"They're here." Arachne's eyes opened manically as she scuttled across the ceiling, one of her spiderwebs had been tripped and she needed to alert the Mistress. "They're here, they're here, they're here!"
"Yes! I heard you the first time!" The Mistress replied tiredly. The nightlife of Vale was too mundane for her tastes. The things that went bump in the night weren't the hounds of hell, but the rats and roaches. She needed more evil in her life. "I need a vacation...Or a cataclysmic disaster. I loved those."
"Milady, I ask that you let me meet them first. Allow me to test them." Prometheus asked concernedly. He looked between the lady in black and the door and realized that this could be a bad idea. "There is the possibility that they could be the power that you have found."
"Ah, Prometheus, your fear is entertaining, but it's time for you to let mommy do the talking." The Lady of Night stepped onto the air that hung just below her dais and drifted to the floor, gracefully tiptoeing her way to the door where Arachne hunched, murmuring kill, kill, kill, over and over again. "Arachne, go knit something."
"But how many times did I say it after you heard? Maybe you heard one of my fir-"
"Shhh. It's okay doll, go make yourself a nice little sweater, hm?" The pale white skin of The Lady's arm slithered it's way around the shoulders of her eight-legged friend. "I have an appointment."
Two stories below, a woman wearing a backless red dress and high heels sat at a table which held only a chess set and a tea set. She glanced silently at the unnaturally darkened corners of the room and smiled challengingly. "It's impolite to leave a lady waiting."
"I could say the same for you. I've been waiting for half an hour." Nyx said as she emerged from behind Cinder and placed her head on the table. When she reached the other side of the table, Nyx picked up her head and placed it back on top of her neck. "Neat party trick, right?"
"I'll admit, I'm curious, and slightly put off." Cinder replied, stifling her emotions and swallowing subtly. "Anyway, I need to know why you believe that we should work together."
"Then you'll have to ask. There wasn't a question in that whole last paragraph. Not even in narration." Nyx said mischievously. She then turned to the author and stuck her tongue out, confusing Cinder immensely. "And you really thought that these four walls could hold me?"
"I don't understand." Cinder said with painful hesitance. She hated not understanding. "Why do you think that you and I should work together? And what were you saying earlier?"
"I think we could work together because I alone am immensely powerful, and you have an army. I could supply you with everything you need to wreak havoc, and you have this tiny little bit of something else beside where your soul should be and it honestly turns me on."
Cinder began to get the feeling that this asset would be more hassle than she'd be worth. Perhaps it was time for her to draw the glove. Another soul would hardly be a burden, especially one so powerful. "Perhaps you could demonstrate this power so that I can determine if I truly need your power."
"Is this enough?" Nyx asked, gesturing to an oncoming horde of what appeared to Cinder to be Grimm. Loping hounds growled as dozens of glowing red eyes narrowed at Cinder.
Their primal minds, lacking direction or coherence assorted itself hastily into a rough idea. Food. They raced toward Cinder, their gaping maws loosing resounding howls, summoning fear from the depths of Cinder's heart.
"Ah ah ah! No! Bad boys." Nyx said sternly, causing the four hounds to skid to a stop and whine furiously for a few seconds before lying down and beginning to snore. "Now, tea?"
Cinder nodded and gulped slowly. There was no avoiding the sinking dread that settled like concrete into the pit of Cinder's stomach. What would Salem do?
Not get in bed with this godforsaken she-devil.
"Now that's just rude!" The woman gasped from across the room, pouting at Cinder as she took a sip of tea that appeared to be aflame. "I'm not a she-devil! I'm a goddess."
Cinder's stomach fell, but she held her facade like a pro. This woman held the intents of Grimm in her hands, and could apparently move them to her whim. She was not to be spited. The goddess leaned forward and moved a single piece on the board, the black queen.
Checkmate.
Percy leapt from his bed with the practiced grace of a pachyderm and the elegance of a drunk giraffe. He expected to leap to a standing position with his blade poised for combat.
