the minute. The antidote is ready, we can go anytime."
The Old Man nodded with approval.
"Good. Let's get this over with."
The Old Man looked over his team, or what was left of it. Six people, seven counting Foxy, who insisted she was going too. He wasn't sure if bringing her along was a good idea - she looked like she was ready to collapse at any moment.
Then again, none of them looked too good. Doc somehow pulled himself together, but he was still shooting nervous glances around. Cap was calm, the only person who still hadn't had any hallucinations. Or was very good at pretending. Toto looked relaxed of all things. Whether this was confidence, or arrogance - only time would tell.
His eyes drifted to Jaune, the youngest of them all. And yet again he considered whatever or not let the kid come with them. He was clearly on his last leg, if the harsh breathing, bags under his eyes, and the way he was swaying were any indication.
The only reason he was bringing him with them was that there was no safe place to leave him at. And they needed every pair of hands for this to work out.
"How it's going?" He asked.
"Almost done." Clay's voice sounded from behind him. He was working on unsealing the doors to the caves below them. The Old Man sighed. If he was one of these hero types, this would be moment to give some epic, inspirational speech.
Well, he wasn't a hero. He was a professional, here to do a job. As was everyone else.
Well, I guess saying a few words couldn't hurt.
"Ok, since I know you all were taking trips to La La land, I will repeat the plan for you, using simple words. Kid and Toto, you go straight for the lake with the vaporizer, or whatever that thing is. You put the antidote in, and you join back with us. We will head straight for the Headhunters nest, destroy the eggs, kill anything that gets in our way, and get out. The kid warned us that air down there will probably contain much more of the mutagen, so we need to act fast." Once we are done, we are getting out of this damn city. No looking back, no stopping to grab souvenirs, we are heading straight for Vale. The people there need to hear about what happened here. Everything clear?"
They all nodded.
"Clay?"
The sound of metal doors falling on stone floor was his answer.
"Move." He ordered.
They passed through the doors one by one, going deeper and deeper into the dark cave. Soon the only thing left was sound of they footsteps, but it too was swallowed by darkness.
The cave was dark, damp, and unnaturally hot. Jaune decided that it must have been like, the third worst cave he had ever been in.
At least it's not too big. And I have map.
That was a plus. A minus was that his companion was giving him the creeps. He hadn't said a word ever since they entered the cave. Even before that he was eerily quiet. And that smile of his - it was as if he knew something no one else did, and it amused him.
Or he is hallucinating, and sees something pleasant. Lucky bastard.
Jaune on the other hand we seeing his guardian devil again. He freaked out the first time he saw him, sitting in the middle of the corridor, the only visible thing was its glowing, blue eyes. He stabbed it, just to make sure it wasn't real.
Sure enough, Eclipse passed through it without any resistance, electing a raised eyebrow from his companion.
After around thirty minutes, they were approaching the target. He could hear the occasional gunshot, indicating that the other group had engaged the enemy already.
Jaune looked over the cave they had in front of them - it wasn't too big, most of it was taken up by the lake. There was a giant pipe coming out of it, and disappearing into one of the walls, and the strange device they had seen on the cameras.
"Guess this is it. I don't see any eggs, or other entrances. Can you keep watch on this tunnel? I only need a minute."
Toto noded, and Jaune started walking towards lake, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Here, drink this. It's hot in here, wouldn't want you to collapse." Said Toto, offering him his canteen. Jaune hesitated only for a second. A cold, slightly sour liquid washed over his throat, bringing instant relief.
"Thanks." He muttered, turning around and heading straight for lake, trying, and failing, to ignore the thing that floated around half a meter before him, at about eye level.
He sighed and looked around, just to make sure there were no enemies waiting to ambush him. Seeing nothing, he kneeled at the edge of the lake, and pulled a sizable bottle made of dark glass. He uncorked it, ready to pour its contents into lake. It was hot here, very hot, no doubt the fault of this damn device. His vision swam, and he could swear he could smell cherry.
