A/N below today.
Chapter Eleven: Ragnarok
-.-.-
There was… noise. Heavy, crunchy noise. Crashing. Something louder, a whoop whoop whoop whoop. It hurt and stung at her head, like little swords poking into her ears. Something warm wrapped round her and - was that a hand between her legs? What was going on? What happened? Something warm splashing against her hand, her face.
Winter opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the light. She'd - applied to Atlas Academy, passed the trials. The dinner. Getting drunk - damnit, that was why everything hurt. She squinted, shook her head, tried to focus.
Another drop of warm onto her hand. Red. Her eyes opened wide, and she looked up and round for the first time, properly taking in what she was seeing.
Red was disemboweled above her, hanging from one of the hall's chandeliers, intestines suspending her like a long grey rope of - Winter was going to be sick. There was a horrible sliding noise as she slipped lower, more blood spilling from her. There was something - something pushing under her skin, eating its way out of her.
The crashing - that was the doors. Someone had piled tables against them, but a heavy black paw had shoved through and was knocking them aside. The crunching - the room was chaos. Bodies. Living, fighting with bare hands, dazed and sleepy against the monsters that had broken in.
It wasn't enough. A tiny girl in a fluffy blue party dress was squashed by a Boarbatusk's rolling charge in a horrifying mess of blood and bone, a huntsman fighting with a chairleg struck down by a swarm of tiny batlike Vespyr attaching themselves to his limbs, dragging him screaming into the air.
Yolona was stirring to wakefulness. Vivian was still asleep. Ash and Aphoth were invisible under the table. She saw Maverick, one arm hanging limp, dashing from one side of the room to the other, trying to get another applicant away from an Ursa. Slade was with him, brandishing a steak knife - as she watched, he slit the Ursa's throat. He was limping, blood streaming from a gash in his trousers. Titian was straining to hold a boarbatusk aloft, its teeth and tusks snapping at her face.
And over it all, the high scream of the alarm. "Alert. Alert. Full Grimm Breach detected. Threat Level Twelve. Threat Level Twelve. Full Grimm Breach detected. Please head to mandatory evacuation while Omega Protocols are prepared."
The seat shifted as Yolona got up, staggering to her feet. Was that… laughter she could hear rising from her chest? "FINALLY!" she roared, swiftly ripping a leg off the table and brandishing it like a club as she ran at the Grimm.
Fucking lunatic. The Vespyr inside Red's corpse finally emerged in a spray of gore and dived at Winter, tripartite mouth open and howling, proboscis extended. Grabbing her sabre from her waist, she leapt to her feet, stabbing into the thing's maw and up into its brain. Dead. "Where's the army? What's happening?" Her words were lost in the chaos. "Helia?"
The chaos seemed to quieten for a moment. As though a certain audio-control freak didn't want her headache to be disturbed. Winter kicked the table, then braced, and properly shoved it away with her legs, exposing the fornicative duo.
"Get the fuck up and get some clothes on!"
"Huhwha- OH SHIT WHAT?!" Ash shrieked, covering her astoundingly alabaster body with her hands as her head whipped around, searching for her garments. "How the hell-" her words were cut off by someone throwing her jacket and skirt into her face. Winter couldn't be bothered sparing more than a glance but she was surprisingly quick at dressing under duress.
A roar and a deafening boom as the doors were shoved further apart, an Ursa Prime bristling with spines trying to shove its way through. A pair of Beowulves clambered over its back, charging into the hall, claws tearing at the ground - until Yolona met them with an uppercut from her tableleg, turning one's jaw to powder. She grabbed the other one, lifted it over her head and roared, arms straining.
A few seconds later, two vanishing halves of Beowulf hit the floor.
"So, uh, what exactly happened here?" Ash asked, looking around, frantic and panicked. Her eyes were nearly bulging out of her skull and her chest was heaving much too quick for it to be healthy. "And can I borrow your jacket?"
Winter sighed and ripped it off. "I have no idea, and here you g -" Another Vespyr dived at her and she dodged aside, not fast enough to stop its claws scraping across her arm. She winced, tried to gauge a throw with a fork from the table before giving up and simply trying to hold her sabre ready for its next pass.
Ashlyn shrieked, and a wave of force nearly threw Winter off her feet. The Vespyr's guts splattered all over her face before they began dissolving. The taste was nauseating. "Oh uh… okaythankyousorry!" she blathered, snatching the jacket and covering Aphoth. "WakeupAphypleasewakeup-"
The pale girl shifted and muttered something that sounded like, "Five more minutes mum."