Instead, he slammed into the ground in a bundle of sheets and blankets, his butt up in the air as he glanced around the room and felt into his pockets. He was still wearing his jeans from the other day, and Riptide and the other pen were both there still, but unfortunately, he looked around and realized that he was in a strange purgatory between the Isles of Blest and the Fields of Erebus, surrounded by beautiful girls, each fast asleep, except for one. A tense ravenette with her nose in a book and stifling a chuckle sat across from him, her eyes glowing in the dim moonlight.
"What time is it?" Percy asked quietly, slowly untangling himself as quietly as possible from his bundle of blankets in the middle of the floor. Blake looked at the clock on her bedside. She held up four fingers, then two fingers, then three. "Four twenty-three?" She nodded.
Percy sighed to himself and finally pried himself off of the floor and to his feet. His chest was uncovered except for a chiseled swimmer's build and a buffet of scars of different kinds. He looked across at Blake, noting her gaze and waved his hand in front of her face before smiling hesitantly. "What did you say?"
"I was wondering if you'd like to go for a run with me." Percy asked calmly. Blake looked down at the Yukata she was wearing and shrugged to show that she didn't quite feel prepared, but Percy had ignored her, tossing her a pair of his running shorts. Blake cringed at the thought of the teasing she'd undergo should Yang find her in a boy's shorts, but she felt like the run might do her good, so she sighed and stood from her bed as Perseus turned and pulled on a shirt, causing internal Blake (slutty Blake) to moan emphatically; Nooo…
Blake pulled off her yukata and slid into the shorts, surprised to find them almost as breezy as a skirt. Sure, Blake enjoyed the comforting snugness of tight clothes as much as the next girl. Probably more. Thought slutty Blake, but it was nice to have something so loose that didn't have the constant risk of panty shots. As Perseus pulled up his shorts. Aww...I missed his ass. Blake stuffed her feet into some socks and a pair of running shoes before the pair began to leave the building.
"So, where do you usually run?" Perseus asked, and Blake smirked at the ironic depth of that question, but instead of the foreboding and revealing: away, she merely nodded for him to follow her. As they continued on the path circumventing all of Beacon, Blake began to notice something. As she felt fatigue begin to seep in, causing her to pant and sweat, Percy began to hum a jaunty tune, looking like he could continue for quite a while farther. "What's wrong?" He asked, noticing her vexed growl. She shook her head and decided to up the ante.
Blake took two deep breaths, hating herself already for the pain that she would go through after this run, and tore off in a headlong sprint, grinning madly at the thought of Percy trying to keep up. After rounding a couple of corners, Blake slid to a stop, plopping on the floor and massaging her groaning muscles. She smirked as she waited for the other raven haired boy to appear, expecting to get her rest now before she had to dash again, only for the boy to come sprinting around the corner as she slid down the wall. Percy wasn't nearly as fast as Blake, but from the look on his face and the light sheen of sweat That wasn't there, it was obvious that this boy had stamina unlike any she had ever seen. How was he not sweating?!
"Woah! You really threw me off there for a second! I was wondering if I'd ever catch up. Thanks for waiting for me." Blake stared for a moment, trying her best to retain eye contact, but it wasn't easy when she was being blessed by the sight of a veritable Greek god (not that she knew what the term even meant, being from Remnant), stripping off his shirt and offering it to her as a sweat rag. His chest was heaving as Blake stared at his rippling muscles and resisted the urge to stroke his abs. Slutty Blake spoke up: Aw, look but don't touch!? That's no fun!
Regaining her composure and taking Perseus' shirt, finding it not only dry, but smelling unnaturally clean, like the beach, Blake looked up and down the boy and gave one passing remark. "You're not human, are you?"
Percy blinked twice and smiled, plopping down in front of Blake before shooting her a winning smile. "What gave it away?"
Blake frowned and asked hesitantly. "Faunus?"
Percy racked his brain, while trying to keep a straight face, digging for the definition of Faunus before he remembered. "No! Not like that, sorry to get your hopes up, but it's nothing that cool. I'm just a bit...different."
"Miss Belladonna." A voice called from a few meters away, causing the hair on the back of Blake's neck to stand on end. "I see you and Mr. Nightshade are getting very well acquainted. And on his first day too. My Mr. Nightshade, you do move fast."