It was ridiculous of course, they were deep underground, but the smell was there, as were the voices. He couldn't make out any words, it was just a hum in his head, and coupled with the exhaustion, heat, and this damn thing still floating in front of him, he was more than ready to finally get this all over with and get the hell out of this city. Jaune's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. His vision was blurry, but he could swear that it had changed somehow…
It took him a few seconds to realize that he was lying on his side on the not so cold stone floor.
"You are a tough one. I was sure it would knock you out sooner." He heard Toto's voice call out. He held the black bottle Jaune had drank from just a few moments ago. He considered it for a moment, then threw it in the corridor they just come through.
"Sorry about that." He said, sitting in front of Jaune, a small smile on his lips. "But I can't let you ruin everything. I'll be honest with you here, young man, I had my doubts when I saw you entering the bullhead. I thought you are just some stupid kid, in way over his head. But I must admit, I was wrong. You handled yourself formidably out there." He bowed his head, and it might be the heat, hallucinations, exhaustion, or something else, but Jaune could swear he saw respect in Toto's eyes.
"To be honest, that Warper was supposed to take out the Old Man. Plan was for you to die, and it gathering enough power to be able to kill rest of our team. To think you would come up with such a bold strategy." He shook his head, chuckling.
Jaune glared at the older man. He didn't trust his throat to be able to produce words.
"You are probably wondering why I'm doing this? What possibly could I gain?" He smiled, and chuckled again.
"I have confession to make Jaune. When I first allied myself with Master, it was for the lowest possible reason - money. You see, a man with my standing has needs, needs that aren't cheap. I accepted his proposal only because he was paying very well, I cared nothing for his vision. Oh, how much of a fool I was!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air.
He looked back at Jaune with a friendly smile.
"It took me a few months to realize how great of a man he was. A man with a vision! I should be honored that I could assist him in his great venture! When I finally saw the truth, I did everything I could to help him achieve his goal."
Jaune's eyes narrowed. It was a hard choice to let the muscle-relaxing agent that was in Toto's drink take effect, but since it wasn't anything lethal, Jaune figured he could maybe learn something interesting if he pretended he was caught off-guard.
It was a risky move, but it looked like it was paying off. Toto apparently loved the sound of his own voice, and was apparently allied with the bastard responsible for all of this.
Just let him talk. Maybe he will spill some info that will let me find that bastard.
Toto paused, and was now looking at Jaune, his head tilted to the side, an unreadable expression on his face.
"You know what Jaune? I respect you. Really. You achieved a lot in these four years you were traveling with Leon." Some of the surprise Jaune felt must have shown on his face, because Toto chuckled again. Jaune decided he would punch him, two additional times, just because he had to listen to the annoying sound.
"Oh, yes I know all about you and your teacher. You two brought no end of trouble to Master. Well, did you know that the Wraith in Heartbreak Ridge you killed was the first successful Ascension? Master was heartbroken when he learned the poor girl perished." Toto shook his head, sadness clear on his face.
Ok, this confirmed it. He is crazy too.
"He wanted to do some terrible things to you, you know? But I stopped him. It would have broke him. He is such a gentle man, doing things like he had planned out of rage..." Toto shook his head. "He would never forgive himself. I convinced him that you were not evil, but misguided. That you did what you thought was best."
Toto chuckled again. Jaune forced himself to stay down.
"He accepted it easily. It took us some time, but we finally came up with a plan to make you see the truth. You see, Master developed some attachment to you. He said you remind him of someone he was close to in the past."
Jaunes eyes widened. Could it be…?
Toto laughed, and shook his head.
"Oh, but I'm getting distracted. I wouldn't want to bore you."
Oh, please, by all means, continue.
"Afterall, I have to take care of the rest of our team. Can't let them destroy all of Master's creations, right?" He said with a smile.
"I don't know. We are doing pretty well, if I say so myself."
Toro whipped around, drawing his weapon - a long dagger, with a black and green blade. It looked to be Dust-infused, but Jaune couldn't see anything indicating it was mecha-shifting.
"Oh my. This is surprising. What brings you here, my friend?"
"Well, the Old Man was worried what take you two so long. We were done with nest, so he sent me to check up on you. Looks like it was a good call."
Toto just laughed easily.
"Oh no, I assure you that everything is under control. Your concern is totally unwarranted."
Clay shot him a deadpan stare.
