Chapter 11: An unfamiliar face

As I laid in the mud I felt the new presence of my dark self wash over my body. It felt, nice at first, like a warm blanket slowly warming me up during a cold night. I also felt the amount of aura that suddenly started to flood into my system, more than I was ever used to. I slowly started to rise to my knees as white flames started to rise from my body. A wicked smile spread across my face as Ember burst into white flames, burning Hayden's hand. "Ah what the-" He turned towards me and stopped dead in his tracks. Even if I couldn't see his face, I could tell he was surprised by the sudden aura boost. I flexed against the chains surrounding my body, each link whined as the white flames grew hotter and bigger.

I let out a yell as the chains broke into flaming pieces, scattering around the muddy terrain. I slowly stood to my full height, my arms dangled as I started to laugh manically. My laugh echoed through out the complex as my flames grew brighter, the light was brighter than most of the fires around. I suddenly sprinted forward towards Hayden while grabbing Ember from the floor. With a loud yell I slashed at him, sending a wave of fire towards him. He spun and took the entire slash, most of the fire hitting his back catching it a flame.

He slowly turned towards me and tore his flaming jacket off and threw it to the mud. Under his jacket was a simple black T-shirt, but his arm were rapped from his gloves and up into his shirt. I swung my arm again sending another torrent of flames towards him. Instead of taking the hit, Hayden dodged out of the way with a roll and turned to look at the burning complex behind him. My flames slammed into the nearest wall and instantly started to spread as if the concrete was wood. I took the opportunity and pumped aura into my blade, then slashed horizontally, sending a huge wave of flames towards the unsuspecting Hayden. my smile grew wider as the white flames engulfed my target and slammed into the walls, spreading more of my fire.

My smile dropped when Hayden walked out of the flames holding a blue shield, seemingly untouched by my fire. He stopped and looked around at white flames slowly burning his base to the ground, after a few seconds of looking, his gaze fell upon me. "It seems that I was wrong about that sword of yours, it does assist your semblance quite nicely." His blue shield dropped to the mud with a loud thump. Soon after it cracked and broke into small blue pieces. I let the flames surrounding Ember die down, leaving it in its normal state. Hayden slowly started to approach me while holding out his right hand. "Listen here kid, I don't know what happened to you, but if you think your semblance can beat mine, then you are mistaken."

As he talked a new blade started to form in his hands. "I bet you think that if you beat me, then all that guilt from loosing your 'master' will be lifted huh? Well let me tell you something kid. I have lived in this world longer than you have and let me tell you something, you never make friends with your inner demons!" I barely had enough time to bring my sword up to block his strike in time. His speed was incredible, if instinct wasn't active then I surely would have been hit. I pushed him off of me and back peddled as he swung at me. It felt as if I was fighting a new opponent, everything about him seemed...Off.

I ducked under one of his strikes and retaliated with my own by slashing at his midsection. My eyes went wide when he simply moved out of the way and slashed at my back. I grit my teeth in pain as his blade went through the unarmored part of my back, slashing through the strips holding up my armor. I spun and dragged Ember across his blade, pushing him away from me. I heard him laugh as I tore off my back plate and dropped it to the floor. "Even with all that extra power you still can't hit me! HA!" He sprinted towards me again and went for a over head slash. I reached forward and grabbed his arm with my free hand and copied his attack. He caught my arm and started to push me down to my knees.

I heard him giggle as his grip tightened around my arm. "It seems this little Arc isn't as strong as his daddy, how pitiful." I scowled at the mention of my father and tried to push back. I felt the presence of my dark self slowly growing in my head like a dark cloud. "Come on Jaune, stop holding back... If you lose here you can't prove how strong you are to your father. let me take control, we will defeat him together." I watched as Hayden's blade slowly inched closer and closer to my shoulder, I shut my eyes and tried to push against him but ended up falling to my knees. "This is the end for you, Arc. Worthless like Scar." That was the last straw for me, I surrendered most of my control to Dark Jaune and felt the difference immediately. The strain on my muscles nearly disappeared as I stood up and squeezed Hayden's arm causing him to growl.

I felt my self smile as Hayden's arm cracked followed by a scream of pain. As he dropped his sword I spun and kicked him square in the chest, launching him away from me. As I looked down to my arms it felt like I wasn't completely in control of my body. Everything felt tingly and distant, like I was the co-pilot. "Now I am in control Jaune, don't worry. I will make sure he suffers." I slowly started to walk towards him as he writhed on the ground. I felt a sharp pain impact my shoulder as Hayden raised his good arm towards me. My head slowly turned to see a fragment of his sword sticking out of my back. A dark chuckle escaped my lips as I looked back to my downed foe. "You think a simple wound like this could kill me?"