Blake's face flushed as she examined their position. The two of them in a rather dim corner of Beacon, panting and sweating, one of them shirtless. No wonder the headmaster made the assumption he did. Percy took longer to understand Ozpin's connotations, but soon, he too was hurriedly standing, stepping away from the wall while lifting Blake up like she weighed next to nothing. He stammered for a moment before immediately going on the defensive with the textbook argument starter. "This isn't what it looks like."
Ozpin smiled vaguely as he watched the two students squirm. Percy looked down before his face contorted and he held up his finger, turning away from the pair, he sneezed loudly. So loudly, in fact, that the two near him felt a tremor through the ground. He sneezed again and Ozpin actually had to clench Blake's shoulder to keep her from falling. Finally, Perseus leaned his head back and said with a sniff. "I'm really sorry. This usually only happens when I'm around cats. Drive my allergies crazy."
Ozpin smiled knowingly at Blake as her eyes widened and her bow twitched slightly. She prepared her already sore legs to run as soon as Percy realized, but instead of saying anything, he simply smiled at them, his voice nasally as he said simply. "Anyway, back to the run?"
The looks the two received from the early risers were hilarious. Headmaster Ozpin, a new exchange student, and Blake Belladonna, one of the eight participants in the epic food fight that happened only a month ago walking down the main avenue. Two of them were wearing men's running shorts while the third smiled, holding his cane in one hand, and his usual black jacket in the other, slung over his shoulder. He smiled down at the two students as they tried their best to avoid the gazes of their fellow early risers.
"So...How was he?" Yang asked, nudging Blake's side as they sat in combat class. The two people in the ring clashed quickly, both relatively evenly matched. Blake grimaced, she knew that was going to happen. Yang would leap to conclusions, rumors would spread, and Percy and she would have to flee Vale and change their names to escape her nearly unlimited gossip reach.
"I don't know what you're talking about. We went for a run, he offered me pants, and I took them." Blake retorted, holding out hope that Yang would find someone far more interesting to distract.
"You're still wearing them."
"Shut your filthy whore mouth. These things are so damn comfortable."
"You do realize Yang will never let you live this down." Weiss intoned. Blake nodded dejectedly, and as the match ended, the next fighters were called.
"Percy Nightshade and Yang Xiao Long." Professor Goodwitch called, her usually grim face twitching a smile. Yang grinned and hopped to the stairs, followed closely by Percy who looked like he was about to hyperventilate.
"I am the Son of the Sea and the Bane of all monster. I have subjugated the expanses of the depths and I am so totally turned on by her right now." He murmured to himself. Blake's eyes widened slightly as she considered the possibility of Percy and Yang.
Ooh, maybe you three could get together sometime Slutty Blake suggested. We could totally swing both ways. Blake shook her head and tried to focus. As the two armed themselves, Yang cocking her gauntlets and Percy drawing a pair of batons out of his bag, Glynda stepped back, activated the shield around the arena and signaled for the auras to be displayed on the board, only for Percy's face to appear with only a single blinking question mark. Glynda hesitated, but Yang had no intention to wait for the fight to begin.
Yang went in for the quick kill, throwing a killer right hook toward Percy's head, or at least, where it was. Percy had apparently had the same idea, and was now where Yang had stood, drawing his baton out of the crater that it's impact had left. Yang's eyes went wide, and she went into a tighter, more defensive stance, circling Percy as he twirled his batons with ease, silently willing Yang to come closer. Yang hopped around on her feet for a moment before sprinting towards Percy as he held his batons up for a second before dropping them. As soon as Yang saw that, she grinned until Percy's fist buried itself into her stomach, causing her to cough violently.
"The weapon has changed." A voice spoke in the ring, coming from the arena announcer. Yang kept near the fist and as Percy drew back for another blow, Yang swung her leg around, knocking Percy onto one knee, where he shoved his elbow into Yang's knee, knocking her to the ground as well. She tackled him to the ground and raised her hand to pummel his face before she found her hand deflected into the ground beside Perseus as he held his baton against Ember Celica. He quickly flicked his wrist, swiping the baton into Yang's cheek, knocking her off of him as he hurled himself into the air, stepping away from his opponent as she stood up slowly, still dazed, and stepped beside his bag, drawing out of it a thick, lever action shotgun with a rounded stock. "The weapon has changed for the final time."
