{Author notes}
I apologize. I really really do. This was part of the arc was longer than I imagined it would be, so that was why it was late. But I promise that when the next chapters come they will be more light hearted and have a little more 'fun'.
I also give you a fair warning as later on, the story starts to downsize on details. I tried to downsize this chapter because it covers a lot. I also feel really bad for doing this in the first place. I wasn't expecting it to drag on for so long, but it is still important for the story even if other people don't really like it.
Thank you for being patient. And trust me this is the last chapter before we continue on with Jaune and the others.
"Seras tarukna viandra kalajxsoz. Noturamibiandanda nu'll jixatrumen dar gga jandries meviewx."
"She who rules over Remnant? A Queen is nothing… compared to a God! Find him. Find the one marked by the Song Scholars! And tear down that Hubris of Mortal power. Show them all… what true darkness is!"
She was enjoying today. After all, the day they were born was the day the Empire cemented its rule completely. She was quite proud of the public prince, the one everyone knew about. He was ruthless, cunning, but he was fearful of her and obeyed her every command so long as she held his lesser brother.
Honestly, there was little point with the other one. Even in her new kingdom, they all only cared about Prince Fall. Not many people knew he even had a twin brother or bothered with that info.
She kept him secret on purpose. Perhaps the twin could serve as a wonderful decoy one day.
But not anymore.
While the days went on, she became more thrilled to see her eldest twin rise to her expectations, even putting a rather inventive spin to her commands to fully crush those fools who dared to defy her. Yet his younger brother was woefully inept, and incompetent. It wouldn't even surprise the queen if the elder brother took all of the competent genes from his parents. If not for the bond they had, she probably would have fed the lesser brother to the Beowolves years ago.
But not anymore.
That day, two years ago when the prince had his first incursion, she wanted to see how much the brothers were capable off.
While one was off serving her, the other one went through a more subtle assignment.
The two twins always seemed to have trouble augmenting their semblances. Only the elder twin seemed passionate enough, or scared enough to turn it into such an advantage with him being able to manipulate Aura to a more useful effect with him hitting harder and taking hits much easier. He had become resourceful without gaining a semblance, imagine what would happen when he would gain his semblance.
However, the younger twin? Why did she even bother?
So with some help of an old friend, they tried to help the younger twin find his semblance.
And my oh my! She wasn't expecting such a powerful Semblance from a lackluster boy.
This made her attention be split evenly for once. One for her public Prince and one for her experimental Prince.
So far, the two were working quite nicely, but she supposed before the day was over, she could finally let the two meet after two years. They are brothers after all.
However, there was one thing The Queen had overlooked.
She neglected the fact that the younger twin was downright afraid and hateful of his elder brother.
And that hate from a boy now so powerful, was the last straw to break the camel's back, or in this case, the last emotional spike needed to attract them.
She had made her one and only terrible mistake.
"I think you are making a terrible mistake." He never trusted anyone but himself ever since five years ago. Years of isolation, of fear, of training, had hardened his heart and broke his spirit. But how was it that around this… She-ya… person… he found himself less on guard, less cold and indifferent?
Also, how could this person forget where her own rebel base is if her semblance is Clairvoyance? Was she some kind of lucky idiot?
"Look, between the two of us, I'm the one armed here! I already have serious doubts about brining you past the guards in the first place, so I do not need to deal with your comments." She yelled back at him, obviously in a sour mood.
Jared called out. "You're letting the son of your worst enemy to your base with all of your living loved ones. Even a blind man can see what is wrong with this picture! Heck, you even let me out of my rope!? Who the heck lets their kidnapped victim out of their constraints!?"
"Oh yeah? If you really are my enemy, why are you following me and not trying to escape?"
"Because you obviously know where we are, and where we are going, attempting to go anywhere else would simply mean I could literally end up anywhere else or in the middle of nowhere."
She huffed. "Hey! That was actually a good reason! Don't make me look dumb! Besides, I know about how much you despise the empire, so why are you complaining about being lost?"
"That's the thing, there's also a chance I might stumble back to that god forsaken land, and that's something I don't want."
Things got quiet between the two of them.
She coughed. "Well, at least this proves my point! You hate that place as much as we do!"
The boy rolled his eyes. "This plan of yours is going to back fire for sure. This disguise I'm wearing was supposed to last for only a day! Do you know how annoying it is when contacts get dry?" Jared re fixed his wig back into place.
"Oh you're such a complainer! I'm starting to see why you were so good at your little speech a year ago; you must get a lot of practice in complaining!"
"Who wouldn't complain? You claim that I, one of the reasons why the world sucks more now than it did before, am going to save it, but then not tell me how I actually accomplish this?"
"The dream was weird OK! All I got from it was that you're the key to saving us all!" Xia ducked under a branch before trying to make it smack Jared behind her.
Jared ducked under the obvious attempt at him. "How the heck does your semblance even work anyway?"
"If I activate it right now, I can see up to a good three minutes into the future. Otherwise, it comes up randomly and during my sleep varying on future or past. For example…" Her eyes glowed for a brief second before she blinked once. Twice and then she looked down to her feet and rubbed the hair on her head.
"… What did you see?" Jared asked hesitantly.
"It wasn't important." Xia quickly said, breaking eye contact and facing away from him.
"…" Jared shrugged his shoulders before leaning on a nearby tree and looking at the opposite direction they were going. "We were going the other way, weren't we?"
Xia took out her Mother's War Hammer.
Crunch!
"OH MONTY MY KNEE!"
"Congratulations, you're the first person that's actually making me wish I was back in Shadowcast Castle." Jared whined as he carefully rubbed his knee cap as he regulated his aura around that area.
"Oh suck it up, we both know you deserve worse than that." Xia smiled cockily.
Jared paused for a second from their walk.
Xia stopped as well and turned around. "What? I recognize this place now. It's shouldn't be too long till we get there."
Jared stared at her incredulously. "… Are you for real right now?"
"What are you talking about?" Xia asked.
"See! Right there! You're… you're!" Treating him like a human being… "… We both know who I am, what I did, what I have done! You pretty much had the chance to end my life at any given moment and maybe make a lot of people happier at my death! Yet here you are, following your faulty semblance that needs me to save the world? You honestly can't believe that, can you!?"
"… I… I never hated my semblance," She sighed before sitting down on a nearby rock. "When I was ten and had my aura opened, I was crying about how I wanted to meet me dad or my mom at the time, so when I fell asleep, I saw them… I saw my dad being silent… as my mom ate a mountain of pancakes." She laughed somberly. "I saw them grow up together. I saw how they became friends. I saw how they went to Beacon and met with your father. I trust my semblance because it helps me. It helps me feel like I didn't really lose my parents and what they believed in."
Wait… he could finally ask about his dad couldn't he? There were things Nan didn't quite know about his father from before he became a leader of a resistance. He wanted to know… he wanted to know what his father was like… before… that. "What… what was he like? Y-You know, my dad?"
