Volume 1 - Part 1 The Duelists
The wall stood before Cyril, green bountiful beauty above. But he was stuck below, covered in his muddy gray uniform. He and his brother, the only two left standing in the gray wastes. Grimm approached, his rifle destroyed by the ceaseless battles, and left with only his family's saber, Perun, to fend off the approaching pack of monsters, Cyril knew what he had to do.
Cyril charged the beasts, yelling back to his brother "Climb, now!". The first beast lost its head to Cyril's blade as he cut down with force. He then pivoted to the beast to his right, cutting off its limbs on its right side, immobilizing it. The saber would then pierce through the skull of the beast behind lodging itself in its brains. Whilst the blade was stuck, another beast jumped onto him ripping off his right arm, but before anymore could be done Cyril was able to draw his knife and stab the beast through its glowing malicious eye. He threw the beast's corpse off himself, with sirens beginning to go off in his head when another didn't attack.
Left declawed by the blood loss and pain, Cyril turned to see the rest of the gaggle of beasts hunched around the base of the wall seemingly busy. Cyril let out a cry of anguish, the pain streaking through his voice. The scene etched in his mind.
He accepted that they were his final moments, the end, as Cyril saw the fate he would soon meet. But, as he blinked the beasts lay dead with a cloaked man wielding a claymore standing above them.
"Damn, too late again," He says with frustration in his voice looking down at the pile with gritted teeth. "Huh?" The tanned man said again as he looked towards Cyril. With his last ounce of energy Cyril had gained the man's attention. "Don't worry son, I'll get you out of here," He said picking up Cyril just before he blacked out.
…
Cyril awoke, covered in sweat and jolted up.
"Why won't the fucking nightmares go away?" he asked himself in a hushed, but frustrated voice. Cyril crawled out of his tiny bed on the transport ship to his tiny room. He'd been selected to go to Beacon Academy after an unknown party recommended him. He took the opportunity, not to save others, but for a chance of a better life. He changed in his private quarters into khaki pants, a gray long sleeve button up shirt with the top three buttons undone showing a striped blue and white undershirt, and old cracking black boots.
On top of that he put on a belt with his Electrified Saber, Perun,'s sheath and holster for his dual shot revolver, and a bandolier wrapped around his waist, which was kept up by sitting on his sheath-holster combo giving it a droop on his left side. All of his equipment was either homemade or modified. The modified category included the belt, which was only meant to hold the holster but had been retrofitted to hold the saber too, which was also modified with a host of electronics to be able to electrocute those who are hit by the blade when its circuit was complete. The homemade included the bandolier which was taken from a similar, slightly larger belt and given a strange hanging clip system for two .50 BMG rounds to be quickly loaded to his revolver, which looked more like a gigantic chunk of metal with a handle more than anything. Its firing mechanism was built in such a way that a large metal cylinder shaped object would fly backwards, turning to flip the cylinder and recock the hammer. It was surprisingly reliable as through all the tests, it never blew up in Cyril's hand.
Cyril prepared the last touches, he tied the sides of his black hair, which reached his shoulders, back to give him a half up half down hairstyle. He also put a thick black glove over his right hand, tucking the other next to the holster-sheath combo on the right side of his belt.
Cyril, now dressed, left his room and walked through the dingy hallways of the transport ship to its deck. Many used to take ships like this along the sea to beacon but those days are long gone, as only about 5 other people were on the ship meant for 200. Once he reached the fresh air of the ship's deck he saw a girl already standing there by herself. He considered heading back, but instead walked beside her, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket, took one, then threw the half full box overboard before lighting up his last one.
"You smoke?" The girl asked, surprised in an empty voice, staring into the dark blue water below. She had orange frizzled hair tied back. She wore tight black pants, boots, and a long sleeve white blouse covered by a light blue jacket with a belt crossing her chest diagonally. On her hip sat a peculiar looking rapier. Overall the getup made her look like a duelist from god knows how long ago.
"This is my last one, to commemorate an old friend," Cyril said looking at her with a stupid grin then taking a long puff.
"I thought everyone on this ship was just some forgotten nobody who got lucky," She said, looking deeply into the sea. There were a few moments of silence as Cyril continued to smoke.
"I can't say you're wrong," Cyril said, taking a last puff of his cigarette before casting it into the sea. "But in the end I still remember him. And all those from back home," Cyril said, his stone face cracking a little. There was yet another pause.
"What does that mean?" the girl asked, a little confused, now looking at Cyril.
"Eh, nothing in particular," Cyril replied, covering up his cracks and returning to his initial self. "I'll see you when we get to beacon I guess," he said as he walked back into the outdated husk of a ship, to his room.
