Outsider Chronicles: A New Arc
Dieing and ending up in another world is one thing. That world being one infested with monsters is quite another. This is gonna be fun...
Hello and welcome back. Before we begin, I should note I made a minor change to the last chapter. Nothing major, just the identity of his Persona. Anyway, Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Third Person POV, Pyrrha
When the Deathstalker had smacked her teammates away, Pyrrha had felt fear. This opponent was out of her league. While it was true that she was a star athlete and a great fighter, it was mostly thanks to her Semblance. Oh, she was far from an unskilled fighter and even without her Semblance, she was a force to be reckoned with, against Human opponents that is. Grimm were another story. It wasn't like they had any metal to deflect after all. Thats not to say that she couldn't fight Grimm, but a Deathstalker was on an entirely different level to Beowolves or Urusi. Alone, against a foe like this, she didn't stand a chance.
To make matters worse, Ren and Nora had both been injured, so they wouldn't be recovering enough to help her any time soon. Jaune probably could, but a quick glance at him revealed that he had lost his sword and appeared quite dazed. Pyrrha swallowed and readied herself as the Deathstalker scuttled forwards, waving its claws and flexing its tail in a way that could only be called exited. The damn monster was looking forwards to killing them!
Then, just as the Deathstalker was about to strike, both Hunteress and Grimm froze as they suddenly felt a huge outpouring of energy coming from the direction Jaune had been thrown. They both turned and watched in shock as the blond writhed around in apparent agony, clutching at his head as his Aura formed into blue flames around him. The flames rippled and appeared to be sucked towards him, focusing around his eyes. A moment later, as Jaune gave another cry of pain, they formed into something solid and dispersed, revealing a white mask, not unlike the ones worn by the White Fang, only with full eyeholes rather than the four slits, marked with dark blue patterns that formed a Spades symbol between his eyes and twined like vines over his cheeks and around the eyeholes.
Then, almost as soon as the mask had formed, he grabbed it and tore it of. To Pyrrha's surprise, blood seemed to spurt out of his eyes as he did. At the same time, the mask dissolved once more into blue fire that surged up his arm and covered his body as he slowly got to his feet. As he did, Pyrrha caught sight of his eyes and nearly recoiled. They were bright yellow, just like a Grimm.
Before she could properly react, the flames around him seemed to explode out, creating a blue mist around him from which emerged a towering figure clad in red leather armour that appeared to be made of the skin of some great lizard. Its face was hidden behind a metal mask from within which a pair of yellow lights could be seen. Sheathed across its back was a truly monstrous sword that resembled a Katana held in a red sheath. The weapon lacked a true guard, but the spikes that emerged from the blade just above the hilt more than made up for the lack.
"Alright you overgrown shrimp," said Jaune as he straightened himself and glared at the Deathstalker.
His eyes had turned back to their normal blue, but the area around his eyes looked like it was covered in blood.
"Its time for you to crawl back into whatever hole you came out of," continued the blond, "Burn in hell! Agi!"
As if that was a command, the figure behind Jaune drew its sword, revealing that its blade was as red as the rest of the being, and swung at the Deathstalker. The Grimm let out a howl of pure agony as fire erupted from the blade and slammed into the Grimm. The Deathstalker stumbled around and collapsed, shuddering in pain as the flames ate away at its carapace.
"Hey Pyrrha, lets get it!" shouted Jaune as the figure behind him vanished and his mask reappeared.
"R-right!" said Pyrrha.
Jaune jumped forwards, bouncing off the wall and grabbing his sword as he did, before leaping at the Deathstalker at the same time as Pyrrha. With the giant Grimm dazed as it was, it was easy for the two Hunters in Training to hit it with a barrage of high speed attacks, ending with Jaune slamming his sword into its head so hard that the ground under it cracked. He flipped away, sheathing his sword as he did, and landed with his back to the Grimm.
"Game over asshole," he said as he adjusted his gloves.
THUMP!
The Deathstalkers head, legs, claws and stinger fell to the ground, followed by the body as the damage proved to much for the monster to hold together.