I felt slightly scared by my own voice, it came out dark and threatening, not even resembling my old voice. Hayden rose to his feet and summoned another sword into his hand. "Kid, you are full of surprises." I laughed and sprinted forward, mud splashing beneath my feet. My blade slammed into Hayden's, causing it to crack in multiple places. I pushed against him and chuckled as he slowly started to be over powered. He realized this and rolled away before I could crush his sword. Ember slammed into the ground, creating a small shock wave. White flames erupted from the tip of the blade and spread across the ground, evaporating small puddles instantly.

I was forced to let go of Ember and dodge Hayden's kick which passed right past my face. He spun and sent another kick flying at my face, I tilted my head to the side and redirected his kick away from me. He used his momentum to spin and try to punch me. I caught his fist in my hand and dragged it pass me, as the rest of his body followed I brought up my knee and hit him in the stomach. A small gasp escaped his lips, before he could respond I grabbed his head and slammed it into the floor. A loud crack echoed through the base as his mask impacted the floor. To my surprise it didn't break, but now dawned a nice split right down the middle.

I turned and walked towards my abandoned sword, a dark chuckle escaped my throat. The presence of Dark Jaune was slowly growing in my head, even the feeling of my body was starting to slip away. I had to think of something fast, or I might completely lose control of my own body to this dark presence. I heard three loud gunshots crack through the air followed by an immense amount of impacting my back. I stumbled forward and let out a low groan as I felt my aura suddenly drop. I turned around to see Hayden holding a blue pistol aimed at me, the muzzle had a small amount of smoke drifting into the wind.

I quickly grabbed Ember in a reverse grip and sprinted towards Hayden. he fired a volley of bullets towards me, most of them missing but the few that got close pinged off my sword as I blocked them. Hayden shuffled backward and fired his last few shots at me. A dark smile crept across my face as he started to panic, his feet shuffled backward as I was inches away. I switched Ember into a normal grip and grabbed Hayden's wrist, stopping him from aiming his pistol. My sword skimmed across his leg, most of the damage being blocked by his aura. I dragged his face into my knee, shattering his mask. His blue aura crackled and disappeared as my fist connected with his nose, knocking him back a few inches.

A look of fear was etched across his face as flames encased Ember, slowly growing in size. I leaped forward and stabbed Ember through his stomach like a hot knife through butter. Blood trickled from his mouth as he coughed, some landing on my face. I felt myself smile as the flames from Ember started to slowly spread around his torso, burning away his clothing. His hand slowly reached my shoulder and rested upon it. His one blue eye met my gold ones, I could tell he was fading fast just by his stare. "You, have started down a path... You are not prepared for." He coughed before sliding off of Ember and smacking into the ground. A dark laugh escaped my lips as my head tilted towards the sky. Thunder echoed as rain droplets started to impact the ground and my face. The light from my fires shone upon the dark clouds looming over the night sky.

As I turned to walk away from Hayden's corpse a sharp pain shot through my chest, stopping me in my tracks. I collapsed to my knees as the pain slowly started to grow. I clutched at my chest and gasped for air, my eyes went wide as I felt my aura suddenly drop. I slowly rose to my feet, hoping that what ever was happening to me would soon stop. Multiple howls sounded from out side the walls, most likely the new Grimm arriving to investigate the flaming base. I quickly grabbed Ember and shuffled towards the nearest exit, luckily the Grimm seemed to be taking their sweet time getting into the base.

I huffed and coughed as I stumbled through the dark forest. Screams and roars still echoed from the base, I could still see the faint glow of the white flames raging. Lightning cracked across the sky, lighting up the forest for a split second. I noticed a cave nearby and slowly made my way towards it. Now I was starting to feel the strain of battle, my muscles ached as if they had been torn and then stitched back together. I was able to feel each and every bruise and cut on my body, they seemed to be pulsing, just to make sure I knew they were there.

I gripped at my chest as another sharp pain shot through my heart, this time causing me to nearly fall flat on my face. Blood dripped from my mouth and down my chin, what ever was happening wasn't good. If I didn't find out what it was soon then I could be in even worse trouble. I spun and scanned the forest around me, I pointed Ember towards a tree thinking I saw something. My arm trembled before dropping back down to my side. I blinked a few times as my vision went hazy before clearing up again. I turned and shuffled as fast I could towards the cave, I hoped nothing was in there since I was in no fighting shape.