Once back in his cabin, Cyril got to writing into his old leather bound journal. He'd write what had happened recently, his feelings, and his thoughts on anything at the time. He'd started years ago, before the nightmare took place. If you'd asked him, it's what kept himself sane.
"Everyone this is your captain speaking," A drained voice said over the speakers. "We are going to arrive at Beacon Academy in about 10 minutes, so be prepared to leave the ship by then, have a nice day," they added.
Cyril grabbed his gray worn messenger bag with his belongings packed inside, and treaded through the derelict halls once more to the deck. As he climbed out of the ship's hold he was surprised by a grand building upon the cliffs, Beacon Academy. He didn't realize but the girl noticed something strange about him. He ogled at the structure like he'd never seen anything so grand, and did so with a conflicted expression.
Once the ship was fully docked he moved again, his concentration snapped, scaling the stairs from the dock to the school itself. He clearly outpaced the others for one reason or another. Through the entire climb he never slowed down or sped up, like a dancer perfectly performing a trained move. He made it to the top just as the airships carrying more fortunate students arrived. For once, Cyril felt a strange sense of comfort. He wished he had gotten to the top a bit faster to explore though, but nonetheless he carried on.
As Cyril made his way through the maze of buildings to the training arena, he had mixed feelings about what he was seeing. Something just didn't sit right with him, but he still continued through the labyrinth in the river of cadets. After flowing into the training arena with the crowd Cyril looked for a nice corner to not be noticed in during the welcoming speech.
After a brief search Cyril found himself a corner and prepared to tune out whatever the speaker would say, before something caught his eye. A woman with red hair, green eyes, and golden armor. He pondered for a second, he'd read that description before. Then it snapped, it's that Pyrrha Nikos girl. He thought it best for himself to steer clear of her for now and prepared to use all his might to avoid listening to who he believed to be the headmaster speak. As he let his mind race he looked up to notice the girl from earlier appearing to do something similar, though it appeared she hadn't noticed him doing it as well. Cyril thought about it for a second before his thoughts came to a halt. With that the cadets were sent to go set up for the night in the school ballroom.
When heading to the ballroom he'd sleep in for the night, Cyril was a little intrigued to see what a real ballroom looked like, after all he'd only heard about them in stories as a little kid. As Cyril walked into it he thought it was, a little lackluster to say the least. Though that could be chopped up to the fact it was covered in 15 year olds with sleeping bags.
In the end Cyril was just happy to not be sleeping on a boat. As if it were second nature to him he sat back up against a wall with everything basically still on and closed his eyes. Before committing to sleep though, he took a look up to see that he was the only one not in the provided sleeping bag. For once, in a bit of a nervous state, he rolled out his sleeping bag, took off his belt, bandolier, bag, and boots before finally sleeping for the night.
…
Thundering rain pounds the rotten gray dirt creating a flurry of slimy mud. A lone fox hole dug into an empty gray field, partially flooded, with but a boy inside. His red eyes, the only contrast in the wasteland. He looks up from his fight to stay awake to see a gap in the clouds forming. His dirty gray uniform clears and the mud slides right off as he begins to float towards it, a peace from the hell of this world, however he spots a horde of Grimm approaching the front line. Without warning those on its remparts, its defenders will surely perish.
A dilemma of sorts begins to take shape. Guarantee one's own future or give others the chance. The boy makes the decision almost immediately and falls back to Earth, dirty, cold, and damp, to his foxhole, climbing out and running back to the frontlines at top speed to warn his comrades of the attack. The boy jumps over the barricades to his comrades and…
…
Cyril woke up the same as the day before, covered in sweat.
"Well that's a new one," Cyril said to himself quietly in a tired voice with heavy breaths. He looked around to see that most people were still asleep and the sun still hid just below the horizon. He rubbed his face for a second before crawling out of bed. There was plenty of time left before he needed to head to the next event he'd read about. Neatly and like he'd had years of practice he rolled up his sleeping bag placing it next to the wall.
"You toss and turn a lot," A boy said walking up to and standing next to Cyril, saying it as if it were a matter of fact statement. "You kept me up all night," The boy added with a similar inflection that had added hints of frustration.
"Yeah, yeah, you'll get used to it," Cyril replied, being brutally blunt in his sleepiness.
"What does that mean?" The boy asked in a mix of frustration, confusion, and intrigue.
"I'm willing to bet after our first battle people are going to have nightmares about it, and fighting grimm is part of this team selection thing. It'll probably take you a week but you can thank me for a one day head start," Cyril replied with a sleepy voice and laughing to himself like an idiot.
"How do you know all that?" The boy asked in a strange sort of intrigued yet disgusted voice.