Titian landed beside them in a half crouch. "More Boarbatusks coming. My aura's too low to take another one by myself."
"HEY ROCKSTAR, CAN YOU TELL HOW LOUD IT IS IN HERE?!" Maverick yelled from across the hall. "MAKE FUCKING USE OF IT!"
"WAKE. UP - what?" she seemed dazed. "Oh. Right…" Ashlyn screwed up her face in concentration. "COVER YOUR EARS!"
Winter crouched, slapped her hands over her ears and braced.
At first, it didn't sound like anything had happened. And then she noticed the silence. Building, oppressively, like the air was being leeched from her ears - she couldn't hear her heartbeat, her breath, anything. Ash was standing there, completely obscured by rippling air, every tiny piece of sound held against her -
And then she released it.
Winter didn't black out, but she did fall over hard enough that she missed most of what it did. When she sat up, the Grimm in the room were dead, and the surviving applicants were limping towards the door, ready to hold it against the next wave.
Except Yolona.
"Where are you going?" someone asked - Blue. Blue had the guts to confront her?
"Rearming myself." Yolona grunted, pulling up her chainmail. Her arms had several heavy gashes that were bleeding badly. She had a new scar that looked like it was running through her right eye.
"Snnrrr- I'M AWAKE!" Vivian yelped, jumping in her seat before yawning and rubbing at her eyes. "Oh… I missed the party. Bloody shame."
"Actually… having my guita - axe. Having my axe back would be helpful."
"How is this happening?" Winter slumped onto a bench. "And - why? Where's the General?" Where's Helia?
There was a slow turn of heads as everyone looked to someone they knew had been awake before them. When it finally got to Maverick, he just shrugged and pointed at Slade. "He woke me up."
"I woke up to the alarm." Slade sighed, rubbing at his shoulder. "There were some more soldier guys, trying to evacuate us - then the Vespyr swarm arrived through the air ducts. Rat fuckers. The Ursai and Boarbatusks showed up right after that. We've been fighting just to clear the hall ever since."
Winter pinched her nose. It was - too much, her head still hurt and she had Red's blood all over her, and there were so many dead - "We need to get our gear. If there is a full breach happening, we need to do our best to assist in the defence of Atlas." She paused. "Where did we leave our gear?"
"Do you mean the city because- OH SHIT, THE CITY! MY SISTER LIVES THERE!" Ash wailed, her arms flailing about, accidentally smacking Aphoth more than once. Clearly she was still somewhat inebriated.
"I left my swords back in the common room." Vivian shrugged, getting to her feet and stretching. "I'm going to follow... her." Her obnoxious words were accompanied by an infuriating point at Yolona and an exaggerated first step in her direction.
"Is no-one else taking this seriously?" Winter growled. "Students are dead, our lives are in danger and you're still making jokes." She stormed to her feet. "Follow Yolona - yes, a sensible plan. Keep in formation for now, anyone with defensive semblances on the flanks to repel attack. Those with lower aura levels stay in the centre of the group. We ready?"
Silence, and some wide-eyed stares.
"Are we ready?"
Maverick rolled his eyes and shrugged. "It's a coping mechanism, Ice Queen," he supplied offhandedly, taking a leisurely stroll to the doors. Winter frowned at the dunce, but… he had a point.
Half the group that weren't staring at her in wide-eyed terror were moving, and even then only half of them were actually taking her orders into consideration. Like lambs to the slaughter. She pursed her lips, trying shove a few of them into position, before more thudding forced her to give up. "Fine, let's just - shamble on. But quickly. Hurry, come on!"
That got the pace up to a jog. Not much of an improvement… but an improvement nonetheless. Maybe… five fewer deaths thanks to their newfound enthusiasm. She hoped.
Aphoth was curled up against Ash, quietly sobbing. Then she stilled, looked up, eyes leaking blackness. The corpses of the other applicants rose with her, a veritable army of whispering dead, and shapes of Grimm rose with them.
"They'll hold the hall," she said, her voice echoing. "They'll hold the hall. Hold the hall. Hall. Hold." She half collapsed again. Ash hooked the nearly comatose girl's arm over her shoulders and helped keep her steady as they joined Winter's formation.
