Chapter 12

Awakening the mind

Landing against a tree with the force of being hit by a freight Train, Loki spat out a glob of blood as he got back on his feet to fight the mysterious being, which had shown abilities similar to his as it took down both Odin and Cardin.

Minutes prior

Seeing Odin and Cardin charge at the beings back Loki saw it's eyes turn to the duo as they were close to striking its back…

If not for its body becoming a dark cloud of ash before reforming with the being grabbing Odin's spear and Cardin's mace before seemingly throwing them away through the trees.

Leaving Loki against the being as it turned to him.

Which led to Loki being thrown around as the being tried speaking in grunts and growls, which in turn frustrated them both at not understanding each other.

Letting out a grunt as he stood Loki holstered his hand-cannons, pressing a button on said holsters they clamped onto the back of his guns before he held them up with the holsters shifting into sword blades, allowing Loki to stand in a stance as the being groaned in annoyance before growling as it got into a stance, ash particles gathering around its being.

Leaving the two staring each other down before they rushed forward, Loki falling to slide on his knees to avoid a grab for his head while carving at the beings right side, making it growl as its ash particles followed after Loki, as if drawn to him.

Spinning onto his feet Loki leaped into the air with his swords impaling the creature's shoulders, leaving the two glaring at each other.

Until the being let out a deep and guttural laugh, confusing Loki before his head was grabbed on both sides, making him let out a hoarse groan as his eyes glowed against his control.

"Times of peace lie in danger on the roads of time, conflict and hatred sit ahead of your path… your strength must be brought out to its highest peak" the being said as the ashes gathering around it sunk into Loki's being, making him grunt in pain as his mind was assaulted with images of a life, not of Remnant.

Seeing a black haired human toddler being tickled by a woman whose face was blurred.

Followed by a dark pit rising up by his vision before it stopped at an alter like area with seven podiums encircling a coffin like bench, before it erupted into a demonic being much larger than the current being in front of him.

"Let him GO!"

Gasping at being freed from the vision Loki fell down clutching his head as the being's body broke down into ashes that flew towards Loki who was unconsciously absorbing them as Nora ran to his aid. Not noticing the beings features breaking away into ashes as it continued to feed Loki power, resulting with the bone armor flaking away before nothing but a blank body of ash stood in wait as Loki struggled to comprehend the images being force fed into his mind before he stopped struggling as he began to watch the images flash before his eyes.

Allowing the being to walk away before the others arrived.

"Loki, what happened?" Gabrielle questioned Nora who looked up and turned to point at the being, only to see it had left before she noticed a rock floating in front of her, making her turn to the others who stepped away from Loki as his eyes glowed, switching to various colours before it stopped on his usual gold as the rocks fell back down.

"Get him to the Bullhead and to the medical bay at Beacon, student's we're leaving!" Glynda said with a mother instincts kicking in as Jaune and Ren lifted him up as Cardin and Odin arrived, with Odin being helped by Cardin.

"Where is it?" Cardin questioned the others who frowned at him before Glynda called to them.

"I don't know" Nora said as she followed behind Loki's paralysed form.

Until it began muttering something… which got their attention.

"Devil's Pit… get to… the Devil's Pit"

"He's out of it way to badly" Jaune said as Odin was placed on a chair with Gabrielle tending to his wound, leaving everyone there until Cardin turned to see his team running to the open doors of the Bullhead, panting tiredly as Dove looked to Cardin.

"What happened, we came back to help but you weren't there" Dove said tiredly as Cardin frowned in thought.

"I'll explain what I know when things are settled" Cardin said as he stared at Loki who twitched.

Closing the Bullhead doors to take off the students of beacon failed to see the same ash figure watching them leaving before it continued walking to where it came from…

The Devil's Pit.

Running into Ozpin's office, Glynda called to her boss who looked up to see her frantic look he immediately got up and followed.

"What happened?"

"Not sure, but Mr Winchester and Alfadir have given reports of some human Grimm being the cause to Loki's condition, from what our doctors are saying his power is spiking erratically" Glynda said just as the lights flickered before resuming to light up the elevator.

"This has been occurring since we've been back, Ozpin… is there something your not telling me regarding your son" Glynda said with Ozpin not answering until Hoshi appeared beside him, unseen by Glynda who stood frozen.

"We have no choice but to send him then?" Ozpin said with Hoshi nodding, before vanishing as Glynda stood patiently for the doors to open before the two rushed out.

Sitting in their dorm room in wait, Odin, Gabrielle, and Yennefer sat with teams JNPR and RWBY waiting for news of Loki's condition.

"So let me get this straight, an Ursa arrived ready to eat Cardin, until you and Loki arrived… and then some human Grimm appeared and fought the three of you before throwing you and Cardin away which left Loki to fight against this new Grimm which left him in this state" Weiss questioned with Odin shrugging at the statements.

"I was thrown away by that thing so I don't know what happened to loki"

"I do" turning to Nora by her sudden news, she looked down nervously before looking up.

"When I arrived, it was holding his head as while its bone armor was breaking down into ash that Loki absorbed, it wasn't doing anything to hurt him, just… feeding his body its own, I don't know what it was doing but Loki held his head after I set it flying" Nora said with the teams looking at her in worry for Loki.

Sitting in silence one more before Juane's and Ruby's scrolls received a message, making them frown as Gabrielle's scroll followed, looking to the message Jaune frowned.

"A mission… this early in the year?" Ruby questioned with the three teams looking at their leaders in surprise.

"This is Ozpin requesting our teams for a escort mission… in the Devil's Pit!?" Weiss said in shock at the blatant request from their headmaster.

"It says we're to escort Loki Fenris to the bottom of the Pit" Ruby said with the teams looking to one another.

"It also says we're allowed to decline if we want to" Ruby added before looking to the three teams before Nora frowned.

"I'm going" Nora said as she stood up from Loki's bed.

"Nora…" Lie Ren began until he was silenced by Nora's look of determination.

"We'll go as well" Jaune said with Blake standing up, feeling she owed Loki for helping her.

"He is our teammate" Odin reasoned to Gabrielle who flicked his nose.

"Of course we're going you lion" Gabrielle said with Odin rubbing his nose as Yennefer stood proudly.

"Whose up for helping our friend!?"

"AYE!" Ruby cheered with Yang smirking, Nora smiling with a salute and Yennefer giving the thumbs up.

"Then let's get going" Gabrielle said as she selected the accept button on her scroll with Jaune and Ruby following.

Outskirts of the Devil's Pit

Floating within a clearing just outside of a White Fang encampment, a vortex of colours sat in silence before a lone figure landed in a crouch, sending out a shockwave from the somehow powerful impact, standing up covered in a blanket of ash the new arrival grabbed its shirt like it held a jacket before shrugging the blanket of ash off.

Showing the new arrival to be wearing three layers of clothes consisting of a button-up white shirt kept partially buttoned, a plain gray hoodie, and a black leather jacket with a red tribal design on the back. On his lower body, he wore plain blue jeans and black shoes.

Brushing off whatever leftover ash was on his arms, the man turned to the vortex as it closed slowly before another man stepped out, lookin' like a cowboy with a trench coat he held a six shooter with a charred paintjob in hand.

Looking around the two stared up to the moon before looking to the rising mountain that was known as the Devil's Pit.

"Travellin' through worlds is more cleaner than time travel with her, ain't it, Alex?" the cowboy said as he dusted off his hat, showing brown hair that hung down below his neck, a scar on the right side of his face that looked old, looking to the named Alex with brown eyes.

"Seems like it Marston, seems like it"