Xia formed a small smile on her lips at how the boy was now seemingly starting to trust her. "Well for one, he was kind of an idiot. He faked his transcripts to get into a hunter school."
"My dad faked his transcripts?"
"He didn't even have aura!"
"The heck? Was he trying to get himself killed?"
Xia turned to him with a wide smile. "Oh trust me it gets even worse!"
Jared sat down as he listened to her strange tale, about a girl named Ruby Rose— the previous and most brilliant Rebellion general Remnant that even gave the Queen trouble—was actually an awkward weapon nerd. Her sister, The Dragon of Rebellion, Yang Xiao Long was a rowdy party girl with a hair obsession. The Lady of Ice, Weiss Schnee, Ruby's best friend and second in command who, before becoming a composed and well sought out general, had a belt on her person that was tighter than a nun's—bible. Blake Belladona, The Moon's Shadow, was secretly a closet pervert.
The boy couldn't believe that the empire's greatest 'Criminals' were a bunch of teenage girls finding their way in the world. He listened to the girl's tales about how Ruby Rose and his father met, how their parents met, off all the adventures they had and the unbelievable twists and turns the two teams had together.
They both lost track of time, listening on the stories and sharing their opinions of it. It was at this point at time, you could find the rarest, most unimaginable, most unfathomable thing to ever appear on Remnant at this very time.
You could hear The Pr—Jared Arc's laughter and see his bright smile that never truly died.
Soon enough, the moon started to rise.
"Aww crap, I lost track of time." Xia muttered as she looked up.
"Huh, yeah. I guess it's already late." Jared saw the moon under the sky. It looked different for some reason in this moment.
The Prince thought back to a while ago and frowned deeply. A piece of his mind just desperately cried to him not to do what he was about to do, but he silenced that thought a very long time ago. He didn't deserve self happiness.
"I need to go back." Jared stood back up and started walking away.
"W-Wait what? But we're so close!"
Jared stopped, but he didn't turn around, looking at her would only make him waver. "Look, Xia…" They both looked into each other's eyes. "I-I admit, today has been the best Birthday I have ever had… and I would give anything—anything to re live it again," He sighed regretfully, feeling a pain in his chest he thought would never come back. "But the only reason why I stay with the Queen is because of my brother and my Nanny. If I don't get back soon, who knows what she'll do with them?"
"B-But you were supposed to meet my Uncle…"
"Thanks for the offer, but I really hope we don't meet again."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kid."
Jared stopped and looked back. Xia gasped and cupped her hands towards her mouth.
"U-Uncle Neptune!" The girl with pink highlights cried out.
An old man with faded light blue and gray hair walked out. The wrinkles in his face did little to stop a genuine smile from appearing on his face as he took a good look at Jared from head to toe despite it being dark and him wearing a disguise. "Well Dust dam it, you look just like your father."
"You knew my dad?"
Neptune nodded solemnly. "He was my best friend, helped me out big time, and I looked up to him. Also really? Your disguise changes your hair and your eyes, but you still got the same face kid."
"Last time I checked, people always imagine me to be scarier than I look in propaganda media. So I thought I didn't need to overdo the disguise."
Neptune seemed rather interested at the logical answer to his teasing. "Huh that makes sense."
"Look, I… I shouldn't be even talking to you two. Just tell me how to get back, and I promise I won't even tell the Queen you guys exist or something."
Immediately, Neptune's smile dropped. "About that… there's something you need to see. You're going to need a fake name though when you come to our base."
Xia quickly dropped her mood and looked very excited for some reason. "Oooh! I saw this one in the future! You will be known as Resh Kolc!"
The prince gave her a strange look. "That is a very random name."
"No it's not! It's an anagram of the word Sherlock, one of my favorite fictional characters!" Xia proudly beamed.
"Resh Kolc… I suppose there could have been worse names I could be given. At least I'm not named after a cat with a creepy grin," He then muttered to himself as he followed after the two. "I mean seriously, what kind of parents name their kids after the creepy Cheshire Cat?"*
Jared had to admit these rebels looked far more organized and better equipped and trained than most cells he had fought. These guys must have been surviving since the earlier rise of the Empire, meaning that these guys must have been very professional.
However, despite that, the young prince in disguise heard the rooms echoing with laughter and hope. Boisterous cheers that almost reminded him of the very first rebel cell he had met with almost twelve years ago.
Why don't I show you your father?
The boy with fake green eyes shook his head and looked on to Neptune.
"Umm… Sir?" It felt surreal to call his supposed enemy with respect. "What do you mean there was something I needed to see?"
The blue haired man was silent. "There was an Empire wide broadcast recently."
"I'm missing, aren't I?" Jared cautiously said. "Look, if I leave right now, I could convince them I was just taking a nap, lost track of time, and they won't be on some manhunt to try and find me in your base."
"There is no man hunt or missing person announcement. There's been an attack on ShadowCast Castle."
Even Xia looked at her godfather with utter disbelief. "I'm sorry what? The most heavily defended area in Remnant was attacked?! Who would be foolish enough to do that?"
"The Grimm."
"What?" Jared asked with disbelief. "The Queen has always had power over controlling Grimm, how could they attack her?"
"No one knows, nor do they really care. What they do care about; however, is their casualties."
"How many died?"
"A lot, even some of her best generals are rumored to have been hurt, maimed, and maybe even killed." Neptune explained.
Jared noticed the tone of his voice. "You're dancing around something. What are you avoiding…?"
"Can you believe that!?" Shouts from probably drunk men filtered out form where the three were standing. "Karma finally bites that (w)itch in the ass! Now she knows how it feels to lose kids!"
"Ooh please! No one cares about that spawn, I bet not even she did!"
"Who cares! The Fallen Prince is dead, along with a large majority of our forces, let's drink until there's no tomorrow!"
Xia's eyes widened and turned to Jared, his eyes were widening in disbelief. He then ran straight towards where the party was.
"Wait! Jare—I mean Resh!" Xia cried as she and Neptune ran after the boy.
Jared opened the doors in a room with everyone celebrating, but that wasn't what he cared for. His vision tunneled to a Screen that was broadcasting live the attacked image of Shadowcast Castle. Its walls were ruined, some of it was on fire, and Grimm bodies were fading everywhere.
He couldn't hear the voice of the Empire reporter, trying to give the sad news and probably telling the empire to remain calm. What he focused was the small highlight ear the bottom of the screen.
"Crowned Prince Dead from Grimm Assault!"
"No…" He couldn't be dead!
S-Stay away from me!
Please don't let that be the last words he ever heard from his brother. Please don't let that image of fear and betrayal that had haunted him for years become the last image Jared had in his mind.