I dropped Ember to the floor and quickly tore off the rest of my armor. I collapsed to my knees as the next pulse of pain shot through my heart, this one felt as if a blade had been stabbed through my chest and slowly twisted around. I pulled my jacket off and lifted my shirt to see black veins running from where my heart was up to my neck. A drop of blood dripped from my left eye and splashed onto the rocky floor. I wiped my eye to see blood smeared across my arm. I shut my eye and cringed as a dull pain resonated through that eye. I quickly tried to think of a way to fix what ever was happening, but nothing came to mind.

"So, it seems I'm too late." I reached for Ember but was stopped by a heel slamming into my head, I rolled a few feet and let out cry of pain as the same heel slammed into my chest. Crimson eyes peered down at me behind a Grimm mask. A large red blade came down to my neck and hovered over my Adam's apple, I swallowed and stared into the eyes of my attacker. They squinted slightly then moved over towards my blade that laid across the room. The blade moved from my neck followed by the heel on my chest. "Perhaps it isn't too late for you after all." I sat up and eyed my attacker. I quickly realized the person before me was female, if the voice and sizable chest wasn't a big enough indicator.

Her voice took on a more sympathetic tone rather then when she first spoke. The woman sheathed her blade and looked back towards me, her eyes instantly locked with mine. "Open your left eye now." I hesitantly opened my eye, The lady instantly crouched forward and stared into my eye. Two of her gloved fingers traced from my eye and down my neck. She let out a sigh and stood up then pulled out a scroll. She tapped on the screen and walked towards the mouth of the cave. Her black hair swayed back and forth with each step. "If you move, I will kill you." her voice went back to the cold and dark tone as she left out into the rain.

I cringed and held my head as the voice of Dark Jaune spoke out. "Hm, it seems that I wasn't able to take control fully. Unfortunate, I was looking forward to getting rid of the weak and worthless you." I groaned as my head pulsed with each word spoken by him, it felt like a hammer slamming into my brain. "You can't protect anyone with the way you are, just let me take control and no one will die." I tried to block out his voice but anything I tried seemed to only amplify it. I shook my head and grit my teeth hoping it would have some effect, but like all else, nothing helped. "You can't escape me Jaune, Hayden was right about starting down a path you aren't ready for, I can guide you."

I slowly opened my eyes to see the lady walking towards me, scroll next to her ear. "Yes he is still awake. Should I place it on him now? Okay, I will return in the morning." She closed her scroll and set it down along with her sword. Her crimson eyes locked onto my left eye before slowly closing. "Do you know what is happening to you Jaune?" I stared at her in surprise, how could she know my name? "I think I have an idea, but I'm not completely sure." The woman pulled out a small mirror and held it up to my face. My eyes went wide when I saw that my left eye was now identical to Dark Jaune's, black veins ran from the corner of my eye and down my neck. I blinked a few times as she removed the mirror and slid it into her coat.

"Who are you? And why are you here?" I heard her let out a sigh before slowly removing her mask and setting it down on the ground. Her face was serious and held the look of someone who had seen a lot, but it also reminded me of a certain blonde brawler back at beacon. "My name is Raven, Ozpin sent me to get you out before you did anything too rash. But it seems I was too late." She slowly pulled the long glove off of her right hand and faced me. "You don't have a lot of time, Ozpin will explain everything tomorrow when we head back. Right now I need you to lift up your shirt."

I quickly lifted up my shirt and watched as her uncovered hand glowed a deep red. Said hand hovered over my heart, her eyes locked with mine again. "This might hurt a little." Before I could respond I felt her soft hand rest upon my chest, followed by a surge of pain that flowed through my body. I grit my teeth and tried to keep myself from passing out, but the pain was too much. I felt Raven catch me as I fell to the ground, the last thing I heard was her soft voice telling me that I was going to be okay.

Chapter end

Hey everyone, took me a while to write this, school has been kicking my ass in terms of work. And unfortunately it seems it will be like this for a while, updates will take longer, but will come out eventually! This chapter was a little shorter than the others mainly because I just wanted to get a new chapter out. I have had ideas for other stories I might start, so check my account every once and a while to see! The discontinued story was my friends who used this account before me.

The next time I update this story, I most likely will have started another story, so I will inform you guys of that. Right now it is a close call between two completely separate AU's, but one is currently winning for my interests. But if you guys only want Arkos then stay here because the other stories will still be Jaune as the main character, but different pairings.

Leave a review on your thoughts, opinions, or if you just want to talk!

Yukas, out