"What the-?" Yang began, before having to dodge a shot from his shotgun as Percy whirled around and fired another shot, clipping her shoulder with a sickening thump, but instead of crying out in pain, Yang just smiled wider, charging Perseus again with her hands guarding her face from the blows as Perseus fired shot after shot into her stomach, causing her hair to begin to glow. As she looked over her gauntlets, she saw Percy's previously narrow eyes widen as if he was suddenly shaken out of a haze, but too late, Yang slammed her fist into his chest, firing Ember Celica straight into his ribs. As Percy tumbled back, flipping end over end as he continued near the barrier of the ring, only to stop suddenly as he extended his body and stopped in a handstand and flung himself towards the busty brawler. Without missing a beat, she swung her leg in a strong arc, slamming her heel into his temple, drawing a symphony of 'oooh's and ouch's' from the stands. No one gets up after a hit like that, but Perseus slowly, painfully, almost pitifully dragged himself up to a kneeling position, his face hidden by the shadows of his hair. As he looked up, his opponent stood stunned for a moment, seeing his face covered in a huge spurt of blood forming behind his ear and splattered to his nose. He stood up, flipped his hair out of his eyes and smiled, staring deep into Yang's eyes.
"Take me. Take me right here, right now." The green-eyed Greek said with a husky edge to his voice. Yang's eyes turned lustful and she grinned even wider, hopping around from foot to foot, her blood really pumping and heat boiling up inside her stomach. They both charged forward, opting towards hand to hand combat without firearms of any kind. Yang threw accurate punches like there was no tomorrow, and Percy responded in kind, ducking, weaving, occasionally putting in a quick jab or elbow blow here or there, but the adrenaline was fading while the aura levels had not. Yang finally decided to end this fight quick and lashed out with her fist towards Percy's head, but instead of the sudden resistance she expected, she was met with a sudden reversal, Percy guided her hand away from his face and across her body, leaving her whole right side open to a vicious roundhouse kick to the ribs. Yang took it in stride and as she spun, she used her momentum to leap up into the air and slam her fist down into her opponent's shoulder, only for him to once again guide her blow away, placing her slightly off balance and catching her leg under his armpit before sensually dragging his fingers along her slightly tanned skin with a feathery touch, causing goosebumps to form on her skin as the heat in her stomach reached an all time high.
"Keep doing that, and I might just." Yang growled, her face flushed. Glynda watched on with disappointment at her students' libido driven antics. Without a second thought, Perseus ducked down and swiped at Yang's other leg, knocking her onto her butt. Finally, Yang's aura dropped into the red, causing Glynda to call the match. As Percy helped Yang slowly rise to her feet, her shins throbbing, Yang grabbed him by the collar, pulled him close and whispered into his ear: "The east roof, nine o'clock. I'll be the best you've ever had."
Percy panted for a few seconds before he grinned broadly and hefted Yang up onto his shoulder and paraded her around the stage for a few seconds before yelling into the stands loudly. "Are you not entertained?"
Team RWBY and Team JNPR sat in astonishment as Percy placed Yang back on the ground and promptly collapsed, a puddle of blood forming around his head as he slowly lost consciousness. Yang cradled his head and felt at his temple, pulling her hand away damp and bright red before she tried to lift him and carry him to the infirmary, only to collapse once again, unable to stand after the blows she took to her legs. She stared up at Glynda, terrified as the teacher quickly leapt down to the coliseum floor and hefted both Percy and Yang up into the air before hurriedly stomping towards the campus hospital.
As Percy slept, dreams plagued him, but for once, they weren't inherently bad dreams, in fact, they were more like prophetic visions, tidbits of conversations, past present and future.
"She said that she's a goddess. With her control over grimm, I'm hesitant to question her word."
"Roman, Roman, Roman, need I remind you what's at stake if you don't help me? Poor Neo would be all alone if you weren't there for her"
"Something's not right with this grimm. The only thing that works against it is pure dust explosives. Nothing else even seems to touch them."