Jared ran away, he had to get back, he had to see his brother. He needed to—
"Jared wait!" As soon as he got back out, he was tackled down by the girl who took him away.
"Let me go! I need to get back there! I need to know he's alive!" Jared struggled hard, but felt another, more muscular person help in pinning him down.
Xia tried to talk him down. "Jared, he isn't! I saw—"
"You did this didn't you!?" Jared screamed at her angrily. "If you hadn't taken me out, I would have been there to save him! He may have hated me, but he was still my brother! He was the one of my only friends! He-He didn't… oh Monty—I never told," He started breaking in his sentence structure. "I-I was sorry…"
His struggling wakened as he thought back. His voice started to choke and break as he thought about how bad he had failed. All those lives he killed, and for what? The one person he cared for to die anyway.
Now his hands had just blood in them, he really was a monster now.
Jared cried. He had never cried so hard before. For some reason, he suddenly felt warm, he didn't really notice that Xia picked him back up and hugged him tightly. He didn't care either, he just cried.
"What… what the hell was that? I've never even seen pure White Grimm before…" General Black weakly muttered. "Seriously, why did they disobey us over those Grimm?"
"Those… those weren't normal Grimm. You saw what they did!"
"Yeah, too bad about the weaker brother though. The Queen was finally starting to like that one. I wonder where that other brat is?"
"Hey wait. Is the Prince's corpse… supposed to be rising?"
"M-Maybe it's time we moved him over to that project."
"Everyone! I need your attention!" Neptune called out to all of his men on the stage.
"Oh! Commander Vasilias! Share a drink with us!" Some of his men called out merrily to him.
"Sorry men, but we're putting that on hold!" Neptune declared to everyone, not just in the giant mess hall, but also to signals throughout his base of operations.
Everyone groaned at that. One nearby soldier asked, "Oh come on Commander! Why can't we kick back and enjoy the misery for the Empire to wallow in?"
"Don't you all see? The Empire is weakened! Their CCT tower was damaged in the attack, making their command over the Atlas Dreadnaughts across the empire almost impossible! Their own men and armies were torn apart by their own Grimm forces, and it's still happening all across Remnnant! This is our chance to do what should have been done years ago! We are breaking into Shadowcast Castle, and we are freeing all of the prisoners!"
Everyone became silent as their commander spoke out his plans. Out of the crowd, a man in red stood up. "What are we waiting for people?! We need everyone if we're going to pull off an actual Victory over the Empire! And this is it! This isn't time to celebrate! It's time to take back our world!"
"You heard Commander Scarlet! Move people! Today we make history!" Another Commander, Sage, one with green hair barked along with the other two, moving everyone into action.
As everyone made their way the three commanders met to plan.
"A rescue operation seems like a horrible idea." Sage silently spoke out. "I mean, I'm with you guys on saving Sun and the others, but seriously, it's been seventeen years. Even if they were alive, they'd probably been turned to empty and broken husks… or worse: our own enemies."
Scarlet offered his two cents. "If not for them, what about those who have been recently captured? The only reason why the Castle doubles as a prison is because the Witch thinks she's invincible and tortures her enemies to pass the time."
"Last time I checked, she is invincible. She's weakened only by force. Her powers have not diminished at all from this mishap." Sage argued.
Scarlet did point out one thing in their favor. "But our spies do know she's heading towards Atlas right this instance. The Grimm attack there is worse for some reason."
Sage was still on the fence about this. "But it's not just here; our scouts up there haven't answered what's going on. That is not a good sign. Does anyone else think it's weird that the Grimm just suddenly turned on her? She had enough power to force the lesser Grimm to obey. What's making her lose control of so many in one instant? Something isn't right here."
"Guys, there's another reason why I'm calling this attack." Neptune explained. "I went over the old Beacon blue prints. Ozpin and Ironwood designed one last failsafe that they put at the very bottom floor of Beacon."
The other two commanders looked on with surprise.
"What makes you think it's still there?" Scarlet asked. "I mean from what Team JNPR said… the Basement was where Ozpin and that person… you know…"
Neptune recalled that day. "Honestly, I don't know, but Ozpin did make a note, he wasn't stupid enough to put all of his secrets in one place. According to his notes, he hid a lot of secret rooms over Beacon. And if The Queen really has found this secret room, then maybe she might be using it as well. I mean, if I found a secret room, I would empty its contents before filling out my own well kept secrets in them."
"That's a bit iffy though." Sage cautioned.
"Still the idea of an Anti maiden Weapon might be worth it. We can finally take back our home if we do this right."
Sage had to admit, the idea of something like that even existing might be worth it. However, he noticed something rather off. "Wait a sec, where's Xia?"
"Oh right. You both know Xia's Semblance right?"
"Where are you going with this?"
"One of the other reasons why I think we can go for this is because we have someone who knows Shadowcast Castle like the back of his hand. Though it's best to either hide or ease everyone about his identity."
Jared was allowed to stay over Xia's base while they prepared for their raid in the next four days. The rebels didn't have much time left and had to move quickly.
He was given a spare room that was not all that extravagant. He had a bed, a table, and a small single couch. Though he had to admit he had a nice view of the shattered moon under his window. But he was too out of it right now to care.
He had calmed down a bit from a while ago, but he was still deathly silent about losing his brother. He and Nana was the only family they ever had. Was Nana even OK? But she was always with Jason… so does that mean that she also…
It was likely, but he didn't know. Maybe she left him for one second, maybe she could have died even earlier—he didn't know!
But there was someone who did.
She was right there, twiddling her thumbs and sitting down on a mini couch nearby.
"Is Nana safe?" He blurted out to the girl waiting in the room with him.
Xia yelped and looked at him. "Err I-I don't know?"
He looked at her with shock. "What do you mean you don't know!?"
"I-I didn't have many visions about her. If I look now I can only see a few minutes ahead of time. And when I sleep, the visions are random."
Jared's eyes sharpened as he stood up angrily. "That isn't good enough! Why did you even kidnap me in the first place besides this vague sense of me helping this stupid world!? How could you act on something so stupid!? Do you just do whatever you please and expect things to be fine!? That's not how it works! Any moment you could end up dead and forgotten and rotting in a ditch if you so much as even say a single word out of line! How could you be so careless, you worthless, so indecisive to the point of utter incompetence that the only reason why you're still here is because you are stupidly luck—"
He froze. He saw the look of hurt on her face and it was instantly replaced with the look of fear he saw on his brother five years ago.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I'm sorry sorry sorry." His voice dropped to a whisper as he dropped back to the bed with his face buried into his hands.
He hated himself. The one person to treat him kindly without question for years, and he snaps at her like some kind of monster—wait, he was one.
Xia looked on to Jared as he sat on his bed. She inhaled before slowly making her way and sitting down a respectable space from him.
"H-Hey. It's alright." She said hopefully.