Jaune POV
I could hardly believe it. Since I had activated my Aura, I had never been able to figure out my Semblance. My sisters had told me that everyone was different when it came to their Semblance. Some people activated it naturally, others needed a push to do so. In my case, that was apparently a god damn Persona! Still, it was damned cool and very powerful if what Huntsman had done to the Deathstalker was anything to go by. Also, All-out attacks! That was cool.
I shook off my euphoric high. Now was not the time for self congratulations, not when my teammates were still down. Besides, I was willing to bet that, once we were done here and the adrenaline wore off, I was gonna crash hard. After all, the activation of ones Persona was a very draining experience and I doubted I'd be any different. I turned to Pyrrha, who had fallen to her knees once the Grimm had been killed and now looked like she was about to start hyperventilating.
"Pyrrha, are you OK?" I asked, kneeling down next to her.
"I-I think so," she said, "Its just...I've never been in a fight like that…"
She shivered and pulled her knees up to her chest. I understood. She may be a great fighter, but all of her battles up to this point were hardly life threatening. I was willing to bet that this was the first time her life had been in real danger. I glanced up as a still groggy Nora helped Ren over, the martial artist avoiding putting any weight on his visibly twisted leg, and sighed. In our current state, we wouldn't have a chance of getting up the cliff. If only I could…
My thoughts trailed off as the impression of a exactly what my Persona's abilities were at the moment. I only had three, Agi, Cleave and Media. So, a fire, a physical and healing skill. Thats handy. I raised my hand and put it on my mask, causing it to dissolve as Huntsman appeared again. My teammates jumped at the sudden outporing of power and stared up at Huntsman as he appeared, looming over us.
"Alright, since I can't leave you lot in pain, lets do this," I said, "Media!"
Huntsman clasped his hands and green light shone out, before he threw them out and released a shower of green motes. I closed my eyes as I felt the healing energy flow through me, fixing the injuries I'd sustained fighting against the Deathstalker. Pyrrha gasped, no doubt feeling the same as Nora and Ren also watched wide eyed as his leg slowly shifted back into place. After a few seconds, the energy dissipated and Huntsman vanished once more.
"Thats the best I can do," I said, "Are you two OK to move out?"
Ren hesitantly put his weight on his formerly injured leg and nodded.
"So long as we don't have to fight anything, I think I'll be OK," he said.
I nodded.
"What about you girls?" I asked, turning to Nora and Pyrrha.
"I-I'm fine," said Pyrrha.
"I'm A OK!" said Nora with a thumbs up and a wink.
The stumble she gave a moment later proved that, despite the healing and her Aura, she was definitely not completely over the concussion.
"Right, we can visit the nurse when we get back to Beacon," I said, "For now, lets head out. The others should be done with that oversized turkey by now."
I turned and started heading towards where the newly headless Nevermore was falling down the cliff. I had barely taken a few steps before I pitched forwards, all the strength draining from my body. Before I could hit the ground, Pyrrha jumped forwards and caught me.
"Are you OK?" she asked.
I groaned and rubbed my eyes, absently noting that my mask had vanished.
"Yeah, just really, really tired," I groaned.
"Alright, lets go," said Pyrrha, "Nora, Ren, lets go."
"Got it," said Ren.
We slowly made our way towards the cliff, battered and bruised but very much alive after our first big battle.
"Hey Jaune," said Pyrrha as we started crossing the bridge to meet up with RWBY.
"Hmm?" I mumbled as I tried to keep from falling asleep.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"You saved us. Theres no way I could have handled that thing on my own."
"You'd have been fine," I said, "You are a regional champion after all."
"My victories in tournaments are mostly thanks to my Semblance," she said, "I'm a skilled fighter, but I also know my limits. I know that thing would have beaten me no problem and killed all of us. And it would have been my fault. I guess I'm still not strong enough..."
I raised an eyebrow. I admit, I hadn't expected such an honest response from her and that last bit implied that there was something in Pyrrhas past that she had been too weak to prevent. I decided to keep quiet about it for now and instead used the arm that was slung over her shoulders to give her a quick squeeze.