"Ah ah ah! We can't have you knowing too much Percy. How about I just put the fear of gods into you. Open your eyes and scream at the oblivion."
Suddenly, just as fast as the dream began. It changed, gone was the drifting feeling of darkness, instead, Percy stood atop a tower with a darkly clad woman's head beside his on his shoulder, staring out into the pure chaos that overtook the entire horizon. "Ahh, nothing like a good apocalypse to really stretch the muscles." The woman said whimsically, suddenly standing between Percy and the destruction that brought up a feeling of guilt. "Look at what you could have."
The woman waved her hand and showed Percy a picture of a smiling Annabeth wearing a white silk sundress. Beside the image was one of Percy's friends sitting around a campfire, laughing, eating s'mores and singing stupid songs. Finally, one final image displayed Percy with his mother on the beach at Montauk, what seemed like forever ago, eating blue candy and telling stories. "You could have them back Percy. Just work with me. Embrace the night and you'll see the ones you love again."
Just as Percy was about to answer, the words already scrambling to escape his dry throat, a voice spoke from behind them and said calmly. "Or…" Percy turned around and saw the world as he wanted it. Maybe Annabeth was there, maybe she wasn't, but Percy was content. He felt fulfilled, he sat surrounded by new friends, new faces, some with names attached, and some without. He smiled and looked around, feeling a hand touch his own. "Maybe you could pull your head out of your ass and Keep Moving Forward. Sure, the past was great, but you have a future too, or at least you could have one, if you'd stop being so stuck in the past. Future friends, future family, maybe even a future love, so don't stop, don't quit, and don't let darkness win. It's just bad storytelling." The voice spoke with conviction and pride, but it also showed a twinge of sadness.
Percy looked back at the woman with the black dress and the soothing voice, and made up his mind. He reached out to her, his hand made to reach out for her face
…and grabbed her by the throat, throwing her to the ground. She hissed out a muted: "Damn." Before snapping her fingers and causing the dream to dissipate.
As Percy slowly began to awake, he noticed Yang sitting next to him, looking conflicted as she slowly patted his temple with a wet cloth. He smiled up at her, his best winning smile, causing her to sigh contentedly and flick him on the forehead. Looking up at Yang in shock, Percy lifted his arm for revenge, but stopped when he realized that he had casts on both hands. "You guys were fantastic."
Percy's eyes drifted to the rest of team RWBY and JNPR and he smiled, expecting to be harassed for his comments to Yang. Ruby piped up and smiled. "We are completely behind you and Yang's decisions, and you have my blessing to marry my sister, and Blake if you really want that."
"I have a concussion don't I?"
"...-ercy, Percy, can you hear me?" A voice asked through a haze as he groaned and opened his eyes slowly, the light blaring through his thick eyelashes between his eyelids. He stuck out his hands and realized with delight that his arms were not, in fact broken. "He's awake."
"Tell me straight Doc…" He trailed off dramatically. "Did I lose any teeth?" The doctor sighed but smiled, covering his face with a damp cloth. Percy immediately sighed as the water seeped out of the rag and seeped into his wounds, knitting together torn blood vessels and molding skin over his head. As he pulled away the rag, already his headache was dulling into a simple thud occasionally. The doctor gasped at his almost miraculous healing feat. "Act of god, right?"
"How did you do that? From the feed on the scroll that we have of you, you haven't got an ounce of aura. Is that some kind of hidden semblance?" The doctor asked, sliding the glasses on their nose up. "Can I take a blood sample?"
"You like that? You should see what I can do in a bathtub." Percy smiled weakly. He was obviously still in copious amounts of pain, but he was soldiering through it without so much as a groan. The doctor still looked like he wanted nothing but to poke Percy full of holes. "No, seriously. Can you move me to some tank of water. Anything would do, really."
"I might have something. Let me go check my supply closet." The doctor said, gesturing towards a strange blue door embedded in an otherwise completely stark white room with a strange label on it. Police Box...huh? "In the meantime, your friends are here." Percy's thoughts immediately drifted to his old friends, Jason, Grover, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Piper, Thalia, Nico...Annabeth. But they were gone. Team RWBY Team JNPR, and maybe Ozpin and Roman...but Roman was shady and Ozpin was even more mysterious. "Come on in!"