"Why… why are you so nice to me?" He spoke so weakly. Why was she treating him so nice? Why was she so caring towards him when he did nothing but make bad choice that made everyone suffer?
She blushed and looked away. "I-I don't want to sound weird or anything."
"Ship has sailed." Jared lightly muttered, but she heard that anyway.
"As I was saying!" She nudged him for a second. "When my semblance first opened up, I didn't know what it was. Sometimes, whenever I would get these visions, other people would look at me weirdly because I knew things they didn't really know. Even among us rebels, I was the weird kid out. So uh because I wasn't quite well received by others, I sorta retreated more into listening to what Visions I could have."
Jared remained silent as he looked at her. Sometimes he forgot that she was still a really beautiful girl.
Her eyes were glued to the floor as she continued twiddling her thumbs.. "Well I… the visions I had… they were umm… about… oh gosh this is embarrassing…"
Jared seemed to pick up the pieces. "You make it sound like you had a lot of visions about me."
She bent her face down, making her long hair cover her face, but even though just the moonlight was the only light in his room, he could still see her red face.
"I'm sorry." The prince said again. "It wasn't easy living my life. I can't imagine what it was like for you to witness every horrible thing I did."
"Wait no! You weren't horrible! You inspired me!"
The red eyed boy looked her strangely. "What?"
"Do you remember the time when, after your training mishap that some of the other servants who were loyal to General Taurus that, in order to get back at you, they went after your brother?"
"You know about that?"
"Well yeah. Anyway, I saw you how you found out about it, and quickly tried to protect your brother. But since you didn't want him to see you, you organized those guys schedules to go away from your brother's, sometimes you had you and your brother switch schedules so they would meet with you instead of him."
Jared remembered all that. While the two of them looked alike, it was easy to tell the difference between the two of them if they were in the same room. Jason was a coward, Jared never showed his fear openly. "So?"
"You-you didn't hurt them. You just got them to stop picking on your brother. I figured out why you did that. You didn't want to hurt the general, you were just mad at everyone. So you tried to make the best option for everyone, besides yourself. You only made them scared of you to not harm your brother. You could have executed them on the spot, but you didn't."
"I don't have that power. The only reason why I got some now is because I had to earn it. And I didn't want to earn it."
"But that's the difference. The power you have—you don't use it like them. I always see you despite all you claim to do, you always see things through—which I feel really really jealous off."
"You shouldn't."
"I know the things you do aren't right, but you still made the best out of them. I wouldn't know what I would do. Your life has impacted mine. When I face hardships, you inspire me. I like going to sleep because I see you choosing to live rather than succumb to just not caring at all…"
"You… you really think that?"
"We all have our flaws Jared. We're only human." Xia smiled as she placed her hand on his.
The two stared at each other before Jared laughed. "You're weird you know that?"
"I've been told that…" Xia played with her hair. "Besides, my life isn't perfect as you would expect. It kinda sucks also."
"But thank you. Hearing someone say that life sucks for everyone… dang… how can someone complain if life is all around a (w)itch to everyone?"
She giggled sweetly. "Now do you see why I need you to save the world?"
"No. Because you still don't know how I do that."
"Yeah… sorry about that. That vision was really obscure, but I felt… at peace and you had something to do with it."
Jared felt bad at the thought of the Queen, she was scary. She could even make mountains disappear in an instant. He instinctively held Xia's hand tighter in fear.
"I'm sure it'll work out somehow." She told him reassuringly. "You'll be great."
"Thanks… hey… can we… stay like this for a while? I don't want you to leave…"
They both held their hands together tighter. "Alright. I'll stay right here."
"I have the worst feeling about this. They're going to be suspicious!" The black haired boy said as he was in the command room with the three Commanders and Xia.
"Why is it that only the enemy is actually agreeing with me—no offense." Sage first looked to his long time friends before to the younger boy.
"I guess that's fair on your part. But seriously, me just telling them that I was distraught and disorganized in the attack?" Resh looked to them.
"Well, they need to know you're still alive aren't you?" Xia asked.
"And you want me, a prince, to somehow gain access to the anti air defenses—when it is really really heavily manned due to a recent attack—and power it down so you guys can launch a full scale assault?"
"That's the gist of it. Yes. It would be the best time considering the Queen is making her way towards Atlas." Neptune explained.
"I think you should rethink your whole plan." Jared folded his arms.
"What, do you have a better idea?" Scarlet leered.
Jared took out a pen and looked towards the 3D model of Beacon—as it was once called by the rebels. He didn't know his former castle was a school. "How about do something with a little more subtlety?"
For a brief second, the world turned to static, but only one real person noticed this.
The one who had silently watched for what felt like years, finally snapped out of his silent watching.
"What?" Resh Kolc asked as he looked around. "What was that?"
Jason Fall appeared beside him, wearing the mask he wore on the docks. "Be careful, brother. It's almost time."
"Time? Time for what? H-How did you die? … Did you even die?"
"You never did pay attention. Though looking back on the circumstances, and how you felt towards us, I guess that wasn't your fault."
"That… you're not answering me directly." The watcher stated.
The illusion kept focus on the world they were watching. "Keep watching brother. It's almost time."
"Time for what?"
"Your psyche made me for a reason, brother. There's one more major difference in this timeline than in the other five."
Dr. Helsing was eating a bagel and binge watching on his scroll.
"What!? Oh come on! He dies too!? I liked that guy! Man, how many deaths can one story have?" The scraggly doctor complained as he continued watching Game of Kingdoms.
He didn't notice that the patient who was hooked up to a very delicate machine, was slowly twitching his hands when he should have been asleep. The good doctor also did not notice the warning signs flashing on a nearby computer screen about an error.
It happened so fast, so wrong. It was all a blur to him really, no matter how much he tried, the details kept escaping him. Perhaps that was best, perhaps that was what needed to happen.
No matter how much he wanted to, he would never fully recall how he lost what little hope he held.
How did it happen?
The plan was simple: sneak back into ShadowCast Castle with the prince. He would say that he was attacked by Grimm and decided to help a few lesser people. Jared was able to sneak in half a dozen Uniforms for their guard to follow him around in. While they were inside, three of them, two with Scarlet and Sage, would be sent to help man the main security tower and 'accidentally' power down the defense systems keeping the Grimm away nearby the Emerald Forest. That forced most guards to fend off the upcoming Grimm into the Castle.
Meanwhile, Neptune, Xia, and Jared made their way towards the lower prison. A place Jared did not want to go.
The prison was high tech, but despite the sleek machines, the prisoners looked famished and dying.
One cell in particular, caused both Neptune and Jared to stop.
Jared sighed sadly before looking to Xia, behind her castle guard armor. "Xia, meet my dad."
"By the gods, Jaune?" Neptune paused in disbelief before looking to his son. "What the hell did they do to him?"