Red's reanimated corpse fell from the chandelier with a wet impact, smoke steaming from her. "That was some good food… wait it hurts, wait it hurts, waking up hurts what's happening," she - it whispered.
"H-hey, Red?" Blue walked up to her former… companion was being generous. Friend, maybe? If their enmity could be described as such. Either way, the corpse kept muttering to itself.
"Food is gone. Hurts. Bye mom. Love you. Sorry. Hurts."
She was ignored.
A shudder ran through the floor - and the roof - it was like the earthquake all over again. But it was… different. It wasn't as strong. It wasn't all-encompassing. It actually felt like it was getting strong -
Everyone was thrown from their feet as the wall burst, sending huge chunks of debris hurtling through the air. The inhuman - the - the sheer wrongness of the wail that filled the air chilled Winter to the very depths of her heart and soul.
Wyrm.
There was no formation now. No need to shamble like lambs to slaughter for the slaughter had come to them. Winter couldn't believe herself as she stood at the end of the hall, yelling at the last stragglers to hurry up as the main body of the Wyrm seemed to just stream past, filling the area with noise and rumbling and roiling ground.
There were more things coming in its wake, springing off its hide - Beowulves and Creeps and Gruffs. The latter's pointed hooves rang on the stone floor, sparking as they braced their powerful legs to launch themselves into the air, down onto Aphoth's shadow army that had been decimated by the Wyrm's passing.
The last straggler finally made it through. Blue. Winter spared one final glance at the impending army and recoiled. The shadows could still use semblances, it seemed, because Red was turning the newfound arena into a bubbling pit of lava.
It was time to leave.
She ran, the floor crumbling and cracking beneath her, stumbling. Where was Helia, where was Helia - her feet drummed the words as she ran, legs eating up the corridor til she caught up with the others. They were gearing up, some simply grabbing their weapons and running, others like Yolona taking the time to don it properly, despite the situation.
Maverick was flitting about, helping people with straps and finding their gear. Ashlyn and Aphoth were finally wearing clothes, even if they both had a red flush on their cheeks. Titan was holding the door, sword ready, dagger extended from her gauntlet. Vivian had found her sword - swords? She seemed to have several of them now, two in her hands and two braced on her forearms. Slade was more geared up as well, and had wrapped a bandage around his leg. He was growling at Blue, trying to get her to hurry up with her sniper rifle.
"Hey, Ice Queen, any idea what the mini-quake was?" Maverick asked, popping up next to her. He seemed to be using his semblance almost carelessly.
"Wyrm. Big Grimm, very big. They tunnel, create paths for the others, and… only show up in the worst of invasions."
"I thought they were passive?" Blue squeaked, hastily jamming several fresh mags into her gun's stock.
"They are, normally. Hence why they only show up for the biggest attacks. The fall of Menagerie's second city, the Battle of Fallen Stars." Winter swallowed hard. "It means… there might not be an Atlas after this."
"Save what we can. Rebuild the rest." Yolona growled, fitting on her helmet. Her voice seemed so much louder under the helmet. "No time for anything more."
"Then we need to get outside." Slade's voice was firm. "Get out there and try and get to the city. We're worse than useless down here."
"Every route is either going to be blocked by Grimm or debris." Maverick shot back, handing Winter that same flare gun she hadn't gotten a chance to use during that fight… Dust, it felt like an eternity ago. "We don't exactly have the time or manpower to clear either of those issues."
"Well what can we do?" Aphoth's voice was still shaky, but growing firmer. "Trekking down the mountain is going to take too long and be too dangerous. If there are this many ground based Grimm, the air must be swarming with them, so flying's out."
"We could follow the Wyrms." Winter half laughed, then thought. "We could follow the Wyrms. We could follow the Wyrms - they'll be digging trenches, tunnels right to the city, we just have to follow in their wake. And deal with the Grimm following them." She frowned. "No, there'd be too many…"
"Whoa, are you insane?!" Maverick yelled, almost recoiling from her.
Winter glared at him. "No."
"Okay, just checking. But seriously, if we're following the Wyrms, the new ones have the Grimm following them. The old ones will only have the last stragglers… though, they might actually be the biggest." Maverick had the audacity to lean on her as he stroked his chin, deep in thought. She elbowed him off with a grimace.
"I think a few large ones would be easier to handle than a horde that outnumbers us several hundred thousand to one."