"Toto, cut the crap. I'm not in the mood for mind games. Jaune is lying there, and I was there long enough to hear you confess to multiple kidnappings, assisting in murders, assisting a wanted criminal, and to top it all - planning on killing all of us. So stop treating me like idiot, ok?'
Toto gasped in shock, and for some reason, Jaune was certain man really was surprised.
"Kill?" He repeated, clearly shocked. His face twisted, and after a moment he burst out laughing. It wasn't mad cackling, or anything like that. He was genuinely amused, laughing his guts out.
"Kill? No, dear… No! Why would I want to kill you? I admit, the thought crossed my mind, and I might even have tried it at first. But it's no longer a case, I assure you."
He smiled. A genuine, friendly smile. Jaune could feel his heartbeat speeding up. This man was clearly insane.
"Why would I want to kill you? Afterall, we all were chosen. And soon, we will Ascend."
Jaune had enough. He locked his eyes with Clay, and made subtle cutting movement with his hand. Fortunately, Clay caught up on what he meant. He moved to the side, pointing his weapon at Toto.
"Well, you forgive me if I don't believe you. And I don't recall applying for this ascension of yours. So how about you drop your weapon and surrender quietly."
As expected, Toto turned with Clay, keeping what he believed to be the only threat in front of him. Soon enough, Jaune was behind him.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. This dagger is an important item, handed to me by Master."
"Well, then I'll have to take it away from you."
Toto smirked.
"I'd like so see you try. You are wounded, exhausted, and low on Aura. And on top of that, my Semblance allows me attack at range. You don't stand a chan…" He was interrupted, when Jaune tackled him from behind. Clay followed, intending to pin the other Hunter to the ground.
A sudden shockwave sent them both backwards.
Toto got up, panting heavily.
"My, my, what a surprise. Did you lie to us? Your records in the Company database suggested your Semblance is some form of poison immunity. That's why I prepared something that wasn't poison to knock you out."
He looked at Jaune with narrowed eyes. There were no anger in them, only surprise.
"And you told us the same earlier. I assume that was a lie?"
Jaune chuckled.
"Not at all. All I said was that my Semblance makes me immune to poisons. I never said that it was the only thing it could do."
Toto laughed.
"Ha. Good move, young man. Always keep a few secrets up your sleeve. Well, it won't matter once you Ascend, but I respect it nonetheless."
Clay scoffed.
"Cut the crap Toto. That little stunt cleary cost you a lot. No way you'll be able to pull it off again, without resting. And we won't give you enough time."
His words went entirely ignored. Toto was still staring at Jaune, considering something.
"You know, we really hoped it would work…" He began. Clay made to attack, but Jaune stopped him.
Let him talk, he mouthed to his friend.
Clay nodded, and focused back on their opponent.
"We figured that if it was someone close to you, you would understand. That's why we picked that girl."
Jaune stilled. All thought left him. He forget everything - the cave, the Headhunters, the whole damned city. All he could feel was heat that had nothing to do with the temperature of the air. All he could hear was the beating of his heart, louder, and louder by the second.
"Yes, we were so sure it would work. Master put extra effort into making sure her Ascension would go off without a hitch." He shook his head, sadly.
"She was such a sweet girl. It would have went perfectly, if only you had waited a bit more. But you stopped the process at the most important moment. She couldn't move on, and I'm sure she didn't want to come back. Poor, poor girl."
Toto's eyes snapped to Jaune's.
"You killed her, didn't you?"
"NO! She is still alive! You failed, I saved her!"
Toto titled his head to the side.
"Really? Because I'm sure that there was no coming back from place she went to. You sure you…"
That did it. All the anger that festered inside him ever since that incident burst out in a mighty roar. Jaune was on Toto in the blink of an eye, Eclipse slashing, trusting, hungirly looking to bite into soft flesh. There is nothing else, only him, his sword, and ma… monster in front of him. The monster that dared to hurt his Sam. And he.. No, it would pay for this.
Jaune was completely oblivious to his exhaustion, Clay's desperate cries for him to calm down, Toto's chuckles and taunts, or the many cuts he received. All he cared about was plunging his sword into his enemy's heart.