Jared gulped, trying to suppress his memories of being first introduced to his dad. "He was originally part of the Queen's first Harem. After father, she kind of liked breaking certain men into dogs in heat. You-you don't want to know what she did with my half siblings."
"You have other siblings?"
"Had." Jared spoke softly before looking to Neptune. "Look. The older Prisoners really won't help. But the younger ones should still be somewhat sane enough to help. You need to hurry. The security forces will soon get the defenses back online." Jared started walking again. "We have to continue down this hall. There's another Elevator that leads into the basement area that should lead to the weapons vault and trophy collection."
"Wait. Does this mean Sun is?" Neptune didn't want to finish that thought.
"I can't say for all rebel generals, but I do remember that a blonde Monkey Faunus was shot to death before being brought here. I'm sorry, but considering this place? He went out better."
"… They still don't deserve this. Can you open his cell?"
Jared stopped for a bit and wondered. "I see what you mean. But I would like to be the one to do it…"
"Are you sure about that?" Xia asked him carefully.
"By letting you all in here, I'm technically already going to die. I just… want to say something to him. This will be, one way or another, the last time I see him."
"Alright, you go." Neptune spoke before Jared opened up the cell.
"…uhh…."
Jared gave one of his softest and saddest smiles to the poor being from the cell. "Hey dad… I'm really sorry. I-I think you really would have made a good father in a better life."
"…"
Even though it was malnourished and weak, Jared still held onto his dad's hand. "I'm sorry, I wasn't stronger. I'm sorry you had to have me. I'm sorry for stealing away your future. I just hope maybe, one day. We could really be father and son, but that day has long past. So… just this once, as your son, I'm here to tuck you into bed."
"…"
"Goodnight dad, sweet dreams."
He hugged his father for the first and last time.
SNAP!
"…" Jared stood back up.
"Are you alright?" Xia hesitantly asked.
"Strangely?" He seemed to pause for a second to collect his thoughts. "I think he was happy before he died. It was either that or I was delusional. Still, I-I'm feeling just a little better," Jared exhaled. "We wasted enough time as is. Neptune, the release all code should be in a different path from here. Xia and I will check out this Anti Maiden weapon you said."
The commander left before the two young adults made their way down.
"Hey," Xia spoke as they were waiting for the elevator to move down. "So uhh were my parents, along with the others, like that?"
"I don't know. I heard rumors, but I think she did something else to them." There was a ping from the elevator. "We're here."
As the door opened they saw a large array of weapons, ranging from test weapons, to trophy weapons from those foolish enough to oppose the queen.
"Wow there's a lot." Xia looked around the room as she followed behind Jared she saw many cool types of weapons.
"There are so much of them that I think I was given one of them." Jared motioned to Miló latching to his side. "Anyway according to the blue prints, the secret room is a little beyond this room.
As they made their way, Xia stopped and had her eyes glowed. "Wait!" She then took a detour and went out of their way towards one unprotected pedestal with a silver buckle on top.
Jared followed her and looked at the engraving. "Incomplete and unknown weapon from an Atlas base?" He read out loud. "Casings could not be scanned, and technology was unknown. Xia what is this weapon?"
Xia took it out of the pedestal and gave it to Jared. "This is your new weapon! Here! I found this a few years ago, but I think it'll fit you better!" She took something out of her pocket to reveal a beautiful crystallized orb with electricity looking frozen inside.
"A dust orb?" Jared carefully took the items and looked at the two of them strangely. Now that he looked at it, the slot on the buckle looked exactly like the shape of the orb Xia had just given him. "Do you know what putting this on will actually do?"
Xia activated her semblance. "It's supposed to be some kind of armor."
"Armor?" Jared shook his head. "I'll try it later. We need to find this room." Jared clipped the buckle to the side of his belt before the two made their way.
They saw a place that looked heavily reconstructed, more than likely there was once a large battle right here, but it had long been fixed. The walls and such looked renovated compared to the rest of the room. And at the end of the hallway, they found a dead end.
Xia looked around and used her semblance. Then she looked took out her War Hammer and slammed into the wall.
The smoke settled down a little, and the two walked into the room.
However, when they walked into this Secret Room, things started to become much much worse.
"What? J-Jason!?" Jared cried in shock as he saw his brother in some kind of tube. "Jason! What are you doing here!?" He quickly looked up to a computer screen nearby. It said that the boy's condition was stable. But Jared wondered why? He thought his brother was dead, what was he doing here of all places? And what was this lab like place?
He didn't know as he ran up to his brother, Jared had hit a silent alarm.
He didn't know that something had just awoken, didn't see large cylinder tubes slowly open up on a balcony above them.
He didn't know this was how the end was coming for him.
As soon as he went to his brother, Xia grabbed Jared and took him away from being hit from a dive from above.
As the smoke cleared, a beautiful woman with golden hair and lilacs glared angrily at the two. On her fists were two half gauntlet shotguns.
Another woman, with black hair and cat Faunus ears, was wielding a strange weapon tied together by a bow.
A third woman wearing the old Atlas symbol wielding a Rapier with a lot of dust chambered together.
And a fourth woman with a red hood and a massive red scythe standing right on top of an empty tube that said: CLONE SUBJECT.
"They… they cloned the queen's enemies?" Xia spoke out and took her mother's hammer.
"I didn't know they were doing this!" Jared cried before the clones of four of the greatest enemies of the Empire attacked them.
"Jared! We need to leave! I don't think there is a weapon!"
"But my brother! The machine's said he was alive!" Jared tried to argue as he avoided the clones of the Dragon and the Shadow.
"Just go!" Xia said as they made their escape with the clones closely following them.
It was hard, it was tense, but the two were able to slip back into the elevator by making the Schnee clone ice blast all of them.
"Commander!" Xia called in her com link. "The weapon is no go, and we tripped of an alarm! We need to leave, now!"
The line on the other end sounded static like, but even then they still heard the words. "Xia! Get out of here! GAAH!"
"Commander!? Commander!? Uncle!?" Xia cried out to the comlink.
The stars are blind my love…
"Well what do you know? I knew I hated you from the beginning kid."
Jared looked towards the Comlink. He knew who that was. How could he forget the General he had taken an eye away from?
"We need to leave; cut the feed." Jared said as he took the Comlink away from Xia.
They got back out into the prison path where there were now soldiers walking towards them.
You will learn to crawl… under oceans above…
Xia wanted to go after her Uncle, but Jared went against that, and made her and him get out of the way. He told her that she needed to leave first and that he would go back for the Uncle. The two decided to split up, much against Xia's arguments.
The boy went back for the blue haired man, but instead met with the man whose eye had taken away a long time ago.
He was angry, he wanted revenge for losing one of his eyes. The boy understood this and did something unthinkable. He asked for forgiveness. The Bloody General paused in surprise, and the prince used that to escape, saying that he truly was sorry for hurting him and that he regretted his mistake.