"Well…" Maverick looked a bit defeated, "I was gonna say depends on how much CC and AOE we have available but several hundred thousand seems a teensy bit out of our league."
"We're… following the giant deathmonsters. Holy shit it's the end of the fucking world." Ash blinked, collapsing to her knees. "Does this mean I can play the song?"
"No." Aphoth's voice was stern. "At least - not til we're in the open."
"I'm up for plan follow the giant deathmonsters!" Ash grinned, perking up.
"Then we move."
-.-.-
It was a clear day, a rarity at this time of year. The view from the mountain was unimpeached by snow or cloud, all the way down to the city below. Atlas, city of ice and stone, of high walls and intricate architecture.
Atlas, the city ablaze. Atlas, its largest monuments shattered. The sky athwart with Vespyrs, Nevermores and Gryphons, spiralling down towards it one after another. The western rampart wall was gone, like it had never been, and a sea of black poured in from the wastes.
"Oh bloody hell…" Vivian whispered, aghast, her face falling.
"Damn… so much for being protectors of humanity." Maverick said, surprisingly emotionless. "I wonder if the other kingdoms are going through the same."
Ash collapsed to her knees with a choked sob.
Aphoth wrapped an arm around her, but she was shaking too. "Mum," she said quietly.
"It's not right. It's not right." Slade's teeth were clenched. "This should've been stopped."
"It's not going to be stopped by standing here." Titan's sword extended into a spear with a rasp of steel. "We have to get down there. Save who we can, before we die ourselves."
"I think that's a certainty at this point." Winter sighed, closed her eyes. "Dying saving people sounds like a good way to go though. Let's get moving!"
"Hmph. Why even bother? Look at it." Yolona gestured to the burning city. "There's nobody left to save. Going down there would be a waste."
She turned around and shouldered her shield.
"Better to survive now, and save others who aren't living on false hope another day."
Winter turned, snarling, but Maverick beat her to the punch. "You're just going to abandon them?!"
"Convince me their fate isn't already sealed." Yolona growled, standing her ground. "I want to help people, but I cannot do that by needlessly throwing my life away."
Winter stormed over to her, boots slipping in the churned mud of the Wyrm's wake. "Their fate isn't sealed as long as they're there to be saved! If we leave them it will be. If we save even one person then our deaths weren't in vain."
"What's easier to handle; guilt, tainted with the hope of redemption, or a horde that outnumbers us several hundred thousand to one?"
"Listen - "
A sudden roar of engines, and from the sky it descended. A bullhead, smoking, scratched by claws, but intact. The door swung open, revealing General Ironwood in combat gear, pistol drawn. "Come on! We don't have much time!"
Vivian readied her swords and snarled, her eyes- were they glowing?- flashing for a brief moment before she regained composure. "Not much time for what?" she shouted. "Do we even stand a chance?!"
"We can try - reinforcement Hunters from Vale are already en route and the fleet's coming from its station at Yggdrasil! Come on, get on board, and we can evacuate who we can, mount a defence." He fired his pistol six times, fast, and a Nevermore the size of the ship fell from the air where it had been sweeping down on them. "I'm not leaving my students behind, not if I can help it!"
"Man I hope there's room for everyone in there." Maverick sighed. "C'MON PEOPLE, WE'VE GOT CIVVIES TO SAVE!"
The Bullhead darted aside to avoid more Nevermore feathers as Winter began to run, Maverick running alongside her. Titian had already darted forward with a grapple onto a nearby collapsed tree, Aphoth hauling Ash to her feet and half carrying her towards the vehicle. Ironwood stretched out his free hand, remaining balanced even as he fired blind at the circling Grimm, ready to pull them up -
Something huge smashed into the bullhead from above like a meteor, black and white and glimmering red. The vehicle was obliterated in an instant as they skidded to a halt.
The monster unfurled itself slowly, red, curved, bat-like wings stretching from its forepaws to its waist, its tail curling up over its head, spikes quivering, dripping and ready to fire. It shook its mane as its three-layered jaw gently crunched through Ironwood's right side, tearing him in half and leaving his body to fall free, tumbling down the snowy slope.
The Manticore snickered, then it charged.
-.-.-
A/N: WOW that was sudden, right? We'd love to hear your feedback on this and the following chapters especially, and while this does seem completely out of the blue, please, just stay with us for a few more chapters and everything will be explained. We promise it'll be satisfying.
~Angel and Hel