It all came to a stop suddenly. Toto slipped, or was tripped by Clay, Jaune didn't know, nor cared. Seeing his chance, the blond mounted older Hunter, pinning his arms with his knees, and raised his sword for a finishing blow.
Something exploded, sending both him and Clay back again. Toto staggered to his feet, cleary out of breath.
Jaune did the same, Clay's hand on his shoulder only thing stopping him from charging back in.
"WHERE IS HE?! TELL ME, WHERE IS HE!?" He roared.
Toto chuckled.
"My, my. So much anger. I'm afraid that I can't tell you the whereabouts of Master, when you are in such state."
Jaune tried to break free of Clay's grasp, but the man was too strong.
"TELL ME!" He roared again
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but our talk is over." The traitorous Hunter smiled, reversing the grip on his dagger and raising it in front of him. Both Clay and Jaune tensed, ready for another assault.
"My name is Toto." He exclaimed, an excited smile on his lips.
"And I have been CHOSEN!" He bellowed, plunging dagger into his own heart.
Both Jaune and Clay stared dumbfounded, as he collapsed, corruption spreading at an astounding peace from the spot where the dark and green blade entered the body.
Jaune was on him a second after, grabbing his collar and shaking him violently.
"Where is he?! Tell me you asshole, where I can find him? TELL ME!"
Clay grabbed him.
"That's enough. He's dead."
Jaune didn't hear him. All he could hear was the pounding of his heart. This bastard knew where the monster responsible for all of this was, and he wasn't telling. Well, Jaune would make him talk - one way or another.
His fist first hit Toto's face, then his chest, then face again. Clay was trying to stop him, but Jaune was breaking free of his grasp every time. Toto knew, and didn't want to talk. So Jaune would make him talk, by any means necessary. Couldn't Clay's see that it was important? Why was he trying to stop him? Was he on Toto's side too?
Jaune paused, realizing that Clay was no longer trying to hold him. He turned around, to see his friend collapsed.
That snapped him back to reality.
He was next to him in an instant, looking over his body.
Damn, this is bad.
Clay was covered in had a nasty, deep cut on his stomach and right leg. Judging by how uneven his chest was, and labored breath, he had to have broken ribs.
"Oi, Clay, stay with me." Jaune called, seeing as older man's eyes starting to close. He reached to his belt, hesitated for a moment, and then pulled out a small bottle.
"Here, drink this. It will help." Clay was barely conscious at this point, but did as asked. Aura Enhancer would help him recover - but only if man had any Aura left. And judging by his state - he either didn't have any, or had very little.
"Talk to me. What happened. Don't tell me it was Toto who did this to you."
Clay coughed a few times, then smiled weakly.
"That stuff tasted horrible." He managed to get out, before coughing again.
"Clay. What happened?"
He managed a weak chuckle.
"I might have bluffed a little earlier. When I said we were done with Headhunters, and I was sent to collect you two."
Jaune didn't say anything, instead pulling out a few bandages, and started tending to Clay's wounds. It wasn't enough, but if he could at least stop the bleeding…
"It was going well. We got the jump on them, killed two before they could react. Then the rest of them started roaring, and Ghouls started to come out of the lake. No idea how they got there, but we were pushed back. We retreated to the corridor, but it went in, and collapsed on our heads." The man paused to catch his breath, and Jaune continued tending to his wounds. He bandaged the worst ones, but there were a lot of smaller ones.
Well, his Aura will deal with it. Now all I need to do is keep him awake.
"What happened then?" He asked, looking him in the eyes.
Clay winced, and tried to push himself up. Jaune threw his arm around his shoulder, and helped the older Hunter stand up.
"Me and Cap managed to get out. And one of Headhunters. We managed to kill it, but it... spit something at Cap, and he started to turn. No idea what happened with rest, but…" He didn't finish, but then didn't really have to. Even if they survived the collapse, they would be trapped in a cave with multiple Ghouls and Headhunters.
Jaune sighed, and started walking towards the cave's exit. When they reached the small room, with several corridors coming out of it, Jaune paused, and laid Clay down.