His last goodbye made the Blood General pause.
By the time he made it to the security room, he saw Commander Neptune's body on the ground, with a large gash across his chest. The prince had begged the commander to be fine, but the old man was barely holding on.
The prince shed his tears. He took on all the blame, cursing himself for making him changing the original plan. The commander did not hate him for that, saying that it was just like his father to save as much as possible.
The doors blasted open, revealing the clone of the Rose Reaper descending on them. Neptune looked in shock, but the prince spoke out that she was a clone. Before the reaper could slash the red eyed boy, the Commander had one last fight in him and shot her away. The other clones soon followed shortly.
With a weakened body, the commander stood back up, reading his gun for the final time fighting against the clones of his friends. He would hold them off as the boy escaped with the route they had planned out. The young boy tried to argue, but he was sent away. But not without a wish to see his goddaughter be safe under the boy's care.
The Prince gritted his teeth before escaping into a new path, and his heart broken even more when he realized the weakened commander did not even last a second.
The four had caught up to him and overpowered him. In one last attempt, the boy decided to try out the weapon he had collected.
A familiar sense of power came up to him. Something in his mind simply clicked as he looked on himself, wearing a suit of armor just like the oracle said.
He had no time to marvel at this new state of being, no matter how powerful he became, he was still not enough to beat them, but he was empowered enough to escape them back into the surface.
Back up in the sunlight just to see the girl who gave him hope die.
The world glitched out once more.
He ran up to her, catching her body before she fell into the ground.
The other Generals were there. They were saying something along the lines of being cocky, foolish, stupid, saying how illusions and future vision were a bad match up… but he didn't care. She was dying in his arms after he had just sworn to protect her. She was dying in his arms because he said that his plan could spare more lives. She was dying because she was the only person in the world right now that believed in him, and he failed her.
She, with the last of her strength, placed a hand on his face and smiled at him even as she was slowly losing herself.
"You look good in that…" She spoke other words as well, but he did not comprehend them.
The armored being begged her not to go, not to leave him all alone. She was the first person in years to show him kindness; the armored being didn't want to lose another one.
She said it will be alright. The girl still believed in him… even as she died.
He screamed and the world crashed.
"Odd? Where is he?" The invincible goddess, Pyrrha Nikos, wandered around looking for her partner. She was wondering why it was so hard to spot him when it was usually so easy to. You would think by now he would have noticed that his scroll was misplaced.
But there was something in the back of her head that was nagging on her. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Resh Kolc felt his mind burn at her death. "Xia? How did she… what happened!?"
There was no one there to answer him. But the darkness around him started to fade, and the dull colors of the world started to return.
Again he watched, but something was amiss. The details were not quite there. It was as if something was showing him what he needed to know, not what had happened.
The impartial watcher looked on as his memory came back to place, from a bright and bloody day, it suddenly turned into a dark and quiet night. This was reflecting that time when he was in the initiation test in Beacon.
He was surprised, to see himself, holding on to Xia's dead body right in front of his Nana, holding out a flower for some reason.
They both looked surprised as they locked gazes with each other.
"Nana?" Jared, holding on to Xia's body, looked at the woman who raised him so long ago. She looked older, more gray in her hair and ears, and she was looking at him as if she had seen a ghost.
"J-Jared?" He hadn't heard her voice in years. She sounded weaker than he remembered. There was something else that caught his attention. There was something behind him, as he turned and looked he saw a gravestone that said:
Jared Arc, a scared little boy.
It was his tombstone.
The boy in the armor could not process what was happening. How did he get here? What was going on? Where were the other two high Generals? And why was he feeling so weak?
The boy collapsed due to aura exhaustion.
Resh Kolc saw the world fade back into black, he looked over and saw his brother, armed with a red blade across from him.
"Jason?"
"Get ready brother. It's almost time."
"I would very appreciate a straight answer, Jason!"
"No not yet. Not with it watching."
"It? What do you mean it?"
"Your mind and soul are not safe—ever since that day. Six times on that day, you were marked by them. They knew what you were capable of. She planned it from the beginning."
Resh felt his head ache. "Well this is way more complicated than I thought. Wait, them? You don't mean…"
"Make sure father chooses. It doesn't need to be quick, just make sure he chooses." Jason spoke cryptically as the world of memories seemed to come back to life. His figure was starting to fade.
"Choose what?"
"His blood is pure. It must not be." With that, the world came back into focus and the illusion Jason faded back into the background.
"OK that tears it, my psyche is a jerk."
The world went dark, but it wasn't for long. The boy woke up in a humble bed, finding his Nanny close there with a strange look in her eye.
"Nana?"
"Jared! It really is you?" She spoke as she leaned in closer. Now he recognized it; she sounded very stressed and anxious.
"Of course it's me," He tried to get back up. He was feeling oddly tired and went back down on the bed. "What-What happened? The last thing I remember—"
He failed her. The boy promised the Uncle, but she died in his arms, but she was still filled with hope.
"Where's Xia?" He asked frantically.
The woman tried to calm him down. "Jared! Jared! Are you talking about the corpse that you were holding?"
"No! No! She isn't dead! She can't be dead! She was—she was!"
The brown and gray haired woman shushed him silently. "Please not so loud! I'm sorry Jared, she was dead when I checked her pulse."
To lose another person he cared about just like that? He didn't mean to do that… again. Why?
Why? S-Stay away from me! The Stars are—You are Jared Arc, son of Jaune Arc. Goodnight. Promise me, you'll keepher—daddy!JaredIwannagohomeMYEYE!Iwillneverforgiveyou!MONSTER!SPAWN!YOUKILLEDTHEMcurseyoucurseyou!burnningdeathwoefearherhimPandorabloodredeyesblackashhairthesonofdagarudmakeitstopmakeitstopshediedinhisarmstheclonesthisweaponarmorarmamentsofraijintheorbagiftpowernotpowerfuldeathhopelessnessthehorsei'msorry.
I'm sorry.
Jared just stared before silently going back to bed.
"Jared?" Nana asked cautiously. That was not the reaction she had expected, and somehow that looked even worse than before. "Jared?"
He was unresponsive.
"Jared?"
"I'm tired, Nana. Just let me sleep." He finally said with no ounce of energy in his voice.
She was scared. He was losing all vigor, all life. He was more or less becoming a walking corpse. No, he of all people must not lose hope. "Jared wait. Do you know what happened? Do you know what day it is?"
"…" He grabbed the blanket and moved it closer to his head.
She would not let this happen. She wasn't hallucinating when she saw his Semblance! The proof was with his friend!
She grabbed Jared up and slapped him hard as she could. Even with the red palm across his cheek. The boy's eyes were so dull, no matter how vivid the color was in them.
"Jared, please! Snap out of it! You are only hope now more than ever before! You need to keep moving on! We need to get you far away from the Empire as possible!"