"Pal, you don't want to know," Cyril said slyly, again like an idiot. Cyril then quickly began putting on his boots, then belt, bandolier, and lastly his bag, also realizing he accidentally slept with his hair still half up half down.
Cyril stood up, ready to leave before hearing the boy say to his face "The fuck is wrong with you, how'd you get into this place,". Cyril just ignored him and walked away dodging in between sleeping cadets with surprising precision. At the entrance its ornate doors to the ballroom swung open to reveal a dead, unknown campus.
He patrolled the narrow alleys and paths weaving in and out of each other, giving him the feeling that the campus was not designed practically. He stopped exploring though after he happened upon a statue. Two heroes standing over a beowulf grimm. Not heroes, Huntsmen, Cyril corrected his mind. His brain flowed with thoughts and feelings inspired by the sight. Feeling a sort of inspiration he sat down under the statue and decided to write a new entry in his journal.
The leatherbound journal creaked with every turn of the page as he reviewed some of the previous day's pages before getting to a blank page. Cyril wrote in pen with his left hand, and began scribbling a story into its pages. His journal was interesting as instead of having standard entries he wrote them in riddles of sorts, turning his feelings into haikus, vignettes and other short pieces of writings. The story he wrote at the statue was simple, about a young boy at a statue of his Idol. His fervor is then destroyed by an old man standing in front of it, a fellow comrade, destroyed and left forgotten. As he wrapped up the story he instinctively reached for his back pocket, and after a short look of sadness and dropping his head he returned to writing and finished his short story. As he put the journal away he'd realized that the night prior he hadn't taken the glove off his right hand, though he didn't mind much.
As his thoughts came to a close along with the journal he found a new sort of calm. The statue which he viewed with vitriol filled his mind, which was emptied onto the pages of his journal. The sun had finally settled above the horizon by the time he'd finished, indicating to Cyril that it was time to head to the initiation ceremony.
As he wandered back through the impractical campus to the Emerald Forest the urban gray campus gave way to greenery as he followed the directions he'd memorized. At one point Cyril stopped to take in the scenery. He had more of an appreciation for natural beauty than the average person, but it was a quite shallow appreciation. Though his mind was a bit rattled once he reached the site. An ordinary valley caught his eye by its sheer scale.
Cyril was snapped out of it when a blonde haired woman told him to stand on one of the many metal platforms lining the cliff towards the forest. It was a few minutes before the final few students to be made it to the cliff, many arriving before him. Whilst he waited he concentrated once more on the valley. His concentration on the land's scar was finally broken once more by the headmaster from the day prior. Cyril couldn't remember his name for the life of him, and it hadn't helped that he ignored him during the welcoming speech.
The headmaster spoke "For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest,".
"Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignments of teams," The blonde woman who was now next to him added, mirroring his professional voice. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates, today," She continued.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, So it's in your best interest to be paired with someone you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years," The headmaster droned on until some minor conversations arose and paused it for a few seconds. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of your path containing several relics, each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions? Good, now, take your positions," The headmaster monologued in a monotone voice.
With that, everyone but Cyril took a position. The platforms one by one began launching the aspiring hunters into the wood below going from left to right. When Cyril was launched he led his descent with his right arm, almost diving towards the end of his flight. Cyril braced with his right hand and rolled to a stop on the forest floor like a large hand had smacked him across a room. Due to how he fell he was farther behind most of the other cadets.
However his infiltration was intercepted immediately. 5 beowulf beasts surrounded Cyril. He drew his saber slowly with his left hand, it glowing and Arching wildly like a lively fire as it left its sheath. There was a moment of pause before Cyril quickly snatched his revolver from its holster and quickly shot at one of the grimm, piercing the beast's face armor, and killing the beast almost instantly. The remaining beasts rushed him, acting fast, he ducked and sliced through the underside of the second grimm from its head to its tail and recovered, facing the jumble of three that still stood. The next grimm's charge was stopped by Cyril's blade and ended by a shot to the stomach, sending a loud clang throughout the valley as the weapon's mechanism prepared to fire once more. Now needing to reload, he popped the revolver's cylinder out, swung it down to release the spent cartridges, swiped it up into his bandolier, loading in two more shots, and lastly popping the cylinder back in with a quick and violent flick of the wrist. As the third beast's corpse fell to the wayside Cyril shot the rightmost of the two remaining in the head twice before thrusting his sword up the leftmost grimm's jaw and out the other end, creating an explosion of arching electricity and light before the blade smoothly came out and the beasts lay slain.