"Let's take a bit of rest here." He said, pulling out his map. If he was reading it correctly, they were in the central room of this cave system, That meant they were fairly close to the exit - and relative safety.
"Ok, we are close. Just a bit more. You think you can walk?"
Clay chuckled, and got up.
"Yeah. whatever you gave me, it seems to be working. Let's get…" He paused and sighed.
Jaune sighed too.
The sounds of footsteps were quiet, but clear, and coming from the corridor leading to the Headhunters' nest. And there were too many of them. Far too many.
"Well, I guess this is it." Jaune pulled Eclipse. There were no way they could outrun Ghouls in the state they were in.
Clay considered him for a moment, then pushed him towards corridor leading to the exit.
"Go. I'll buy you some time."
"Fuck you. I'm not going anywhere."
The older man sighed.
"Jaune. I can barely stand. Even if we get out of this cave, I won't be able to leave this city. You still have strength, and someone has to report what happened. This is the best choice."
Jaune knew that. He knew full well. But how could he just leave this man to die? It was just.. wrong. Maybe if the stayed together, they could somehow...
"Jaune." Clay place one hand on his shoulder. Looking at him with a small smile.
"I-I got it. You want me to say anything to someone?" He asked, turning towards the exit.
"Nah. I make it a point to take care of my business before going on a job. Plus, I'm single."
Jaune nodded, and ran off.
Clay sighed, and walked into the same corridor, aware of the footsteps getting closer and closer. About two meters in, near a small turn, he paused. This was as good a place as he could get to make his last stand.
He raised his weapon, and smirked.
"Come on fuckers. Let's see how many of you will it take to get past me."
The Harrowed don't make him wait for long.
Well, That was anticlimactic. Good thing there is no one around to see this.
It turned out it took only one. The Headhunter was neither especially big, or menacing - it looked just as any other. Clay still managed to hold it off for almost a full minute, before his wounded leg gave out.
At least kid should be out by now.
He sighed and looked up at the beast. It was observing him, tilting its head from one side to other. Why it still hadn't finished him off, he didn't know, but he wasn't complaining.
The more time it wasted with him, the more time it gave Jaune to get away.
The beast suddenly pulled back, and raised on scythe-like arm.
Well, looks like this is it.
He stared straight in its eyes. Just one last act of defiance before…
… a black sword removed its head.
Clay blinked a few times, starting at the now dead Harrowed. Then looked up, to meet blue, tired eyes.
"I thought we agreed you need to run?" He asked.
Jaune shrugged.
"I changed my mind. The fact that the exit is blocked by some rubble might have something to do with that."
Clay winced.
"Oh. That's unfortunate."
Jaune shrugged, and helped Clay up.
"I left a message on my scroll, and managed to push it to other side. They should send a second investigation party eventually. I hope they find it.
"So… Now we just try to kill as many as we can?"
Jaune smirked.
"Not yet old man. I checked the map, and we might have one more way out. Remember the underground river that fills this lake?"
Clay nodded.
"Apparently it comes to the surface not far from here. And they had boats ready, as a way to evacuate if the town was attacked."
Clay smiled.
"Well, lead the way."
Jaune nodded and headed first. They walked in silence, ears straining for any sound. Complete silence, only interrupted by their breaths and footsteps did nothing to calm them down.
Well, that's embarrassing. Looks like it will be the kid saving me.
By the time they reached the right cave they were totally exhausted. As soon as they entered the room, and confirmed that there were no Harrowed in there, they collapsed on the floor.
"So, what's now?" Asked clay when he caught his breath.
"We look for a ladder, or something like that. It should be somewhere…" He didn't get a chance to finish, before a black figure jumped at them. They managed to roll out of the way, and get up.
The Headhunter screeched at them, looking from one to other, apparently undecided which one would be the easier target. It eventually decided to attack Jaune.
Its been blades collided with Eclipse, pushing the blond Hunter back. He stumbled, but Clay intervened before the Harrowed could take advantage of the opening. The older Hunter was too wounded and exhausted to last long, but he managed to draw the beast's attention for just a few seconds.
Enough for Jaune to rejoin the fight. He basically tackled the Headhunter, his sword piercing its surprisingly soft skin. It howled, and hopped around, its scythe-like hands catching Jaune in the chest, throwing him back.