Yes! Confusion and curiosity was starting to come back into him. It may not be much, but she couldn't let him become apathetic.
The door in the simple room they were in opened. Jared' surprise and confusion only grew as he saw a person he did not expect to be here.
"Monty, it is him."
"G…General Taurus?" The boy in purple couldn't believe it. Why did the man who tried to kill him suddenly look at him as if he was his own son?
"You can call me Adam. …I haven't used that name in a very long time."
"W-What's going on?" Jared asked softly.
His caretaker stood up with worry. "Why are you here?"
"Our scouts. We think they're on to us. We need to move him out—yesterday!" He said urgently before walking back out. He looked back at Jared one more time before walking out the door.
The Faunus looked to the teen urgently. "Jared, we need to leave. Get your things ready."
"Nana, what's going on?" The boy asked with a baffled mind.
"We're getting you out of Vale. You need to be far away from her influence as possible." She spoke adamantly, getting back up and gathering an old dust box and camera.
She wasn't answering him. she wasn't even treating him like a person anymore. Maybe he did deserve it…
You're going to save the world!
Wait.
She said that with a smile, she was sure of it. She believed in him, even when he had truly lost faith in himself. Maybe… maybe it was time he would believe in himself as well, even when things aren't going his way.
"Please… just… just tell me. I want to know what is going on."
Velvet stopped and looked at him. She sighed deeply. "Jared, you finally activated your semblance."
"I did? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything. Jared, your semblance, we're all quite positive that it is Time Travel."
"Wait what? Time Travel? What makes you say that?"
"Jared that time you tried to help the rebels. That was six months ago. No one has seen you since until these past few days."
"Wait, six months? That can't be right. I was just about to be attacked by the High Generals when…" He trailed off. He recalled in that very moment she left him, he wished with every ounce of his being that he was gone from this place, far away maybe even where his dad would be. Had his desperate wish finally form into his semblance? "How-How can you be so sure?"
The older woman walked to him and placed her hands gently on his shoulders as they met eye to eye. "It was your dead friend." She said those words as kindly as possible. "The bodies of those rebels in our base had long been buried or experimented on, but the decay on their bodies was already being seen. Yet, when I had what few friends I had left check your friend's corpse, they told me that she was just freshly killed, even though the videos of her dying were six months ago. Jared, we think you time traveled. And we need to get you out of here as soon as possible."
"Why?" Jared asked but slowly got up as Velvet got up as well.
"Your semblance literally has the power to jump anywhere in time. Don't you see? If we can just get you somewhere safe, somewhere we can hide you long enough to practice this semblance, you can use it to go back in time and stop any of this from ever happening! You can save us all!" The smile in her face looked so hopeful.
"Me? Save… the world?" Just like she said, didn't she?
However, it would not be as simple. The ground shook hard beneath them and screams were heard outside.
Adam came back into the room. "What the hell are you both still doing here!? We need to go now!"
Jared and Velvet didn't need another incentive and ran after him as he ran back.
"Wait what's going on!?" Jared asked as they ran down what looked to be a long corridor.
"A lot has happened in six months, kid," The older general ran as he readied his blade. "Long story short. The queen has found out what you can do, and what we're doing with you. She is launching everything at us—including your brother."
"My brother!? Jason is alive!?" Jared shouted out with surprise. However, the two adults with him looked away from him as he said that.
"Jared," Velvet spoke out. "Y-You didn't know. During your first incursion, The Queen wanted to meet with Jason. I was sent away, but I found out later. She… she…"
"Unlike you, your brother was a failure in her eyes," Adam stepped in, making Velvet keep her focus straight ahead. She didn't even look back as Jared looked back at her. "She knew that killing him would mean she lost leverage over you, but she also thought she would try other ways to make him stronger. Meaning she used less orthodox methods to get stronger."
"But… but she said he was fine. I thought you two were just… avoiding me." Jared pointed back to Velvet.
"I'm sorry Jared. I really am. I wanted to go back to you as soon as Jason was lost, even ask for your help, but I was banned from doing so. I was actually kept away by her orders and if I disobeyed her…" She shook her head. "After both of your supposed 'deaths' I was given back my servant status and slaved around the castle. I was able to at least have a small tombstone for you in a hidden corner of Emerald forest, but then you showed up near that place out of the blue."
"She… she promised me he was fine." Jared spoke in utter disbelief.
"Don't be so surprised," Adam spat. "She has a habit of making loopholes in her arrangements. We're going to the lower levels, there should be an escape cart set in some underground mines. You will take the one marked with a black cat stick on the side of the window." The general looked over to the Rabbit woman.
"So where are we anyway?" Jared looked around as the corridor looked less and less constructed. They looked to be entering some kind of underground cave, but there were still ruined and old buildings nearby for some reason.
"It's the old hole that connects to Mount Glenn." The red haired bull Faunus explained. "We set up some trains to make your escape…. No…"
The three of them all came to a stop as they saw fire over all transports on the rails.
"Bulls, they're so stubborn aren't they?" A cocky voice called out before out of the flames walked the other two High Generals, Black and Sustrai.
"And what do you know, the kid traitor did survive. Too bad his death is long overdue." The female general taunted.
Velvet and Adam stepped forward to protect Jared. "Kid, go back! Look for a guy named—"
"Jason?"
The two adults quickly looked back and saw Jared was no longer paying attention to any of them, but to a cloaked figure wearing a heavy marble mask on his face. Despite that, masked figure had familiar black hair sticking out.
"Jason, is that you?" Jared walked closer to the stranger around his size.
"JaredJaredJaredJared!" Jason suddenly blathered out while his body moved like some kind of possessed puppet.
Velvet grabbed the boy and pulled him back. "Jared, no! Jason is… no longer himself!"
"On the contrary, he has never been himself until this moment."
All three of them paled at the sound of that voice. Behind Jason, a familiar and powerful being stalked towards them. They all felt their bodies quiver in both fear and the massive amount of power she had.
"I am quite ashamed of both of you. I give you everything and in return, you betray me. You do realize what awaits you then?"
However, Jared noticed something about her that looked very, very different. "What happened to you?"
The change in her was obvious, it almost looked like she was—
"Kid, run!" Adam yelled before shooting at both Jason and the Queen.
Jason stepped forward, and suddenly a blue forcefield appeared to block the incoming bullets. Suddenly the forcefield compacted into an orb after the attack then rushed right for Jared at blinding speed.
Jared only saw blood burst out.
"Adam!" Velvet screeched.
The last prince fell down to the ground in shock at what had happened. The general he had taken his eye away from was now bleeding with a hole in his chest. That attack was meant for him, but he had pushed him out of the way to take the hit.
"Why? Why did you do that!?" Jared called out.
The general coughed blood out violently. "She was right. All this time, I didn't listen to her. Kid, if you ever see her, tell her… I'm… sor…"
"Jared, move!" Velvet tackled the boy away as gunfire and other blasts exploded at where Jared was previously.