Cyril reloaded once more before holstering his pistol, and sheathing his saber. He cautiously but at a solid pace continued heading north through the dense forest. It was an interesting experience for Cyril to say the least, but he had encountered opposition, It was time to focus in, and strike back. He immediately reacted when he heard a cry for help, turning his head towards the sound like a guard dog. He hesitated, frozen. He began to breathe heavily, racked with thoughts. He closed his eyes and winced for a few moments before, with a frustrated look on his face, Cyril turned and ran to the screams.
In a forest clearing covered by maroon flowers, was a girl laying defenselessly staring at a beringel about to strike. Cyril ran, whistling wildly through the clearing, and drawing his saber quickly. He'd successfully gained its attention, and brought the two on a collision course. Cyril's saber lit up and began arching in the air around it as he approached the beast, before it lunged forward with its left fist. Cyril slid under the beast's punch, and with all his might swung his saber into the grimm's leg, lodging his blade in the beast's shin, sending it wild, screaming as the grimm lit up on and off like a lightbulb and arched. As Cyril tried to push through the beast with all his might he screamed and finally pushed through severing the beast's foot, sending it tumbling to the ground , with him and the grimm left smoking.
Cyril scaled the incapacitated beast before doing the deed and in a small arching explosion finished off the monster with a strike to the back of its head. He breathed heavily for a few seconds before grimm's corpse began to vanish in a cloud of black mist. He turned behind him to see the girl from the boat peering into his soul, through his red eyes, and frightened beyond belief. Sheathing his Saber, he walked to her and lent his right hand out, offering to help her up. She accepted, a little to Cyril's surprise as he pulled her off the ground.
"Thanks. I thought no one would hear me," She said in a genuine, almost sweet tone. Cyril felt strange for a moment. His mind going wild for a second
"What's your name," Cyril asked in a concerned yet firm voice.
"Julie," She replied in a revitalized voice.
"Let's get this over with," Cyril said frustrated, but more so at himself than Julie.
Now newly minted partners the two headed north, with them most likely being the last to reach the temple. Through the streams, flowerbeds, and clearings of the Emerald Forest Cyril couldn't muster the strength to say anymore, disappointed with himself, to the point where even Julie could tell. As the pair descended into a small meadow dotted with gold and white flowers, Julie spoke for the first time since the beringel encounter.
"What's your name,"She asked in a polite voice trying to be friendly.
"Cyril," he replied, trying to speak coldly .
"What's your last name?" Julie questioned in an almost fake voice, trying to cheer up her new partner.
"Gerovit," Cyril replied again after a few moments, sending one eye looking back.
"Interesting, never heard a name like Gerovit before," She replied with a friendly, and in a way soothing voice.
"What's your last name?" Cyril asked after another few moments passed, his cold tone cracking.
"It's meaningless but D'Aubigny," She said in a nervous cadence.
"How so?" Cyril asked, his interest peaked, and his cold tone beginning to disintegrate.
"I'd rather not talk about it," Julie said looking down, visibly uncomfortable.
"Ok, you don't have to tell," Cyril said after a long pause in an attempt to comfort her.
They continued to trudge through towards the end of their induction's target, now back in silence. Though Cyril had felt as if he'd had a weight lifted off of his shoulders, but a hole had grown in his heart. One he hadn't felt in quite some time. Nonetheless he and Julie before long arrived at the temple.
As they entered its ruins they saw a ring of podiums, with but two empty. Sitting all the way to the left and right of the ruins were two black pawns, left behind. After seeing the two when Cyril looked back at Julie, she saw her suddenly get nervous.
"We have to be the last two here right? Then why is there multiple left?" She asked, her voice covered in concern.
"If anyone else didn't make it here, there's nothing we can do," Cyril said plainly with total disregard for Julie as he walked to the right and grabbed a pawn. "You're probably just overthinking things right now, everything is probably alright," He continued, realizing his mistake, as Cyril examined the relic. "Cmon, let's get out of here,"Cyril added as he put the pawn in his bag, with the two setting off.
The pair lucked out quite a bit, as it seemed as most of the beasts had been slain and their walk back was easy. Whilst their walk was dead silent the two had felt a strange connection through their short journey together. Though like all things their journey came to a close with the orange sky across the horizon as they reached the cliffs once more. They had survived another day.
Author's Notes: A few things going forward in the case I decide to keep writing. First, I will change some of the lore if need be and I will do my best to move things around before volume one is done and there's no need to worry about it anymore. Next up the J in Julie is pronounced like Jaune's and is actually inspired by someone named Julie D'Aubingny, if the real writers can just add random real life people because they are cool, I'm going to do that too. Lastly, I'm pretty busy in my actual life so I'll do my best to finish at least Volume 1 of this series.