A second later it was pinned to the ground by Clay. The older man used his whole body weight to hold the monster down - but it was more out of exhaustion than intent.
But the Headhunter proved far more tenacious than they expected. It somehow managed to push itself up. Clay, exhausted as he was, did his best to stop it, but eventually was pushed back, and fell.
The Harrowed slumped to its downed opened and raised its hand.
A black sword erupted from its chest, he threw himself at beast. He manage to push it a few steps with the impact alone, but simply didn't have the strength to do anything else, and collapsed.
The Headhunter looked down at the two blades piercing its body. It let out a strange, gurgling noise, staggered, and fell to its knees.
Jaune sighed. They somehow they made it…
A strange, black substance flew out of Headhunter's mouth and hit Clay in the chest. Jaune watched with terror as it sank into man's skin. The older Hunter didn't make any indication it hurt him, just stared at it with a resigned look at his face.
"Well, that's inconvenient." He said eventually.
"Clay, what…"
"That was the same thing they did to Cap." He answered with a heavy sigh.
Jaune just stared at him blankly. So… that was it? Just like that? No, they'd come too far. Surely there was something he could do to…
"Jaune, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Cap changed after just a minute or two. You don't have much time."
"Much time… for what?" The blond asked dumbly.
Clay shot him a small smile, but it turned into a wince, when black stains started to appear at his chest.
"You know full well."
Jaune just shook his head. Clay sighed, and looked him in the eyes.
"Jaune. I'm done for. If you do nothing I'll turn into one of these monsters, and I'll kill you. I don't want that to happen."
Jaune staggered to his feet, his mind racing. There had to be something he could do. Anything.
"Jaune. I don't want to turn into a monster." Clay crawled to the dead Headhunter, and pulled Eclipse from its body.
"Please. Help me Jaune." He said, handing the sword to the young man.
Jaune closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it go. He opened them, and looked into Clay's eyes. There was no fear in them, just acceptance.
"Yeah. Sure." He accepted his sword, and pressed it against Clay's chest.
"See ya kid. I hope not too soon." Clay said with a smile.
"Yeah. See you around, Clay." Jaune pushed, painting the rock red. Clay let out a single sigh, and slumped forward.
"I'm the guide for the Damned, I'm the Ferryman of lost souls…" he began his chant, his prayer.
After he was done, he let out a tired sigh and turned around.
"Thanks for waiting." He said, straight in the eyes of another Headhunter. The beast's head was only about ten centimeters from his face, its eyes observing him with curiosity.
Jaune noted more black shapes filing into the cave.
I guess we'll see each other rather soon, Clay. Quite embarrassing with that show we put on, eh?
Jaune waited for a few moments for the creature to do something, but it just watched him.
"So…" He began rolling his shoulders.
"We doing this, or what?"
The Headhunter hissed.
They both moved at the same time.
Jaune ducked under one bone scythe, the second catching him in the left shoulder. Eclipse pierced the Headhunter's neck, spraying him in its blood. Before its body even hit the ground, the next one was on Jaune, and then another and another, and another.
His armor blocked most of the hits to his body, allowing Jaune to focus solely on defending his head. It didn't amount to much - he was soon pushed against the wall, and brought down.
Should have asked for the helmet to go with this armor.
He thought bitterly. Creatures surrounding him didn't seem in too much of a hurry to kill him. They were just staring, screeching, and poking him from time to time. Not that Jaune was paying much attention to it. He was just too exhausted. All he wanted, was for this to end.
So when he noticed one of them raising its arm, he let out a sigh of relief, and closed his eyes.
The bone arm went down, and his world went black.
A thirteen-year old Jaune woke up with a gasp. He rubbed his eyes, and checked his scroll. It was six in the morning. His eyes narrowed. He had a feeling that there was something important he was forgetting about…
Ah, yes! Today was his exam for combat prep school. He better start getting ready. It would be embarrassing to be late.
But man, that was a weird dream I had.
He thought, pulling his shirt on.
Well, this is it for this chapter. Not much to talk about. Everything is under control. No need to panic.
JJD: SSSSSAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!