"Well, that doesn't matter any more," I said, "We're partners, so if you're not strong enough, let me take some of the burden."
Pyrrha looked at me in surprise, before she smiled softly.
"Alright Jaune," she said, "And I'll help you carry yours as well."
I smiled back, before the smile was wiped off my face as my head throbbed lightly. I felt something snap into place as a voice echoed in my ears:
I am Thou, Thou art I…
You have acquired a new vow.
I shall become the blade of light
That severs the bonds of the Dark Future.
With the Birth of the Magician Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
will lead to Freedom and new powers.
As quickly as it had come, the odd sensation faded, leaving me feeling incredibly confused and more than a little annoyed.
Thanks to the injuries some of the teams had received during the test, the Team Announcement ceremony was due to start the next day, more than enough time for Aura to fix all but the most grievous of injuries. I was glad for it as, even if I wasn't hurt thanks to Media, I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. So much so that I fell asleep as soon as my head touched my pillow.
I blinked. Almost as soon as I had closed my eyes, I had found myself sitting in a comfortable armchair, bound in blue velvet, before a fireplace made of black marble with pale blue flames flickering in the grate. A look around the room revealed that I was in what appeared to be a large drawing room of some kind. It was painted dark blue, with a blue and black patterned carpet. The windows were covered in blue velvet curtains and a large portrait of four woman gathered around a young man with burgundy hair and a butterfly mask over his eyes. Sat in an armchair across a small coffee table from me was a little old man with bulging eyes and a very long nose, while a woman stood at his shoulder.
She looked like she was in her mid 20s, although as a Denizen of the Velvet Room, she could well be over a millennia old, and had fair skin, platinum blond hair with red tips and yellow eyes. She was wearing a dark blue dress that resembled a maid uniform with a white sash around her waist that looked like it had been torn off something larger.
"Welcome, to the Velvet Room," said Igor, drawing my attention back to me, "I'm sure I don't need to introduce myself, but I shall anyway. I am Igor and this is my assistant, Rose."
"A pleasure to meet you Master," said Rose, bowing her head to me.
"Er, hello," I said, still a little unsure as to what the hell was going on, "Um, why am I here? More to the point, how did I get here?"
Igor smiled behind his clasped hands.
"Please don't play dumb with us Mr Arc," he said, "I know that you know exactly who I am and why you are here."
"You mean to tell me that I'm a Wild Card?" I asked, not bothering to ask how Igor knew about my old life.
"Indeed," said Igor, "You have been bought here to create a contract so we may help you in your future battles."
"You already know how to increase your power," said Rose, "You must create bonds with others and draw power from them."
She reached into her dress and pulled out a card which she placed on the table. It depicted Pyrrha with Miló and Akoúo̱ held at the ready. At the bottom of the card was a banner with her name written on it along with a title. It was the 'Doomed Amazon'. Very cheery. Across the top on another scroll was her Arcana, the Magician.
"This is the first of many," said Igor, "I admit, I am quite eager to see how you will do in the future. For now however, it is time for you to go. You have a big day and you need to get some rest."
Before I could point out that he was the one who had called me here, my eyes slid shut and I slipped off to sleep.
And done. So, a new power, a fight, an all-out attack and a new bond. Jaune sure did have a hectic day.
The design for Jaunes initial Persona is based on the Rathalos armour and longsword from Monster Hunter. In case you haven't noticed, I changed his Persona from Dovahkiin to the Huntsman and yes, I have my reasons for it.
A new bond is formed with the holder of the Magician Arcana, Pyrrha Nikos. That should be interesting.
Since Igor stated in P5 that the Velvet Rooms form is determined by its visitor, I decided to go nuts in coming up with my own design. Speaking of, Rose is an important character and it took me ages to come up with a design that won't reveal what I have in mind for her right out the gate while at least providing some insight that might allow you to guess what she is hiding.
And with that, I'm done. Next time will include the Team Announcements (which I am sorely tempted to skip) and the formation of two new bonds. At least. On the other hand, I should not promise anything as my stories have a tendency of choosing their own path. Whatever, don't forget to review!