"No!" Jared cried out as the smoke rose out of that crater.
"Jared, you need to leave, now!" Velvet whispered harshly to him.
"But-but…"
"Go!" Velvet cried out before she opened her box. Suddenly, a large Gatling gun made of blue energy popped up and she started firing on anyone.
Jared's instincts screamed for him to leave and he found himself jumping out of the way out of a volley of arrows that pierced through many things.
"Nana!" Jared yelled after ducking for cover. She had so many holes on her body now.
"I grow tired of this. Now be a dear and end your brother for me, will you?" The queen's voice called out over the flames and the smog.
"Jason?" Jared asked carefully as he looked towards his brother. He looked around him, with the other two Generals and the Queen blocking his escape. They were just watching him with a smile on their face. He was going to die here wasn't he?
Jason suddenly reached out for Jared, but the older twin got out of the way—only to be kicked in the face by the sudden appearance of General Black.
"Whoops~" He taunted as Jared staggered back towards his brother, but was able to use that momentum to kick his brother away.
Jared gasped for breath, but then barely dodged an arrow aimed straight for his head, but it did leave a cut on his cheek.
The Queen clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Such a waste of talent. It's really too bad you had to defy me… whatever your name is. But no one crosses me." She spoke with finality in her voice as both of her eyes suddenly started glowing—
"That is IT!"
Jared stood back up, pointing defiantly at the queen. "All my life I've done what you said, I've live in fear of you my entire life! But not this time! This time, I finally see what is really going on!"
"Excuse me?" The queen looked at him with honest confusion.
"You're afraid of me!" He boldly declared. "Face it, you've literally done everything in your power to make sure I stay obedient, loyal, fearful of you, but the very moment I gain my semblance, you do everything in your power to kill me! You're afraid of what I can do—what I can undo! That's why so many people betrayed you recently, isn't it? The chance to stop you from ruling and they are ready to give up their lives!"
General Black looked over to his partner. "What are you doing?! Do it!" He harshly whispered.
"Something's wrong! He's immune to my semblance!" Emerald mouthed back before firing at the boy.
Jared, in one quick motion, placed the thunder orb—the last gift of his best friend—into the weapon he stole from the vault.
In a flash of purple, the generals and Jason all felt a pain and where knocked back greatly before the light died down.
Jared stood tall, almost glowing in the dark smoke and underground cave. He pointed back to the Queen.
"I am no longer you're pawn, mother! I am Jared Arc, son of Jaune Arc and future savior of the world!" He declared so loudly, despite the raging battle on above, those who were giving up their lives against the Empire's forces, those living in poverty, those around the world, smiled for the first time in years.
It was like change was coming.
Power was unleashed from the queen at that very moment enough power to destroy an entire mountain range, all aimed at one boy who dared defy her.
"Take me back… let me meet my dad." Jared spoke silently as time around him suddenly stopped. A huge wave of power was mere inches from erasing Jared off the planet, but it was frozen… and slowly fading away.
The world cracked and shattered, until nothing was left but a swirling vortex that let the armored boy fall into.
"Whoa! Whoa!" The young boy yelled as he felt himself being whisked away somewhere. But he had done it, he was finally free!
"JJJJJAAAAARRRREEEDDD!"
"Jason!?" The armored boy looked behind him to see his brother falling madly after him. He was the one who had just made that unholy screech.
The armored twin's mind raced back. Just before the attack was launched, he did sense someone was about to reach him. It must have been Jason, but how? Was he close enough for his semblance to include him?!
The masked twin grabbed the older one in the neck as they fell through the time vortex. Thunder and energy around them started to escalate and become turbulent.
"Jason, let go! We're free!"
"KILL YOU! KILL YOU HATE YOU!" Jason cried out as his aura literally started stretching out and lashing out on the vortex they were falling down in.
Jared struggled to get free, but despite his armor, Jason was somehow stronger than him and he felt the energy around them become unstable and violent.
"DIE! DIE! JARED JARED!" His voice sounded even more distorted than usual and the masked and twisted twin started punching the armored boy.
"I'm not… letting you… do this!" Jared moved back trying to pry his brother off him, but still feeling himself weakening.
It was at this very moment Jared heard a sound: a strange sound among the vortex of time.
It sounded old, but new. It sounded unheard off, but familiar. It sounded powerful, but gentle.
… Something taken…. Something borrowed…
Something…
"Blue?"
Out of nowhere, this giant blue box hit both brothers at amazing speed and made them separate from each other.
Jared, weakened from the attack from his brother, felt barely conscious as his eyes trailed towards what had hit them.
"Police… Public… Call…" Jared closed his eyes before uttering the words he saw.
Resh Kolc woke back up in the Infirmary at Beacon.
"… Doctor Helsing! Get me out of this thing!"
{Author notes}
*= Just a little jab at another writer, Texa52. This person's story made a light jab at my character's name, so I though it only fair to turn the tables and reference him back. A reminder is that his story I specifically referenced is called, "Remnant Falls No More" and I assure you it's a good read.
Finally this chapter is over! Well not the Arc, but this part—the one about the memory. Soon we will finally see what trouble Jaune has gotten himself into.
…
What?
Oh… that.
Well I told you all this was going to be a crazy story.
I mean what's a time traveling story without a little bit of madness?
I warned you this story was about to get crazy! And it's only going to get worse! MWAHAHA!
[?]
The Queen stared at the giant crater where an entire ecosystem once stood. She knew her powers could not strike him fast enough.
She felt rage. Rage like never before.
"FuNNY. IT amUSES mE hOW yOU beLIEVED yOU hAD pOWER."
The queen turned around, who would dare—
There was something in her chest, a glowing white arrow.
She looked up, and paled.
"We have waited for you for a very long time."
"And now a new game can begin!"
And like that… the world vanished forever.
[2?]
"Well…" He inhaled deeply. "This is it."
"I'm sorry," The man that just appeared looked on with curiosity. "Who are you?"
"I've been waiting a very, very long time to meet you again, Mr. John Smith."
{Extra! On the Naughty side…}
"Resh Kolc… I suppose there could have been worse names I could be given. At least I'm not named after a cat with a creepy grin," He then muttered to himself as he followed after the two. "I mean seriously, what kind of parents name their kids after the creepy Cheshire Cat?"
"That does sound like a name of a hot chick though…" Xia spoke… amusingly…?
The prince raised his brow at her. "I'm not going to ask."
"Why ask when I can show?" She actually purred to him with a strange not-quite-flirty look in her eyes.
And that was how, later that night they both lost their vir…
{Author Notes}
Oh one more thing. Since it's going to be unlikely, in the next two weeks, it'll be this story's first year anniversary.
… What am I doing with my life?
Anywho, thanks for your patience and reading.