Ruby was the first one in the room, leaning over the bed, scanning Percy's body for obvious injuries, but she didn't even get to see the bruise on Percy's face up close, instead, she only spotted the huge bruise and indent in his chest. "Oh my goodness! You were awesome! How did you pull out such big weapons from that small bag? Is it like, magic? Is it dust infused? Is it your semblance?"
"You should probably slow down Ruby. I'm sure Percy is still tired from his fight." Pyrrha said kindly, smiling down at the injured man with respect. "I enjoyed watching you do battle Percy, and I hope that someday I may fight you as well."
"I'm hoping that that doesn't happen for a long time." Percy said smiling. He wrapped his arm around Ruby and pulled her in for nuggy. Ruby whined for a moment before Percy pulled her closer to him and hid behind her. "Where's Yang?"
"I'm coming, don't worry lover-boy, I'll be there in a second." Yang called in, limping slightly as she entered, sitting in the rolly chair by the door and sliding across the floor to Percy's side. Percy held Ruby up between the two of them, much to her behest. "I'm not gonna hit you Rocky, I think you got your butt kicked enough today."
"So, can you put me down?" Ruby demanded, feeling extremely small compared to Percy's huge hands and the fact that she was being held a foot above the floor, with ease. She frowned as maturely as she could manage before her frown deepened and she stared down at Percy disapprovingly. "Why didn't your aura take the damage from the hits you took?"
"I'm still not great with controlling that whole thing. See, I'm more of a-"
"You have no clue what that is, do you?"
"Nope." Percy said happily, grinning sheepishly. Weiss nearly slapped herself on the forehead, only to stop when Ruby and Jaune laughed good-naturedly. "Though, I do admit that I'm curious of anything that can keep Goldilocks here from beating the crap out of me like that again."
"If I knew you couldn't take it, I wouldn't have dished it out so bad." Yang smiled coyly, but caring Yang yelled out I'm so sorry! I didn't know that I'd hurt you. Real Yang laughed again, by now, she was an expert at not showing how much she was worried, dealing with Ruby for fifteen- almost sixteen years. Her birthday was coming up, had to do something about that. "Anyway, it's good that you're not dead kid."
"Kid?" Percy asked, smiling wryly, he groaned for a moment before standing hesitantly. As his feet touched the ground, he winced at the pain in his knees before he caught sight of the bespectacled Doctor wheeling a strange tub into the room. "I'm seventeen years old and I've survived two wars. I stopped being a kid when I was twelve."
As The Doctor pulled up beside Percy, the son of the sea quickly plopped himself into the tub and sank into it's depths, smiling warmly as the cool liquid calmed his frayed nerves and enveloped the pain, shooing it into the calm sea breeze far from it's source and it's victim. Finally, after a speedy and full recovery, Percy stood up in the tub, hopped out and frowned, saddened by the sudden decrease in energy after leaving the life-giving pool. Ren stared silently for a moment before humming in thought. The repercussions of this talent would be monumental in the battlefield. "Interesting."
Without skipping a beat, Percy picked up his bag, put it across his shoulder and stepped up to the group, gesturing at himself to show that he was fine. Team JNPR nodded and began the trek to Oobleck's lesson. Team RWBY, however, had to wait for Yang to slowly stand up, her legs still wobbly from the hit she took to the knee. Percy quickly slid Yang's arm around his shoulder and helped her to meander to her next class; History...yay. The dread was palpable. How would Percy react to Oobleck's demeanor, for that matter, how would Oobleck react to Percy? Only time would tell.
Somewhere across the Akashic Plane, Richard and Chaos continued to do battle, their wills clashing as Percy continued his path to return peace, ensure good, and continue the American way, and all that crap. However, another mind entered into the fray as Richard thought that his battle was nearly lost. "What's up, yo?"
"Ah, hello Monty, how're you?" Richard asked, smiling as he was joined in his battle against the Plot Twisted One. "I thought Percy would never make friends."
"You got a good kid there, Rick, definitely a stand-up guy." Monty smirked. His eyes narrowed at the androgynous entity pitted against them. "Now, time to deal with this...Fraud."